The Theory Of Knowledge (And How To Lose All Your Friends)

Chapter 13: Men of Children

The golf cart careened across the parking lot adjacent to the swimming pool. Tire marks tattooed the asphalt as Samuel clumsily gripped the steering wheel. However, the shrill screeching of tires seemed to linger for much longer, which was when Jayden realized that the ear-piercing screaming was coming from behind, as a mob of crazed students appeared, pursuing the four.

Jax seemed to take notice first, as he was seated in the back end of the cart, face to face against the mob, which was faring rather well against the sluggish golf cart, which was already at its maximum speed.

"Look out!" Jax flung a spade at the mob, which missed and hit a teacher's BMW.

Their pursuers returned fire, hurling tennis rackets and Oxford textbooks at them. Luckily, the IB student median arm strength came to the rescue, as their projectiles missed by a miserable length. One of the attackers tripped over a book and fell to the rocky ground.

"Bro, hurry up!" Mike commanded Samuel, who futilely attempted to accelerate the vehicle, which was still cumbersomely inching forward, losing the race against the mob.

Suddenly, the animalistic growl of an engine approached ominously as Jax unleashed a barrage of curses. Jayden turned to see another golf cart which was gaining on them by the second, revving its engine from in front of them while the mob still yelled from the back. The rowing sheds were just a couple hundred meters away - if they could just get past then they could escape down the Rotary walkway and then Dickquax Road.

Jayden was still formulating the plan when he saw something that made his chest sink deeper than an unmanned submersible.

"He's got a gun!" Samuel saw it too.

"Take cover!" Jayden shouted, trying to open up the music stand to act as a shield. He knew his efforts would be useless, however, as the desert eagle the kid in the passenger seat of the other cart was brandishing would easily mow down the four of them. There was only one thing they could do.

"Reverse!" Mike yelled over the growing sound of the mob behind them and the golf cart engine in front of them, sounding like a provoked bull. The black hole of the gun barrel grew closer and closer.

"I can't!" Samuel screamed, trying to turn the cart around, before a terrifying bang left Jayden's ears ringing. Wind began to ruffle Jayden's hair as a gaping hole in the roof opened up.

Samuel stepped on the gas again as the cart finally did a full 180, plowing into the angry mob. As he accelerated, the yelling from the driver behind them looked closer. It seemed like another gunshot was imminent, only this time the chances of them missing were near zero.

Jax was one step ahead, unlatching the rubbish bin attached to the back of the cart where he was sitting. Their two pursuers went down in a mixture of dark green and brownish lumps of trash. Jax was close enough to catch the desert Eagle midair as it slipped out of the passenger's hand, which had now been shredded to a bloody mess on the pavement.

The revelries did not last long, though, as Mike screamed at a member of the angry mob who had just grabbed hold of the cart, and was now trying to grab the gun out of Jax's hand, simultaneously stepping on Mike's crotch for leverage. Jax instinctively pistol-whipped the rapscallion, who went down tumbling off onto the rocky asphalt.

They were not out of the blue yet, however as a black Nissan had just pulled out of the parking lot and had started tailing the four. Jayden knew that it had to be a member of the CAS; the driver donned a dark blue uniform and sunglasses. The car sped up until it was adjacent to the golf cart, which was unable to overtake the car with its puny sluggishness. The driver revealed a 9mm pistol and cocked it back. Jax, noticing the maneuver fired a shot through the driver's seat window, but no sound was heard.

Jayden believed for a moment that perhaps the hell his ears had been subjected to in the last chaotic minutes had hindered his hearing abilities. Suddenly the sound of the shot Jax fired rang out with a shattering bang, but something was wrong.

"It's jammed!" Jax yelled while slamming the Desert Eagle against the seat.

That's when Jayden realized that the shot did not come from Jax's pistol, but the teacher's. And that could only mean...

A warm sensation caressed Jayden's cheek, running down slowly. The cart came to an abrupt halt. Panicking, he glanced left and right, and caught a horrifying glimpse of Samuel. His arms were hanging low by his side. His body was a flower in blossom; redness was manifesting on his chest like paint flicked onto a canvas, like a liquid organism multiplying itself across his breast. The elixir ran down his body like a waterfall of crimson like a wine decanter fractured atop a bleak mountain. Jayden was too entranced to react - his arms were shaking uncontrollably and his breaths became raspy. Samuel's blood cascading down his neck awoke him, as well as the sound of Mike crying out.

"Put pressure on the wound!" he screamed, reaching forward from the backseat to cover Samuel's neck. Jayden tried to do the same, but his hands were still quivering as they sunk into tender, runny flesh. The voices that entered his ears during the ensuing pandemonium were barely audible.

"Get out of the cart!" a booming masculine voice ordered. The Nissan driver had just pulled up in front of them.

"Okay!" Mike shouted back, struggling to exit the cart without removing his hands from Samuel's neck.

Jax was simply screaming in disordered, cacophonic tones.

Jayden saw through eyes tinted red with Samuel's blood a shadowy figure walking towards them, pistol in hand.

"I said get out of the cart-"

Another gunshot, and then a thump as the CAS officer fell to the floor. Jayden and Mike were already halfway out of the cart before Jax, Desert Eagle in hand, screamed, "Get in the f**king car!"