The Kairos Games

Chapter 8

In the far corner of Schimmels Park, Andrea finds a creek and settles down with the fish. She names one of them Geoffrey Jr., in honor of her beloved shark.

    Across the street, Mesa is found, running across the parking lot towards Storms in the dusky air. She stops by the door to catch her breath, then knocks. A moment later, Madeline opens the door, glancing around cautiously.

    “The coast is clear,” Mesa whispers. “I’ve seen just about everybody, and if anyone is around, they can’t get in the building. We’ve got the entrance secured.”

    “Yeah, I guess that’s true. Well, c’mon in. Tell me what you saw.”

    Mesa sighs and takes a seat on the nearest couch out of view from the glass door. “Well, I basically just went in a circle. I saw Andrea wandering around by herself near Schimmels. She’s our closest threat, but I don’t think she’s planning on attacking us. Aaron is in the Music Building. I tried to get in there and see what he was up to, but he’s already setting up traps for anyone who tries. I barely escaped without having a piano dropped on my head!

    “Brad is in the new chapel. I walked in there and saw him just sitting at the altar, praying. I sort of felt like I was intruding, so I just left. He’s not about to hurt us, anyway. Sara, Paige, Haley, Mikayla and Dani each picked a room in Simmons or Nora, and they have keys to lock people out. If we want to get to them, we might have to try windows, or start picking locks. Becca and Amanda are somewhere in the SMC. I think Jordan’s in there too, but they aren’t working together. Becca and Amanda definitely are. Nicole is in the recreation center. She saw me looking in one of the windows and threw a basketball at me. If that thing had shattered the glass, it would’ve hit me. Taylor’s hanging somewhere around AE. I’m not sure if she’s found a way in yet. David and Kenton found an unlocked window and climbed into Medlin. They’ve barricaded it, though, along with most of the other windows and doors, so it may be hard to get them.”

    Madeline takes this in. “But if they’ve got every entrance barricaded, how are they going to get out?”

    Mesa shrugs. “They probably won’t need to. They’ve got enough supplies to last a while.”

    “Well yeah, sure, but what if they had to get out for some other reason? What if it was an emergency?”

    Mesa raises an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting? That we start a fire?”

    “They say Medlin can burn down in six minutes,” Madeline says as she pulls the box of matches from her pocket. “I say we find out. Tonight. Before they decide to move on.”

    In the room to the left of the two masterminds is a broken window. The window has of course been taped over and barricaded with a dresser. However, rather than muffling the voices in the hallway, the hollow wood seems to focus the sound on only these. A sneaky redhead discovers this as she leans her head on the cheap furniture. Upon hearing the plan to burn Medlin, Sara runs off towards Church Street.

    Although Sara knows that they will all have to die soon enough, she feels the need to save David and Kenton. David, of course, is not likely to shy away from killing the rest of them, which just means that with him alive, the games will end faster. The faster the games end, the less suffering for everyone.

    She circles around the building, wondering how to get their attention. After listening at every window and hearing nothing, she finally gives up and walks to the door of the basement. She knocks. After a few minutes, she turns to walk away, but suddenly, the door opens, and she is pulled in by the back of her shirt and shoved against the far wall with a Nerf gun in her face.