Mania

Chapter 6

Easton
Before

     "Rhodes? Can you and I have a little chat?" Coach Belview asks as he pokes his head into the locker room. Hearing the oncoming onslaught of oooohs, I nod and jog out of the room. He leads me down the hallway and I can barely hear the crowd cheering for the girls' game.
     "What did you want to talk about, Coach?" I ask.
      He smiles and says, "Out there is a recruiter from UCLA and I'd bet my coaching license that he's here for you."
     My mouth falls open in surprise and I stutter, "For me?" He nods and slaps my back.
     "Play your best game and the next time you put on a jersey, it will be blue and yellow." He says and the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the girls' game.
     We head out into the gym and Dustin walks next to me. "You and coach have a troublesome chat?" He asks and grabs a basketball. He's always been my warm up partner ever since fifth grade so I feel obliged to tell him, but I decide against it. The recruiter couldn't be here for me, I'm only a junior.
     I shrug. "The usual 'don't screw up and good luck' speech." I say vaguely and I pass the ball back to him. He raises his dark brows questionably but leaves it at that.
   The warmup time dwindles down to a minute left and we huddle up. Belview says the starters and gives out the plan. We go out onto the court and I seem to have skipped out on everything the coach just said.
     Waitta go, Easton. You choke on the biggest game in your life.
     The ball sails into the air and the person jumping for our team swipes ball into my hands. I pause momentarily, a look of panic comes across my face. Like a dear caught in the headlights. "Let's go, number 22!" Someone screams from the crowd and recognize my dads voice. I pick up the ball into a dribble and I go across the half court line. The defender picks up and I fake right and I pass to Dustin. I cut to the block underneath the basket and I clap rapidly. Dustin passes the ball to me and I shoot. The ball goes in and the crowd cheers.
     The rest of the game was slightly difficult, we seemed to always have the lead, then lose it, then take it back. For myself, though, I was on fire.
     Someone misses the shot and I try to rebound but I was sealed so they grapple for it. I take off sprinting as they push the ball down the court. I beat them to the hoop and I set my feet. The come and the impact starts with their shoulder. I fall onto the ground roughly and I look at the referee. He calls it a charge and the entire gym erupts into either agreement or disagreement. I get up to my feet and I clap. The crowd is still in havoc.
     Then everything is silent.
     The lights flicker for a second and a voice crackles through the speaker.
     "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Roderick Bellamy, head of America's new government, the Mania. We mean no harm but we will harm in order to keep order. I'm announcing a nationwide purge. Whoever can outlive my Maniacs, can live in the new America. For now, this is goodbye."
I look at Dustin and he looks panicked. The doors swing open and people with masks barge in and everyone makes a mass exodus from the gym. In the chaos, my dad grabs my arm and says, "You were having such a great game."
I shrug. "I'm sure I'll have another chance to play it again." He looks at me hesitantly but says nothing. We make it out of the gym when the shots are being fired. I cover my ears but my father's face is oddly calm.
We make it to the lobby and it looks like a zoo. People are dying left and right and I lost track of where my father went. I see the back of his head and I start pushing through the crowd to get to him. Suddenly, all of the lights die out and I get knocked to the ground. People scream even louder and I catch eye contact with a Maniac. Before he shoots, my dad helps me up and he changes direction.
We make it out to the car and I sit in the passenger seat with my mind humming. Why didn't he shoot me?