The Company

Chapter Nine- I'm Afraid of Heights

I was still and silent in my chair. The kids around me were chattering, some nervously and some excitedly.

"Uh, excuse me," I asked, raising my hand. "Leave? What does that mean?"

"Glad you asked, my friend," the Washington asked. "I'll explain. If what Mark-"

"Michael," I corrected.

"Close enough," the Washington snapped. "If what he said is true, we have no other choice. We're having a mass exodus. We're leaving this place. Pull up the map please, Adams."

The projection changed to a map with a dot on it.

"This is the map of the island," the Washington explained. "It's from 1933, when the school was founded. This-" He pointed a laser pointer at a rectangular building. "-is the original school building. It was abandoned in 1993 when the island was 'modernized' as the paperwork puts it. That's where we'll be staying for the time being."

"What are you saying?" a girl in the back piped up. "Are we running to prepare for something?"

"We just need to get away from the Company," the Washington replied. "But if we need to, and Lord hope we don't need to, we're preparing for a war."

Now literally everyone was talking. I was scared to death, but that was just a normal response. A bunch of kids going up on a war with a Company with newly-issued glowing scary weapons? We were screwed.

"Next slide, please," he said, and he pulled something out of his hoodie pocket. "This is one of Their weapons, a knife if you haven't noticed. Now, if someone could tell me what the weird part is."

"The light," someone muttered. "It's the light."

"Yahtzee," the Washington said, tracing out the cracks. Everyone practically jumped forward in fear, but he just smiled. "Don't worry, it's off. But you're right, it's the light. We don't know much about it except it gives off light when we push this." He motioned toward an orange button on the handle. "On and off. When it's on, it gives off light inside the blade. And who made these?" He pointed at a familiar logo on the butt end of the handle. "The Austin Research Company. They're making these weapons. We don't know if it's security or if they're arming against us, but we're scared."

"Now there's a problem with us leaving," the Washington continued. "The only way to the old school is through these, the Montmerry Cliffs. Going through at night is gonna be extremely hard, especially at night. There's a pass through it, though, but that doesn't make it less dangerous. After that, we camp out in the old school until it all cools down. So waddaya say, FSFSA? Who's ready for the escape of a lifetime?"

The crowd cheered. I sat there unsure of myself, not even knowing how to feel. Leaving  the school? War? Cliffs?

Okay. I'll admit it. I'm afraid of heights. So what? If I was to fall down those cliffs, I'd be falling to my inevitable death. I mean, that's what always happens to the funny, charming protagonist of a story, right?

What do you mean I'm not funny and charming?

The meeting let out, and as I walked out, I noticed Lionel going with headphones in his ears. I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't know what. I didn't see his usual smile or hear that chunky peanut butter voice, and I personally felt like it was a stab to the throat.

I needed to talk to him. I failed to do so the night before and so did my plans for talking to him. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I was scared of being awkward.

That was a lie. I'm sorry. I was scared of denial from him. He was the first person in a long time that actually enjoyed my presence, and I couldn't afford to lose that. I absolutely couldn't.