Spy School: The Rise of Gama

Chapter 20: Losing Everything

“When can we go back inside? It is freezing out here.” Naomi complains as she wraps her arms around herself.

“They should be almost done inspecting the building for structural damage. Hopefully we’ll be allowed in after that.” Nico responds although his eyes never leave the front entrance of the building. He’s been watching the agents who walk in and out of the building, doing his best to pick up any helpful information for the others. At this distance it’s a useless effort, the students are seated too far to even read lips, let alone hear anything that is said.

“The north hallway looked the worst when we were in there. The first floor was pretty trashed too. I don’t think it spread to the upper floors, so those should only have smoke damage.” Razor adds. His arms are wrapped around Adela who is leaning against him with her eyes closed. She’s wearing Razor’s sweatshirt which is much too large for her. Her hands, now wrapped up in bandages to help from agitating the burns, rest on her lap.

Mrs. Sanders approaches the students, silently looking over them for a moment to be sure that all of them are giving her their full attention before she begins. “You are allowed to return to the school now. Most of the systems including the heating are down and it will take a while for it to get back online. For the next few days, classes will be canceled so that you can help clean and repair the first floor.” She turns on her heels and starts to walk off.

“Wait.” Nico stands up, “How was the fire started?”

Mrs. Sanders hesitates a moment before turning to once again face the students who are now all looking at her with wide, curious eyes. “It was an electrical fire, faulty wiring.” She responds hastily before turning and walking away.

Ahara looks at Lyndley and whispers quietly, “That’s not normal right? Things setting on fire?”

Lyndley shakes her head, a thoughtful expression coating her face. “No, it’s not.”

“You seem nervous.” Matias smirks faintly as he stands up, offering his hand to help Ahara up. “Relax, the building isn’t going to spontaneously combust on you.”

Ahara stands up on her own, keeping eye contact with Matias the entire time. “Thanks for the comforting thought.”

“What, are you scared of fire or something?” He asks, his smirk fading into a look of genuine concern.

“No.” Ahara denies quickly as she looks away. When she looks back at him a few moments later he’s still looking at her, now with an eyebrow raised in question. “Fine,” She sighs, giving up. “Yes, I’m scared of building fires. Bad past experience.”

“You shouldn’t need to worry. This kind of thing doesn’t happen often. I’m sure that they’re going to go through and check all the wiring, seeing as they have a lot to rewire anyway.” Matias looks toward the school building.

“Why are you all still standing out here.” Naomi huffs as she stands up and jogs toward the building. Everyone else begins to follow her slowly.

Razor nudges Adela who had fallen asleep by this point, “Time to move.”

“I don’t wanna.” Adela murmurs, opening her eyes and looking up at him. “You make a nice pillow.”

Razor chuckles as he slowly stands up, pulling her up into a standing position as well. “Thanks for the compliment I guess.”

Walking back into the school, the students barely recognize it. The once pristine white walls are black and grey, smudged with smoke and charred from the fire. The meeting hall at the center of the school is a complete wreck. The tables are broken and scorched black. A few chairs are turned over, others are barely even recognizable as once being chairs so much was burned away. The floor is a mix of ash, dust, and fallen ceiling tiles, all of which is laying in puddles of water left from the sprinklers.