Population Zero

Chapter Seventeen

I am no stranger to the library. I could easily spend hours getting lost in one book after another without noticing the time go by. I suppose growing up without many friends can do that to a person. The books become your friends, their problems become your problems, their triumphs are your triumphs, and their loss is yours, too. I was a fiend for a certain kind of genre, though: Historical non fiction. Ever since I was really young I have always been interested in the history of our planet. I would read any book I could get a hold of and learned everything there was to know about how we got here and how we ended up this way. I got to be pretty much an expert on the topic and eventually I ran out of books to read but I still didn't feel like I had all the answers. I always wondered if there were any other books. The East Wing houses the biggest library on the compound and I always knew there were more books behind the massive wrought iron door on the second floor although it was strictly forbidden for youths to question this. The explanation we received was simply, these books are far too dangerous for youths to read. I always thought to myself although never aloud, how can a book be dangerous?

The meeting with Van Whittle went very strangely at first. He couldn't seem to give me an exact date for my training to start and wouldn't really answer any of my questions directly. He seemed to be there for only one thing and appeared irritated with me for not simply accepting his gift. I tend to forget that asking questions is frowned upon when it comes to the elders. Maybe Elijah has rubbed off on me in a bad way. After the meeting ended, I held my prize deep in the palm of my hand and rolled my thumb over it slowly, imagining the interworkings of the device. It was a keycard to the second floor of the East Wing's library. A lanyard was tied loosely to it and I tossed it around my neck and tucked it securely inside my shirt. I still didn't know when YouthQuest training would begin, and I still didn't know anything about the training program itself, but I had the keycard to the second floor library and all the spare time in the world to go inside and explore. I questioned for a moment if I should allow my roommates to share in my discovery. They had proved themselves quite trustworthy so far regarding my stolen telepad. After a little thought I decided sharing is caring and went straight back to our room to share the good fortune.

When I got to my room and opened the door I saw that the room had been ransacked. Drawers had been emptied and clothes was scattered across the floor. Blankets and sheets were torn off the beds. All 4 of the beds had mattresses flipped and one of them had even been cut through probably by a knife. It was a giant mess. Panic began to reach my chest as I turned to reach beneath the remaining portion of the mattress where it connected to the bed frame. The telepad was gone. My heart began racing as I turned quickly to leave the room. As I turned, a man was standing directly across from me. "You need to come with me." He said sternly. I nodded my head and held back a gulp. I wasn't going to be getting away so easily this time, I'm afraid.

I entered the Youth Office and found both Renzo and Fabian already seated. There was one chair remaining for me so I sat. I didn't look at my friends and as far as I could tell, they didn't try to look at me. In front of us sat Zach and Eric. They looked mad as hell.

"Now, one of you boys is responsible for this." Eric said dangling Dustin's telepad high into the air. "And I'm going to find out which one." He gave a look of fierce determination and a cold shiver seared down my back and sweat began to build up on my brow. Zach's look held a stark contrast to Eric. He looked old, tired, and frankly bored. I turned my attention to him. He was going to be our ticket out of here. "Zach. You know it wasn't us. Some other lower level boys probably swiped it and planted it in our room." I said with as much sincerity that I could muster up and I realized I had become quite good at lying. Zach looked at Eric exasperatedly and said "Eric. I know these boys. They didn't do it. We are wasting our time here." He sneered and threw his hands down on the desk in front of him. Eric looked livid. He jumped up and burst out the door slamming it shut behind him. Zach turned to us. "Boys. I know you kids are good kids. You guys really loved Dustin, didn't you?" His eyes looked sympathetic and caring. The three of us looked at each other surprised and quickly all nodded our heads in unison. "I know you did. Eric is such a hard ass. I don't know what happened to him to make him that way. Frankly, I think he ought to grow up!" His eyes twinkled as he held up the telepad. "Take it back. It's useless from what I hear. It would be a nice token to help you remember your friend. Just don't hide it under your mattress!" He laughed loudly and his whole body shook. The three of us held our breath and smiled as I reached out for the telepad, half expecting him to snap it away and laugh at how stupid I was. With the telepad firmly in my hand, fingers clasped tight around it, the three of us walked out of that office, down the hall, and out the door before we began to burst out laughing. Tears rolled down my cheeks freely as the anxiety and fear melted away. We slapped each other's backs hard and roared and howled until we couldn't breathe. I quickly fell to the ground in a fit and Renzo and Fabian fell down with me. I held the telepad high above my head as the prize and they praised me for it. We got away with it and Eric had lost another battle. I've never felt so alive.