Exodus Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen
The School is on Fire
        
We could see the fire burning from across town. We kept to the shadows, and stayed out of sight. It was impossible to feel safe though, because across town we could hear the unmistakable sound of gun shots. The gun shots were sporadic and there were long pauses between them. But when they sounded, the gun shots sounded in little mobs of sound.

The gun shots were a mixed blessing. If Owl's dad was being fired on, then he was still alive and still acting as a solid distraction from the supply group that Viper was leading. But if he was being fired on, then he hadn't got away clean and was still in danger.

As we skirted from the shadows of one building to another, I started to feel uneasy. As I tried to put my finger on the cause, I realized that the gun shots had stopped. I listened. I could still hear men shouting back and forth, although I couldn't make out the words. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Do you think my dad is alright?" Owl asked as we watched the fire from across town.

I wanted to lie to him. But I couldn't bring myself to do it, not even to comfort a friend.

"I don't know. He's pretty cool. But there would've been lots of guards with guns and all."

"It's weird to hear people calling him cool. And weirder to not know if he's alive."

We don't see the setting of the fire, because of course it took place during the training sequence.

We could see the fire burning from across town. We kept to the shadows, and stayed out of sight. It was impossible to feel safe though, because across town we could hear the unmistakable sound of gun shots. The gun shots were sporadic and there were long pauses between them. But when they sounded, the gun shots sounded in little mobs of sound.

The gun shots were a mixed blessing. If Owl's dad was being fired on, then he was still alive and still acting as a solid distraction from the supply group that Viper was leading. But if he was being fired on, then he hadn't got away clean and was still in danger.

As we skirted from the shadows of one building to another, I started to feel uneasy. As I tried to put my finger on the cause, I realized that the gun shots had stopped. I listened. I could still hear men shouting back and forth, although I couldn't make out the words. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

We arrived at the meeting point. And we waited. Hidden in the shadows, minutes crept by as we watched flashlight beams move in the distance and listened to the shouts of adults.

We had heard gun shots earlier of course, but all in the direction of the school. Nothing in the direction of Viper's group. But that didn't mean that they hadn't escaped clean. That didn't mean they had escaped at all. And that certainly didn't mean that they were safe.

Finally a quiet whistle caused us to turn, further back in the alley, we could see Viper's group. We joined them and stared at our new tribe as they laid out the duffle bags and backpacks filled with everything from rice to tarpaulins.

As we took stock of the equipment and supplies, I noticed Wolf watching the lights from the fires. They were visible even from the alleyway.

"The fires are spreading. It's pretty impressive." Wolf said.

"It's a good thing that it's winter." I added.

"Yeah, but we've been hearing gun shots, so it wasn't completely successful." Hawk said.
 
"They have multiple stockpiles, this was never going to get rid of all their weapons. The idea was cripple their ability to use force, not remove it." Owl said

"Well, we've crippled an angry monster, but we're still within biting distance." I said.

"Isn't that the truth." Owl said as he watched the lights from the fire flicker in the distance. He stared for a long time, until people began to shuffle awkwardly.

"Your dad's not coming my man. He's on the run and doesn't want to bring the heat back to us." Lion said.

Owl nodded, clearly unconvinced.

"Bud, your dad is the man. He pulled himself back together when every other adult went nuts. He'll make it."

"Maybe." Owl said.

"Maybe he let himself get caught to buy us more time." Sparrow offered.

"I hope not. My dad doesn't treat traitors well." Wolf said quietly

"He was never on your dad's side." Viper said.

"That's not how my dad will look at it." Wolf answered.

"That's if he even got caught." I said.

"That's if he even survived." Owl finished quietly.

I sat there thinking about how readily we talked about people not surviving. It wasn't a conversation that I would have guessed that I would have to have so frequently.

"This is it." Owl announced, "from here there is no turning back. We screwed up when we tried to hide in town. We screwed up when we tried to stay at cabin so close to town. From here we disappear. We leave town and we keep going. We don't look back and we don't stop until town more than a day's walk away at least. We don't live in safehopple bluff anymore. Nobody does. Safe hope bluff doesn't exist any longer. And it is time to leave."

We loaded up and began to head out. Everyone was out in force though, not just Them, and we had to move in the shadows and be very careful. Fortunately when I say everyone, I mean everyone who was still fit and healthy. And, the grim reality was that this reduced the number of people who could be seraching for us pretty considerably. Whenever we had to cross Main Street, I could see Mr. Wolf in the distance. He was coordinating the search, pointing where he wanted groups to go. He was limping, I noticed, but it didn't seem to be slowing him much.

"Does that man ever stop?" Owl asked in frustration.

Wolf looked at him.

"He might if he were dead, but I'm not sure. Remember buds,” Wolf added to the restof the group as we moved, “Owl's dad did a number on their guns and ammo situation. But we know they have more than one place that they use to keep that stuff. So that means we''re deep behind enemy lines. And they have guns. We don't." Wolf said.

And, as if on cue I heard an alarm cal go up. And suddenly we were all running to the cover of the next alley as shouts and commands echoed behind us. We were almost to the end of the alleyway when a gun shot rang out behind us.

They were shooting at us.

For a half moment, I almost froze. Several kids did.

“Move! Or you're an easier target! Go! Go!” I could hear Owl and Viper a little further to front yelling much the same things. I scrambled behind a steel dumpster as the gun shots echoed in the alley way. I was being shot at. We were being shot at. They were willing to shoot at children now. That was new.

"Well, I think we've conclusively rendered ourselves their enemies." Sparrow said. As he huddled beside me.

"We need to get some guns of our own," Lion said, "You know, even the odds."

"Do you know anything about gun safety? Or how to properly use a gun?" Owl said from behind a dumpster further down the alleyway.

"I play Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty."

"Then any gun you hold is going to be more dangerous to yourself and us that it will be to any opponent." Owl said. Then Owl paused as the shooting stopped.

“He's reloading,” Owl said sharply, “Now, run!”

We ran and quickly out distanced Them. I don't think most of the adults knew the back alleys of town quite as well as the kids. They probably did when they were our ages, but things change- and adults don't cope with change very well. We were nearing the edge of town when we rounded a corner and came face to face with my mother, holding service revolver at her side and flashlight pointed right at our group.

Nobody said anything, and I pushed my way to the front. She gave me a disappointed look. And then she lowered her flashlight so that it wasn't pointing at me.

"This isn't the right way." She said quietly.

"Was brutalizing Bart the right way, mom?"

"We make the compromises we must to defend what we hold dear."

"You don't have anything left, mom. You've given it all away in compromise. Including me." I said.

"I can't let you leave." She said.

I thought about this. I knew my mother was an outstanding shot with her service pistol. But I didn't think she could bring herself to shoot a child. Still, I wasn't sure that I could take that chance.

"So what will you do mom? Will you shoot us? On your own, that's the only way you're preventing us from going. Will you call for others? We won't stop for them either, and then they'll have to shoot us. Can you live with either of those options?"

She didn't answer.

"Here's an easy answer. You never saw us. You told me before everything exploded that people end up doing far too many things they later regret. Well you've compromised your morals for people whose actions you hate before. You can do it again, once more, for me.  Or," I paused and took a breath, "Or you can shoot your son in the back."

We looped back around and took a detour to avoid my mother. The problem that I was noticing, was that we were faster than the adults in almost all cases, but there were too many of us to effectively hide, and so when we came around another corner and almost ran over Viper's parents, I can't say that I was surprised. It wasn't as though we were having great luck at this point.

Viper’s Mom stared acidly at us over a flashlight beam, “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Yeah mom, I do. We’ve made it harder for Mrs. Winter to use force to scare everyone into submission.”

“You’ve destroyed what little semblance of order that was left. You’ve plunged Safehope Bluff into anarchy.”

“It was a dictatorship before we blew things up. If you want it to stay a dictatorship, I’m sure Mrs. Winter will be willing to keep ruling over you.”

“You’ve abandoned your family!” Her father said with crossed arms.

Viper scowled, "You abandoned me when you made me give most of my rations to the brats because they're crybabies. You abandoned me every time you put them ahead of me. I wasn't your family, I was your Cinderella. You can keep your family. I'll make my own."

"Let's get out of here," Owl said, "We're done here."

“No, we can’t leave town yet. We aren’t done.”

“Why not? What’s left?”

“Who’s left? THat's what I’m thinking. I want to see if we can find my parents, and Bart”

"We all want to save our parents." Hawk added," My moms are cool. They've never been jerks to us- but they won't come. I tried to convince them that we should leave, and they were just like 'where would we go?', so I don't see how we can help the adults. They're all kind of blind."

“Why bother? You saw my mom, adults are useless.”

“My mom and my dad opposed all of this until they were stopped. And Bart help them and us the whole way along. And my parents are smart, they could help us. And they might be only one’s besides Owl’s dad who understand, even a little, what we’ve learned.”

"Owl's dad was awesome, and he may have died to buy us time to get these supplies. My dad was one of the few adults who helped us realize what we needed to do. If he's alive, then he can help us and so can my mom. They wouldn't be useless- they would actually help our chances at survival. And let's be honest here. Even with our gear, it's going to be hard going for us too. We're gambling different than the adults, but we're gambling and we need all the resources we can get. And my parents are good resources.

Viper nodded, "You've got a point. I'll go with you."

"We aren't leaving anyone behind, buds." Wolf said.

"Never leave a man behind." Lion said.

"Why not, it's not like we haven't cheated death enough already." Sparrow added.

A murmur swept through the group and I realized everyone was going to back Raven on this. It was an odd feeling. But I guess, when you draw a line between your group and the rest of the world; your loyalty to that group gets really strong really fast.