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Hunter cried out. He couldn’t help it. Pain ripped through him like a white-hot poker. It felt like the bullet had gone straight through bone.
Maybe that had really happened. He could swear he couldn’t feel his feet.
He needed to find his gun. He needed to shoot Silver. Or a gas line.
Or himself, just to stop this blinding pain.
“How many more of you are there?” said Silver.
Hunter almost couldn’t think to process the words. “More of me?”
“Fifths like you, living outside our notice?”
“Just me.”
“I don’t believe you. How did you coerce Kate to join you?”
The mention of Kate bought him a moment of clarity. “I didn’t coerce her into anything. Kate wasn’t a killer. She didn’t want to be like you.”
Hunter patted his hand along the concrete, searching for a weapon. Even the ax.
“My mistake,” said Silver, “was working with children.” He shot Hunter in the leg again, closer to the knee.
His vision went white for a moment, and Hunter felt like he lost a minute of time.
“Who else is like you?” Silver demanded again.
“Fuck you.”
“What are you, sixteen? No wonder you couldn’t save your father. No wonder you couldn’t—”
“Shut up! You don’t know anything! He was nothing like you.”
el nodded. “And gas lines.”
“Holy crap,” whispered Becca. “She could blow up the schools.”
Hunter wanted to think that Calla didn’t have it in her—but he’d seen the carnage at the carnival. He’d walked into houses that she’d personally burned. “Can the tunnels be accessed from outside the school?” said Hunter.
“No,” said Michael. “There are access points in a few classrooms and at the back of the auditorium.”
“How do you know this?” said Nick.
“Maybe I occasionally used them. You guys aren’t the only ones who got crap in school, you know.”
“We can’t just go rushing in there,” said Hunter. “If we spook those kids, they could bring the place down on top of us.”
“They might not even be there now,” said Michael. “Why sit in the tunnels all weekend when they can just walk in the front door with everyone else and not arouse a bit of suspicion?”
“Noah and Calla are missing,” said Becca. “People would notice if they showed up for school.”
“I don’t know,” said Chris. “If they’re missing, people wouldn’t be looking for them to walk in the front doors of the middle school. They might not be noticed. Especially if they didn’t go to class.”
“So . . . what?” said Hunter. “We risk everyone at school by waiting for class to start?”
“No,” said Michael. “We’ll have the schools evacuated before first period begins.”
Hunter frowned. “How the hell are you going to do that?”
