Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas

food. He had to work fast; who knew how much time he had left? He shoveled food into his bag. His hands shook. His breaths were short and shallow. It was taking too long to fill the bag. He shoved bread in there, jam, sugar, salami, cookies, canned chili. He couldn’t believe it. There was so much. The bag ran out of space. Will cinched it up and dashed toward the exit.
    A basketball in the middle of the court caught Will’s eye. He stopped. He knew he shouldn’t. It was stupid. Pointless. His luck couldn’t last forever. But then again, who could say they shot a three pointer in the middle of Varsity’s home base?
    Will ran to the basketball and picked it up. As soon as he touched the ball, he felt a surge of bravery. He checked the main entrance. Nothing. He dared to dribble the basketball once. The thwap of the ball on the floor exploded like cherry bomb, sending tinny shock waves of sound to the farthest corners of the gym. It sounded too good not to do it again.
    Will dribbled. Then again. Each loud bounce was like a middle finger in Varsity’s face. His heart beat faster with each thwap .
    He took a moment to line up his shot. One more long breath.
    He let it fly. The ball arched gracefully toward its target. Just as it swished through the hoop, savage bellows echoed in from the market hall outside the main entrance.
    Varsity.
    Before the ball even hit the ground, Will grabbed his heavy bag and launched himself toward the west entrance. The voices were approaching too quickly. He shifted his momentum, reversed, and dove behind the bleachers. The main entrance doors flew open. The entire gang thundered into the gym. They raged, kicking chairs over, tearing down whatever they could lay their hands on. Will braced himself and stared out at them through the slats of the bleachers.
    He watched as the Varsity guys started punching each other and smacking themselves in the head. They howled. A pack of them ran onto the bleachers and stomped and kicked all around Will’s hiding place. He had seen video footage on the Internet of a zoo where all the monkeys went crazy in their cage at once. This wasn’t much different.
    “I WANT BLOOD!”
    Will’s stomach twisted into a knot. He recognized Sam’s voice. Varsity roared in response. Will spied Sam through the slats of the bleachers. He was standing on a chair with his arms outstretched, looking down at his gang like some crazed preacher. His yellow hair looked unnatural against his skin.
    He looked bigger than Will remembered.
    “We won’t let this stand!” Sam said.
    Varsity cheered louder.
    Hilary glided over to Sam and entwined her arm around the inside of his leg. She looked up at him with a soft smile and said something that Will couldn’t hear. Sam’s expression lost some of its menace. He held up his hand, signaling that he needed a minute. He climbed down from the chair. The gang entertained themselves with vicious conversations about David. Sam and Lucy walked over to the bleachers. Will lost sight of them, but he could hear their conversation; they were very close.
    “Are you sure about this?” Hilary asked.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “What if you captured him and kept him as your prisoner?”
    “He has to die,” Sam said.
    “But if you locked him up in the equipment cage and kept him there, he’d have to pay for it day after day, and then, baby, he’d end up wishing you killed him.”
    There was a pause.
    “Why do you want this?” Sam asked.
    “If you kill him it will spook the other gangs. They’ll want to take us out.”
    “They’re not strong enough to take us out.”
    “They could band together,” Hilary said.
    “Together, they aren’t strong enough! What are you up to?”
    “Strategy, baby.”
    “You still love him.”
    “No, that’s in the past. You know that.”
    “You don’t want your boyfriend to get hurt, huh, bitch?”
    “Sam, don’t.”
    “Say another word. I dare you.”
    Hilary said nothing. Sam stormed