Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts Page B

made the crowd that much more crazy.
    “We will give them hell!”
    “WARNING WARNING WARNING!”
    “We will give them pain!”
    Clementine turned and stared at Raj. “You believe this crap?”
    Raj laughed, showing perfect white teeth. “Never said that, babes. I said he’s doing a good job keeping us safe. He’s still a bloody chav. All bright lights and glam. Keeps the stoners interested, though.”
    “It’s nothing but a light show,” Clementine said. “We used to do the same tricks with cheerleading.”
    “It’s not so much the delivery as the entire message as a whole,” Raj said. “Flashy lights aside, I do think we need to rise up and kick some Bagger arse. There are a lot of us hiding in this city. If we manage to organize ourselves better, we could actually take them on. It’s all about the numbers.”
    Michael watched the group of people whipping themselves into a frenzy. It was amazing. Ryder was a jerk. There was no denying that. He’d treated them terribly during their brief meeting and he’d even thrown his fists around, although he’d been careful to have no witnesses. Raj had told everyone he’d fallen against one of the displays, and the others seemed to believe it.
    But when he talked—when Ryder talked—the crowd listened. They heard his words and they cheered him on with all their hearts.
    Michael wished people would listen to him like that. He missed being in charge of a group. He closed his eyes and a face flashed across his memory. A small, sick boy. He remembered the child’s mother. She’d fought so hard to keep her boy alive.Then there was Evans. The man who’d traveled with Michael for three weeks after the first Bagger attack. Evans had trusted him. And Michael had betrayed him.
    He’d left them all behind to die during an attack.
    No, it was better if he wasn’t in charge. He’d only make a mess of things again.
    But still.
    Clementine nudged him with her shoulder. “I think we should leave after this,” she said, leaning in close and shouting straight into his ear. “We can sneak out or something. Heath isn’t here. He wouldn’t get involved with stuff like this. I’m game to head home tonight if you are.”
    Michael nodded. “Maybe,” he shouted back. “Let’s see what happens.”
    She looked at him, raising a single eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you believe this crap? There are thousands of Baggers out there and less than a hundred untrained students here. What chance do they have?”
    “It’s probably the same chance whether they want to fight or hide,” Michael answered.
    The girl with the ponytails started jumping in place, waving her hands about, and Michael ducked and moved closer to Clementine.
    “We will fight,” Ryder screamed. “We will kill them before they get the chance to take any more of us down.”
    “WARNING WARNING WARNING.”
    Michael turned his head, wondering where Raj had gone. He spotted him a few feet away, leaning against the wall and drinking from a bottle of rum. He caught Michael’s gaze and winked.
    “Enjoying the show, mate?” Raj offered up his half-empty bottle. Michael took a long drink.
    He never got a chance to answer. A loud bang echoed through the exhibition room. Someone had thrown open the heavy doors. Katarina rushed in, blood pouring from a gash on her face. Everyone’s vocal chords cut off at once.
    Dead silence.
    Katarina swayed back and forth as her eyes tried to focus on the people waiting.
    “They’re here,” she said.
    Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell forward, her face making a sickening squelching noise as it hit the floor.
    The PA system hummed. No one moved.
    Several seconds ticked by. Finally the girl with the ponytails opened her mouth and let out a very long scream.
    People began to run. They rushed past each other, bodies slamming into bodies as they all tried to reach the exit at the exact same time. A girl went down, tumbling to the ground as others stomped over her, completely