went my way, I expected us to find better tools of negotiation.
And if they didn’t, if Nathan walked away from this test, well, I was dead anyway.
I thought briefly of Kaelyn. I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of her in the city since I’d arrived. Hopefully she’d made it back home to the island. I’d thought maybe I’d send someone out there to check in with her if I got things under control. I’d have liked her to know I’d at least tried. I’d have liked to explain this to Zack, too. But I couldn’t exactly whip off a couple emails. I was on my own.
The contents of the last jug I splashed around the room a bit. Then I carried it outside and locked up again. I splattered more gas on the wall, the edges of the windows and the door frame, the seams in the siding where that old dry wood showed through. I stuck to the front end—I needed Nate to be able to open up the back to get inside.
Then I backed up and pulled out the box of matches I’d carried with me from Georgia. My survival gear. I struck up a flame. Watched it dance above my fingers. Inhaled the oily fumes and the tang of phosphorus, and tossed the match toward the storefront.
The flame caught, flaring as it licked up the wall. I threw another, and another. No hesitation now, just a quick swipe and a flick of the wrist. The fire crawled and leapt, wafting heat. I was lit in the darkness. My heart hammering, I spun on my heel and hurried away.
I’d just reached the corner next to the fire station when a sound like bursting popcorn carried on the air. Those boxes of ammo. The fire had already reached the back room.
I ran the rest of the way, my breath rasping by the time I burst through the entry hall.
“Where’s Nathan?” I demanded of the guards. Before they could answer, Nate stepped out of the kitchen. I’d been counting on him eating dinner late, after everyone else had finished.
A few other Wardens were already standing in the common room. Tyler poked his head out of the radio area. A couple emerged from the stairwell. Our audience.
“The store,” I said to Nathan. “Where you’ve been keeping everything. It’s burning.”
He froze, panic and fury twisting together on his face. “What did you do?” he said in a low, dangerous voice.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said, but I let my voice even out. Let him sense the challenge. Let them all sense it. For Nathan, I suspected, that would be the tipping point. Where he showed who he was at the core: a desperate, obsessive, selfish maniac.
His face was completely white now. “I’ll deal with you when I have time,” he promised. “For now, you’re coming with me.”
He grabbed my wrist as he swiveled toward the entrance to the garage. That wasn’t part of the plan. I jerked my arm back automatically, and his switchblade leapt into his hand.
“Nathan,” I said, loud and clear. “The whole place has gone up. You can’t save anything. You’d have to be crazy to try.”
It was an honest warning. I was playing fair. But Nathan, because he was insane, because fairness and honesty were concepts he didn’t comprehend, took it as a dare.
“We’ll see,” he snapped.
I couldn’t let him take me. I couldn’t let there be any doubt about who made the choice, if he didn’t come back. “Maybe you will,” I said, “but I’m not going anywhere.”
It was a risk. He lashed out with the knife, and I flinched away quickly enough that it only caught my cheek. Nathan took another step, and then looked toward the garage with a curse. A smoky smell was trickling in from outside.
“Don’t let him leave,” he ordered our spectators, and shoved past the door. In a matter of seconds, the screech of tires pierced the wall.
The guards, Janelle and Tyler, the rest of the Wardens around and trickling in at the commotion, ignored his last order and, for the moment, me. They streamed out onto the sidewalk, where the burning smell was growing thicker. A cloud of smoke obscured a swath
And if they didn’t, if Nathan walked away from this test, well, I was dead anyway.
I thought briefly of Kaelyn. I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of her in the city since I’d arrived. Hopefully she’d made it back home to the island. I’d thought maybe I’d send someone out there to check in with her if I got things under control. I’d have liked her to know I’d at least tried. I’d have liked to explain this to Zack, too. But I couldn’t exactly whip off a couple emails. I was on my own.
The contents of the last jug I splashed around the room a bit. Then I carried it outside and locked up again. I splattered more gas on the wall, the edges of the windows and the door frame, the seams in the siding where that old dry wood showed through. I stuck to the front end—I needed Nate to be able to open up the back to get inside.
Then I backed up and pulled out the box of matches I’d carried with me from Georgia. My survival gear. I struck up a flame. Watched it dance above my fingers. Inhaled the oily fumes and the tang of phosphorus, and tossed the match toward the storefront.
The flame caught, flaring as it licked up the wall. I threw another, and another. No hesitation now, just a quick swipe and a flick of the wrist. The fire crawled and leapt, wafting heat. I was lit in the darkness. My heart hammering, I spun on my heel and hurried away.
I’d just reached the corner next to the fire station when a sound like bursting popcorn carried on the air. Those boxes of ammo. The fire had already reached the back room.
I ran the rest of the way, my breath rasping by the time I burst through the entry hall.
“Where’s Nathan?” I demanded of the guards. Before they could answer, Nate stepped out of the kitchen. I’d been counting on him eating dinner late, after everyone else had finished.
A few other Wardens were already standing in the common room. Tyler poked his head out of the radio area. A couple emerged from the stairwell. Our audience.
“The store,” I said to Nathan. “Where you’ve been keeping everything. It’s burning.”
He froze, panic and fury twisting together on his face. “What did you do?” he said in a low, dangerous voice.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said, but I let my voice even out. Let him sense the challenge. Let them all sense it. For Nathan, I suspected, that would be the tipping point. Where he showed who he was at the core: a desperate, obsessive, selfish maniac.
His face was completely white now. “I’ll deal with you when I have time,” he promised. “For now, you’re coming with me.”
He grabbed my wrist as he swiveled toward the entrance to the garage. That wasn’t part of the plan. I jerked my arm back automatically, and his switchblade leapt into his hand.
“Nathan,” I said, loud and clear. “The whole place has gone up. You can’t save anything. You’d have to be crazy to try.”
It was an honest warning. I was playing fair. But Nathan, because he was insane, because fairness and honesty were concepts he didn’t comprehend, took it as a dare.
“We’ll see,” he snapped.
I couldn’t let him take me. I couldn’t let there be any doubt about who made the choice, if he didn’t come back. “Maybe you will,” I said, “but I’m not going anywhere.”
It was a risk. He lashed out with the knife, and I flinched away quickly enough that it only caught my cheek. Nathan took another step, and then looked toward the garage with a curse. A smoky smell was trickling in from outside.
“Don’t let him leave,” he ordered our spectators, and shoved past the door. In a matter of seconds, the screech of tires pierced the wall.
The guards, Janelle and Tyler, the rest of the Wardens around and trickling in at the commotion, ignored his last order and, for the moment, me. They streamed out onto the sidewalk, where the burning smell was growing thicker. A cloud of smoke obscured a swath
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