The Academy: Book 2 (3 page)

After a time, Asa hid his spear under a bush, sprinkled some snow over it, and climbed high up into the tree so that he could observe the two people without much risk of being noticed. Given his abnormal strength, Asa was able to climb vertically up the bark using only his hands and feet.
If the two of them saw me climb, I’d bet that they’d drop their things, scream and run.
Asa smiled as the thought crossed his mind.

He found a small nook up above and was able to stand on a branch while looking around the trunk at the two people. He was so high up that it would have been difficult for someone to notice him at any angle. Asa was actually starting to calm down a bit. At the sight of the dirty people, he was fairly confident that they couldn’t be from the Academy. The Academy had far too much money to have members who looked like this. After a few minutes of staring at the people below him, Asa believed that they hadn’t had haircuts in years. All people affiliated with the Academy are offered exceptional grooming services, free of charge. There was a salon ra
n by raccoons in the middle of Town: you just pointed to a picture of a haircut you wanted, and they delivered perfectly. The raccoons worked much faster than a human barber could.

             
Edna stood, brushing dirty brown hair off her forehead, and walked around the fire. There was a small backpack next to one of the tents and she squatted down and began looking through it. Joney stopped his work with the ropes and looked at her. “What’re you doin’, Edna?”

             
“Looking for my knife. Can’t find it. Must’ve…”

             
Asa had to use self-control not to gasp. While Edna’s back was turned, Joney picked up a knife that was sitting under the log, and reared back. The blade was long and thick—a hunter’s knife, and Joney held it between his thumb and forefinger. He looked as though he had thrown a knife before. With a quick lunge of his entire body, Joney fired the knife right at the woman who was kneeling only feet from him. The blade moved at an incredible speed, flipping end over end through the fire towards the target.

             
As the blade was sailing towards Edna’s exposed back, Asa’s mind was baffled. In that split second between the time the knife was picked up to the time it stopped moving, he thought:
Why kill her?

             
One moment, the blade was flying towards Edna, and the next, it was in her hand, motionless and harmless. Asa gripped the bark a little harder after seeing the spectacular catch. She had moved so quickly that Asa wasn’t even able to see what had happened. Asa felt his pulse quicken at the super human display of speed.

             
“It was on the floor, you dummy!” Joney cried. “Right where you left it!”

             
Edna pulled the knife back, and flung it at Joney. This throw, like the first, was well over 100 miles per hour, and, like the first, was easily caught. Asa’s unease was returning.

             
“Don’t be throwin’ knives at me!” Edna said back, and a slight smile played on her lips, which opened just enough for Asa to see the black gums underneath.

             
Multipliers!

             
Now Asa felt utterly trapped, and his heart was beating away in his chest wildly. He felt sick.

             
Edna the Multiplier came back and sat next to Joney and resumed the work on the ropes. Their hands were moving oddly fast, and their motions were incredibly precise.

             
“So really,” Edna went on, “if you weren’t peakin’ in at the kiddos, why were you gone for so long then?”

             
“A couple of the traps we set were full and, I’ll be honest with you, I got a little lost coming back.”

             
“How do you get lost ‘ere?”

             
“It’s easy. There’s not much to guide you with once you go out there closer to the mountains. And besides, I’ve only been here a couple weeks. It ain’t like I had ever been to the Academy b’fore.”

             
“Tha’s for sure,” Edna said. “Only the best and brightest git to go, so no way you’d been there!”

             
“Ehh! Shut up now!”
              “Only joking, mah friend,” Edna said.

             
Asa felt as though he were frozen to the tree. His legs were shaking beneath him, and he was quietly admonishing himself for following Joney out to this campsite.
These people aren’t from the Academy, they don’t even know how to get around the premises. So who turned them into Multipliers? And what are they doing here?

             
Asa’s jaw was clenched, and he was breathing very rapidly through his teeth. He felt as though he might vomit when a third person entered the camp.

             
“Just in time, Michael,” said Edna. “Stew’s ready.”

             
Michael did not look pleased. He was the heaviest and tallest of the three Multipliers, with a thick mustache and a balding head. He wore a Hawaiian shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots. His steps were heavy and loud. “What’ve you two been doin’ while I’ve been gone?” His voice was deep and carried well.

             
Edna and Joney looked at each other. Michael had his hands on his hips, waiting with a stern expression on his face.

             
“Just passin’ the time, sir! Honest!” Joney said.

             
Michael chortled. “What’s the rope for, then?” His face was beginning to turn red.
              “You told us to hunt!” Edna said.

             
Michael kicked up some dirt and snow with the toe of his boot—“WHAT DID I SAY? I was gone one day, and what was the one thing that I told you not to hunt?”

             
Joney stood, his hands outstretched in plea. “But we don’t understand, sir! Isn’t it a good thing? The monkeys have been a threat from the start!”

             
“I didn’t ask you to
understand
,” Michael spat back. “I asked you to not kill any monkeys. And you know what I sees on my way in? Dead monkeys. You two is supposed to be huntin’ for food, not to settle some score. Our orders are to stay low until we get word from the Hive. Is this what you call stayin’ low? Do you want Fran to get involved in this?”

             
Joney and Edna were both on their knees now. Asa couldn’t see Edna’s face, but when she spoke it sounded like she was crying. “Sir! Please! Forgive us!”

             
“How long have they been hangin’ up?” Michael asked.

             
“The monkeys? About an hour or so.”

             
“And how many are there?” Michael had his arms crossed and was looking at the two of them.

             
“Only three, sir, honest!” Edna cried.

             
“Well, go get ‘em down. And if you see any kind of animal hangin’ round the bodies, kill it. Even if it’s one of the kiddos from the Mount, kill the poor thing. I ain’t havin’ this mission fail one week in because the two of ya’ can’t follow orders.” They were all still for a moment, then Michael screamed, “NOW! GO!”

             
Edna and Joney scrambled to their feet, and sprinted out of the clearing. They were moving much too fast to notice Asa, high up in the tree. Michael heavily readjusted his belt, groaned, and sat down on a log next to the fire. Asa watched as he carefully removed the lid to the stew and examined it.

             
Silent tears were streaming down Asa’s face. He hadn’t understood what kind of mission Michael was talking about, but he knew enough to understand that if he didn’t act fast these people would have no trouble killing him.

             
And, maybe they know about the contract. Since they are Multipliers, maybe the mission they’re talking about is to kill me.
Asa looked at the Multiplier far below him begin to eat hot stew right out of the boiling pot with a spoon.
What’ve I done?

             
Involuntarily, Asa let out a soft, high-pitched moan. He clasped his hands over his mouth and was instantly silent. Far below on the log, Michael’s spoon paused halfway between the pot and his mouth. He looked around for a moment, and then he glanced up into the trees. Asa saw that his eyes were blue.

             
Asa retreated behind the trunk once again, and the tears fell faster, and his chest heaved up and down with breaths.
He saw me! He saw me! He saw me!

             
Asa knew that this was no time to let fear paralyze him. He screamed out an echolocation cry, closed his eyes, and saw that Michael had resumed his meal. Asa sighed with relief, and considered his options.

             
Looking up, Asa saw that the canopy above consisted of an interlinking network of trees.
If I could climb to the top, I could crawl over to the next tree.
Asa decided against this because he feared that his weight would make the branches creak.

             
Asa heard Michael slurping stew from his spoon below.

             
Next, he looked at a straight shot before him into the forest. Asa considered jumping and gliding through the woods; not only would that be noisy, but it would also be easy to see.
If Edna and Joney come back while I’m flying through the air, I’m dead.

             
Asa’s pulse beat in his neck, and he wiped tears from his cheeks. He let out another echolocation cry and saw that Michael was still concentrating on the stew. He had wanted to find a way out of this situation besides crawling down the tree and moving across the ground. Going to ground level would get Asa closer to Michael, which was something that he did not want to do.

             
But if Joney and Edna come back before I leave, I’m dead.

             
Unable to come up with a better idea, Asa grasped the cold bark, and began to slowly make his way down to the floor level. Asa let out echolocation calls every few moments. Michael remained in the same place until Asa was ten feet from the floor.

             
“Hello?” Michael called. Catching an echo, Asa could see that the Multiplier had put his spoon down. “Edna? Joney?”

             
In his all white suit, and hanging just above eye level, Asa was painfully aware of how hard it would be for someone approaching to miss him. The moment continued on; Michael remained still, his head cocked, listening. Though Asa was stronger than natural, he had his limits. His pectorals and biceps began to burn with the effort and he wondered how much longer he could hold on to the bark.

             
“Stupid idiots,” Michael muttered, and he went back to slurping up spoons of stew.

             
When Asa reached the base of the tree, he carefully placed his feet into the snow. He paused for a moment, listening. When Michael took another slurp, Asa stepped forward.

             
He moved slowly at first, but after a dozen yards, Asa stood upright and moved faster, aware that he was no longer hidden behind the tree trunk. He began to run the first moment he thought it was appropriate.

             
Using the looming mountains as a gauge, he made a wide circle around where he believed the two hanging monkeys were. Asa moved over the ground at a speed he would have thought was impossible seven months ago. He was churning cold air in and out of his lungs. His mind was buzzing with the events that he had just witnessed, and he kept thinking to himself:
Please, just let me get out of here, just let me get out of here, just let me get out of here.