The Academy: Book 2 (85 page)

             
Everything was happening in slow motion. To Asa’s right, he saw Rose, Michael, Edna, and Joney standing by the decline, all frozen and not moving. Allen was standing above Thom, glaring at him, making sure he didn’t get up. Asa was most concerned with Ned. Ned’s thick, muscular right hand was reaching for the holstered pistol on his hip.
He’s going to end me before I get off another shot.

             
Asa still perceived things at happening at about quarter-speed. He began to raise the firearm, thinking that he would defend himself and shoot Ned. When he had raised the weapon to halfway up, however, he had a better, but more cynical idea.

             
I’ll shoot Thom.

             
Asa didn’t want to kill anyone. He was not a violent person. But, given the circumstances, he thought it was the best option. If he fought, he would lose, and both he and Thom would be killed. But, if he shot Thom before Ned could draw his own weapon, he may be able to gain back some trust, and continue on with the Multipliers, looking for another opportunity to sabotage their plan to get the vaccine.

             
Without further thought, he took aim right between Thom’s eyes and pulled the trigger. This time he did not miss. Thom’s head snapped backwards and red splashed down on the pebbles. Asa gasped. Instantly, he wanted to take back what he had done.
I’ve killed him.
A rotting guilt filled his stomach and seemed to leech all of his warmth from him.

             
“DROP THE GUN!” Ned was yelling at Asa; he was three feet away and pointing the revolver at the side of his head. Time resumed its normal progression. “DROP IT, PALMER!”

             
Asa obeyed, and the gun clattered to the floor.

             
“HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!”

             
Again, Asa obeyed.

             
“
What the hell, Ned?”
Rose cried.

             
“HE TRIED TO KILL ALLEN!” Ned was breathing hard through his nose and his face was red. He looked like he was about to lose his temper again. A large vein was pulsing on his forehead.

             
“Ned,” Allen said calmly. “Lower your firearm.”

             
Ned continued to point it at Asa. When he spoke next, he sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “But… But… Boss!
C’mon!
He tried to
shoot
you!”

             
Allen walked over to Ned, put his hand over Ned’s, and lowered the weapon for him. Once the gun was lowered, Allen’s voice grew sterner. “He didn’t try to
shoot me, Ned!
Whatever anger issues you’re dealing with, you’d better put them on halt until we get through with this.” He leaned close enough to Ned’s ear that he could have kissed it, and whispered softly. “
Otherwise, when we get back to the Hive, I’m going to put in a very unfavorable report of your obedience.
”

             
Whatever Allen meant, Asa gathered that it was very serious by the frightened expression that filled Ned’s face. “Yes, sir.”

             
“I won’t have any more issues with you?”

             
“No, sir.”

             
“Good.” Allen stepped back. “Asa, hand me the gun. Wish you would have shot Thom with the first bullet, but still, good job.”

             
“Thank you, sir.” Asa bent down, picked up the firearm, and handed it to Allen.
He thinks that I missed!
Asa realized.
He thinks it was an accident.

             
Allen took the firearm, put it in its holster, turned, and walked down the pebbled incline towards the ground below. The others followed; Ned never took his eyes off of Asa.

42

Asa’s Father’s Traps

              Asa couldn’t believe that he had gotten away with shooting at Allen. He walked down into the lower room, constantly on edge that Allen would change his mind and kill him. His anxiety was mentally consuming, and Asa tried to push it out of his mind. Now that Thom was dead, and Asa no longer had a firearm, he had to find another way to stop the Multipliers.

Allen told them that the gas was only active in the air for a minute or so, and that they could take their gas masks off. Everyone did so.

              The green and blue pebbled floor of the lower room was littered with yellow and orange leaves. Allen crunched over these as he stomped towards the great tree in the center of the room. Allen explained that the entrance to the lower levels was somehow hidden inside the oak tree. Asa wasn’t sure what that meant, but Allen went to work running his hands over the trunk, and tugging at the different branches.

             
While waiting for Allen to figure out the tree-entrance, Asa walked around the room, looking at the safes. Each of the metal boxes was engraved in brail and English. Asa imagined Mama coming down to the lower level on the wheelchair ramp, and then having to feel her way to the correct vaccines. Asa took a moment to look at the texture on each of the safes, thankful for his eyesight.

             
The smell of cigarettes stung Asa’s nostrils, and he turned to see Rose’s face just inches from his. Her eyes were closed, and she sniffed in heartily before exhaling with a smile. “You still smell so
fresh,”
she told him. “You almost smell like a human. Almost.” She licked her lips with a black tongue, using it to wipe Salvaserum that was leaking out the side of her mouth.

             
Asa smiled nervously. “I guess I am fresh,” he said. “Only been a Multiplier a few hours.”

             
Rose closed her eyes again and leaned into Asa’s neck. She inhaled deeply. Asa just stood there, not wanting to push her away, or retreat, fearful that he would break a Multiplier norm. While she sniffed him, he was immensely uncomfortable. Asa continued to find the Multipliers unpredictable and strange. The more time he spent with them, the more sure he became that he would be instantly discovered to be a human when he arrived at the Hive.

             
Asa was thankful when Allen called for them, so that he could walk away from Rose. “Get over here. We’re moving,” Allen shouted.

             
Asa and all the Multipliers gathered behind Allen. He had somehow found a way to open up the tree trunk, revealing a small doorway. Inside, Asa saw a glistening silver pole that ran down into darkness.

             
“This is it,” Allen said, rubbing his hands with a greedy expression on his face. “We’re going to all slide down this pole, and then we’ll be that much closer to reaching those vaccines.” He glanced over his shoulder at the door before addressing them again, as though fearful that more graduates were coming. “I want to move fast, okay? I don’t want another interruption like our dead friend up there gave us. Let’s get in and get out. But that doesn’t mean that we’re not careful. I only had one conversation with Volkner about this place, and he didn’t give me a whole lot of detail on the first two rooms. I don’t know what they’ll be like. But he stressed that no matter what happens, we must not walk off to the side. The second we get into these rooms, we walk straight towards the doors. Anyone not understand what I’m saying?”

             
No one said anything.

             
“Alright,” Allen said. “Follow me. No loitering up here.” Allen turned, grabbed the pole, and slid down into darkness, out of sight. The rest of them followed.

Rose went second, and then Ned pushed Asa roughly forward. “Go on, newbie,” he said. “I’m not letting you be the last one.”

              Asa thought about spiting back a rude retort, but held his tongue. He walked forward, grabbed the pole, and let his weight carry him down. In moments, he was surrounded by total darkness, sliding quickly down the slick pole. There was no light around him, and he had no way of gauging his speed. It took half a minute before dim lights began to emerge beneath him. He slipped down until the pole ended and he dropped ten feet onto a red rug. Allen and Rose were beside him, and Asa backed away so that the next Multiplier wouldn’t fall on top of him.

             
“Don’t get off the rug,” Allen growled. “I have a suspicion that this rug marks the boundary.”

             
“That pole is going to be a bitch to climb back up,” Rose observed, straining her eyes in the darkness above to try to see the next person coming down. The door to the tree looked to be as small as a pinprick at this distance. Asa realized that a normal human wouldn’t be able to get back out of this room, and they would probably die down here. The pole was a high leap above Asa’s head and slippery. With their incredible strength, the Multipliers would have no problem leaping up, grabbing the pole, and climbing out. Asa thought that he could climb out, but it would be with some difficulty. He would rather fly.

             
Asa looked around at where he had landed. He thought the room belonged in a medieval castle. The walls were made of blocky, gray and black stones, which were chipped and aged. Small candles were burning from holders that jutted out from the wall. Seeing these candles alarmed Asa.
Surely,
he thought,
those aren’t on all the time. Is someone else here with us? Are they automated to come on when the door above is opened?

             
The idea of someone living down here was creepy. There were dozens of dark hallways that ran off the main area. The initial room was cut in half by a long rug that ran the entire one hundred yards between Asa and the door in the back.

             
All we have to do is walk straight, and stay on the rug?
Asa thought.
Why would that be hard? Why didn’t my father make it more difficult to get to the other door? He could have at least put some obstacles in.

             
Edna, Joney, and Michael came through. Edna, still high, landed flat on her back, traveling at a speed that would have cracked a human’s ribs. She grunted, then giggled and stood up, obviously not that hurt.

             
“Let’s go,” Allen said. “Remember, don’t walk off the rug. Stay on the rug.”

             
Asa nodded. He was tired of hearing Allen repeat this so many times. Allen led the way. The first fifteen yards of the room were narrow, and then the space opened up, vast and sprawling.

             
They took their first few steps, and then a pain-provoked shriek of agony filled the air, turning Asa’s blood cold. The wailing was the kind of vocal-cord shredding scream that Bruce had put out when Allen was shooting his foot off. But that wasn’t what disturbed Asa. What disturbed him was the voice—he had heard it before—it used to sing him lullabies before bed and now it was crying out as though insanely terrified.

             
“That’s my mom,” Asa said, but no one listened. Asa walked a little faster, and when the room widened out, he could
see
her. His eyes filled with tears; he never thought he would see her again, but here she was.

             
She was slender. Her face was dotted with freckles and her eyes were green and wide.

             
How is this possible?
Asa wondered.
Did she not actually die? Did the doctors give her over to the Academy where she would be stored until this moment?