It might have been a fair enough question if someone else had asked it. But I got the feeling Peter’s disbelief was less about what was harder to explain and more about what he wanted to be true.
‘Think about it,’ he continued when he could see that neither of us was convinced. ‘Crazy Bill comes along with this mysterious doomsday warning, but then he drags us out to the airport and we find out he doesn’t even want to talk about it. He just wants us to help him get out of town or whatever. Don’t you think it’s possible that he made the whole thing up to get us to help him?’
‘Kind of a round-about way of asking for our help, isn’t it?’ I said, bringing my voice down to a whisper as a group of girls shuffled into the seats in front of us.
‘What about Crazy Bill’s recording?’ said Jordan. ‘He made that up too, did he?’
‘I’ve been telling you from the start that it’s a fake,’ said Peter. ‘Anyone with a bit of digital editing experience could have –’ ‘Right,’ Jordan muttered, ‘because Crazy Bill is definitely a massive computer nerd.’
Peter looked like he’d love to keep arguing, but I guess he could see that Jordan was starting to get fired up because he dropped it. The hall continued to fill up around us, and my mind drifted back to our meeting with Crazy Bill.
‘Here’s what I don’t get,’ I said, after a minute. ‘Out at the airport – when we first got there – Crazy Bill was almost making sense. I mean, not that I had any idea what he was talking about half the time, but he was at least sort of coherent. But then security rocks up and he just loses it – launches into all that stuff about his trial and how he’s going to prosecute Calvin.’
‘Yeah,’ said Peter, nodding. ‘Anyone else reckon all that sounded familiar?’
Jordan and I both stared at him.
‘Okay,’ said Peter. ‘I’m gonna take that as a no.’
We heard footsteps echoing down on the stage and looked over to see who it was.
‘Good morning, everyone,’ Ms Pryor said warmly.
Some of the younger kids started chorusing ‘Good morning’ back to her, but she steamrolled right over the top of them.
‘I don’t wish to keep you from your classes any longer than necessary, so I’ll be brief. We have a guest this morning who’s requested a few minutes of our time to make an important announcement concerning student safety. Please welcome Officer Bruce Calvin, Chief of Phoenix Security.’
A few people clapped, but the applause was drowned out by gasps and whispers as Calvin made his way onto the stage.
He looked terrible, even worse than Officer Reeve. The whole left side of his body was being held together by a mess of stitches and bandages, and most of his face was covered in one huge bruise. His nose was bent out of shape, his right leg was in plaster, and he hobbled out from behind the curtain on a crutch.
It looked like even moving across the stage was a big effort. Calvin stopped at the lectern and swayed slightly, like he might be about to lose his balance.
‘That will do,’ said Ms Pryor sternly, and the noise in the theatre died down again.
‘Thank you,’ said Calvin, managing to sound strong and commanding despite his injuries. ‘It’s a pleasure to be here at Phoenix High, and I only wish I were visiting under happier circumstances.’
The school was silent now, all eyes fixed on Calvin, though I assumed most of them were just hoping his announcement would include the story of how he got those injuries.
‘Phoenix is a town that prides itself on providing its citizens with the highest possible standard of safety,’ Calvin went on, gripping the lectern for support. ‘And, as I’m sure you all know, my role as Chief of Security is to ensure that this standard is upheld. Unfortunately, there is one Phoenix resident who seems intent on disrupting the peaceful way of life we’ve been working so hard to maintain.’
Calvin tapped a button on the lectern and a giant photo of Crazy Bill appeared on the projector screen behind him. For a few seconds, everyone started whispering again, but they all stopped as soon as Calvin opened his mouth.
‘Many of you will have seen this man wandering the streets of Phoenix. Until recently, my security staff and I considered him to be perfectly harmless. However, we now know this Crazy Bill to be an extremely dangerous individual capable of –’ Calvin’s face twisted into a wince, ‘– violent outbursts.’
Calvin tapped at the lectern again and the image behind him disappeared.
‘Rest assured that my security team is working around the clock to track this criminal down and bring him to justice,’ he boomed. ‘In the meantime, I have spoken to your principal and, between us, we have decided on an appropriate next step in ensuring the safety of all Phoenix High students.’
Murmurs began to fill the theatre again.
‘Beginning tonight,’ Calvin pushed on over the noise, ‘Phoenix will be imposing a curfew on all persons under the age of eighteen. For as long as this curfew stands, no student will be permitted to leave their home after dark unless they are under the supervision of a parent or guardian.’ Calvin’s eyes swept the hall, like he was searching for someone.
‘Any student in breach of this curfew will be brought directly to the Phoenix Security Centre, where they will have me to answer to. And I can assure you –’ his eyes froze, suddenly fixed on the three of us, ‘– the consequences of such disobedience will not be pleasant.’
Chapter 15
TUESDAY, MAY 12
93 DAYS
‘Did you see the way Calvin was staring us down back there?’ I said as we left the hall. The vague feeling I’d had of being watched all week suddenly had a name and a face. ‘It was almost like he was daring us to put a foot out of line, just so he could have an excuse to come after us.’
‘You reckon?’ said Peter. ‘I mean, yeah, he was trying to scare us. But he was trying to scare everybody. Parading around on stage like that, showing off his injuries to the whole world – perfect way to make sure no-one goes anywhere near Crazy Bill.’
‘Right,’ said Jordan. ‘He suspects us, obviously, but so far all he knows is that we’ve had one conversation with Crazy Bill at the airport.’
Technically, there were still about fifteen minutes left of our history period, but it didn’t seem like anyone was exactly rushing off to class. We found a place to sit out on the grass. Peter opened his laptop and got to work changing the fonts in his essay for Mr Hanger to make it look like he’d rewritten it.
‘It definitely proves Bill’s got them on edge, though,’ said Jordan. ‘Putting a curfew on the whole school because of one missing person who’s never even attacked a student? Not exactly standard procedure, is it?’
I’d had the exact same thought. ‘Doubt it,’ I said. ‘Although I think standard procedure pretty much goes out the window when you’re plotting to –’ I stopped short as Cathryn, Tank and Michael came past. They were obviously in the middle of an argument, although it was hard to tell how serious any of them were about it.
‘C’mon, Mike,’ said Cathryn, thrusting an open hand out in front of him. ‘Pay up.’
‘No,’ he said, rolling his eyes and pushing the hand away. ‘Look, I told you, it doesn’t count.’
‘As if it doesn’t!’ said Tank.
‘I said Pryor would run the assembly this week,’ said Cathryn, flicking her blonde hair indignantly. ‘And she did. So hand over the money.’
‘There wasn’t even supposed to be an assembly today,’ Michael protested.
‘Yeah?’ said Cathryn. ‘Well, turns out there was one. So are you going to give me my five bucks or do I have to –?’
‘Oi, Peter!’ Michael yelled, spotting the three of us. ‘Tell Cat that didn’t count as a real assembly!’
Cathryn looked over and narrowed her eyes at Peter. ‘Why are you bringing him into it?’ she said coldly. ‘He’s not even –’ ‘Not even what?’ Peter challenged her.
Cathryn stared at him, then turned away like she was going to walk off.<
br />
‘No, come on,’ said Peter, moving his laptop and getting to his feet. ‘You’ve got a problem with me?
Let’s hear it.’
‘Problem?’ said Cathryn, whirling around again. ‘Just because you’ve randomly decided to start ditching your real friends to hang out with these two ring-ins you don’t even know? No, Peter, why would I have a problem with that?’
‘Screw you,’ Peter sneered. ‘You want to talk about ditching friends? How about the three of you disappearing after school every day and leaving me to –’ ‘It’s not like that,’ said Cathryn, gritting her perfect teeth.
‘No?’ said Peter angrily. ‘What’s it like then?’
Cathryn opened her mouth to respond, but Michael glared at her and she closed it again.
Peter stood staring at them for a minute, then shook his head and said, ‘You know what? Forget it.’
He sat back down on the grass, fuming, and picked up his laptop.
‘What was all that about?’ I asked as the three of them walked away.
‘Nothing,’ grunted Peter.
‘Peter,’ said Jordan gently.
‘It’s nothing, all right?’ Peter snapped. ‘They’re just – I used to be really good mates with those guys, back when we were the only kids our age in Phoenix.’
‘And now…?’ Jordan prodded.
‘And now I’m not,’ he said bitterly. ‘A month ago, when the really big rush of people came into Phoenix, those guys suddenly started cutting me out of their lives. Shutting down conversations as soon as I came near them, slipping off after school and not telling me where they were going…’
Jordan stared at him. ‘You don’t think they have something to do with – ?’
‘Calvin?’ Peter snorted. ‘Yeah, right. Those three couldn’t keep something like that quiet if their lives depended on it.’
Jordan shrugged. ‘Well, you know them better than I do. But I’m starting to think we’re too far down the rabbit hole to rule anything –’
‘Whoa,’ said Peter, closing his laptop suddenly.
‘Whoa, what?’ I said, looking around.
‘Rabbit hole,’ said Peter, which wasn’t exactly helpful. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. ‘Library,’ he said. ‘C’mon!’
‘Huh?’ said Jordan. ‘Peter, what are you talking about?’
But he was already halfway across the playground.
Jordan and I grabbed our bags and chased after him.
The bell went as we reached the building, and kids started pouring into the stairwell between us and Peter. By the time we caught up with him, he was already halfway through the library door.
The library was empty except for a couple of Year 12 kids studying up the back. Peter glanced at the loans desk, saw that no-one was there, then shrugged and raced across to the fiction section.
‘Carroll, right?’ he said, running his finger along a row of books. Every single book looked unread.
‘What are you doing?’ I said, surprised that Peter even knew his way around a bookshelf.
‘Never mind, found it.’ Peter pulled a paperback from the shelf and waved it in front of us.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
‘Is that supposed to mean something?’ Jordan asked, glancing at me.
‘It means I finally figured out where – oh hey, miss!’
Mrs Lewis, the school librarian, had just appeared from around the corner, pushing a trolley loaded with books. She was an older lady, somewhere between my mum and my grandma, with a wrinkled face and hair that looked like it had just crossed the line from mostly brown to mostly grey.
‘Hello, Peter,’ she smiled. ‘Shouldn’t you be on your way to your next lesson?’
‘Free period,’ Peter lied.
Mrs Lewis pursed her lips at him.
‘Okay, fine,’ said Peter, ‘I’m supposed to be in health – but I just need to check something really quickly!’
‘Go on then,’ she sighed. ‘But let no-one say that I didn’t try to get you to do the right thing!’ She stuck a book from her trolley back onto the shelf. ‘And don’t come running to me if someone catches you skipping class.’
Peter grinned. ‘No worries, miss.’
‘And don’t forget you’ve still got Utopia out,’ she told him, shelving a couple more books. ‘It was due back last Friday.’
‘Can I have it for another week?’ Peter asked, as though oblivious to the disbelieving looks that Jordan and I were shooting him. ‘I’m still reading it.’
‘Oh, I suppose so,’ she said, smiling at Peter like he was her favourite grandchild. She grabbed onto her trolley again and disappeared down the next row of shelves.
‘Thanks, miss!’ Peter called after her.
He turned back and caught me smirking at him.
‘What?’
‘Bit old for you, don’t you think?’ I whispered.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ said Peter defensively.
‘Nothing,’ I said, still grinning. ‘I just didn’t realise you and the librarian had such a connection.
’ ‘Shut up,’ said Peter, punching me in the arm. ‘She just likes me because I borrow a lot of books.’
Jordan raised an eyebrow. ‘You?’
‘What, you think I’m illiterate just because I don’t like school?’ said Peter. ‘For your information, I’m not dumb, I have an attitude problem.
’ ‘Ah,’ said Jordan seriously. ‘Of course.’
‘Just ask Staples!’ said Peter. ‘I’m sure she’d be happy to tell you how much wasted potential I have.’
‘So are you ready to explain why you dragged us here in the first place?’ I asked.
Peter’s eyes flashed back down to the book in his hand like he’d forgotten he was even holding it. ‘Right!’ he said excitedly, opening it up and flipping through the pages. ‘Yeah, okay, so you know all that stuff Crazy Bill was shouting out at the airport?’ he whispered. ‘All that raving about the trial and all that?’
‘What about it?’ I asked.
‘It wasn’t just raving,’ said Peter, frantically turning pages. ‘I knew I’d heard it before and I finally figured out why. It’s a poem, from this book, somewhere near the beginning, I –’
Peter froze, eyes glued to the open book. Then he slowly turned the book around and held the page up in front of our faces. Like he’d said, there was a poem there. The words were all arranged into the shape of a mouse’s tail and I recognised some of them from Crazy Bill’s dummy spit at the airport.
But it wasn’t the poem that had stopped Peter in his tracks. A picture had been drawn across the page in black marker, over the top of the printed text.
It was kind of hard to figure out what we were looking at. There was a cluster of boxes, like a bird’s eye view of a little town, with a line stretching out that might have been a road, and lots of messy scribbles that I guessed were probably trees. Then I noticed two big Xs, one on the road and one in the trees, and suddenly realised what I was seeing.
‘A map,’ said Peter. ‘That crazy psycho left us a map.’
Chapter 16
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
92 DAYS
I sat on my bed, flicking through the 150 still-not-working satellite channels, waiting for Peter to show up.
We’d spent the rest of yesterday trying to make sense of Crazy Bill’s map. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that the little town was Phoenix, and that the two Xs were places along the main road out of town.
But after a whole afternoon of throwing around theories about what could be out there that Crazy Bill was trying to point us to, we’d eventually decided – much to Peter’s disappointment – that the only way we were ever going to find out was by following the map and checking it out for ourselves.
Thanks to the curfew, there wasn’t really much we could do until the weekend, but we’d decided to meet at Jordan’s house after school to come up with some sort of plan. Jordan was already there, but her pare
nts had asked her to come straight home from school for a family meeting or something, so Peter and I had both gone home to wait for a couple of hours before we went over.
For a while, I’d actually been trying to catch up on some homework. But when you know the human race is about to be wiped off the face of the earth, quadratic equations suddenly seem a whole new level of pointless.
At about ten to five, the doorbell rang. I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs.
But when I got to the door, it wasn’t Peter. It was Mr Ketterley, the guy who’d met Mum and me at the airport. It was strange to think that had only been a week ago.
‘Hey there, Luke,’ he said. ‘Is your mother around?’
‘No,’ I said slowly, wondering what this was about. ‘She’s still at work. Why?’
‘Just doing my rounds,’ Mr Ketterley smiled. ‘Thought I’d drop by to check that you two are settling in okay. What about you, buddy? Got everything you need?’
I could think of about a hundred different responses to that question, but I wasn’t about to say any of them out loud.
‘What’s the story with the phones?’ I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
‘Still working on it,’ said Mr Ketterley. ‘We’re having a tough time figuring out the exact source of the problem. But we’ll get there, kiddo, don’t you worry about that. I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we’re back online.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You miss your dad, huh?’ he said, looking genuinely sorry about it.
I shrugged. I’d been trying not to think about it too much. ‘I just don’t like being so cut off, you know?’
‘Why don’t you write him a letter?’ Mr Ketterley suggested. ‘Stick it in the mailbox and they’ll send it out with the next supply truck.’
‘Yeah,’ I said, catching sight of Peter wheeling his bike in through the gate. ‘Yeah, okay, I’ll do that.’
‘G’day, Aaron,’ said Peter, coming up the path, looking slightly confused to see him there.
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