class freak. No one wanted to be around him.”
“No surprise,” Ryker cut in.
“Anyway, they always hung out together after school. My mom liked going to museums, and Alloy would do anything for her. They fell in love, got married, had me, blah blah blah. Alloy got a job at the school as a janitor. Even though he was an adult, the kids picked on him, called him names, and pulled pranks. He put up with it for eleven years because he and Mom needed the money.
“I used to love him; he taught me everything about building. He pushed me toward my welding dream and helped me raise money for my own welder. We did everything together, and my mom loved to come watch me at work. She'd ask me questions and want me to explain certain things just because she knew I'd know.”
“No wonder you’re so good with that kind of stuff,” Ryker said. “What changed? How did he turn into the evil school leader?”
“I’m getting there,” Taryn said. “I want you to know everything.”
Ryker gave her a gesture to continue.
“A few months after my eleventh birthday, Alloy came home from work in the worst mood I had ever seen. He wouldn’t talk to me or my mom. He just grumbled to himself, something about ‘stupid kids’ and ‘no respect.’ We actually never found out what exactly happened, but he became very secretive and rarely talked to anyone. My mom got worried, but she told me it would be fine. A few weeks later, my mom was shot, right outside the school, after she had come to see Alloy.”
“Shot by who?” Ryker asked.
“Some stupid gang member. He thought she was coming to bust them.” Taryn was doing her best to hold back the tears. “From that day forward, I began to hate Alloy more and more. I blamed him for her death. Eventually we became bitter enemies, as you have seen. He took charge of the school, blackmailed all the guards that worked for him, and punished every child that didn’t follow the rules, main child being me because I was trying to get out of that school every second. He's the one who set up the rule that you had to have so many classes and so much work time before you could apply to leave. And thus, the story of my life and how I'm to blame for all of this.”
“How is any of this your fault?” Ryker asked.
“If I hadn’t grown to hate him maybe I could have helped him. After my mom died I was just so confused and angry, I didn’t want anyone around me. I never took into consideration how he was dealing with it. I formed my own opinion of what I wanted to believe happened.”
“This is in no way your fault,” Ryker said, taking Taryn in his arms. He gently stroked her hair as she cried.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a small laugh. “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.”
“Why was Alloy so obsessed with you?” Ryker asked.
“Because I was a leader. Every day I had a new idea about how to shut down his operation.”
“You never give up, do you,” Ryker said, giving her a squeeze.
Taryn gestured to the graves. “And look what it led to.”
Ryker put her at arm’s length and looked her right in the eyes. “It’s not your fault.”
“You can keep telling me that, but I’ll never believe you,” Taryn said with a sad smile. She wiped her face with her sleeve. She was glad she had let everything out. There were no secrets.
“Now what?” Taryn asked.
“If you think everyone's ready, and you’re ready, we can blow the place.”
“You can give the speech this time.”
“Deal,” Ryker said. “Want to go shoot some things. I really love that armory.”
“Thought you’d never ask,” Taryn said putting her arm around Ryker's waist.
“Nice chat,” Ryker said wrapping his arm around Taryn’s shoulders. “I hope you heard all of that, Laik.”
They both smiled and then walked back through the doors and down to the armory for some friendly competition.
IT WAS A COOL, CRISP morning and everyone was gathered in the dining hall eating breakfast. Taryn and Ryker were eating toast and canned soup while waiting for Devin, Halo, and Tracker. Today was the day they were going to tell everyone about the bomb, and if everything worked out, they would go through with it today.
“Are we ready for this?” Ryker asked.
“I think we need to be,” Taryn said. “We need to get this over with and let these people get on with their lives.”
“What are we going to do once this is all over?” Ryker asked. “We can’t stay here forever.”
“I know,” Taryn sighed. “Everyone will have to go into town and find work.”
“Morning,” Halo said as he and Devin grabbed some food and sat down.
“Hey,” Taryn said. “I know this bombing has nothing to do with you, but your people can come and watch too.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Devin said shoving a piece of bread in his mouth.
“Where’s Tracker?” Ryker asked. “I haven’t seen her in a few days. I don’t think she was even at the pillage.”
“Huh, how could we not miss her?” Taryn asked.
Just then Tracker came through doors, scanned the room, and started walking toward them.
“Speak of the devil,” Halo said, making room.
“Where have you been?” Ryker asked.
“Sleeping,” Tracker said. “When’s the pillage?”
Taryn and Ryker exchanged looks, Devin slightly choked on his bread, and Halo laughed.
“That was two days ago,” Taryn said. “Everything's here, and we're going to tell them about the bombing today.”
“Aw man, I missed it,” Tracker said.
“You missed it alright,” Ryker said.
“Just don’t go back to sleep and maybe you can watch the bombing,” Halo said.
Tracker mimicked his tone and began slurping her soup.
They all seemed to get along great, but Taryn wondered what would happen after things had settled and they had to move on.
“You ready for your big speech?” Taryn asked Ryker.
“Yep,” Ryker said, getting up and going to the front table. Once he was on top of the table the room quieted.
Everyone turned to look at him. Taryn, Halo, and Devin got up and stood around the table. Tracker stayed to finish her breakfast.
“Okay, we've come up with a plan, and we want to share it with you,” Ryker started. “Later today everyone who wants to come can follow us back to the school.” There was low mumbling among the people but Ryker continued. “Let me explain what we're doing before you tune out. We're going to use the bomb the doctor made, and we're going to blow up the school. Alloy’s body is already inside, and we got everything out that we can use, so there's not much use for the building. It holds too many bad memories for everyone, and once it’s gone it'll give closure. You don’t have to come if you don’t want. We'll meet back here in three hours, then we’ll head out.”
With that Ryker jumped down from the table, and the room burst into energy. Some people were hugging and crying, but most were smiling and laughing.
“That wasn’t too bad,” Taryn said.
“Should we go rig up the bomb before anyone gets there?” Devin asked.
“Yeah. Take the doctor and get everything ready,” Ryker said. “Make sure the detonator is far enough away.”
Devin nodded, and he and Halo went to find the doctor. Ryker and Taryn went back to the table with Tracker. She was still stuffing her face.
“It’s like you haven’t eaten in a week,” Taryn said.
“I’m starving,” Tracker said with a piece of bread in her mouth. “Nice speech, Ryker.”
“Thank you.” He made a show of bowing deeply. “Yep, I can’t believe it’s going to be over before nightfall. What are we going to do next?” he asked.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going into town and getting a job at the power plant,” Tracker said. “I've always wanted to work there.”
“I think a lot of people will want to go and find jobs,” Taryn said, twirling a
fork in her fingers. “This'll just be a place to come if they can't find a place to live.”
“You should look into the welding shop,” Tracker said to Taryn. “They never have enough help. And you’re a girl, so that’s a plus.”
“There’s a welding shop?” Taryn asked, suddenly interested.
“There are a lot of shops,” Tracker said. “Any skill you can think of.”
“I guess it won’t be too hard to move on,” Ryker said with a slight sadness in his voice.
“Guess not,” Taryn said putting the fork down. “I’m going to find some warmer clothes for the bombing.”
Taryn got up and walked toward the hallway to her room.
Ryker nabbed a piece of Tracker’s bread and got up.
“Hey!” Tracker said.
“I’m going to throw a few knives,” Ryker said. “Let Taryn know, if she’s looking for me.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Tracker said.
“ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?” Ryker asked Taryn when they met at the front door.
“Yep,” Taryn answered while putting on her heavy black sweatshirt. “Did the doctor get the bomb ready?”
“Sure did,” Dr. Render said, walking up waving a small remote. “We’re good to go.”
People started gathering in the dining hall. Most were dressed in sweatshirts, boots, hats, and gloves. Devin and Halo were talking to a few people from their group. Taryn figured that all but ten or twenty people were tagging along to watch. Most of the ones not coming were still too injured to walk.
“It'll all be over in a matter of minutes,” Ryker said.
“We’ll give people a little more time, then we can go,” Taryn said.
“I didn’t miss it, did I?” Tracker said, running up.
“Sorry, it’s
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