Robison Wells - Variant

“Well?” Carrie said.

I looked at her and shook my head. “No. Not an accident. How did you get in here?”

Curtis stepped toward me. “Benson, you don’t understand what you’ve done. Hasn’t anyone told you about the truce we have with the gangs? Haven’t they told you why we needed one?”

“I had to do it,” I said. “They can have the contracts back later. Heck, I have lots of points. I’ll buy them whatever they need.”

“No,” Curtis said again. “The truce wasn’t just like we got together at lunch and flipped a coin. There were fights. Riots. You’ve seen the graveyard.”

“People died,” Carrie said. She turned from me and walked to the window.

I looked up at Mason, but he just shook his head, his lips pursed.

“We have to get all the V’s up,” Curtis said. He pointed to Mason. “Start going around, but be quiet. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if Havoc or the Society had checked the bids before Carrie.”

Mason nodded and rubbed his face. “Where are we meeting?”

Curtis looked over at Carrie, but she was still staring out the window.

“Downstairs,” he finally said. “First floor, maintenance room.”

Mason understood something from Curtis’s words that I didn’t—his eyes went wide and he paused, thinking, before he hopped down from the bunk.

As Mason was pulling on a pair of socks, Curtis spoke. “Make sure they all get dressed. Jeans or something, not uniforms. And good shoes.” Mason nodded.

“What could happen?” I asked. I wanted to tell them what I was planning, but it was too soon—I had only one chance, and I didn’t dare blow it. I had to wait until the outside doors were unlocked—until I could open them. I had those contracts now.

Carrie turned back to me, her eyes burning. She didn’t say anything.

“We’ll go get the girls,” Curtis said. “You get to the maintenance room, Benson. We have to find a way to fix this.”

The two of them went for the door, but he turned back, looking me in the eyes. “If any of the V’s get hurt because of this it’s going to be on your head. Got that?”

I nodded.

I got dressed quickly, wearing my Steelers sweatshirt and the cargo pants—stuffing the pockets with everything I could. The radios, a little bit of food, the binoculars. The three pepper spray grenades. I wished I had more. As I quietly headed out into the hall, a few of the other V’s were groggily getting out of bed. Hector’s eyes met mine as I passed his door, but he didn’t look upset. Mason must not have told him.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected this. I knew that the other gangs would be mad, and I figured that I’d probably get a beating for it, but I wasn’t expecting gang war.

The door at the end of the hall was propped open with a book, so I didn’t make any noise as I opened it and left.

There were no lights on anywhere, only the faint glow of obscured moonlight coming in the windows. I hurried as quickly as I could in the dark and jogged to the front doors. They were still locked, even now that I owned the contracts that would let me outside. I held my watch up to the window to read it. It was almost five. I’d seen Mouse jogging on the track as early as six.

There were footsteps above me as more of the V’s came down. Leaving the front doors, I headed for the maintenance room. I assumed Curtis wanted to meet there because only the V’s could access it. It would be safe, but it wouldn’t give us any way out.

I was the first there. The door buzzed and unlocked, and I went in and flipped the light switch. The room was mostly empty, with a few folding chairs on the wide cement floor. On one wall hung dozens of tools—wrenches, hammers, and saws of all shapes—and the other wall was taken up by three large cabinets filled with paint, cleaners, and glues. A big red metal tool chest sat near the door. I set my bag and backpack behind it.

The guys were the first to arrive, dressed but bleary-eyed. Joel was wearing sandals—I wondered whether he would regret that later.

Hector sat down against the wall. “Do you know what’s going on?”

I looked over at Mason. His face was flat and emotionless as he stared back at me.

“I’ll tell you,” I finally said. “But let’s wait till the girls get here.”

“I’m not running,” Joel said. “Not now. Not without a plan.”

“That’s not what this is about,” I said, only telling half the truth. If everything went well we might run, but that was a long way away. First I had to persuade my gang not to feed me to the wolves, and then hope we could survive until six.

“Are we at war again?” Hector asked.

I didn’t answer, but stepped to the doorway and looked out. I heard Mason say yes. Hector swore and reached above him, taking a hammer off the wall. He held it in his hands tightly, staring at the floor.

A few minutes later the girls appeared at the end of the hall. They were carrying backpacks, so Curtis must have given them more direction than Mason gave the boys. I stepped back from the door as they entered, but the glares on their faces as they passed me were evidence enough that they’d been told about the contracts. A few refused to even look at me. When they were all in the room, Curtis took a final check of the hall, paused to listen, and then closed the door.

Curtis looked at Mason. “Everybody know?” Mason shook his head.

“Well.” Curtis took a deep breath, watching the nervous, tired faces around him. Almost everyone was standing, waiting for an explanation. “I guess we’ll start with what we know and then we’ll figure out what we can do about it.” He glanced at me, and then back at the V’s. “Last night Benson made one-point bids on grounds and security.”

Immediately, the guys who hadn’t heard the news began talking. Curtis cut them off.

“I’m going to give him a chance to speak in his defense,” Curtis said, “but first we should know what’s coming. He’s pissed off both gangs. They probably won’t be working together, but they’ll both be after us.”

“After him,” Hector said, pointing at me. “Why should they be after the rest of us?”

Curtis nodded, his mouth shut tight. “Well, that’s what we need to figure out. The V’s take care of their own.” He looked at me. “We’ll give you a chance to explain.” He turned back to the group. “But first, how many of you were here before the truce?”

All but five raised their hands. Anna was one of the five, and she looked terrified. I’m sure she now wished she’d never switched sides.

“For the benefit of those who weren’t,” Curtis said, glancing again at me. “It was bad. We had the truce to end the fighting, and all of us knew what would happen if the truce was broken.”

Anna timidly raised her hand. “How bad is bad?”

Mason spoke. “You’ve all seen the graveyard. People died.”

Curtis’s face was ice cold. “Four died. Three in fights and one stabbed while she slept. Twelve others were sent to detention. Two haven’t ever been accounted for. Just disappeared.”

Anna lowered her head and started to cry.

Curtis turned to me. “Talk.”

I looked around at the faces of my fellow V’s. Some were scared, others angry. Carrie stared at the floor.

“I bid on the contracts last night,” I began, my heart pounding. I’d expected to feel like I was standing in front of a firing squad, but it actually felt the other way around, like I held their lives in my hands.

“I bid on those contracts because they’re the ones that have access to the outside doors.” I paused, watching their faces. I’m sure that some of them expected that I meant I was going to make a run for it and wanted the Society guys locked inside. It might come to that.