The nurse’s office was just as he had left it. It was empty silent and slled faintly of antiseptic.
It was the only safe place he had found in this whole school a neutral zone between his respawn point and the world of death that waited outside.
Adam walked past the cot his footsteps silent on the linoleum floor.
His newfound agility made his movents quiet and precise. He didn’t hesitate. He went directly to the desk pulled open the top drawer and took the small knife.
The cool tal was a familiar weight in his palm. He closed his fingers around it and slipped it deep into his pocket. It was his only ally.
He walked out of the office.
As before Jas was waiting in the hallway. His face was arranged into a patient smile but Adam’s enhanced perception caught the subtle tension in his jaw the slight widening of his eyes as Adam approached.
He was nervous.
"Adam," Jas began his voice calm but a little too loud in the quiet hall. "Are you feeling better now? You were looking pale."
Adam t his teacher’s eyes. He saw the greed hiding behind the fake concern.
"Yes sir. I’d like to go ho now." He paused letting the silence hang for a mont before delivering the line he knew the man wanted to hear. "I was hoping... I could go with you. I don’t really want to walk."
The smile on Jas’s face widened.
The tension in his jaw relaxed. It was a predator pleased with its approaching prey.
Adam watched that smile and any lingering shred of hesitation inside him dissolved. He was not the victim this ti. He would not wait to be attacked. He was the one with the plan.
They walked to the parking lot. The late afternoon sun was low in the sky. Jas unlocked the sedan with a cheerful beep. Adam reached for the passenger side door but paused.
His eyes were fixed on the back seat.
He saw a dark jacket and a blanket piled in a lumpy unnatural heap.
It was a clumsy attempt at concealnt. Beneath the fabric a human form was trying and failing to be invisible. Adam could see the distinct shape of a person’s shoulders. Adam knew soone was there waiting.
He was ready.
Adam opened his door slid into the passenger seat and clicked his seatbelt shut.
The small click was a declaration of intent. Jas started the engine.
The car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
They drove through the city. The familiar streets gave way to the open road leading out of town.
The landscape beca a blur of trees and fields. This was the kill zone.
The car was a sealed bubble of tension moving through a deserted world. Adam’s right hand rested on his thigh inches from his pocket where the knife waited. He watched the road his mind a quiet cold slate.
He counted the seconds. Last ti you started it he thought. You waited for to be distracted. This ti I will attack first.
As if he could feel the shift in the atmosphere Jas glanced over. He was about to start his reassuring speech. "Adam—"
The word was his cue. Before his na was fully spoken Adam moved. He slamd his right foot against the dashboard bracing himself for leverage.
In the sa motion his left hand shot into his pocket his fingers closing around the knife’s handle. He pulled it free. The blade was a silver flash in the dimming light of the car.
With a single fluid movent fueled by his new strength and agility he lunged across the center console. He drove the blade forward.
He aid for the center of Jas’s chest where he knew the heart was. The knife hit its mark. It sank deep into flesh.
A wet choked gasp escaped the teacher’s lips. His eyes went wide with shock and pain. His hands convulsed on the steering wheel. He had been so sure of his plan.
He had never considered that the sheep would have teeth. The car swerved sharply its tires screaming on the empty asphalt.
Chaos erupted in the back.
The pile of clothes flew upwards as a man shot up from his hiding place.
His hands ca over the headrest fingers spread wide like claws. He was reaching for Adam’s throat. It was the sa attack as before but everything was different now.
The car was out of control. It lurched violently to the side. The sudden movent threw the attacker hard against the rear door. His head cracked against the window.
Adam was slamd against his own door the impact rattling his teeth. Jas was a dead weight slumping forward against the steering wheel.
The car now driverless careened off the empty road. It smashed through a flimsy wooden guardrail.
The wood splintered with a loud crack. The car tipped forward and began to tumble down the steep grassy embanknt towards the wide dark river below.
The world beca a nauseating blur of green grass and blue sky. The river rushed up to et them. Adam acted on pure instinct.
His heightened perception allowed him to think clearly even in the chaos.
He slamd his hand on the door latch unhooked it and shoved the door open with his shoulder. As the car continued its plunge he threw himself out into the open air.
He hit the grassy slope hard. His body rolled over dirt and rocks until he skidded to a stop just a few feet from the water’s edge. Behind him a massive splash echoed in the quiet evening.
The car hit the river and began to sink beneath the surface bubbles rising to mark its grave.
Adam pushed himself up onto his elbows. His entire body ached from the fall. He looked down at his left hand. It was slick with warm red blood. Jas’s blood.
The knife was still clutched tightly in his fist. He had done it.
He had killed Jas and he had survived. A cold sense of victory washed over him quickly followed by the grim reality of his situation.
His gaze lifted from his hand to the scene of the crash.
Near the riverbank thrown clear from the car just as he had been the second man was struggling to his feet. He was disoriented bruised from the impact.
He shook his head trying to clear it. Adam’s eyes locked onto the man’s face as he stumbled in the dim light.
And then Adam froze.
A wave of shock colder and more jarring than the river water washed over him. His mind refused to process what he was seeing. This wasn’t a stranger.
It wasn’t so hired assassin or a faceless thug from the city’s underworld.
The man staring back at him with a mixture of rage confusion and pain was Philips.
His class monitor.
The student who always followed the rules who organized study groups and lectured others about being on ti. The boy who was obsessed with order and discipline.
It was Philips. And he was holding a thin garrote wire in his hand.
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