CopyCats – Chapter 9 – REVISED
“Can’t you two move any faster?” LaNiya yelled.
Halfway up the stairs, and she was still pulling both boys by the arms. Micheal felt as though she would yank it out of the socket. While she seemed to fly up the stairs, he stumbled with every other step. Asante also struggled. But anytime either of them lost their balance, they didn’t have enough time to fall as LaNiya continued mercilessly towards the basement door. The stairs screeched and clanged under their weight. Guess there wasn’t really a point to stealth anymore; they were already being followed. They couldn’t afford to waste anymore time.
“Faster, idiots! Don’t let them get away!” a voice shouted.
“Keep up, you two. We’re almost there,” LaNiya said.
“We can’t leave; Dr. Reed is still down there. We have to–” Asante pleaded, but LaNiya cut him off.
“We can’t do anything. We’re just kids. He told us to run, so run.”
Micheal didn’t like that answer. Sure they were kids, but they weren’t completely useless. There was always something you could do; you should never abandon someone, especially if you could’ve done something to help them. He still felt conflicted about following his teacher’s orders. They may not have been able to fight back against the guards, but it made his stomach churn at the idea of willingly leaving someone behind. Those men planned to use him to test their project. What if he died? And he just ran away. That’s something he couldn’t live with.
Using as much force as he could, Micheal stopped dead in his tracks. The sudden halt shocked LaNiya; she tried to pull back on his arm, but he steadied himself against her.
“What are you doing?” she shouted.
“I’m not abandoning someone in need,” Micheal declared.
“You’re stupid. You really think you stand a chance against grown men?” LaNiya demanded.
She leaned over the railing; hunched over, she desperately tried to catch her breath.
“I can try.”
BANG!
All three students snapped their heads towards the descending stairwell, covering their ears at the sound echoing through the corridor. Micheal felt a chill shot through him. Was that a gunshot? He looked at Asante, as if to receive clarification, but he looked just as stunned. Were they really shooting at them?
LaNiya was the only one who seemed less fazed by the thought. She rushed behind the two boys, pushing them back up the stairs towards the basement door.
“Well, I’m not leaving you here to get yourself killed,” she said.
A bit more agency returned to Asante as he assisted in pulling Micheal back up the stairs. When they finally reached the door, LaNiya pushed both boys back into the office and quickly shut the door behind them. The flashing green light switched to a red flashing green light, indicating the door was now locked.
She fell to her knees, desperately trying to catch her breath again. She put a hand up to her chest. She must have exerted a lot more energy than Micheal initially thought. He definitely felt tired, but he could still fight if the moment called for it. LaNiya looked like she was close to collapsing. Micheal was about to reach over towards her when another bang rang from the other side of the door.
“Ahhh!” Asante screamed.
LaNiya fell backward onto the floor. She quickly scurried away, joining Micheal and Asante. The voices of the guards could be heard on the other side of the door.
“It’s locked!”
“Who shut the door when they came in?”
“Nobody, stupid! It must have been the kids.”
“Quick, who knows the passcode? Anyone?”
“T-they can’t get through, can they?” LaNiya asked, turning to Asante.
“Umm…”
Beep, Beep, Beep…The kids all looked back at the door, listening as the guards were trying to unlock the door. Micheal looked at the flashing light, praying it didn’t turn green. After the sounds of the number keys stopped, the light flickered, but remained red.
“Seems like they don’t know the passcode,” Micheal said.
“Doesn’t mean we should stop. We’ve gotta get out of here,” LaNiya said, walking towards the office door.
“Wait!” Asante yelled.
Micheal watched as he began scanning the office room, as though looking for something specific. He climbed over the chaos of papers and chairs, making his way to the turned over desk. He sifted through the sea of books and folders scattered about the floor.
“We’re not staying here. Asante!” LaNiya yelled.
“Dang it! Does SOMEBODY know this code?”
Another bang sounded, but this time it was as though someone was trying to punch through the door or wall. Meanwhile, Asante had shifted to searching the overturned bookshelves. He skimmed through books, flinging it across the room when it wasn’t what he was looking for. Micheal dodged a few, as he walked over.
“What are you even looking for?” he asked.
“The bible,” Asante said.
Micheal and LaNiya shared a questionable look.
“Seriously? Just grab him, Micheal,” LaNiya yelled.
Micheal reached out to grab Asante, but he swiftly moved to another bookshelf and continued searching. Micheal followed and again attempted to retrieve his schoolmate.
“We have to go.”
“No, it’s important. They shouldn’t have been looking for it. It should’ve been right around…HERE!” Asante screamed.
Micheal watched as Asante picked up what looked like a large binder. It was one of those old-schooled ones, where it zipped up along the side. It also had a long shoulder strap. Asante swung it over his shoulder and turned to Micheal, nodding his head.
“Great, now let’s move,” LaNiya urged.
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep…CLICK.
ALl three of them looked back towards the door blinked green, and the door slowly pushed open. They must have guessed the passcode! Micheal pushed Asante towards the office door, as a few of the guards emerged from the door behind them.
“There they are!” one of them shouted, dashing towards the kids.
“We’re above ground now, no ammunition. You’ll alert someone,” another yelled.
So they really were shooting at them? Michael and Asante managed to get out of the office. LaNiya was trying to shut the door behind them, but one of the guards appeared, pushing back on the door. His force overpowered LaNiya, and she fell backwards. At least the door was now closed, trapping other guys behind. They continued banging on the door. The guard grabbed LaNiya by her arm, pulling her back up to her feet.
“I’ve got one!” he cried.
“Open the door, idiot!” another screamed.
The guard, still holding on to LaNiya, moved to let the others in.
Micheal quickly grabbed a nearby chair from one of the desks. It was heavier than a regular desk chair, but it would have to do. With as much might as he could muster, he swung the chair towards the man. However, he failed to get it high enough to smash into the guy. It barely managed to get off the ground, and clanged back to the floor. It only distracted the guy, as his attention was now towards Micheal and Asante.
“Ha! Thought you could lift that all by yourself, huh?” he mocked.
LaNiya didn’t waste any time. The moment the guy’s attention was on the boys, she made her move. Rearing up, she kicked the man in the shin. And she must have kicked hard because he immediately yelled in pain.
“Ahhhh!” he screamed, falling to one knee and caressing his possibly bruised leg.
LaNiya quickly ran around him, joining Asante and Micheal as all three burst through the lab doors. They dashed down the hallway, their footsteps echoing through the halls.
“Hey! Heyyy!” Asante yelled, “David! Zuriya!”
Micheal had nearly forgotten about those two. Were they even still in the classroom? They had to have been gone for more than an hour. Surely, those two would have left and gone home already. But to his surprise, just up ahead, the classroom door opened, and two heads popped out looking their way.
“Hey, you’re back. What’s going on? Did you find—” Zuriya asked, but her eyes opened wide as she stared in their direction.
Micheal instinctively turned his head to glance behind them, and saw that the guard LaNiya had kneed was hopping towards them.
“Stop!” The guard shouted, limping down the hallway.
The group made it to the stairwell, and dashed up the stairs. Picking up the pace, Micheal ran past Asante, but wasn’t fast enough to pass LaNiya. David grabbed Zuriya and pulled her back towards the upper floors. Now, all five students were running down the main hallway. Micheal was exhausted from running, but the guy was catching up to them, even with his injury.
“What did you guys do?” Zuriya asked, books falling from her hands, but David was still pulling her forward.
Micheal picked them up as he trailed behind them. LaNiya would constantly keep peeking over her shoulder behind them, likely to make sure Asante wasn’t trailing too far behind. But the guy was still closing the distance between them. Then, Micheal got an idea.
Taking a book in hand, gripping it firmly, he turned around and threw it as hard as he could at the guy. The first book missed altogether. The second hit the guy, but didn’t seem to do anything to slow him down. And the third book also hit with no indication of slowing him down.
“What are you doing with my books?” Zuriya yelled.
“I was trying to put some more distance between us and our pursuer,” Micheal answered.
“Let me try,” David said.
He grabbed a book from Zuriya and chucked it back towards the guy. The entire event took only a few seconds. He lined it up and threw it. The book spun through the air like a frisbee, connecting with the guy’s shin. Micheal thought it must’ve been the same one Laniya kicked because the guy groaned. His speed slowed slightly as he reached for his leg.
“Nice shot,” Asante said.
“Thanks. But do you remember the way out? Are we close?” David asked.
“Yeah. Just around the corner.”
Micheal watched Zuriya and David disappeared around the corner, followed by LaNiya. He rounded the corner, spotting the “EXIT” sign on the side door they used during the fire drill. Zuriya ran through the doors out of sight, while David and LaNiya held them open.
“Come on,” they shouted to Micheal and Asante.
Micheal grabbed Asante’s hand and pulled him towards the door. The cool, nighttime air chilled his skin as they crashed to the ground. The sky had darkened. It must have been really late. The streetlights illuminated the sidewalk.
“Are you guys alright?” David asked, helping him up.
“I’m alright.” Micheal answered, “but we should still get out of sight.”
“Over here,” Zuriya called, standing next to a huge hydrangea bush.
David offered his hand to Micheal, but he brushed it aside.
“Focus on LaNiya. I don’t think she can breathe very well,” he said.
David rushed over to assist her. Micheal, in turn, moved to help Asante towards the bush. He kept looking over his shoulder at the door. The guard could come bursting through and catch them all at any moment. Slowly, he and Asante made it to the hiding place with the others. They sat there waiting and watching the doors, but they didn’t burst open. Had the guard stopped following them?
“Is it safe now?” Zuriya asked.
“He should’ve been right behind us,” Asante said.
“Maybe he turned back after that last hit.” David offered.
The three of them continued to whisper their conversation. But in the dark, Micheal met LaNiya’s eyes. He saw her move her finger to her lips. Did she hear something? Micheal strained his ears to try to listen.
“Everyone, be quiet,” he said.
Once everyone had quieted down, he heard it. A car started. Micheal turned towards the parking lot, but didn’t see any vehicles with lights on, and none were moving either. But he could hear it. And it now sounded like it was moving. He turned towards the back of the school and just caught the lights of a van speeding away towards the upper hills.
“You think he’s in there?” Asante asked.
“Who’s in where?” Zuriya asked.
“Dr. Reed,” LaNiya answered.
“What?” Zuriya yelled.
“It’s a long story,” Micheal said, “One Asante knows more than he’s been letting on.”
“I thought that too,” LaNiya said.
Everyone turned towards Asante. His eyes widened. His arms tightly clutched the binder.
“Perhaps, but we’ve gotta get out of here. It’s still not safe right now,” Asante said.
“Well, then, where do we go?” Zuriya asked.
“Home,” Asante said, “Everyone go home. If anyone is still watching us, they can’t follow all of us.”
“But our teacher was kidnapped. Shouldn’t we tell someone?” Zuriya asked.
“It’s not going to be that simple,” Asante answered, “But we can talk more about it tomorrow. Meet back in the classroom tomorrow after school.”
After scanning their surroundings, and checking to make sure that no one else was watching them, the group exited the bush and each made their way home as quickly as possible. Michael realized that he hadn’t informed his foster parents about his after-school punishment. They were likely going to give him a long scolding about coming home so late and not giving so much as a warning.
But Micheal didn’t really care about that right now. All he could focus on was what he saw in that basement. What was that mechanical suit for? Who was that rich-looking guy? Why did they want Dr. Reed? How much does Asante really know about the situation? And just what exactly had they all gotten themselves into?
