Angel

36

“BUT WHY ARE you going if we can’t go?” Nudge asked for the third time.

I covered my eyes with my hands, trying to relieve my throbbing headache. I had gotten practically no sleep last night, what with everybody acting like Pod People and then seeing Fang and his Max replacement living it up online. Plus, Total had insisted on staying at the foot of my bed, and he talked in his sleep—about his honeymoon. Frankly, TMI.

“You know why, Nudge,” I said under my breath. “I need to see what’s making the kids all Looney Tunes, get to the root of this Boom Boom Cult.” I saw Ella eyeing me from across the room. “I’m really interested in learning about their cause,” I said loudly, trying to sound sincere, which, let’s face it, is a stretch for me.

“Angel and Dylan are going,” Nudge pointed out.

“Angel can read minds,” I said under my breath again. “Might be useful for getting in. And I… need Dylan there. For support.” He gave me one of his dazzling smiles from across the room. I wolfed down a banana, ignoring the critical look on Nudge’s face.

“Nudge can come!” zombie Ella piped up. “Everyone can come. The Doomsday Group will set us free.”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s going to be beautiful. We get it. They’re not coming.” I turned to Nudge, lowering my voice. “Look, they got to Ella and Iggy. They could get to you too. It’s too risky if we all go.”

“But you already left us once,” Nudge whined. “Gazzy’s staring into space, all traumatized from almost letting Jeb die, and I don’t want to stay here alone. Please. I need you, Max.”

She sure knew how to rip my heart out and stomp all over it.

“I’m really sorry, kiddo,” I said, my voice softening. “I know you guys have had a rough couple of days. But you won’t be alone. My mom’s here. Jeb’s here. Gazzy’s here.”

“I’m here. What, don’t I count?” Total said, sulking.

“See, you’ve got Total too. We’ll be back soon,” I told Nudge. “Let’s jet, kids.”

Ella attended a local public school. The campus consisted of a bunch of one-story buildings painted white that were clustered around a big courtyard, with footpaths leading from one building to the next. As schools go, it wasn’t awful. I didn’t know what I expected to find, San Quentin? Considering our history with schools, that wasn’t much of a stretch for me.

For a few moments we stood in front of the school, mapping the layout in our minds. Ella and Iggy were holding hands, which would have been kind of adorable if they weren’t all dead-eyed and brainsucked. Then the front door of one of the buildings opened, and we braced ourselves.

I looked at Dylan. “I’ve got your back,” we both said together. He laughed, and I rolled my eyes. Partly at him and partly at myself for feeling all fluttery again.

Students and the occasional teacher began to stream out through the door, moving quietly into the courtyard. Every one of them was smiling and content-looking, if not grinning like a hyena. These were mainly teenagers, people. It was gross.

“Okay,” I whispered to Dylan and Angel. “Let’s spread out. Keep your wits about you, and avoid becoming zombified or whatever. Let’s do this.”

The kids gathered in groups or in pairs. I heard a lot of talk about caring for the planet and saving the world, but, come on, there had to be more to it than that.

“Hello,” one girl said to me brightly, grabbing both of my hands. These people did not grasp the concept of personal space.

“Hello,” I said, mimicking her cheery tone, which, I bet you’ve already guessed, was not superconvincing.

“I’m so glad you came to orientation!” She beamed at me.

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “No prob. Doomsday’s been my specialty for, like, ever.”

She cocked her head, her eyes boring into mine. “Do you want to be my friend? I want to be your friend. We need you to follow the One Light. With an earth cleanse, we’ll all be free. We need you to accept the message and join us. Do you accept it?”

She blinked like a possessed doll, and I looked around. Where was Angel? And Dylan? “Let’s back up a smidge. Remind me what the message is.”

“The message is—”

“Max!” Dylan called me over.

“Hold that thought,” I wriggled out of the girl’s grasp and found Dylan talking to a tall boy with a Zac Efron smile.

“Josh, this is Max. Max, Josh is going to get us more flyers to hand out.” Dylan had the glass-eyed, cocked-head look down perfectly. With his movie-star looks, pearly white smile, and smooth face, it was seriously creepy. It almost seemed like…

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes when Josh turned away from us to grab the flyers. It was such a dorky move that I should have felt sorry for him, but it was genuinely… cute. Focus, Max! I mentally kicked myself. This was not exactly the time to get mushy.

“Here you guys go.” Josh loaded our arms with the colorful stacks of paper. “Remember, we need to make sure everyone joins,” he looked at us earnestly. “We have to save the planet.”

The gathering was starting to pulse and get louder, kids shouting stuff about beauty and freedom. All eeriness aside, what they were saying didn’t actually sound that bad. Wasn’t this what my own mission had been for years and years?

“Tell me, Josh, do you know who the flyers came from in the first place? Who’s in charge around here?” I asked.

“They came from the One Light,” he said. “You know that.”

“Oh, yeah,” I mumbled. We had to figure out this whole One Light business, ASAP.

Everyone is affected, Angel broke into my thoughts from across the square. I’m getting bombarded with thoughts, and they’re all jumbled, chaotic, violent. She looked over at me, panic in her eyes. But Max, this is big. Worse than genocide. We’re talking humanicide. Total extermination!

I looked around for my own zombies. Ella was chanting, then she pumped a fist in the air, which a bunch of kids instantly copied. I tried to get to her, but Botboy Josh grabbed my arm, hard, and stepped closer to me, flashing those crazy eyes.

“I don’t think you want to do that, Hoss,” Dylan growled, sounding like he might go grizzly on the kid. Josh’s smile never faltered, but he let go of me, and I spun around toward the mob, trying to see where Ella had gone. I was taller than many of these kids, but when I got up on tiptoe and peered around, I still couldn’t see my sister’s dark head anywhere. She’d been swallowed up.

I spotted Iggy just a few yards away, though, so I nodded at Dylan, and we made our way toward him.

“The Doomsday Group is the hope of tomorrow,” someone said, and there were shouts of agreement. Another kid said, “Save the planet!” Then somebody added, “Kill the humans.”

Something in my brain finally clicked, and then it seemed so freaking obvious. The ’noids back at the school. The delirious kid in the desert. “The Earth or Us.” And now these kids. Desert Boy was right: the end was near.

“Kill the humans,” Iggy shrieked, unfolding his giant wings.

“Oh, Ig,” I whispered. “No.”