The survivor

Sixteen

When Striker entered the teachers’ lounge, the air inside was chilly, and the smell of old, burned coffee was strong. At the far end of the room, the window had been left wide open, and Striker’s first thought was that a student might have escaped through it.

This thought, and the cold, made his skin mottle with goose bumps. He reached behind him for the door knob, but the wind picked up and slammed the door shut. The noise was sharp and unexpected, and it startled him.

But Megan Ling didn’t so much as flinch. She wavered where she stood, in front of the open window, staring outside with the freezing wind ruffling her burgundy school dress. The only thing remotely Halloween-like on her attire was the earring that hung from her left lobe — a jack-o-lantern with an angry smile. The one from her right ear was missing, lost somewhere in the chaos.

Striker stepped closer, noticed small splatters of red on her white shirt.

‘Hello there, Megan,’ he said softly.

But he got nothing in return.

The girl was zoned out. Completely. So Striker moved forward, slowly, because the last thing Megan Ling needed after all she’d been through was someone sneaking up on her. He got to within ten feet of her, stopped, and stared out the window to where she was looking.

Out front, parked all over the main road and on the school lawn, were litters of emergency vehicles — ambulance, fire, police. Red and blue lights flashed in the midday mist, tinting everything red and blue. Lines of crime tape ran everywhere, draping from post to post, tree to tree, car to car. Like yellow Kerrisdale Day banners.

Striker moved forward, reached out and closed the curtains. It turned the window into a plain white tapestry.

‘Megan?’ he said again.

When she didn’t respond, he gently touched her arm. She flinched.

‘Megan?’

She finally blinked, nodded slowly. Like she was there, but not there. In and out. When she spoke at last, her voice was quiet, raspy. ‘My father died last year… in a car accident. On Knight Street. There was a lot of blood. In the car. A lot of blood.’

‘I’m sorry for that.’

She didn’t reply; she just turned her head and looked back at the window, as if she could see through the white drapes. Striker gently ushered her away from the windowsill, to a chair at one of the lounge tables. She dropped into it, folded her hands in her lap, and looked down as if she were some demure Japanese exchange student, and not a kid born right here in Vancouver, Canada. Her pretty face showed not a glint of emotion. It was as if an off-button had been pushed.

Striker sat down opposite her. He chose his words carefully. ‘You’ve been through a lot today, Megan. It’s been a very bad day, the worst day of your life. But you survived. And things are going to get better from here on in. All that matters now is that you’re all right. Your mother has been contacted and she’s already on the way down. My partner is meeting up with her as we speak.’ He gave her time to let this information digest. ‘But all that will have to wait, Megan. Right now, I have to talk to you about the bad stuff. The stuff you probably don’t want to remember… I have to ask you about what happened here today.’

The girl twitched, as if she had just come out of a bad dream.

Striker waited for her to say something — anything — but she remained silent. He got up, crossed the room, plopped the last of his change into the drinks machine and hit the Coke button. The machine let out a loud mechanical cha-chunk and the bottle dropped. He brought it back with him and placed it on the table in front of her.

Megan made no move to touch it, and suddenly spoke. ‘They were shooting…’

‘Everyone, I know.’

‘No. Not everyone.’ She shook her head but continued looking down. ‘They were asking… asking for people. Specific people.’ Without raising her head, she reached across and grabbed the bottle of Coke. She didn’t open it, but held it tightly between her hands.

Striker leaned closer across the table. ‘Who exactly were they asking for?’

‘Conrad MacMillan.’

‘Conrad MacMillan?’

‘And Tina.’

‘Tina?’

‘Tina Chow.’

The names rolled over Striker like a cold wave of water. He knew them.

Conrad used to live down the road, before his family moved to the Dunbar area just over a year ago, and Tina had been on Courtney’s dance team when the two were children. He hadn’t seen them for years now, but that didn’t soften the blow. Images of the two kids flooded him as the ice he’d formed around his heart melted. He wondered: had they made it out alive?

‘That’s all I know,’ Megan whispered.

‘That’s okay.’

‘I want my mother.’

‘She’s on her way. Be here real soon.’ Striker reached out and placed a hand on her hand, but she flinched away from him. ‘You did good today, Megan. You did real good. No one could’ve done any better.’

He’d barely finished speaking the words when the lounge door opened and Ich poked his head into the room. He caught sight of Striker and swallowed hard, his enormous Adam’s apple rising and falling in his throat.

Striker looked up at him. ‘We’re doing an interview here, Ich.’

‘Sorry, but I just had to let you know. You were right about the different cameras. It’s a whole new system.’

‘Meaning?’

Ich smiled. ‘We got video.’