“Are you sure this is going to work? After all, it’s still only in the testing phases.”

“Oh yeah. It’s been successful in the last few tests. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work on him.”

“But he’s our best soldier! Haven’t you heard about the side effects? All of them aren’t a guaranteed side effect but everything’s possible! Memory loss, paralysis, hand-eye coordination loss. There’s a whole host of other things that could go wrong that I’m not going to say here. Are you really going to send our best soldier, our elite, through this hell just so he can… I don’t even remember why we’re doing this again.”

“It’s so he’ll be able to harm people without the use of weapons. It’ll be extremely effect in the field if it works.”

“There it is again. The word IF. What are we going to do if this kills him? Overrides his brain? Remember, there’s only a three percent survival rate.”

“Well, he’s our best and if there’s anyone that’s going to be in that three percent, it’s going to be him.”

* * * * *

The alarm beeped multiple times before it was silenced. He’d had the dream again. It was so weird; he never saw anything but he always heard these voice talking about something. He’d begun to assume they were talking about him. It was cool yet terrifying at the same time. It wasn’t one of those dreams where he was vaguely aware that it was dream. He felt like he was actually apart of the dream. It freaked him out but he seemed to be okay with it now. He wiped his face to clear the sweat that had beaded and got out of the bed. 

Logan went and showered, got dressed, and went downstairs. He ate some breakfast made by his mother. Surprisingly, his brothers did not come to the table. He went back upstairs to get his backpack along with his cross-country gear. 

Logan loved to run, that’s why he ran cross-country. However, sometimes when he ran, his knee flared up with pain from a previous injury. Last year, when he was playing football, he was sprinting down the field when he got caught in between two linemen, one from his team and one from the other. They slammed into him and broke his knee. He was out of the sport for the rest of the season. After his knee was fixed, he did not want to play the sport again so he decided to try cross-country and he’d loved it. He also had some great friends that he ran with: Brandon, Michael, Stephen and Mark. They all did cross-country as well and with the amount of time that they hung out together, they might as well be brothers. And Logan thought of them as brothers. If anything were to happen to one of them, the other four were there before you even knew it.

Out of habit, Logan checked outside the window to see if his actual brother, Thomas, had started the vehicle they were taking to school. He was surprised to see that it wasn’t there. His brother had been starting it every morning for the past month because nightly temperature kept dipping below ten degrees. It was mid-December and frost covered the grass. The Ford Explorer was gone. He yelled for his mother to see if she knew where the vehicle was.

“Mom? Where’s the Explorer?” No answer. He thought his mother didn’t hear him and called again.

“Mom!” Still no answer. Silence filled the house. He could hear something downstairs. He walked down and into the kitchen to find the bacon his mother had been cooking still popping on the stove. Again, he called for his mother.

“Mom!” Again, silence. Where is she? She was just down here a minute ago! Where’d she go? This was weird. But as he thought about the events that had happened, he noticed that a lot of things were weird. His mother had never said a word when he came down the stairs. His brothers never showed up for breakfast. The Explorer was gone and now his mother was, too. Where is everyone?

Loud helicopter rotors whipped above his head, making it difficult to hear anything. But it was okay; he had a headset on and could communicate with everyone else in the chopper. A small pop in the static told him he needed to focus on what was going to be said.

“Okay, Logan. You remember the objective?” His vision bobbed up and down as he nodded. “Okay, get in, get out. Don’t get distracted by anything. Use your abilities if you have to but not unless it’s absolutely necessary. You remember what will happen if they find out?” Again, his vision bobbed. He took off the headset.

“Alright, you’re ready.” Good, the earpiece is working. “Jump when we tell you. Sooner, you’ll land in a swamp of crocodiles. Later, you’ll probably land in a minefield.” The door slid open and Logan was hit with a blast of hot, humid air. Logan could already tell that this was not going to be the most pleasant experience. It already wasn’t the best situation but since he was the best, they’d selected him for this mission. He jumped on the commanders call and pulled the cord on his parachute at the correct altitude, allowing him to float down safely but without being detected. When his boots hit the ground, he immediately detected that something was wrong. He didn’t know what yet but he could tell that it wasn’t good. Out of instinct, he spun himself around and found a knife thrust toward him. He threw himself back and suddenly fell backward. His toe landed on something metal sticking out of the ground. He stood up quickly to avoid being stabbed in the back and almost rocked backward again but caught himself. The attacker suddenly was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, another person materialized out of thin air in front of Logan.

“Why, Logan. We meet again, don’t we? It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other.”

“Well, I’m here to make sure that we don’t ever meet again.” The other man laughed.

“Oh, full of words, aren’t you? Yet, they mean nothing because they fall through the cracks in your fingers. I know for a fact that you wouldn’t kill me. After all, I am your…”

“Shut up! I already know. You’re just trying to manipulate me and it’s not going to work!”

“Oh, you severely underestimate my abilities if you think I’ll just give up like that.” Logan smirked.

“Oh really? I don’t underestimate you at all. However, I do believe that you underestimate me.” With that said, Logan lifted his foot and the minefield exploded.

* * * * *

Logan awoke suddenly, drenched in sweat. The alarm clock sitting next to his bed beeped furiously as it begged for attention. He smacked it and the beeping ceased. He rubbed his eyes and peered through the darkness, staring at the ceiling, waiting for his body to wake up. After a few minutes, he got up and flipped on the light, temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness. He squinted until his eyes adjusted to the light that now filled the room. He looked at his watch to see what time it was. 6:07 am. 

What the heck? I’m not supposed to wake up for another half hour. He hadn’t changed his alarm, at least, he didn’t think he did. He adjusted the alarm and climbed back into the bed, trying to catch some shut eye with the half hour he had left. But his mind was anxious, muling over the things he’d seen in the dream. But it was way too vivid to be just a dream; almost like a vision like he’d been through that before. But that’s impossible. I’ve never been in the armed forces. I’m only fifteen! He found himself unable to sleep; his mind was going too fast for him to calm it down. And he lay there for the next half hour, staring at the ceiling. 

The alarm pierced the silence, scaring Logan slightly. Once again, he got up and flipped on the lights and endured the blindness once again. He shook his head to clear it and headed to the shower. The six foot runner lumbered into the bathroom, briefly glancing at himself in the mirror. His red hair stuck out from his scalp and as he looked closer, he could see the little hairs sprouting from his chin. He decided to shave later and turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature before stepping inside. He finished and turned off the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. Opening the door proved to be fateful, as always. A cold wave of air hit him and he hurried to his room to get dressed.

Once done, he went downstairs. In the kitchen, he found his older brother, Thomas, talking with their mother, who was standing by the stove making eggs and bacon. Their conversation ended abruptly as Logan entered the room.

“Good morning!” His mother said in a cheery voice. Logan was still a little groggy when he responded. He took a little longer to wake up.

“Good morning.”

“Hey, Logan.” Thomas said.

“Hmm?” Thomas punched him in the shoulder. That usually helped to wake him up and it did this time. Logan grabbed his shoulder in mock pain. 

“Ow!” He said, greatly exaggerating the small pain he felt. Thomas scoffed.

“Oh my gosh, you’re so dramatic.” Logan let go of his shoulder and gave a really look to his brother. 

“Oh yes,” he said as he walked to the table. “I’m so dramatic I could be in the play.” Thomas and their mother laughed. 

“Yeah, you could.” His mother teased. Logan gave the same really look to his mother. She just laughed as she removed the bacon from the pan and placed it onto a plate. She did the same with the eggs.

“You two better eat up before your siblings get down here.” She placed the two plates on the table and stepped back. Logan and Thomas grabbed multiple pieces of bacon and several eggs. Their mother usually cooked very large meals for their family. After all, it contained five boys, of which three were teenagers, and teenagers were always looking for something to eat. The other two boys weren’t teens but sure ate like ones. They all had a big appetite when they woke up. 

The two boys at the table got finished and Logan went back upstairs while his brother went outside to start the Explorer. Temperatures during the night had dropped to a chilly negative ten degrees and there was bound to be a sheet of ice on the windshield that only the defroster could remove. Upstairs, Logan put together his stuff for the day. Running shoes and related clothing in the running bag, notebooks and writing utensils in the backpack. It wasn’t a lot but it was all he needed to get through the school day. He didn’t need much else because he was only a freshman and didn’t need it.

After school, Logan and few of his friends went running on their school’s indoor track. They were part of the indoor track team and had to practice every day. He went downstairs and put his bags by the front door so they’d be there when he needed to leave for school. A look at his watch told him it was 7:24 am. Suddenly, his vision was weird as though he’d stood up too fast. However, once he squinted his eyes to try to clear them, he wasn’t in the front room anymore.

* * * * * 

When his vision cleared, he saw himself inside a room. It looked like an operating room. Something was supporting his head up; it felt like an uncomfortable pillow. Something was also shoved down his throat, making it difficult for Logan to breath normally.

“Sir, he’s awake,” a voice spoke. He could not see who it was.

“What? How? He’s full of anesthesia, right? Get him back under; I have my hands in his chest cavity.” A figure appeared above him but he could not make out any features.

“Logan, can you feel anything?” He shook his head. How did they know his name? He’d never been here before.

“He can’t feel anything, sir. And his vitals are totally normal. Are you sure you want us to put him back under?” A long pause before a sigh.

“No. If he can’t feel or see anything, then I think he’ll be fine. After all, we can take him off his intubation if he’s breathing on his own.” The figure bent down closer to Logan’s face.

“We’re going to remove this tube from your mouth, okay?” He nodded and the figure proceeded to remove the tube inserted in his mouth. Once it was removed, he could breathe normally again. The figure moved out of his sight and the blinding white light presented itself again.

* * * * * 

He was on the floor. He got up in a daze, now confused as to where he actually was. Was he in an operating room and this was a hallucination? Or was he here and just hallucinated the operating room? He wasn’t sure which was reality yet. A quick look at his watch told him that he’d been ‘gone’ for only thirty seconds. Wait, gone where? Where exactly did he go for thirty seconds? Something clicked behind him and he jumped. It was just Thomas closing the door. Logan sighed. 

“Geez, Logan. Why are you so jumpy all of a sudden?” Thomas joked.

“I’m not sure but…” he trailed off.

“What?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just on edge for some reason.” He faked a smile and Thomas gave him a concerned look.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Cause you certainly don’t seem like it.”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Thomas didn’t look convinced but decided not to press the matter any further. He just shook his head and walked into the kitchen. Logan sighed again and walked himself up the stairs, his mind sorting through everything he’d just seen. He basically passed out and lay on the floor for thirty seconds before he suddenly had gotten up and acted like nothing weird had just happened. Something was up and Logan wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what. He grabbed his phone off the charger and sent a text to his best friend, Stephen.

LOGAN: Hey

He flopped down onto his bed. About twenty seconds later, Stephen responded

STEPHEN: Heyo.

LOGAN: Can I ask you something crazy?

STEPHEN: Depends on what it is XD. Sure, ask away.

LOGAN: So you know me pretty well, correct?

STEPHEN: As well as a brother knows a brother.

LOGAN: Haha. Well, anyway, I had this weird dream last night and I was wondering if you might could help me figure out what it means.

STEPHEN: Wow. Must have been a crazy dream if you want to figure it out. XD 

Logan laughed. Stephen had a really good sense of humor and sarcasm and he was good at both. He always managed to make something funny, even when you thought there was nothing funny about it. His phone buzzed again.

STEPHEN: Sure. I’ll help you. You want to meet up or just call?

Logan had done this many times before, asking Stephen about all sorts of random stuff and somehow, Stephen always had an answer. Whether they met before school, after school, called each other on Skype or just a simple phone call, Stephen managed to always have an answer to Logan’s questions.

LOGAN: We’ll just meet before school. It shouldn’t take too long.

STEPHEN: Alright. I’ll see you then.

LOGAN: Okay.

The time on his phone read 7:32 am. He got up off the bed and went back down the stairs. Thomas was waiting near the door.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Logan responded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and grabbing his running bag. Thomas did likewise, except with a wrestling bag instead of running. They exited the house, telling their mother goodbye and walked over to the Explorer. Both brothers threw their stuff in the backseat and hopped in the front, Thomas in the driver’s seat. They drove the five minute drive in silence, listening to whatever was on the radio at the moment. They arrived at the school and the brothers removed their bags from the backseat. Both walked into the school and then parted ways, Logan going to his locker and Thomas seating himself at a nearby table where his wrestling friends were seated. 

Both brothers would not see each other for the rest of the day. Neither brother, though, knew that it would be the last time they’d see each other in quite a long time.

* * * * *

“Hey,” Logan said as he joined his group of friends gathered near his locker. His group consisted of four people: Brandon, Michael, Stephen and Mark. 

“Hey,” they all responded as they moved to allow him to enter the circle. He entered and stood by Stephen.

Brandon was the fastest runner on the cross-country team, having a mile time of four minutes and eighteen seconds, three seconds from a state record. His six foot two height gave him the long legs needed for running as well. Michael was the smallest, his height measuring barely more than five feet. Still, he ran surprisingly fast, pulling in a mile time of five minutes and nine seconds. Stephen had the same height as Logan and ran about the same pace as Logan so it was always a competition at practice to see who was the fastest that day. Both boys had pulled in a mile time of four minutes and thirty-two seconds. Mark was right in between everyone in both height and mile time. He measured five foot eight and had a mile time of five minutes and one second. 

“Stephen, can I talk to you?” Logan said quietly. Stephen, standing next to him, acknowledged and both peeled themselves away from the group and went to stand against a wall. 

“What is it?” Stephen asked, leaning himself against the wall. He always was concerned about others, especially those close to him. Logan sighed and took a breath before saying anything. 

“So my dream last night, it was…weird to say the least.” He proceeded to tell Stephen about the dream, blowing himself up for some reason. Stephen listened intently, nodding every once in a while and shifting his weight between his feet to avoid putting a foot to sleep. When Logan was done, he thought about what he'd been told for a minute.

“Well, I would say it was a flashback but you haven't been in the armed services. While you are wanting to go into the services, I'd say maybe a flash into the future but that's a stretch. That doesn't seem like you, though. Committing suicide?” He gives Logan a weird look and sighs. “I don't know. The one's gonna take me a minute.” A pause. “I'll think about it and let you know after first hour.” 

“Sounds good.” Logan responded. Logan faintly heard his name being said and both went back to reclaim their spots in the circle. 

“Why did I hear my name?” Logan asked suspiciously. 

“Nothing,” Brandon said, putting on a hilariously stupid I’m innocent face.

“Uh huh,” Logan said, moving towards Brandon. “Every time my name’s said, I know it’s bad.”

“Oh yeah.” Brandon said sarcastically. “It’s always bad when we say your name. Especially if it involved a girl’s name in the same sentence.” Brandon grinned and Logan playfully punched his arm. He had a habit of acting like he was going to beat someone up but never did because he would never intentionally hurt his friends. Brandon dramatically grabbed his arm and simply said “Ow” sarcastically, causing every to laugh. Brandon and Stephen were always fighting to see who could be the funniest and it usually was Brandon. Brandon had a wit for making jokes based on what someone did. Stephen, on the other hand, made jokes based on what people said. Stephen was the one who roasted you if you didn’t choose your words carefully. It was pretty funny and when the two combined their skills, they made a pretty hilarious pair.

The path to Logan’s locker was clear now and he twisted the combination lock. Once he’d entered all three numbers, he lifted the release and pulled the door open. He put his backpack inside and grabbed a notebook and two pencils. He closed the locker and turned around. The bell sounded and the group dispersed, each person going their own separate way. All yelled their goodbye’s and separated, all figuring they’d see each other at lunch.

They would see each other again, just not in the way they thought.

Logan made his way to his class and took a seat next to Abigail, a girl that he was secretly crushing on.

“Hey,” he said to her.

“Hey, Logan.” she said happily before turning away, her attention drawn to her friend who had sat down on the other side of her. Logan smiled. He liked Abigail and wanted to date her. But he couldn’t yet. He was LDS and didn’t want to date until he was sixteen. He turned sixteen in a little over five months so he could wait. Until then though, he flirted because why not? Today, it seemed like there was something serious going on between her and her friend so Logan decided not to get in the middle of that. The bell rang and the teacher, Mr Brassell, called roll. Once done, he launched into a lecture about how to tell the difference between a noun and pronoun. Logan was stubborn and didn’t want to listen to any of this so he opened the laptop on his desk and went to his favorite site, a military news site. He scrolled through and read a few articles before he found nothing else of interest. He logged out and closed the laptop, glancing at the time. It had been fifteen minutes. Oh my goodness, he thought. He turned his attention briefly to the teacher.

“And that, class, is how you find if a verb is a helping or action verb.” Logan barely heard this; he’d already turned attention away. He saw nothing better to do so he put his head in his palm so it was resting on his wrist and began to fall asleep. English class was so boring. Besides Abigail, of course. His head began to slide off his hand. It did and gravity began to take over, throwing his head toward the desk. He suddenly snapped awake to prevent from hitting the desk and sat upright. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Luckily, no one did and Logan resumed his original position. After repeating this two more times, he decided the better option was to just lay his head down on his desk. He crossed his arms, set them on the desk and rested his head on them, closing his eyes. 

* * * * * 

“This isn't going to work the way you think it will! He's not going to survive!” Who was that?

“Quit your yelling.” The man's voice was back. “He's totally fine and ready for this. We've been observing for the past four years and I think I'd know if he was ready. And, again, he did express that attribute in his DNA. It's hardwired into his system.”

“Yeah, but he hasn't been trained. He won't know what to do under the circumstances!”

“Yes he will. Somehow, without being taught, he already knows basic combat. He knows everything already. Why would we let this perfectly good opportunity go to waste?” Before the other man had time to answer, another voice spoke.

“Sir, we've found another.”

“Another? Is that even possible?”

“Apparently. And the crazy thing is...he has no record in his family of ever being in the military.”

“Including the World Wars?”

“Yep.”

“Vietnam?”

“His grandparents were not drafted in any of the wars.”

“Huh,” A pause. “Well, Logan, it seems as though you're not alone in this.”

* * * * *

Logan felt something coming up behind him. He remained still with his eyes closed but got ready. Once the presence was close enough, he whipped around and punched the person hard. A huge gasp sucked the air out of the room as Logan realized where he was and what he'd just done. 

He'd punched the teacher. The teacher crumpled to the floor, unconscious and blood began to ooze out of his nose where Logan had burst the blood vessel. Logan stood there, astonished and amazed at what he’d just done. He picked up his things and walked out of the classroom. After all, who was going to stop him? He walked out; everyone watched him go in disbelief and awe. No one dared follow him, yet they all wanted to. Logan went to his locker and was entering the combination when the power went out and the magnets holding the doors open died, allowing the doors to close. He was trapped. Darkness swallowed the hallway; there were no windows down this hall and it was pitch black. The school was silent almost as if everyone knew something was about to happen. Something bad. Logan heard a poof close by, almost as if someone had dropped through the ceiling tiles. He heard a loud hiss and a blinding pain mushroomed in his side. He screamed out and hit the floor. He reached down to grab the wound and felt something warm and sticky. He couldn't see it but he knew that it was blood. It became unnaturally warm under his back as the blood oozed all over the floor. Through clenched teeth, he managed to get his breathing down, which slowed his heart rate. A fast heart rate when one is injured allows the blood to be pumped faster throughout the body and to the wound. He felt a small prick near his collarbone and an extremely cold wave washed over his body, numbing it almost instantly. Soon, he wasn’t able to move his body either. He heard footsteps come closer to him. They stopped and he heard something being drug across the floor. He looked up and saw a blinking red light. He watched it steadily move down his vision. It took him a second to figure out what was going on. 

He was being drug across the floor. There wasn’t anything he could do; he was numb and paralyzed. The sound stopped, telling Logan that he’d stopped being drug on the floor. He heard a grunt and everything went silent.

Thomas separated himself from his brother, drawing closer to his friends sitting at the nearby table. He sat down, his army green backpack still resting in his shoulders. He adjusted it to rest on the seat, taking the heavy load off his shoulders. There were only two at the table, Trent and Jackson, but Thomas didn’t mind. They were his best friends and he’d rather hang out with them. 

“What’s up?” he asked. His friends weren’t talking when he’d sat down but he knew that they’d already exchanged information between the two of them to deliver to Thomas. 

“Well, not much,” Jackson said. “We heard someone might be thinking about asking you to prom.” Thomas groaned audibly and put his head down on the table. He’d been trying to avoid this for as long as possible but it was difficult. As much as he didn’t like interacting or getting close with others, the girls always seemed to be looking for a way to get to him. After graduating, he was planning on going into the Marines and becoming a MARSOC (Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command). He knew he was going to be on the front lines of war and didn’t want to be too close to anyone when he died. He knew death was inevitable there and tried to avoid any sort of relationship. But his stocky build, six foot one height and buzz cut seemed to make him a beacon for dating material. He’d only been on two dates in the past and that was because he was pretty much forced to. Admittedly, he’d had a good time when he went but he wasn’t looking for anything. His friends knew this and tried everything they could to help Thomas. But it was sometimes unavoidable. This, however, was pretty hard to avoid. He raised his head and looked at Jackson.

“Who is it?”

“Nobody good,” he replied solemnly. He leaned toward Thomas and cupped his hand next to his ear. “It’s Michelle,” he whispered. Thomas shivered and shook his head. Michelle was a girl in his class that couldn’t keep her eyes off him. He’d noticed this several times in multiple different classes. She was kind of weird, randomly making animal noises like a kindergartener in the middle of class. Thomas looked solemnly at Trent and Jackson.

“There’s not much I can do, is there?” The two shook their heads slowly. He swore under his breath and sighed, leaning his head back to rest on the top of the backpack. As if to anger him, the bell suddenly sounded. He stood up with his friends and realized he didn’t have his wrestling shoes. He swore again and told his friends.

“I left my shoes in my car. I’ll see you in first hour.”

“You gonna be late again?” Trent asked.

“Probably. If they mark me as absent, just leave it. I’ll fix it later.” The friends parted ways, the two heading to Government and Thomas heading for his car. He reached his vehicle, unlocked it, retrieved his shoes from the backseat, closed the door and relocked the car. He was walking across the parking lot when the warning bell sounded. He didn’t care; he’d already accepted the fact that he’d be late. He heard an engine rumble in the distance, getting louder at a fast pace and turn to see a car take a corner a little too fast, squealing the tires and fishtailing slightly. He stopped and watched the driver regain control. The car shot forward, slowing down before pulling into an empty parking spot. Thomas shook his head and continued walking. People are crazy. He walked into the now empty commons area as the bell rang. Immediately after the bell stopped sounding, the intercom sounded as morning announcements started. Thomas walked the halls to the locker room, passively listening. Something was said about prom but he ignored it. He wasn’t going to prom. 

“Now please stand and follow me in the Pledge of Allegiance.” He stopped and turned to a nearby flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance loud and proud. Once done, he continued his venture.

He reached the locker room and pushed the door open. There was also a light switch by the door but it was already on so he walked into the dark room. The automatic lights overhead blinked to life once a sensor detected his movement. Thomas moved to his locker, number 396, and entered the combination. He lifted the handle and the locker opened. He put his shoes down on the lip that sat in front of the lockers for athletes to sit on while getting dressed. He removed his backpack from his shoulders and removed his workout clothes, putting those in the locker. He made sure they were neatly folded with no wrinkles and set his shoes on top of them. It wasn’t his choice of doing; coach did what he called “tidiness checks”. Randomly, throughout the day, he would check different lockers and make sure his wrestlers had their clothes neatly in their lockers. If someone didn’t, he made the entire team do extra workouts at the end of practice. He claimed that doing these “tidiness checks” would help them later in life when they went to college. Thomas didn’t see it but he made sure his locker was tidy all the same. He didn’t want to be the reason the team got punished.

He was about to leave the locker room when the lights went out. He stood up and moved under the sensor, expecting it to activate the lights again. When they didn’t, he went to the switch and flipped it. Nothing. The emergency exit lights suddenly cut through the darkness, temporarily blinding him. He figured out what had happened. A power outage. Out of curiosity, he tried the door. It was securely closed. Stupid safety stuff. It wasn’t safe at all because if there was a fire and it knocked the power out, you’d basically be burned alive because you wouldn’t be able to get out. But, whatever, school lockdowns and such were way more important than a fire. There wasn’t anything he could do so he went back to his backpack, slung it over his back just in case, and closed the locker. He sat down and waited.

* * * * *

A distant gunshot echoed throughout the silent school. Everyone had been evacuated to a nearby building. That is, everyone except Thomas and Logan. Stephen noticed this about ten minutes after he’d arrived at the building. He’d waited for all his friends. Michael, Brandon and Mark arrived but as they waited for Logan, they began to think of the worst. It all came slamming down when the principal announced that everyone had been evacuated. The three boys turned to each other, a terrified look masking their faces. Logan hadn’t made it out. Where was he then? The three boys made their way to another room that was unoccupied. They shut the door and began to converse.

“Okay,” Stephen started. “Anyone else freaking out that we were just evacuated and now we can’t find Logan?” The other three agreed. 

“It’s weird, isn’t it? It’s not like him to just stay behind.” Brandon said.

“Uh, yeah it is. If he was trying to save someone, he’d stay behind. You do know that he wants to be a Navy Seal, right?”

“No, I didn’t know that. Why does…”

“Look, it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that we find him.”

“Well, why don’t we call him?” Michael said. Mark shook his head.

“It won’t work. He turns off his phone before school starts. Even if you did, it wouldn’t ring.”

“Are you sure? Sometimes he forgets to shut off his phone.” Michael said.

“Well, I guess I can’t hurt to try it.” Mark said, pulling out his phone. He hit Logan’s contact and the phone began calling. He listened for a minute before ending the call.

“Just as I suspected. Phone, off.”

“Well, what do we do? I mean, we can’t just sit here and do nothing. But we also can’t just walk out of here. There’s teachers at every door and they won’t let anyone out under any circumstances.”

“Hmm,” Stephen said. “I have an idea but none of you are going to like it.”

“Really?” Michael was inquisitive. “If it involves finding where Logan’s at, I’m in.”

“That’s the problem. Only one of us would be able to go and find him.” Michael was angry and tried to voice it but Stephen cut him off.

“Let me ask you something. What do you think is happening to him right now?”

“I think he’s dead if I’m being honest here. I mean, they evacuated us and we’re not sure why. He’s not here so my first assumption is that he’s dead.” Stephen just looked at him in disbelief. 

“You think that just because he’s not here, he’s dead? Is that what you think when he goes home after practice?”

“Well, no. He tells us he’s going to be home so I have no reason to be worried.”

“But what if he doesn’t show up at school one day? What then?” Stephen was dumbfounded that Michael would think like this. 

“I assume he’s okay unless I know otherwise. Look, we were evacuated and we don’t know why. The only reason they’d do this is if there was something terribly wrong at the school. Like, I don’t know, a gas leak. Maybe a bomb. Maybe a school shooter. I don’t know. But I’m kind of worried about my best friend over here.” Stephen understood where he was coming from with this argument. Stephen was worried too. But not to the point of thinking that the worst had come upon Logan. Stephen sighed and voiced his thoughts. 

“I know you’re worried. We all are. But I don’t think the rest of us are going to immediately assume that he’s dead. That is a worst case scenario. Unless there’s a body to be seen, I say he’s not dead. ” Stephen sighed again. “Alright, here’s what I was thinking. One of us can sneak out and go over and see what’s up. Then they’ll come back and tell the rest. We’ll then make a plan on how to progress with the situation.” The other three boys began to argue over who was going to go. Stephen put a halt to their argument. 

“None of you are going to go. I will. After all, I’m the oldest.”

“You can’t go!” Mark insisted. “I’m a closer friend.”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that somebody, doesn’t matter who, goes over and sees what’s happening. Since I’m the oldest, I’ll go.”

“You’re sure about this? What if you die?” Brandon was done with Michael’s negativity and violently shoved the phone he was on into his pocket. He stood and pointed a finger at Michael.

“He’s not going to die! Why do you have such a negative attitude towards everything? Logan isn’t dead! Stephen is not going to die! If you don’t have something to say besides someone dying, then shut your trap.” He sat back down and pulled the phone out, resuming whatever he was doing before. Michael sat down and just shook his head, putting a hand on his forehead. Mark and Stephen looked at each other. They decided not to continue their conversation here and moved out into the hallway.

“Are you sure about this?” Mark asked. “You don’t know what’s going on there. The risk of death is extremely high.”

“I’m sure. I won’t be there long. Just there to see if Logan’s there. If he’s not, then I’ll come back and we’ll come up with another plan. Just…” he lowered his voice. “We’ll have to do it without those two.” He gestured toward Brandon and Michael. “They’re not in the best of moods right now.” Mark snickered.

“What’s your plan on getting out of here?” Stephen looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

“I’ll climb out a window.” he said. Mark felt like an idiot. That was an easy answer. They’d been to this building many times before and had done that exact thing multiple times. The two boys wandered over to the window they’d climbed out of the most. It was in another room so they closed the door before they popped the latch. The pressure on the window frame released slightly and Stephen pushed the window outward. Mark went to the window embedded in the door and looked out. After finding no one in viewing distance, he nodded. Stephen quickly swung his lower body out and followed it with the rest of his body. The window was only about six feet off the ground and Stephen dropped down nicely. Mark’s arm extended out to seize the handle and he pulled the window back into place. He’d be waiting there when Stephen came back so he could get in. They saluted to each other as their signature greeting and farewell motion and Stephen ran across the parking lot to hide in a bush. He moved over behind another building and Mark was unable to see him anymore.

* * * * *

This always gave Stephen a rush. This sneaking around adults was always so fun. He never did it at home but when he came to other activities and adults put unnecessary restriction on where they could go, Stephen was always the first one to break those boundaries.

He was out in the open for only a short time, ducking into a bush to blend in and avoid being seen. He made the right choice this morning to wear a digital camo shirt. He crawled through the bushes where a path was already created from his previous escapes and came out in a nearby yard. Staying low, he ran into the open backyard and hopped the fence, landing in another backyard where he ran onto the front lawn and out into the street. It was strangely quiet; nobody was walking on the sidewalk and there were no vehicles driving down the road. It was almost as if it had been abandoned. But that wasn’t his concern right now. His concern was if his best friend was okay or not. He darted across the road and ducked behind a car that was sitting in the parking lot. The run across the parking lot from here to the front of the school looked clear, barely more than 800 meters. He was more than capable of making it there in less than two minutes, but this wasn’t a race. Just an avoidance of being seen by anyone. He could take it slower, but not too slow. About three minutes max. He moved to the back of the car and looked across the vast parking lot. There was nobody in sight. He was risking a lot right now being in the open as he was. “What more do I have to lose?” he thought. He darted out from behind the car, running toward the school. His heart began to pick up the pace to keep oxygen going to his muscles. 

About two minutes later, he arrived at one of the side doors. He stayed off to the side of them, away from the view of anyone inside; his fight-or-flight response engaged. He tried peering into through the glass but it was too dark inside. All he saw was his reflection staring back at him when he pulled away from the window. He tried opening the door and found it locked. Weird. He went to another door nearby to find it unlocked. He pulled it open and entered the dark school, the solid door slowly decreasing the amount of sunlight flooding into the hallway until it shut, echoing throughout the hallway and leaving Stephen blinded by the darkness. It took his eyes a minute to adjust and when they did, he found himself by the gym. The entire school was connected with hallways so you could get anywhere you wanted once you entered the school as long as the doors where you wanted to go weren’t locked. With access to almost anything, he decided to head to the locker room. If anyone was going to be in the school, that was the place to be.

He tried opening the door but found it to be locked. Typical. Suddenly, he remembered the corridors above the school. There were hallways full of technical equipment and wires were running from everywhere, coming out of the walls and disappearing somewhere else, fulfilling their job. Found a random box sitting in the hallway and boosted himself up into the ceiling tiles. To keep the ceiling from collapsing, he stayed close to the solid walls until he found a hole bore through the cement that put him in a small closet in the corridors. He pulled himself all the way up and opened the door once he reached his full height. It was totally black in these hallways. There were some small doors that would put him on the roof but those wouldn’t help him at all. Light leaked around the door, providing a tiny bit of light but not enough to serve the purpose Stephen needed them to. He could open them but then that would alert someone to his presence up here. He decided the best course of action would be to see if his eyes would adjust to the blackness up here and hopefully follow the walls to where he needed to go. He’d been up here multiple times before and knew his way around. He’d never tested to see if he’d had it memorized but he had a pretty good understanding of the layout up here.

He began walking toward some small, blinking lights in the distance. He could already tell that it was a server bank. Once he got there, he could determine where exactly he was and go from there. As he was walking toward the server, he thought he heard a second set of footsteps behind him. He turned around, finding the same blackness staring back at him. He didn’t see anything there and wanted to pull out his phone for a flashlight. But he knew that if anyone was here, it would only draw attention. He turned back around to face the blinking lights and continued towards them. A few times, he stumbled over pipes running across the floor. He had a pretty good sense of balance and managed to stay upright.

He got to the little blinking lights, he also heard the fans whirring and for a brief second, he wondered how it was running. He remembered that all the servers had back-up batteries and they automatically turned on when power was cut. His hearing sensitivity was really high and he heard something step behind him. He spun around and was caught across the face from something. It felt like a punch. He hit the ground, felt the blood oozing from the cut on his cheek. His head hit the ground and a blinding white light entered his vision briefly. More blood leaked from the new wound and he groaned in pain. A kick to his side sent the air rushing out of him. He took in a big breath and the smell of chloroform entered his nostrils. A rag clamped itself over his mouth and he tried to fight it but he was give out and let himself sink into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

“Oh, where the hell is he?!” Mark was concerned for Stephen. He should have been back by now. Mark risked calling him and was sent to voicemail. The phone was off, which was weird. Stephen hardly ever turned his phone off. But now Mark was worried. He worried easily and it was doubled when it involved those close to him. Stephen and him were very close. So close, in fact, they referred to each other as brothers. They used to just be best friends until Mark attempted suicide last year. Since then, they’d grown closer to prevent another attempt in addition to the counseling he was going to. 

Mark remembered that him and all his friends had shared their location with each other. He pulled out his phone and opened the app. It took a bit to locate where he was and once it did, it began locating everyone else. Brandon and Michael were next to him on the map, in the other room. Logan’s current location was unknown but it shown his last known location at the school. Stephen popped up as current and active. What? I thought his phone was off! He zoomed in as far as the map would allow him and watched as he slowly moved around the school. Suddenly he stopped abruptly then began to go back the way he had came. Then it stopped. 

After a few seconds of no movement, he was flung out of view as his location updated. Mark moved the map to focus back on Stephen and watched as his location moved at a very fast speed. He was running from something. His photo moved outside of the school and stopped abruptly again. This time, it stayed there and would not move, despite Mark’s constant refreshing of the map. Finally, Stephen’s photo disappeared and a message popped up. 

Could not locate. 

Mark violently stuffed the phone and his hands into his jacket pockets. This could not be any worse. Logan had disappeared so Stephen had went to find him and inside had made the situation worse than it already was. He ran his hands through his hair. It helped relieve his stress. He slumped down against the door, lost in his thoughts as he tried to think of a way to rectify the situation. As he began to get lost in his thoughts, he heard a different noise outside. The noise of an engine. He got up and looked out the window, the same window that Stephen had slipped out of earlier. A black SUV’s lights were on and as Mark watched, it was maneuvered out of the parking lot and turned onto the road, back toward the school. Mark began to panic but calmed by telling himself that whoever was in the SUV was necessarily looking for Stephen. They might not be looking for anybody. 

Even still, Mark was nervous. He was always suspicious of being watched and had put tape over his phone and laptop cameras. He didn’t want anyone spying on him. He would have much rather had some disposable burner phones but his friends needed to keep in constant contact with him so he reluctantly went with the smartphone. Admittedly, he had turned off a lot of features, including location and background refresh to preventing the phone from trying to find his location when he wasn’t aware of it. The only app that he allowed to see his location was the app he had just used to track Stephen. 

He sank down against the wall, trying to not to let the torrents of tears that was on the brink of falling from overwhelming him. There was nothing to be worried about yet. But as he sat there, unbeknownst to him, there were things to worry about. However, even if he knew, there was nothing he could do about it.