Read Online Cages by Chris Pasley - Free Book Online Page B

Four
guards had been deployed inside either door and were slowly advancing, stubby
shotguns in their hands.  I strained my eyes but couldn't tell if one of
them was Biff.  They were all wearing facemasks.  The Beast tensed,
the guards even better prey than the running students; the adults could
spread the parasite .  But
before the Beast could even jump, the four facing it unloaded their shotguns,
then hit the floor as the four behind the Beast opened fire with their
MP5s.  Blood splattered everywhere, and now I saw what the facemasks were
for as each of them was covered in Beast blood that could have turned them into
Bitten had they internalized it.Then, when the clips ran out on the MP5s, the
first four guards leapt up, each with their sword in hand, and cut the Beast
limb from limb.  I was stunned at their efficiency, much in the same wa y a young Biff must have been.  They
acted like a school of fish, with perfectly synced reflexes.  I was glad I
had declared the guards off-limits.
    Later I heard Conyers had
demanded the score be reset to pre-Beast levels, but no one else wanted
to.  They let it be a Panthers victory, 64-62.
    I made sure to listen to the
radio than night.  Dave had come into the cell and gone straight to bed,
not saying a word to either of us .  Ben sat quietly in his bunk below mine reading a thick Samuel
Delany novel.  Remi's bunk was empty, though his presence was never more
felt, his smug ghost gloating at me all the way from the Bell.  I turned
the volume up.
    "It's happening more and
more often, Mr. Conyers."  That was the Captain of the Guards' gruff
voice.  "I need more men."
    I heard the shuffling of
paper.  Clearly Conyers was ignoring him.  "You have as many as
the budget allows, Jason."
    "All the kids on that
court almost died because we didn't have enough guards to go in and watch the ones we led out.  We were almost too late."
    "But you weren't, were
you?  Your men did an outstanding job, and they'll get their bonuses, even
though eight men to kill one Beast seems like overkill to me." 
Conyers's voice held a hint of displeasure.
    "You're suggesting I sent
eight men out there so that there would be more bonuses?" Jason's voice
was getting higher.  "It is happening more often.  And
quicker.  Used to be you had twenty minutes before they got to stage
seven, but that was barely ten."
    "What's your point,
Jason?"
    "My point is that it's t he Outbreak's not over.  I think the
parasite's adapting and soon they're –”
    "Stop." 
Conyers's voice was hard, commanding.  "I will not entertain such
uninformed speculation.  The Outbreak is over, and I don't want you
causing a panic."
    "It's not uninformed, Mr.
Conyers.  It. Is happening.  More.  Often!"  A fist
slammed on a desk. 
    Conyers sighed. 
"And what do you want me to do?  We could just execute all of them but
that presents a bit of a problem from the survival of the species point of
view..."
    "Quit talking down to
me.  I just need more men."
    "No."
    "At least let me start
hiring female guards.  There's a lot of them looking for work and it'll
make up for the gaps when we lose one.  They're usually cheaper,
too."
    "No.  You heard what
happened in New York? That's not going to happen here."
    "Oh, don't even start
that.  That was isolated, and it wasn't even a Beast problem.  It was
just some bad kids."
    Conyers's chair squeaked
harshly; he'd stood up.  "Listen to me, Jason.  They are all
bad ."
    Silence for a moment. 
Then Jason, sounding more subdued, said "At least give me back the two
guards you got following you around.  They'll help fill the patrol
roster."
    "No.  I need
them.  Are you done?"
    Jason breathed heavily through
his nose, then opened the door.  "Yeah .  Yeah, I'm done."
    The next day I was on pins and
needles.  In a way I had never experienced before, I was wary of every
single classmate.  I refused to talk to them, wouldn't even meet their
eyes for fear of seeing red.  I