Read Online Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel - Free Book Online Page B

following school rules lately. He was trying,
really
trying, to keep his record clean in order to graduate. To do so meant making a supreme effort to keep up his grades and stay out of trouble for the next seven months.
    The reason he was late didn’t matter to the front office. And it was their fault anyway. The admin people had locked the student parking-lot gate before first bell rang. The second bell meant
you’re tardy
. Today he’d had to hunt for a place for his truck and had ended up blocks away in a residential area already packed with homeowners’ cars.
    He had almost reached the brick steps of the main entrance when a blast knocked him backward. He staggered,crouched and covered his head as glass showered down from the atrium skylight high above. Chunks of concrete shot through the doorway. Screams erupted. The front door flew open and kids began to pour outside in a stampede, almost running him over. Some were cut and bleeding. Most were crying, shrieking. From inside the building, a low rumble shook the air. An ominous roar all but blotted out the cries and screams. Roth grabbed one kid, yelled, “What happened?”
    The boy’s eyes were wide and he looked shocked. “I don’t know! Let me go!” He wrestled out of Roth’s grip and continued running.
    Roth swayed, looked up at the building, seeing not only the school but also his parents’ house from when he’d been seven. Except this time he wasn’t locked in a car. A cloud of concrete dust blew out of the open doors and the hole in the skylight. Roth heard kids sobbing and begging for help from inside. He elbowed his way forward, avoiding collisions with runners, hurtled up the steps and into the maelstrom.
    “Holy crap!” Executioner said.
    “Awesome, huh?” Apocalypse said, looking smug and satisfied. They stood, in a crowd of students across the street, watching the front of the school and the continuing stream of fleeing students. “Like rats leaving a sinking ship.”
    They’d stood together across the street since early morning in the cold, eyeing the school, pacing nervously,anticipating the event. “I want a bird’s-eye view,” Apocalypse had said. “I want to watch the lid blow off.”
    Executioner had agreed. No need to be any closer. What if the bomb was more powerful than they’d planned? No sense being in harm’s way.
    The explosion had been a spectacular sight and sound—a flash of white light followed by a boom, like a jet breaking the sound barrier. Glass had spewed from the skylight, volcanolike, and rained in glittering chunks onto the steps and sidewalk below. There had been smoke and dust and debris, but no spreading fire. The percussion explosives were more for the sake of blast damage. Apocalypse had chosen them well.
    All around them groups had gathered. Many kids were cut and bleeding. Some cried hysterically. Girls clung to each other, tears streaking cement-dusted faces. Across the street, concrete dust continued to rain from the doorways and through the hole in the roof. Apocalypse turned a deaf ear to the wailing and sobbing. Executioner felt the students’ pain more keenly but refused to give in to regret.
    “We did
that
?” Executioner said, staring at the ruined front of the school.
    Apocalypse grabbed the other’s arm, dragged Executioner to the fringe of the milling crowd. “Keep your mouth shut! What if someone overhears you?”
    “Ow! You’re hurting me.”
    “If you don’t keep a lid on it, I’ll do worse than hurt you—I’ll kill you!”
    •  •  •
    Inside the atrium Roth saw hunks of concrete strewn around the floor. He also saw bodies, heard moans. His stomach went queasy. He cupped his hand over his mouth because the gray dust and smoke were making it difficult to breathe and to see clearly. Remembering that Carla had forced a muffler into his jacket pocket that morning, Roth pulled it out and quickly wrapped it around his head, covering his nose and mouth. He stooped and kept