The Light Brigade - Chapter 4
Mr. Turner scratched his head thoughtfully. “I’m sorry this is upsetting you, but it is just the way that it has to be. You will meet the Man Upstairs – when you are ready."
This is an installment of my new serialized middle grade novel - The Light Brigade. When new kid in town Will finds himself in the midst of a sea of brainwashed middle schoolers, he has to join the Light Brigade, an unlikely group of heroes, to save them. Can he trust the Man Upstairs who guides them with fortune cookie directions? Will he find his place in the Brigade? Will he be able to stop the shadowy New Moon Group from forcing his classmates to collect acorns for a cartoon squirrel until they all collapse? Subscribed? Get caught up here.
“What do you mean I can’t meet him?” Will growled.
Mr. Turner scratched his head thoughtfully. “I’m sorry this is upsetting you, but it is just the way that it has to be. You will meet the Man Upstairs – when you are ready. He’ll let me know when it’s time. Until then, I’m here to be his messenger!”
Will stared at them all in disbelief. Why would anyone possibly want to follow someone who they couldn’t meet. It just seemed so foolish not to check out the source of information that was telling you to do something. How can I possibly know that he is really good, Will wondered.
Mr. Turner did not look in the least flustered by Will’s outburst, just continuing to smile at him placidly. Will was certain that he would never be able to trust him after this but equally certain he would need his help if he was going to figure out what was going on. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and grabbed a cookie before taking a seat.
“Fine, so I can’t meet him. Can we just get down to business, then?” asked Will.
“Excellent idea, my boy! Would anyone care to fill me in on your day? Anything interesting happen?” said Mr. Turner.
Great, this guy doesn’t get any more information than we do, thought Will.
“I’ll go first,” said Gabriella, “When I was at lunch, everyone started playing the same game on their phones and acting all possessed. It was like they couldn’t stop playing or staring at their screens.”
Mr. Turner had pulled a notepad and pen out of shirt pocket and was taking notes. “What was the game?”
Tamara said, “It was called Acorn Grab. They had to tap on acorns to put them in a basket for their squirrel to eat. Will noticed that it had the logo of the New Moon Group on it.”
“Good eye, Will,” said Mr. Turner. Will blushed. “So we’re dealing with the New Moon Group again. I know a lot of your parents work at the mill, but remember: the New Moon Group just bought the mill not the people who work there.”
“Yeah, we know that the New Moon Group are a bunch of jokers,” said Austin. “We’ll stop them, just like we always do. I hope that they’ll get fed up with failing soon and just leave.”
Lily furrowed her brow. “But if they leave then the mill will probably close. The New Moon Group saved it – and your parents’ jobs.” Austin just rolled his eyes.
Will shifted uneasily. His parents didn’t just work at the mill – they had been accountants for the New Moon Group for years. In fact, they had been transferred here from the Chicago office. Were his parents somehow involved in all of this? No, my parents wouldn’t do anything like this. Still, I don’t know that I want to tell Mr. Turner or the others how long my parents have worked for the New Moon Group, thought Will.
Austin said, “It was affecting the teachers, too. It was awesome, I got to shoot spit balls at my history teacher all class period. She never moved a muscle.”
Gabriella smacked him on the head, “You can’t do that to your teacher! It’s not her fault that she’s been affected.”
Austin just rolled his eyes and shrugged, “Nah, I was just seeing if it would snap her out of it. Didn’t work – she was still zombified.”
Will chimed in, “I tried pulling my friend’s hand away and taking her phone. That didn’t work either. She actually growled at me until I let go.”
“Gabriella and I tried to distract them with bright lights and music,” said Lily. “No effect from that, but we did get to have a mini dance party in the cafeteria.”
Gabriella nodded. “It was awesome. I mean, when was I ever going to have another chance to dance on a cafeteria table like I was in Grease?”
Mr. Turner was still writing all the information down. “How long were they affected?”
“All day. Everyone seemed to come to their senses only when the final bell rang,” said Tamara. “At least, they put their phones down.”
“People were definitely back to normal after the final bell, mostly anyway,” said Will. “I talked to my friend for a minute before she left. She didn’t seem to remember doing anything weird, but she did seem really, really tired.”
“Great work everyone!” said Mr. Turner. The man always seemed so excited about everything. “Anything else to add? No? Ok, theory time! What do you think is going on?”
“It’s got to be something to do with their phones,” said Gabriella. “Seems pretty obvious since they couldn’t stop staring at them.” She crumpled her napkin up in a ball and threw it with a perfectly arched shot into the trashcan, doing a little victory dance to celebrate.
“That can’t be the only thing, though,” said Tamara. “We all have phones. Why weren’t we affected, too?”
Will blushed again. He, in fact, did not have a phone, at least not one on which he could have played Acorn Grab. His parents only let him have a flip phone; they said it was for his own good, and they were probably right. Still, he didn’t like feeling like a freak. It’s no wonder I haven’t made any real friends here, he thought.
“Bro, it’s the food. Why else would the Man Upstairs tell us not to eat it,” said Austin. From his backpack, he pulled a bag of half a dozen milk cartons floating in icy water.
“What’s up with the bizarro world fish tank?” asked Gabriella, poking the bag with her finger to watch it wiggle.
“They’re samples, obviously, from a couple of people’s trays. I needed to sneak into the kitchen to get some ice and this bag, which was no problem since the lunch ladies were just as brain-dead as everyone else. The milk cartons were the only thing that I could find to put the samples in. I wasn’t able to wash them out, but it shouldn’t affect any tests. People were drinking all kinds of things, so it’s probably not the milk.”
Mr. Turner accepted the bag gleefully, and put it in the fridge for safe keeping. “Great work, Austin! I’ll run some tests on them tonight and will let you guys know more in the morning. No messages from the Man Upstairs this afternoon, so head home and get some rest. I’m sure you’re going to need it. See you all bright and early tomorrow morning!”
Will filed out of the kitchen with the others, grabbing another cookie on his way. He didn’t doubt that Mr. Turner would be just as chipper first thing in the morning, but Will was not looking forward to having to get up early. They all headed to the entryway, the others talking and laughing at some inside joke that he didn’t get. He was glad that he had kept his things so he could head out of the door first. He was surprised, then, when Austin was hot on his heels; apparently, he already had his stuff, too.
“Bet all of this is pretty weird to you, isn’t it?” asked Austin.
“Yeah. I never would have imagined that all of this was going on in such a boring town,” said Will.
Austin shot him a look. “I wouldn’t say that our town is boring. You just haven’t been here long enough to see what’s so great about it, why it’s worth protecting.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you. I just mean, it seems like such a quiet town. It’s just shocking to find out that it’s...not.”
“How long have you been here?” asked Austin, “A month or two? We’ve probably already saved your butt two or three times already. There is always something going down around here, and we’re the only ones who can help. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into or what we have done for you.”
“I guess I don’t,” said Will. They both fell silent. Will was supremely grateful that he soon got to his street. He said goodbye to Austin who just grunted and trudged on. Will looked ruefully after him. Great, I’m supposed to save the town, and I got a guy on my team who hates me already. How could this get worse? Will thought as he climbed his stairs. Will would soon find out just how much worse it could get.