The Light Brigade - Chapter 9
Will was contemplating the new obscure message from the Man Upstairs: Search for the source. The source of what?
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.
The Light Brigade walked to school together, not exactly in the military fashion on their namesake but together nonetheless. At first, each was lost in their own thoughts. Will was contemplating the new obscure message from the Man Upstairs: Search for the source. The source of what?
Finally, he broke the silence, “Do you guys ever understand the messages from the Man Upstairs? I mean, why are they always so cryptic?”
Lily laughed, “Yeah, they always are kind of an enigma. I don’t know why he does it like that. Perhaps he wants us to help him. Like, he doesn’t want us to be dependent on him but wants us to be to be a part of it, too. Anyway, they always make sense later.”
Will had never really felt like adults cared much about his opinion. But then again, Mr. Turner seemed to think that he had some ideas worth sharing this morning. “Well, what do you think this message meant?” he said, “What source are we supposed to search for? And does it mean that Austin and I are supposed to do it?”
Austin arched his eyebrows, lifting them under his gray beanie. “Dude, I think it’s pretty obvious. We are supposed to look for the source of the music. But I got it. I’ll go scope it out during lunch.”
Tamara crossed her arms. “What do you mean ‘you got it?’ The message was clearly for both of you, so you are both going to go do it. You have lunch during fourth period?” Austin nodded. “And Will, what class do you have then? Are you near the cafeteria?”
“Yeah,” said Will, “I have math class just two or three doors down.”
Tamara nodded. “Ok, then you will meet outside of the cafeteria in fourth period. Remember, stay stealthy and only do some recon. Do not try to do anything. Understand, Austin?”
Austin gave a slight nod. To Will’s surprise, the other boy didn’t argue but just took his orders obediently. Tamara’s quiet poise in this moment exuded a charisma that was hard to describe, but Will was sure that he would follow her the ends of the earth is necessary to fulfill the mission she set for them.
The morning passed faster than Will would have liked. Yesterday, he would have given just about anything for that after the long couple of days that he had endured. But now with his mission creeping nearer with each passing minute, he wished that time would slow back down.
He was becoming quite anxious with his exhaustion from the night before and the impending mission. What if he failed? What if they were caught? Or what if they couldn’t find the source? He was pretty certain that he had no idea how to be stealthy. He had never been particularly coordinated, preferring reading and robotics to basketball and baseball. He was even more clumsy than he used to be with his feet growing so fast. He was absolutely certain that he was going to trip and fall and set off the fire alarm and get them caught and locked up in some crazy corporate prison with squirrel jailers that chucked nuts at his head.
As the final bell for the start of fourth period rang, he took a deep breath and dropped his book on the floor as loud as he could manage. Seeing that no one reacted, he got up from his seat, crept to the door with his backpack on his shoulder, and peered out into the hallway. It was deserted as he had hoped except for Austin who was also poking his head out of the cafeteria. The both silently met in the middle at the cross hallway.
“Where are we going to look?” whispered Will. He had been thinking they should check the office, but he thought he should defer to Austin since he knew the school better.
“Figures you wouldn’t even know where to look. I don’t see why I need you here. I can do this by myself. But Tamara says you have to come, so you have to come. We’re going to start with the office – that’s where the PA system is. Don’t get us caught.” He headed off quietly down the hall without checking to see if Will was with him.
What is his deal? thought Will, padding close behind, you’d think that I had horribly offended him somehow. Why is the Man Upstairs making me work with him?
They crept down the hall, ready to dive into a classroom if necessary, but the hallways were as deserted as the time Will had taken his library excursion. Still, they were glad for the music playing through the halls as it covered their echoing footsteps. When they finally reached the office, they crept carefully toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, expecting to see the people there aware and at work. To the two boys’ surprise, though, the people that they could see were all glued to their phones. The door was open, so they crouched down in front of the desk to decide what to do.
“How is it that everyone in here is affected? Shouldn’t there be someone in charge?” whispered Will.
“We haven’t seen everyone yet,” whispered Austin back, “There could still be someone in the back offices, so be careful.”
They both poked their heads above the desk like a couple of prairie dogs on the lookout for a hawk. Quickly scanning the room, they saw what looked like a black internet router with a microphone on a table near the hallway to the back offices.
“That must be it. Keep watch for me,” said Austin. He hurried behind the front desk on silent feet to examine what they hoped was the PA system, pulling a computer out of his backpack as he went.
Will kept looking over his shoulder to watch the hallways while straining his ears for any noises from within the office.
After what felt like an eternity, Austin whispered, “Dude, this is it! There’s an external hard drive here with all the song files on it. I bet the mind virus is on here, too. Give me a minute while I copy everything.”
But he didn’t have a minute. Because just then someone turned a corner of the hallway, heading straight for them. If he hadn’t had his head bowed, reading a paper, he would have spotted Will in an instant. Will felt his heart start to thump hard against his chest as he crept behind the desk as quickly as he dared.
“Psst, Austin!” he whispered, “Someone’s coming down the hall. Get down quick!”
No sooner had the two boys ducked under the front desk than they heard the man walk into the room. With a flash of panic, Will saw that Austin’s computer was still on the table, clearly downloading the music files. They held their breath as the man stood at the desk, tapping his pen on the counter in time to the Buddy Holly song currently filling the hallway.
Finally, he walked toward the back offices, apparently still completely engrossed in his papers. Even after he was out of sight, the boys didn’t dare move a muscle. As they sat glued to their hiding spots under the desk, Austin’s computer gave a clearly audible bing to indicate that the download was done. It might as well have been a starting gun as quickly as it made the boys move, with Will scampering towards the door. Austin quickly disconnected his computer and followed closely behind. They rushed into the first classroom that they came to, plopped down in open seats, and tried to look as dazed as everyone else.
As they fought to catch their breaths and slow their hearts, they heard two men talking in the hallway. “You heard it, too, right?” said the first.
“Yeah,” said the other, “it sounded like a ding and then someone running. Everyone is accounted for, right? We don’t have any stragglers?”
“No, of course not. We’ve checked.”
“Then you better do another check. We can’t have anyone running around the school, not when we are so close.”
“Yes, sir,” said the first. They heard footsteps walking away, and then only one set come back a little while later. Will stared down at his empty hands, trying to keep them from shaking as he heard the door open and the man come in. Suddenly, the man blew an earsplitting air horn blast. Will fought the urge to cover his ears and forced himself to stay still. Finally, the man left, closing the door behind them.
“That was awesome!” said Austin after they were sure he was gone. “That’s the closest I’ve been to being caught since that time with the robotic cockroaches. And, we got the files.” He kicked his feet up on the desk, perfectly at ease once again.
Will, on the other hand, did not think it was awesome. He felt like he needed to run a few laps around the school to get rid of the adrenaline. I’m really not cut out for this kind of pressure, but at least we know what’s on the hard drive. I hope it has answers.
They decided it was best to just stay put until the end of the period. It seemed like the mystery men were searching the school, and the boys would rather not run into them. Finally the bell rang for fifth period, and they headed for the door. On their way out, Austin said, “Thanks for having my back. I guess we did need both of us after all. Glad you can be trusted.”