The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 57

Well...maybe best the thing to do was follow that fox-kid's example-quit agitating and see if, perhaps, the answer would find her.

In the meantime, he still had a story to tell.

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It was like one of those movies where a guy steps into a time machine-or a dimensional transport, or whatever-and then, when he steps out again, it's after The Apocalypse.

That was my first thought when I came out of The Hole after the riot. Granite Point had never been much to look at, but now it was like a landfill on steroids. Piles of garbage all over the place, rubble strewn everywhere, and X-rated graffiti on every wall. Every sink and toilet had been smashed to bits, and then the pieces had either been thrown at the guards or used as slingshot projectiles.

What? Yeah, the Point was still using porcelain fixtures, can you believe that?

But, seriously...if you think Savanna Central Plaza is a mess right now, it's stinkin' pristine, compared to what I saw in The Point's galley. Someone had turned over the fryers and then set fire to the cooking oil...and that was only the beginning. All of the oven and refrigerator doors had been torn off and turned into makeshift riot shields, and all of the cooking tools weaponized. They had even made clubs out of the fire-sprinkler pipes. In the mess hall outside, there wasn't a single usable table.

What's that? Yeah...we'd known something was going on; even down in Total Isolation, you couldn't escape all of the noise coming from upstairs. But none of us-not even Crazy Wez-could have imagined that things were going that far south. Other than all the crashing sounds and whatnot, it had been business as usual for the Enforcer crew. The whole time we were locked up in The Hole, we never missed a meal-such as they were-and the guards never said a word to any of us about what was going on in the main facility. Once, just once, I got up the nerve to ask...and got hosed-down with ice-water for an answer.

What now, Erin? Oh yeah, Hitch wondered about that too. It wasn't until one of the Rager crew, a cheetah kid named Zipper, came by to fill us in on the riot, that we finally got the full story. After he left, I remember that panther-kid shaking his head and looking all confused, "How come none o' them other boys ever tried to come down an' let us outta Isolation?"

It was Scorp who explained it to him; it was precisely because The Enforcers had been under lock and key that the others had felt free to riot. If they let us out again, who knew which side we'd take?

As for me, for once I was actually grateful at having been tossed in The Hole. It might not have been prime accommodations, but at least I'd been safe down there. During the riot up top, there'd been a LOT of scores settled between a lot of different kids. Not only that, The Enforcers were just about the only detainees who came out of that uprising completely blameless.

...Which was more than could be said for a lot of the officers and staff. For the moment, they were allowed to keep their jobs; AKER needed every pair of paws they could get to, just try and make Granite Point at least semi-functional again. Eventually though, heads would have to roll, and everybody knew it.

Heh, I remember a lot of kids hoping that one of those heads would belong to Lurch. Nice thought, but I knew something they didn't. Say what you wanted to about that polar bear, he'd fought tooth and claw to keep our guys from being sent to The Hole. And he'd repeatedly warned his higher-ups of the consequences of that action. Nope...HE wasn't getting canned, probably just the opposite.

There was nothing like a reprieve for the rioters, though...especially the leaders. When they let me out of my isolation cell, not one, not two, but THREE other kids were thrown in to take my place-and I mean literally. They were larger species too, an impala and two deer-bucks, including that kid who'd ridden in on the bus with me. It was gonna be seriously cramped in there-and that was in no way an isolated instance. They packed the Dry Cell so full that from that day on, it was known as the 'Black Hole of Granite Point,' later shortened to just The Black Hole. Meanwhile a whole busload of kids got shipped off to The Clinic-and those were just the guys being sent there as punishment. There were more than a few who went there by ambulance, if you follow what I'm bringing out. One or two of 'em even had to be air-evaced.