The X-Men meets Stranger Things in this coming-of-age tale.
I, Nadine Jackson, believe in science and opportunities, not stories out of a comic book.
So as part of a school project, my friends Imogen 'Aria' Zhang, Marco Martinez, James Ryder and I...
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Heeding the prisoner's words, we gave him a thankful nod then disappeared into the abandoned hallway.
Both nurses and doctors stagger across the glossy brown floor, traumatized by the riots. Some attempted to catch their breaths while others push their colleagues out of their path so they can escape through the small, dark hole in the middle of the floor.
An eerie red glow hovered our backs.
Angry guards howl at the prisoners to stand down, followed by the sound of gunfire and obscenities echoing our ears.
Aria is right: we have to get the fuck out of this place.
And though we are far away from the uprising, the stale smell of sweat and blood finally got bored and left our noses.
Looking over her shoulder, Aria tells us to keep moving.
The hole to the sewers is the size of a small frisbee, but Aria believes that our parents are in there.
But despite her optimistic spirit, Marco broke into a slow, exhausting trot as we reached towards our exit.
Marco's dark brown hair flounced close to his eyes; his long arms and legs waved like a madman off his meds.
And don't even get me started on his whining.
A dark hole sat in the middle of the floor when Marco wailed, "remind me again why I ditched Gym class?"
Laughing between breaths, James says: "Aw, come on Marco. I thought you liked P.E."
"You kidding me?" Marco glared at James for a second. "Do you know what it's like, running around with sweaty armpits?"
Aria rolls her eyes.
"Come on, Mars!" she groaned. "Let's go!"
I pushed Marco forward to keep up with Aria's nimble speed. But as I search for James, I saw him leaning against the bleach white walls, catching his breath.
Feeling worried, I immediately push past the fleeing medical staff so I can retrieve James.
Rushing up to him, I asked if he was okay.
James nods slowly before opening his aquamarine blue eyes at me.
"Yeah, " he rubs his eyelids like a sleep-deprived child. "I am just... .tired."
Jesus, I think. Mr. Jefferies must have done a number on James.
His skin is sickly yellow; his eyes bulged like a cartoon animal and I could have sworn I saw his emaciated ribcage.
Clutching his bony hands, I give him an encouraging smile.
"We have to go, " I reminded. "Our parents are waiting for us."
He tries to get up, but the dark purple bruises on James' arms made it hard for him to move.
"I don't know if I can do it, Nadine," he admitted. "Go with Marco and Aria, I'll catch up."
