17
I have killed one man to save a hundred.
I have killed one man to save a hundred, I kept reminding myself.
I stared at Seth: he was foaming at the mouth while twitching as if he were having a seizure.
I was the last person he saw in this earth. The world was terrible, but perhaps I'll see this man again. I told him that I was sorry. I was sorry I had to kill him for the Operation's selfish purpose. It was such a broken world.
I threw the champagne flutes away and ran across the yard and saw Garfunkel running toward the main building. I never saw him run so fast in my life. I slipped and fell repeatedly and worried that someone had seen me kill Seth, but I just kept getting up and running, away from the guardhouse. I ran like an antelope—well, like an antelope wearing heels having a nervous breakdown, out of control. And then, as I reached the back of the main building, I saw Liam, staring at me. From afar, I could already see the worry in his eyes.
"Rue! Are you all right?" He asked once I reached him.
I gasped for air. My knee throbbed. I wheezed as I tried to tell him I was fine.
His eyes darted around, seeking out threats. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Stung like a bitch, huh?"
I pushed out a weak laugh. "If you have to ask."
"You know, I could get used to this espionage thing. Maybe we can do this again under better circumstances."
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Just give me a second, okay?"
I caught sight of the stack of papers and flyers in his arms. UNITE AGAINST THE SYSTEM was their bold heading in grisly red.
Craning his neck to look back the way I came, Liam asked, "You got your job done?"
"Yeah. I just hope this Operation won't get me arrested," I said.
"Don't worry about the police. Headmaster Gordon doesn't like to bring the police to campus. It's bad publicity."
"But I just killed Seth." The words tasted bitter as it rolled off my tongue.
"And that's where Harry's genius comes in."
"Huh?"
"He's a maestro. He's orchestrated this whole goddamn thing. Seth's night shift starts at ten. Harry specifically picked him for you to kill. See, the guy has a family history of epilepsy. From that remarkably obvious fact, investigators can infer that he died from an epileptic fit. And you know what that means? A clean kill."
"But an autopsy would—"
Liam shook his head and went on. "George, Walter and I searched for the perfect poison. Methyl alcohol mixed with tetramine and abrin is virtually untraceable in autopsy. It will be absolutely impossible to determine the cause of Seth's death. Unless, of course, they have a well-developed lab and a lot of time in their hands then they might find the toxin. But as far as I'm concerned, these people won't waste any of their time to solve one security guard's death."
My jaw literally dropped. My mouth hung open as I stared at him.
"Close your mouth, Rue," he said.
My teeth clopped together. "You guys are unbelievable."
"Welcome to part uno of Operation Red Death—Exploitation," he gave me a smile, then it faded, just too soon. His face went very still very fast.
Just at that moment, I saw a Neon Vest behind him, sitting up against the wall and unconscious.
Startled, I blinked, stared.
Liam turned and followed my gaze. "Ah, hell," he muttered. "Don't worry. He's not dead. Walter knocked him out with Rohypnol earlier. Poor guy's supposed to be doing his rounds around the main building tonight."
"Walter's a scary kid," I said.
Liam gave a laugh and the cold icy wind blew, and to tell you the truth I wasn't sure which chilled me more, his laughter or the wind.
"What's taking George so long?"
"He's probably just taking his time—"
I was interrupted by loud knocks on top of my head. I looked up and saw Garfunkel behind the window waving at us. He opened it and poked Liam's head with his walking stick, hard.
"What the hell was that for?" said Liam, rubbing the sore spot.
"Just testing your sanity," Garfunkel replied. "Give me the papers. It's time to redecorate. "
Liam handed him the papers and said, "Give them debauchery."
"Righteous debauchery raised to an art," Garfunkel said with a low, grumbling growl.
"Hurry up, mate."
As G disappeared into the darkness, I heard someone speaking on a microphone a short distance away. The loud music seemed to have stopped too.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Sounds like Harry," said Liam.
It actually did sound like Harry. I began to feel slightly uneasy.
"What's he doing?" I asked.
Liam scratched his head. "I have no idea. Probably giving a speech against the bourgeoisie?"
"That's crazy. This was supposed to be a cloak and dagger operation."
"I know."
Ten long minutes later, Garfunkel came out of the window and the three of us moved swiftly toward the garden behind the thickets. As we got closer and closer, Murdock's voice became more distinct. We crossed the fence and saw him on stage, gripping a microphone. The dance floor was packed with people, listening to him, curious. Some were blindly guessing his identity.
"We are at an inflection point in history," Murdock spoke, and the mic gave off a high pitched noise. "Everything is changing for the worse," he went on. "Tuition fee hikes, the ridiculous and pretentious system of teaching, and Aldous Gordon, the corrupt headmaster of Summit Line State University. His corruption undercuts the investment made by society in the education of its citizens. He is a con artist, ladies and gentlemen. And we, through unity, can destroy him."
Murmurs filled the air.
Suddenly five Neon Vests went up on the stage, holding their batons.
Liam took a step forward, but Garfunkel held his arm and tried to stop him.
"Not yet," Garfunkel said firmly.
"Look at this," Murdock said as the Neon Vests surrounded him. "Whatever happened to freedom of speech? It's more drastically constrained than ever before! It's dead!"
"That's enough. You have to step down," I heard one Neon Vest say.
Murdock stood his ground and said, "You're all blinded by some incomprehensible power. You're nothing but a puppet. Slothful, pathetic puppets. You're all just marionettes of an immoral creator. Troublemakers and poltergeists and student rebels and crime reports you continuously fail to tame. You disappoint the vengeful. Is this the infamous SLSU campus security? Wait till the HLC hears about this."
"Step down, now," I could hear the anger.
"Make me."
The burly Neon Vest took a step forward and his fist struck hard on Murdock's face. Murdock fell on the floor; his nose started to bleed, but he got up. He struck back with all his strength and made the muscle machine take a couple of steps back.
My heart began to race. Gasps and murmurs revolved around me.
Liam freed himself from Garfunkel's grip, jumped over the liquor table and attacked three guards at once. Everything happened in slow motion. This pudgy Neon Vest tried to yank off Murdock's mask, but Garfunkel sped off like a gazelle and slapped the guy's face hard with his walking stick.
A huge brawl broke out. Everybody was fighting everybody. The boys were relentless. They all got sick from the pestilence curse.
Then I heard desperate whistles behind me. I turned and saw more Neon Vests hurdling toward the fight, raising their batons in the air. Were batons really necessary? I mean, they're just students for crying out loud. Not violent prisoners in Alcatraz.
"Move out!" I heard one yell.
"Get off me!" screamed another.
It was just total mayhem. Complete pandemonium. Students—drunk—went up on the stage and fought. It was like one of those Wild West saloon brawls. All hell broke loose when the rowing team started swinging and throwing chairs around. This one guy was kicking a Neon Vest's teeth out of his mouth and another cannonballs from a tree to a ten man street fight. In the middle of that chaos, I saw Walter grab a bottle of liquor, laughing. He then dashed off and hit some guard's head with the bottle. Out of nowhere, this big Neon Vest barreled straight into him like a fullback. I guess Walter was knocked out cold.
I ran toward the stage. "G! We have to go!" I yelled.
He placed Murdock's arm around his neck and helped him off the stage.
Then, not too far away, I saw Liam straddling a guard's chest.
"Liam!" I shouted. He whipped his head around to look at me, surprised to see me standing there. "You have to get Walter. He's been knocked out. We'll reconvene in George's place," I said.
He nodded and broke the guard's nose with a single punch.
Garfunkel and Murdock and I shoved through the crowd and out the garden. We ran toward the parking lot and scanned the area, and then we hurried to the Mercedes Benz parked in the corner. Murdock sat at the rear seat, coughing like mad. He took out an orange prescription bottle from his pocket and popped three pills in his mouth. That seemed to calm his breathing a little bit.
Garfunkel then drove us out of East Campus. He was going as fast as he could, like a kamikaze pilot.
"What the fuck happened out there?" I said once we were on the road.
"When push comes to shove, that had to be done," Murdock replied.
I frowned and looked at him in the rear-view mirror. "You just love putting your own Operation in jeopardy don't you?"
"That was all part of the plan, Howler," he said.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The brawl," he said and coughed, "was part of Exploitation. You'll see."
I sighed heavily. "I am so gonna get expelled."
"If that happens," Garfunkel said, "the entire student body will go down with you."
"Goddamn!" Murdock shouted. "That was so fucking exhilarating. That went well, didn't it, Gar?"
"Broken bones and ribcages aside, I guess it did." Garfunkel replied.
"Howler. Did we kill Seth?" asked Murdock.
"I guess we did," I said and bit my inner cheek. "I can't believe I went all prozzie just to persuade him to drink."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Garfunkel.
I looked at Murdock in the rear-view mirror. He leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. "Many don't realize, the revolution has already begun. It's time to unfuck this university."
Then G said, "It's V for Vendetta shit now. I hope Becka's getting the masks ready."
I sighed. When did I ever become an activist? "An anonymous revolution. Fiction turned reality. I hope it works out."
Murdock gripped my seat's head rest. "Next up, Eradication. I'm so close to the ultimate society, Gar. Here's to a happy afterlife."