As Jessie stood mortified he could hear distant police sirens. He winced in pain from shifting Lily in his arms.
Rib still broken.
He looked around at his friends to see them stunned as well. Rose's face was still buried in Travis' chest.
"So did we win?" Travis asked breaking the tension.
Rose looked up with tears in her eyes, her clothes were burnt, but she didn't appear to have any burns on her from the explosion.
"For now but I have a sickening feeling he'll be back." Jesse said grimly.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked a scared look in her eye.
"He put his foot back in place after I snapped it and survived being torched. I don't think a fall like that is gonna do to much to him." Jessie said as he walked towards the edge where Plague jumped off. As he neared the edge he took a peek over it and his heart sank. No body, not even blood.
"Yeah he's not there guys." He said.
"Well this is just great, we put in all that effort and don't even finish off the main bad guy? He broke my fucking arm." Travis said.
"We have to get you to a hospital." Rose said as she looked at Travis' limp arm.
"From the sound of it help is on their way. Which means we need to come up with a good cover for why we are all battered, bruised and in the roof." He replied.
"A cover story?" Jessie asked.
"Well we can't go telling the police the truth right? The already suspect you for the fire, why add any fuel to their suspicions."
"Are any of his goons left either like that spitting guy?" Rose asked. "Maybe they can catch 'em and get them to talk."
"Let's hope not if we want to keep our cover from being blown. Besides I doubt they are still lurking around, if he left they probably followed." Jessie replied.
The sirens got closer and they could tell it wouldn't be long until police arrived. Travis continued explaining but Jessie's focus wasn't fully on his friend but on what Plague told him right before he fell off the roof. He had just remembered and was more confused than ever.
"Jessie, what are we gonna do?" Rose asked bringing him back to reality.
"Oh um let's go with Travis' plan. That way we can work on finding Plague without being tailed by the police. I've had enough interaction with them to last me a lifetime." Jessie replied.
"Uh excuse me, find Plague? Are you crazy?" Travis said stunned. "We just survived a fight to the death and you want us to find the guy who could survive being cooked alive."
"This obviously isn't over Travis, I'm still alive and he hasn't found whoever he was looking for. So yes, we are going to find him." Jessie said as he walked past the stunned duo.
"I don't know what is happening to us or why in the first place but I do know one thing now. This has something to do with my brother, Plague told us right before he took a nosedive."
The two looked at each other than at Jessie in astonishment.
"What? How could your brother be connected?" Travis asked.
"He told us he had Seth killed because he started to ask too many question but before that he said Seth did something for him. We need to find out what that something is and why it made Seth ask those question."
"Another thing, Plague said the whole reason they were here in the first place was they were looking for someone." Rose said confused.
"But who?" Travis asked.
"Well Jessie obviously but for some reason I felt that that was more personal than anything else. What we need to find out is who the other person they were looking for is."
On the bottom floor, they heard the police enter the school.
"We don't have time for this everyone stick to the same story ok. We were attacked in the halls but we managed to escape, unable to get into one of the panic rooms we decided to hide on the roof. Got it?" Travis said as he laid down beside the wall.
They all nodded as the sat down beside him. Jessie laid Lily down and sat beside her. He could feel her head tilt and land on his shoulder.
So this is a new feeling.
As they waited they discussed the details of their story. Jessie's heart raced as he waited, he couldn't tell if it was from the anticipation or from Lily. After a few minutes they heard banging on the roof and police radios.
Showtime.
—————————————
Jesse complied with everything the police told him to do. He explained the story that all three had agreed on. Jessie didn't see much of Rose or Travis as they were being questioned and checked out by medical staff. By the time Jessie was released into the emergency responders he was surprised by what they told him.
"Your the picture of health. It doesn't seem like there is anything besides a few bumps and bruises." The woman checking him out said.
"You can't be serious I felt like my rib was broken and I'm fine?" Jessie asked confused.
"Well I'd need to take a look at you with some real equipment to see if there are any fractures but from my preliminary examination you seem completely fine."
What the hell?
As Jessie pulled down his shirt and made his way from the pop up tent that was being used as an on the site emergency aide he spotted Rose from across the courtyard.
He watched as Rose's mother embraced her as she sobbed into her chest. She had gone through a lot and Jessie felt that cold once again.
Now where's Travis?
As an EMT passed by Jessie pulled on their shirt sleeve drawing their attention. He turned to face him and smiled. Jessie read his name tag, it said his name was Tim.
"Yes?" Tim said.
"Hi I'm wondering you could tell me where a few of my friends are, they were more seriously injured and I wanted to make sure they were ok." Jessie asked.
"You've got too be a bit more specific there pal we got a lot of serious injuries here." Tim said as he scratched his chin.
"One was a little blonde kid with glasses, he had a broken arm. The other was a Korean girl who had fainted."
Gonna leave out the bit where I made her pass out. He doesn't need to know that.
"Oh those two! Yeah they were one of the first kids driven to the hospital since the boys arm was practically falling off and the girl was unresponsive to whatever we did."
"Do you know which hospital?"
"Sherwood general." Tim said with a sad look in his eye. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No you've already been a big help. Thank you." Jessie said as he walked away.
I've gotta meet up with others.
As Jessie walked towards Rose and her mother. He caught a snippet of there conversation.
"I've already called your father and he's on his way from Nebraska." Mrs. Donovan said as she embraced her daughter. "I'm so glad your safe my dear, I was so worried when I heard you weren't in any classroom. My heart almost exploded in my chest."
Jessie stopped just short of them and awkwardly waved at Rose. She waved back as her mom turned to see him.
"Oh my god Jessie your ok as well. Thank the lord, I wouldn't know what to do if I had lost you as well." She said as she pulled him into their embrace. He squished in between her and Rose.
"I'm glad your safe as well Mrs. Donovan." Jessie's said as he struggled to breathe.
"Please call me Janice."
"Thank you Janice."
As Mrs. Donovan released the two of them Jessie gasped for air as he stared at Rose hoping she was reacting the same way he was. She had a empty look on her face.
She must still feel guilty for what she did to Plague. Still she shouldn't, sh saved our lives.
"Oh Jessie have you heard any news about where Travis is?" Mrs. Donovan asked which confused him.
Wow she's worried about him too? Always thought she hated him.
As Jessie explained what Tim had told him he noticed Roses face brighten.
"So he's ok then, that's good news to hear. I wouldn't know what to do if that boy wasn't around." She said relieved shocking Jessie more.
"I was always under the impression you didn't like him." Jessie said as he scarred his head.
"I don't dislike him, no matter how many fireworks he sets off in my house." She said as she made a fist. "I wasn't talking about for my sake Jessie, I mean what would Rose do without him. He makes her so happy I'm willing to deal with burnt carpets in my family home that's been passed down for generations." She said as she hung her head slightly.
"Mom! Please!" Rose said as her face's color matched her hair.
Jessie chuckled and decided to let them argue in peace. He waved goodbye to a preoccupied Rose and made his way to the front of the school. He stopped short of the bike rack to notice his bike was missing.
There's no way someone stole my bike during all this.
He sighed and resigned himself to walking home. As he made his way towards the exit for the schools grounds he turned around to take one last look at his school. Burn marks and shattered windows left his school looking abandoned.
I'll never forget what happened here, and I'll find out what connection my brother had with Plague before he died. I need to know who they were looking for. I have a feeling that won't be the last time I see Plague but next time I'll be ready.