through the ranks like flames in a steady wind. The Goldens have been found, and apparently they weren't so golden after all. Someone suggests that the Admiral did it himself. The suggestion becomes a rumor, and the rumor quickly becomes accepted as fact. The Admiral killed his own! He's everything Roland says he is—and, hey, where
He's missing too? So is Connor! What has the Admiral done to them?!
A mob of Unwinds with a hundred reasons to be angry have all simultaneously found one more, and that's all it takes to push them over the edge.
The mob storms toward the Admiral's jet, picking up more and more kids along the way.
42. Risa
A few minutes earlier, Risa had responded to the Admiral's request and showed up at his jet with some aspirin. She was greeted by the Admiral, who, as she had told Connor, didn't even know her name. Now he chats with her, telling her that the experience she's getting here is better than what anyone her age gets in the outside world. She tells him of her thoughts of becoming an Army medic, and he seems pleased. He complains of shoulder pain, and asks her for the aspirin. She gives it to him, but just to be on the safe side, she checks his blood pressure, and he applauds her for being so thorough.
There's some sort of commotion outside that makes it hard for her to focus on taking the Admiral's blood pressure. Commotion is not unusual here.
Whatever it is, Risa suspects it will end with bandages and ice packs for someone.
Her work is never done.
43. Mob
Furious kids begin to arrive at the Admiral's jet.
'Get him! Get him! Pull him out!'
They climb the steel steps. The hatch is open, but just a crack. Risa looks out at the wave of mayhem, like a human tsunami pounding toward her.
'He's got a girl in there with him!'
The first of the kids reaches the top of the stairs and heaves the hatch open, only to be met by Risa, and a brutal punch to the jaw. It sends him tumbling over the side and to the ground—but there's more where he came from.
'Don't let her close that door!'
The second kid is met by an aerosol burst of bactine right to his eyes. The pain is excruciating. He stumbles backward into the other kids coming up the stairs, and they tumble like dominos. Risa grabs the hatch, swings it closed, and seals it from the inside.
Kids are on the wings now, finding every piece of loose metal and prying it up. It's amazing how much of a plane can be shredded by bare-handed fury.
'Break the windows! Pull them out!'
Kids on the ground throw rocks that hit their comrades as often as they hit the jet. On the inside it sounds like a hailstorm. The Admiral blanches at the scene outside the windows. His heart races. His shoulder and arm ache. 'How did this happen? How did I let this happen?'
The barrage of stones batters the fuselage, but nothing breaks the armored steel, nothing cracks the bulletproof glass of the former Air Force One. Then someone tears out the power line connecting the jet to its generator. The lights go out, the air-conditioning shuts down, and the entire jet quickly begins to bake in the broiling sun.
44. Connor
'You murdered Amp, Jeeves, and the rest of the Goldens.'
'You're crazy!'
Connor sits outside crate 2933, wiping his brow in the heat. Roland's voice comes from inside, muffled, but loud enough to hear.
'You got rid of them so you could take their place,' Connor says.
'I swear, when I get out of here, I'll—'
'You'll what? You'll kill me like you killed them? Like you killed Emby?'
No response from Roland.
'I said I'd make you a deal,' says Connor, 'and I will. If you confess, I'll make sure the Admiral spares your life.'
In response, Roland suggests Connor perform a physical impossibility.
'Confess, Roland. It's the only way I'm letting you out of there.' Connor is sure that, if put under enough pressure, Roland will confess to what he's done.
The Admiral needs evidence, and what better evidence than a full confession.
'I have nothing to confess to!'
'Fine,' says Connor. 'I can wait. I have all day.'
45. Mob
The fortress of the Admiral's jet is impenetrable. The temperature inside is soaring past one hundred. Risa's handling the heat, but the Admiral doesn't look too good. She still can't open the door, because the mob is relentlessly trying to get in.
Outside, whatever kids aren't swarming over the Admiral's jet are spreading out. If they can't get to the Admiral, then they'll destroy everything else. The study jets, the dormitory jets, even the recreation jet—everything is being torn apart, and whatever can burn is set aflame. They are filled with an insatiable fury, and beneath it is a strange joy that the anger can finally be released. And beneath the joy is more fury.
From halfway across the Graveyard, Cleaver sees the smoke rising in the distance, beckoning him. Cleaver is drawn to mayhem. He must be a witness to it!
He gets into his helicopter and flies toward the angry mob.
He sets down as close to the chaos as he dares to get. Have his deeds in any way led to this? He hopes so. He turns off the engine, letting the blades slow, so he can hear the wonderful sounds of havoc. . . . Then the angry Unwinds turn toward him.
'It's Cleaver! He works for the Admiral.'
Suddenly, Cleaver is the center of attention. He can't help but feel this is a good thing.
46. Connor
