Bryce quickly puts it down and raises his hands. “I was guarding the boat. I figured I we should be ready, right?”
I nod my head in agreement, but I’m not sure if he should be the one wielding it. Danna jumps on the boat first and looks at Bryce’s feet. “What’s this?” she asks picking up a handgun. “How many weapons do you need?”
Bryce shrugs his shoulders. “It could have been like a Scarface final scene moment, for all I know. You can never be too prepared.”
I help Elle onto the boat, and then take the handgun away from Danna. “It would help if this one had bullets in it.”
Bryce looks at me in surprise.
“Don’t worry,” Elle says to him, “I made the same mistake today.”
I look at Elle. “Time to go.” She nods her head, and I look at Bryce and Danna, who each nod as well.
“Where’s Jaxson?” Bryce asks innocently. The shy looks from the three of us give him the answer he needs. “I see.”
I jump out of the boat, and Elle joins me. I kneel down and untie the boat from the docks.
“That’s it,” I say to her. “We’re gone.” I look out into the dark night sky, illuminated from the nearby business of Ryland.
“Are you okay?” Elle asks.
I smile. “I just can’t believe it. It’s so surreal.”
Elle pats me on the shoulder. “I can’t drive this boat without you, so hurry up. We’re ready to go.”
I nod my head with confidence. “Me too.”
I grab Elle’s hand to help her onto the boat when a gunshot makes us jump. Another blasts into the dark sky, and I almost feel a bullet wiz by me.
“Wait!” yells a voice from behind us. I turn, and my father is standing there alone, his arms raised up. “Please wait, son.”
“Don’t try and stop us,” I yell back at him.
“I’m not here for that,” he says in a reassuring voice. “We found Chase. Multiple crews are battling the fire that’s destroying Ryland Academy as we speak.”
I sigh. “Dad, I need to leave. What did you come here for?”
Arthur Cain walks closer to us. I stand in front of Elle.
“I’m not armed, son,” he says, raising his arms again. He looks at Elle. “I don’t know what to say to you.”
“An apology is a good start,” Elle says with a thin smile.
Arthur Cain nods his head. “I am.” He turns to me. “Lance, I want you to take care of yourself, wherever you go. Make sure you are always paying attention. They won’t stop now. I will do what I can from here to smooth things.”
I nod. “I know, Dad. It’s a risk I have to take.” I grab Elle’s hand. “A risk we have to take.” My father looks at our hands, grasped together in unity, with a thin smile.
“Your mother would have approved,” he says softly.
I look away for a moment, then back at my father. “Say goodbye to mom for me.” My father nods his head. I look at my father one last time. “Goodbye, Dad.”
My father looks at me with a solemn face. I grab Elle’s hand and lead her to the boat.
A strong arm pulls me back, and my father wraps his arms around me. “I love you, son. I love you.”
I smile. “We really need to go, Dad.”
He nods his head and smiles back.
The blast of a gun startles us. Another fire of a gun sounds, and I can almost feel a bullet whizzing by me.
“Thomas!” my father yells, “Stop shooting! Now.”
Thomas Winters walks out onto the dock with a cold smile. “Sorry, sir, didn’t see you there.”
For a moment, my father looks afraid but regains his composure quickly. “It’s all worked out, Thomas. Elle and my son are leaving.” Thomas looks at him, but keeps his gun pointed towards Elle and me. “Don’t worry, Thomas. You will get an exceptionally large bonus this year.”
Thomas Winters smiles. His leather glove stiffens around the gun in his hand. “I need to make a phone call, sir.” He pulls off one of his leather gloves with his teeth and takes out his cell phone from his inner jacket pocket. He dials a number while maintaining a constant stare at the three of us.
“Thomas!” my father yells. “What are you doing? Did you not hear me?”
“I certainly did, sir. I certainly did. This won’t take but one moment.” Thomas puts the cell to his ear. Thomas speaks into the phone. “I have them, sir. Yes, at the boat. Arthur Cain is here now too. What would you like me to do?” Thomas waits a moment, then nods his head with a smile. “I understand.”
Thomas Winters hits the speaker phone button on his cell and stretches out his arm.
“Kill them all!” Principal Aldridge yells through the cell. “All of them!”
Thomas hangs up the phone and puts it back in his pocket. He looks at my father. “Surprisingly, Mr. Aldridge pays a lot better than you.” Thomas points his gun at my father and pulls the trigger.
My father drops to the floor of the wooden dock and falls into the water. I look at the dark water and see his body, motionless, and bobbing with the tide.
I look back at Winters, but he just smiles at me.
Multiple gun shots ring out behind us, firing onto the dock. I push Elle’s head down, and we both cover our heads, dropping to the ground.
Thomas fires back at the boat, hiding behind some crates on the dock.
“Fuck you!” I hear Bryce yell from the boat.
I grab Elle’s hand, and we run and jump onto the boat. When I stand up, Bryce stares at me with a blank face.
“Keep shooting at the bad guy,” I remind him. He nods and keeps firing out towards the dock. Thomas attempts to fire back, but I can hear the clicks of his empty chamber on his gun. I run to the captain’s chair, start the boat, and run full throttle into the dark waters.
I look back at
