‘Or,’ Chloe suggested sourly, ‘get all the money that countries and corporations pour into, like pro sports and the Olympics an’ shit, and put it into like, a forest planting Olympics?’ Her eyes met Daekwon’s and widened with abrupt embarrassment. A hot blush flushed its damning crimson across her cheeks; she was not used to being in the company of athletes and was so used to mocking them that this sentiment had just spilled out. ‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ she mumbled, staring at the threadbare carpet. ‘I didn’t mean to like, shit on athletes.’
Daekwon shrugged, the corners of his mouth curving up into a gentle smile of forgiveness.
‘Look, I’m an athlete, an’ uh, I gotta say that without b-, b-, boxing an’ sports an’ stuff, my life would be a lot w-, worse than it is. I never got good grades, an’ I s-, still don’t. Wid’out sports, I wouldn’t really have n-, nothin’ goin’ for me … but I a-, agree wid’ you. There’s way t-, too much money in sports today. I ain’t sayin’ that there sh-, sh-, shouldn’t be no money in sports, period, but I don’t think that it should be this like m-, m-, multi-billion-dollar industry, like it is. That shit’s outta control, yo.’
‘I think,’ Paola ventured, ‘that putting some money an’ like, publicity an’ competition an’ stuff into um, like, rewilding could be great. Like, see which country can restore their native forests, an’ like, grasslands, swamps an’ wetlands an’ stuff closest to how they was before us humans came an’ messed ‘em up. That’d be real cool.’
‘Yes,’ Jun agreed. ‘Award the rewilders with internationally acclaimed medals and honours. Imagine, a gold medal and fame for bringing a species back from the brink of extinction.’
‘This is great, this is really excellent,’ Chloe said, spurred on by a driven focus. She snatched up her tablet and began making notes on what they had been discussing, her nimble fingers dancing across the screen at a frenetic pace. ‘We need to get these ideas out, we need to get people thinking about this stuff. If we could just get a really huge social influencer on YouTube to talk about these ideas, and someone who’s got a lot of followers on Twitter to start getting our ideas out there … this is it guys, this is how we really get our ideas out there, and get them rolling like, like a little snowball on top of a hill. We just have to roll it down the right path, and if it picks up enough snow on the way down, it’ll literally be a gigantic sphere by the time it hits the bottom! Come on, let’s keep this ball rolling, hit me up with more ideas! This is what the Eisenhower High Environmental Club is all about!’
Chloe looked up from her typing and saw Daekwon staring at her tablet with a look of intent focus on his face.
‘I know, I know,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘I’m using a MANMO-M tablet and I call myself an environmentalist. Yes, like, I know now about the child slavery issues in Myanmar and Central Africa, and the exploitation of workers in China, the crazy rate of suicides at their factories there … and the terrible environmental destruction that MANMO-M is involved in. I’ve seen the undercover footage, and that documentary on YouTube about how they’re also supposed to be, like, involved with human trafficking and wildlife poaching and smuggling, and all sorts of other like seriously reprehensible shit … but I got this for my birthday two years ago, and in my defence I didn’t know shit about how evil MANMO-M was back then. I get it, ignorance is a shitty excuse, but whatever. I found out that stuff like, last year, and by then there was no way I could return this thing and get a refund, the warranty was up. And, like, throwing it away to buy from a more ethical brand – if that shit even exists, with all the shady shit all these fuckin’ tech companies get up to behind closed doors and high walls – would contribute to the electronic waste epidemic that’s like, literally wrecking the planet. I know it’s just … yeah, it’s gross to be using MANMO-M tech, but I seriouslycan’t afford to replace this. I mean, just—’
‘I uh, I w-, w-, wasn’t actually thinkin’ any a’ that,’ Daekwon interjected. ‘I was j-, just lookin’ at it coz my lil’ c-, cousin has the exact same model … I think. And uh, I g-, got a MANMO-M phone myself,’ he continued, taking out his phone. ‘I didn’t know all that s- stuff about how crazy evil they was neither, not when I b-, bought it.’
‘Oh,’ Chloe murmured, blushing and feeling a little silly after having pre-empted an attack that hadn’t even existed. She picked up a napkin and began tearing little shreds of paper off it as she spoke. ‘Well uh, at least now we all like, know about how shitty MANMO-M is, huh? Don’t buy their shit!’
Everyone laughed, and Chloe flopped onto the sofa, grinning and thankful for the moment of levity.
‘All right, all right,’ she said when the laughter subsided, ‘let’s get back to like, brainstorming and stuff. These ideas we’ve been throwing around are great, and—’
Her sentence was cut short by an unexpected interruption: thunderous claps and an ear-splitting, percussive hammering, coming from the building across the alley.
‘Damn!’ Daekwon yelped, jumping up from the drum throne. ‘That’s g-, g-, gunshots!’
‘Get down, get down!’ Chloe shrieked, scrambling to the floor. ‘Holy shit, oh my God, guys, fuckin’ get down, cover your heads!’
Paola dropped to her hands and knees as the jackhammer thudding of automatic gunfire again ripped through the silence. Whimpering, she scurried over to join Chloe behind the sofa, while Daekwon lay down flat on the floor, covering his head with his hands. More gunfire boomed and rattled, and it sounded
