Ried was a normal high schooler. He was especially smart and was rightfully chasing after a proper career to match his intellect and his love for crime shows, books, and movies.
He'd often dreamt of something bigger for himself, even in his childhood, when life was simple anyway. Ried's sister got an exciting life. She was a cop, almost exactly what he wanted to be. Same division, different position of power.
Not that many people knew of his vast intelligence. His mother, when she was around, told him he was too smart for his own good. He often felt the urge to tell people that they were wrong and explain why. He wasn't a controversial boy.
He never liked heated arguments. Just friendly discussions would do fine. This ensured that when he did shout, silence would surely fall and he'd be briefly listened to before the chaos ensued again, which was what usually happened,
Even when he felt alone and like a freak, his best and longest friend, Noah, was always there for him. He hardly had any friends other than the shorter tanned boy, whose hair went through an emo phase without his personality in middle school. Noah understood him. Well, he tried really hard to, and that's what Ried appreciated most.
Noah was the buffer between Ried and the world. He couldn't imagine a life where he didn't meet Noah. That boy was a saint if Ried were a Catholic-raised child (he wasn't one for religious cults). He forgave Ried of the unforgivable and for that, Ried often wished he'd never messed up in the first place.
Ried can remember the day he'd really messed up, should've kept his god damned mouth shut! He remembered the very moment as if it were engraved into his skull. Well, that was because it was.
Noah wasn't attending school because he and his family were in the middle of a holiday. He supposed somewhere in the Poconos as Noah loves the mountains. Anyway, that was to say that Noah wasn't in town when Ried had made this grievous mistake. Because no matter who tries to convince Ried otherwise, he'd stick to what he'd forced himself to believe: 'It was a mistake! It was all just a big misunderstanding...'
Ried sat in the seat and cosied in with his rucksack on his lap. He liked to push himself right against the window and look at the scenery as it all passed him by. He forgot his headphones at home and had to listen to the dull droning of the engine humming, revving beneath all of them. He was missing Noah already...!
A few stops left in the daily route and the driver halted once more to pick up a pair of boys, who sat across the aisle from Ried. They began talking loudly about something or other. Then, Ried's selective hearing kicked in when he heard,
"Yeah, but suppose as soon as someone sees a gun on you, they order security to the car and block you from escape; You're fucked, then," The boy who said this laughed as the other two in the seat nodded, considering the possibility. It was as if it were an instinct to Ried. He'd never felt such a strong urge to say something in his life. He was doing his very best to continue to quietly, mentally, secretly, tell these boys that,
"Technically you wouldn't need to get out of the car if you had one-inch holes in the windows, but realistically speaking, how is someone of normal status going to get a diamond cutting torch to make the holes?" Ried blurted out quietly. He didn't even register that he'd turned his body to face the trio of kids. They seemed surprised, "And it has to be strong glass with tinted covers so no one would see your faces. There could be a designated driver who could pump the gas as soon as anything heads sideways," He continued. They continued talking with Ried about this 'hypothetical' situation, making Ried nervous as he was intimidated by social interactions this early in the morning, or even in general.
Over the week, they talked a lot. They invited Ried to their table at lunch because he was sitting alone without Noah. "You wanna hang out this weekend?" The youngest looking boy, James, asked excitedly. This made Ried a little uncomfortable, but he didn't have the self-confidence to refuse, so he nodded.
"Sure,"
The weekend crept up on Ried like darkness when the sun sets. Kristi, Ried's older sister drove him over in her patrol car. She seemed unsettled by Ried's nervousness but decided not to say anything. Why hadn't she said anything? Why hadn't she asked Ried if he was okay with this? What did he think of the boys? He would've told her. He would've! They were meeting at James and Bill's house. It wasn't too far away from his own, so in retrospect, Ried supposed, he could have walked.
Kristi thankfully walked Ried up to the door and knocked firmly on it. A few moments after waiting, and as Kristi checked her watch, the curtains drew back quickly and then snapped shut. The door opened cautiously, revealing a woman who did not age well. She had skin sagging from her arms and neck and she had bags under her eyes and a furrow mark between her eyebrows.
"Is there a problem, officer?" She asked with a southern drawl. She had lipstick on lightly, but Ried couldn't imagine where on earth she could be going whilst wearing dirty pale shorts with a lowcut vest with thin straps, one that hung over the side of her shoulder, falling over her upper arm as if it was too big for her. Kristi smiled and shook her head lightly,
"None at all, ma'am. Are your sons home?" She asked with a kind smile, gently placing her left hand on her hip and her right on Ried's back. The woman, supposedly the boys' mother, looked the two up and down as Ried's eyes were glued to the ground. The pavement he stood on was cracked and when the mother told Kristi that they were out back, Ried avoided the damage as he stepped from the single, protruding stair.
Kristi walked to the back yard with Ried and he knocked on the door to a garage-type building. The door opened and the room fell absolutely silent. Bill glared down at Ried as he was taller and didn't like the sight of a police officer standing next to Ried at the door of their garage.
"Okay, Mack," Kristi said, leaning over, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull him into a hug. Ried, of course, shied away and squirmed embarrassingly when she gave a small kiss to his hair, "Have fun; I'll pick you up after work and we'll go to dinner with dad, yeah?" She said, backing off. Ried nodded quietly, shyly looking up at Bill and the others. Kristi waved to the boys with a smile and Bill pulled him inside.
"What the hell is wrong with you, dude!?" Bill asked sharply after snapping the curtains of the garage window shut, slamming and locking the door.
"I had to get a ride here somehow!" James laughed and offered Ried a seat. Bill calmed his nerves quickly, turning to look at Ried with a sigh escaping his diaphragm. They all sat at a little table and John slid Ried a bottled water from where he sat. Ried thanked him and asked why it even mattered that Kristi brought him over.
"We're going to tell you something and you have to agree," Bill started. Ried had to say, out of all three of the boys, Bill was probably the most intimidating, and he probably knew it. "You're smart, Ried. Admittedly smarter than the lot of us," he nodded to the others, who murmured their agreement, "we need your brain to help us. You'll be the brains, we'll be the gunmen,"
"What? Like, rob a bank or whatever?" Ried asked. He was almost in disbelief as he chuckled and looked at the others, hoping it was a joke, begging some invisible force that they weren't actually going to put faith in Ried to tell them what to do in any kind of dangerous situation. "g-guys," Ried slowly stood up, running a worried hand through his rough and messy curls, "C'mon, guys...! T-this is absolutely insane, you know!?" He shouted, anxiety crawling all over him like a pile of bugs being dumped over his head,
"Ried, calm down," John said with his soothing voice. "Listen, we've already got the van prepped with anything we might need to do this, but we need your help with the rest,"
"You guys are fucking crazy, you know that? You'll never fucking survive whatever it is you're trying to do," Ried laughed shakily. He was headed for the door,
"If you don't help us, neither will you," Bill said plainly. It was as if he never was a friend of Ried's, "and neither will Kristi nor your dad," The boy glanced over at Ried, "Then, there's your pal, Noah," who paled almost instantly, "Don't tell, either," Bill said with a slight smile, making Ried's stomach flip in sickness. Ried slowly looked back at the boys, who wore faces of guilt upon seeing Ried's distraught expression. He looked up at Bill and mildly nodded, not believing that he actually would go through with it.
"One t-thing, though," Ried stuttered, looking down to the floor, then back at them with a completely different look of anger and danger to his face, "If you so much as even mistakenly aim for Noah, I can assure you that I will be the one to end every single one of you...!" He threatened, his voice rumbling in a less-than-cautious growl. The two at the table paled at this newfound side of Ried, but Bill didn't seem so convinced. He agreed, nonetheless, with a terse nod and a sigh.
So, they got to work, Ried hesitantly planning whatever it was they would be doing, which was apparently going to be the first school shoot-up in their little town... Yeeey...!
Ried was picked up by Kristi as per her promise and they went out to eat. She asked how it went and Ried paled up a bit, before trying to control himself.
"Uh, it went as well as it could, you know?" He began, stuffing food into his mouth to avoid answering any more questions from Kristi 'The Cop' Simmons' amasing interrogation skills.
"Are you okay, Mack?" She asked, pulling her more than wavy hair behind her ear to get it out of her face. Malec was babbling to himself at the end of the table. Ried nodded his head.
"Don't call me that in public," Ried hissed instead of giving an actual answer. "I had to explain it to the boys, and they laughed at me...!" He said, making his dad laugh from next to him.
"Hey, Mack is a lot better than the full thing, you know?" Ried's dad joked, glancing over at the teen before going back to feeding Malec.
"I have no idea what you were on when you named me...!" He grumbled, continuing with his food.
"It wasn't me, Ried," the older man said with a chuckle as he shook his head. Ried chortled from his seat,
"Oh, well, that explains a lot...!" He groaned, rolling his eyes. He looked up when Kristi chuckled lightly.
"You're just upset because you miss your best forever friend," Ried's eyes widened as the two adults laughed.
"Never going to let us live that down...?!" Ried asked loudly. He wasn't genuinely upset because they still call one another best forever friends, but Ried was definitely embarrassed that it was said in public by Kristi, who made it sound like more than it was.
After dinner, the family went home and they relaxed for the night. Ried, however, lied awake thinking about what was going to happen in a week from now. He still had to come up with an alibi for the day they'll miss and do some finishing designs on the van, which was now stupidly supplied with fucking explosives, thanks to John...! Ried didn't get that much sleep, but he woke up bright and early for school the next morning, just as the machine next to his bed told him to do every day.
Ried thought his days were pretty boring. He'd read about these amasing, adventurous stories, then end up not doing his own thing. He would sit on the bus and talk to Noah, get to school, and go through the motions of his classes until Outdoor Adventures class.
It was a newly set course with a very flexible curriculum to it because his class was the first to take it. The kids there were awful and just took it to fuck around. Ried took it because he wanted to know how to adventure before he just went and did it, you know? The teacher was one of the most made fun of by the students, and occasionally, even the teachers. It was mainly because of the way his voice projected a lot, and the walls were very thin, even still.
The teacher took them outside, next to the track and football field, to shoot some arrows. Ried found it very fun. Though, today, he didn't seem to be into it as he didn't want to think of shooting anyone with anything any time soon...!
"Ried," Mr Rumpf addressed, "Why aren't you shooting?" Ried only shook his head from where he was sitting on the grassy ground, picking at the blades. The man tried and tried again, but it seemed that nothing he would say would make Ried go to the waiting line, let alone the shooting line, so he'd stopped trying.
On the second to last line-up, Ried sighed and decided to go up to shoot. Mr Rumpf was very pleased, laughing and smiling as Ried grabbed the bow, adjusted the limb bolts to the weight he needed, and waited for him to blow the whistle. Once he had, Ried picked an arrow, brought it over the top limb to set the arrow to the string. He straightened out his bow arm and anchored his quiver.
There was a moment of breathlessness when Ried's heartbeat was all that he could hear, then he let go, hearing the whip of the air as the arrow tore through it to stab into the target ten meters away.
He had no idea why, but Ried had always ever imagined shooting a bow to look as scenic as it felt. Don't get him wrong, he'd probably never -- in a million years -- hunt anything with one, but he liked the feel of it in his hand, the sound as the arrow struck through the air. At the end of that set, Mr Rumpf complimented the boy on his marksmanship. It wasn't perfect, but it was definitely something, as he said.
The rest of the day was fun because Ried had a college class scheduled. The professor was awesome, super laid back but also super smart. He allowed discussions to be held and he didn't do tests or homework, just one assignment every Friday, which Ried would prepare by each Wednesday or Thursday night, then copy and paste it to the website they'd post on.
Ried got home and was texted by Bill, 'When we gon do this?' Ried sighed,
'We'll settle it tomorrow,' he sent, During lunch, the group had decided that their alibi would be getting suspended. So, Ried was going to fight Bill tomorrow during enrichment. The phone on Ried's chest vibrated and he picked it up to see that Noah had texted,
'Coming home tonight; going to school tomorrow. Miss you lots, lol!' Ried chuckled and reciprocated the excitement with his own short message of cheer. Noah sent pictures, then said that he was going to sleep, so Ried felt tired, too. He fell asleep early that night.
Waking up, knowing that he'd have to fight Bill today, he was feeling terrified. There were plenty of smart kids who were easy to push around in their school and even neighbouring ones that the group could use in case if something really went sideways. That's what Ried worried for the most. God, if he ever gets out of this alive, which is unlikely, he'll never let anyone push him like he is now...!
On the bus, Ried sat on the outside, glaring at the boys the entire ride. Noah asked him what was wrong, but Ried had quickly dismissed it as nothing to concern himself with. The first three classes went way too fast for Ried's liking...! It was already time to battle Bill in enrichment. Somehow all three boys had gotten passes to the library, where they'd stage their little war. Unfortunately, Noah insisted on accompanying Ried there, too, as he needed a quiet place to do his make-up chemistry work. Ried locked eyes with them past Noah's head as he sighed in a relenting breath of anxiety.
His eyes were glued on Bill's as he told Noah to chose a seat absentmindedly. He walked to the presentation area of the library, right next to the Media room's back door. They exchanged subtle pleasantries and all exchanged looks of disdain toward one another. The other two, James and John, were okay in Ried's book -- Other than going along with this chaotic scheme -- as they didn't seem like the type to deliberately proceed into a homicidal rage later on.
"Starting to think you wouldn't show," Bill said, "which wouldn't surprise me."
"I can assure you, Bill, that unlike you, I am no coward," Ried announced privately. Others in the presentation area gave the two strange and worried looks,
"What's that supposed to mean, Simmons?" The bigger boy snarled, puffing his chest out at Ried, who only but unzipped his jacket and let it fall off of his shoulders, catching it by the hood to toss it over the chair behind him as he feigned an explanation,
"I'm merely suggesting that courage is something to do with the genetics of a person, and I'm afraid that southern inbreed blood you've got is riddled with all kinds of nasty shit," Ried briefly chuckled. Briefly, because Bill quickly swung at Ried, punching him in the jaw. By this time, though, Ried had swung his punch, which landed on Bill's forehead. Bill charged Ried over the long table, his hands around Ried's neck. Ried grabbed around the table and finally caught a pencil as he repeated punches to Bill's nose. The stronger boy threw his head into Ried's for a headbutt.
Ried stabbed the pencil into Bill's arm, doubting that it even broke his skin. Bill backed up and Ried attacked once more. All of the anger and frustration that had been pent up was finally being released until Noah wrapped his arms underneath of Ried's and pulled him back to reveal that Bill's face was scratched, bruised, and bloodied, accompanied by the nearby pencil protruding and waving from the boy's upper arm, blood pissing from it in a long, red stream to drip from his fingertips. Noah threw him away from the boys, where he stumbled back.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Ried!?" Noah shouted. Ried froze and his eyes actually saw. He had messed Bill up pretty bad. A pang of guilt hit him like a bus. "What happened to you while I wasn't here, dude?" Noah seemed genuinely angry at Reid's change in behaviour as a teacher came to escort the two fighting boys to the principal's office.
"You stabbed him with a pencil?!" Kristi shouted as she came to pick up Ried from school as he had been suspended for two weeks. Ried said nothing, only looking down with a glare to the floor as he held the stupid ice-pack to his eye and nose. Kristi literally had to pull him from the school as Ried was refusing to move. He didn't talk in the patrol car on the ride home. He only but stared out the window.
When he got back home, entering the house first with an attitude, Ried's dad asked the two of them how badly the other kid messed him up. "Surprisingly, Ried did more damage," Kristi said, looking as distraught as she probably felt. "He stabbed the kid with a pencil...!"
"Really?" Ried's dad chuckled, seemingly taken back by this as he looked at his son, eyebrows raised. Ried's eyes were to the floor. Kristi hummed.
"What concerned me, though, is that the kid he messed up was supposedly his friend; they hung out over the weekend," She elbowed Ried, who looked up at her, agitated. "I talked to Noah," Ried groaned, rolling his eyes,
"Why'd you gotta," the boy began, but couldn't finish because Kristi had continued,
"He said Bill threw the first punch, but you said something to him before that. He also said that if he didn't intervene, you probably wouldn't have stopped,"
"That's how fights are, Kristi," Ried slowly gave, letting a long nod say the sarcasm in the sentence. Kristi sighed,
"That's not how you are," she said. Ried looked away, "What are you not telling me, Ried?" Kristi tried to look some truth out of her brother's eyes, but only found tears trying to emerge, "You said it went well,"
"I told you it went as well as it could've," And, with that, Ried tossed the now sloshing water-pack into the trash and went to his room.
Kristi looked at their father for some kind of guidance, something to help her approach this to him. The man only shook his head, making Kristi sigh, raking a hand through her hair.
Ried plopped onto his bed heavily and rolled over to fish his phone from his pocket. He'd gotten a message, '2 Days,' Ried didn't reply, only sighed, turning off his phone to look up at the wall, thinking. "I'm not gonna survive this, am I?" He asked himself, letting the curls of his head guide him back down to the covers of his bed.
The next day was boring and Ried had to watch Malec. They went on walks together most of the day, just to get Malec to calm down. "I know, bud," Ried breathed heavily as the toddler cooed painfully. Ried's face was red from the wind and lack of oxygen as Malec is quietest when Ried ran, so he ran. Ried stopped at a park to take a minute or two to breath. Malec was quiet and when Ried checked under the canopy, the little, tanned bo was sleeping. Ried gently let his cold hand brush through his curly hair. "Love you, Mal,"
"Aww," A woman nearby cooed. Ried straightened out to see that she was about Kristi's age, but she approached nonetheless, her bright emerald eyes and nearly perfect smile focused on the sleeping child. When she looked up and saw Ried's face, the bruises from yesterday fully set in and his cuts still raw, her smile fell and her eyes clouded with caution, "Oh, my...! What happened?" She asked. Ried felt anxious. He stammered for an answer,
"Oh, uh-I... I got into a fight yesterday," Ried chuckled, then looked down at Malec, "He can really pack a punch," Ried joked, which seemed to have worked as the young woman laughed.
When she asked for the toddler's name, Ried looked back at her, "Malec, but we call him Mal,"
"Aw, how old is he?" She questioned. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear as she leaned down to coo to Malec, who now stirred. Ried looked up, not only to think about what age his younger brother was but to also not look at the young woman's chest as her neck-up jacket had been unzipped some and from the angle they were at, Ried now knew her preferred colour of jogging bra, which was unsettling to think on...
"Uh-eighteen months," he laughed lightly, nervously as she stood up again, looking at Ried with a smile,
"And, who are you, fight-picker?" She gave a troublesome smile. Ried swallowed.
"M-m," Ried's eyebrows furrowed lightly, "Ried," He said after the hum of his first name slipped his lips,
"Needed to think about that?" The woman chuckled, "I'd say little Mal is stronger than he looks!"
She waved him and Malec off and continued to jog again. Ried sighed and sat on the bench behind him. He turned the stroller around and rocked it to hush Malec as his breath began to come back to him again.
"That went... well, huh?" Ried swallowed, then chuckled as Malec began to urge noise from his mouth as he reached for his older brother's curls. Ried humoured the infant by waving the dark hair in front of him, speaking soft baby-talk as well.
The run back home seemed to be a lot shorter than the one up to the park. Ried brought Malec inside as Kristi was making dinner. He went back out to pack up the stroller and bring it up to the porch. His phone buzzed and Ried stopped mid-step to look at it. It was Bill, 'Tomorrow morning; don't make us sound the horn,' Ried sighed frustratedly and continued to put the stroller away.
Dinner was quiet because their dad hadn't come home from work yet.
"Hey," Kristi started, but,
"Don't," Ried cut her off, not taking his eyes from his food.
"Just, listen-" And, again,
"No,"
"Look, Ried, I-" Ried's nose furrowed in increasing frustration. He slammed his fist to the table, making Kristi give a light yelp as her usually timid and passive younger brother let out a low growl,
"They were dicks, okay?" He said, his voice edging on a dangerous tone, "They only pretended to like me, but then they were fucking bullies. What do you do to bullies; you stand up to them, right? or, was I just supposed to let them push me around?" Ried quickly stood up, making the legs of his chair squeak against the floor of the kitchen as he made for his room.
Sitting at the edge of his bed, Ried's eyes began to water. He didn't mean to freak out like that. He quickly tried to regain control of his emotions when Kristi stood at the door, which she tentatively cracked open.
Only cautiously sitting at the edge of the bed, the woman placed a careful hand on his shoulder blade. The effort was quickly discredited as the teen shifted away, his eyes focused on the carpeted floor, "I didn't mean to hurt him," Ried cursed under his breath, clenching his fists so hard that they probably made his palms bleed.
"I know," Kristi was brought to a near whisper as she reached up to wipe a tear from her face. Ried didn't look at her, and neither she to him, so they sat.
"Mom wasn't your fault, Kris," Ried muttered, silently cursing himself as his voice failed him in the end, "Y-You don't have to blame yourself, please," Kristi stilled,
"I-I know," she quietly gave again.
That night Ried had stayed in his room, where he sat up, texting Bill. The last text Ried had sent was to a number that didn't even belong to a name in his contacts list. He'd had it since he was thirteen and barely used it. 'I forgive you' Ried fell asleep.
The next morning, Ried woke to his alarm clock, which beeped five times before Ried stirred, finally registering that today was probably going to be his last day alive. Everything seemed so vivid for him as he put on a shirt, a pair of jeans, tied his shoes, unplugged his phone.
He traced his fingers down the door and all the way through the hall and looked longingly out to the sitting room, which was conjoined with the kitchen with only a half of a bar counter to differentiate the line between the two rooms. Ried sighed with a smile. This house had been so good to him over the years, it seemed unfair to leave it so early.
Ried took a look out the window in the kitchen and saw the sunrise. It was one that made his heart tender. Ried gave one last silent prayer to whoever was possibly listening, if anyone was, begging them to choose another destiny for him, any other destiny; it didn't matter what, he'd do it, whatever it was, whatever the cost. Nonetheless, he heard the quiet squeak of a car's brakes and an idling engine outside and his heart sank. No one was listening, huh?
Ried quietly exited the house, bracing the door for a light shut so that no one would wake. He smiled faintly at the van, the thing he helped prepare. God, he hated this, but there was no backing down, no getting out, no turning around. So, he climbed in and sat down in between John and James as Bill proceeded to drive the group to the high school.
The group obeyed the traffic laws, for the most part. They took all of the back roads to hide the fact that they didn't have license plates on the van. They took just about every escape of identifying the van as possible to the smarter boy's knowledge.
Parked in the visitors' lot, the boys sat inside and waited. It neared 07.10 and Bill grabbed a nine millimetre from the back, one of the compartments, and handed it to Ried, who was struck dumb. Glancing anxiously from the weapon to Bill, Ried stuttered to reach for words he couldn't find.
"If we go down, so do you; load up," Bill said, his voice gruff from the morning air the van possessed, "You take first hit,"
"O-oh no... N-no, I can't," he tried to politely refuse, but even the other two urged that Ried take the first shot, sounding sickeningly excited.
So, with an anxious swallow, his eyebrows turned up with fear, Ried stood slowly to kneel not three feet away from his seat.
Ried rooted his hand through the ammunition bucket and grabbed two magazines of shots. Setting one on the short table they installed to the side of the van in the back, Ried loaded the first clip in, turned off the safety, and cocked the gun. He looked at Bill. He wasn't okay with this, but the time didn't wait for him.
07.07... Ried, slowly shook his head, not wanting to do this,
07.08... Bill commanded him with the other two in the background encouraging Ried, who looked back, tears nervously burning his face.
07.09... Ried took a deep breath, enclosing his palms tightly around the cold handle, he closed his eyes. Ried faced the window and straightened his arms, blinking the tears out of the way as accuracy was key to survival. This was the price of his life.
07.10. "Sorry, guys," Ried almost whispered as he clenched the handle of the gun in his palms, hand's beginning to shake once more. He pulled the trigger.
Two gunshots sounded from the van, then one more, probably sending birds to fly, cawing loudly at the sudden noise that split the air in lieu of chatter made by students and staff, followed by four others soon after. Kids screamed as they scattered, their shoes scuffing the sidewalk pavement in panic; others freaking out on the bus, and some even dove under the bus to take cover. The van started, then sped off, tires peeling against the asphalt as the school was left to chaos.
Off down the road, the van had suddenly veered to the right, crashing into a nearby telephone pole, splashing sparks into the air. Ried's vision had cut out, but he forced himself back to consciousness not but five moments later. Ried found it a little hard to breathe.
Ried shakily pulled Bill's phone from his pocket and called the authorities. "Hi," Ried cut off the woman with her routine greeting, "A big van just crashed next to me,"
Ried ran a hand through his hair, looking down at Bill's motionless face, the colour drained with his blood a while ago. Ried told the line where to find the van and quickly hung up.
He paced, muttering different options to himself before he knelt down and took out Bill's pocket knife. With it, he dug out the bullets. Everyone's heads had been cleared and Ried put the spent ammunition into his pocket. He couldn't be bothered with the heat from them as he had much more pressing matters to take care of.
Ried wrapped his hands with pieces of their torn clothing and lugged Bill's body into the driver's seat. Ried then, rooted around for those explosives. John's different grenades had then been stashed and rigged at the entrances of the van as he went out through the sunroof, jumping down to land on his knees in a crunch of autumn leaves with his hand holding the nine millimetre and the extra mag, just in case he'd need it later.
The thought of needing it later sent shivers through him. Ried dug the gun into the back of his pants and ran. He ran for home. He'd taken the short cut from the main road to his development before and knew it by heart.
Ried arrived at his house to find that Kristi was already gone. She took her patrol car. He hoped she was going anywhere but the woods to route 40, which was probably where dispatch sent her.
Ried still snuck in through the back of the small house, climbing in through his window. Ried landed on the floor, hoping the house wouldn't hear the gun fall out of his belt band.
Ried scrambled around his room. He quickly changed his shirt, bagging his current clothes up and trying to find a place to put them. His eyes focused on a hole in the hallway wall. His father punched it there long ago. Ried remembered it terribly. He quickly bounded for it, stuffing the plastic bag down into the wall, before returning to figure out what on earth to do with the gun.
Ried thought and thought and thought. What would be a place that no one would bother checking for a gun? Ried thought to himself as he sat down to sigh stressfully. Then, it hit him. Ried dropped himself to the floor, digging up the light brown, metal cover to quickly hide the gun in the vents.
Ried lied down but found it incredibly hard to rest or even consider the concept of sleep at a time like this.
Ried had murdered. He'd killed three boys who counted on him. They were broken, probably only needing a friend to help them from a dark place and what did he do? He killed them in cold blood! Ried began to sob as he curled up in his blankets.
Today didn't go as planned. Ried was supposed to die. He was supposed to be shot as well. Why hadn't he let that happen? Why had he let his own will to live to overpower that of the boys? Overpower his morals?
The police scanner from the living room caught his attention. Ried went out and sat at the table to listen. Kristi was calling for back up and an ambulance, crying over the scanner.
Not too soon after, the landline rang. Ried's father emerged from his room to answer it. Ried stood to pretend to get breakfast.
"Oh, my God...!" The man breathed, looking frightfully at his son, eyes wide with terror as he let a hand cover his mouth, making Ried worry as his dad wasn't usually this dramatic.
Had they figured it out? It can't have been that quick! "Y-yes, thank you," The man hung the line up and dropped the phone as he walked into the kitchen to stop face to face with his son. The older man sank into Ried, hugging him.
"W-what's the matter?" Ried asked, sputtering for something to say. His dad didn't answer just yet.
The landline rang again and Ried excused himself to answer this one, letting his dad sit at the table in his stead. Kristi's voice took the line and Ried's heart dropped.
"Hello?" Kristi asked twice before Ried allowed himself to breathe.
"Hey, I-I'm here; are you okay?"
"There was a van that crashed on the main road; my men opened it just as I got there," She sounded shaken, her voice cracking as voices in the background talked in little conversations muffled by distance. She was walking away from the scene as Ried hummed, urging her to continue. She sighed, "the whole thing was rigged with explosives, which means a lot of the men had a real surprise when they opened her up,"
"Are you okay, though?" Ried asked. He turned back to the kitchen to see that their dad stood and was waiting for an answer,
"Just a bit shaken is all," She choked out a breathy chuckle. Ried nodded, relieved that he hadn't hurt his sister,
"I'll try to make it back for dinner, but it doesn't look like it, so don't wait up," She hung up when another person in the distance called to her. Ried turned around and put the landline down.
"Ried," his father began, making the boy turn to him, "Noah's being run to the hospital," Ried's legs almost gave out. Had something went wrong?! "Your school was shot up," Ried looked at his father with so much grief and hurt. "He went into a severe panic attack," Ried raced into his room to pick up his phone.
'Hey, I heard what happened; are you okay?!' He sent and began pacing a half an hour after he sent the message.
'Noah's fine; just a panic attack, thank god,' someone answered. Ried basically pounced on his phone as soon as it buzzed with the notification of a new message.
'Where is he? What hospital? Can we come up to visit?' Ried fumbled with the keyboard of his phone screen. Looking up and out the window, he couldn't decide whether he was a hero or a monster himself...
The school was closed until they could guarantee the safety of the students, which Ried thought was dumb as he was the one who ensured safety, not the stupid staff.