The lights stayed off as she eased an electronic tablet out of her bag. Her movements tortuously slow, her own breaths shallow, she hit several buttons on the screen.
A second later, the screen was split six ways. Six video feeds, I realized.
“I said I’d find out what it would take to hack Hardwicke’s security,” Emilia whispered. “So I hacked it.”
My gaze was locked on the screen. I could see armed guards passing by one camera after another.
There were bodies on the floor.
Grown men. I processed what I was seeing. Hardwicke security. The first thing they did was shoot the other guards.
I didn’t see any students—not on the ground and not in the halls.
There was a blur of motion in front of one of the cameras, and a second later, the door to the library flew inward. Peering through the shelves, I saw the gun before I saw the man holding it.
I heard the girl with him cry out before I recognized her.
Anna Hayden.
The man with her was Secret Service. His gun drawn, he herded Anna toward the far side of the library. I was on the verge of yelling out to let them know we were here when the door opened again. The agent shoved Anna behind him and started shooting.
Emilia and I sat there, huddled in the dark, unable to move, not even to crawl away from the gunfire, without setting off the light overhead. Anna was screaming. The armed guard shooting at the Secret Service agent was yelling for backup.
Emilia’s body pressed itself up against mine. I could feel her shaking beside me. She bit down on her hand to stifle a whimper that tried to make its way out of her mouth.
Don’t move. If we move, the lights come on. If we move, we die.
One of the terrorists went down, but another rounded the corner after the Secret Service agent, who switched out guns and kept shooting.
“Anna.”
I heard someone say Anna’s name—a female someone. At first I thought it was Emilia, or maybe even me, but it wasn’t. The stilted, desperate whisper came from the far entrance.
Dr. Clark.
My World Issues teacher looked how I felt—somewhere between gutted and numb. I remembered her lecture on flashbulb memories. I wouldn’t forget a single thing about this day.
I wouldn’t ever be able to forget.
Anna edged toward Dr. Clark as two armed guards advanced on the Secret Service agent. I heard, as much as saw, the agent take a bullet to the shoulder.
He kept fighting.
Anna made it to Dr. Clark. Like one of these mothers who suddenly develops super strength to lift a car off her child, Dr. Clark shoved Anna down behind a bookshelf and bolted into the fray. Taking cover where she could, she made her way to one of the fallen gunmen. She grabbed his weapon, then ducked back into the shelves on the opposite side of the room from us.
Don’t move, I kept telling myself. Can’t move. Stay frozen. Stay still.
I watched my World Issues teacher do what I couldn’t. The Secret Service agent glanced at her as he took down the terrorist who’d been firing at him.
“How many of them are there?” he asked her.
She stepped out of the shelves, gun still in hand. “I don’t know.” She swallowed. “Is help coming? Were you able to call out?”
“Communication is down,” the agent told her. “The other agent on Starlight’s detail is dead. Backup will be here any time, but they won’t be able to get in. This place is a fortress. I have to get her out.”
The guard turned toward the vice president’s daughter. “Anna, are you—”
A shot rang out. An instant later, Anna Hayden’s last remaining Secret Service agent slumped to the floor. Emilia’s second hand joined her first, pressing over her mouth, holding in a scream as tight as she could.
Secret Service. Shot. I couldn’t process what I was seeing, or what it meant. Someone shot him in the head—
Not just someone.
As I watched, Dr. Clark stepped dispassionately over the Secret Service agent’s body. The gun she’d just fired was still in her hand.
CHAPTER 48
My World Issues teacher just shot a Secret Service agent. She just shot Anna’s Secret Service agent.
“Time to come out now, Anna,” Dr. Clark said, sounding exactly like the woman who’d stood at the front of our World Issues class and lectured about everything from elections to acts of international aggression. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. None of us do.” Dr. Clark walked until she was standing directly over Anna. She softened her voice as she looked down at the girl. “None of us want to hurt you,” she repeated, “but we will.”
“W—why?” Anna choked out the word.
“Believe me,” Dr. Clark said, “this was not my first-choice way to spend this morning, but unfortunately, I am not the one calling the shots.”