Chapter Twenty-Six Ren
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ren
Pop, pop, pop.
I startle at the crisp, evenly spaced sounds. I’m nothing but dripping fluid, but suddenly my mouth is dry as bone.
Pop, pop, pop.
The staccato bursts ring through my ears. All along, the commotion outside has been one stew of sound: running, shouting, battering. It changes. High-pitched screams pierce the night. Thundering footsteps change direction. Akira’s shadow flares bright red. People turn and flee.
But not everyone.
Others push forward, toward the gunshots.
Ever since the hospital, I’ve been empty.
I haven’t been afraid.
I haven’t been angry.
I’ve only known my tasks—get Cosette to safety, make sure Violet and Mrs. Aratani and Mama are out of harm’s way, find Kai.
Even the tears and snot running down my face haven’t been mine, but the result of the tear gas.
The gunshots change everything. It’s like standing beneath the voice of God.
It blades through me, wakes me up when I didn’t know I was asleep.
Suddenly, I’m afraid.
Suddenly, I’m angry.
I’ve wanted none of it. None of the rebellion.
But if I was caught out here with Cosette, the bullets would still fly.
There are no illusions. No fancy fake talk of evacuation or safety measures or self-governance.
We’ve said we aren’t the enemy. We’ve said we are Americans.
You shoot at the enemy, and they are shooting at us.
Rage spills through me. Kai said I’m a dragon.
Maybe he’s right, because I’m desperate to breathe my rage out in fire.
They’ve demolished us. Not just now, not just tonight, not just with these damn bullets.
But all along. Rounding us up. Dragging us out here.
Dumping us behind barbed wire when we’ve committed no crime.
I’ve known it, been living it. Hell, they killed my sister.
Hearing gunshots makes me face it, hear it, feel it, know it. Been avoiding trouble for a long time. That stops now.
I run forward.