Truancy Read online

  “There are those in the City that fight the schools,” Umasi said, his mouth curling down into a slight frown. “They fight the Educators. They are responsible for much destruction and death in the City.”

  “I’ve never heard of such people,” Tack said, fascinated.

  “You wouldn’t have.” Umasi’s frown deepened. “The Educators’ grip on the City is powerful, and it only grows tighter as others threaten to pry it loose. They’ve been careful to keep it covered up.”

  “So…” Tack thought quickly, his mind racing. “You say that neither side is very good, then?”

  “I would not feel comfortable with the City under the control of either faction, no,” Umasi agreed. “But my opinion matters little.”

  “Why?” Tack asked. Surely someone this knowledgeable and intelligent must have some kind of influence.

  “Because I am merely an observer,” Umasi said, taking another sip from his cup. “I am not involved with either side, and I do nothing to tip the scales either way.”

  “Why not?” Tack pressed.

  “For reasons both complicated and private,” Umasi said, finishing his lemonade in one big gulp.

  Tack frowned. Umasi’s tone of voice had made it very clear that there would be no further discussion of the topic.

  “Tell me, Tack, did you once have a brother?” Umasi asked suddenly, peering at Tack intently from behind his sunglasses.

  “No, just a sister,” Tack replied, wondering what had prompted this change in the conversation. “Why do you ask?”

  “You remind me of someone I used to know,” Umasi said vaguely, his intense interest dissipating. “In any case, Tack, while I found our conversation most enjoyable, I’m afraid that time dictates that we save further discussion for another time.”

  Tack quickly looked at his wristwatch. 5:06, it read. He leaped to his feet in shock. Could he really have spent that much time in the forbidden district, just walking around, talking, and drinking lemonade?

  “I have to go,” Tack gasped. His parents would be livid, he still didn’t know if Suzie had made it home safely, and he hadn’t started on his homework.

  “I know,” Umasi said, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “You have more questions to ask, I think. If you ever find yourself thirsting for answers—or lemonade—feel free to return.”

  “I … we won’t get in trouble?” Tack asked tentatively as he shouldered his backpack.

  “I doubt it,” Umasi said confidently as he picked his book up and resumed reading.

  Tack wanted to ask how he was so sure, but stopped himself. Once he started asking questions, Tack was sure that he wouldn’t be able to stop. How was this boy able to live comfortably, carelessly, here in a district that seemed to exist only for him? How did he seem to know everything about the City when all he did was sit at a lonely lemonade stand all day? And, come to that, why did he just sit at that stand when there was only the slightest chance that anyone would come across it?

  Shaking his head in confusion, Tack began walking back the way he came. His talk with Umasi left him with a lot more questions than answers, and yet the discussion had made him feel better. Something Umasi had mentioned had brought Tack some small measure of hope.

  There were people in the City fighting for change. Tack hadn’t heard of any such movement, but Umasi seemed so sure it was impossible to doubt him. Something was being done to make things different, and that lifted Tack’s spirits in a way he’d never felt before. Maybe it was hope that he was now enjoying. Tack wouldn’t know—he couldn’t remember ever feeling hopeful before.

  5

  THE REPORT CARD

  “So,” the Mayor mused. “Someone new has been observed entering District 19?”

  “Yes, sir, you made it very clear when I was promoted to this office that we should keep an eye on—,” the Enforcer began.

  “I know what I said,” the Mayor interrupted impatiently.

  “So sir, do you want to know who the child is?” the Enforcer asked.

  “No, that won’t be necessary.” The Mayor opened his lighter. “At some point, there must be trust.”

  “Trust, sir?”

  “Yes,” the Mayor said. “You were briefed, I believe, on the boy that has made District 19 his home?”

  “Yes, sir. There wasn’t much in the report, but rumor has it that he is—”

  “I have little patience concerning rumors.” The Mayor snapped his lighter shut. “He doesn’t like it when we do so much as approach his borders. Our previous surveillances of him haven’t gone unnoticed. If he has made a new friend, I’m going to honor his wishes and leave him be.”

  “Sir, I confess that I don’t fully understand—”

  “Understanding is not a prerequisite for obedience.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m glad you’re catching on quickly—Mr. Waters, is it? It gives me hope that you’ll last longer than your predecessors.” The Mayor smiled wryly. “As I’m sure you know, we’ve been going through a lot of Chief Enforcers lately. You are, I believe, the fifth in as many months.”

  Mr. Waters remained silent. After all, what was he supposed to say to that?

  “Well then, if we’re finished discussing District 19,” the Mayor said briskly, “why don’t you tell me how the war with the Truancy is going?”

  Mr. Waters took a deep breath. This was the part he’d been afraid of—being Chief Enforcer these days meant being the bearer of bad news.

  “Frankly, Mr. Mayor, it could be going a lot better. We still don’t know why they attacked the ceramics lab, though I think it’s safe to assume that they weren’t after dinner plates.”

  Mr. Waters drew a notepad from his pocket and flipped a few pages. “The two Educators that were assassinated on the night of the attack may have been a distraction—they have good planning and coordination. The best that can be said is that our efforts to confiscate the Truants’ supplies have been going relatively well. We’ve successfully raided five different locations this week alone.”

  “Have your men actually seen a live Truant yet?” the Mayor asked.

  Mr. Waters flipped a few pages. “Yes, sir, we have. One was caught by an Enforcer patrol as he walked the streets during school hours. He was…” The Chief Enforcer frowned, knowing that the Mayor wouldn’t like what came next.

  “Killed resisting arrest?” the Mayor guessed.

  “Yes, sir. One patrolman was badly injured. They feared for their lives.”

  “We’re going to have to find some braver officers, then,” the Mayor said. “If the cowards aren’t jobless yet, make sure that they are by tonight. Live bodies are preferable to dead, and we’ve been getting too few of both lately.”

  “On the topic of bodies, sir…” Mr. Waters flipped another page of his notepad. “We’ve identified all of the dead Truants that we’ve recovered so far.”

  “Find anything interesting?” the Mayor asked.

  “No, sir, there seems to be no connection. They come from different districts, attended different schools, and fit different social profiles.”

  “I expected as much,” the Mayor said. “And what about this Zyid character?”

  “We’ve learned next to nothing about him. Other than the fact that he appears to be something of a strategic genius.”

  “At least you don’t waste my time,” the Mayor said with mild approval. “Now, I have a hunch that this Zyid is what holds the Truancy together. If you remove him from the picture, all we have is a rabble of leaderless children.”

  Mr. Waters looked at the Mayor apprehensively. “Sir, are you suggesting…”

  “I’m not going to expect him to be dead tomorrow.” The Mayor flicked his lighter open dismissively. “But work on it. Dead or alive is fine. I would prefer alive, but I understand that that might be impractical.”

  “I’ll get right on that, sir,” Mr. Waters promised.

  “Good. If there’s nothing else that requires my attention, you
may go.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mr. Waters saluted, relieved that he’d managed to come away unscathed.

  As the Chief Enforcer left, the Mayor shut his lighter and turned to his desk, where he sifted through a small mountain of paperwork. Stretching his back, he sat down in his brown leather chair and began reading the sheets at the top of the pile. There were maybe a dozen educational bills in the pile, the Mayor knew, and they weren’t going to sign themselves.

  * * *

  Outside City Hall, the very building in which the Mayor sat secure in his domain, a group of four children loitered on the sidewalk, backpacks slung over their shoulders and ice-cream cones in their hands. They were the very picture of innocence, especially considering that it was after school hours. No one gave the bunch a second glance, and no one noticed that the group was looking particularly grim as they conversed in low whispers.

  “Zyid, are you sure about this?” a pale, dark-haired boy inquired.

  “Yes, Alex, I’m quite sure,” Zyid said, pulling the hood of his gray sweatshirt farther over his head.

  “I mean, I know that you kick ass and everything, but going into City Hall alone?” Alex pressed.

  “I’ll speak frankly. We lost Ken in last week’s attack, and, most unfortunately, lost Frank to a random patrol three days later,” Zyid said, his voice characteristically devoid of emotion. “Those losses have represented, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, a sizeable blow to morale.”

  The Truants all nodded at that. There was nothing that made you realize your own mortality quite like the death of a friend.

  “As a result, I will not risk the death of another Truant. Not so soon,” Zyid declared, remembering to take a lick at his ice cream.

  “There’s easily over a thousand Truants scattered throughout the City, and we’d probably need that many to attack City Hall. If you won’t risk our deaths, why risk your own?” a dark-skinned Truant demanded, his ice cream untouched and melting.

  “A valid question, Gabriel,” Zyid conceded. “I would be lying if I said there was no danger.”

  “No danger? It’s suicide,” Alex said.

  “That is certainly a defendable position,” Zyid allowed. “But I believe that things are not so hopeless. Security in City Hall is relatively light—of all the places they might expect to be attacked, this is the last.”

  “Why now though?” Gabriel demanded, his hand now coated in melted ice cream. “They might be on edge after our last attack.”

  “Because morale works both ways,” Zyid said, nibbling mechanically at his cone. “They are undoubtedly uncomfortable with our success at the ceramics lab, and we’ve assassinated a lot of Educators. They already fear for their lives, and an attack on City Hall itself would shatter whatever confidence they may have left.”

  “So you’re not going to try to kill the Mayor or anything?” Gabriel asked.

  Zyid paused, and something odd flickered across his face. A moment later, he returned to his normal, brisk self.

  “No, it will mainly be a symbolic attack,” Zyid said reassuringly. “We mean to make an impression, nothing more. They will, I do not doubt, greatly increase security here afterwards, which is fine since I do not expect to return anytime soon.”

  “But still, I don’t know if even you can pull it off alone, Zyid,” Alex said.

  “I agree with you completely, Alex.” Zyid allowed himself a smirk at the astounded looks on Alex’s and Gabriel’s faces.

  “But … but you said—”

  “He won’t be alone,” a new voice said quietly.

  Alex and Gabriel both turned to the fourth member of their party, who had, up until then, remained completely silent.

  “Noni here has offered to accompany me,” Zyid said lightly, finishing off his ice-cream cone. “It is an offer that I will not refuse.”

  Alex and Gabriel eyed Noni carefully. The assassin’s face was almost completely concealed by a hood identical to the one that Zyid wore, as well as a thin black scarf wrapped around the lower face. Noni was something of a legend in the Truancy for several reasons, and was second only to Zyid.

  “Well,” Alex said optimistically. “I wouldn’t bet against Noni and Zyid, no matter how many Enforcers they’ve got.”

  “The two of you might stand more of a chance together,” Gabriel conceded, not mentioning the fact that losing both Zyid and Noni would be a catastrophe.

  “I’m glad that we all agree,” Zyid said, opening his backpack and pulling a second black scarf from out of it. “I’m going to borrow Noni’s fashion sense for today. I do not want to risk a security camera getting a good shot of my face.”

  “Why’s that?” Alex couldn’t help asking.

  “Because,” Zyid said simply, “the Mayor would recognize me.”

  Alex froze, staring at his leader as if seeing him for the first time. Noni even seemed to twitch slightly, though that might’ve been a trick of the sunlight. Zyid, seemingly unconcerned, wrapped the scarf around his lower face so that it covered everything from his chin to his nose, and then pulled his hood back over his head.

  “The Mayor would do what?” Alex demanded, sure that he’d heard wrong.

  “He would recognize me,” Zyid repeated; this time his voice took on a very serious tone. “We have met in the past, and that is all there is to say on that topic.” Zyid shot a warning look at Gabriel, who had just opened his mouth to speak.

  “The time is now,” Noni pointed out softly.

  “So it is.” Zyid glanced at his wristwatch. “I appreciate your escorting us up to this point, but you two should be far away from here when it starts. Wait for us back at headquarters.”

  “All right, good luck.” Alex and Gabriel turned and made for the nearest subway station. They knew better than to question a direct order.

  Zyid watched them go, and, once he was satisfied that they were a safe distance away, turned to face Noni.

  “Well then, let us begin,” Zyid suggested, nodding curtly at his partner.

  Zyid and Noni made their way up the granite stairs towards City Hall’s glass entrance. As they did, Zyid picked up a long, thin cardboard package that he had left lying to the side. Once through the open doors, they passed through a rectangular metal detector, which promptly beeped. Removing various metallic items from their pockets, including coins and a cell phone, they passed through the detector again for the benefit of the uniformed security guard that was watching them lazily. As they stepped inside the lobby, they were met by another pair of security guards. Zyid smiled beneath his scarf. Thanks to the Mayor, relatively few people in the City knew of the existence of the Truancy. These men weren’t Enforcers, so they wouldn’t be among those few.

  “Hey there,” the first guard greeted them. “What’re you two here for?”

  “School project,” Zyid said casually. “Researching the City Hall and such.”

  “I’m his classmate,” Noni said in a quiet voice muffled further by the scarf.

  “Why the scarves?” the second guard asked suspiciously.

  “It’s the latest fashion,” Zyid said. “It gets kind of warm, sure, but it looks cool.”

  “Kids and their fads these days.” The first guard chuckled as his partner ran a handheld metal detector over them and their backpacks, just to be sure.

  “Well, you two don’t seem to be carrying anything dangerous,” the second guard said, eyeing the metal detector readings. “Just don’t wander off anywhere you’re not supposed to.”

  “Oh, we won’t,” Zyid assured them. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”

  Noni nodded vigorously in agreement.

  “Right,” the second guard said gruffly, turning back to face the entrance.

  Zyid and Noni proceeded into the lobby, where they took a moment to look around. It was very lavish, like what one might expect to see in an expensive hotel. There were brownish-red leather couches and chairs scattered everywhere, all of them placed around polished wooden coffee tables. The floor
was of green marble, with thick red and gold carpets covering most of it. There were some moderately sized chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, several potted trees, and in the middle was a large, white-marble fountain.

  Zyid turned to Noni. “Make the call.”

  Noni whipped the cell phone out of her pocket and pressed the speed dial button. A few seconds later, somewhere in the mail room of the City Hall located two floors above the lobby, a bomb exploded. There were some distant shouts and screams, and seconds later Zyid and Noni watched as every Enforcer, security guard, and courageous bystander rushed towards the source of the commotion.

  Zyid walked over to the fountain and gestured for Noni to follow. Using the confusion to their advantage, they each unloaded a pipe bomb at either end of the fountain. As they straightened up, a voice suddenly rang out.

  “Hey, you two, what’re you doing?”

  Zyid’s head snapped towards the voice, which belonged to an Enforcer that seemed to know exactly what they were doing. The Enforcer’s hand reached for his gun, but as it moved, something white flew through the air and pierced his throat, causing him to crumple to the ground. Noni stood upright, two more ceramic knives clutched in either hand as Zyid opened his cardboard package and drew out a ceramic sword. The weapon, one of the three recovered from the ceramics lab, was a risk that Zyid was taking. He wasn’t sure exactly how well it would work—after all, only three were made before the project was scrapped.

  “Our time, I’m certain, is running short,” Zyid said, looking over at Noni. “Light the fuse.”

  Zyid and Noni each drew a packet of matches from his or her pocket. Lighting them, Zyid and Noni touched the flame to the fuses of the pipe bombs, causing the fuses to hiss and burn angrily. Turning away, the pair dashed behind a marble pillar as the pipe bombs exploded, sending chunks of the fountain flying everywhere. Drawn by the new disturbance, security guards and Enforcers began to rush to the scene.

  One of the Enforcers passed by the column the pair had hidden behind. Noni grabbed the Enforcer’s arm, used it as leverage to leapfrog over him, and then deftly twisted his head on the way over, snapping his neck. Noni dropped down behind the now-dead body and seized it, using it as a shield against a security guard firing from across the lobby.