Page 121 of The Commons

Swin mutters, voice shaking, “Okay, they’re here, they’re here, oh god, they’re here!”

We hear marching and wind sounds and screaming.

Then, we hear gunshots.

I think they just shot Swin.

CHAPTER 27

The Death Sentence

“Is he dead?” My eyes dart to the right in dread.

“We can’t know.” Pesh draws back.

“What about Levon? Where is she?” I ask, frantic.

I watch as he pulls out a tablet from his drawer that seems to track Levon. “We’re able to see her?”

“Yeah.” He changes the view on his screen from animation to live view. “I have cameras all over Commonda Island.”

Focused, he draws a bunch of shapes on his screen, zooming in and connecting multiple wire-like images together on the screen. “I’m just scanning what we’re dealing with here. We have to make sure no one can see that we’re watching them.”

I nod, then look to see a red dot on the side of the screen beeping. “What’s that?”

“Warning. You’ve got to be kidding me.” Pesh sighs.

A huge bomb explodes behind Levon on the live footage. Oh no! Levon ducks, hiding against a huge tree. In the process, she scrapes her hands. She pants, eyes scanning all around.

“Argghhhh! I need help, I need help!” Levon continues to scream.

“We stopped hearing you for a while, what happened? Are you okay? Are you close to The Lawtem?” Pesh asks.

“I took out the ear buds because I figured you’d hear the wind and you all needed to help Swin before… but, I’m having a little trouble here. I’m about four miles away, but there are gunshots being fired at me from the trees, and the ground around me is exploding. What the heck? How are the trees firing gun shots? It makes no sense!”

“It can’t be,” Pesh exclaims. “He enabled The Zariki Obstruct! Oh my God.”

“What on earth is that!?” I turn to his face, and for the first time, I see Pesh terrified.

“Oh my world! I’ll stop the students.” Doctor Val walks out instantly.

I’m confused, but before I can speak, Pesh begins to direct Levon.

“Levon, can you hear me?”

I hear countless gun shots.

“Yes! Pesh, I’m on the ground!” She’s breathing heavily.

“Listen, Levon. Shantavia and I, we’re gonna get you out of there. I just need you to listen and do as I say.”

“I’m listening,” Levon responds.

“Good. The trees surrounding you, every one of them will blow up in 60 seconds. There’s an underground cave near where you are. You need to crawl on the ground until you feel a steel fiber door. Look at the ground around you. Do you see it?”

I hear Levon scampering, touching the sand to find the door. “I see it,” Levon says.

“Pull it open and jump in. You’re going to fall for a very long time. Once you get there, the doors beneath you will shut every five seconds. You have to sprint until the fifth one. Then wait. If you do not get there in time…”