#he drops the flap. walks silently all the way back to T&I and promptly has a minor mental breakdown

[yukaigenohogosha]

The Bullet and The Blade... Prt 2

A Detroit Become Human Mafia AU FanFic: This one maybe a little longer than the the first one. And I want to keep it that way...

Excuse the Grammatical and factual errors and miss conceptions. It’s just for fun. Also NSFW and very gay with a hint of gore, angst, and foul language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Prev Prts : Prt 1 Next Prt: Prt 3

They’re going to take the bull by the horns. But is that a good Idea?

Gavin’s Charger hums as he reaches Ferndale pass the subways and buildings. Gavin taps his steering wheel to the beat of Ariana Grande on the radio. Lucky no one’s there to watch him lip-sync and bop to Greedy. He’d rather shoot himself than let anyone know that. Tina does and it is torture.

But at least this is able to calm him. Going to Jericho wasn’t exactly on his top priority. In fact, being in someone else’s territory is unsettling enough. But like Hank said, Jericho might give proper backup. Even though we have no idea who they’re dealing with, we’re not taking any chances.

Gavin turns a bend and reaches a ship. As he got out after of the charger, Gavin approached the old clunk of rusted metal that still held Cargo on it’s deck. It stood completely still in the midday and yet Gavin kept getting chills. He looks around and see’s Hank’s Sedan driving through.

Hank got out with Tina following suite. Gavin felt slightly relieved. At least he’s not doing this alone. 

“What?” Tina smirked calling out to Gavin as she walked closer. “Too chicken to do it alone?”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “You wish. As I would recall, I had to drag a certain Someone to the edge cuz that certain Someone wouldn’t stop crying.”

“It was one time and I had no idea that there was a net!”

Before Gavin can muster a comeback, Hank clipped both of them at the back of their heads. “Knock it off and move. Believe it or not, I got other shit to do!”

Gavin rubbed the back of his head and sticks his tongue out at him. Tina just shook her head and followed orders.

All three walk toward the edge of the rusty catwalk that seems to be used as a connection from the docks to the decks but now stood a rusty broken bridge that halfway to the ship.

But none of them minded it. They weren’t gonna using it to cross anyway. As the trio looked over the edge, Gavin’s having second thoughts.

Tina leaned in to Gavin “Bwaaak bwak bwak. Bacawk!” mimicking the flapping of the bird with her arms.

“Fuck you” Gavin adds before he see Hank disappear.

Seeing Hank go first, makes the whole thought trying to follow suite a lot easier.

Tina beats Gavin to it and moves in to enter Jericho.

Gavin watches Tina do a mid air back flip before disappearing in to the darkness.

“Show off...”

Gavin takes a deep breath and pockets his shades in to his inner pocket before finally taking the initiative.

He jumps.

***

“I don’t understand why they can’t just install a door like a normal person.”

Hank scoots out of the net. His suit wrinkled and his hair messed up. the net bounces around as Tina and Gavin reach the net. Tina was giggling like a child and Gavin was struggling to get his footing.

“Total rush!” Tina shouts as she looks back at Gavin before she rolls out of the net.

Gavin, after failing to find balance, gives up and mimics Tina by rolling off the net and hitting the ground in unceremonious thud.

Gavin groan and stood up to brush off dust from his jacket. shoved his hands in his pocket. three walked on as they climb the flight of stairs upwards into the cabin. Tina and Gavin softly wheeze after stair number 9 while Hank seems to be doing just fine.

“You move fast for an old man.” Gavin mustered through his paved breaths.

Hank smirked as he leaned on a the railing. “You guys just gotta work on you Cardio.” And continued with more stride. 53 and feeling fine.

Tina and Gavin grunt through 12 more flight before reaching the Hull. Despite what the outside of ship looks like, the interior looks modern and recently upgraded. With open windows, soft redwood coloured walls and  men and women in white suits.

Walking behind Hank, Gavin can see that he’s looking for someone. Hank then smiles as he sees a senior in wheelchair who seems to be strapped to machine that lifts him 6 feet off the floor. Hank starts walking towards him who’s occupied with painting a gigantic mural, a dynamic revision of the the Detroit River in the sunset. 

“Got too much free time on your hands, old man?” Hank spoke up. The said “Old man” turned and smiled “Hank Motherfuckin Anderson!”. The machine descended until he reached ground and he wheeled himself out of it towards Hank. “Hows it been, old timer?” Hank bent down to give him a strong hug.

The man return the hug before pulling away. “Well, retirement’s been nice but having nothing to do is getting old.” He cracked before looking at his master piece. “still, it’s nice.” He turned back round to the three. “But I know you didn’t come here to see me. Especially knowing that you hate falling into that net.”

“Speaking of which, Get a door.”

“Not my call anymore”

“Oh right, You know where Markus is, Carl?”

“Check the captain’s cabin. That’s where he usually is these days. Being the new leader of Jericho get’s busy as it is.”

“Thanks. Anyway, nice work on the wall.”

“Shut up, you can’t tell red from fucking purple.”

Hank give a low warm chuckle before turning around waving the Carl from behind. Carl just shakes his head and get’s back to his mural.

Gavin’s head is solely straight on on the task at hand. That is, until Tina elbowed him and signaled him with her eyes. Gavin turn to the direction she was insinuating and saw him. Through the rush of people in white suits, a man stood out. In Gavin’s eyes at least.

“Hey, Um... I’m going for a piss. Catch up with you later.”

Before Hank could even respond, He was off. tailing a man in white suit and blond hair. His eyes fixated to this person like a he was prey. Keeping safe distance making sure his remains undetected.

All the way up to the forecastle. He watches this man look out into the distance. Breathing in the fresh air and feeling the calming breeze and sun. Gavin marvels at the man, smiling behind a container.

“I know you’re there.”

Gave froze. He sees the man looking straight at him with a knowing smile. Gavin smiled back and shows himself.

“Hey, Si.”

“Hey Reed.”

Gavin raises an eyebrow “You still using my mom’s name?”

“I thought you like that.”

He approaches the Simon. The soft baby blue eyes staring back at him makes Gavin smile ever so pleasantly.

“Yeah, I do. You look well”

“Yup, got to be right hand man. Now that Markus is leader.”

Gavin let’s out small chuckle.

“It’s yeah, not yup. Stop sounding like a T-ball preschooler. You’re in the big leagues now.”

Simon pulls out an earnest smile that melts Gavin heart.

“Oh, right!” Simon turns to his left side and pulls out a double edged dagger.

Gavin’s face drops “Don’t make me say it...”

Simon then pouts and looks at Gavin in expectation. Gavin could only sigh.

“Let me see what you have...”

Simon bolts away pass Gavin. “A KNIFE!”

“NO!”

And they’re off. Two grown adults playing cat and mouse chase, recalling fond childhood memories. Till they’re age caught up with them and their legs gave out. They start panting and laughing like two idiots with nothing better to do.

“So, what brings you to Jericho?” Simon finally catching his breath and stood up straight before fixing his suit.

Gavin completely forgot as he too stood up. “Now that you mentioned it, We got to head off to see Markus now.” start walking over to the Captain’s cabin

Simon tilts his head but follows suite. He then give Gavin a pat on the back. 

“It’s good to see you again, Reed.”

Gavin’s heart made a slight lurched between happy and hurt. 

“It’s good to see you too, Si.”

***

As the two walk leisurely to the cabin reminiscing about old times, a woman slams open the door startling them both. She looks up and furrows her brows at Simon.

“Good, I was about to get you. Made my job easier.” Her tone serious and hard, but this was North we’re talking about. Never not an angry moment. “Get in.” She moved aside to grant them entry.

Simon and Gavin looked at each other before entering. Hank and Tina sitting opposite to the desk and a man with tanned skin and two different coloured eyes. As Gavin observed, he can see that this calm yet determined figure of Markus is the reason why Carl handed Jericho to him. If anything, he’s impressed.

“Everyone’s here then?” Markus looks around before continuing. “Good. Josh, If you please.” He looks over to another man African american man in white no older than 25.

Josh pulled out some files and looked over to the rest. “I have a bit of information on about the cut signature on John. It’s not much and some look doubtful but comparing them with Elijah’s notes, I’m able to certain some of the facts.”

“Well?” Gavin getting somewhat impatent. 

Josh hesitated before proceeding. “A katana blade.”

The room became silent before Gavin, like a complete moron, started laughing hysterically. 

For a good 5 minutes. 

Eventually it died down slowly as he looked at everyone else. Catching Hank face palming and Tina cringing on the spot. He realized something.

“Oh shit, you’re serious.”

Josh huffed lightly. “The brand of the blade is still illusive, but through the others we found-”

“Others?” Tina sat up. Shocked.

Josh looked back at Tina. “It seems John wasn’t the only victim.” Pulls other files to Tina and Hank. He offered Gavin but he promptly refused.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Hank looks into one of the files. “Hold on, some of these people were shot.”

Gavin looks over at the file in Hank’s hand and as if he read his mind, Hank held out the file to Gavin. Gavin peered into the files and Winced.

A number of individual portraits of corpses splayed out on the floor. This time, their neck and forehead shot. leaving two bullet holes and a gruesome dead stare. He closed the file. Even if it’s less gory than the first, it doesn’t make it easier to look at.

“Do we have an address to these signatures?”

“With the intel I’ve sent to Elijah, he has located a location worth noting. An establishment known as Zen Garden Towers.”

Hank now sits up “Wait a sec, you mean that hotel? On Belle Isle, Detroit River?”

They all look at Hank like he’s grown a second head. Markus tilts his head curiously. “You know something?”

Hank stand up, ready to leave. “I think I’ve got a good clue of who’s behind this.” 

***

They all make it to the Zen Garden Towers. To say it was big hotel was an understatement. It had more than 40 storey and the area was bigger than the seem to make up most of the isle. It’s a little sad, Gavin thought. Remembering the Belle as a conversed isle park only to be turned into a luxurious bed and breakfast.

They walked in to the futuristic interior of blue and white with Hank and Markus up front and the rest following behind. At the receptionist, Hank spoke up.

“I’m here to see Madam Stern.”

The receptionist calm as ever “Do you have an appointment?”

“Call her up and say “Anderson” is here.” He said grimly

As the Receptionist did as so, Gavin leaned over to Hank.

“How many fucking people do you know in Detroit?!”

“If you’ve lived long enough to make as many connections as I have, some names will stick.”

The Receptionist then nods and hangs up the phone. She stands up and leave a will return soon notice on the counter. “This way please” She walks out to guide them to the elevator.

As they got into the uncomfortably spacious elevator, three men can be seen entering the lobby. “Hold the elevator!” One of them yelled out as they walk towards it. 

The Receptionist was holding down the open button, when Gavin out of pure idiotic mischief, decides to smack the hand away and close the doors. The trio seeing this, start sprinting across the lobby. The tall one of the group starts getting exceptionally closer, which makes Gavin press the button continuously. 

But in the end, the glass doors closes only for the man to slam his hand on surface, so hard the sound slightly resonates in the elevator. Delaying the ascend. Gavin pulls satisfied grin on the mans face as he looks into the cold Ice blue stare full of annoyance.

“Take the stairs...” He mouths as the elevator starts to leaves.

***

The low elevator hum puts Gavin in a better mood than he thought, he glances over to Simon who returns them before rolling his eyes and silently chuckles. Tina on the other hand is not amused. She leans over to him again and whispers silently.

“Seriously?! All that to impress Clueless Mc-Blondielocks?!”

Gavin jumps slightly. He eyes Simon, hoping he hadn’t heard anything. He didn’t

“Get off my tits, Ching ching!”

Tina huffed and left it at that. Surprised Hank didn’t sound his opinions.

the elevator dinged as they reached the top floor. the roof. What they saw was beyond words. An oriental garden filled with a built in lake and Asian influenced paths, bridges, and a lake island with a rose trellis. 

Standing on the lake island is an African woman in cyan and turquoise robes. She had an elegant air to her as she tends to the roses.

She turns and smile. But it seems somewhat malevolent than sincere. 

“Anderson...”

“Stern”

She turns around, focusing on the roses again.

“What brings you here?”

“You know what...”

Sterns stops. And turns again.

“I do...”

Gavin’s hands readied on his holster. But Hank signals him to stand down.

“Which one of your men did it?”

“One of my sons. Richard.”

“Why...”

The elevator dings again indicating someone is entering the floor.

“Speak of the devil. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” 

Everyone simultaneously turns around. The colour in Gavin’s face drained to pale.

The trio earlier, walked in. With the tall one in the looking straight at Gavin with his blue icy stare and his right hand gripped on to a katana pommel strapped to his belt.

“Oh, Fuck me...” Gavin thought.

Because “Richard” did not look amused.

End of Prt 2 ----> Prt 1 , Prt 3

#detroit become human #gavin900 #connor x hank #elijahxconnor-60 #mafia au #gavin and elijah are siblings #Tina Chen #dbh #markus x simon #carl

[fantastic-fans]

College Library

5 times Will failed at conversation with Nico, and One time he succeeded

1.

The first time Will Solace spoke to the raven-haired kid known as Nico Di Angelo, was in the campus Library. Will had gone into the building to study for an upcoming medical exam and was not planning on basically staring at the skinny boy with an aviator jacket the whole time. However, Will’s life doesn’t always go according to plan.

At first, Will just stared at Nico over the top of his medical book. He’s pretty sure he’s in the chapter about treating broken bones, but it could also be about stitching up surgical cuts. He’s not completely sure.

After about fifteen minutes of staring at the boy, and not actually studying, Will decides he probably should go back to his dorm if there’s a distraction at the library. A beautiful distraction.

Will reluctantly gets up from his table to pack his things, and then he goes to check out the three books he has. On the way to the checkout desk, he bumps into someone as he wasn’t paying attention.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” Will stoops down to help the kid pick up the books he dropped. Once Will hands the books back and looks at the kid’s face, he flushes a bright red.

maybe I can ask him to hang out sometime. Yeah. Let’s do that.

However, when Will speaks, all that actually comes out is “Hi, um, I, me, you. Bye.” Which leads to Will’s face flushing a deeper red wine color as he speed walks away from the cute boy with pale skin.

God Damnit. Why can’t I just talk normally around cute guys?

Will doesn’t get his answer that night.

2.

The next time Will talks to Nico is, once again, in the school Library. This time Nico isn’t wearing ripped jeans and his aviator jacket over a black t-shirt. Now, he’s wearing plaid PJ pants, with a baggy AC/DC shirt. His shoes aren’t shoes but slippers, and he has a large thermos, which is most likely filled with coffee if Nico’s twitching is any indication.

All of this is completely understandable as it is currently one am. The Library closes at two, and it seems like both boys decided to get in some late night work done.

Nico, Will notices, seems to be working on some sort of project that deals with Alexander Hamilton as he has about three books on him laid out in front of him, and mini note cards scattered on the table as well.

Currently, Will is sitting at a table close to Nico writing an essay on the importance of African texts for his world lit class. He’d rather be anywhere but here, but he has to finish the essay as it’s due tomorrow or today, and he had put it off until now. He currently has three of the five paragraphs written, and can’t wait to be up in the dorm he shares with Cecil and be asleep. His first class on Thursday isn’t until eleven so he will have time to sleep.

Right as Will starts his fourth paragraph he hears a tiny ‘fuck’ come from the only other person in the library, and he turns to see that Nico had spilled coffee over himself.

Will jumps up, unzips his bag, and pulls out the tissue box he stuffed in there for his cold. He walks over to Nico and taps his shoulder. Nico’s head whips around, eyes hard. As soon as Nico spots will, his eyes go soft.

“Uh, for the, uh, coffee. Um, here.” Will shoves the box at Nico, who takes, giving Will a small smile which makes Will’s lovestruck heart absolutely melt.

“Thanks Will.”

HOLY FUCK HE KNOWS MY NAME!

“Uh, yeah.” And Will once again runs off. This time, stopping at his table to gather his things, and promptly leaves the library. Will can still feel his whole face burning even when he gets back to his dorm.

3.

The third time Will speaks with Nico was, for once, not at the library. Nico was working at the quaint coffee shop that Will had just entered. Nico had on a red apron with the coffee shop’s logo of an espresso cup with steaming coming out of it in the middle. He was working the cash register and Will was very tempted to leave, not wanting to make a fool out of himself for the third time in front of the beautiful boy.

However, it was seven am, Will had a seven thirty class, and his coffee machine was broken. So he really needed this and couldn’t leave.

When Will gets up to the cash register, Nico sends Will a smile. “Hi, welcome to Mischief’s Brewing, what can I get for ya?”

“Uh, A caramel frappe? Largest size you have, please.”

“No problem, Will.”

Will blushes at the unnecessary use of his name, as Nico scribbles onto a cup and passes it to a girl with curly golden hair behind him.

“Um, N-nico?” Will asks, making Nico turn back around to face him.

“Yeah will? What’s up?”

“Well, um, I-“

“Hey, you ordered already, now get out of the way for the rest of us,” A guy says from behind Will. He turns around to apologize but is met with a hard glare from, Will believes, the starting quarterback on their college football team. Then, before Will can get a word out, he promptly shoved aside.

Will rubs his arm, which had hit a pillar, as he goes to the pickup counter to wait for his order.

Will isn’t sure how many more fails he can take with talking to Nico.

4.

The fourth time Will talks to Nico is once again in the library. Will was going over his notes and readings for his medical final in a week when he hears the doors of the library open up and then slowly close shut once again. When the doors clicked close, Will looked up to see who had entered and felt the familiar twist in his gut he gets every time he sees the brown-eyed Italian.

Nico had his messenger bag slung over his right shoulder, his hand gripping the strap. His head was facing down as he looked at his phone, typing furiously with one finger.

Will watched him as he maneuvered his way to an empty table, sitting down, and placing his bag on the chair next to him. Then, Nico tossed his phone into his bag, and a second later he reached into his bag and pulled out mac book.

Will shook his head, exiting the little daze he was in from staring at his crush and went back to studying his notecards.

Even though Will hadn’t looked at Nico since he entered the library, he still found himself constantly thinking of the boy while he silently stared at his studying material.

After twenty more minutes of this, Will decides that he needs to take a walk around the shelves of books. Mostly to clear his head of the Italian, but also because he had been working for an hour and a half before Nico had walked into the library. So, that’s what Will does. He places his phone in his back pocket, after standing up from his chair, and heads off down the rows of shelves.

On his way back, Will notices Nico walking towards him. Which leads to him having a small freak out moment, like usual.

“Hey, Will, I just wanted to apologize for that guy at the coffee shop the other day. Some customers can be real dicks. Especially in the morning.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. It wasn’t your fault, um, like you said. He was a dick.” Will knows his face is red. It always is when around Nico.

They stand there for a couple seconds, waiting for the other to speak.Eventually, Nico does. “ Well, uh, I gotta go. I’m covering Hazel’s shift at the shop. See ya around Will!” Nico waves as he turns and heads out the library, bag flapping against his leg.

Will sighs and heads back to his seat where all of his stuff is. He really wishes he could just talk to Nico, like a normal person.

5.

The next time Will talks to Nico is, again, in the library. It seems to be their designated talking place.

Nico showed up at Will’s table at the library with five books in his arms, and his messenger bag on his arm, nearly falling off.

“Hey, Will, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full and I don’t think I can make it back to my dorm with all of this.”

“Uh, yeah sure,” Will mumbles, a bit shocked that Nico wants to sit with the awkward kid that can’t seem to form a coherent sentence around him. He’s like Marinette with Adrien in Miraculous Ladybug. And yes, Will watches what’s suppose to be a kids show. Apparently, French kid shows are just better than American ones.

Nico smiles gratefully at the blond as he sets his books opposite of him. Once Nico is seated, he takes off the grey beanie on his head and stuffs it in his coat pocket, then proceeds to take off his jacket as it was unusually warm in the building. Not that Will is complaining. So far he’s only seen Nico in jackets and long sleeves. Today, however, he’s wearing a short-sleeved skull t-shirt. Will notices that, while Nico doesn’t seem to work out every day, he does have a bit of muscle. Just enough to make Will even more attracted to the raven-haired boy in front of him.

For the next two hours, the two sit in silence, studying, reading, writing, and just plain working. Will wants to say something, anything, but every time he’s about to speak, he thinks better of it and shoves the idea out of his head.

At the three hour mark, Nico gets up, packs up his stuff, and leaves. But not without a small smile and a “See you later.”

Next time, Will is defiantly asking that boy out, even if it kills him. Preferably after the date, if there is one.

+1

Apparently, for Will, sixth times the charm. He was once again in the library, leaning up against a shelf with a history book in his hands. He can hear feet coming down the aisle, and he looks up to find the boy that stole his heart.

It was a split second decision, but Will is glad he made it.

Will makes his way over to Nico, who notices him as he approaches, and gives Will that same smile he always gets. One that nearly makes Will’s knees go weak.

“Hey Will,” Nico said, standing up from the crouching position he was in.

“Hey, I uh, wanted to ask you a quick question if that was all right?” Will rubs the nape of his neck, a sheepish smile taking over his face.

“Yeah, sure.” Nico faces Will completely, body completely turned to him.

“So, uh, I was. Never mind it’s really stupid.” Will turns to leave, but feels a cold hand wrap around his wrist. He turns to see Nico’s outstretched hand gripping his wrist.

“Come on, you can’t leave me like this. I’ll be wondering for the rest of my life what you wanted to ask me if you do,” Nico jokes.

Will smiles at him. “Alright. I wanted toknowifyoudgoonadatewithme!” Will stumbles out.

Nico blinks at the taller boy, “What?”

Will takes in a deep breath before he repeats what he had just said, this time much slower. “I wanted to know if you would go on a date with me. Please.”

Nico’s smile widens, and he nods his head frantically. “Yes, god yes.”

“Really? You don’t think I’m, you know, weird?”

“Why would I think that?”

“Cause I could never form an actual sentence when I talked to you.”

Nico shrugs, “I thought it was cute.”

Will blushes, and rubs the nape of his neck again, smiling.

“So, dinner, tomorrow at six?” Nico asks.

“I wouldn’t want anything else,” Will replies.

“Good.” Nico leans up and presses a chaste kiss to Will’s cheek. Then he turns around and heads back down the aisle. “See you tomorrow, Will!”

Will couldn’t be happier that he finally spoke to Nico in full sentences.

#solangelo #will solace #nico di angelo #I literally haven't written solangelo in like six months #this was fun #also my first 5 + 1 #I really enjoyed writing it

[themurphyzone]

Oneshot: The Pacer Test

Please note that I may unlock any bad memories associated with this test and I am not responsible for the cost of your therapy.

“Wait, that was today?” Melissa yelped, grabbing the schedule from Amanda. Sure enough, the words ‘FitnessGram Pacer Test’ were neatly written into the 1:00 Wednesday timeslot. She groaned. “I thought it was tomorrow!”

“Nope, it’s today. I even wrote in five minutes of deep breathing exercises to help me get proper air flow afterwards,” Amanda replied. “Were you planning to fake an illness again?” 

Melissa and Amanda stared up at the large, imposing gym doors that spelled certain doom for the athletically challenged and unfit. 

The air was tense as the students huddled together on the sidelines, wishing each other good luck and discussing the distribution of items should one of them fall victim to the electronic killer. 

Chad whimpered, ducking behind Melissa. “Melissa! You’ve gotta help us! I think this is all a ploy for Mr. Drako to get to our precious blood!” 

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Chad, for the last time. He’s not a vampire and he’s not trying to gauge which one of us has the best blood.” 

“That’s just what he wants you to think....” Chad whispered. 

“So, the Pacer test is just a way for you to learn how fit you are!” Milo explained to Zack. “It’s all about stamina and learning how to pace yourself so you don’t tire out and collapse and have to be given Mrs. Greenwood’s mystery soup in the nurse’s office to wake you up!” 

Zack gulped. “You know that doesn’t help much.”

“Next year, I could forge a doctor’s note for a few bucks to get you out of it,” Melissa suggested. “Speaking of which, has anyone seen Bradley? I need to get this note to him before Mr. Drako gets here.” 

“That’s illegal,” Zack said. “And there’s no way he’d fall for it.” 

Melissa waved her hand at him. “Oh, Zack,” she giggled. “It’s only illegal once a person in authority catches you. Which I haven’t. I just forgot to write one for myself this year.”

“I see him! He’s in the corner!” Milo shouted, pointing to the other side of the gym, where Bradley was immersed in a library book. “Hey, Bradley! Bradley! Can you hear me? I”m jumping up and down, waving at you!” 

While Milo waved at him, Melissa quickly grabbed his vest and pulled him away from the sports balls, which collapsed from the shelf. The balls rolled across the gym, tripping other students who were still standing in groups and chatting. 

Melissa and Milo kept to the wall as they headed towards Bradley, avoiding any stray balls. 

Bradley looked up briefly from his book, rolling his eyes. “Milo,” he said sourly. Milo didn’t notice, grinning widely at him. “Hey, Melissa. I’ve got your five dollars.” 

“Sweet! Let’s trade!” Melissa exclaimed, handing over the forged doctor’s note. Bradley read it quickly, then handed over a crisp five-dollar bill. “Pleasure to do business with you.” 

“Likewise,” Bradley said, snapping a picture of the note on his phone. 

“So what book are you reading?” Milo asked. 

Bradley hugged the book protectively. “An obscure novel from a sci-fi series you’ve probably never heard of,” he replied. 

“Try me,” Milo said. “My sister’s a big fan of Dr. Zone so I know a lot about sci-fi works!”

“Catch up later,” Melissa said. “Mr. Drako’s here! Better get back to our group. You wanna come, Bradley?” 

Shaking his head, Bradley headed towards Mr. Drako, warily keeping an eye on Milo over his shoulder. 

They rejoined the others, Melissa watching Bradley and Mr. Drako discuss the note. Thankfully, he accepted the note with little argument. 

“I’m a little nervous,” Mort confessed. “My horoscope said that if I do any type of heavy exercise today, I’m going to be run over by a horde of guinea pigs.”

“I plan on stopping after fifteen,” Amanda said. “I allocated one and a half minutes for myself on the water fountain afterwards.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure the rest of us are used to things running after us, so we’ll be fine! Right, guys?” Milo asked. 

Nobody else commented until Zack broke the silence.

Zack laughed. “It’s really not that different from any other form of exercise they make us do in gym or practice. You guys sure are nervous over nothing!”

Melissa liked optimism. She really did. But too much would result in being stomped on, crushed, and broken by the harsh reality of the public school system they had to live through. 

“Well, time to get this over with,” Mr. Drako announced. “There’s plenty of room for fourteen people, so spread out on the line.”

Melissa and Zack were the only ones who remained close to Milo’s vicinity. Everybody else huddled on the far side. 

Cowards, the lot of them. 

Bradley sat in a plastic chair by the desk, absorbed into his book. 

“Okay then,” Mr. Drako said. “Remember, pace yourselves so you don;t drop dead in the middle of class. The coffins I have are decoration only.”

Chad whimpered. “He’s gonna kidnap our corpses....”

Melissa did several quick stretches as Mr. Drako turned on the old tape deck the school had provided for their class. 

“The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult-”

The monotone voice was promptly drowned out by a student’s scream. Mr. Drako paused the tape deck as everyone turned to look at Jodi, who was messing up her hair as she wildly looked around. 

“I CAN”T TAKE IT!” she screamed. “THE PACER ISN’T PUTTING THIS GAL IN A CAST AFTER SHE FINALLY GOT IT OFF! JODI OUT! PEACE!”

She grabbed her bag from the wall and hightailed it out of the gymnasium. 

“Thirteen now. May the best endurance win!” Mr. Drako said cheerfully as he let the tape play. 

As the voice went through the rest of the introduction, Melissa gave Milo and Zack a silent thumbs up. Milo strapped a helmet to his head as a safety precaution. 

“On your mark, get ready...”

Melissa inched the tip of her sneaker past the line. 

“Start.”

Almost everybody started out on a pace that bordered walking and jogging. However, Zack flew past his peers and made it to the other side with a few seconds to spare. 

Melissa held up her hand in disbelief. He was crazy. 

And she was most certainly not dragging him to the nurse. 

They made it to the other side with little fanfare. Nothing significant had happened...yet. 

Beep.

The next several intervals passed without incident, although Zack’s breathing was growing heavier. 

Crystal dropped out once they passed Level One. 

Zack dropped back to match Melissa and Milo’s light jogs. Melissa thought she was doing pretty well. It was a bit quiet for her liking though. 

A crash came from one of the ceiling pipes on the ceiling, and a family of squirrels dropped out, landing in Chad’s arms. 

“You guys are kinda cute,” he said. Then one promptly climbed into his pants. “I take it back, uh, never thought S.I.M.P would be a valid excuse to not pass the Pacer!” He yelped as he ducked into the bathroom to get rid of them. 

The short wait period between getting to the line and the next beep had disappeared, so they had to turn quickly and dash back as soon as they got there. 

Melissa took several deep breaths. Next to her, Milo was barely winded. On the other hand, Zack was beginning to pant. 

Well, the sooner he learned to pace himself, the better. 

True to her word, Amanda left for the water fountain at the fifteenth beep. Lydia followed her friend, complaining that she wouldn’t have enough energy to practice a monologue in her theater club after school. 

Down to ten people now. 

They continued to run even as the walls began to shake. A large pickup truck crashed through the wall, the flap in the back knocked off by a loose brick. Several mattresses spilled from the bed of the truck, sliding so that they were in Milo’s pass. Melissa hopped over one, while Milo tripped over a corner but regained his footing quickly. 

However, Zack flopped down face-first on the mattress and stayed there. Melissa rolled her eyes as Barry and Leo took cues from Zack and laid down on the one next to him. 

Now they had seven people. 

“Yes! A bunch of children fleeing from a creature of unimaginable horror! Roll film!” someone from the outside yelled. 

“Do they count this test as a creature of unimaginable horror or were they planning to edit it in?” Melissa joked. 

Milo laughed. “Either one sounds good.”

“You’re trespassing on school property!” Mr. Drako yelled through a megaphone. “You don’t have authorization to film here!” 

“Ooh, we can add a vampire to this film! So glad I thought of it!” the director exclaimed. “And a real vampire too. I’ll be known as the guy who gave vampires a big comeback after years of being overshadowed by werewolves!”

It was amazing how they could still hear the beeps during all the commotion. 

“Well, how was I supposed to know?” A voice with a British accent complained. “It’s not my fault the district comes up with terribly unoriginal names.”

“You could’ve read this sign. This is the middle school. The silo was located next to Jefferson County Elementary School.”

“Middle? Don’t you mean junior high?” 

“This school has ‘middle’ in the name. It’s not called Jefferson County Junior High School. Which is kind of a mouthful and-oh, hey, it’s Murphy! How are you doing, kid?” 

“Great, thanks!” Milo waved at them. He was beginning to slow down, but was otherwise fine. “Melissa, you’ve met Cavendish and Dakota before!” 

“Yeah, I have,” Melissa said, eyeing them carefully. While they’d worked together to defeat King Pistachion, Melissa still remembered them as the guys Chad had mistaken for vampire hunters. “Hello.” 

She turned her focus to the other wall, ignoring them as she dodged rubble and the mattresses. 

Diana and Fred were dragging Sam between them, each supporting a shoulder as he groaned and clutched his chest. “Lungs...burning....dying...light....”

“Don’t be melodramatic,” Diana chided as they took him to the nurse’s office. 

Mort had lasted a surprisingly long time, though he was heavily panting at this point. Then again, Zack probably would’ve lasted a while longer too if he hadn’t rushed ahead at the beginning. 

She had been lagging behind Milo for quite some time. 

“Melissa, if you’re getting tired, you should get water,” Milo suggested. “I have a few water bottles in my backpack if you want.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m only out when I don’t reach the line in time.”

Beep.

And she’d missed the line by a foot.

“Which is right now,” she muttered as she staggered to the water fountain. Amanda and Lydia were sitting next to each other, both of them still out of breath. 

“Water!” Melissa exclaimed, turning the handle a little too much. A stream gushed out and hit her in the face. “Ugh.” She grimaced and forced herself to take several gulps of the metallic tasting water. 

Definitely should’ve taken Milo up on that offer. 

She walked back into the gym, plucking a guinea pig off the bleachers. “Where did these come from?” she asked Bradley, who had taken refuge under the desk. 

Bradley shrugged. “I have no idea. Can’t a guy just read a book in peace without all this stuff happening?” 

Milo ran back and forth as the funky music played, even with the current guinea pig hazard. Mort half-laughed, half-choked on the ground as the rodents swarmed every inch of him. 

Then a hawk flew in from the open wall, aiming for a guinea pig that scurried around on the desk. Melissa ducked for cover as the talons snatched the tape deck next her, the guinea pig falling into an open drawer as it tried to get away. 

The hawk dropped the tape deck on the wall, and the cassette fell out, bouncing into the main road. Everyone flinched at the sound of cars screeching on their brakes and cat yowls. 

“I think I beat my record!” Milo grinned. 

Then he collapsed on the same mattress as Zack. 

“That went better than last year,” Melissa said. “At least nobody had to be hospitalized because of a broken streetlight this time.”

#milo murphy's law #melissa chase #bradley nicholson #the pacer test #EVIL