HARRINGTON “Observe. Vid from 2:03.” He scrolled the bar back until the time-frame read 2:03:4956. From an overhead view, a teenager stood with his hand on the door panel. He took it off, then did it again. “What is he trying to do? Press a button?” Harrington sat back in the folding chair. “What do you think he’s doing?” he snapped. Greene dotted his brow with a handkerchief. The warehouse basement where they had set up their temporary operations center had no air conditioning or ventilation. And the multiple laptops, cell phones, and crappy television monitors–all hooked up through tangled black cords–generated a lot of heat. “Then he is aware…

ASH Ash struggled to put his cell phone back in his pocket, trying not to elbow Ivy in the face as she drove. “Just take off your seat belt,” Ivy hissed. Ash grunted and did so. “So where are we going already?” Ivy whined. “It’s dark, and it’s downtown. I could get carjacked, you know.” “I know where we’re going. I’ll tell you.” “What, is it a surprise?” “Not for you.” She gave him a fiery look while he kept his eyes forward. “This is some date.” “This is not a date,” Ash replied. “But I promise, you will be entertained.” She chuckled and shook her head. “You’re weird, kid.”…

RION Rion saw the car pass by the block once. From his vantage point on the roof, he knew it was them because they slowed down, and he could see Scooter leaning out the window. Then they drove off as Rion scrambled down the ladder. By the time he started to chase after them, the car had come around again. Scooter rolled out the window. “Hey, get in here, quick.” He said to the driver. “See, I told you.” Rion ran up to them. “Sorry. Sorry. My fault.” He jumped in the car. “We just passed by and you weren’t here. Then ten seconds later you were. You’re like a…

ASH Lt. Patterson entered the hallway to go down to the holding cell. He almost ran into a walking tower of boxes. “Hey, watch it,” he said. “Sorry,” Lt. Huxley said. She slunk around him and wobbled through the maze of desks. Patterson watched her ass as she dropped the boxes with a bang. He smirked. Whoever was in the holding cell could wait. “They got you doing custodial work now?” He leaned on her desk, jingling the keys in his pocket. “No, I just like boxes,” she chirped. “The more, the better, I say. They make my desk look cozy.” “Yeah, I bet.” He read the top box’s label.…

RION “All right, open sesame!” the doctor said. Dax and Scooter pulled on the ropes that opened the garage door. The other teens were sitting at the three folding tables set end-to-end. Some had cash boxes in front of them, while others sat beside boxes and organized bottles of pills. They looked like an inner-city farmer’s market. The doctor stood at one end with Rion, observing it all. “We want to get through business as efficient as possible,” the doctor had said. “Less chance for the police to wonder why there’s a bunch of people gathered around an abandoned warehouse.” The door squeaked like nails dragging on glass as it…

ASH Every so often, Ash would hear footsteps outside, and his hopes that someone was coming in would rise. Someone to talk to him or let him go. But no one did. What were they doing with him? If they were going to ask him questions, they wouldn’t get far. Having no identity wasn’t a crime, especially if he hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place. Or maybe he had. He did have amnesia after all–who knows what he could have done. But even so, there was no reason for the police to hold him like a prisoner while real criminals got to walk out. He could set fire…

RION Rion yanked the gun out of the doctor’s hand. “What is this? Where did you get this?” Rion pointed it at him. The doctor held up his hands as if he were being held up. “Whoa, calm down. You’re gonna spill stuff everywhere.” “What is it?” Rion said. “Tell me.” “You’ve never seen a combipositor before? Seriously?” the doctor said. “A combipositor?” “Yeah, they use them on TV shows all the time. It’s replacing the hypodermic needle.” Rion examined it. “Are you sure? You’re acting like it’s common knowledge.” “It is. They were invented about the time I was in medical school. You’ve really never seen one before?” “Uh,…

RION Scooter tapped Rion on the shoulder. “Hey, let’s go have lunch.” Rion looked up, startled. He had been lost in his own little world of tiny capsules that he didn’t see most of the other teens had left their tables, breaking for lunch. The doctor was dumping out sandwiches from three paper bags, with a scent of fried meat beckoning Rion. “Dollar menu–a great thing,” the doctor said. “Do you want beef or chicken?” “Um, beef, I guess.” “I bet they’re all from the same animal anyway.” The doctor handed him a yellow-wrapped sandwich. “Listen, thanks again for helping us out with that distiller. Do you know a lot…

ASH Ash tore another leaf off the bush and ripped it to tiny pieces. The shrapnel floated to the other green bits scattered at his feet. Ash looked down at it and decided this was the worst thing about his time with the White Knights so far. There was nothing to do but watch the protestors. When the marching troops started getting listless, one of their axe-grinding leaders would start up a chant. They’d do that for fifteen minutes or so, singing songs and pacing in a circle, like hamsters on a wheel. Nobody came remotely close to making trouble. The most anyone had done was accost someone entering the…

RION Waking up with a clear head, Rion realized he was lying on an uncomfortable cot. There was a teenager about his age standing over him. “Hey, bro, good morning. How you doing? You doing good?” Rion looked around. He was in a room with blank taupe walls, a beat-up dresser, and a desk. Another trundle bed lay on the opposite wall. “What?” Rion said. “My name’s Scooter. What’s yours?” “Rion.” Scooter held out his hand to shake. “Nice to meet you Rion. Listen, I hate to be a buzzkill, but I have to be quick. They’re about to leave. That Adravil you took, the total price was twenty dollars.…