Dragons vs. Drones Read Free Page B

survivor. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have daydreaming to attend to—”
    The words were barely out of his mouth when an announcement came over the loudspeaker, eliciting groans and sighs as a deep voice boomed out across the classroom.
    â€œAttention, classes.” The familiar Texas drawl of Principal Fedak came through the speakers, sounding concerned. “We have just had a call from the school board, and it seems the storm today is going to be a bit . . . stronger than expected. Severe thunderstorm warnings have been posted, and so we have decided to end classes an hour early today so that everyone can get home before it hits.”
    The groans instantly turned to high fives and cheers. But not for Marcus. He turned back to the classroomwindow, his gray eyes widening.
    Brian saw his intent expression and took up the groan. “Don’t start.”
    â€œTeachers,” Principal Fedak continued, “please ensure that all students leave in an orderly manner. Class dismissed.”
    So much for orderly. The class rose like a tidal wave, conversations erupting in every corner. Justin started doing a jig at the back, and Ian threw an eraser at him. But despite the uproar, Marcus was completely quiet. Another storm. And another big one. The countdown was over. Eight years . . . eight storms. But why?
    Brian stood up and started packing his books, eyeing Marcus carefully.
    â€œYou’re looking a bit . . . agitated again,” Brian murmured.
    Marcus waved a hand in dismissal and shoved everything into his backpack, already starting for the door. Students were quickly filing out as Mrs. Saunders sighed and cleaned the blackboard, her equations long forgotten. Brian scurried after him.
    â€œRemember what we said about staying calm—”
    â€œI am calm,” Marcus snarled, jostling through the doorway.
    A few weeks earlier there had been a little incident with Marcus’s Xbox. He had been playing a shooter, waiting for Brian to come over and join him, when a particularly annoying online gamer had managed to kill Marcus’s character yet again. By the time Brian had actually arrived, the Xbox was little more than a pile of scrap metal.
    Of course, what Marcus didn’t explain to Brian was that he had only smashed the Xbox up
after
to cover the fact that the entire game system had sort of caught fire and melted at the same time as Marcus’s character died. He would have blamed it on a system defect or something, but he couldn’t help but notice that the controller had completely melted in his hands as well . . . and he hadn’t even felt it burn. That did not seem normal.
    And it wasn’t the first time either. Something was very wrong with Marcus, and it was getting worse. But he wasn’t going to tell Brian that. He wasn’t going to tell anyone.
    Marcus hurried to his locker. He had to get home and check the dates. He wanted to know for sure. Snatching his beat-up skateboard out of his locker, he turned to Brian.
    â€œI am not going to break anything,” he promised.
    Brian raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Vids tonight?”
    â€œThey just said there was a severe thunderstorm coming,” Marcus replied, throwing his backpack over both shoulders and tightening the straps.
    â€œOh yeah,” Brian said. “Well, we’ll play it by ear.”
    Marcus snorted and headed outside. Brian took the bus, since he lived on the outskirts of the school district, but Marcus lived just a little too close and was stuck walking—or more often, skateboarding. It was still muggy, but a strong wind was gusting across the city now, blowing hot air that felt like it was flying straight out of the Sahara. Marcus took a worried glance at the sky. The storm clouds were coming faster now. He had to hurry home or he was going to get soaked.
    He threw his skateboard out in front of him and hopped on, turning out of the parking lot