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Bijay
Eight years and
hundreds of burgers later, the thought of Mackers was now
leaving a bad taste in Bijay's mouth. Something sinister was
afoot.
"Seriously, guys."
Bijay sighed. "Have you thought about Mackers?"
"We have an
assault here and you're yapping about hamburgers?" Dalton
said.
"No, really, think
about it," Bijay said. "Mackers started serving food on
Monday. That's when kids started changing. Remember what
Eddie said about the cafeteria? Mackers, the Idaho Tests, it
all fits together."
"Sounds a bit like
science fiction," Denton said. "If--"
Before he could
say another word, there was a deep rumble in the walls. The
growl was back.
"And what does
that sound like?" Bijay said, suddenly defensive. "Sounds a
bit horror to me."
Denton gulped.
Then he nodded, conceding the point.
Bijay wasn't happy
about it. Mackers was like a friend to him. He'd defend its
name to anyone. He'd sneak it into his house at night, and
when his grandparents were sleeping, he would scarf down the
burgers as he watched movies on his laptop. He trusted
Mackers. He trusted that it would always be the same no
matter where he bought it, when he ate it, or how he was
feeling.
Now his school was
changing, and Mackers was at the heart of it. Bijay wondered
how he could ever have been so gullible. He found himself
panting heavily, his lungs trying to keep up with his
pounding heart. He leaned against the wall.
"We all need to
calm down," Eddie said. It was the last thing Bijay expected
to hear from Eddie. "Did he, um . . ." Eddie pointed to
Wendell, who was still curled up on the bed. "Get the
computer going?"
Wendell didn't
move or make a sound.
"We need a user
name and password," Denton explained. "Useless without
them."
"Don't computer
guys just type away and then the screen fills up with a
bunch of flashing letters and numbers and then, kablam!"
Elijah said. "You're in the system."
"That's what
someone would do in a Bourne movie," Bijay lamented.
"This isn't a
movie. This is real life," Denton said.
Real life?
Real life is being imprisoned in your school? Real life is
your classmates acting like zombies? It was feeling less
like real life to Bijay with every moment. He was surprised
that there weren't hidden cameras watching their every move.
He was surprised Jacob Wade wasn't out quoting everything
they said.
Wait a second, he
thought. Of course.
"It is a
movie," he said excitedly. "It's all a movie."
"I wish it were,"
Elijah grumbled.
"No, really.
There's proof that we're innocent!" Bijay shouted. "There's
proof about Mackers, about Snodgrass, about everything. We
just have to go out and get it!"
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