Free Kill School: Slice by Karen Carr Page A

the city and surrounding area are slick, and practical—utilizing
every square inch of space. This building takes up space like a sprawling lazy
dog. It stretches outward and upward with turrets made of stone if it wants to
fill up all the air and keep going to the heavens.  
    The strangest thing about the place is the snow on the
ground. Snow. White stuff. At least that’s what I think it is. Since I have
never seen it before, except on the highest mountain ranges, I am in shock. The
rest of the kids in the compartment all leave their seats and crowd around the
front of the compartment.
    “What is it?” someone asks.
    “It is snow, you idiot,” someone else answers.
    I don’t have to turn around to know it’s the mean boy
sitting behind me. I suppose it’s a good thing that I recognize his voice. He
pounds on the back of my seat with his feet.
    Lily stands up and leans over the seat toward the mean boy.
    “Shove it, Erwin,” she says. “Or Demi will take you out.”
She tries to swat him but he moves away.
    Demi gives her sister a dirty look.
    “I will not. I’m not going to waste my token on a silly
little boy. Jack and Matthew will just have to beat him up if he gives us any
more trouble.” She turns to her brothers. “Right, boys?”
    Jack and Mathew both nod eagerly.
    “Sure thing, sis,” Jack says. “My fists are yours.” He
makes two fists and shows them to the mean boy, Erwin.
    The way the quads operate reminds me of the gears of an
ancient clock. Someone winds up the clock with the butterfly wings attached to
the back, putting the gears in motion. Lily is the winder. She seems to be the
one that sets off the rest. I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.
    While we wait for further instructions, the conversation
turns back to our parents. I tell the quads about my mom, how she delivered a baby,
and how the baby’s sister terminated her. The quads shocked faces makes me
think I shouldn’t have told them that story. 
     “I never want to have kids,” Demi says. She leans into my
shoulder.
    “I do,” Lily says. “I’m going to run away and have a whole
boatload of them.”
    “That’s impossible,” Demi snaps. “There is nowhere else to
go.”
    “You’ll need the boat before you can load it.” Jack grins
and taps his sister on the head.
    The fourth quad, Matthew, leans across his brother and
sister to yank on Demi’s hair. She swats his hand away in a better mood.
    “What about you, Aria?” Demi asks.
    I can’t imagine having kids, or not having kids. I can’t
imagine having anyone in my life to change my mind either way. However, I can
imagine running away.
    “I wonder who tagged the Vactube,” is all I say. I want to
be one of those kids, free enough and daring enough to venture down the
airtight tube.
    “Whomever went in there is stupid,” Demi says. “There’s no
exit except the one here and the one back at home. What’s the point?”
    I grimace. She’s right. Stupid.
    “Maybe there’s a secret tunnel.” Lily rubs her hands
together in mock enthusiasm. “That leads straight through the earth’s core to
the other side of the world.”
    Suddenly, the lights turn off and a red strobe flashes.
Along with the strobe, a penetrating buzzing noise starts. This quiets everyone
down long enough for me to hear an announcement. We are supposed to disembark
and go to the auditorium for a welcome ceremony and assignments.
    I grab my totecase from above my seat and follow the crowd.
In all the confusion, I lose the quads and end up surrounded by a bunch of
rough looking kids. They all seem to know one another and glare at me as if I
am not supposed to be with them. I shrug my shoulders and follow them out of
the Vactrain.
    We trail past the rows of empty seats littered with
garbage, down the spiral stairs, and into a burst of freezing cold air. The air
catches in my throat and burns my eyes so much that I want to run. Instead, I
keep my pace steady with the rest of the kids and