Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon by Joshua Bonilla Read Free Book Online

thinking about all the things I had learned.
    When the sun started to rise , I changed clothes and rinsed up. I tried to walk down the right side of the stairs without concentrati ng. The result was a very noisy twenty steps.
    I must have woken Cray because I heard him shuffle around and calling for M om. I then heard a door open and someone’s footsteps , probably Pan ’s , heading to M om ’ s room.
    I grabbed half of an apple and head ed outside. Casey and Peter were sitting on the bench across the street. When they saw me emerge from the house , they got up and walked over.
    “ So , I guess you guys heard, huh? ” I asked in a depressed voice.
    They both nodded.
    “ I think we should go , ” Peter said. His forwardness shocked me.
    “ I think so too , ” Casey agreed. “ We don’ t know how long it will take them to sort all the blood samples, and who knows whether or not the results will be accurate . Maybe we have to leave . That way, we can go and get them help before the results are back. ”
    Peter nodded.
    “ I was thinking the same thing , ” I admitted. “ Let’s see what Mary thinks about this. ”
    We did our laps for an hour , which seemed more like hours. The three of us ran together silently. Abigail was off on her own. She did not even acknowledge us when she passed us.
    Wh en Coach Roach blew his whistle , the three of us sprinted to Mary’s class since everyone was taking their time.
    We got there before everyone else. She looked up from her book and sighed. She was back in teacher mode with her wig, make up , and spectacles.
    She got up and rushed over to us , peeking down the hall on her way . We could hear the footsteps and chatter coming down the hall .
    “ It is tonight , ” s he said in an urgent , hushed voice. “ It has to be tonight. When you get out of class , go get what you need and meet me at the tree . ”
    The rest of the students turned the corner , and she straight ened up.
    “ Hurry up, we have a busy day. Get to your seats! ” Mary told everyone.
    If running felt like hour s, then this class felt like years. I kept glancing over to Peter and Casey , who both looked pale and sick. I imagine I looked the same way.
    Abigail did not look worried at all. In fact , she kept flipping through her book with a grin on her face. It made me hate her for not worrying about others. It was so heartless . I had to seriously reconsider my crushes from now on.
    When class was almost over , Mary got up and said that there would be extra homework , and it would be due in the morning.  I realized that she did it so that they would be too busy to go out and potentially spot us when we made our escape.
    She dismissed the class , and she reached under her desk , grabbing what I was guessing was the pistol and dropping it in her bag before she hurried out of the classroom.
    We ran home and agreed we would meet in front of my place in fifteen minutes and head to Mary’s together.
    The sky was already turning orange , and it would not be long before it was dark.
    The house was empty besides M om and Cray. I could hear her singing to Cray in a hoarse voice. It was a song that she used to sing to me all the time to calm me down. Even now , it seemed to make me relax. I took a deep breath. If I was g oing to leave, I could not let M om see me. I did not want to lie to her , and I did not want it to be harder on myself either.
    I concentrated and focused on the stairs. My head began to build pressure , but I felt my body get lighter. I saw each place on the stairs that I must step. I began ascending the stairs one step at a time. Mom’s voice seemed to have slowed down , but focusing on that helped me ignore the pain. When I reached the top of the stairs , I had tears running down my face, but it was not from the pain. I passed her door , which was cracked open , and she was lying next to Cray on the bed.
    “ By e M om , ” I mouthed silently .
    I headed to my room and shut the door quietly. I