Gone

better hope so, huh?”
    Brianna looked at her hands, the hands that had been imprisoned in concrete. “That’s why it doesn’t matter that I’m just eleven: we have to win.”

    Sam fought a sense of doom as he walked with Dekka toward the school. He wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, mostly; after all, he expected to end the day by poofing, and then…well, he didn’t know what.
    The dread was fear of failure. Whatever happened to him, he had Astrid to think about. And Little Pete, because Astridwould be shattered if anything happened to Little Pete. Not to mention the fact that Little Pete might be the only one in all of existence who could end the FAYZ.
    He had to beat Caine for her. For them. For all of them, all the kids. And that weighed him down like he was carrying an elephant on his back.
    He had to win. Had to make sure Astrid was safe. Then he could blink out if that had to be.
    But the closer he got, the more he doubted his decision. He was deviating from the plan, which meant no one would really know what role they were supposed to play. Caine going to the school had thrown everything off.
    They stopped a block from the edge of the school grounds. Sam keyed the walkie-talkie.
    “Has anything changed?”
    “No,” Astrid said. “The cars are parked. Panda is by the front door. The light’s fading fast, so I can’t be totally sure. Sam?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I think Panda has a gun.”
    “Okay.”
    “Be careful.”
    “Uh-huh.” He signed off. He wanted to tell her one more time that he loved her, but that seemed almost like tempting fate. He was already thinking too much about Astrid and not enough about Caine.
    “Okay, Dekka, there’s no way to sneak up. I have to be within sight before I take Panda down.”
    Dekka nodded. Her mouth was tight, like she couldn’t open it at all. She was breathing hard, tense. Scared.
    “I’m going to count to three. On three we go. All out. As soon as I can, I try to nail Panda. You do your thing when we get to the door. Ready?”
    She didn’t answer. For what felt like a very long minute she just stared at emptiness. Then at last she croaked, “I’m ready.”
    “One. Two. Three.”
    They burst from cover and started running, flat out. They closed the distance to the edge of the school grounds and were pounding across the turf before Panda spotted them and yelped.
    “Don’t do it, Panda,” Sam warned, yelling as loud as he could while running.
    Panda hesitated, hefting the gun, not quite raising it to fire.
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” Sam shouted.
    Fifty feet away.
    Panda aimed and fired.
    The bullet flew wide.
    Panda gaped at the weapon like he was seeing it for the first time.
    “No,” Sam yelled.
    Thirty feet.
    Panda raised the gun again. His face was a fright mask of fear and indecision.
    Sam dropped to the ground, rolled, and came up in a squatting position as Panda fired again.
    Sam extended his arm, fingers splayed. The green-whitelight missed Panda and burned a hole in the brick beside his head.
    Panda threw down the gun, turned, and ran.
    Ten feet.
    “Dekka, get the door.”
    Dekka raised her hands high and gravity beneath the door was suspended. The whole wall, including the door frame, lurched suddenly, as if struck by a truck from the other side. The door swung slowly open. Loose dirt and fallen mortar shot straight up toward the sky.
    Dekka dropped her hands and the dirt fell back to earth, the bricks slumped and cracked, the door jamb sagged and splintered.
    Sam fired into the dark interior through the open door. He and Dekka barreled through and slammed back against opposite walls, panting and ready. Paper signs and once-colorful posters on the walls burned and curled from Sam’s blast.
    There was no sound.
    Sam glanced at Dekka. She looked as scared as he felt.
    They edged along the hallway, nerves taut, eyes searching each doorway.
    The office was on the right side, fronted by a reinforced glass wall. Sam crept closer. Peered inside. Nothing. Lights still on from the day of the FAYZ.
    Should he move on without checking the office thoroughly? If one of Caine’s people was in there, Sam and Dekka could end up surrounded. Sam made a motion to Dekka: go in.
    Dekka shook her head violently.
    “Okay,” Sam said. “I got it.”
    He crossed the hallway quickly and opened the door himself. Something large flew at him, he ducked instinctively, but he’d been hit, smacked a glancing blow that spun him around.
    A boy with dark