He found Auggie running in the opposite direction, coming toward him from the far side of Eveleigh. Even in the dark, even at a distance, even with the panicked voices and the shouts and cries for help making Theo’s adrenaline surge, even through the layers of clothing, he knew Auggie the moment he saw him.
“He hasn’t come out,” Auggie shouted. “I saw him go into the building from the balcony, but he hasn’t come out.”
“Great,” Theo said, grabbing his arm. Auggie was still moving pretty fast, and his momentum swung them both in a circle, but Theo held on. “Now we’re leaving. We’ll call the police—”
“I already called. I couldn’t even get through to dispatch.” He pried at Theo’s hand. “They’re overwhelmed, Theo. My phone wouldn’t even work on a second try. Everybody’s calling the police right now.” He grabbed Theo’s hand again, but this time, he didn’t pull. Wrapping his fingers around Theo’s, he looked up and said, “He’s going to get away.”
Theo thought of Luke, the flies, the spin of the whole world suddenly out of his control.
“My purse!” a woman shouted. “That kid took my purse!”
A couple of young guys with black armbands turned in response to her cries. One of them clotheslined a kid who was sprinting away. The collision sent all three of them tumbling to the ground, and a sick crunch made Theo think broken bones were involved, maybe worse.
“Not him!” the woman shouted. “That one over there.”
“What a shitshow,” Auggie said. “People are going crazy.”
“Come on,” Theo said, dragging Auggie away from a fight that had broken out between a white man in camo gear and a younger black man wearing one of the armbands.
“Theo, I saw the shooter. I’m not going to leave—”
“I know, God damn it. I know you won’t. But I have an idea of what he’s doing.”
Auggie’s mouth hung open for an instant. He let Theo pull him into a run. Maybe that was the secret, Theo thought. Just overload him with surprises so that he’ll shut up and do what he’s told for five minutes at a time.
Five minutes was optimistic. They were only halfway along the length of Eveleigh before Auggie twisted to look back and said, “Theo, the doors are back there. If he comes out—”
“Eveleigh used to be the Field House.”
“What?”
“When they built the campus, it was the Eveleigh Field House.” They were still running, and Theo’s knee was starting to burn. The cold air crackled in his lungs, and pressure built behind his ears.
“The gym—”
“The gym is new.” The ground sloped down, exposing more of Eveleigh’s foundation. They followed the hill toward the east side of the building. Small windows looked into the basement—in some, yellow light painted the glass, while others were dark. A pair of fire doors were the only exit here. “Five years, maybe six. Until then, the athletics department—”
One of the fire doors opened. A wedge of yellow light cut the darkness. Someone burst out of Eveleigh, and Theo had just enough time to think: man, well built, still moves like he’s young, camo, possibly one of the Ozark Volunteers. Then the door slammed shut, and Theo was blind, his night vision ruined.
Auggie swore, ripped free from Theo’s hand, and raced down the steepest portion of the hill.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Stop!”
The shadow moving below them stopped. Turned.
A gun fired. The muzzle flash partially blinded Theo. Auggie’s feet flew up from under him, and for a moment, he was a silhouette against the pale stone of Eveleigh. Then Auggie came down hard, the frozen crust of snow snapping under him, and he slid to the bottom of the hill.
“Shit,” Theo shouted, running now. “Shit, shit, shit. Auggie?”
A groan answered him.
Taillights flooded the parking lot with red. An engine roared to life. Then, spinning up loose gravel, the car shot out of the lot onto one of the many service roads that webbed Wroxall’s campus. And then the lights winked out, and the car was just thunder fading into the night.
Theo was having a hard time navigating the hill—fear of damaging his knee slowed him—so he dropped onto his ass and scooted, sliding the last few feet. He was soaking wet by the time he reached Auggie.
Blood, black in the weak light, covered Auggie’s face. Theo ran his hands over Auggie. Everything was wet, which made the job more difficult, but he couldn’t find a bullet hole. Just scrapes, but plenty of them. Auggie was already wiping snow from his face, shaking it out of his hair, trying to sit up.
“Slow down,” Theo said.
“Damn it,” Auggie said, collecting another palmful of slush from his hair and flinging it aside.
“Stop moving.” Theo managed to rein in his voice. “I don’t think you’re shot, but you’re banged up pretty bad. Hold still, please.”
Auggie blinked up at him. “Hey, Theo. When did you get here?” He craned his neck, winced, and touched his shoulder. “Where’s Dylan?”
Theo grimaced. “How hard did you hit your head? Let me look at your eyes.” He caught Auggie’s chin with one finger and turned his head. The pupils were dilated, but that could have been because of the darkness. “Damn it. We need to get you to the hospital.”
“Do you think Dylan’s mad because you came? I didn’t even know you were coming.”
“Dylan is a fucking—” Theo bit back the rest of it. “Dylan is fucking lucky to have you. Don’t worry about Dylan.”
“Man,” Auggie said, laughing as he tried to stand. He would have fallen again if Theo hadn’t caught him. “Did I have something to drink?”
“You better not have.”
Shivering and hugging himself, looking something like a drowned rat, Auggie glanced around again. “Is he mad because I wouldn’t take that pill?”
“What?”
“Dylan. Are you even paying attention? I’m talking about Dylan.”
“What pill? What did he try to give you?”
Auggie pressed one hand to the side of his face, his eyes tightening. “My head—my head really hurts, Theo.”
“Ok,” Theo said. “It’s ok. Can you walk? We just need to walk a little way.”
Auggie nodded, and Theo helped him back up the hill.
9
The headache was bad, but whatever they had given Auggie was helping, and mostly he just wanted to sleep. That didn’t seem to be an option; every time he tried to lie down on the floor, Theo got hold of him and pulled him back into the seat. Auggie’s second best option seemed to be slumped against Theo, his head on Theo’s shoulder. Sitting like this, he could feel when Theo breathed, smell the faint hint of pizza that clung to his hoodie, the cedar scent in his hair and beard. They were in a quiet stretch of a hospital hallway. Occasionally a doctor went by, white coat whipping around his or her legs, and once two nurses walked past with coffee, laughing quietly at something one of them had said. Auggie had the sense that other areas of the hospital were busy with the flood of injured people from the demonstration, but his head was too foggy to figure out why this section was quiet.