Blood Moon by Gwendolyn Harper (books for students to read .TXT) 📕

Out of one of the rooms at the far end of the corridor, emerged a face Caitlin knew very well.

“Scott!” She cried, running for him. “Scott!”

Dark brown eyes widened in shock moments before he beamed, launching forward.

“Caitlin?” Scott collided with her in a rib crushing hug. “Oh my God, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“We’ve been searching for you for a long time,” she said into his shoulder, tears blurring her vision.

“We?” Scott pulled back. “Wait… Is…”

“Nicole’s here,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “They went to look for you in the lab.” A giddy laugh escaped her. “She’s going to faint when she sees you.”

Taking him by the hand, Caitlin started to drag him towards the door when Scott pulled her to a halt.

“Caitlin, I can’t.”

Scowling over her shoulder, she waited for the punchline.

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “It’s not… I can’t leave yet.”

Twenty-four minutes.

Pushing against the flow of people, Booker strode closer.

“Y’all, we gotta save the reunion for later.”

Caitlin blinked. “Scott, you have to come with us.”

Slipping his hand free of her grasp, he took half a step back.

“It’s not that simple,” he said. “They put me on the medical research team—”

“We know, you’re developing a cure,” she cut in. “But Scott, Nicole is waiting.”

Waving his hands out, he said, “It’s not the research I have to stay for, it’s my patients.”

“What?”

“The vaccine we created—that they made us create—it’s going to be administered tomorrow morning for the first round of tests.” He looked from Caitlin to Booker and then back. “It’s highly dangerous, and they knew no one would agree to it—”

“We’re on a time limit, doc,” Booker said. “Your point is?”

Scott took a shaky breath. “They’re trying the first round of the vaccine on orphans.”

Something seized inside Caitlin’s chest.

Scott continued. “They’re testing it on children. We told them… We begged them not to, to give us more time to study the effects, but…” He swallowed roughly. “They beat Doctor Moore within an inch of his life when he stood up to them. Put guns to our heads and told us we’d do it or else.”

Children. They were using orphaned children as lab rats.

“I can’t leave them, Caitlin,” Scott said, voice cracking. “I promised I’d be with them. They’re scared and alone and—”

“Where are they?” Booker asked. “The sciences building?”

Scott shook his head. “No, they set up a quarantine testing area in the dining hall. They’re all in there.”

Anxiously looking around, Booker nodded to himself. “Alright, Cae, you go find Nicole and Nathaniel, tell them where we are. I’ll go with Scott.”

“We said we wouldn’t split up,” she argued.

Twenty-three minutes.

“I know, but we can’t have two of ours on a wild goose chase lookin’ for Scott.”

She hated that he was right.

“Go, Cae,” he said. “We’ll meet you at the bus.”

Run… Run… Run… As fast as you can.

Nodding, Caitlin turned, sprinting past people as they exited their rooms. Calling out to Donna to take them to the bus, she Bee-lined for the science building.

Keeping to the shadows, she stayed low, away from windows.

The door to the building had been kicked in and left ajar. With her gun in her hand, she ducked inside, making sure there weren’t any surprises waiting for her on the other side.

Stealthily, Caitlin moved through the dark, clearing each room before moving on to the next.

Turning a corner, she saw the silhouette of a man and aimed.

“Whoa, Caitlin, it’s me,” Nathaniel exclaimed, putting his hands up.

Exhaling roughly, she lowered her gun. “Scared the shit out of me.”

“Likewise,” he said.

“Where’s Nicole?”

“Down one room,” he said, jerking his head to the left. “What’s wrong?”

Whistling twice, she called, “Nicole? We gotta go.”

Nathaniel stepped closer, taking hold of her arm. “Caitlin, what’s going on?”

A familiar shape exited a doorway, jogging over.

“Is everything okay?” Nicole asked.

“We found Scott,” Caitlin said. “He and Booker are getting his patients now.”

“His patients?” Nicole shook her head. “What?”

Waving for them to follow her, she said, “I’ll let him explain. C’mon, we’re meeting them at the bus.”

As they left, Caitlin saw a trio of guards crossing the courtyard towards the first dorm.

The one they were about to discover was empty.

“Shit, we gotta hurry,” she said, already taking off.

With Nathaniel and Nicole close behind, she led them around the opposite side of the building, to the south side of the camp. She could just make out the roof of the bus as more people started rushing over.

Children. All of them no older than twelve.

Holding hands as if crossing a busy intersection, the eldest took up the front, guiding the younger kids to safety.

“Scott?” Nicole breathed, spotting a man following the group.

Caitlin felt the gust of air as Nicole bolted straight for her husband.

In the indigo dark, she could still see her best friend nearly tackle him, limbs tangling in a fierce hug.

They did it.

They found Scott.

Nicole had her husband back.

Catching up, Caitlin hated to interrupt but they weren’t in the clear yet.

“Scott, where’s Booker?”

Pulling back from Nicole, Scott glanced over at the dining hall. “There were a few more children, he was helping them out. He was right behind me.”

Eighteen minutes.

The dread returned, twisting in her gut like a corkscrew.

“I’m going to go find him,” she said.

Nathaniel followed. “I’ll come with you.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do.”

Caitlin wasn’t going to argue with him, especially when there were still more guards to worry about.

Pushing open the double glass doors, they spotted Booker leading a small group of children across the makeshift test facility, a little girl about three-years-old in his arms.

“Alright,