WRONG TURN

By David Brashear

Cameron smirked as he stood. His body now completely encased in ice.  “Get out of my way.  Merlyn and Flag are already on my list and it’s time for them to stop breathing. I wouldn’t recommend joining them.”

“We’re not letting you out of here to hurt anyone,” Connor said.

“Then die with them,” Cameron said as he raised his hand and fired ice spears at them.

Bart sped out of the way while Connor dove for the ground.  Donna instinctively crossed her arms in front of her face.  Connor gaped as the spears struck her arms and shattered.

“How did you do that?” Cameron asked as his own eyes went wide.

“I don’t know,” Donna said.  A confident smile spread across her lips as she realized what was happening.  “But I don’t think you’re going to be much of a problem now.”

She took a step forward and found herself unable to move any more.  She looked down to see ice coating her shoes and freezing her to the floor.  As she tried to free herself the ice flowed up her until finally her head was covered as well.

“Donna!” Bart rushed forward and barely kept from being impaled on an ice spear.

Cameron chuckled.  “Stay back, kid.  Let’s see how tough your little girlfriend is she is now that she’s a Popsicle.”

“She can’t breathe!” Connor yelled as he charged Cameron, who responded by laughing and firing more ice.  Connor didn’t even notice as the ice struck him and shattered.  He finally was close enough to throw a punch that sent Cameron flying.

“I think I got him,” Connor said as he watched Cameron, who was sprawled on the ground.  “How’s Donna?”

“Working on an idea I had,” Bart said.  His hands were a blur on the ice over Donna’s face.  A moment later the ice began to crack and he pulled a chunk free.  Donna took a deep breath of air.

“You okay?” Connor asked as he walked over to her.

“I am now,” she gasped.  She looked at him for a moment.  “What happened to you?”

Connor looked down to discover that his shirt had been shredded by the ice barrage while his skin underneath was untouched.  He smiled.  “Looks like you’re not the only tough one,” he said.  “Let’s get you out of there.”  Connor grabbed a piece of ice and pulled it off her as Bart began tapping the shell at speed to crack it.

Suddenly Bart screamed and fell to the ground with an ice spear protruding from his shoulder.  Connor whirled around and discovered Cameron standing there with blood trickling from his mouth.  Connor didn’t have time to react before an ice shield covered his face.  Connor grabbed at his face as he fell to the ground.

“Idiots,” Cameron said as he walked past the writhing forms of Bart and Connor.  “Looks like you forgot to make sure I was down.  Cameron indulged in a kick to Connor’s ribs and turned to Donna.  “Now, you I can use,” Cameron said with a sick smile on his face.  He reached up and gently touched Donna’s face.  She fought to pull away, but the ice sheath still held her firm.  “I’ve been locked up in here a long time,” he whispered in her ear.  He gently licked her ear.  “You smell so nice,” he murmured.

Donna fought back her revulsion and was suddenly filled with a burst of power.  She had to escape.  She flexed her muscles and screamed as the icy shell exploded outward.  She dropped to a knee as Cameron flew across the room, slammed into the far wall, and lay still.

“What was that?” she asked.  She stood and quickly tore the icy mask from Connor’s face.

Connor let out a cry as it pulled free and asked, “Are my eyebrows still there?”  He turned his head and saw Bart lying there with blood draining from his shoulder.  “Bart!” he called as he rushed over to his friend.

Donna turned and saw Cameron picking himself up.  She smirked.  “I’ll take care of this,” she said.  “You take care of Bart.”

Connor nodded.  “This is gonna hurt,” he said as he took hold of the spike.

“Do it,” Bart said, fighting to keep his voice strong despite the tears leaking from his eyes.

Connor closed his eyes and pulled the spike free from Bart’s shoulder, causing a cry from him.  Connor quickly pulled what was left of his shirt off and used it to crudely bandage Bart’s shoulder.  Connor stood and helped Bart to his feet.  “You going to make it?” he asked.

“Do I have a choice?” Bart asked.  He clutched at his shoulder with his other hand.  Connor moved to his side and helped support him.

“Not really,” Connor said.  “We can’t stay here.”  He turned to the last of the students.  “You okay, Donna?”

“Never better,” Donna said as she knelt with her back to them.  She stood and revealed Cameron sitting on the floor with his chair wrapped around him.  “I think that’s going to take care of Ice Cream Boy here.”  She walked up and offered a shoulder to help support Bart.  “We need to get out of here.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Connor said.  “Let’s move.”

The three escaped the building and quickly headed toward their rooms.

Once they were behind closed doors, Connor set Bart down on his bed and started undoing the makeshift bandage.  “This is going to hurt, but I need to see how bad it is,” Connor explained.  “I’ve been going through first aid classes and I need to get this bleeding stopped.”

“Do what you’ve got to,” Bart said through clenched teeth.

Connor nodded and gently unwrapped the bandage.  He moved the tattered shoulder of Bart’s shirt out of the way and looked at his shoulder.  His eyes went wide.

“What’s wrong?” Bart asked after he saw the look on Connor’s face.  “Is it that bad?”

“No,” Connor said.  He slowly reached out and traced the small puncture wound on Bart’s shoulder.  It was barely bleeding.  “Look.”

Bart looked down at his shoulder and his own eyes bugged out.  “What’s happening to me?” he asked.  As the two watched the flow of blood stopped and the skin stretched to close the hole.

Rick Flag wasn’t surprised when his office door swung open and Merlyn walked in.  Ever since he’d gotten the alert that someone was snooping around in the lab building, he’d known this was coming.  That was why he’d gotten dressed and headed straight for his office.

“Have a seat,” Flag invited.  Merlyn did and sat rigidly in the wooden chair before the desk.  Flag let him stew a moment.  “So what’s on your mind?” he asked.

“You’ve read my report,” Merlyn said.

“I have,” Flag said.  He picked a folder up from his desk and opened it.  “You caught two students in a make out session in the lab building.”  Flag threw the folder onto his desk.  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

“Hardly,” Merlyn said.  “Someone got into Mahkent’s cell.”

“Really,” Flag said.  “Is he contained?”

“After we got him doctored up,” Merlyn said.  “The heat lamps are working again, but whoever it was twisted his chair around him like a pretzel.”

“Any suspects?” Flag asked.

“We found blood on the floor of the cell.  We’re running comparison tests on it now so we should have an answer by morning.”  Merlyn scowled.  “I think it was Ellis and his buddies.  Dent and Parker were the ones we caught in the building and they’re in that clique.”

“And what would be your recommendation?” Flag asked.

“Terminate the lot of them,” Merlyn said without hesitation.

Flag smirked as he leaned back in his chair.  “That’s always your answer,” he said.  “Just wipe them out.”

“Exactly,” Merlyn said as he leaned forward.  “We’re sitting on a campus full of atom bombs here.  If they start to leak, they need to be dealt with.”

“I’m aware of the danger,” Flag said, “but I also have people I answer to.  You know my stance on this.  The director’s going to have to call me and give me the orders before I terminate any of these students.  I’d advise you remember that.  You’re not the one in charge here.”

Merlyn’s jaw worked a moment before he stood and silently stormed out of the office.  Flag was left to stare at the scratches on the chair’s arms where Merlyn’s fingernails had scraped away the varnish as he fought to control himself.

“Idiot,” Merlyn muttered as he stormed down the hallway.  Karin Grace watched him go past her doorway as she sat at her desk in her office.  She’d decided to work late to try and familiarize herself with the students.

Karin picked up a pen from her desk and idly chewed on the end of it.  What was going on?  She frowned as she realized that she was going to have to talk to Rick to try and learn the truth.

Roy Harper groaned as he heard the knock on his door.  He glanced at the clock and groaned again.  He pulled his pillow over his head and tried to go back to sleep but the knocking wouldn’t stop.  He climbed out of bed and walked over to the door wearing only his boxers.  “This better be good,” he said as he opened the door.

Connor shoved past him and closed the door behind him.

“What’s going on?” Roy asked.  “You guys find something in that building?”

Connor looked at the other bed nervously.  Roy smiled.  “It’s fine,” he said.  “He’s already in the gym or running or something.”  He sat down on his bed.  “Now what’s going on?”

“I need you to get rid of this stuff,” Connor said as he handed a bag to Roy before pulling a chair out from the desk and having a seat himself.  Roy opened it and peeked inside.

“What happened?” Roy asked as he pulled the two shirts out of it.  One was shredded and the other had a sleeve that was badly bloodstained.  “Did you find Danny?”

“No,” Connor said.  “But we found something else.”  The two sat there as Connor told the story of the night’s adventure to Roy, who listened in amazement and uncharacteristic silence.

In one of the academy’s underground labs, a screen began flashing.  “100% MATCH,” it read.  Below the word was a picture of Bart.  The technician assigned to perform the scan on the blood from Mahkent’s cell picked up his phone to inform Merlyn of the results.

NEXT ISSUE: With Merlyn aware of who broke into the lab building, the six are split up!  But what dark secret does Connor’s new roommate have?