Mercy (The Last Army Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

potential lawsuits than of his students bleeding to death in the parking lot, or even of the orange glow of the not-so-distant fires crawling toward us. Evidently, I wasn’t alone in my thinking—the tone of the agitated discussions that followed his announcement wasn’t one of relief.
    “What the hell do you mean by, 'Wait for evacuation'?” a stocky boy yelled and pointed at the blood-red solar eclipse above us. “Can’t you see the world’s ending? The city’s burning down; we have to get out of here!”
    Mr. Wong raised his hands to quiet the students down. “All of us have to stay at the rally point, so that when the authorities—”
    “No one’s coming!” a short-haired girl screamed from the edge of the crowd, squeezing the useless phone in her hands like a magic charm.
    “You don’t know that, okay, so shut up, you…” The girl who snapped at her short-haired classmate couldn’t finish her sentence and broke down in hysterical sobs.
    A shouting match erupted between those who agreed to wait for help and those who wanted to leave. Although the teachers tried to defuse the situation, sensible arguments soon gave way to streams of insults from both sides. Karla winced as her schoolmates cursed openly in front of the staff, showering each other with four-letter words and questioning each other’s bravery.
    “Don’t you care if your friends die? These people need to get to a hospital!” I yelled in the general direction of those too scared to leave the parking lot.
    Whatever reply they gave me was drowned out by at least three times as many voices in agreement. Obviously, the vast majority of us wanted to get out of there. Emboldened by the outcome of the shouting match, large groups of students even threatened to walk away without their teachers' consent, although none of them elaborated on where they would actually be walking away to.
    “Everyone shut up!” Principal Wong was back on top of the white van. A tense silence descended upon the startled students. He took several gasps as he straightened his tie and wiped the sweat that drenched his furrowed brow.
    “I apologize for that, but we can’t allow ourselves to descend into chaos. Now, it’s true that the fires that have broken out make this place risky. I’ve also spoken to Mrs. Simpson, our school nurse, and she agrees that several members of the student body require urgent medical attention. As such, we have decided to transport them ourselves to our alternate assembly point, St. Anne’s Hospital, just a few blocks east of here.” The crowd threatened to start screaming at each other again after the principal’s speech. Mr. Wong gestured for them to calm down. “No more shouting, please. Remain in your groups while we map out the safest route there.” He climbed off the van.
    After a few seconds of murmuring, even those who’d been against the plan quieted down and embraced it, giving in to the wishes of the majority. I was afraid I’d have to pump up Karla's spirits for the coming ordeal, but that was not the case. She had a beaming smile on her face and nodded as she wiped away her tears. I copied her smile, understanding the motive behind her enthusiasm. Her dad was a surgeon at St. Anne’s.
    Lucky girl.
    Father and daughter would soon be reunited.

Chapter 7
    Staying put might not have been such a terrible idea after all.
    The extent of the tragedy that had taken place hit me with every block we left behind. The few buildings left standing seemed like battered dollhouses, their tasteful brick facades or floor-to-ceiling windows shattered and lying in heaps along the sidewalk, exposing crumbling interiors. Some of the buildings slanted at impossible angles, defying gravity… at least for the time being. We tiptoed under their shadows. I feared the stomping of our feet would be all it would take to bring them down.
    Dozens of people with blood streaming down their faces emerged from the dust cloud which covered the streets,