Page 228 of The Wicked

“Jesus fuck,” I cursed, looking back at the device as Dog continued, his footsteps going down the school bus aisle.

“We might all die today, but we must perceive it as normal. Death comes eventually…” He sighed dramatically. “Who knows, you with the snotty red nose, you might be crossing the road to get ice cream from that weird old guy who never stops smiling at people, and, bam! You get hit by a car and die. The old man, he was still smiling!

“And you, with the stupid hat, your mom could be slicing vegetables one day, and wham! The knife flies out of her hand and straight into your left eye; she says it’s a mistake, but plot twist, it’s not; she fucking hates your stupid hat, and she missed.”

“My mom’s dead,” a little boy’s tiny, scratchy voice said from the back.

“Oh shit, your dad then. Either way, you somehow die by a kitchen knife.”

I heard a few chuckles from the children.

“And you with the tiny creepy pigtails… Wait, did your mom make those?”

“My sister,” the girl answered.

“Ah shit, she hates you; never let her do your prom makeup or cut your hair, it’ll end in a disaster, and you’ll never get to date the cute boy in braces who everyone thinks is cool but still sucks his thumb when he sleeps.”

More chuckles.

“What? You guys have someone like that in your school?”

“Yes! His name is Alessio.”

“Ha! Called it, it’s always the Alessios. Ladies, stay away from them Alessios; they’re not the cool people. Mommy issues, you don’t fucking want that baggage.”

Laughter and snorts.

“Right, pigtails, you get eaten by your dog. Horror Movie 101, never get the dog in the first cage with the watery eyes; they’re always the dog cannibals, but you didn’t listen because it was cute, and it smiled at you, even though you know dogs do not smile!”

“My dog looks at me weird,” a kid said. “I got it from the first cage. OMG.”

“See? Always skip the first cage.”

“What about me? How will I die?”

“And me too!”

“Will my dad kill me; I think my dad hates me.”

“I wanna know how I’ll die too!”

I shook my head, tuning them out as Dog continued to… do whatever the fuck he was doing. It worked, and that was all that mattered.

I blew out a shaky breath as I touched the dark red wire, moving it to the side a little so I could see where it was attached to the control panel.

I shook my head. This was a bomb created not to be defused unless stopped by the remote or by an expert.

I knew I could do it. I just had to remember.

But how could I remember it without remembering him? It was close to impossible.

I blew out another breath and closed my eyes. The red onesare always to stop or make it fast… but sometimes it might be the yellow one. The white is uncertain, a…a… detonator.The voice penetrated my thoughts. I wanted to fight it off, but I ground my teeth together and stopped resisting.“Or your saving grace,”the voice continued.“It all depends on how it was built or who built it. Your call matters, trust your gut.”Gloved hands traced from my forearm to my arm.“You can do it, Amore mio, you can save them. Focus and think, don’t make me do it for you.”

“Let the children go, Manuel; they’re scared.”

“Only you can save them.”

“Not like this. I can learn some other way; put a dummy inside instead… please.”