Time Bomb(48)

“No one gives a damn what your father says!” Z spun to face her. “From what that announcer is saying, it’s because of your father that we’re in this mess.”

Diana stepped forward. “My father had nothing to do with this. He’s working to make the country safer.”

“I’d say if he’s trying to make things safer, he’s already failed.”

“It’s not like he made the bombs that blew up this place.” Tad jumped into the fray.

“Which means what? That he isn’t responsible?” Z ignored Tad and leaned toward Diana. “Politicians are never to blame, right? It’s never their fault when people do the stuff they encourage because, hey, they didn’t actually do it themselves. Your father is telling kids to judge each other, but he’s trying to pretend it’s all about safety. I’m sure he won’t be responsible, either, when teachers get rid of students who don’t behave exactly the way they want by reporting so-called dangerous behavior or when students start taking matters into their own hands and start hurting each other.”

“My father isn’t saying he wants anyone to get hurt.”

“Of course he is.” Z laughed. “Teachers already hate me because of my tattoos and my hair. Now they have a great way to dump me from their classroom. And how long will it be before kids get jumped just for being different or because they’re having a bad day? After all, your father and his law said it was okay.”

“That’s not what—”

“Your father’s law is supposed to be for?” Z cut her off. “Yeah, like no one’s heard that before. How about Tad here? Wanna bet people already look at him sideways because he’s black? How long do you think it will take for some idiot to report him based on that alone?”

She dug her nails into her palms.

“And what about Rashid?” Z took a step toward her. “He’s Muslim. Don’t you think someone is going to find that scary for no reason? Or Cas here. She looks defensive. Could be she’s hiding something. Or maybe there’s some other kid looking to take that quarterback spot. Wow. What do you know? Suddenly Frankie is a suspicious character and his whole life should be turned inside out. That sounds great, don’t you think, everyone?”

“That’s not what my father is saying,” Diana snapped.

Z took another step closer. “No? Then maybe you aren’t listening. The nicer the words sound, the worse it always is.”

“My father wants to make the world safer.”

“God bless America, where we turn everyone against each other to keep us safe. Screw trust and friendship.” Z spun around and pointed at Tad and Cas and Frankie. “How safe would you really feel if you were surrounded by spies ready to jump on anything you say or do? I’d rather get blown to bits right now if—”

“Quiet!”

Diana and Z turned toward Rashid, who had jumped up from his stool and put his ear near Kaitlin’s mouth. After a second, he yelled, “She’s stopped breathing. Help me!” Only he didn’t wait for anyone before climbing up on the table and straddling Kaitlin. He put his hands on her chest and started pushing against her again and again and again.

Diana stepped back as Z tripped over a fallen chair and yelled, “What do we do?”

“Put your hand on her forehead and gently push it back,” Rashid said, never stopping the pulsing burst of pressure on Kaitlin’s chest. “We have to keep her airway open.”

Z’s hand shook as he touched Kaitlin’s forehead. His face was almost white as Rashid told him to get her mouth open. Z was a jerk, but he cared about Kaitlin. So did Rashid, and he didn’t know the girl.

Rashid nodded and kept pulsing on her chest in a quick, steady rhythm with an intense look of concentration as he performed CPR.

“Is she breathing?” Cas asked.

“I don’t know.” Rashid was pushing too rapidly for Diana to tell if it was working. “Should I take her pulse?”

“No,” Rashid said as he continued CPR.

Sweat dripped from Rashid’s face. Diana waited for him to give up. But he kept going.

The woman on the radio was interviewing someone who recited the names of the trapped students and the information they’d been able to get about each of them.

“How long have I been doing this?” Rashid demanded.

“What?” Frankie asked.

“How long since I started CPR?”

The compressions were slowing. Rashid was getting tired. Still, he kept fighting.

“A couple minutes,” Tad said. “At least two. Maybe three or four.”

“Okay.” Rashid stopped the compressions and leaned down to put his fingers on her neck.

“Why are you stopping?” Z asked.

Rashid closed his eyes, tilted his head, and frowned as Diana placed a hand on Z’s shoulder to keep him from shouting again. After a moment, Rashid took a deep breath and his eyes opened.

Looking up at Z, he said, “She’s got a pulse. She’s okay.”

Diana stared at Kaitlin as Z took her hand and held it tight while telling her that he wasn’t going to let her die. Diana was certain no one, not one person in her whole life, had ever cared about her—the real her, not the perfect girl who smiled but the one who screamed behind the smile—as much as Z cared about Kaitlin.