After Dark

After Dark — page 1 — There are worse things to be than a chicken Col Stephen H Sanders

After Dark — page 2 — Friday 6 58 a m I was sweating I was sweating profusely My forehead was glistening Rivers were running down my back Even my knees were sweating The room was dark except for a high powered lamp that illuminated the patient lying in front of me Bryce Wagner was sitting off to the side his face in the shadows Richard O’Rourke was sitting on the other side of the table Behind him in the darkness of the room the crowd was watching Are you just going to sit there and sweat Harker Wagner asked leaning into the light His pasty skin was dry He wasn’t sweating at all I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and looked down at the patient Strange things were happening at the edge of my vision The air was shimmering I’d been awake for too long Slow and steady O’Rourke said angling the lamp a little I leaned over the patient until my nose was only two inches from the chest cavity Slow and steady O’Rourke repeated I lowered my hand toward the opening and eased the tweezers into the patient When I was sure that I had a firm grip on the heart I took a deep breath and began the

After Dark — page 3 — extraction A drop of sweat slipped down my left temple A hush fell over the room The patient’s heart was more than halfway out when the door flew open and the lights came on What is going on in here My hand twitched an electronic buzzer sounded and the patient’s red nose lit up The operation was a failure I let go of the heart threw the tweezers down and fell back in my chair Stanley Peck was standing in the doorway with his finger still on the light switch Peck is the senior monitor of Weaver Hall dormitory one of three dormitories at Choke Academy where I live for 272 days of the year What is going on in here he repeated Even though it was only 7 02 in the morning Peck was already wearing his school uniform and his blond hair was parted perfectly not a single strand out of place O’Rourke leaped out of his chair and marched over to Peck O’Rourke was a wreck He’d been awake for almost three days His hair which was usually slicked back with some kind of gel straight out of the 1950s was hanging down in his eyes and his skin was a pale shade of green Get out Peck he roared These are private quarters Not for me they’re not Peck said glaring at me and

After Dark — page 4 — Harker’s in violation of Rule 1 4 of the Choke Academy Student Handbook which clearly states that students are not permitted to have guests in their rooms between the hours of 9 00 p m and 9 00 a m You’ve just disrupted a very important operation O’Rourke screamed This patient is going to have to live with a broken heart for the rest of the summer thanks to you That’s a game Peck said and your patient has a lightbulb for a nose Plus you’ve been gambling he added pointing at a pile of cash sitting on the coffee table in front of me That’s going to get you all expelled The crowd which was made up of six other sleep deprived sweat-hogs from the Weaver Hall dorm slunk back into a corner of the room The cash is mine Stanley Wagner said scooping up the money I was just airing it out Not so fast Wagbag I said grabbing his wrist Not the smartest move Bryce Wagner was more than a few inches over six feet tall and spent most of his time sipping protein shakes and getting ripped in the school gym You blew it Sweaty he grumbled The money’s mine Speaking of sweaty I said why are you so dry Is it a

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