The Order
339 Words
5:00 AM.
The alarm ripped through the dorms like a blade.
“Training yard. Now. Late students get punished.”
I sat up, body still sore from yesterday’s fight. Blue uniform. Target on my back.
Johnson was already by the door, smirking.
“Morning, prince. Ready for round two?”
“Try to keep up,” I said.
---
The training center was colder than the yard. Steel walls, rubber floors, the smell of sweat and antiseptic.
200 students lined up. Instructor Kade wasn’t there. Instead, a new guy in a gray coat stood front and center.
“Partner drills today,” he said. “Pair up.”
Johnson fell in step beside me without asking.
“So,” he said low, “how did they train you in Drug Kingdom?”
I kept my eyes forward.
“Normal. I only got there one day ago. I don’t know much.”
“Liar.”
Before I could answer, a student ran up, breathing hard.
“Chaka! The principal wants to see you. Now.”
“For what?”
“Eh… never mind. Just come.”
I turned to Johnson.
“You mind following me?”
He grinned.
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
---
We walked through the east corridor. Empty. Echoing.
Then voices.
Two teachers stood with a man in a black suit, backs to us. They didn’t see us yet.
“You see that guy in the blue shirt?” the man said. Voice flat. Dead.
“The one working with Johnson?”
“Yes.”
“He’s the drug lord king,” the man said.
“I want him dead. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
The words hit me harder than Rook’s knife.
Johnson froze beside me. His smirk was gone.
The man turned.
Our eyes met.
I knew that face.
It was one of Lord Enok’s men.
He didn’t look surprised to see us.
He looked like he’d been waiting.
*[End of Chapter 4]*
_Next: Chaka confronts the order. Johnson makes a choice._
---
- Writer
