Read Pass/Fail (2012) for Free Online

of a human being. There was someone there, waiting for him.
    Jake looked the other way. Down that hallway lay the school’s music rooms and the cafeteria. Big, open spaces, but maybe they would offer places to hide. But for how long? He didn’t know if there was a time limit on this test.
    The shadow at the end of the hall wasn’t moving. Jake calmed himself, forced himself to be rational. He needed to know. That shadow could just be cast by a hall monitor, or even a teacher willing to help him. He pushed himself slowly toward the corner where the hall bent away to the right. He didn’t want to peak around that corner—that would mean exposing his head to whatever was out there. Maybe another gunman. He looked around wildly and saw, in front of him, a trophy case. It was filled with the school’s football championship cups and soccer and wrestling awards, all of them polished to a high sheen. The glass that fronted the case was well-polished, too. In it he could see the reflection of the man around the corner.
    He was wearing a navy blue suit, black gloves, and a perfectly reflective mask. He had a large chunky pistol in his right hand.
    Jake couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move.
    He nearly screamed when the Proctor’s suit started ringing.
    It sounded almost like he had a telephone in his pocket. How was that possible? It was just some surreal detail to add to the collection. But then the Proctor put away his gun and reached inside his jacket to take out something small and made of plastic, not much bigger than two decks of cards. It looked almost exactly like the little hinged box Jake had seen on Mr. Zuraw’s desk, the one labeled NOKIA. The Proctor unfolded it and it stopped ringing instantly. Then he placed it to his ear. Just like it was a telephone.
    “Yes,” the Proctor said. “I understand. The failure conditions have changed. Do you know H’s current location? Very good.”
    The Proctor folded the phone up and put it back in his pocket. The—the portable phone? The mobile phone? Jake had no word for such a device. He’d never seen one before in his life, nor ever heard of such a thing.
    He stopped worrying about that when he saw the Proctor take the gun back out of his pocket.
    Time to run.
    Jake headed down the corridor toward the music rooms at a panicked run, his legs flashing up and down. He ran right up to the wide double doors that led into the orchestra practice area and stared through the narrow window inset in the blonde wood. Nobody was in there. He rattled the door but it wouldn’t open.
    Behind him he heard the Proctor coming down the hall.
    Jake turned to look back, just for half a moment—and saw the Proctor raising his gun, aiming it.
    Jake didn’t wait for the sound of the shot. He dashed around a side corridor, out of immediate danger. He kept running until he’d gone halfway across the school. He only stopped because he saw Mr. Schneider’s homeroom up ahead.
    Cody was in there. Cody!
     

Chapter Nine
    The Proctor came around the corner with a casual step, clearly in no hurry to shoot. The gun in his hand was black and square and looked efficient. Jake pushed his back up against a row of lockers and tried to decide what to do.
    If he went into the homeroom, he could be putting Cody—and twenty-eight other students—at risk. The Proctors had no difficulty killing one of their own to get at him, so he didn’t doubt they would see other students as expendable, as well. Yet if he could reach Cody, his best friend might be able to help him—he could distract the Proctor while Jake ran away, or tackle the Proctor from behind while Jake held his attention.
    It was his best option, and he knew it. He edged away from the Proctor as the masked man raised his gun, aimed carefully, and fired. At the last possible moment Jake threw himself across the hallway and the bullet gouged a bright silver streak through the lockers behind him. Jake rolled across the floor and pushed open the door