Rise of the Elgen (9 page)

The guard didn’t answer. But he didn’t tell him to shut up either.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize they don’t tell you these things. Probably top secret. For the important guys . . .”

“It’s a RESAT,” the guard said.

Ostin nodded. “RESAT. Cool.”

I looked back over at McKenna. I wasn’t seeing things—her skin color really
was
changing. She was now almost glowing red. Ostin must have seen what she was doing and was trying to keep the guard distracted. I looked back at Ostin, who was nodding, carefully manipulating the guard.

“Clever. Clever indeed. RESAT is ‘Taser’ spelled backward.”

The man suddenly scratched his chin. “I never thought of that.”

“I’m sure you would have,” Ostin said. “If they didn’t work you so hard. I bet they work you like a rented mule.”

“You got that right, cheeseball.”

At that moment McKenna’s arms melted through the bands. She was free.

“But I bet you get great health benefits with all those Elgen doctors around.”

“You kiddin’ me?” the guard said. “The dental plan has a five-hundred-dollar deductible.”

“You’re pulling my leg,” Ostin said loudly. “Why even have it? That’s a whole head of cavities.”

“It’s a joke,” the man said.

McKenna slowly reached over and grabbed Jack’s bands, immediately melting through them. Jack slowly lowered his arms, rubbing his wrists. Suddenly the guard started to look back. Jack put his hands up again.

“Hey!” Ostin shouted.

The guard stopped.

“Do you have kids?”

“What?”

“Kids. Rug rats, spawn, you got them?”

“No.”

“Sorry, of course not. I’m sure you’re married to your job. If you had kids, the dental thing might still be worth it.”

“Family isn’t allowed,” the guard said. “It’s a regulation.”

“They regulate that, huh?” Ostin said. “You know, there’s something I can’t figure out.”

Jack reached down and unclasped his legs, then slowly inched down the bench toward the weapons cabinet.

“What?” the man asked.

“I can’t figure out how you’d go about getting hired for a job like yours. It’s not like you could post it in the Help Wanted section.”

“I can’t talk about that,” he said.

“I mean, what kind of ad would that be? Wanted: ugly, mean, smelly dudes with below-average IQs to kidnap and abuse teenagers.”

The guy’s mouth fell.

“What section would that be under anyway? Creepy Dudes?

The man scowled. “You watch it, you smart-mouthed little—”

“Actually,” Ostin said, “you should watch it.”

“What the—”

Jack cracked the guard over the head with a truncheon, knocking him out with one blow. The guard slumped to the van’s floor.

“Man, that felt good,” Jack said, stretching out his arms like a baseball player at bat.

“Not to him,” Ostin said.

McKenna walked over to Ostin, who looked at her with admiration. “That was cool,” he said.

“Careful, don’t touch me,” she said, kneeling on the bench next to him. “I’m still pretty hot.”

“Yeah, you are
hot
,” Ostin said, sounding smitten.

McKenna grinned a little as she grabbed Ostin’s armbands and melted through them. “There you go.”

“Like buttah . . . ,” Ostin said, stretching his arm. He bent over and unclasped his stomach and leg belts. “Let’s free Michael.”

“We’ve got to take care of this guy,” Jack said, standing above the guard, with the club.

“Let me loose,” Wade said. “I’ll help you.”

Jack unloosed his bands, and they lifted the guard up and strapped him to the wall while McKenna and Ostin unfastened my collar. The intense pain immediately stopped, and I groaned with relief, though I still felt as dizzy as if I’d just ridden the teacups ride at Disneyland for an hour.

“Well done, McKenna,” I said.

“Thanks.”

As I climbed out of the cot, Ostin and McKenna unstrapped Taylor, then Ian and Zeus. I helped Taylor climb out, then Ian. Zeus hadn’t moved. He was still in a lot of pain from the guard’s torture. “Can I help you?” I asked.

“Just give me a minute,” he said, rolling over in the cot.

“You okay, buddy?” I asked.

“Been better,” he said. His skin was blistered where the guard had sprayed water on him. “I don’t know what that new dart thing is,” he said. “But it’s like Nichelle in a can.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Ostin said. “The Elgen must have found a way to replicate her powers without her weakness.”

“How’s your vision?” I asked Ian.

“It’s back,” he said.

Across the aisle Jack unloosed Abigail. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“You’re going to be okay,” he said. “I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

As Jack freed Grace, Abigail knelt at Zeus’s side. She put her hand on him and closed her eyes. After a moment he relaxed and stilled. “Thank you for stopping him,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

I was leaning against the opposite wall, holding my head and trying not to throw up.

Taylor laid her hand on my back. “You okay?”

“Alive. How about you?”

“Me too,” she said hoarsely. “I wonder where they’re taking us.”

“We just passed a sign for the airport,” Ian said.

“What’s our situation with guards?” I asked.

“There are two guards driving this truck, one Escalade in front, two behind us.”

“How many guards in the Escalades?”

“Four in front, five and four in back.”

“We need to take charge of the van,” I said.

“Then what?” Ian said. “We can’t outrun the Escalades. Not in this whale.”

“We don’t need to,” Jack said. “We’ll crush them. I saw this in a movie once. But first we need to commandeer this bad boy.”

“That’s a good word,” Ostin said. “Commandeer.”

Jack looked at him. “What? You don’t think I know any big words?”

Ostin withered. “Sorry.”

“Anyone got a plan?” I asked.

“I say we just storm the cab,” Jack said. “Commando-style.”

“Too risky,” I said. “They’ll crash.”

Ostin’s face lit up. “I have an idea,” he said. “A good one, with three parts.”

“Three parts?” I said. “That was fast.”

“Yes. This is going to be epic,” he said.

A
couple of minutes later McKenna casually opened the door to the truck’s dark cab. “Excuse me, guys. Can we stop to use the bathroom?”

Both men glanced back, their eyes wide with surprise.

“What are you—”

McKenna shouted, “Now!” All of us covered our eyes as she flashed to her full extent. A brilliant light filled the entire truck. Both men shouted and put their hands over their eyes. Jack and Wade rushed the cab, bringing clubs down over the guards’ heads.

Jack knocked the driver out, but Wade only succeeded in dazing the other, so I put my hand on the guard’s neck and pulsed, which took care of him. Wade and I climbed over the seat, and I held the wheel while Jack pulled the unconscious guard out of the way, then climbed behind the wheel.

“That was easy,” Jack said, pressing down on the accelerator.

Zeus, Taylor, Ian, and McKenna dragged the men to the back of the truck and I used the van’s passenger-side mirror to watch the two cars behind us. I hoped the other guards hadn’t noticed the flash, but I was certain they had to have noticed our change in speed. This was confirmed ten seconds later when a voice came over the van’s radio.

“Elgen Two, this is Elgen One. Are you having mechanical problems? Over.”

I looked at Jack. “Don’t answer.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he said. “Time for phase two. We’ve got an exit a mile ahead of us, I’m going for it.” He hit the gas, moving up quickly on the Escalade in front of us. I climbed back over the seat to see what was going on in the rear.

The two guards had been strapped to the wall, next to the guard Wes, who was now awake. “You’re gonna pay for this!” he shouted angrily.

“Shut up, Wes,” Zeus said fiercely. Then he blasted him. The guard’s head jerked back so hard against the wall he knocked himself out again.

“Everyone, buckle up!” I shouted. “We’re going for phase two!”

“Phase two!” Ostin shouted. “Everyone in place!”

Everyone sat down, strapping the waist belts around themselves. I went back up front and buckled myself into the passenger seat. “Ready,” I said.

“Half mile,” Jack said. “If this doesn’t work, prepare for some crazy driving.”

“Better work,” I said. “We’ve only got a few seconds to hit phase three, so be ready. Everyone’s strapped in.”

“There’s our exit,” Jack said. “Hold on tight.” He hit the gas. In spite of the van’s size, it lurched forward, and Jack swerved into the lane left of the lead Escalade. We pulled up to the car’s side, and I could see the guards looking at us with surprise.

“Here goes,” Jack said. He spun the wheel to the right, forcing the moving van into the side of the Escalade. His timing was perfect as he pushed the car directly into the barrier between the exit and the
freeway. The car smashed into the railing at nearly seventy-five miles per hour, flipping the car end over end.

Jack was grinning. “Just like Grand Theft Auto. Only better.”

I unbuckled and climbed to the back. “Ian!” I shouted. “Are we good?”

“They’re thirty feet behind us!” he shouted.

“Now, Taylor.”

Taylor put her head down and concentrated on rebooting the driver of the car behind us.

“You got him,” Ian said.

I braced myself against the wall. “Jack, now!’

Jack slammed on the brakes as hard as he could. There was a big jolt as the Escalade plowed into the van, followed by a second hit, when the rear Escalade plowed into the first. The force of the wreck jarred us, pushing our van partially sideways. All the lights in the back went out. Jack hit the gas again, pulling ahead of the collision.

“The first car is toast!” Ian shouted. “It’s crumpled!”

“How bad are we?” Jack shouted over his shoulder.

“Not sure,” Ian said, looking down. “But I see sparks.” The truck was vibrating and there was a sound of something scraping. “Something’s dragging. I think it’s the lift.”

“What about the second car?” I asked Ian.

“We’re good . . . wait.” His expression changed. “No way.”

“What?” I asked.

“It’s still running. They’re coming after us.”

“Jack, the second car survived the crash!” I shouted.

“I can see him in my mirror!” Jack shouted. He sounded worried.

“He’s got a big gun,” Ian said. “He’s aiming it at us.” He looked around. “Everyone on the ground. Now!”

Everyone unbuckled and dropped to the floor.

Jack shouted, “We can’t outrun him. Are there any guns back there?”

“McKenna, we need light,” I said.

She lit up the back of the van.

Taylor and I crawled to the cabinets and looked through them. “Nothing. Just those RESAT things.”

“This just keeps getting better!” Jack shouted. “Hold on, kids!” He swerved to the right, and we all tumbled to the other side of the van. Bullets began ripping through the van.

“Ian, what’s going on out there?”

“Nothing good. They’ve got a cannon-looking thing.”

“A what?”

Suddenly we heard the gun again, though nothing came through the walls this time. The truck dropped and began veering.

“They shot out our tires!” Jack shouted. “Someone think of something.”

“Taylor!” I shouted. “Can you reboot them?”

“It won’t work,” Ian said. “They’ve put their helmets back on.” His brow furrowed. “What kind of gun is that?”

Ostin crawled to the back and looked out through a bullet hole in the back door. “It’s an antitank gun,” he said. “They’ll blow us sky-high.”

The truck dropped again as we lost another tire, and Jack swerved wildly trying to keep the vehicle under control. “Someone better think of something fast!” Jack shouted.

A voice came over the radio. “You’ve got ten seconds to pull the van over, or we will blow you up. Do you understand?”

“Don’t say anything,” Wade said. “They won’t shoot us.”

The voice returned. “Ten, nine, eight, seven . . .”

I looked over at Taylor, then took her hand.

Jack shouted back, “What do I do?”

“Four, three, two . . .”

“Pull over—” I started to yell, but before I could finish there was a loud explosion.

“Holy cow!” Ian yelled.

I looked around. We were all there. The walls were still there. The van was still there. “What was that?”

Ian was just staring at the back door in awe, shaking his head. “The Escalade . . .” He stopped in midsentence.

“Did you guys see that?” Jack shouted from the front. “That thing blew up like a bomb!”

“What blew up?” I asked.

“The Escalade. It, like, disintegrated. It’s just a big ball of fire.”

“What caused that?”

“I have no idea,” Jack replied. “But I am
not
complaining.”

“Good driving, man,” I said. “Now get us off the freeway. Let’s get out of this beast.”