Slowly, Christopher straightened from his semi-stealthy crouch to look after the Neanderthals with a puzzled look.
“I guess they must really hate lightning,” he said. “Too bad we don’t have Storm here. They would have peed their loincloths.”
“Yeah,” said Eva. “You OK there, mate?”
She loosened the gag from the guard’s mouth, and he greeted her with the widest grin Christopher had ever seen. It brightened up his face despite the tear streaks.
“Thank you, young lady,” he said. “I thought I was a goner.”
“We got you,” said Eva. “Gimme a second, and I’ll find some way to cut you loose.”
She turned to look at the displays, but before she could take a single step, Sabretooth stalked forward. His claws flashed. SNIKT! SKIKT! In their wake, pieces of rope pattered to the ground.
“Can we go now?” Sabretooth growled.
The guard went pale. He took his hands from the stake and sat upright, massaging his wrists. “You’re mutants, aren’t you? The ones they warn about on the news. You folks shot up the place earlier today.”
“I didn’t shoot anybody,” said Sabretooth, baring his teeth. “They shot at me.”
Christopher stepped between them. He wanted to avoid a confrontation. It felt like everyone they met hated them on sight, and it was beginning to get discouraging.
“We don’t mean any harm,” he explained. “We’ve got a friend who’s lost in here, and he might be in danger.”
“Oh.” The guard considered this for a moment before getting to his feet in slow, painstaking stages. Eva offered a hand, but he waved her away, not unkindly. “I’ve got it, young lady. I’ve got it.”
Once he finally made it to his feet, he looked them over. He flinched as he got a good look at Sabretooth, but otherwise he made no reaction. Then he said, “So you think your friend is in danger, but you stopped to help me instead? Why would you do that?”
Christopher blinked. “You were about to be eaten, sir.”
“Nobody should have to go through that,” added Eva.
The guard arched one of his bushy eyebrows at Sabretooth, who hitched a shoulder.
“The kids are stubborn. I would have let you handle it. You’re a grown man,” he said.
The guard huffed. “Well, at least you’re honest. I believe you. But I really ought to call this in. If I were a suspicious man, I’d think you were trying to steal something, sneaking around the museum while it’s closed like this.”
“What?” Eva demanded. “After we just risked our lives to save you?”
“Eva, simmer down,” Christopher said, patting her on the arm.
“Wait. What did you say?” said the guard, coming to attention.
“Huh?” asked Christopher.
“What’s your name, young lady?” the guard persisted.
“I’m Eva,” she responded in some confusion.
He swallowed hard. “You know, I’m not a religious man, but I recognize a sign when I see one. You can go.”
“Just like that?” Christopher asked cautiously. It seemed too easy.
The guard nodded. “I won’t tell a soul you were here. Lock me in the maintenance closet if you think I’m lying. There’s one right over here. I’ll show you.”
“Why the change of heart?” asked Christopher.
“My wife’s name was Eva. She died a year ago today. She’d say this was a sign, and I sure could use one.” The guard shook his head in wonderment. “You know, I always said mutants couldn’t be trusted. I even voted for that anti-mutant candidate a few years back. What was his name?”
“Graydon Creed?” asked Eva.
“That’s it. But Eva said I was an old fool.” He shook his head, his eyes welling again. “Looks like she was right. If I show you where that closet is, can I trust you to come let me out again once you find your friend?”
“Of course you can,” said Christopher.
He held out a hand, and when they shook, it felt really good. Like they’d both learned something about trust.
“That was real touching,” said Sabretooth from the hallway. “Are you coming, or am I leaving without you?”
Chapter 17
As they wandered the darkened halls of the Grace Museum, Christopher could feel a familiar presence a short distance away, in the direction of the Evolution of Mutants exhibit. The exhibit teemed with the twisted life force that had been making him feel so awful, and for the first time he realized why: because this life force had been perverted by some strange magic he didn’t understand.
He nodded, swallowing against the sensation of bile in his throat.
“Graydon is in there.” He pointed. “But like I was trying to tell you before… Wait!”
Sabretooth didn’t stick around to hear anything else that he had to say. The moment that the word Graydon hit the air, the elder mutant took off, hurrying toward the Evolution of Mutants exhibit like someone had lit him on fire. Christopher wanted to finish the conversation, but they had to follow him. Someone had to keep him in line.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he promised Eva, and she nodded.
They hurried after him.
Christopher took one step into the exhibit and immediately began to wish that he could have seen it when it was intact. The first display charted the evolution of mutant DNA up to M-Day, when most of the mutant population had been wiped from the earth in one catastrophic magical swoop. The bottom half of the display had been obliterated by a laser blast, making it completely illegible, but Christopher didn’t have the time to stop and read anyway. He would have liked to come back and take a look around, though. Maybe talk Cyclops into a field trip for the school, since the material here really did relate to their field of study. But it would take the Grace some time to rebuild after the extensive destruction that had occurred here.
One side of the room had completely caved in, leaving a pile of rubble, twisted metal, and exposed wiring that made him grateful that the electricity no longer functioned. Life-sized models of various mutants stood against one wall. Juggernaut’s head had been blown off his shoulders, but he still loomed over Christopher. He even dwarfed Sabretooth.
In the center of the room, a large cluster of glass cases contained artifacts that scientists had found to contain particles of mutant DNA. Placards explained how materials from space may have caused mutations in normal humans, and how collecting and studying these artifacts could potentially help scientists understand how mutations worked and eventually how to control them. Christopher wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but it definitely interested him.
Then he realized that one of the cases on the far end had been cracked open. Graydon Creed was trying to sneak away from it with a metallic box tucked under one arm. It was approximately the size of a tissue box, with a raised glyph decorating each surface. The glyphs shimmered in the dim red glow of the emergency lights. Christopher’s eyes had adjusted to the low illumination, so it stood out. It seemed as if the glyphs sucked up what little light was available, storing its energy.
Before Graydon could make his getaway, Sabretooth stepped into his path, crossing his arms and making his muscles bulge impressively. He grinned, showing his incisors.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
Graydon had the gall to look casual, tucking the Box more securely under his arm and striking a thoughtful pose as if for some invisible camera.
“I thought I might take a walk,” he said. “That parking garage was a bit stuffy, and to be honest, your personal hygiene leaves something to be desired.”
“What?” demanded Sabretooth.
“I realize you’re not used to spending time in more civilized circles, but have you considered a clinical strength deodorant? Your body odor could take out a wild bull. Although perhaps that was the intent.”
; As he spoke, Graydon edged toward the exit, clearly hoping to distract Sabretooth enough to make his escape. But if anything, his barbed words only made the mutant more desperate to keep him in check. Sabretooth dogged his every move, looming over him as they exchanged insults. Eva and Christopher watched as they bickered, neither one of them insane enough to interfere.
“This is ridiculous,” Sabretooth finally said. “Give me the Box.”
“Why should I? It doesn’t belong to you. I rightfully stole it!”
“Well then, I’m stealing it back from you.”
“Go find your own Box!” Graydon demanded.
Eva put up her hands and looked at Christopher as their voices grew louder and louder.
“I really don’t want to get in the middle of this, but if they keep screeching at each other, somebody’s going to come looking,” she said.
He nodded.
“I can’t figure them out,” she continued. “They talk like they hate each other, but Sabretooth risked everything to save Graydon. You don’t do that for somebody you hate.”
“You just described half of my family members,” Christopher joked.
Eva snickered. “Yeah, no kidding. So you’ve been trying to tell us something about the Box. What’s going on?”
“You know how I keep puking? That’s never happened to me before. Graydon’s life energy is like swimming in a polluted lake. To make matters worse, once I got in, I couldn’t get out. It was like a sinkhole pulling me in. I think I would have been stuck if he hadn’t shoved me away.”
“That sounds bad,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Very.”
“Damn.”
“The saber-toothed tiger felt like Graydon does, and when it died, it fell into dust, because it wasn’t really alive in the first place.”
He stared at her significantly, hoping she would understand what he was trying to tell her. He didn’t want to have to say the words aloud, not outright. But she blinked at him, shaking her head.
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” she begged.
“I wish. Those tigers disintegrated into bones and pelts. The same things that the Grace puts up. They have saber-toothed tigers on display. I’ve seen them. They also have Neanderthal hunters, like the ones we saw trying to cook that guard for lunch.”
“So somebody magicked those tigers and the hunters back to life?” she said thoughtfully. Her eyes settled on Graydon, and she frowned. “I don’t like where this is going.”
He hung his head. “Yeah.”
He just couldn’t bring himself to say it. Not yet. Because maybe he was wrong about Graydon. The politician might not be likeable, but that didn’t mean Christopher wanted him to be a zombie either.
Sabretooth and Graydon argued on. In fact, they seemed to rather be enjoying themselves. Venting off some steam. However, they were shouting so loud that the floor had started to tremble, although that didn’t entirely seem possible, even for Sabretooth. But the glass case standing a few feet away visibly shook in a rhythmic tempo that increased at a steady rate.
“Uh, guys?” he said, raising his voice. Sabretooth and Graydon paid him no attention. They were having too much fun arguing. “Guys?” he shouted. “I think we have a problem!”
They fell into a sudden, shocked silence.
As soon as they stopped shouting, the thunderous footsteps in the distance became immediately audible.
“What the heck is that?” demanded Sabretooth.
Christopher closed his eyes and shook his head as the pounding grew closer. He had the sinking feeling he knew what was making the noise, because he knew the Grace’s collection well. He’d bought a book about it during his visit.
Last year, the museum had added an extraordinary find – the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered. They’d named it Bob. They’d put Bob on permanent display as the shining star of the Grace Museum’s collection, and he loomed fifteen feet tall at the center of the dinosaur atrium. Although Christopher had left his dinosaur days behind him, he’d read all about it.
Somehow, he knew before the enormous creature turned the corner. Perhaps he was getting better at sensing the shape of the energy emitted by the Box, and something so incredibly massive had to register on his radar. Maybe he was just being fatalistic and expecting the worst possible thing to happen.
Regardless of the reason, when the enormous undead Tyrannosaurus turned the corner and fixed its beady eyes on them, he wasn’t surprised at all. Muscles bulged under the scaly hide, and the entire form seethed with that familiar magic.
“It’s Bob, the undead T-Rex,” he said, as if you ran across those every day. “We should run now.”
Chapter 18
The walls of the Grace Museum shuddered and cracked as the Tyrannosaurus thundered toward them. Its eyes glowed with an eerie green light that reminded Christopher of the strange shimmer on the glyphs that decorated the Box and the unnatural glow of the saber-toothed cat’s eyes. He didn’t have to concentrate to sense the twisted life magic that animated its limbs. It made him queasy. His heart raced in his throat, and he felt nearly faint with fright. If that thing got too close, he would toss his cookies all over the place, even though he was fairly sure there were no cookies left to toss.
Christopher expected Sabretooth to argue with the suggestion that they should run from the attacking dinosaur. But the giant mutant took one look at the rampaging beast and nodded.
“Running sounds smart to me,” he said. “We’ll table the argument.”
Graydon clutched the Box like he expected someone to rip it from his hands at any moment.
“I’m keeping a hold of this,” he declared.
“Who cares?” asked Eva. “Come on.”
They sprinted from the room. It was a futile exercise. The dinosaur would catch up with them soon enough. As they ran, Christopher racked his brain for options. Electronic whines and lighting sound effects wouldn’t scare this creature off, but they had to do something, or they’d end up as dino chow. His breath already came in ragged gasps. He wasn’t in bad shape, but his body had been through the grinder already today, and it had reached its limit. It needed rest and fuel before he could push it much further.
“Can you bubble him?” he asked Eva, clutching at the growing stitch in his side.
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes wide.
“He’s awfully big,” she said nervously. But then her lips firmed, and she nodded. “But if that’s what I need to do to get us out of here, I’ll make it happen.”
“You’re not alone,” he said. “We have to work together. It’ll take all of us to take Bob down.”
“The giant dinosaur’s name is Bob?” asked Sabretooth. His shoulders shook with silent laughter as he loped along, devouring the ground with long, easy strides that Christopher envied. The mercenary seemed completely unfazed by the enormous predator giving chase behind them, which he envied even more. Did Sabretooth even feel fear?
“Yeah.”
Bob picked that moment to burst through the wall right above Graydon’s head, taking them all by surprise. He tried to snatch the Box from Graydon with his sizable teeth, but the politician fell over backwards and the dinosaur missed by a hair. Graydon let out an inarticulate yell of panic and scrambled to his feet, and Bob gave immediate chase.
“Bob’s chasing the Box!” yelled Eva in a burst of inspiration.
“What do I do?” exclaimed Graydon, running for his life with the Tyrannosaurus hot on his heels.
“Throw a long pass!” Sabretooth directed, holding out his hands.
Graydon tossed the Box in a perfect spiral across the long gallery. As soon as the artifact left his possession, the dinosaur lost all interest in Graydon. Bob’s head turned to follow the Box as it flew through the air and thunked into Sabretooth’s arms. The mutant too
k off running in the opposite direction.
“That’s the plan!” yelled Christopher. “We need to weaken it. Set up traps and bubbles, and pass the Box from person to person. Once it’s taken some hits, I should be able to finish the job. I hope. We can’t just bubble it and leave it to come after us later.”
“Good idea, kid,” said Sabretooth, tucking the Box securely into his leather jacket. “On it.”
“Bring him through that archway at the end of the gallery,” instructed Eva, pointing toward the entrance to the Natural Evolution Hall. “It’s too small for him. He’ll get stuck, and I can bubble him there.”
“Got it, missy,” said Sabretooth.
He led the dinosaur the long way around, giving the rest of them time to get through the archway first. At one point, he leaped over a pile of debris without slowing down in a display of agility that could only have been accomplished by a mutant with enhanced physiology. Bob stomped on the debris, smashing it to smithereens as he pursued his quarry. Sabretooth looked back, rolling his eyes.
“Show-off,” he muttered, and then leaped through the archway.
The dinosaur followed, crouching to fit through the narrow opening. Its wide body wouldn’t fit. It tried to ram through, knocking chunks out of the wall. The building rumbled, and bits of plaster pattered down on the floor as the animal mindlessly began to batter his way through.
“Eva, you’d better freeze him before he brings the ceiling down on us,” Christopher suggested.
She nodded, clenching her jaw in concentration. Her face went pale, and he thought he saw the vague outlines of a bubble wavering in and out of existence around the dinosaur, but he wasn’t sure. Bob continued to batter at the entryway. Stone crumbled. The dinosaur was almost through, and the bubble still failed to materialize. Christopher began to worry that maybe Bob was too big to fit. If that was the case, what would they do?
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