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The Meltdown (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 13)

Page 9

by Jeff Kinney


  We hit the kids carrying ladders with snowballs,

  but before we knew it, they’d planted their

  ladders at the base of the wall and had started

  climbing their way UP it.

  But Rowley came back with the hot chocolate just

  in the nick of time.

  We emptied the thermoses out on the kids scaling

  the wall. Unfortunately, Rowley hadn’t added any

  WATER to the hot chocolate mix, so all it did

  was ANNOY them.

  I thought those guys were about to take control

  of the wall, but then Latricia Hooks and Speed

  Bump saved the day by dumping trash cans full of

  SLUSH on them.

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  We didn’t have a second to celebrate, though,

  because the Lower Surrey Street kids were already

  launching their next attack.

  Half the fifth-grade football team lives at the

  bottom of the hill, and they tried to take down

  the wall with brute FORCE.

  But the wall held UP, and those guys wore

  themselves out with the effort.

  By now, EVERYONE was tired. The sun was

  out, and it was actually starting to get WARM.

  I really wished I hadn’t worn my thermal

  underwear, because I was ROASTING with those

  extra layers.

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  The Lower Surrey Street kids kept coming at us,

  and we kept driving them BACK. And after a

  while, NOBODY had the energy to keep fighting.

  Finally, the other team turned around and went

  back home. At first we thought that meant we

  had WON. But those guys weren’t giving up.

  They were just REFUELING.

  By now it was lunchtime, and the kids at

  the bottom of the hill came back outside with

  sandwiches and snacks.

  And when some kid started handing out JUICE

  BOXES, it was a little hard to watch.

  193

  We were all pretty thirsty on the wall, and it was

  only getting HOTTER.

  Some kids started sucking on SNOWBALLS to

  stay hydrated, and they got through half of

  our stockpile before the rest of us realized what

  was happening.

  We did an inventory of what we had left, and we

  knew we didn’t have enough to fight off a major

  assault. So we split our remaining snowballs into

  thirds and put Anthony Denard in charge of

  protecting them.

  We kept waiting for the next attack from the

  Lower Surrey Street kids, but it never came.

  194

  After a while we realized their strategy was to

  wait us out until we CRACKED, and then take

  our wall without a fight.

  Pervis Gentry was the first one on our side to

  break. He hadn’t even had BREAKFAST this

  morning, so the sight of all those sandwich crusts

  lying on the ground made him CRAZY.

  He climbed over the wall and ran down the hill,

  and that was the last any of us saw of him.

  But the REST of us hill kids kept it together.

  Three HOURS went by, but the Lower Surrey

  Street kids weren’t BUDGING.

  195

  In fact, they looked like they were settling in for

  the NIGHT.

  A few of them had strung extension cords to

  their houses, so now they had ELECTRICITY.

  And we could see the glow of their TV sets from

  where WE were.

  Things were going from bad to worse on the wall.

  A lot of the younger kids were tired and hungry

  and wanted to go HOME. And I couldn’t blame

  them, because by now, it was DINNERTIME.

  Jacob Hoff said he was supposed to have a

  clarinet lesson at six o’clock, and if he missed it his

  parents would be mad. And the rest of us could

  understand that kind of thing.

  196

  Jacob’s house was just a few doors down, and we

  told him if he made a run for it, we’d give him

  COVER. He promised that the second his clarinet

  lesson was over, he’d come back to the wall with

  his coat pockets stuffed with granola bars and

  fruit chews.

  That got everybody pretty excited, and we helped

  Jacob over the wall. Sure enough, as soon as he

  touched down on the other side, the Lower Surrey

  Street kids opened fire on him. But we fired

  BACK and got Jacob to his front door safely.

  It turned out it was a wasted effort, though.

  The thing about the clarinet lesson was just an

  excuse to go home, and when we saw Jacob in his

  bedroom window, we knew he was never coming

  back with those SNACKS.

  197

  After that, the mood inside the wall was really

  GRIM. Some kids were crying, and I didn’t see

  how we could hold out much longer.

  The Lower Surrey Street kids must’ve known

  they had us on the ropes, because that’s when

  they launched paper airplanes into our fort with

  NOTES written on them.

  198

  That was too much for some kids to take. Even

  Baby Gibson seemed shaken up, so I guess now we

  know he can READ.

  A few minutes later, a kid came running toward

  us from between a couple of houses to the right

  of our fort, and we got ready to pelt him with a

  round of snowballs.

  But somebody RECOGNIZED the kid, and we

  held our fire. It was TREVOR NIX, who used

  to live on the hill.

  199

  Trevor was out of breath, and could barely get his

  words out. So we pulled him up onto the wall and

  waited for him to calm down.

  After Trevor got himself together, he told us

  what was going on. He said the Lower Surrey

  Street kids had been holding him CAPTIVE, but

  he managed to ESCAPE.

  Trevor said those guys were planning something

  really BAD, and he wanted to tell us before it

  was too LATE.

  He said the Lower Surrey Street kids were creating

  a HUGE stockpile of snowballs, and when it got

  dark they were gonna launch a full-scale attack.

  But that wasn’t even the WORST part.

  200

  Those guys were making their snowballs in the

  GUZMANS’ yard, and that’s the place with all

  the DOGS. So that meant they were using

  YELLOW SNOW and who knows what ELSE.

  Everyone was pretty mad about what the Lower

  Surrey Street kids were planning, but we were glad

  Trevor gave us the heads-up. We told him that

  from now on, he could sled on our hill ANY time.

  We agreed we couldn’t just sit there and wait for

  the attack, so we started working on a PLAN.

  Half of us would sneak down the hill and launch a

  SURPRISE attack on the kids making snowballs

  in the Guzmans’ yard. The OTHER half would

  stay back to protect the fort. We sketched the

  plan into the snow with a stick to make sure we

  were all on the same page.

  201

  Me and Rowley wanted to be a part of the

  ACTION, so we chose to be on the sneak attack

  team. Our group loaded up a few sleds with all the

 
snowballs we had left, and we slipped over the

  back wall and between some houses.

  202

  It was getting dark now, so we knew those guys

  wouldn’t be able to see us coming.

  When we got to the Guzmans’ backyard, we stopped

  to scope out the scene. Sure enough, there was

  a big group of kids making snowballs out front

  behind a rock wall.

  When Baby Gibson gave the signal, we launched

  our attack.

  203

  But the other guys didn’t even FLINCH when we

  hit them. And as we got closer, we realized it was

  all just a TRICK.

  The Lower Surrey Street kids had created

  DECOYS to split us up, which meant we’d been

  double-crossed by TREVOR NIX. We rushed

  back to the wall, but by then it was already too

  LATE.

  204

  The wall was in RUINS, and we were out of

  ammo. It looked really bad for us hill kids, but

  then something happened that gave us HOPE.

  A group of kids was marching up the hill toward

  us, and when they got closer I realized it was

  the SAFETY PATROLS. For a brief second, I

  thought they were there to SAVE us.

  But they weren’t there to help ANYONE. They

  were there for REVENGE.

  Usually, the Safety Patrols aren’t allowed to

  throw snowballs, but today was a SUNDAY. And

  that meant they were free to do whatever they

  WANTED.

  205

  Half the girls on the Safety Patrols are on the

  SOFTBALL team, and anybody who says girls

  can’t throw hard doesn’t know what they’re

  TALKING about.

  The battle turned into the Surrey Street kids

  versus the Safety Patrols, and we outnumbered them

  two to one. But then half the girls on our street

  switched SIDES, and it got really confusing.

  In the middle of all this, ANOTHER group

  came down from the TOP of the hill. It was the

  WHIRLEY STREET kids, who must’ve gotten

  kicked off the golf course and came to sled on our

  street. And once THEY got into the mix, it was

  just a total FREE-FOR-ALL.

  Just when things couldn’t get any CRAZIER,

  a terrifying sound cut through the air, and

  everyone stopped to figure out what it WAS. The

  only ones on the street who knew for SURE were

  me and Rowley.

  Then the MINGO kids started pouring out of

  the woods, looking like they’d just woken up from a

  three-month NAP.

  209

  The last Mingo to emerge was MECKLEY. He

  was carrying something on top of a STICK, and at

  first I couldn’t tell what it was. But when he got

  CLOSER, I realized it was MR. MORSELS.

  Meckley wasn’t wearing his BELT, which I thought

  was strange. But seeing that made me remember

  something, and I reached into my coat pocket and

  pulled out something cold and metal.

  210

  When me and Rowley were in the Mingos’ camp,

  I must’ve put the belt buckle in my pocket

  without even REALIZING it. And now I was in

  a panic, because that meant Meckley Mingo was

  coming for ME.

  But the only thing kids in my town hate more than

  each OTHER is the MINGOS. So when the

  Mingos charged, everyone turned to FACE them.

  Well, everyone except ME. At that point I’d

  had ENOUGH.

  When the Mingos came at us, I looked for a good

  place to HIDE.

  211

  There was a big hole in a collapsed section of the

  wall, so I dove inside, and Rowley was right behind

  me. The battle raged all around us, and I didn’t

  see how we were gonna get out of this one ALIVE.

  Rowley didn’t think we were gonna make it,

  either. He told me that if I survived but he

  DIDN’T, I could have all of his video games.

  I patted myself down to see if I had a pen so he

  could put that in WRITING, but all I had on me

  was that stupid belt buckle.

  212

  It didn’t matter anyway, because five seconds later

  the ground started shaking, and it felt like we

  were in an EARTHQUAKE.

  I thought we were gonna be buried ALIVE, and

  all I could think of is how the two of us were

  gonna end up in a MUSEUM after they dug us

  out in a couple thousand years.

  213

  But then the ground stopped shaking, and after

  a few seconds we popped our heads out of our

  hiding spot to see what was happening.

  The snowplow was three-quarters of the way up

  the street, mowing through everything in its path.

  And I don’t know if the snowplow driver couldn’t

  SEE the kids in the road or just didn’t CARE.

  By now, the snow was melting, and everything

  was turning to SLUSH. And once the plow left

  our street, it was QUIET.

  214

  The crazy thing is, now that the street was

  plowed, there wasn’t really anything left to FIGHT

  over, and everyone picked themselves up and went

  back HOME. Even the Mingo kids went back to

  where they came from.

  And the truth is, I couldn’t really remember what

  we were all fighting over to BEGIN with.

  215

  Friday

  We’ve been back at school for a week, and it’s

  warmed up a LOT in the past few days. I don’t

  want to curse it or anything, but I think we

  might’ve seen the last of the cold weather.

  So I’m not really worried about the PIG anymore.

  In fact, he’s probably somewhere warm by now,

  having the time of his life.

  There’s still some snow on the ground in my

 

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