Taking a pen out of my purse, I marked all the escape routes. Then we assigned hallways to people. It was decided that we would go in pairs: me and True, Dustin and Marcus, Cattie and some guy named Gilbert, then Kathleen and Carlos (more of Marcus’s friends). With everything decided, it was time to go.
True slowed to a walk beside me on the trail. “Do you think we might still use Mission Impossible IV?”
“About that . . .” I told her that I’d always known I couldn’t shoot Dustin, and that I’d already shown Dustin the gun, and how Dustin had reacted.
She looked thoughtful for a minute. “You sure you made the right call?”
“Yes,” I answered simply. To tell you the truth, it really was as simple as that. Like I told Dustin, deep down, I knew that I was never really ever going to go through with the plan.
True nudged me playfully. “You like him, don’t you?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
She laughed. “Stranger things have happened. Anyway, it sounded like you two had a little somethin’ going on back home.”
“That was back home. We’re here now…and just friends. Sort of.”
True nodded slowly, not really believing me. She took the hint and dropped the subject. She noticed my dress for the first time, stating that it was one of the prettiest dresses she had ever seen. Why wear it now? I explained to her that I had only worn it because I hadn’t wanted to arouse suspicion. It had to look like I was going on a date with Dustin.
“How did Dustin react when he saw you wearing that?”
I shrugged. “He acted a little goofy, but it’s no big deal.”
True laughed. “You’re acting like you don’t care, but you know you do. I know what he was thinking. He was thinking that you looked totally hot in that dress, which you do, by the way.”
Rolling my eyes, I thanked her, but assured her that Dustin definitely was not thinking that. Besides, I wasn’t going to break into a building wearing a dress, no matter how good I looked in it.
Up ahead of us, Cattie was talking poor Gilbert’s ear off. He was being very polite, standing there and nodding his head at whatever came out of her mouth. The look on the boy’s face was in between confusion and polite interest. The others watched this ordeal, trying hard not to laugh.
Finally we arrived at the lab building. It looked even more uninviting and sinister than it had before. A dark cloud loomed over the tall, plain building. This was it.
This was what all the planning had been for. Time to take action.
The group gathered by a couple of bushes. I began to take off the dress.
“What are you doing?” Dustin asked in alarm.
I told him that I was taking off the annoying dress and not to worry. I had clothes on under it.
“Oh.” (Did he sound a little disappointed?)
I folded it up and left it behind a bush, straightened out my shirt, smoothed my hair, and casually walked back to the group.
“OK, people. Let’s get this show on the road,” I said, clipping the walkie-talkie to my shorts pocket.
Everyone nodded solemnly. Dustin took out the carefully folded map. We did a double check to make sure everybody had their gear. And that was that. We were off.
Before we could go inside, Marcus had to freeze the security camera. That way the people watching the video wouldn’t see us. Once he was done tinkering with the camera, Dustin took out the golden key again. He searched for the side door, but strangely, couldn’t find it. Neither of us understood where the utility room could have gone. It had definitely been there a few days ago.
While we tried to figure these things out, True wandered around the building. She searched for the invisible window that had been marked on the map. She signaled us with a loud clear whistle. She had found it.
We quietly made our way to her. Her hands seemed to be sinking into the wall. The sight was kind of unsettling. True felt around the window, trying to find the opening. Then, with a cry of triumph, she tugged upward. Suddenly a perfectly square-shaped hole appeared where a wall used to be. I cautiously glanced inside. There was a big desk with a few chairs surrounding it. A chalkboard filled with calculations and scribbles that no one but a genius could understand made up the wall across from the window. This was likely where the evil scientists had their meetings.
Signaling for the others to follow, I climbed in. Being the last one in, Carlos closed the window. It turned back into a brick wall.
“How the heck did they do that?” Kathleen wondered in awe.
Dustin shrugged. “Some sort of hologram or something. With all this money, the technology has to be super advanced.” He acted really bored about this, like an invisible window was nothing special. Was he kidding?! This stuff was so advanced it was futuristic.
“According to this”—he held up the map—“we’re in the boardroom. And right out those doors are two hallways. I guess that’s where we split. Let’s move.”
We followed him out, praying as we passed through the doorway that no alarms would go off. Fortunately, our prayers were answered. Wiping sweat from my brow, I quietly closed the door behind me. Once at the fork in the hallway, we re-formed into two groups of four rather than pairs. I ended up being with True, Dustin, and Marcus. Cattie would be with the other group. I felt kind of bad for her since she was working with people she barely knew. My pity wasn’t necessary. Cattie seemed perfectly at ease with them. I couldn’t help but feel relieved. Don’t get me wrong. She was a good friend. It was just that she could be kind of annoying at times and I really did not need a distraction.
“Remember, open every door with caution. Don’t hesitate to use the tranquilizer guns,” Dustin reminded everyone before we split up. “OK, the earpieces are on. So if you need anything, just press it to your ear and start talking. We should be able to hear you. If you need to turn it off for any reason, just remove it from your ear and it will shut down instantly.”
After the “good luck’s” and “see you later’s,” my group took the left while the other took the right. Our hallway looked almost exactly like the one we walked the other night, but there was no way to be sure whether it truly was. Ominous doors lined the walls. Each one held a secret that I was afraid to find out. Tranquilizer guns ready, the girls took one side while the boys took the other. Carefully, True and I opened the first door. It opened to a rec room. There was a big flat-screen TV, a few comfy couches, foosball tables, ping-pong, air hockey, and pool tables, plus a video game center. We checked everywhere, but there was no one. The guys were the same. They had walked into a bathroom.
The rest of the rooms in that hallway were empty too. However, there were clues that people had been there recently. In one room was a rack of wrinkled uniforms. Some were dirtier than others, and a couple were ripped and had a few strands of hair on them. Every single one had the same fresh grassy smell. My guess? The children had been outside a little while ago. The question was, where were they now?
At the very end of the hallway stood a lone elevator. That was the only way up. No stairs. No nothing. The elevator was a dead end. This wasn’t good. We didn’t know what was up there.
Even though the alarms in my head were so loud that everybody had to be hearing them, Dustin took a brave step forward. He glanced expectantly our way. His strange calm with this whole thing was really starting to bug me. Just because he had nothing to worry about, being the head honcho’s son, didn’t mean that our lives weren’t on the line here.
I sauntered right into the elevator, mimicking Dustin’s coolness. Once by Dustin’s side, I turned to the others. Two pairs of uncertain eyes met my reassuring gaze.
“Come on, guys. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” OK, even I didn’t believe that. “We’ve gotten this far, so let’s keep going. Besides, you know I’ve got your back.”
“That goes for me too,” said Dustin, stepping forward. “We’re in this together. It’s not just about us. There are a whole lot of people counting on
us right now, so let’s get up there before it’s too late.”
The others clambered inside after that little speech. Since there was bound to be a camera inside there, Marcus busied himself by searching for and disabling it. Kind of his specialty. While True watched him in plain awe and admiration, I observed Dustin. His face showed determination and a touch of anger. I guessed that this was toward his father and the people working there. Hands clamped in tight fists and shoulders clenched, he stared straight ahead without really looking at anything. I came to realize that maybe the strange calm was just a front, hiding the fact that he was about to burst.
I touched his shoulder. He quickly snapped out of his daze and focused on the hand resting on his shoulder.
“Loosen up. We can do this.” I flashed him a friendly smile.
His smile was more forced than mine. He still wouldn’t look directly at me. “Sorry, guess I’m freaked about this whole thing. I mean, what if something goes wrong?”
“Don’t talk like that. We’re going to get these kids out of here, no matter what.”
He looked away and muttered, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I glared at him in exasperation. Why did he have to be so pessimistic?
Dustin met my agitated gaze. Suddenly my eyes were unable to move. Seriously. My eyes were locked into place. We stared at each other for a very long time. Well, at least it felt that way. His beautiful chestnut eyes bored into mine. I tried to find something in those eyes, like in the books, but it was like he was blocking me out or something. There was nothing. Just a sea of brown. All I noticed were the creases and shadows under them, indicating that he hadn’t been sleeping very well. His eyebrows were smooth and shiny. A stray lock of hair spiraled down just over his eyelid, threatening to get caught in his long eyelashes. I fought the urge to reach up and put the lock back in its place.
This I took in without moving or blinking. I started to wonder if he was going over my face like I was going over his. The thought made me a little self-conscious. Of all the things to be worried about, I was worried about how I looked to him. Was my hair a mess? Were my clothes wrinkled? Dear Lord, were there zits on my face that I hadn’t seen before? My eyebrows furrowed. As if he had been worrying about the same thing, Dustin’s did too. We grinned at each other. This time both smiles were genuine.
Then the elevator door opened. I had to rip my gaze away from him to see what lay ahead of us. It was another long hallway, which looked even more menacing than the first one. Something was different about this hallway. I could feel it. Carefully and slowly, I stepped out with my tranquilizer gun raised. The others followed.
Just like before, we split up in pairs for each side. Me with True and Dustin with Marcus. The first door was locked. It didn’t have a scanner either, just a lock. I had taken a pin out of my hair and was just about to put it in the keyhole when there was a click and suddenly the knob began to turn. Both True and I jumped back, pointing the tranqs at the door. A man and a woman walked out, both wearing starch-white coats.
The man was saying something to the woman. Something about running more tests. Then they noticed us. Surprise flashed on both of their faces. The man held his hands up. The woman reached for something. Before I could so much as flex my forefinger, True had gotten them both. They sank to the floor, fast asleep.
Dustin and Marcus ran out of their room, saying that they had heard voices. Then they saw the two people on the floor, little needles sticking out of their necks.
“Did you do that?” Dustin asked, looking over at me.
I shook my head. “Nope. That was all True. She has some seriously fast reflexes.”
Marcus gave her a friendly slap on the back, nearly sending her sprawling onto the floor, but she kept her balance. “Nice.”
She blushed. “Thanks.”
After we had dragged the two unconscious scientists into a closet, we went our separate ways again. Since the door had so nicely been opened for us, we strode right in. We gasped when we saw what was inside. Shelves full of chemical and medical bottles surrounded us. There were syringes in a big bin on the far side of the room. While I stayed where I was, True roamed the room. She examined the petri dishes that had been placed on the long table taking up the middle of the room. Her expression became confused and horrified at the same time. I came over to see what was wrong.
The petri dishes contained oddly colored liquids. Each one had been labeled with words that I couldn’t even pronounce. True took some gloves out of a container by the syringes and snapped them on. She ignored my stare and tossed me a pair. Then she picked up some dishes and brought them closer to her face. She sniffed one that had a lime green liquid in it. She hurriedly put it down, gagging.
“Don’t smell them!” I hissed in alarm. “You could seriously hurt yourself.”
My curious friend wasn’t listening. She was already picking up a different, even brighter colored one. I rolled my eyes in exasperation and started rummaging through the papers laid out on the table. They seemed to be some kind of charts, each one headed with a person’s name. Under each name was their age, weight, height, gender, and blood type.
Then there were spaces for notes. The scribbles that I could read mostly talked about how much medicine was given to them and how they had reacted. Then there were hypotheses on what would happen if they were given a higher dose. After this came the observations and conclusions. A lot of them didn’t sound too great. The reactions could be really repulsive. One note said that the child became covered in swollen red blisters. Another one said that a girl’s skin began to peel right off the bone. Some were so horribly disgusting, I’m not even going to repeat them. I eventually put the charts down, holding my stomach.
True looked up from her petri dishes. “You OK, Lily? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
I turned away from her. “I’m fine. Let’s please just get out of here and move on. We’ve been in this room for too long.”
The boys stuck their heads inside, wondering why we were taking so long . When they saw the shelves of chemicals, their jaws dropped.
“What is this?” Dustin asked, eyes sweeping over the room.
“I don’t really know.” I replied. “On the table there are lists of names with, like, information about stuff. They…they said what happened to them after they got certain doses of drugs.”
Everyone looked at me closely, expecting me to go on. I didn’t go on. There was nothing to say. The look on my face told it all.
Dustin’s jaw clenched. “We have to hurry.”
The next door had a scanner. We had all decided to go in together just in case there were people in there. Dustin took the keycard from around his neck and waved it around in front of the scanner. There was a beep. Then the door swung open.
Inside there was a huge window. Behind it was a big room that looked a little bit like a skating rink. Only there wasn’t any railing, or ice for that matter. The walls were starch-white like the coats on those sorry excuses for scientists. Even the floors were strangely blank. It was a bigger version of the glass cubicle we had seen in the warehouse room.
Marcus muttered, “What the heck?”
There were some kind of controls and buttons by the window. Keypads. Different words were on the buttons: Strong Winds, Crushed Cars, Gunfire, Earthquakes, Flood. The buttons had been grouped under headings like Speed, Strength, and Agility.
Gently touching the pads with my still-gloved fingers, I answered, “This is one of those simulators the scientists use to run the experiments.”
On the left side of the keypads were what looked like video game controllers. Curious, I moved them around. With a sharp ping, machinery began to come out of the white room’s walls. It moved in whatever direction I moved the controls.
“Cool,” I heard True say. She reached over to push a button. Before she could touch one, Dustin’s hand shot out to stop her. She looked up at him, startled.
“Don’t touch a thing,” he warn
ed, fiercely glaring at her.
Scared now, True removed her arm from Dustin’s grasp and backed away.
Through clenched teeth I suggested that we leave. So we all left the room, careful not to make a sound.
Out in the hallway, Dustin signed to us to split up again, in different teams this time. While True and Marcus went down the hall ahead of us, Dustin and I followed a little ways behind. This gave me opportunity to be mad at him. I flicked him in the head. His hand flew up to his head.
“Hey, what was that for?!” he exclaimed in surprise, struggling to keep his voice low.
“What do you think?” I shot back. “Look, I know this is stressful and all, but that doesn’t mean you can take it out on True.”
His excuse was that she could have compromised everything by touching a button. People could have heard something or detected it and then we would have been done for. I reminded him that I had touched the controls and nothing bad had happened. True had been a big help so far and was risking her very life by being on this mission with us.
Dustin didn’t say anything. He just turned his back on me to open the next door on the left, while Marcus and True were opening the one on the right. He seemed to be having trouble picking the lock, so I gave him a gentle (OK, maybe not so gentle) push so that I could pick it myself. I had it open in about ten seconds. Enough said.
A whole variety of rooms greeted us from behind the door. In one room, there was a big desk with family pictures and the kind of office phone that has a bunch of different buttons. The other rooms resembled hospital rooms. They even had that unnaturally clean hospital smell.
The first room was empty. In the second room, however, lay a little girl. Closer up, I saw that it was the same girl I had seen being wheeled into the building. Her hair was cut shorter and she appeared to have aged somehow. Her eyes were ringed with purple, like she hadn’t slept in ages. There were yellow spots all over her transparent skin. She moaned in her sleep, calling for her mother.
Wacko Academy Page 12