Spencer wouldn’t allow himself to doubt. He had to keep his mind focused on the task ahead.
They were cutting through campus and had gotten almost to the main building when they stumbled into the first ambush. Six figures came out of the darkness, the whoosh of Glopified mop strings preceding them.
Daisy went down first, unable to get a weapon unclipped from her tool belt. Spencer reached for his pushbroom, but the handle was stuck in the malfunctioning belt. He pulled hard, but the enemy was closing in.
Two men raced toward Penny. Her twin mops were out in a flash and she lassoed an overhanging tree branch. The last few leaves clinging to the branch shook loose as Penny pulled herself straight up. She went into midair splits, dealing each man a deft kick to the face.
Spencer abandoned his pushbroom and grabbed the next available handle. As he drew it from the belt’s U clip, a toilet plunger shimmered into view. But casting his eyes around, Spencer realized that there was nothing to plunge! He managed to get off one shot of vac dust before a BEM mop pulled him to the ground.
Penny swung forward, went into an acrobatic flip, and landed like a cat in the street. Her short-handled twin mops were ready to lash into action as the four remaining BEM workers turned for her.
Spencer twisted under the mop’s restraint. If he could reach his tool belt there might be a way to get out of this. He could attack them from behind! But the surprise attack came before Spencer could even move his arms. A stocky figure jumped into view, bristly pushbroom springing into action, striking all four BEM workers before they could turn. With helpless cries, they drifted up into the night sky.
Daisy was already on her feet as Penny scanned for any other attackers. Spencer scrambled out of his mop strings and turned to their rescuer.
“Dez?”
“You chumps came back for me!” the bully said.
“Get out of here!” Spencer pointed his toilet plunger directly at Dez. “You’re not one of us.”
Dez blew a raspberry. “That’s some way to say ‘thank you.’ If you didn’t notice, I just saved your sorry little behinds.” He put his pushbroom over his shoulder. “We should escape while there’s still time,” Dez said. “Everybody’s on the other side of campus. Some crazy dude is making a racket over there.”
“You had your chance to escape with us, Dez!” Spencer wouldn’t lower the plunger. “We didn’t come back for you. So get moving!”
“Are you nuts?” Dez said. “I’m not staying here! I want to go home with you guys.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you made a dirty deal with Slick behind our backs.”
“Oh, come on!” Dez threw back his head. “That was nothing! Slick said he’d give me Toxite soap if I promised to stay at the Academy. I didn’t think he’d hold me to it! Aren’t promises made to be broken?” Dez rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have made a deal with Slick. But don’t ... just don’t leave me here.”
Penny called softly from the street. “Better get a move on. We’re about to have more company.”
Spencer and Daisy stared hard at Dez, trying to read the bully’s true intentions. He was obnoxious and selfish, yes. But did Dez really believe in the destructive ideals of New Forest Academy and the BEM? Dez was just a bully; a bully who belonged at home.
Finally, Spencer lowered the plunger. “One trick from you and it’s over. Is that clear?”
“I don’t even know any tricks,” Dez said. “Unless you count my armpit noises. ’Cause I can actually play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ with my armpit. But that’s an okay trick, right?”
“Do you know anything by the Beatles?” Daisy asked.
“No!” Spencer raised the plunger again. “If you make any kind of noise at all, we’ll leave you behind!” Without waiting to see the effect of his threat, Spencer turned and sprinted after Penny. Daisy and Dez followed, jogging the final distance to the main building.
The front door was open, and they entered the building unopposed. “This way to Slick’s office,” Spencer said, resuming his spot at the lead.
They turned corners cautiously, Glopified weapons at hand. But the building seemed deserted. Walter had effectively drawn the fight across campus.
The group paused at the top of the stairs that led into the janitorial closet.
“Let me clear the area,” Penny whispered. Lifting her twin mops, she moved smoothly and silently down. The three kids scanned the hallways nervously until Penny called up. “Nobody here! Come on down!”
“There’s the secret pallet,” Spencer said when they reached the bottom of the stairs. He crossed the office, noticing the chair that he’d once occupied. The orange extension cord that Slick had used to grow the Filth was still on the floor.
Spencer jumped onto the pallet, calling the others over. Penny and Daisy joined him, and then, reluctantly, Dez.
A long chain dangled from the ceiling, anchoring into a steel bolt in the center of the wooden pallet. Spencer took hold of the chain, gripping carefully so the links wouldn’t pinch his skin. “I think Slick just gave this a pull,” he said. Before anyone could speak, Spencer gave a sharp downward tug.
The wooden pallet dropped like a high-speed elevator, carrying Spencer, Dez, Daisy, and Penny into the waiting darkness of the underground parking garage.
Chapter 50
“You’ll thank us later.”
As the pallet dropped, the first thing they heard was Dez’s voice. “Hey, wait a sec,” the bully said. “Where are we going? I don’t want to come down here! What are we doing? I thought we were trying to get away from the Academy!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to make noise?” Spencer warned. The clank of the chain echoed in the dark concrete shaft as the wooden platform descended. Overhead, a new pallet slid down the links, sealing over the opening above and blocking all light.
The platform touched the ground, and Spencer instinctively reached for the many handles on his tool belt. A bit of fluorescent light filtered onto the wooden platform. Turning, Spencer saw a small archway cut out of the concrete.
They filed off the pallet one by one, stepping through the concrete doorway and into the dimly lit parking garage. The monotonous gray of the cement seemed to stretch on endlessly, like a man-made sea. The fluorescent bulbs gave the whole area an artificial feeling that caused Spencer’s eyes to blur, making him wish for natural sunlight. Huge gray pillars supported the thick ceiling, titans of concrete holding the earth on their shoulders.
The silence and emptiness of the garage was maddening.
“Where’s the dumpster?” Penny asked. Even at a whisper, the sound seemed to echo harshly off the walls and ceiling.
Spencer shook his head. “It’s not here. We’re not down far enough. There must be more levels under us.”
“There’s usually some car ramps in these things.” Penny was scanning the walls, but there appeared to be no exit. “Not a very functional garage without ramps to get out.”
“There!” Daisy pointed across the level. There was a metal grate set into the far wall. Even in the dreary light, they could see it was some kind of industrial elevator.
Without warning, Dez threw down his pushbroom and crumpled into a pitiful heap on the cold concrete floor. “It’s no use,” he said. “We’ll never make it. What’s the point anyway? I don’t even want to try ...” A shimmer rolled down his cheek. Was Dez ... crying?
“Umm,” Spencer said. “What’s up with him?”
Dez let out a loud, resonant sigh.
Daisy shrugged. “Shh, shh.” She patted him on the head like a dog. “Everything’s okay.”
“No,” Penny said, glancing up. “It’s not.”
There was a loud rushing sound as huge leathery wings unfolded. A Rubbish dropped from its batlike perch on the ceiling. But this was unlike any Rubbish Spencer had ever seen.
It must have spent days plugged into the Glopified extension cords, because it had grown to an impossible size. Its
black wings were the size of bedsheets, bits of dust flaking off as they gave a mighty flap.
The synthesized growth from the cords had caused the creature to evolve, developing new and terrifying features. Two red horns thrust up from the base of its skull. Its piercing eyes glowed pink, and a beak the length of Spencer’s arm parted. The Rubbish gave a bloodcurdling call, its eight-inch talons flexed for an attack.
Penny’s response was the fastest. One of her mops shot out, tangling the legs of the gigantic Toxite. But the creature was too strong. It jerked Penny off the ground, trailing her behind like the tail of a kite.
One monstrous Rubbish would have been plenty, but in the next moment, two more of equal size dropped from the ceiling, a glint of bloodlust in their eyes. They swooped forward in a rush of wings, weaving between the concrete pillars as they advanced toward their prey.
In the distance, lost in the darkness of the garage, Spencer could hear Penny locked in combat with the Rubbish that had carried her off. At least for the moment, the kids were on their own.
“Get up, Dez!” Spencer kicked the bully, trying to break through the symptoms of the Toxite breath.
Spencer was grateful it wasn’t a giant Filth, or he would have been sleeping for sure. But Rubbish breath didn’t have any effect on him or Daisy. Spencer had never known Dez to be affected by any of the Toxites, but apparently, these huge Rubbishes were too big even for a bully like Dez to resist.
“I don’t feel like it.” Dez slumped forward and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t feel like anything.”
“Oh, forget it,” Spencer said, picking up Dez’s fallen pushbroom.
The first Rubbish went into a dive, screeching some unearthly sound. Spencer crouched and thrust his weapon like a spear. The flat bristles of the pushbroom struck the Rubbish in the thick neck, cutting short its terrible cry. It floated backward in a flurry of wings that caused Spencer’s hair to blow. Daisy threw a counterattack of vac dust, causing the Rubbish to spiral completely out of control.
The Glopified attacks, easily enough to kill an average Toxite, seemed only to enrage these overgrown beasts. The Rubbish quickly righted itself and joined its companion for a double attack.
Spencer and Daisy stood back-to-back. Daisy drew a plunger from her tool belt as the first creature landed sideways on the nearest pillar. Its oversized talons dug into the concrete, securing a good perch. The Rubbish bobbed its bald head and tensed its neck, making some horrid sound. It seemed to be choking, body convulsing as though it were trying to work something up from its stomach. A deep rumble issued from its black gut. Then the beak opened and a thick plume of dark dust breathed outward like dragon fire.
Spencer and Daisy stumbled backward, coughing and wiping the grit from their faces. The second Rubbish used its companion’s distraction to fly into action. It burst through the cloud of Rubbish dust, drawing a wake of particles behind it. The creature’s legs came forward as it descended on Spencer.
Daisy sidestepped the monster and stabbed with her plunger, the rubber end making good suction with the leathery wing. Daisy whirled around, dragging the huge Rubbish by the wing and flinging it into one of the concrete pillars. The damage to the pillar was devastating, but the Toxite hardly seemed affected. Flapping those giant wings, it took flight again, jerking the plunger out of Daisy’s hand.
Talons closed only inches above Spencer’s head as the other Toxite swept in. A deft blow from his pushbroom knocked the Rubbish off course. Cawing loudly, it circled a pillar and came in for a fresh attack.
But this time, it didn’t go for Spencer or Daisy. The Rubbish was on a hungry course for Dez. The bully was lying facedown, wracked with careless disinterest—total apathy. Not even the danger of the moment could spur him into action.
With a hop, the Rubbish landed, its massive wings folding in. The monster shuddered and breathed out a stream of dust, black as soot. Dez disappeared in the cloud. The Rubbish hopped forward, talons scraping on the concrete floor.
Spencer hurled his pushbroom like a javelin, knowing that a miss could prove fatal for Dez. The bristles struck the Rubbish, but the force was barely enough to knock it aside. The monster snatched the handle of the pushbroom in its beak and snapped it like a matchstick. The dark cloud of Rubbish breath settled around Dez. Through the haze, sickly pink eyes honed in on the prey once more.
Suddenly, from behind the Rubbish, twin mop strings lashed out, encircling the body and pinning the wings at the creature’s side. The Rubbish hopped sideways, dragging Penny to her knees.
Thick dust began to billow from the mop string wounds. The Rubbish thrashed, but Penny’s mops were secure. Spencer dug into one of his pouches and pulled out a fistful of vacuum dust. Jumping over Dez’s prone form, he hurled the dust into the Rubbish’s face. The added Glopification proved too much, and the giant winged beast exploded in a flash of light and a wisp of blackness.
“One down,” Penny said, pulling back her mop strings. But the other Rubbishes were winging through the pillars toward them, enraged by their companion’s death.
“We’ve got to get Dez out of here,” Spencer said.
Daisy ran to the bully’s side. “I’ll get him over to that elevator.” She reached to her tool belt and paused. “But I need a plunger.”
As the two Rubbishes swooped in from opposite sides, Penny flicked out both mops and ensnared the legs of the nearest creature. Leaning back, she swung the Toxite around, causing it to collide with the other in midair.
Spencer drew the toilet plunger from his belt and handed it to Daisy. Propping the bully partway, Spencer pulled up Dez’s shirt to expose his big, flat stomach.
“No,” Dez moaned. “This is stupid. I don’t want to do it.”
“Trust me,” Daisy said. “You’ll thank us later.” She clamped the rubber cup of the plunger onto Dez’s stomach and glanced at the long distance to the elevator. Then Daisy turned to Spencer. “Cover me.”
Daisy lifted Dez easily. She held him upright, the bully dangling awkwardly at her side. Then she took off running across the parking level.
Instantly, one of the Rubbishes flew over Spencer’s head in pursuit. There was no time to draw a weapon. He leapt up, catching one of the legs. The Toxite shifted under the added weight and clipped a wing on one of the pillars. Spencer and the Rubbish tumbled to the ground, racing to see who could recover first.
The second Rubbish was screaming toward Penny. She stood between two pillars, watching Daisy’s run but leaving her back exposed to the advancing monster. In the last moment, she saw it sweeping in.
The Toxite spewed a stream of dust to confuse its prey, but Penny’s mops were already in action. She lassoed the opposing pillars at her sides and, using the spring from the mops, leapt above the cloud of Rubbish breath. The monster dove beneath her and Penny let go of the mops, falling heavily onto the creature’s back.
The Rubbish went into a tight roll, cutting between pillars and trying desperately to shake Penny from its back. But Penny held tightly to the creature’s red horns. Her knees dug into the scruff of the Toxite’s side while one hand reached to her belt and drew a plunger. Stabbing downward, she struck the Rubbish on the top of its head. She pushed with all her strength as smoky black dust began venting from the dissolving Toxite.
The creature had just opened its beak to shriek in pain when it exploded, sending Penny tumbling to the hard concrete.
Spencer backed up against the pillar, digging into his belt pouch for more vac dust. Without looking, he realized that he’d reached into the wrong pouch. Spencer’s hand closed around a rectangular object.
Just then, the Rubbish hopped around the pillar to attack. Its neck convulsed and the beak opened wide, working up the power to release a plume of blackness into the boy’s face. Pulling the chalkboard eraser from his pouch, Spencer hurled the bomb into the Toxite’s open beak. The eraser lodged in the Rubbish’s throat and detonated. The huge beak opened and closed silently, wisps of white chalk lea
king out the sides.
Spencer backed away as the Toxite began to twitch. It flopped onto its side, writhing. Leathery wings folded and unfolded, unable to take flight. Then the Rubbish dissolved from the inside until all that was left was a ghostly cloud of Glopified chalk dust curling toward the ceiling.
With the final Rubbish destroyed, Dez’s senses started to return.
“Hey!” he said, bouncing at Daisy’s side. He glanced down at the toilet plunger stuck to his stomach. “What the... ? Put me down! What are you trying to do?”
Daisy reached the elevator and set Dez on his feet. With a twist of the handle, the toilet plunger popped off his belly, leaving a large round welt. Dez instantly pulled his shirt down.
“I don’t think you want to mess with this!” Dez pointed to his stomach like it was a weapon of mass destruction.
“Relax,” said Daisy. “I just saved your life.”
Spencer and Penny arrived, covered in dust and breathing heavily from their run across the garage.
The elevator wasn’t much more than a big metal cage set into a concrete shaft. “Freight elevator,” Penny said. Reaching her fingers through the links, she heaved, sliding the metal grate upward like a castle portcullis.
The four of them stepped into the elevator. Penny let go of the grate and it slammed down. Immediately, the elevator began to descend, exposed concrete walls flickering past.
“That wasn’t so bad. Just a few relocated Toxites.” Penny forced a smile. “Who’s ready for level two?”
Chapter 51
“Think you’re bad?”
The elevator came to rest. Through the metal grate that served as a door, Spencer and the others could see the vast expanse of the underground parking garage. It looked calm and monotonous, but after the first level, Spencer was expecting the worst.
“Ready?” Penny asked. She grasped the metal grate and attempted to lift it like before. But even when the three kids joined her, the grate wouldn’t budge.
Janitors: Secrets of New Forest Academy Page 21