“There’s one more thing I need to ask of you. I need you to take me to the security center.” I told the soldiers.
They promptly turned on their heels, leading the way back up out of the dark musty basement.
The security center was a vast room filled with computers and video monitors, wires running down the walls and across the dark gray ceiling. The sight of so much technology in one room disoriented me for a second. I had no idea how to get in contact with Agent Cooper. Dustin was supposed to help me. The thought of him lying on the ground bleeding compelled me to figure this out for myself. We needed help.
Each video monitor showed a different section of the campus. Some showed children still in the middle of training, unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. Others revealed that there was yet another army of guards, headed right for the mansion. Shoot.
“Don’t just stand there. You’re supposed to be part robot. Help me find the interfering frequencies,” I barked, eyeing the giant computer in the center of the room.
With Jack on my heels, I headed for the large black keyboard sitting in front of the computer system. It was about the size of a kitchen counter. One of the soldiers followed, fingers gliding across the board as if it were a piano. A different scene appeared on one of the monitors. It was Agent Cooper, hard at work at his desk.
The soldier pressed another button, and I suddenly had sound. There were people working all around the agent, the shuffling of papers and phone calls loud through the speakers.
“Agent Cooper, can you hear me?” I said.
The agent looked up, staring directly at the screen. His eyes widened. He could see me. I could tell from the look on his face.
“Lily,” he breathed, moving closer to see. “Where are you? According to your tracking device, you’re in a hut in Spain. We sent our men to get you, but you weren’t there.”
“That’s because I’m not. I’m still in California. They messed with the device. It’s a lot to explain, but please, I need someone down here. It’s Dustin. He’s hurt really bad.
His father has sent an army of children—”
Agent Cooper had already called someone over, speaking so fast I couldn’t understand what he was saying. The worker nodded, moving swiftly out of the screen.
“Lily, I’ve given the orders to send agents from the local bureau out to you. What are the coordinates of your location?”
I froze. Coordinates? My robotic companion recited them easily, as if he had it memorized.
Agent Cooper nodded. “They should be there within twenty minutes. Now, could you tell me—”
The connection was suddenly lost. We tried to get it back, but it was no use. In fact, everything around us began to shut down until we were in complete darkness. It must have had something to do with Dr. Wacko. He was shutting everything down. I had a bad feeling about this.
“We have to go—now!” I shouted, running out the door and down the steps.
I ran the way we came. Nothing tried to stop us now. The whole mansion was eerily silent and still, the security systems turned off. As we sprinted toward the back of the house, something even stranger began to happen. The soldiers started to drop like flies, eyes rolling back in their heads. Jack and I were forced to stop, staring dumbfounded as they lay there foaming at the mouth, twitching.
Gritting my teeth, I told Jack to stay behind with them while I went to see what was going on outside. He tried to object, but I insisted, convincing him that this was the best plan at the moment. We couldn’t both be caught. At least if I was captured, he would still be here to tell the FBI what had happened when they arrived.
When I reached the back of the house, I immediately noticed something different. The glass was completely clear now. The murky haze had disappeared. From where I stood, I could see a dark green chopper lifting off of the ground.
I pushed through the door, panicked, sprinting toward the helicopter. With only a fleeting glance, I noticed that the soldiers I had left with Dustin lay twitching on the ground like the others behind me in the mansion. Both True and Dustin were gone, only leaving large stains of blood on the ground as a reminder of the awful battle that had taken place. The rotors of the chopper whipped through the air, creating a strong man-made wind that had me struggling to keep my feet on the ground. My hair smacked against my cheeks, flying into my eyes. Squinting, I could just make out Dr. Wacko sitting next to the pilot in the cockpit, grinning like a psycho. He waved his fingers at me. Although I couldn’t see him, I knew they had Dustin in the back.
Screaming, I grabbed a gun off of one of the fallen soldiers and began to shoot. The bullets ricocheted right off. Even the windows were bulletproof. Still shouting, I ran to catch up with it, but it was already too high off the ground for me to grab onto the skids. I could only watch as they flew higher and higher.
Mere minutes after the helicopter disappeared into the sky, another one appeared. This one was bigger. Armed men hung out of the sides of the open doors to the cabin. I backed up so they could land. A burly man leaned out, black hair whipping around his face. He beckoned for me to get in.
I reluctantly turned to take one last look at the battleground. Turning back, I dropped the gun and accepted the man’s outstretched hand.
When he pulled me in, I found myself facing a group of about ten men, all staring at me. Every one of them was dressed in all black and equipped with heavy artillery.
“There’s another chopper. Dr. Wackerson is in it. So is his son, Dustin. Please, you have to stop them. He’s hurt and I don’t know where they’re taking him,” I panted, looking up at the man who had pulled me in.
He only offered me a grim expression. “My orders are to get you to a secure area. You just need to sit back and relax. Let us take care of the rest, OK?”
“But—” I started to protest, but the man had already started yelling orders to the others in the helicopter.
The agents hopped out one by one, running toward the fallen child soldiers on the ground.
I could only watch the scene recede as the helicopter lifted off, turning my insides into mush. I searched in vain for the other chopper in the sky, which seemed to have vanished into thin air.
“Could you at least tell me where we’re going?” I shouted over the sound of the rotors.
“FBI Los Angeles Headquarters. Agent Cooper will be waiting for you there,” the burly man yelled back.
I stared out the window. By now, we were so high up that I could see the whole campus. Black dots were pouring in like ants infesting a house. I could only imagine the chaos going on down there. That is, if Dr. Wacko hadn’t succeeded in shutting absolutely everything down.
Remembering True’s betrayal, the murderous look on her face, and the way she drove the knife into Dustin’s abdomen, I felt an actual pang in my chest. She was my best friend. At least I had thought she was. Turned out she had us all fooled. She had been a ploy, another pawn in Dr. Wacko’s sick game. Sick to my stomach, I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the window. I had a feeling the fun was just beginning.
About the Author
FAITH WILKINS has been writing poems and short stories since she was seven. She loves music and plays the violin.
She also sings in a local choral group called Jubilate. Faith began writing Wacko Academy, the first book in the Wacko Academy series, during the summer of seventh grade in a spiral notebook. She currently attends high school and lives with her mom and two younger brothers in New York’s Hudson Valley.
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Camp Wacko: The Drones of Summer Page 15