by Laura Martin
Suddenly, a strong hand clasped me by the shoulder, making me jump. I was about to tell Shawn to knock it off, that I was fine, but when I turned around Shawn was ten feet away from me, his eyes wide with alarm. I looked up into the green eyes of a stranger.
“Let go of her!” Shawn yelled, his voice cracking. He pulled out his stun gun and trained it shakily on the strange boy holding my arm. It was a pointless gesture. A dinosaur stun gun would knock us both out if he shot it. Shawn was clearly terrified, but I was too shocked to be scared. What was another person doing topside? The boy beside me chuckled.
“That’s a cute toy, but it isn’t going to do you much good out here.”
“It’s no toy. Let her go, or I’ll shoot,” Shawn said, his voice squeaking again.
The boy snorted. “Doubtful.” I saw Shawn’s shoulders slump slightly in defeat as his bluff failed. When was he going to learn that I could take care of myself? Twisting, I smashed my elbow into the boy’s stomach. He let out a little grunt of surprise, and I ripped my arm up and out of his grasp. Not taking my eyes off his astonished face, I leaped backward. Instantly Shawn was behind me, and we stood glaring at the stranger.
“Impressive,” the boy gasped, bending over to catch the breath I had knocked out of him. I studied him. He was younger than I’d first thought, probably around our age, although his dark close-cropped hair and bronzed skin made it hard to tell.
“Come any closer and I’ll shoot,” Shawn warned.
The green-eyed boy smirked, and snatched the gun from Shawn’s hands faster than I’d have thought possible. Shawn barely had time to grunt in surprise.
“They told you this could drop a dinosaur, huh?” He gave the gun a yank and a twist, disassembled it in three moves. He looked inside and laughed. “I think they gave you a bum gun,” he said. “I’d heard they couldn’t penetrate dinosaur hide, but yours can’t penetrate anything.” He handed back the iron fragments. I gaped at what was supposed to be the deadliest technology in the compound. The gun was nothing but a shell. No wires, no bullets, no place for an electrical charge, completely useless.
“But,” Shawn sputtered. “This was supposed to, the marines said . . .”
“I wonder if all of the stun guns are fake,” I said, turning to Shawn. “It would explain why the marines don’t allow anyone else to use them.”
“You’re a quick one, aren’t you?” The boy grinned. “And I’d heard you moles take a while to come around.”
“Moles?” I asked, looking from Shawn’s shocked face back to the boy’s.
“That’s what we call you compounders, because you all live underground,” the boy explained as though this were common knowledge. “Like blind moles in your tunnels.”
I blinked at him stupidly. “Who’s we? Don’t you live in a compound?”
He snorted. “Uh, no. Never have. Never will. I prefer fresh air and this little thing I like to call freedom.”
“That’s impossible,” Shawn said. “No one can survive topside. The Noah said . . .”
“My mom said that compound moles were brainwashed, but I didn’t think you were that stupid. Don’t you go to some kind of fancy school?”
“You really don’t live in a compound?” I repeated. My mind whirled with all of the possibilities.
The boy sighed in exasperation. “I take back what I said about you being quick. I think I passed judgment too soon. No, there’s no compound around here. I would no more live underground than kiss Big Ugly over there.” He grinned and nodded toward the meadow, where the T. rex was still visible in the distance. Shawn bristled beside me.
“Who are you, anyway?” Shawn asked as he tucked the fragments of his useless gun into his pack.
“I’m Todd.” He held out his hand to Shawn, but Shawn just glared and made no move to shake it. I’d never seen someone our age shake hands before. I’d thought that form of greeting was reserved for compound officials and old men. I was apparently wrong about a lot of things. Todd shrugged and offered his hand to me. I shook it hesitantly. He was tall, with a stretched-out look like he’d grown a foot overnight. Despite his gangly appearance, he moved in a fluid, graceful way that I envied. His bright green eyes were set over a long nose that looked like it’d been broken on more than one occasion.
I heard a familiar chatter and watched in amazement as Herman trotted out of the trees and right up to Todd. The little creature sat back on its haunches, buzzing and chirping in its birdlike way. Todd chuckled and pulled a small strip of meat from a leather pouch on his belt, flipping it to the creature. Herman caught it midair, making happy little clucks.
“You know Herman?” I asked.
“Herman?” he snorted. “This is Verde, and she knows me very well. I raised her from an egg.”
“That thing almost got us killed,” Shawn fumed. He took a threatening step toward the creature, and I grabbed his arm to stop him. Todd yanked a large bow off his back and had an arrow on the string and pointed at Shawn almost instantaneously.
“Take another step. I dare you,” Todd growled. “Verde saved your life, although now I’m thinking that wasn’t one of her brighter moves.”
“Saved our lives?” I asked as I warily eyeballed the massive bow in Todd’s hand. How had I not noticed that thing? It was huge. It appeared to be made of a single carved bone, a dinosaur rib, maybe? Although it seemed more flexible than normal bone. The arrowhead was the size of my palm. I wondered if it could pierce dinosaur hide.
“I was on lookout and saw that stupid stunt you two pulled. Don’t you know that you never, and I mean never, run through an open field? Lucky for you, I was feeling particularly charitable and sent Verde out to distract Big Ugly over there.” I glanced back toward the T. rex and shuddered.
“Thank you, Verde,” I murmured. Verde peeked around Todd’s legs warily, her small beaklike nose sniffing in my direction.
Todd lowered his bow and glared at Shawn. “Unless you want some ventilation holes poked in your sorry hide, I wouldn’t hurt her . . .” He stopped, cocking a questioning eyebrow at Shawn.
“Shawn Reilly,” I filled in for him.
“Don’t tell him anything about us,” Shawn said, frowning.
Todd slid the bow back onto his back. “Actually, I would be delighted to hear what two compound moles are doing bumbling around my forest.”
“It isn’t your forest,” Shawn said.
“If you’re not from a compound, then where are you from?” I asked, a protective hand over my compass.
“Why should I tell you? How do I know you aren’t one of that Noah guy’s lackeys?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. The idea was too absurd. “Because the Noah doesn’t hire twelve-year-olds to be his, what did you call us? His lackeys?”
Todd stiffened, and I stopped laughing, not wanting to offend.
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Todd said. “My mom said that guy is so power-hungry he’ll recruit just about anyone if it means keeping control.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shawn bristled. “The Noah saved us. The compound protects us; without it, the human race would be extinct.”
“I’d like to present exhibit A,” Todd mocked, gesturing to himself, “that proves that statement is dead wrong.”
“Well, this has been fun,” Shawn said, “but we need to get going.” He started to turn away, but I grabbed his arm and jerked him back.
“Wait,” I said, irritated. I turned my attention back to the dark-haired boy in front of me. “Have you ever met anyone else from a compound? We are looking for someone. His name was Jack Mundy?” When Todd didn’t say anything, I went on. “He was around six feet tall, brown hair, a beard? Kind of skinny?”
“No, sorry,” Todd said, and I could tell he didn’t want to give us any more information than he already had.
“Sky,” Shawn said. “I doubt your dad came this way.”
Todd’s eyes softened a little. “Your dad?”
&nbs
p; “Yeah,” I said. “He’s been missing for five years.”
Todd hesitated, biting his lip. “Well,” he finally said. “Jett might have heard of him. He’s the leader of the Oaks.”
My heart gave a hopeful squeeze. “Could you tell me where to find him? Please?” I stopped, processing what he’d just said. “Wait. What’s the Oaks?”
Todd studied us. “Are you sure you aren’t government spies?”
I groaned in exasperation. “I promise.”
Todd stood for a moment, torn, and I held my breath.
“I’m really not allowed to show you where I live,” he finally said, and I deflated a little in disappointment. “But after that stunt you just pulled, I don’t think you two would survive much longer without some help.” I grinned at Shawn, but he didn’t grin back.
“But,” Todd said, pointing a long finger in our faces, “if you betray us, don’t think I’ll hesitate to put those ventilation holes in you I mentioned earlier.” He patted his bow.
I gulped, nodding. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Todd said. “Jett might not let you up.”
“Up?” I whispered to Shawn as Todd turned and headed away from the meadow, obviously expecting us to follow. I was about to when Shawn grabbed my backpack.
“What?” I hissed as Todd stopped and turned back, waiting.
“How do we know we can trust this guy? For all we know, he’s taking us back to his mud hut to eat us. He’s not from a compound, which means he’s been living with no laws his entire life.”
“He saved our lives.”
“So he says. I don’t like it, Sky. He has no respect for our Noah.”
I groaned in frustration. “Listen. I’m willing to risk it if it means finding out about my dad. If things look dicey, we run for it. Deal?” Shawn’s lips pulled into a tight line. I rolled my eyes. “I promise I won’t let him eat you in his mud hut or whatever.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Aren’t you even a little bit curious how people have managed to survive if it wasn’t in a compound?”
“No.”
I gave him a look, and he huffed in defeat.
“Okay, fine. Maybe a little.”
“Make up your mind,” Todd called, glancing nervously at the sky. “It’s almost dark, and you already cheated death once today.”
“We’re coming!” I called. “How far away is it?”
“Not far,” he said, smirking. “Let me show you how the real people live.”
I stared up at the trees, amazed. Fifty feet above us, the treetops were laden with small wooden houses, suspended by poles and beams that balanced and adhered them to the branches. Long ropes hung down, and men and women were using them as pulleys to ferry wood and people up to the tree houses.
“You live up there?” I breathed. “In the sky?”
“Up among the stars, and much too high for any passing ’saur to reach us.” Todd grinned proudly. Shawn had the same amazed look on his face.
“How did you build those?” Shawn asked. “How long have you been here? How many of you are there? What do you do about pterosaurs?”
“Easy, man,” Todd chuckled. “One question at a time.” I couldn’t blame Shawn. I had a million questions buzzing inside my head too.
“As long as you’ve been living underground, we’ve been living in the trees. Not everyone was lucky enough to fall into government-funded safe houses,” Todd explained. “Don’t tell me you didn’t learn about us in that fancy school? And I have no idea what a ptero-whatsit is. If you are talking about the flying dinosaurs, most of them have flown south this time of year, but they’ve learned to avoid the village. We’re all pretty good shots.” He tapped his bow to show us what he meant before striding over to a tall bearded man and clapping him on the shoulder companionably. “Jett,” he said. “This is Sky and Stew.”
“My name is Shawn” came a growl from behind me.
“Right. Sorry, Seth.” Todd turning back to the man with a smug look. “Jett here is the leader of the Oaks. His word is law.” The man extended his hand, eyeing us warily, and we shook it. For the first time I realized how odd we looked in our skintight camouflage. Todd and Jett were more simply dressed, in loose brown pants and simple green tunics. The fabric had a slight shimmer to it when they moved that made them blend into the green foliage around them. I was about to open my mouth to ask about my dad when I saw the look on Jett’s face and stopped myself.
“Todd,” Jett said sharply, nodding to us, “a moment, please.” Todd’s cocky demeanor melted a little at Jett’s tone as he followed the man. Jett motioned to two other men standing near him; both wore massive bone bows like Todd’s strapped to their backs. They walked over to stand by us, and although they didn’t pull out their weapons, it was obvious we were being guarded.
“I don’t like this,” Shawn whispered.
“Relax,” I murmured, not taking my eyes off Todd and Jett.
“I don’t trust him.”
“Who? Todd or Jett?”
“Both. We should just leave. We were doing fine on our own.”
“I don’t think we could leave if we wanted to,” I muttered, trying to swallow my own nerves.
“For your information,” he said, “getting eaten in a tree house isn’t any better than in a mud hut.”
“Shhh,” I cautioned. “He’s coming back.”
Todd strode up to us, his arrogant smile no longer in sight. “Sorry about that.”
“Are you in trouble?” I asked.
“No. Not yet, anyway,” he replied, his face clouding over momentarily. “Jett said you can stay here tonight. But before I take you up, he insists that you submit to a search. We need to make sure you aren’t carrying a tracking device.” Shawn jerked in surprise, and I blinked at Todd in horror. A tracking device? They were used in the compound as a way to locate important citizens in case of emergency. And the marines had them built into their uniforms. They were all around me in the compound, so why, when I set out on the most important trip of my life, hadn’t I thought to check the stuff I’d stolen for them? I slipped off my backpack as two men approached, serious looks on their faces. One of them began pawing through my pack, while another began patting Shawn down, running his hands over his legs and arms, down his chest and over his back. When the man finished with Shawn, he searched me.
“Well, I think that’s it,” Todd said as the two men walked back over to Jett. They hadn’t said one word to us.
“Did you ask him about my dad?” I asked, glancing around Todd’s shoulder to get a better look at Jett.
“I didn’t.” Todd shrugged. “He was too busy telling me off for bringing you to the Oaks in the first place.”
“Sorry.” I grimaced. I hadn’t wanted to get this strange tan boy in trouble.
“It’s okay,” Todd said, brushing off my apology. “He tells me off about once a week for something or other. He did say that he was going to stop by to talk to you both tomorrow. You can ask him then.”
“Does it have to wait till tomorrow?” I asked, biting my lip as I glanced at Jett again.
Todd looked surprised. “What’s your rush?”
I fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot as I tried to decide how much to say about why we’d come topside. “It’s just that I kind of have this thing I’m trying to do,” I finally said evasively. “And I’m already late doing it.”
“I thought you wanted to ask about your dad?” Todd looked over at Shawn. “Is she always this confusing?”
“You have no idea,” Shawn grumbled, slapping at another mosquito on his neck. Poor Shawn, I thought. He looked so miserable and bedraggled standing next to Todd.
“You can try,” Todd said, shrugging, “but if Jett says tomorrow, he means tomorrow.”
Before I could think better of it or lose my nerve, I ducked around Todd and jogged over to Jett and the somber-looking men that had searched us.
Jett watched me approach with ic
y blue eyes set under a furrowed brow. “Yes?” he asked. I swallowed hard and squared my shoulders.
“I’m looking for my dad. His name was Jack Mundy. He would have come by here around five years ago? He was tall and skinny with brown hair and a beard.” I was about to go on when Jett held up a wide calloused hand to stop me.
“We have never had anyone from a compound come this way besides you and your friend over there.” Jett jerked his head to where Shawn and Todd were watching us, Shawn with a wary expression, Todd looking slightly impressed.
“Never?”
“Never,” Jett repeated. I sagged with disappointment, but immediately chided myself for my reaction. I hadn’t expected to find him on my first day topside, if I found him at all.
“Maybe someone else in your village did?” I asked hopefully. “Or maybe you just saw footprints in the woods that you couldn’t explain?”
Jett shook his head and his stern demeanor softened a little. “I’m sorry, young compounder, but I know all that happens in this village. Your father never came this way. If he was compound born and raised, his odds of survival weren’t very good. Why did you say he left the compound?”
I forced myself to look him in the eye. “I didn’t.”
Jett studied me for another long moment, and then he turned a wary eye to surrounding trees. “We will have to discuss this at a later time. Night is almost upon us.” Surprised, I glanced around and was startled when I noticed how dark it had become. The shadows under the trees were lengthening as the night seemed to weave itself into the very fabric of the trees. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was so much subtler than the instantaneous darkness of the compound. When I turned back, Jett had already grabbed the rope in front of him and was preparing to climb.
“But I have more questions for you,” I cried, thinking of the map in my pocket. I mentally kicked myself for wasting my time asking about my dad when what I should have been asking about was how to get to Lake Michigan. Focus, I told myself sternly. Dad had asked me to do something important, and that something wasn’t to find him. If I managed to successfully deliver the plug, then I could comb through the never-ending wilderness looking under every rock and shrub for my dad. But until then, I needed to put him out of my mind.