“Get some rest, Dana,” he instructed. “Don’t tire yourself out, son. I want to start doing tests on you in the morning. I have many, many tests to perform.”
“But I’m f-freezing!” I stammered. “Let me out of here. At least let me stay somewhere warm. Please?”
He ignored my plea. He clicked off the hall light and turned away.
I watched him make his way down the long hall. He disappeared through a door in front. And closed the door hard behind him.
I stood there, trembling, my heart pounding.
I was cold — and very scared.
I had no way of knowing things were about to get a lot scarier!
I was so desperate to get Dad’s attention, I nearly forgot about the egg creatures. Now I turned from the window to find them scattered around the room.
They stood still as statues. They didn’t bounce or quiver. They all seemed to be staring at me.
Dr. Gray had turned off all the lights except for a tiny, dim bulb in the ceiling. The little egg blobs appeared pale and gray in the dim light.
I felt a chill at the back of my neck.
Was it safe to go to sleep in the same room with them?
I suddenly felt exhausted. So tired that all my muscles ached. My head spun.
I needed sleep.
I knew I had to rest so I could be alert and sharp tomorrow. Alert and sharp so I could find a way to escape.
But if I fell asleep, what would the egg creatures do?
Would they leave me alone? Would they sleep, too?
Or would they try to harm me in some way?
Were they good? Were they evil?
Were they intelligent at all?
I had no way of knowing.
I only knew I couldn’t stay awake much longer.
I dropped down to the floor and curled up in the corner. I tried to stay warm by tucking myself into a ball.
But it didn’t help. The cold swept over me. My nose was frozen. My ears were numb. My glasses were frozen to my face.
Even wrapped up tightly, I couldn’t stop shaking.
I’m going to freeze to death, I realized.
When Dr. Gray comes back tomorrow morning, he’ll find me on the floor. A solid lump of ice.
I gazed at the egg creatures. They stared back at me in the dim light.
Silence.
Such heavy silence in the room that I wanted to scream.
“Aren’t you cold?” I cried out to them. My voice came out hoarse, weak from all the screaming I had done. “Aren’t you freezing to death, too?” I asked them. “How can you guys stand it?”
Of course they didn’t reply.
“Dana, you’re totally losing it,” I scolded myself out loud.
I was trying to talk to a bunch of egg lumps from another planet! Did I really expect them to answer me?
They stared back in silence. None of them quivered. None of them moved. Their little dark eyes glowed in the dim light from the ceiling.
Maybe they’re asleep, I thought.
Maybe they sleep with their eyes open. That’s why they’re not moving. That’s why they’ve stopped bouncing. They’re sound asleep.
That made me feel a little better.
I tucked myself into a tighter ball, and I tried to fall asleep, too. If only I could stop shivering.
I closed my eyes and silently repeated the word, sleep, sleep, sleep in my mind.
It didn’t help.
And when I opened my eyes, I saw the egg creatures start to move.
I was wrong. They weren’t asleep.
They were wide awake. And they were all moving together. All moving at once.
Coming to get me.
“Ohhh.” A low moan escaped from my throat.
I was already shaking all over from the cold. But now my entire body shuddered from fear.
The egg creatures moved with surprising speed.
They were bunching together in the center of the room. Pressing into each other, making wet smacking sounds.
I tried to climb to my feet. But my legs didn’t work.
My knees bent like rubber, and I landed back on the floor. I pressed back into the corner — and watched them move.
They slapped up against each other. Loud, wet slaps.
And as they pushed together, they rolled forward. Rolled toward me.
“What are you doing?” I cried in a high, shrill voice. “What are you going to do to me?”
They didn’t reply.
The wet smacks echoed through the room as the eggy creatures threw themselves into each other.
“Leave me alone!” I shrieked. Once again I tried to stand. I made it to my knees. But I was trembling too hard to balance on two feet.
“Leave me alone — please! I’ll help you guys escape, too!” I promised. “Really. I’ll help you escape — tomorrow. Just let me make it through the night.”
They didn’t seem to understand.
They didn’t seem to hear me!
What are they doing? I asked myself, watching them creep forward. Why are they doing this?
They had waited until I nearly fell asleep, I realized.
That means they wanted to catch me off guard. They wanted to sneak up on me.
Because they were about to do something I wasn’t going to like. Something I wasn’t going to like at all.
I pressed my back against the wall.
The egg creatures moved quickly now, pale in the gray light.
Squinting hard at them, I realized to my horror that they had all stuck themselves together.
They were no longer dozens of little egg creatures.
Now they had joined together to form one enormous egg creature!
I was staring at a big, quivering wall of egg! A wall so big it nearly covered the floor of the room.
A wall that was rolling toward me. Rolling to get me.
“Whoa! Please — whoa!” I choked out.
I knew I should climb to my feet. I knew I should try to run.
But where could I run?
How could I escape from this huge, solid egg wall?
I couldn’t.
So I lay there and watched it come. Too frozen. Too frozen to move.
“Ohhhh.” I moaned as the front of the wall of eggs rose up over my shoes.
It was moving so fast now. Crawling somehow.
Crawling over me.
The egg wall swept over my shoes. Over the legs of my jeans. Over my waist.
I lay there helpless as it swept over me.
Too frozen. Too frozen.
Helpless, as it poured over me.
Trapping me beneath it.
Smothering me.
I should have moved.
I should have fought it.
Too late. Too late now.
The sticky, warm egg creatures — all glued together — rolled over me like a heavy carpet.
I pushed up both arms. I raised my knees. I tried to squirm away.
Too late.
I tried to roll out from underneath. But the heavy, living carpet had me pinned on my back. Pinned to the floor.
It rolled over my waist. And then quickly, over my chest.
Was it going to sweep over my head? Was it going to smother me?
I punched at it with both fists.
But it was too late to push it away. Too late to do it any harm.
Too late to stop it as it crept closer to my neck. So warm and heavy.
I twisted my head from side to side. I tried to roll away.
But it was no use.
Too late. Too late to fight back.
And now I lay there, trapped. And felt it creep up to my chin.
Felt it throbbing. Pulsing.
Dozens of eggy monsters all pressed together. Alive. A living sheet of egg creatures. Covering me.
Covering me.
I took a deep breath and held it as the heavy, warm carpet pressed itself against my chin. My arms and legs were pinned to the floor. I couldn’t squi
rm away.
I couldn’t move.
To my surprise, the egg carpet stopped under my chin.
I let out a long whoosh of air.
And waited.
Had it really stopped?
Yes.
It didn’t crawl over my head. It rested heavily on top of me. Throbbing steadily, as if it had two dozen heartbeats.
So warm.
I felt so warm beneath it. Almost cozy.
I let out a sigh. For the first time, I had stopped shivering. My hands and feet were no longer frozen. No chills ran down my back.
Warm. I felt toasty and warm.
A smile spread over my face. I could feel my fear fading away with the cold.
The egg creatures weren’t trying to harm me, I realized.
They wanted to help me.
They pressed themselves together to form a blanket. A warm and cozy blanket.
They worked together to keep me from freezing.
They saved my life!
With the warm, pulsing blanket on top of me, I suddenly felt calm. And sleepy. I drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Such a wonderful, soothing sleep.
But it didn’t help get me ready for the horrors of the next morning.
I awoke a couple of times during the night. At first, I felt alarmed and frightened when I saw that I wasn’t home in bed.
But the pulsing, warm egg blanket relaxed me. I shut my eyes and drifted back to sleep.
Some time in the morning, I was aroused from a deep sleep by an angry voice. I felt hands grab my shoulders roughly.
Someone was shaking me hard. Shaking me awake.
I opened my eyes to find Dr. Gray bending over me in his white lab coat. His face was twisted in anger. He shook me hard, shouting furiously.
“Dana — what have you done? What have you done to the egg monsters?”
“Huh?” I was still half asleep. My eyes struggled to focus. My head bobbed loosely on my shoulders as the angry scientist shook me.
“Let go!” I finally managed to choke out.
“What have you done to them?” Dr. Gray demanded. “How did you turn them into a blanket?”
“I — I didn’t!” I stammered.
He uttered a furious growl. “You’ve ruined everything!” he shrieked.
“Please —” I started, struggling to wake up.
He let go of me and grabbed the egg blanket in both hands. “What have you done, Dana?” he repeated. “Why did you do this?”
With another cry of rage, he ripped the blanket off me — and heaved it against the wall.
The egg creatures made a soft splat as they hit the lab wall. I heard them utter tiny squeals of pain. The blanket folded limply to the floor.
“You shouldn’t do that, Dr. Gray!” I screamed, finally finding my voice. I jumped to my feet. I could still feel the warmth of the egg blanket on my skin.
“You hurt them!” I shrieked.
I gazed down at the yellow blanket. It bubbled silently where it had been thrown. It didn’t move.
“You let them touch you?” Dr. Gray demanded, twisting his face in disgust. “You let them cover you up?”
“They saved my life!” I declared. “They pushed together to make a warm blanket — and they saved my life!”
I glanced down again. The egg creatures remained stuck together. The blanket appeared to be seething now. Throbbing hard. As if excited. Or angry.
“Are you crazy?” Dr. Gray cried, his face red with anger. “Are you crazy? You let these monsters rest on top of you? You touched them? You handled them? Are you trying to destroy my discovery? Are you trying to destroy my work?”
He’s the crazy one, I realized. Dr. Gray isn’t making any sense. He isn’t making any sense at all.
He moved quickly — and grabbed me again. Held me in a tight grip so I couldn’t escape. And pulled me to the door.
“Let go of me! Where are you taking me?” I demanded.
“I thought you could be trusted,” Dr. Gray replied in a menacing growl. “But I was wrong. I’m so sorry, Dana. So sorry. I had hoped to keep you alive. But I see now that is impossible.”
He dragged me to the door. He stopped and reached into the pocket of his lab coat. Reached for the control unit to open the door.
I saw my chance. He had me by only one hand.
With a hard burst of strength, I pulled away.
He let out a cry. Reached both hands for me.
Missed.
I ran to the other side of the lab. I turned at the wall to face him.
He had a strange smile on his face. “Dana, there’s nowhere to run,” he said softly.
My eyes flashed around the room. I don’t know what I was searching for. I had seen it all. And I knew that he was telling the truth.
Dr. Gray stood blocking the only door. The long window was too heavy and thick to break through. And it didn’t open.
There were no other windows. No other doors.
No ways to escape.
“What are you going to do now, Dana?” Dr. Gray asked softly, the strange smile stuck on his face. His blue eyes locked coldly on mine. “Where are you going to go?”
I opened my mouth to reply. But I had nothing to say.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen,” Dr. Gray said softly, calmly. “You’re going to stay in here. In this cold, cold room. I’m going to leave you now and make sure you’re locked in.”
His smile grew wider. “Then do you know what I’m going to do? Do you?”
“What?” I choked out.
“I’m going to make it colder in here. I’m going to make it colder than a freezer.”
“No!” I protested.
His smile faded. “I trusted you, Dana. I trusted you. But you broke that trust. You let them touch you. You let them form this — this carpet! You ruined them, Dana! You ruined my egg monsters!”
“I — I didn’t do anything!” I stammered. I balled my hands into fists. But I felt so helpless. Helpless and afraid.
“You can’t freeze me in here!” I cried. “I didn’t do anything! You can’t leave me in here to freeze!”
“Of course I can,” Dr. Gray replied coldly. “This is my lab. My own little world. I can do whatever I want.”
He pulled the little black remote unit from his lab coat pocket. He pointed it at the door and pushed a button.
The door swung open.
He started to leave. “Good-bye, Dana,” he called.
“No — stop!” I called.
Dr. Gray turned from the doorway.
And as he turned, the blanket of egg creatures rose up.
It stood straight up — and flung itself over him. It dropped on top of the scientist with a hard thud.
“Hey!” He let out an angry cry. The cry was muffled by the heavy yellow blanket of egg creatures.
The egg blanket covered him. I watched him struggle underneath it. And I listened to his muffled cries.
He was squirming and twisting beneath the blanket. But he couldn’t toss it off. And he couldn’t slide out from under it.
He crumpled to the floor, and the blanket crumpled with him.
I watched it seething and bubbling on top of him.
Then I didn’t wait another second. I took a deep breath — and I ran across the room. I darted past the egg blanket with Dr. Gray twisting and thrashing underneath it.
Out the door.
Down the long hall to the front of the lab.
Yes! A few seconds later, I pushed open the front door and burst outside. Breathing hard, sucking in the sweet, fresh air.
A beautiful morning. A red ball of a sun still rising over the spring-green trees. The sky clear and blue.
I glanced around. I could see a paperboy on his bike halfway up the block. No one else on the street.
I turned and ran around to the side of the building. The grass smelled so wonderful! The morning air so warm and fresh. I was so thrilled to be outside!
I had t
o get home.
I had a hunch — and the hunch was right. I spotted my bike, resting against the back wall of the lab, hidden by a large Dumpster.
I leaped onto it and started to pedal. Riding a bike never felt as exciting, so thrilling!
I was getting away, away from the horror of crazy Dr. Gray and his freezing lab.
I pedaled faster. I rode without stopping. Without seeing! The world was a blur of green.
I must have set a speed record for getting home. I roared up the driveway, the tires sending gravel flying on both sides.
Then I jumped off my bike and let it topple to the grass. I dove for the kitchen door and burst into the kitchen. “Mom!” I cried.
She jumped up from the breakfast table. I caught the worried expression on her face. It melted away as I ran into the room.
“Dana!” she cried. “Where were you? We’ve all been so terrified. The police are looking for you and — and —”
“I’m okay!” I told her. I gave her a quick hug.
Dad ran in from the hallway. “Dana — you’re okay? Where were you all night? Your mother and I —”
“Egg monsters!” I cried. “Egg monsters from Mars! Hurry!” I grabbed Dad’s hand and tugged. “Come on!”
“Huh?” Dad spun around. He narrowed his eyes, studying me. “What did you say?”
“No time to explain!” I gasped. “They’ve got Dr. Gray. He’s evil, Dad. He’s so evil!”
“Who has what?” Mom demanded.
“The egg creatures! From Mars! Hurry! There’s no time!”
They didn’t move. I saw them exchange glances.
Mom stepped forward and placed a hand on my forehead. “Do you have a fever, Dana? Are you sick?”
“No!” I screamed. “Listen to me! Egg creatures from Mars! Follow me!”
I know I wasn’t explaining myself too well. But I was frantic.
“Dana — come lie down,” Mom instructed. “I’ll call Dr. Martin.”
“No — please! I don’t need a doctor!” I protested. “Just follow me — okay? You’ve got to see them. You’ve got to see the egg creatures. You’ve got to hurry.”
Mom and Dad exchanged worried glances again.