He pulled the top off the lighter fluid, cornered around, and ran straight back toward the advancing creatures. They spread out and lined up, coming at him two by two. Will angled sharply left, then as soon as they reacted, he cut back the other way. They tried to adjust but couldn’t maneuver as quickly. He tacked left again, and again they were slower to adjust. Trusting he could make this work, Will summoned up his Grid, slowing everything down even as he pushed his acceleration to the max.
Viewed through the Grid, the creatures looked like Ferris wheels of heat. Spikes of individual branches extended out of their margins, halos of writhing snakes. Will could see dark energy coursing through their insane forms as they bore down on him; a core of feral intelligence radiated malice from the center of each wheel, where the heart of the trunks had settled, directing the hunt. That was where he needed to attack. Fighting back his fear, Will stopped thinking and let his senses take over.
Then they were on him. As he darted between the wheels, in, out, and between, dodging the gauntlet of snapping headed branches that shot out at him, Will fired streams of lighter fluid at the interior of each wheel as they rolled past. Each time one shot by, teeth from their mouths tore at his pants, his shirt, his pack, but he made it through the first pass unharmed, and he’d hit each of his targets, soaking them until he’d emptied the can.
He tossed the can aside as he made a wide arcing turn back to face them, blinked away the Grid, and pulled a flare from his belt. He heard the wheels skidding around in the dust behind him, falling into formation for another run at him.
“Will, what’s up?” Nick’s voice came across his headset. “We’re waiting for you.”
“At the top of the stairs?” Will asked.
“Yeah, where are you?”
“You’ll see in a second.”
Will ignited the flare and ran back toward the creatures hurtling at him at full speed. Learning from their first encounter, they’d spread out so they could target him from different angles. His job was tougher this time, too; he had to get closer to them, close enough to touch.
The creatures spread out as the gap between them narrowed. A single strike and Will knew those snapping branches would swarm over him like a ravenous pack. He blinked up his Grid again, slowing down time so he could anticipate every step. The first creature passed close enough to part his hair, and teeth ripped his shirt and grazed his shoulder, but he touched his flare to the heart of the wheel and ignited the fluid, and fire quickly spread through its center.
The second came at him from a right angle, nearly clipping him from behind; another bite ripped into his pack and pulled it off his back, but he pivoted away, touching the flare to it as he rolled past and it burst into flame.
But he’d lost nearly all his speed now and the third wheel was bearing down on him from straight ahead. He stumbled, lunged to his left, and felt the beast roar just past him. He turned back and tossed the flare at the center of it; the fluid ignited and the center of the wheel lit up.
Will turned right, reaching for his second flare, but the fourth wheel was nearly on top of him. With no time to react, he was about to get flattened when he heard a high-pitched keening from somewhere above and then something lifted the creature straight off the ground just as it was about to annihilate him.
He felt the turbulence of immense wings and caught a glimpse of something huge and shining as it swooped over his head, clutching the last of the beasts in giant silver talons. A falcon? Whatever it was rose quickly up and away, carrying the wheel-creature with it out of sight.
“What the … ,” said Will.
No time to think about it. The other three wheels were all in flames but still rolling as fast as before, and now they all turned and started back toward him. Will fired his last flare and lit out for the stairs, holding nothing back. The creatures couldn’t gain on him but didn’t lose much ground, trailing by fifty yards, the fires in their hubs lighting up the cavern. He glanced back once and saw individual branches falling away, dying in the flames, but the bulk of the malevolent things kept coming.
Will saw flashlight beams stabbing through the dust and then his human pursuers emerged from the cloud—Hobbes and the squadron of Caps, heading for the stairs, trying to cut him off. One fired a flare into the air above the stairs, turning everything to moonlight.
Will didn’t hesitate when he reached the big stairs, powering straight up the steep incline, flicking on his comm system: “Nick, head for the doors now, get them closed.”
“What about you—”
“I’ll be there, just go.”
Will gulped in air as he hurtled up the hundreds of steps, his energy starting to fade, forcing himself to press ahead. He looked down and saw the burning wheels reach the bottom of the stairs and roll up after him without hesitation. As Will neared the top, he saw Elise standing on the ledge with her arms spread out, staring down past him. He was about to shout a warning when she shouted at him: “Get behind me!”
Will hurled up the last few steps and dove past her as Elise raised her arms. His ears popped and all sound drained away as if he’d jumped into a vacuum. The air around Elise bent and shimmered with building force as she unleashed what she’d gathered. Will saw a visible shock wave sweep down the stairs. A deafening sonic boom sounded and the three flaming wheeled creatures were swept away, flailing in the air, bursting into fiery debris.
The wave didn’t diminish as it reached the ground below, lifting up the dust bed like a tsunami and rippling across the floor of the cavern. Near the base of the stairs, Hobbes and his men scattered like bowling pins. The wave roared on, cresting at the walls of the ancient city, and in the dying light from the flare above, Will saw the tops of them shudder and start to crumble from the impact. Another boom sounded and the echo of it rattled around the great dome of the cavern before ending in startling silence.
When his ears stopped ringing, he heard the ancient walls collapsing in the distance, raising another huge cloud of dust. As he climbed to his feet, an alarming hissing sound issued from below; he picked up and raised the red flare that had fallen nearby.
Three dark shapes were quickly scaling the stairs. At first he thought they were enormous spiders, spreading long slithering scaly legs in front as they advanced. Will blinked on his Grid and realized these were the hearts of the trees, stripped of their branches, reduced to the source of the spiteful intelligence he’d glimpsed inside them. Huge glowing gelatinous eyes in their centers fixed on him and the creatures doubled their speed.
Will found Elise nearby, leaning against the rock wall, nearly out on her feet from the effort of the burst she’d generated. He scooped her up, tossed her onto his shoulder, and hurried as fast as he could up the winding corridor. They passed the first statue, the Civil War soldier, and as light from the flare bounced off the widening alcove, Will chanced a look back.
He couldn’t see the creatures yet, but he heard them, their repellent limbs clicking across the carved stone floors, drawing closer. Fatigue exerted a heavy drag. He vaguely heard Nick calling his name on the comm system, but with the flare in one hand and the other holding Elise, he couldn’t activate his mic to respond. He also felt the same presence of whatever had been following them from the beginning somewhere nearby. As they passed another alcove, the flare cast a shadow of something inside onto the wall to his right, a ragged figure, tall and lean. He didn’t even have time to think about it; all he could do was hope it didn’t attack.
They were still a quarter mile from the doors and he could barely breathe, let alone call out to Nick for help.
So it’s a race. Races are something I’m good at.
RULE #70: WHEN YOU’RE IN TROUBLE, EMPHASIZE YOUR STRENGTHS.
He stopped listening for the creatures behind them and focused on what he could do about it. Will forced his feet to keep moving. Commanded his legs to keep driving. Regulated and measured h
is breathing for maximum benefit. As they rounded the turn into the alcove for the second statue, he found his second—or third or fourth—wind. That gave him hope. He got another jolt of it when Elise stirred on his shoulder.
“Elise? Are you with me?”
“Why are you carrying me?” she asked.
“You were out on your feet.”
“We could move a lot faster if you’d put me down.”
“You think you can run now?”
“Faster than you’re going,” she said.
“Okay, I’ll put you down.”
“And, Will?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you do, don’t look behind us.”
Without missing a stride, he lowered her to the ground, and of course he looked behind them. The tree-root creatures were less than twenty yards back, filling the corridor, stretching hundreds of vile clicking limbs out ahead, luminous eyes radiating evil. Slower than before but every bit as malevolent.
Will and Elise glanced at each other and took off with a burst of speed, at least at first, preserving the gap between them and their pursuers.
“Can you—I don’t know—fire another blast at them?” asked Will.
“No. I’m weak as a kitten. You think that was easy, what I did back there?”
“I didn’t mean to suggest it was easy—”
“Because it wasn’t.”
“I know,” said Will.
“Okay, then.”
Will clicked on his comm system. “Nick, what about the doors?”
“There you are,” said Nick. “They’re closing, dude. All we had to do was kick out the post, so hustle your butts.”
“We’re hustling,” said Will. “And we’ve got company right behind us.”
“Roger that, Will,” said Ajay.
Elise stumbled, and Will caught her before she could fall. “I’m not going to make it,” said Elise, panting for breath.
“Sure you are.”
“How much farther? Is it further or farther? I get those confused.”
“Farther,” said Will. He put his arm around her waist, urging her to keep going. “It can’t be more than a hundred yards.”
“I’m seeing spots,” said Elise. “And little squiggles and lines. I think I’m blacking out.”
“Happens to me in races all the time. You just have to push through it.”
“Are they closer?”
“Close enough,” said Will, pulling her along.
“Hey, West.”
“Yeah.”
“In case I don’t get another chance,” said Elise.
“What?”
“This seems like a good time to tell you I think I love you.”
“Wow.”
“Wow what?”
“Your timing is unbelievable.”
“I don’t expect you to do anything about it … I just wanted you to know. Just in case.”
“Okay, then, I’m glad you did,” said Will, his stomach flipping around. “And I guess I kind of … love you too.”
Ahead, a slice of light showed the narrowing gap in the doors.
“They’re closing. You go first. I think you can squeeze through.”
The gap was less than a foot by the time they reached it. Will pushed Elise through ahead of him and she just made it, falling into the arms of Nick on the other side. Will squeezed through after her, emptying his chest of air and a second later the gap was too small for him to have made it …
… but not too narrow for one unspeakable barbed limb to slither through after him and grab Will by the ankle, dragging him back toward the closing doors, toward those terrible eyes and snapping maws.
Ajay leaped forward, something sharp and gleaming in his hand, and slashed down, nearly severing the hideous limb with a single blow, and they heard a harsh rasping cry as the broken leg dragged itself back out of sight. Will scrambled out of the gap and the huge oak doors finally shut with an authoritative slam.
Ajay turned to his four friends, a triumphant grin on his face, as he held up his useful tool for all to see.
“I told you I should bring my hatchet!”
NEPSTED
To their surprise, nothing jumped out of the dark or chased after them as they exited the tunnel. No one waited for them or appeared to be following them at ground level, either. The coast was equally clear from the hatch to their raft and not a single dog or guard reacted as they paddled back across the lake. Odd, suspicious even, but they were all so tired no one complained. Halfway across, with the weight of Nepsted’s key in his pocket, Will relaxed, and realized he felt exhilarated. It was a warm, windless night, with a crisp mass of stars overhead and they were bringing back their objective after an almost suicidal strike deep behind enemy lines.
Once they made it back to their pod, the roommates took turns crashing, in sleeping bags on the floor and the sofas in the great room, Nick and Will alternated sentry duty, just in case.
Why didn’t Hobbes and the Caps come right after us once we were above ground? Will wondered during his stretch, fighting to stay awake. Is it possible they didn’t know who they were chasing down there? But didn’t Hobbes see and recognize me before he crashed through the hospital window?
By sunrise, Will and Nick agreed they could quit standing guard. Will winked out for a couple of solid sleep cycles. When he finally woke with the key still in his hand, it was after ten, bright sunlight filling the room, and he felt better seeing a normal day dawn after all those hours underground. His mood improved even further when he realized it was Sunday and he smelled bacon and coffee in the air.
Most of his roommates were already up and gone, but as Will shuffled to the table, Nick came out of the kitchen and set down a big mug of coffee and a plate of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and buttered corn muffins in front of him.
“Fuel up, dude,” said Nick.
Will realized he was ravenous. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Figured you needed the shut-eye.”
“Where is everybody?” asked Will, diving into breakfast with both hands.
“Brooke went to work, Elise went to practice. Ajay headed to the labs, working on a bone.”
“A bone?”
“He brought one back in his pack,” said Nick, stretching the kinks out of his neck. “Something about dates and carbon paper?”
“Carbon dating.”
“That’s it. So what’s next?”
“We get to Nepsted, fast,” said Will between bites, holding up the key. “Before Hobbes does.”
“Let me see that,” said Nick, and they looked at the key together. “Dude, that was one whacked-out night.”
“We know a lot more than we did. We’re getting close, Nick. Hopefully Nepsted tells us the rest.”
“Question then is, how can we help him? Think he wants out of his cage?”
“I would,” said Will. “Wonder where he’d go.”
Nick bent over backward into another stretch, hands flat on the floor, arching his back. “I’m cooking up an idea about that.”
“Did you cook breakfast, too?” asked Will, unable to stop eating.
“Got an uncle who owns a diner in Brookline. In case the superhero gymnast thing don’t work out, fry cook is my fallback,” said Nick, transitioning to a one-handed handstand and then springing to his feet.
Ajay burst through the front door, out of breath, wearing large goggles that magnified his eyes while holding something behind his back with both hands. “Good morning, gentlemen. I can report two preliminary findings to you after my initial, albeit cursory, examinations.”
“Shoot,” said Will, his mouth full of pancakes.
Ajay held out the bone as if he were presenting an award. “Ten thousand years old, minimum. And so far not one trace of genet
ic material to be found that’s even a distant cousin to human DNA.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No, I’m delighted. Two reasons. It’s proof, for starters, that we’re not totally out of our skulls. And if we ever get to the bottom of this dog’s breakfast, a Nobel Prize for this discovery is not just a possibility, but it’s also practically in the bag.”
“Dude, you got my vote,” said Nick.
“I’ve also begun researching Cahokia and TEOTWAWKI. Early results are more than a little startling.”
“Tell us on the way,” said Will as he pushed his empty plate away, drained the last of his coffee, and belched. “We need to see a guy about a cage.”
He held up the silver metal key.
“Cahokia is the name of a significant archeological site in southwestern Illinois,” said Ajay, a little breathless, struggling to keep up as they jogged through the campus. “About a hundred and fifty miles directly south of here.”
“Wait a second, so there’s two Cahokias?” asked Nick.
“So it seems. And in its day, Cahokia appears to have been the largest urban settlement in North America.”
“What have they found there?” asked Will.
“All that’s survived architecturally is a series of ancient earthen mounds, now set aside as a national park, but research suggests that at its peak—a period dating back at least two thousand years ago—Cahokia covered over six square miles … larger than any city in Europe at that time, and almost as big geographically as London is today.”
Will and Nick stared at each other in astonishment.
“Why do you think they’re connected? Do they know who lived there?” asked Will.
“That’s the mystery of it: No one knows. But it couldn’t have been Native Americans—the settlement predates the appearance of any known tribes in North America. The name is Native American, however, from a nearby tribe affiliated with the Algonquin, but that name wasn’t given to the area until the seventeenth century by European explorers who were drawing maps.”