Chapter 16

They just popped out of the ground...like daisies!

Chapter 16

        It didn’t take long for us to gather up all we could from the lab. In about ten minutes we managed to fill up two footlockers with a variety of guns that the Blues had left behind. What was really cool was that the rainbow guns didn’t need any ammunition at all! As long as we kept the Womps around they could recharge the guns with energy when they started to fade.

          I just finished closing the second footlocker and strapping the cannon onto my back when I heard a very familiar hiss. I turned around to see Kobor’s black face and shining yellow eyes locked on mine.

          “Kobor!” I screamed swinging my arms around his neck.

          You sound surprised to see me.

                “Can’t I miss my favourite raptor?” I said roughing up the blue feathers on his head.

          Good point. If I didn’t get to see me everyday, I’d miss me too. Kobor winked.

          “Where’s Draak?” I asked.

          Probably cornering your sister and tackling her. He missed her like crazy. It’s all he talked about when we were locked up in the pen.

                I laughed, “No way! That hard-a*s can’t me that sentimental!”

          Well you didn’t hear it from me alright?

                “You can count on me, I won’t say anything.” I lied. I had every intention to make fun of him the moment I saw him.

          Reese loaded the footlockers onto a dolly while Trix was out hunting for a truck. You’d never know it by looking at her, but apparently she knew how to hotwire a car. I was surprised to say the least.

          “Once I grab these last few here for the compound X we can haul this dolly outside and get on our way.” Reese said as she voided the back cabinet of all the black canisters. I nodded and strapped the two footlockers down onto the dolly.

          “Just a second, I’m gonna run back to my room and grab some clothes.”

          “Right, that’s probably a good plan. Tell your sister to do the same but try to pack only necessities like something warm, something for when it’s hot out and a few pairs of shoes. We don’t need to dress to impress, just to survive.” Reese threw her canisters into a green backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

          I turned on my heels and ran down the hallway towards the rooms, Kobor followed right behind me. We crossed onto the carpeted floor in silence that was abruptly halted by a thunderous crash. Kobor and I stopped running as a wave of white washed over us. It felt cold as it brushed over my skin and it made an odd fuzzy feeling course through me. When the wave subsided moments later we stood there confused.

          “Umm…cool?” I whispered to Kobor.

          Suddenly the ground shifted and shook under our feet knocking us off balance. I fell into Kobor landing on my butt with a thud. The earth continued to rock like it was being shook up in a blender. Everything started to spin and I found myself cursing because everything seemed to be spinning around me nowadays, it was becoming very inconvenient.

          When the shaking stopped I tried to get back to my feet. It was nearly impossible because my legs had turned to jelly, but I made do with the help of the wall next to me.

          Another crash sounded down the hall.

          “Oh for Christ’s sake! I get it! Can everything just stop going to hell for one god damn minute?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The crash faded away as though it was responding to my pleas. “Seriously the sooner we get out of here the better. Let’s go Kobor.” He tucked his head under my arm to steady me as we walked towards my room. Naturally, the universe was not so forgiving as to let us make it to my room without further inconveniences. From under my feet huge bushes erupted without warning. Carpet and floorboards derailed from the earth as vegetation sprung up from every corner of the hall. Trees crashed through the ceiling, shrubs burst from the floor and vines snapped out from the drywall. Kobor and I were tossed around like ragdolls as plant after plant exploded from beneath us. We ran to my door and busted it down to evade the carnage that was storming behind us, only to find that my room was also plagued by the scourge of overgrown plants.

          I dove for the bed, which was now littered with long grass, just as all the plants stopped growing. I laid there for a minute while Kobor paced around the bed.

All was finally quiet.

          “What do you think that was about?” I asked Kobor.

          I think that was a little preview of the universes melding. Count your lucky stars it was only plants and not animals.

                Of course, you could probably guess what happened next. The moment Kobor spoke a roar sounded from the hallway. I’d like to say I was surprised but at that point I figured I was the star of poorly written, predictable movie and I accepted it. I let out a long and tired sigh and poked my head out the door to see what agent of death was storming down the hall.

          “Oh how lovely.” I said monotonously, turning to Kobor. “It’s a stegosaurus the size of a school bus.”

          As though it had become routine, I sauntered over behind the bed and ducked down on all fours. “You should probably duck your head buddy.” My voice was barely audible over the crashing footsteps that echoed in from the hall, but nevertheless Kobor crouched down next to me. The floor shook with such force that my body lifted a few inches above it with each step the beast took.

          A loud crash cascaded through the room and the floor rumbled beneath us, yet again. I held on to the bed for balance and waited for the roaring, shaking and thumping to stop. When everything faded back into silence I peeked over the bed to find that the wall connecting to the hall was destroyed. I could see right through to the room parallel to mine. As though I was looking through some warped mirror, I saw Shyloh and Draak’s heads peeping over their bed; mimicking Kobor and I exactly.

          “Are you as tired of all this crap as I am?” Shyloh called from across the hall.

          “Yeah, it’s kind of becoming…how do I put this? Lackluster?” I replied. Shyloh and Draak stood up and headed towards my room.

          “Seriously, the sooner we get out of here the better. Did you pack up some clothes yet?” She asked giving me a small hug.

          “No we just got in here. Give me a minute and I’ll be good to go.” Shyloh slung her backpack onto her shoulders and tossed a blue one at me.

          “You’ll probably need this.” She said.

          I didn’t take my time packing. I threw a couple of t-shirts, two pairs of shoes, some jeans, a pair of shorts and two hoodies into the bag. All in all, it probably took me about ten seconds to pack everything up"in record time I might add.

          “Let’s get the hell out of here.” I said handing my bag to Kobor. I’d have given him the cannon but I didn’t think I could trust him to not get trigger happy and fire off one devastating shot.

          I would never have shot it, you fool.

                “You can never be too safe.” I replied. He nipped at my butt and continued to run.

          When we returned to the Portal room it looked completely different. There were plants everywhere, just like in the hall, and there were live wires flicking in and out of the walls just itching to start a fire. Reese was sitting on top of the dolly right in front of the portal with Trix and the Womps by her side.

          “Are we all packed and ready to go?” Reese asked.

          “Yes. Let’s go. I’m tired of looking at this dump.” Shyloh spat.

          “You’ll be happy to know that I found a nice big pickup truck that has one of those horse trailer things on the back so nobody has to walk.” Trix said with a big smile. I was ecstatic to hear that because, as I said before, walking 3,000 clicks would not be a good time and it would make Sylas a very angry panda.

          “So what’s the plan?” I asked.

          Reese hopped off the dolly and started pushing it towards the hangar doors at the opposite end of the room.

          “We get out of here, pack up the truck, head to a Safeway for food, get to Ontario and kick the crap out of Priya, Helena and Malcolm.”

          “That sounds perfect.” Shyloh replied.

          “I have to warn you guys, I was outside when the first wave hit and I gotta tell you…the city is definitely nothing like how you’ll remember it.” Trix dropped her head and followed behind Reese.

          I couldn’t imagine exactly what she meant but from the looks of the lab, outside couldn’t have been much prettier.

          And boy was she right.

Reviews

[Kandy Kitt]

good job m'love. From the parts that I HAVE read, I really enjoyed it. I Promise I'll read it all.