Three Months Later

-----

Once again, the sun was setting over the island, but this time it was hidden behind a thick cloud of smog. Seeing the sky at all had become a rare event; for months now the island had been shrouded in almost perpetual darkness.

Saetwo was hovering on top of the hill once more, gazing morosely out at her home. Since the Bloats had taken over everything, it was hardly even recognizable anymore. The most glaring difference was a huge stone fortress that had been erected on a cliff near the shore, intended for the Bloats to use to watch over the harbor. But even the harbor had fallen into disarray; only the Bloats were allowed to use it, and they obviously did not know how to take care of it.

Worst of all, though, was the island itself. Under their new "management", the Zoombinis were producing at almost three times the rate they had been before, but the cost was terrible. The island's natural resources had rapidly been depleted, and the newly built factories spewed toxic waste into the air. Any trees that hadn't been chopped down had withered and died in the inhospitable atmosphere. The water was murky and polluted, the grass was brown and sickly, and, of course, the sky was perpetually dark.

"I remember when you used to be able to watch the sun set from up here," Saetwo sighed. "I would come up here every day I got the chance."

"Saetwo, as much as I would like to stand here and listen to your life story," Xekrai snapped at her, "we have a quota to fill, so I suggest you move it."

Snapped out of her reverie, Saetwo winced in misery and began pushing her wheelbarrow full of coal down the hill. Xekrai and about a dozen others followed after her. Everyone was either pushing their own wheelbarrow or carrying mining tools over their shoulders. Everyone except Xekrai, that is.

"Hey, boss," Iake panted and wheezed from behind Xekrai, straining under the weight of two pickaxes and two shovels, "are you sure you can't carry your own stuff?"

"Positive. Now shut up and stop slacking."

"Xekrai! I don't believe you!" Saetwo exclaimed. "You're such a jerk! Are you ever nice to anyone?"

Xekrai spun around. "Did I ask for your opinion?" her hissed at her with such venom that it actually frightened her. "Just keep it to yourself, okay?"

As he stormed off down the hill with the others dutifully following him, Saetwo watched after him and lowered her head in guilt. If Xekrai had disliked her before, he hated her now – but he had a reason.

They had found Iadwi inside the Town Hall the morning after the Bloats had taken over, nearly bled dry. The sight had been horrifying, but almost more frightening was how Xekrai had reacted. Saetwo had never in her life seen him so devastated, so heartbroken; she wouldn't have thought he was capable of feeling such emotion. He had thrown himself over his father and pleaded with him to live, but there was nothing anyone could do. Iadwi died a few hours later.

As soon as Xekrai had felt able to speak again, the first person he had spoken to was Saetwo.

"This is all your fault!" he had screamed at her. "If you hadn't come bursting in like that, they wouldn't have killed him!"

"Well, what would you have done? Said nothing?" she had shot back. "I had to warn everybody! How was I supposed to know what would happen?"

Eventually their argument had become so violent that Echae had had to separate them. Saetwo had tried to forget about it since then, but Xekrai couldn't let it go, and even now his animosity toward her was as fierce as ever. She could hardly blame him – in truth she felt awful about her part in the mayor's death – but she would never let him know that.

She continued to reflect upon this as she and the others made her way down the hill.

"Hey, who's that guy coming over here?"

"Isn't that Echae? He sure looks like he's in a hurry."

"Huh?" Saetwo jerked her head up and looked at where the others had their attention. Sure enough, Echae was below them, skating along toward the bottom of the hill much more hurriedly than he normally did. Saetwo wondered if he was running away from something, but he was the only one in sight.

"Guys! Come down here! You have to hear this!" he shouted up to them as he dug his wheels into the ground and jerked to a halt.

Saetwo and the others exchanged some confused looks.

"Uh, okay. We'll be right down," Xekrai called back. "Come on, Iake, let's pick up the pace. Those shovels don't carry themselves."

"Oh, just leave your stuff!" Echae said in exasperation. "Hurry! Before someone sees us!"

Iake very enthusiastically dropped the shovels and pickaxes and let out a huge sigh of relief. Xekrai rolled his eyes and walked down to Echae, the others following after him.

"Okay, Echae, what's this all about?" Xekrai demanded once they had all gathered around.

"Okay, get this," Echae said in a low voice, signaling that the others should lean in. "The adults want to hold a big meeting in the basement tonight. They think they know a way we can deal with the Bloats."

"Really?" exclaimed someone in the crowd.

"Shhh!" hissed everyone else.

"Go on, Echae," Xekrai whispered.

"They didn't tell me anything else," Echae replied softly. "In case they got overheard. They just said everybody should meet in the basement at two a.m. That's way after the Bloats' night shift ends. They'll all be asleep by then."

He was referring to the Bloats who stood along the battlements on top of the fortress so they could watch the Zoombinis and make sure they were doing what they were supposed to. Because of the Bloats' inherent laziness, though, they refused to stay up later than ten at night. The Zoombinis had already made several attempts at a rebellion while their captors were asleep, but they had all failed – the Bloats always woke up in time to subdue them quickly.

"Is this plan actually going to work?" Xekrai asked irritably, obviously remembering this.

"They sounded pretty confident," Echae confirmed. "I think they thought of something totally new this time."

Although she was skeptical that this plan, whatever it was, would work any better than the others, Saetwo couldn't help but feel excited. Had the adults finally figured out a way to get rid of the Bloats once and for all?

"Tell everyone you know," Echae went on. "They want everybody to be at this meeting."

Xekrai nodded. "All right, loser, we'll do what you want. But this better not be a waste of time."

If Echae was annoyed at being called a loser yet again, he didn't show it. "See you guys there," he said to the group. "But in the meantime, keep working so the Bloats don't suspect anything."

And off he went.

Xekrai turned around to face the others. "Okay, you guys heard him. Two o'clock sharp, in the basement. But 'till then, we have to keep working. I assume you know what that means," he added, narrowing his gaze at Iake. "And would it kill you not to drop my stuff so hard? You're gonna scratch up my shovel."

Iake sighed. "Sure thing, boss."

-----

The "basement" was a huge, cavernous room located underneath the fortress, made entirely of stone and lit by the occasional hanging brazier. It was meant to store the Bloats' extra rations, but since the Town Hall had fallen into dilapidation the Zoombinis had secretly used it as their meeting place whenever there was something important to discuss.

"It must be really important, if they want the entire island to be here," Saetwo remarked Echae as the two of them pushed their way into the already-crowded room. The basement was not equipped to hold over six hundred people, even if they were as small as the Zoombinis.

"So your mom wouldn't even tell you anything about this?" asked Echae.

"Nah. She said I had to wait just like everyone else." She rolled her eyes. "The way she talks, you'd think I wanted to have an early dessert or something."

She and Echae forced their way through the crowd of Zoombinis talking amongst each other in hushed but excitable voices. Everyone on the island had heard that this plan would be the one to do away with the Bloats forever. But what could it be?

"Okay everyone, settle down. Attention!" one voice suddenly rang out over the others. "Quiet!"

The crowd obediently quieted down and turned its attention toward the front of the room. Standing in a cleared-out area was a group of seven adult Zoombinis. In wake of the mayor's untimely departure, these Zoombinis had unofficially elected themselves as the leaders. Saetwo was able to take some pride in that Flouquo was one of them.

"We're glad you could all make it," said the Zoombini who had just spoken. He had three small hairs, droopy eyes, a green nose, and a spring, and his name, Saetwo recalled, was Geeldaru. "As you are all aware by now, my colleagues and I have finally devised a way to do away with the Bloats. This entire time we have been trying to get them to leave, and it hasn't worked. We now believe we've been going about this the entirely wrong way. We are the ones who are going to leave."

For a lingering moment, there was dead silence. Then the room burst into protest.

"Leave Zoombini Isle?"

"But we've always lived here! Where else can we go?"

"KILL GEELDARU!"

Saetwo stared at Echae. "What did you say?"

"Sorry. I got caught up in the moment," Echae muttered, blushing profusely.

"People, please!" Geeldaru shouted, trying to regain control. "We have discussed this matter very seriously, and we believe it is the best option left to us. The Bloats have destroyed Zoombini Isle. It's only a matter of time until it can't support life anymore."

"In fact, that's why we think the Bloats came here in the first place," Flouquo went on. "We suspect that they make a living out of this. They invade islands, enslave the native race, then work them until they've depleted the island of all its natural resources. Then they pull up and leave, look for somewhere else to invade, and leave the island for dead. That is why they travel so much and have so many maps."

"So you think the Bloats are going to leave?" someone asked. "Couldn't we just wait it out then?"

"We think, without a doubt, they are going to leave," said Flouquo. "But where will that leave us? Zoombini Isle is too far gone for us to save. Bloats or not, we'll all die if we stay here. Our only choice is to leave."

"But where will we go?" asked someone else.

"Funny you should ask," said a third Zoombini whose name Saetwo wasn't sure of. "Flouquo, the map, please?"

Flouquo obediently pulled out a large roll of paper and unrolled it onto the ground. Every Zoombini standing near enough crowded around to get a better look. Saetwo, who was halfway to the back of the room, sighed impatiently and flew up to the front, landing beside her mother to get a good look at the map.

"We took this from the Bloats when they weren't looking," Geeldaru explained to the group. He then began gesturing toward various land masses located on the map. "See, this tiny little dot here is Zoombini Isle. These are all places we've traveled to before. Now look at this."

He pointed at a continent about eight inches to the northeast of Zoombini Isle. Saetwo and the others looked at it, and they all gasped.

"It's so big!" Saetwo marveled.

"Not only that, it's close," said Geeldaru. "We think if we tried to sail there, it would only take a week or so."

"If it's so close, why haven't we ever been there before?" asked a wheeled Zoombini.

"We've always avoided sailing in that direction because of bad weather currents," Geeldaru explained. "Although that was obviously a mistake."

"Obviously," agreed a Zoombini who shared Echae's hair. "Look at the size of it! Who knows how much business we've missed out on? Who knows how many people live there?"

"Well, we do know that the Bloats used to live there," Flouquo put in. "But since they left, they're not likely to come back. Which would make this land not only the closest place to sail to, but the safest."

"Makes sense," mused a red-nosed Zoombini. "The Bloats took our home, so why don't we take theirs?"

"Are we all in agreement, then?" Geeldaru asked the crowd. "Do you all understand that leaving is our best strategy?"

Many of the Zoombinis looked sad or reluctant, but eventually everyone nodded and muttered assent.

"So, when exactly were you thinking we would leave?" asked Saetwo.

"As soon as possible," Flouquo replied. "I don't see why we couldn't start tomorrow night."

"But there is one thing," one of the other leaders cut in. "We can't all leave at once. We would make too much noise and take too long, and the Bloats would stop us. Then we could never even attempt this again. We feel it would be safest to send off one boat every few days."

"And we've decided that the children should go first," Geeldaru added. "Protecting our children has always been our top priority, and this case is no exception. If anyone gets away from here safely, it should be them."

"Oh, but Mom!" Saetwo protested, turning to Flouquo. "I want you to be there with me!"

"I know, sweetie, but I have to stay behind and help everyone else. We'll see each other again, don't worry. And anyway, Echae will be with you."

"If I may interrupt," Geeldaru broke in politely. "We have to wrap this up as soon as possible. We've hidden all of our boats about a mile south of here, so tomorrow night the other leaders and I will sail one of them up here, right outside the fortress. Saetwo, get a group of your friends and meet by the shore at this time tomorrow night. We'll have you out of here as soon as possible."

Saetwo nodded.

"And don't worry," Geeldaru addressed the rest of the Zoombinis, "you will all get out of here eventually. I can't promise this will be easy, nor that it will be safe. But I can promise you that our new home is out there somewhere. With everyone's cooperation, we can make it a better home than Zoombini Isle ever was. Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Meeting adjourned."

-----

Dajero was not a congenial Bloat at the best of times, and at the worst he was downright brutal. Part of this was simply his nature, although it didn't help that he had to get up at five-thirty every morning for the early morning shift of watching Zoombinis at the fortress.

It was about five to six, and Dajero had just arrived at the fortress and was grumbling to himself about how far a walk it was, when suddenly he stopped dead. To his surprise, someone was already standing at the front door, waiting for him.

"Oh, it's you," said the Bloat. "What do you want?"

"I thought you might like to know that the Zoombinis are planning an escape tonight."

"An escape?" Dajero repeated, scratching his head. "What're you talkin' about?"

"You heard me. At two o'clock in the morning they are going to send off a group in one of their boats, right here in front of the fortress. And they're going to keep doing it every few nights until this entire island is clear."

Dajero was dumbfounded. Those little blue guys never gave up, did they? "Well what d'you want I should do about it?"

"You? Nothing. I wouldn't trust you to handle the situation. But I suggest you let your superiors know about this, and make sure there are about twenty of them here at two o'clock tonight."

"Sure, whatever you say," Dajero said unsurely. "But I – "

"Now, you idiot."

"Right! Right! I'm gone!"

Dajero spun around and scampered back the way he had come.