"Okay," I said. "We're being very careful. Hello? Gazzy? We're being very careful?" You can never be too careful. And maybe I'm selfish, but I like my face the way it is. You know, not blown up?

Gazzy patted Big Boy. "Check," said the Gasman. I just had to take his word for it.

"Nails?" I asked.

I heard him rattle the jar. "Check."

"Tarp? Cooking oil?"

"Check, check. We are geniuses. Those Erasers'll never know what hit 'em. If only we had time to dig a pit."

"Yeah, and put poison stakes at the bottom," I said, smiling wistfully at the thought. "But I think what we've got is good. Now we need to fly out, stay out of sight, and check on how the roads run, and whether the Erasers have made camp anywhere."

"Okay. Then we can seed the roads with the nails and set up the tarp and oil. We just have to make sure not to get caught."

"Yes," I said, struggling to keep a straight face. "That would be bad. Now, is it night yet?"

"Pretty much. I found you some dark clothes," the Gasman said. He pushed a shirt and pants toward me. "And I've got some too. So, you ready to roll?" He tried to mask the nervousness in his voice, but I wasn't fooled. I was nervous too. If we were caught, it would indeed be bad. We would be in the same predicament as Angel. At that place.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'm bringing Big Boy in case an opportunity arises." I went into the bathroom and changed into my dark clothes, then came back out and stashed Big Boy in my backpack. I swung the bag carefully over my shoulder. Gazzy felt tense next to me as we walked toward the window.

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "It can't go off till I set the timer. It's, like, a safety bomb."

The Gasman said nothing. I could tell he was nervous. He opened the window and jumped up on the ledge. Suddenly, he threw himself off the windowsill and into the cool night sky.

I followed, a happy smile on my face, feeling like nothing could go wrong.

Even though pretty much everything could go wrong.

Please, please, pleeeeease tell me what you think!