Later, the Aqua-Evac and subpod were brought to the shore of the steps with the remaining trucks and drilling vehicle. And the surviving crew members gathered by the shore, and Sweet kneels down and placed a bowl with a lit candle over the water, and it was gently carried out for those who didn't survived the attack.
"7 hours ago, we started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I've ever known." Rourke said. "We're all that's left."
Everyone remained sadly silent.
"I won't sugarcoat it, gentlemen." Rourke said. "We have a crisis on our hands. But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works. Looks like all our chances for survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch." He turned to Milo as well as everyone else. "You and that little book."
"We're all gonna die." Packard said and tossed her cigarette away.
"OK, people, saddle up." Rourke said. "Lieutenant, I want this convoy moving 5 minutes ago."
"Moliere, you're on point." Helga said.
Vinny and Audrey start up 2 trucks.
"No, Vinny, Audrey's taking the oiler." Helga strictly said. "You know the rules. I want you 50 yards behind that truck at all times."
"Plus, it's the only one we have left." Aviva added.
Mole climbs into the digger.
"And, Packard, put out that cigarette." Helga said.
"Smoking's not a healthy thing." Koki said.
A honking beep then got Rourke's attention as he turns to Milo at one of the trucks as he was playing with the horn. Rourke then went over and placed his right hand over the horn as it squeaked, and then he broke it off.
"Are you sure you're checked out of this class of vehicle?" Rourke inquired.
"Uhh.." Milo frowned.
"Can you drive a truck?" Rourke asked.
"Pfft! Heh heh." Milo scoffed. "Of course I can drive a truck." He then climbed into the truck's driving seat. "I mean, sure, you got your steering, and your gas and your brake, and, of course, this metal, uh, looking... thing." He fiddled with the gear shift.
Rourke stares at him with an unconvinced look.
"It shifts gears, Milo." Chris said.
"Ok, so it was a bumper car at Coney Island, but it's the same basic principle!" Milo admitted.
Rourke then sighed.
"Some how I don't think it's gonna go well." Martin said.
A few minutes later, Milo was trying to drive the truck up the steps as the brake squealed as he was having trouble driving it.
And was having trouble getting up one step after another causing a traffic jam as the horn beep.
"Come in!" A man said somewhere behind him.
"Sorry abou- Sorry about that." Milo apologized.
"Will you quit messing around up there?!" Koki yelled out.
Mole who was in the digger behind Milo pulled a rope as a whistle blew.
"Come on, civilian!" Another man complained.
Moments later, Milo sadly moved the steering wheel with his finger.
"Oof." Milo sadly sighed.
Milo's truck was being towed by the digger as they headed up.
Ahead of them, was a tunnel with pillars carved from the rock wall as the lights grew from the trucks and the digger continues on.
The trucks slowly headed down a stoned trail was carved on the side of a cliff of a large cavern as the stone trail leads further underground.
A truck was lowered down as Audrey was on it's roof.
Eventually, they got to a 2-way fork of a head carving.
Milo turns to the Shepard's Journal to see which one to take, and soon turns to everyone pointing to the left path.
They near the entrance, when then suddenly a giant centipede-like creature erupts out of the entrance screeching at them. Proving it wasn't happy of being disturbed and having trespassers near it's den, and they quickly backed away as centipedes are very territorial.
Milo looks through the Journal to see what he missed, he then fixes it sideways and realized something. And then sheepishly pointed to the right path.
Audrey, Mole, Vinny, Sweet, Packard, Cookie, Chris, Martin, Aviva, Koki and Jimmy narrowed their eyes at him. Jimmy nearly suffered a heart attack from the centipede.
"Really?" Aviva arched an brow.
The expedition continues on as they followed the trail and near a stream of fresh water.
Unaware that some distance away, a trio of figures rushed by.
Later, Milo had just finished a canteen of water.
"Ahh." Milo said.
Then Vinny appeared with a dynamite detonator.
"You didn't just drink that, did you?" Vinny asked looking concern.
"Mm-hmm." Milo nodded.
"That's not good." Vinny said. "That's nitroglycerin."
Milo then panicked and stiffen and gagged.
"Don't move." Vinny said. "Eh, don't breathe. Don't do anything, except pray maybe." He said as Milo slowly and carefully placed the canteen down.
"BOOM!" Mole yelled jumping out from behind Milo.
"Aah!" Milo yelled.
Mole and Vinny then laughed and walked off.
Later on, the convoy continues on as 2 men looked around with masks on holding rifles.
And Milo looks at the carving and the Journal going over them.
Later, they at a hill as Sweet helped Vinny up, and then lifts Mole up and drops him.
He then ups Audrey up as Milo waited but walks off.
Later, they set up a camp having dinner as Mole chuckled.
"Yeah." Sweet said.
Milo meanwhile was busy working on the Journal as he was taking notes and making sure they were heading in the right direction. He looked through the Journal and checked his compass
The next day, the convoy continues on following the path.
Eventually, across a tall carved pillar many times taller than the Smith Tower.
"Good night! Will you look at the size of this!" Milo said amazed by it. "It's gotta be half a mile up high at least."
"It's will taller than the Smith Tower." Martin said.
"It-It must have taken hundred... no, pfft, thousands of years of to carve this thing." Milo said as Vinny pulled him back.
Then Vinny sets the detonator off, and an explosion occurred as Vinny smiled. And then the pillar tips over and falls and hits a nearby ledge with a massive thud.
"Hey, look, I made a bridge." Vinny said. "It only took me, like, what? 10 seconds, 11. tops."
The convoy begins to cross the pillar as then 3 figures rushed by as one them then saw them and watches them.
Later, they were in a cavern where it was Arctic cold, and covered in a layer of snow. And ahead of an entrance with a carving similar to that of an elephant.
Milo looked through the Journal by Rourke and Helga as his teeth chattering. And then he pointed ahead as his chattered heavily.
Later, the convoy came to a stop as a large wall with carvings was in their way.
"Looks like we have a little roadblock." Rourke said. "Vinny, what do you think?"
"I could unroadblock that if I had about 200 of these." Vinny said holding a dynamite. "Problem is I only got about... 10. Plus, you know, 5 of my own..." He looked through his bag. "...and a couple of cherry bombs... a road flare."
"Man, it could take days to find another way around this." Aviva said.
"Hey, too bad we don't have some nitroglycerin, eh, Milo?" Vinny joked as Milo narrowed his eyes at him.
Mole then laughed hysterically.
"Looks like we're gonna have to dig." Rourke said turning to Mole.
Mole then gasped gleefully. "It will be my pleasure." He said.
"Alright, fire up the digger." Aviva said.
Soon, the 56 foot long digger rolls forward as it's high-speed drill made of a diamond-infused steel alloy rotates. And soon the drill head hits the walls and starts drilling a hole a sparks flew and the hydraulics lifts it up as slowly moves forward.
Mole pushed a lever as then suddenly the dashboard exploded.
"Aah!" Mole screamed blocking his face.
Soon the 112 ton digger backfires.
Mole coughed from the smoke.
"Oh! Stupid!" Mole angrily said moving the gear trying to start it up again. "You are stupid!" He banged his head on the steering wheel as it's horn beeped.
Soon Audrey opens the door to the digger's engine as she and Aviva examined as Milo was behind them.
"I don't understand it." Audrey said. "I just tuned this thing up this morning."
"I was sure the digger was really to go before we left." Aviva said.
"Um..." Milo tried to speak.
"It looks like the rotor's shot!" Audrey said climbing out. "I'm gonna have to pull a spare from one of the trucks."
"Can I..." Milo said.
"No toques nada!" Audrey said in Spanish turning to him. "I'll be right back." She walks off.
Milo turns to the engine and glanced back as he then turns a few values as they made a hissing and groaning as he looked backed. And then whacks a pipe with a wrench.
And then the exhaust pipes whooshed steam as it starts up again.
"She lives!" Mole happily beamed.
"Hey, what'd you do?" Audrey asked.
"Well, you know, the boiler in this baby is a Humac model P54/813." Milo said proudly.
"Yeah, I knew that." Aviva said. "And you fixed it how?"
"Now we get the 814 back at the museum." Milo said. "The heating cores on the whole Humac line have always been a little, you know, temperamental so sometimes you gotta... boom!" He banged his fist into his palm. "Persuade 'em a little."
"Yeah, yeah, thank you very much." Audrey said and pushed Milo aside. "Shut up." She closed the engine door and rise fist as Milo flinched. "2 for flinching."
She then punched Milo on his arm twice.
"Ooh!" Milo exclaimed.
Audrey then walks off as Mole laughed as Milo rubbed his arm.
Soon, the digger drills a hole through the wall as the other trucks followed.
At a dark cavern, Milo looks through the Shepard's Journal showing a strange lantern-like shape and a bridge and entrance.
As above them, was a rock structure that was identical as it showed a bright green glow.
"This is it." Milo said. "It's gotta be."
"All right, we'll make camp here." Rourke said.
"Why is it glowing?" Audrey wondered.
"Pah! It is a natural phosphorescence." Mole scoffed.
"Natural light." Aviva said. "It's almost like what we see with fireflies."
"Maybe the glow is some kind of fungus or something." Chris said.
"That thing is going to keep me up all night, I know it." Vinny said and walks off.
A few hours later, a triangle jangled as camp was set up as the light from the lantern structure as faded slightly.
"Come in get it!" Cookie called out.
Cookie went up to the group with trays as he brought a cauldron with some kind of strange gloppy food.
"For the appetizer, Caesar salad..." Cookie served Sweet's tray. "...escargot..." He served Audrey. "...and your Oriental spring rolls." He served Mole.
"Yuck." Audrey said in disgust as Mole looked all sad.
"I wanted the escargot." Mole said turning to Audrey's dish.
Audrey then hands Mole her dish. "Knock yourself out." She said.
"Seriously, what is this stuff?" Martin asked.
Meanwhile, Cookie went over to Milo who was close by.
"There you go, Milo." Cookie said handing him a tray. "Put some meat on them bones." He then serves his food on the tray.
"Thanks, Cookie." Milo said a bit grimace. "That looks greasier than usual."
"You like it?" Cookie said. "Well, have some more." He pours some more food on his tray. "You're so skinny, if you turned sideways and stuck out your tongue you'd look like a zipper."
Close by, Sweet turns to Milo.
"You know, we've been pretty tough on the kid." Sweet said. "What do you say we cut him some slack?"
"I mean, he has helped out a lot." Koki said. "Especially with the digger earlier."
"Even I'm amazed by that trick." Aviva said.
"Yeah, you're right." Audrey said agreeing with them and looked back to Milo. "Hey, Milo! Why don't you come sit with us?"
"Really?" Milo said closing the Journal. "You don't mind?"
"Nah. Park it here." Audrey said gesturing to a rock.
"Gee, this is great." Milo said joining them. "I mean, you know it's an honor to be included in your..."
As Milo sat down, Mole suddenly placed a whoopie cushion on the rock as Milo sat down as it made a pbbbt sound. And Mole fell on his back laughing his head off.
"Mole!" Vinny, Sweet, Audrey and the Wild Kratts glared at him.
"That wasn't funny." Chris said.
"Ah, forgive me." Mole said catching his breath. "I could not resist."
"Oi." Aviva rolled her eyes.
Audrey then noticed Milo still reading the Shepard's Journal. "Hey, Milo, don't you ever close that book?"
"Yeah, you must've read it a dozen times by now." Sweet said.
"Surely you must've memorized the whole thing by now." Jimmy said.
"I know, but this... this doesn't make any sense." Milo said looking a section of the Journal. "See, in this passage here, the shepherd seems to be leading up to something. He calls it the heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source the legends refer to." He then turns a flip. "But then it just... it cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."
"Odd, I know it's been a while since we looked through it, but I'm sure it had every page just before it was sent to Whitmore." Chris said.
"Kid, relax." Vinny said. "We don't get paid overtime."
"I know, I know." Milo said. "Sometimes I get a little carried away. But, hey, you know, that's what this is all about, right? I mean, discovery, teamwork, adventure. Unless, maybe... you're just in it for the money."
"Money." Audrey said.
"Money." Packard said.
"Money." Sweet said.
"Money." Mole said.
"I'm gonna say... money." Vinny said.
"6 to 5, guys." Chris said.
Milo sighed. "Well, I guess I set myself up for that one." He said rubbing his neck and grunted.
"What, is something wrong with your neck?" Sweet asked.
"Oh, when, I must've hurt it when..." Milo said as Sweet then grabbed his head.
And then Sweet twisted his head as his neck cracked.
"Aah! Ow!" Milo said in pain.
"Better?" Sweet asked releasing his head.
Milo grunted and sat up. "Yeah! Hey, how'd you learn how to do that?"
"An Arapaho medicine man." Sweet said sitting back down.
"Get outta here." Milo said.
"Born and raised with 'em." Sweet said and reached into a pocket of his shirt. "My father was an army medic. "He showed a photograph of his father and his mother who was a Native American and him as a baby. "He settled down in the Kansas Territory after he met my mother."
"No kidding." Milo said.
"Nope." Sweet said. "I got a sheepskin from Howard U. And a bearskin from old Iron Cloud." He brought out a Native American necklace. "Halfway through medical school, I was drafted." He tucks the necklace back under his shirt. "One day I'm studying gross anatomy in the classroom, the next I'm sewing up Rough Riders on San Juan Hill."
"Main course." Cookie said.
"I couldn't eat another bite." Vinny kindly denied.
Everyone else then denied as well.
"Thanks anyway. But, uh... I'm watching my weight." Audrey said.
"Ha ha ha, don't you worry." Cookie said. "It'll keep and keep and keep."
"What exactly does he put in this stuff?" Chris wondered.
"Thank God I lost my sense of taste years ago." Packard said.
They then held their trays over the firepit as the food slid into the fire and creating a small explosion with a plume as the fire was put out.
Later, everyone was setting up their tents.
"Aren't you going to pitch up your tent?" Vinny asked Milo.
"Uh, I did." Milo said as his was barely straight.
"Here, I let us help." Chris said.
Vinny then straightens his tent.
"I guess I'm still a little rusty at this." Milo said. "I haven't gone camping since... well, since the last time my grandpa took me."
"I never got to meet your grandfather." Audrey said finishing her tent. "What was he like?"
"Where do you start?" Milo said unrolling his mat. "He was like a father to me, really? My parents died when I was a little kid and he took in me." He then smiled and chuckled.
"What?" Audrey asked.
"Well, I was just thinkin'." Milo said remembering something. "One time, when I was 8, we were hiking along this stream... and I saw something shining in the water. It was a genuine arrowhead. Well, you'd think I'd found a lost civilization the way Grandpa carried on about it. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the arrowhead just some compressed shale mixed with zinc pyrite that had fractured into an isosceletic triangulate."
"Well, at least it was fun while it lasted." Martin said.
"Yeah, us 5 been adventuring across the world for years." Chris said. "Seeing places, lots of animals. And making interesting discoveries with them."
"And making new inventions too." Aviva said. "I actually designed pretty much every vehicle here. The Ulysses, the subpods, Aqua-Evacs and more. And even those singled-man planes."
"Yeah, we even tested them out." Chris said.
Sometime ago, at a coastline, Chris was flying through the air in a single-manned plane called a Whitmore's Wing as top speed.
"Alright, Martin." Chris said through a comm link. "Now let's show 'em how to fly. We're gonna play chicken. You ready?"
Some distance away, Martin was flying in another.
"This ain't New Jersey, and these ain't no bicycles." Martin said. "I'm not playin' chicken with ya."
"Now don't be a baby." Chris said.
"I'm tellin' you what-"
"Not doin' it, Chris." Martin shook his head.
"Well, I'm coming right at you." Chris said. "You can turn or you can hit me. It's up to you."
Chris then quickly flies by an area where everyone was waiting for them and turn to Chris.
"What the..." Rourke said.
"Oh, boy." Aviva said.
Chris flew through the air.
And then they turned the other way as Martin was coming in.
"Why are you always bustin' my tail, Chris?" Martin said giving out. "Which why you goin'?"
The group then turns back to Chris.
"Uh, I guess I'll go right." Chris said. "No, uh, left. I'll go left."
They begin to heads towards each other.
"Okay, we're goin' left, right?" Martin said.
"Ri, uh, right. Right?"
"Right like we're goin' right, or right like we're goin' left?" Martin asked.
"Oh, well, now you got me all mixed up." Chris said. "I dunno. Make up your mind!"
The 2 begin to close in on each other.
"Gosh, Chris, we're goin' right!" Martin yelled. "Righty-tighty!"
They begin to near each other.
And then they quickly turned right narrowly bypassing each other as then Rourke's hat was blown away almost everyone cheered.
"Whoo-hoo!" Aviva cheered.
"HAY YEAH!" Jimmy yelled.
Martin then laughed.
"Whoo-hoo-hoo!" Chris laughed.
"Ha ha, that was still cool." Martin said.
Milo then saw Mole giggling in red, blue and white striped pajamas and had a mole stuff animal.
"That is so cute!" Mole said and walks off.
"Say, Audrey, uh, no... no offense, but how does a teenager become the chief mechanic of a multimillion dollar expedition?" Milo asked.
"Well, I took this job when my dad retired." Audrey said removing her boots and socks. "But the funny thing was he always wanted sons, right? One to run his machine shop and the other to be middleweight boxing champion. But he got my sister and me instead." She unrolls her sleeping mat.
"So, what... what happened to your sister?" Milo asked.
"She's 24 and 0. with a shot at the title next month." Audrey said. "Anyway, I'm saving up so my Papí and I can open another shop."
"Forget your jammies, Mrs. Packard?" Milo asked turning to Packard.
"I sleep in the nude." Packard said with hair curls and a green face mask walking by.
Milo only had a blank look as a sleeping mask was tossed to him.
"You're gonna want a pair of these." Sweet advised. "She sleepwalks."
Milo then looked over to his right.
Vinny lies down with a sleeping mask on. "Well, as far as me goes... I just like to blow things up." He said placing his match behind his ear.
Then Sweet pulled his mask up. "Come on, Vinny... tell the kid the truth."
He then lets go of the mask as it hits his face.
"My family owned a flower shop." Vinny confessed. "We would sell roses, carnations, baby's breath, you name it. One day, I'm making about 3 dozen corsages for this prom. You know, the one they put on their wrist. And everybody, they come. "Where is it? When is it? Does it match my dress?' It's a nightmare." He facepalmed himself. Anyway, I guess there was this leak next door or gas or what. BOOM! No more Chinese laundry. Blew me right through the front window. It was like a sign from God." He lit his match. "I found myself that boom."
Suddenly grunting was heard, as Mole shuffled down into a hole as they turn to him.
And then the light from his lamp turned off as then chuckled.
"What's Mole's story?" Milo asked.
"Uh." Chris, Martin, Aviva, Koki and Jimmy glanced over to each other.
"Trust me on this one. You don't wanna know." Sweet advised clearly. "Audrey, don't tell them. You too, Aviva."
"I was I suppose to know?" Aviva said.
"You shouldn't have told me, but you did." Sweet said and turns back to Milo. "And now I'm telling you, you don't wanna know."
He then grabs a lamp and blows out the candle.
Author's Note:
I'm guessing it's better we don't wanna know about Mole's story, right?