*************
Together, the five of them walked back to the center of town, armed with anything they could find around Merton's room, which the adults learned was called The Lair. They earlier came to the conclusion that the dragon should be captured, not killed, so their weaponry included nets, a tranquilizer gun and some kind of powder that Merton insisted would knock the beast out cold. Hobbes, however, insisted on keeping his own gun ready.
"If your little sleeping sand doesn't work, I plan on protecting myself at all costs."
They reached the place where Merton, Darien and Hobbes had been attacked, and everyone noticed the scorch marks grazing the buildings.
"You would think that something that could do this would be easy to find," Darien mumbled.
"Maybe we should split up," Tommy said while shooting a knowing glance at his friends. "We'd find it faster that way."
"Okay," Hobbes agreed with the kid. "Just don't go getting yourself barbecued, okay?"
"Deal."
With that, they all split into two groups. The teens walked to the right and the adults headed toward the left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When she was sure that they were out of earshot from the others, Lori addressed Tommy. "Okay, I think you'll find the dragon faster than the rest of us. We three should separate too. Merton and I will go one way and you go another. Yell if you find something."
Tommy nodded and headed away from his friends. Merton shuddered slightly as he left, unable to deny that he usually felt safer when Tommy was nearby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darien and Hobbes also waited until the kids were out of hearing distance before they decided to split up. They had taken the tranquilizer gun when the big group separated, so now Hobbes insisted that Darien take it.
"I bet you'll confuse the hell out of it," Hobbes mentioned as his partner stepped out of sight.