Chapter Eight:
I love my life. I was hiding behind a truck, watching my best friend's almost-not-really girlfriend being dragged off to have an alien slug shoved in her ear. Meanwhile, that best buddy of mine was a cockroach in a car, and all the help I had was two birds, neither of which were really birds, and a girl with a death wish. What's not to love?
That was sarcasm, for all you Andalites out there.
Cassie was one step ahead of all of us. She did the only logical thing she could do. Screamed bloody murder. "What IS this place? I go to use the BATHROOM, for crying out loud, and there's a BOY and GIRL in there! Doing who KNOWS what!"
I snickered. Well, it was probably the safest thing Cassie could say, for all of us. It did explain why one girl went in and three kids came out. Rachel punched me in the stomach, and I stopped laughing.
"THEN I come out and you ABDUCT me? HELP! POLICE! Someone call 9-1-1! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
Okay, make it real! yelled Jake. Try and help, but don't morph! You're a normal couple!
I knew Rachel was going to get Cassie back for this.
We ran forward, adding to the general commotion. "Hey! What are you doing?" I shouted.
"You jerk! Get off her!" Rachel. Of course.
Then things got very loud and confused. I'm not exactly sure what happened. Things were moving fast. I do know that those two Controllers were tougher than they looked. It was three of us against two of them and they still managed to keep hold of Cassie and keep us back.
"That's it!" I yelled. "We're calling the cops!" I dragged Rachel away from the fight, and started running, praying the controllers would follow us.
"Let 'em go!" snorted one man.
"You moron, they're witnesses! Come on!"
I heard an all too familiar noise.
TSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEWWW!
A cigarette ad disintegrated. These guys had dracon beams.
"The woods," I panted. Rachel just nodded. Given the fact that we were about twenty years younger than the Controllers, with any luck we'd have them lost in no time. I looked back, just in time to see them hauling Cassie up to the side of the truck. What I saw next really scared me.
Through of the side of the truck - not out of a door or anything, but actually *through* the truck itself, came two scaly, bladed arms. They pushed through it like ghosts in a horror movie. They grabbed Cassie, and yanked her into the truck. Through the side. As if it wasn't there. Then, leaving the pristine white truck, the two Controllers started after us.
I said something ungentlemanly, and began to run. Boys and girls, I ran as if my life depended on it. Because, see, it did. Rachel was up ahead, easily outdistancing all of us with her long legs.
"Turn right!" I shouted, my breath ragged.
We turned into a part of the forest thick with undergrowth. The Controllers followed suit. I hoped the ivy we were crashing through was poison ivy. The Yeerks deserved it.
I was already tired, and running on sheer adrenaline. I began to look for a place to lose them, somewhere we could morph. Although, I didn't really even want to think about how exhausted I would be after morphing a second time. Morphing takes a lot out of you. I looked up, and realized I had come in a long, ugly loop. I was almost at the point where I had entered the woods in the first place. The white truck frowned at me from the gas station.
The white truck with Hork-Bajir inside. The white truck with what had to be holograms for walls. The white truck where Cassie was being . . . well, who knew what was happening to Cassie.
TSSSEEEEEEEEEEEWW!
Beside me, a tree exploded. Oh, right. The Controller. The dracon beam. Mustn't forget.
"Rachel, the truck!"
"What about it?"
"Head for the gas station!"
"WHAT?"
I broke free of the forest, and poured all my remaining energy into that run. I even outdistanced Rachel. I reached the truck and scrambled up onto the platform, shoving my head through the hologram and into the interior of the truck.
Five Hork-Bajir stared back at me in blank surprise. A scared-looking Cassie was being held by one of them. Towards the front of the flatbed was what looked like a kiddy pool with a glass top. A Yeerk pool.
"Oh, sh - " I began, then lost my momentary balance and fell backwards out of the truck. Rachel grabbed me and hauled me to my feet.
"Come on!" she said. "The car!"
Of course. The driving instructor's car was sitting right there. Jake was at the wheel, wearing the ever-popular spandex. "Get in," he grated. I dropped into the back, while Rachel slid into the passenger seat. "No need to buckle, kids. I don't think it will help." He lit the engine up and began tearing out of the parking lot.
"Jake," I said, leaning forward, "Cassie's in there. With Hork-Bajir. And a Yeerk pool!"
"What?" said Rachel.
"I know," he grunted, jumping a curb as he swung out into the empty highway.
"You WHAT?" I demanded.
"Ax figured it out while you and Rachel were off playing hide-and-go-seek."
"Jake, you're leaving Cassie behind!" Rachel hissed, twisted in her seat, looking back at the truck.
"Yeah, I know that, too." He gunned the engine, rocketing down the empty highway.
"WHY are we driving away?" she shouted.
It clicked. "Because," I said, "the walls are transparent from the inside."
"SO?"
"So," said Jake, "they saw us morph. They know who we are."
I heard a low roar. In the rear view mirror, I saw the truck pulling out after us.
Oh, yeah. They knew, all right.
I love my life. I was hiding behind a truck, watching my best friend's almost-not-really girlfriend being dragged off to have an alien slug shoved in her ear. Meanwhile, that best buddy of mine was a cockroach in a car, and all the help I had was two birds, neither of which were really birds, and a girl with a death wish. What's not to love?
That was sarcasm, for all you Andalites out there.
Cassie was one step ahead of all of us. She did the only logical thing she could do. Screamed bloody murder. "What IS this place? I go to use the BATHROOM, for crying out loud, and there's a BOY and GIRL in there! Doing who KNOWS what!"
I snickered. Well, it was probably the safest thing Cassie could say, for all of us. It did explain why one girl went in and three kids came out. Rachel punched me in the stomach, and I stopped laughing.
"THEN I come out and you ABDUCT me? HELP! POLICE! Someone call 9-1-1! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
Okay, make it real! yelled Jake. Try and help, but don't morph! You're a normal couple!
I knew Rachel was going to get Cassie back for this.
We ran forward, adding to the general commotion. "Hey! What are you doing?" I shouted.
"You jerk! Get off her!" Rachel. Of course.
Then things got very loud and confused. I'm not exactly sure what happened. Things were moving fast. I do know that those two Controllers were tougher than they looked. It was three of us against two of them and they still managed to keep hold of Cassie and keep us back.
"That's it!" I yelled. "We're calling the cops!" I dragged Rachel away from the fight, and started running, praying the controllers would follow us.
"Let 'em go!" snorted one man.
"You moron, they're witnesses! Come on!"
I heard an all too familiar noise.
TSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEWWW!
A cigarette ad disintegrated. These guys had dracon beams.
"The woods," I panted. Rachel just nodded. Given the fact that we were about twenty years younger than the Controllers, with any luck we'd have them lost in no time. I looked back, just in time to see them hauling Cassie up to the side of the truck. What I saw next really scared me.
Through of the side of the truck - not out of a door or anything, but actually *through* the truck itself, came two scaly, bladed arms. They pushed through it like ghosts in a horror movie. They grabbed Cassie, and yanked her into the truck. Through the side. As if it wasn't there. Then, leaving the pristine white truck, the two Controllers started after us.
I said something ungentlemanly, and began to run. Boys and girls, I ran as if my life depended on it. Because, see, it did. Rachel was up ahead, easily outdistancing all of us with her long legs.
"Turn right!" I shouted, my breath ragged.
We turned into a part of the forest thick with undergrowth. The Controllers followed suit. I hoped the ivy we were crashing through was poison ivy. The Yeerks deserved it.
I was already tired, and running on sheer adrenaline. I began to look for a place to lose them, somewhere we could morph. Although, I didn't really even want to think about how exhausted I would be after morphing a second time. Morphing takes a lot out of you. I looked up, and realized I had come in a long, ugly loop. I was almost at the point where I had entered the woods in the first place. The white truck frowned at me from the gas station.
The white truck with Hork-Bajir inside. The white truck with what had to be holograms for walls. The white truck where Cassie was being . . . well, who knew what was happening to Cassie.
TSSSEEEEEEEEEEEWW!
Beside me, a tree exploded. Oh, right. The Controller. The dracon beam. Mustn't forget.
"Rachel, the truck!"
"What about it?"
"Head for the gas station!"
"WHAT?"
I broke free of the forest, and poured all my remaining energy into that run. I even outdistanced Rachel. I reached the truck and scrambled up onto the platform, shoving my head through the hologram and into the interior of the truck.
Five Hork-Bajir stared back at me in blank surprise. A scared-looking Cassie was being held by one of them. Towards the front of the flatbed was what looked like a kiddy pool with a glass top. A Yeerk pool.
"Oh, sh - " I began, then lost my momentary balance and fell backwards out of the truck. Rachel grabbed me and hauled me to my feet.
"Come on!" she said. "The car!"
Of course. The driving instructor's car was sitting right there. Jake was at the wheel, wearing the ever-popular spandex. "Get in," he grated. I dropped into the back, while Rachel slid into the passenger seat. "No need to buckle, kids. I don't think it will help." He lit the engine up and began tearing out of the parking lot.
"Jake," I said, leaning forward, "Cassie's in there. With Hork-Bajir. And a Yeerk pool!"
"What?" said Rachel.
"I know," he grunted, jumping a curb as he swung out into the empty highway.
"You WHAT?" I demanded.
"Ax figured it out while you and Rachel were off playing hide-and-go-seek."
"Jake, you're leaving Cassie behind!" Rachel hissed, twisted in her seat, looking back at the truck.
"Yeah, I know that, too." He gunned the engine, rocketing down the empty highway.
"WHY are we driving away?" she shouted.
It clicked. "Because," I said, "the walls are transparent from the inside."
"SO?"
"So," said Jake, "they saw us morph. They know who we are."
I heard a low roar. In the rear view mirror, I saw the truck pulling out after us.
Oh, yeah. They knew, all right.