Kai clutched the branch of the tree with all of his might. His knuckles were starting to ache from holding on so tight, but he couldn't make himself let go or even loosen his grip given his excitement and nervousness.
"Are they coming?" Cole asked for probably the tenth time from his spot on the tree branch just below Kai's.
"Not yet," Kai told him. "It's still early in the morning. Maybe they're having breakfast?"
Cole snorted. "Yeah, their start-of-the-day meal of pure condensed evil with a side of mice."
Kai laughed too, but he quieted quickly and went back to watching the road. Flying around, they had found the Serpentine's camp just a little ways from where the helicopter had landed, right where they'd thought it would be. Kai and Cole had spied on them for a little while, hidden in the trees, and figured out that the Serpentine didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave. If anything, they seemed determined to stay. That could only mean they were trying to find the other birdkids. Zane must have been the top priority for some reason or another, but it was clear the Serpentine still had something in mind to do with the rest of the Flock.
Maybe the Serpentine wanted to get them and bring them back to the School. Maybe the Serpentine wanted to get them and end them. To Kai, the Serpentine's intentions weren't really what mattered. Whether the Flock were meant to be kidnapped or killed, Kai didn't want it to happen. He wanted to stop the Serpentine from following the whitecoats' awful orders, no matter what they were. After all, they hadn't been able to stop the Serpentine before, and that had gotten Zane taken away.
Kai swallowed hard at the thought of Zane, allowing himself only a moment to feel bad before refocusing on the current task. He and Cole were high in a pine tree, right above an ancient logging road where they had previously spread the tarp and covered it with oil. Now they were waiting, waiting, waiting…
"There!" Kai cried softly, gripping the tree branch even harder, which he hadn't thought would've even been possible. "There, there! They're coming!"
A large truck was speeding down the road. Kai couldn't see the occupants, but it was coming from the direction of the camp. Besides, nobody had driven these roads in years, decades, maybe centuries. That meant it was the Serpentine.
"They're coming this way, for sure?" Cole asked.
"Uh-huh. They just made the turn," Kai reported.
"How fast are they going?" Cole asked.
Kai squinted. "Uh… Fast. Really fast."
"Can you see the tarp?" Cole asked.
"Nope," Kai stated.
"Me neither."
Kai snorted with laughter, then gasped. "They're almost here! They can't stop in time. They're gonna hit it!"
"They're-" Cole began.
Before Cole could get another word out, though, the truck reached the tarp and Kai yelped, "Yes!"
For a moment, the truck simply kept going, and Kai's heart sunk. Then, without warning, the truck jerked to one side, tires screeching. It veered sharply one way, then a little way to the other, then back and forth over and over down the road, getting closer and closer to one side of the road. With one final jerk, the truck sped off the road and right into a huge tree trunk with an incredibly loud crash.
"What happened?" Cole demanded immediately.
"It hit it, it hit it!" Kai chanted.
"Well, yeah, I guessed as much. But what happened?" Cole repeated.
"It started down the tarp normally, then it started going back and forth from side to side, and then jerked way over to one side and hit a big tree!" Kai explained, vibrating with sheer glee.
"All right," Cole said in satisfaction. "Anybody getting out yet?"
"Uh, not yet," Kai stated, peering down. "Wait, yeah, here they come. They're getting out, but kind of slow and shaky."
"So they're not dead," Cole said, sounding disappointed.
"Not dead," Kai agreed. He didn't feel as disappointed as Cole sounded, mostly because even with how bad the Serpentine were, he didn't exactly want them dead.
Then again, the Serpentine wanted them dead or captured, and they'd already taken Zane. Was it okay to want bad things for them in return? Kai decided that it was okay to want them gone at the very least.
"Are they all together in one spot? Could we drop the bomb?" Cole asked.
Kai frowned. "No, they're spreading out."
"Hmm. Yeah, there's no way we'd get them all. Besides, we'd probably cause a pretty big fire if we dropped it in the trees," Cole speculated.
"Which would be super cool," Kai offered.
"But which could also destroy our home," Cole pointed out.
Kai nodded. "And which would definitely make Nya and Lloyd cranky. Plus we wouldn't have anywhere to live anymore."
"Yup. All right, we should figure out what to do next, as quick as we can. We shouldn't take the time to go all the way back home," Cole thought out loud.
Kai grinned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think so. The old cabin?" Cole asked.
"The old cabin," Kai agreed.