~Chapter 7~

Five seconds after the O'Reilly gang had started their panicky run down the corridor there was a tremendous "WHOUMP" behind them and Egbert, Barry and Kyle were swept off their feet like bowling pins by a cold, chocolate-flavored shockwave.

They lay motionless on the floor for a minute then Egbert got to his feet and shone his flashlight down the corridor.

"Cruddy KND Science Geeks," Barry muttered beside him, sat up and wiped dust and ice-cream stains off his clothes. "A cruddy missile just to …" he broke off.

"…open a door!" Egbert finished for him.

Egbert and Barry hurried back to the storage room. The massive door was smashed to pieces and instead there was a gaping hole, dripping with brownish goop.

"YAY!" Barry jumped and pumped a fist in the air. "Yipper cards, here we come, ready or not! Come on, Kyle … Kyle?"

Kyle was still sitting on the floor where he had fallen a moment before. The two boys ran back and shone a light on their friend. Kyle didn't even blink; he just stared emptily at some point in the distance.

"Kyle…Hey, Kyle, wake up," Barry said and waved a hand in front of Kyle's face. No reaction.

"He must be having some kind of shellshock," Egbert said. "It'll wear off. Come on, let's get him up."

Barry and Egbert grabbed one of Kyle's arms each, helped him on his feet and led him with them through the broken door and into the large storage room, filled with shelves with weird contraptions, boxes and bags. They started searching the shelves, Barry still holding the hand of Kyle, who was still not responding or reacting to his surroundings, but let himself be led around.

After a few minutes of searching, Egbert gave a shout, and Barry ran over to where he was standing, holding a large black shoulder bag. The gang leader was smiling from ear to ear.

Without a word, he pulled the flaps of the bag apart.

"Holy cow," Barry whispered reverently. The light from his torch shone down on bundle after bundle of pristine Yipper Cards. Barry reached down and grabbed a bundle. "Look at this, Eggy … this is card number seventy-eight, and…" He quickly flipped through the cards "… there's a whole bundle of them… We're gonna get more candy than Cap'n STCKYBEARD can DREAM about for this!"

Then came a loud CRASH from the corridor.

Egbert and Barry spun around and saw the flickering light out in the corridor. They quickly killed their flashlights and pulled Kyle with them into a dark corner between two shelves

A grotesque figure appeared in the door. It moved as if it had been put together by not-quite fitting parts and its head was oddly large, square and misshapen. The figure started moving slowly down the aisle, as if searching for something - or someone. Egbert and Barry held their breaths as the figure came closer and closer. It passed by them less than two feet away, and Egbert recognized the weird boy who had toppled him over out in the woods earlier.

Maybe the recognition made him make a noise or maybe some weird instinct kicked in. Suddenly the boy stiffened, then slowly spun around. His flashlight shone on them and Egbert and Barry felt their guts turn to water as they were ca

And then Kyle snapped. He jumped forward, let out a blood-curdling scream: "AAAAAHHHH! MWAAAAA! AGAGAGAGAAA!" pulled the most horrible faces and waved his arms like a madman.

"AAAAHHHH" Saucepan- boy screamed, dropped the torch and sprinted out of the door.