Meanwhile the scientists, seeing what was going on, ran into the prison cell for safety. One yelled, “They’re letting Billy in here. He’ll destroy everything!”
“I sure hope so,” I said.
I held the pizza out of his reach and then he got mad. He made a loud roaring sound again and started pulling on the doorway. At first he was only able to tear away small pieces off the wall by reaching through the door and yanking hard on the wall. But then he really got into the spirit of things and started ripping larger chunks. I guessed this took about a minute and a half but it felt like forever. We still had about 3 ½ minutes left. Once Billy was starting to squeeze his shoulders through, I said to Han, “We’d better get moving.”
“Behind you,” yelled Han. As we ran, we heard the sound of crashing equipment. Billy must have been coming through the room with the computers.
We ran toward the missile silo. The tunnel was enormous, so I knew Billy could follow us here. When I got to the silo I shouted out. “Get out of the way or help me smear this pizza all over the missile! Troll coming through!”
“Are you nuts?” yelled Tracy.
“Today-yes!” I yelled. I ran up the stairs toward the top of the missile with Han just behind me.
By the time I got to the top, Billy was already at the bottom. Tracy, and presumably Guido, had moved away from the door so they wouldn’t get trampled on. I opened the box of pizza and started smearing it over the cone of the missile. I heard the troll underneath me let out one of those deafening roars again.
Once Han got to the top of the stairs, he too started smearing pizza all over the cone. There was a gap between two panels, so I wedged a piece in there. Then I wedged in a second. The troll sniffed again and started to climb the stairs. Only he couldn’t fit, so he climbed the outside of the scaffolding.
“Do you know how to get down?” said Han.
“I have no idea,” I said. “Let’s just save New York.”
“This will blow up, you know,” said Han.
“I know,” I said. “It probably will. But you know what that means?” I yelled. “We saved New York!”
Now Billy was close enough that I could see his bat ears pointing toward us. His head was raised and I could see inside his nose, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. Did you know that troll buggers are blue?
Billy was almost up to us now. “Han!” I yelled, “Climb down the opposite side of the scaffolding!”
“Already there,” he said.
I took the last piece of pizza and slapped it on the hull of the missile and it stuck. The whole thing looked so gross it made me not want to eat pizza for a month!
Just as Billy got to the top I stepped over the outside of the railing away from him and jumped.
Now I don’t remember if I’d mentioned this, but the missile was probably at least fifty feet off the ground. I don’t really know why I did this, but having a monster tear me to pieces scared me more than the jump. On the way down I tried to grab a hold of a piece of scaffolding, like some superhero or something. But this was not a comic book and I was no caped crusader. I missed, and kept falling until I landed on both legs. For a split second I thought, This is good, I landed on my feet. Then I heard a loud popping sound and I realized it was me.
I didn’t bother to look down. Instead I was fixated on looking up at Billy. He was licking the missile. Then he tried pulling off panels. He must have smelled the pieces I shoved in there. He yanked and then I heard a creaking sound and then the sound of grinding metal. One of the panels came loose. Once that first one was off, he started ripping off other panels. He grabbed a piece of pizza from inside and a bunch of wires at the same time and yanked.
I wonder if he found this entertaining, because he then leaped onto the missile and really went nuts. “Go Billy!” I cheered.
Han, who had still been climbing down the scaffolding stood next to me and yelled, “Yeah, go Billy!”
Tracy, who was already next to me, but I hadn’t noticed her, said, “Billy, Billy he’s our man, if he can’t do it no one can!” like she was some cheerleader or something. We were acting like little kids! And we were going to die.
“You know,” I said. “At any moment that thing is going to go off. Then there will be a big flash and a loud noise, but we won’t hear it, because we’ll be vaporized.”
“I like bright lights,” said Tracy.
“Yeah,” said Guido “pretty.”
Then we heard the sound of pounding feet. A group of soldiers came rushing in through the door. These were our guys, and now they had guns. One of the men looked up, “Eeeiiieeaahhh! What’s wrong with you? He’ll kill us all!” He yelled, “Get that thing off of there before I have a heart attack. He’s going to blow us all to smithereens!”
“Wasn’t that the plan?” Guido said to me.
“That was the idea,” I said.
Our soldiers took out their guns.
“Don’t shoot him!” said Tracy.
One of the men threw a canteen at Billy who turned to face us. He started climbing down.
“Food!” I yelled. “You have to use food to lure him down. He’s probably already eaten what he can off the ship anyway.”
Men started opening their packs and taking out rations as fast as they could. “He’s welcome to it,” said one of the men. “I’m sick of this stuff.” He pulled out a packet and opened it. It could have been meatloaf or beef bourguignon for all I knew, but I could smell it, and so would Billy.
Billy started climbing down faster. “Now where are you going to lead him?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Into the other room,” said one of the men. “Let’s get him into the other room.”
Meanwhile the man who had yelled had already climbed the stairs halfway to the top. He was taking the stairs two at a time.
Other soldiers held open their packs and I saw all kinds of food, from corn to sausages to cereal bars. Billy got to the bottom and started following the men as they ran to the other room. As they ran by, I started to feel light-headed. Numbness began to creep over my body.
The only one left was the man on the stairs. He reached the top and was examining the wires inside and shouted down to us, “It’s a miracle he didn’t blow us to kingdom come! In all of his tearing and ripping, he missed the main chamber!”
I would love to tell you what happened next. I’d love to tell you about how the nuke was disarmed and we saved the eastern seaboard. But I can’t. I had passed out.
Chapter 28: The part I missed
When I awoke, I was on a stretcher. I don’t know how they got one there since I had never seen medical supplies, let alone something as big as a stretcher. I looked up and one of the men carrying me smiled. My effect again, I suppose.
“Did he disarm it?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “We won’t be blowing up in a cloud of uranium today. We left some men there to guard it. By the way, you should know that you almost gave our resident scientist a heart attack when you had that troll up there. When we got it out of the way and saw what was left of the missile, the troll had taken apart everything needed to get access to the uranium without anything disturbed that would have blown us up. It’s a bit of a miracle, really.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m believing in those lately.
“How’s Billy?” I asked.
“Who?”
I heard Tracy’s voice, “Billy’s okay. I made sure they didn’t hurt him. I think our scientists want to study him though.”
“Great,” I said. I lay down my head and in a couple of minutes passed out again.
***
When I opened my eyes later, a howling wind was blowing on my face. I was on the floor of the cave and the men were all crouched down talking in loud whispers. I listened. “Look at all those trolls. How are we going to get through to the other side without shooting our way out?” said one man.
A different voice said, “Remember the other troll? We can use food.”
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The first voice, “There are too many of them. They would crush us or eat us or whatever they do.”
“What else would work?” a new voice.
“Have you tried fire?” I blurted out. “They might be drawn to it or afraid of it.”
A commanding voice, “Hey, sedate that kid. Now!”
I immediately felt the pressure of a needle in my leg, but couldn’t feel any pain.
There was a pause, and then one of the men said, “You know, that’s an idea. We haven’t thought of fire.”
“How are we going to get a fire started? It’s too windy down here,” said one of the men.
“Tracy,” I said. I was starting to feel the effects of the injection hit me hard.
“Yes?” she must have been close by.
“Can you m-make f-f-ffffllllthhhhh?” I said.
“fire, right!” she said.
Just before I started to dream, I heard, “I have some extra shirts you can light. That ought to work!”
I think I heard some troll sounds for a few seconds and then I didn’t hear anything. I was dreaming.
***
Later again, “Okay, men. You go around back and come from those rocks. If you can get a clear shot, then tranq them.”
I slowly opened up my eyes and we were outside again. Looking around I saw snakes and pieces of snakes on the ground. I knew we were dealing with the gifted kids again. Brock came over to me and said, “Is there any advice you can give me about these guys? You were with them a lot longer than I was.”
The only thing I could think to say was, “If Abe, the leader, comes out. You have to plug your ears.”
“Right,” said Brock. “We’ll pull an Odysseus.”
“Huh?” I said.
“Greek Mythology, freshmen year,” he said. “Wax in the ears. Thanks.” Then he took out some earplugs and put them in. He motioned for his men to do the same. He went away and I was still lying on the stretcher on the ground. I heard yells and some guns and eventually, I tuned most of it out. I don’t really know what they put in me, but it made me really tired. Even with all the noise, I kept falling asleep.
I guessed this went on for a few hours because when I first opened my eyes, the sun was just above me and when I closed them it was already far to my right. It was a pretty day, actually. There were a few wisps of clouds above me and they were painted red and orange by the sunset, and somehow green got in there. I’m not sure how much the drugs were affecting me. I said aloud, amidst all the shouting and gunfire, “Thank you God for my life and that, at least for now, I’m still alive.” Then I fell back to sleep.
Like I said, a lot of this was uneventful for me. I didn’t see everything so I can’t tell you all the details. I had always felt that I was in control of my destiny, but I realized then that I really had no control over my future. I couldn’t even walk! It was clear now that my life was not in my own hands. I thanked God again and lost track of what was going on.
Chapter 29: Back among friends
I must have missed all the action, because when I awoke again I was in a hospital bed. In fact, seeing the room again felt like déjà vu. They had put me in the same room where I started, and I was again by myself. I realized there was no more ringing in my ears and I lay there relaxing, hearing myself breathe. Then I heard the flush of a toilet and turned my head. Guido limped out of the bathroom wearing one of his customary Hawaiian shirts. “Hello, roommate.”
“Hey,” I said, “I can see you.”
“New clothes,” he said. “I wanted a change.”
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Feeling better,” he said with a smile. “I’m only going to lay around here another couple of days and then they say I can start walking more. They’ve started having me walk some now. They call it therapy, but it hurts like my leg’s on fire. Something for you to look forward to probably.”
“Great,” I said.
“Did you know they had to do surgery on you twice?”
“Really?” I said. “I didn’t even know about it.”
“They kept you out the whole time. They said your knees were torn up pretty bad. I don’t think you should jump from a troll in a pizza rage at fifty feet again. It’s bad for the health.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
He smiled at me again. My gift in action.
“What happened to everyone?” I asked.
“Well, Han comes around a couple of times a day to see how we are doing, and Tracy comes in probably six or seven times a day.”
I could have made fun of him then and there, but I didn’t really feel like it. Good teasing grounds for later.
“Does anyone know what happened to Hayasa?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, “he’s on his walk right now.”
“Someone’s able to take him for a walk?” I said.
“Well,” said Guido, “actually, Hayasa kind of takes the guy for a run. He likes to fetch, but he’s so fast you never have a chance to rest your arm.”
I heard footsteps outside the door and someone walked in. “Hi, Guido,” she said. I thought it might be Tracy, but I couldn’t tell.
“Is that you, Tracy?”
“It’s me!” she said. “Can’t you tell?”
I thought I was looking where she was, but I couldn’t be sure until she put her hand on my arm.
“She doesn’t know yet,” said Guido. “I haven’t had the heart to tell her.”
“Tell me what?” said Tracy. She smiled at me.
“Tracy,” I said, “When you came in, I wasn’t sure where you were.”
There was a silent pause for a second, “So that’s what’s going on!” she said. “I just thought people were ignoring me these days.”
“She’s been here with me quite a bit lately,” said Guido with a shy smile.
“That’s okay,” said Tracy. “But if we’re getting each other’s gifts, can you make heat?”
Guido laughed, “You bet I tried, once I figured out what was happening. So far I can only make things a little warmer, but I can’t make fire yet. I’ll get it though.”
“Guido,” said Tracy, “have you told him about our zoo?”
“Zoo?” I said.
“It’s not really a zoo,” said Tracy, “but remember all those animals we fought with gifts? Ones like Hayasa?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well, they found more,” she continued. “And the scientists were fascinated, so they built this kind of zoo where they can study them.”
I heard heavy footsteps and Brock came in. “How are you soldiers doing?” he asked.
“Okay,” said Guido, “but look who’s awake!”
“Andy,” said Brock, “nice to see you in the land of the living. How do you feel?”
“I’m alright,” I said, “But I still can’t feel my legs.”
“Right,” he said. “At this point that’s a good thing. Otherwise you would probably be screaming. If what they gave you wears off too soon, let them know and they’ll give you something for it. They said you’ll be able to stand in about four more weeks. Longer before you can walk. You’ll have to take it really slow though.”
“Hey Brock,” I said. “Whatever happened when you were fighting the gifted kids at the end?”
“Your tip was very helpful,” he said, “Almost right after we had plugs in our ears Abe came out and tried to sweet talk us again. You should have seen the look on his face when it didn’t work! Finally one of our guys shot him with a tranquilizer. Now he’s in a special kind of juvy for gifted kids.”
“So he’s locked up?” I said.
“Right,” he said. “He and some of the other kids. Most of them snapped out of it once they had more distance from Abe, but some were really committed to this thing.”
***
It was over two months before I was able to walk. Just as promised, they started physical therapy which was very painful. The good thing was that I was able to get
out of bed, something I had wanted to do for a long time.
It was January when I got here and it was now mid-March. Other than reading books, chess was one thing I could do while lying in bed. Guido and I played at least once a day. I was only able to stand for about an hour a day so far, but that was expected to change.
One day while playing a game, I asked, “Hey Guido. I remember when we were on the island we discovered that we had a spy here at the facility. It was the general, right?”
“That’s right,” he said.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He was gone before we got back,” said Guido. “We don’t know where to, but the hunt is on.”
About a week later, after I finally beat him for the first time that week, he asked me to take a walk with him. I got up and wrote down the time on a whiteboard so I could log how long I had walked; something they made me do.
We walked down to the end of the hallway and then turned left and walked some more until we came to a door that said, “Underground Garden.” Guido, who I could locate, only because he was holding my elbow, said, “Let’s take a look.”
“Okay,” I said.
We stepped through the door and onto a balcony. Below we could see an enormous garden, and I could smell a mixture of flowers, vegetables, and wet dirt. This place was huge, with grow lights everywhere, stretching out before us. No one was there, and it was really quite beautiful. Guido turned to me and looked serious. “Listen,” he said, “I’m your friend. I don’t know if you believe that sometimes because maybe you think every time anyone acts nice to you it’s because of your gift. But you’re wrong!”
“Huh?” I said.
But he just kept on going like he had rehearsed this or something. He sounded kind of mad. “Sure, we can feel your gift, but we’re your friends because we like you. Really! And we wouldn’t care if you looked and smelled like a troll. We’d still be your friends. Got it?” He yelled this last part, like it had been building up in him for a while.
I paused for a few seconds, not sure what to say, “Uhhhh, I think so,” I said quietly. And then I started crying. I really didn’t even know why, but I couldn’t help it. It felt good, but it was also embarrassing. When I turned to the door, I saw Tracy and Han were there also and they were smiling. And I decided that this time, I believed their smiles.