The Hole in the Wall - Lisa Rowe Fraustino [75]
“Because when this is all over, sis, everyone else there will be able to go home and live happily ever after. But not us. The whole Daniels family will be stuck in Zone Q until Stan says we can leave.”
“Q for quarantine!” I said.
“You got it, bro. And I’ve had enough of it. I’m betting that Stan knows adrium doesn’t spread from person to person. What he doesn’t want to spread is the truth about what’s going on at ORC. Most of the people who work there don’t even know.”
Jed’s computer keyboard blinked some more, and the symbols came flooding back onto the screen, too tiny for me to see.
“Yep, that’s what I was afraid of,” Jed said.
“What?!” I said.
“Those goons stuck in traffic down on Main Street? Stan sent them after us. He’s not too pleased that we didn’t show up.”
“He’s not the only one,” Barbie said, pointing.
A car was squealing wheels around the corner of the kettle, headlights on high. An overloaded SUV, to be exact.
Ma pulled up beside us and jumped out. The SUV kept shaking, though. The good ol’ jackhammer was sound asleep among the garbage bags. Grum stayed in the passenger seat, jawing her dentures. We hopped out of the truck.
Ma hugged us and then started hollering at us. “Thank goodness you’re safe! But I’ve had enough of you kids giving me the slip. You could have told me where you wanted to go, you know. Instead you . . . and then . . . all the streets are one way, and that’s O-U-T, out! Do you realize how difficult it was to convince the police to let me past the road blockade? I told them—oh dear God! Heaven help us!”
She’d finally caught sight of the glowing Onion below. She paused to gape.
The music of the spheres had grown louder, the perfume smell stronger. The air prickled with some kind of energy. Or maybe it was just my nerves.
Then that old song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” started blasting from Jed’s leg. He pulled out his pocket computer. I ran over to see. The screen was lit up and all of a sudden we were looking inside some kind of office filled with computer screens and consoles with gizmos, and the backs of about ten heads.
“Sorry, guys. You aren’t supposed to see this,” Jed said, turning his back to us. Me and Barbie kept a polite distance, but I wriggled my head under his arm so I could look at the computer screen.
“Hey, Stan,” Jed said. “You rang?”
Suddenly the image changed to all face, mostly dahlia bulb. Red. “Jed! Where the fantod are you, son? I need you here pronto!”
Jed put his hand over my face and pushed me out of sight. But I could still hear.
“Sorry, my friend, no can do,” Jed said. “It’s my day off. I’m spending some quality time with the family.”
“Look, you know I can’t leave you out there running loose. This is an evacuation. You know the risks. You know where you need to be.”
“I know where you want me,” Jed said, “but my family has to come first. I’m sure you can understand that.”
“Of course I can. That’s why you have to get them to the stadium, ASAP, for their own good.”
“Oh, really?”
“You know the containment field has been breached. This is the only place I can guarantee their safety, son.”
“And after the dust has settled, you’ll let us go home?”
Boots Odum didn’t answer right away.
“That’s what I thought. Don’t worry, we can take care of ourselves, Stan. I’ll let you get back to work now. We’ll catch up another time. Peace out.”
“Jed! Wait! Please. Listen to me. That little brother of yours had enough adrium in his system to cause accelerated bone growth, and yet there’s not a trace of the element remaining in his body. He’s been cured somehow! He must be studied!”
Woo-hoo! I was cured! I looked up at the starless sky and punched a Yes! to the Big Guy.
“Look, Jed, I don’t have time to dillydally. You want to continue putting yourself and your father at risk, fine. But you aren’t the only ones who need that cure.”
“Is that really all you want from us, Stan? To find the cure?”
Odum paused before saying in a high voice, “Of course!”
I didn’t believe him. If I’d thought about it, I might not have done what I did next. But I am who I am,