When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [95]
Thomas smiled, and he almost managed to look avuncular. “Thank you, Tinkerbell.” He looked at us and pushed Max in front of him. “You two, come down here. Come on, or I’ll shoot one of the children right now.”
“He definitely will, Frannie. He’s a coward and a bully. He’s a useless, worthless pig.”
Kit and I slowly walked down the porch steps and joined the other captives. We had no choice. The guards had guns aimed at us. We’d hoped to find the FBI here, but we’d found these killers instead.
A couple of 4x4’s were turning into the driveway behind our Jeep. Then a black RV pulled in.
“You know these people?” I asked Max.
“I know them,” she hissed. “I wish I didn’t. They’re guards—keepers. They keep order at the School. They keep everybody in line. They keep you prisoner until they decide to put you to sleep. The head creepkeeper is Uncle Thomas.”
She snapped her head toward the burly man standing behind her. “You’re the worst of the worst. You betrayed us. You lie every time you open your mouth.”
“You’re way out of line, Missy,” he warned. His face tightened. He raised his arm to strike her.
I threw myself at Uncle Thomas. I was in a rage. Thomas was momentarily caught off guard. Kit jumped into the fight. He hit one guy in the nose with an elbow. He knocked down a football-player-sized lug who had been threatening us with the butt of a rifle. Then a third guard put a revolver against the side of Kit’s head.
Max broke loose. She raced a few yards toward the pine woods clustered on the far side of the house. Then she waved her wings and took off. She seemed to get stronger and smoother every time she flew.
“Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot her!” I screamed at the top of my voice. I was yelling into Thomas’s ear.
“Shoot her down!” he yelled. “Don’t hesitate. Bring her down.”
Two of the guards fired at Max as she lifted off. She didn’t go straight up, though. Max shot like a dart back into the overhanging fir woods. She disappeared behind a copse of thick evergreen trees.
Several guards gave chase, but a few stayed with us and the other children.
“The rest of you—into the van! Now! Go on, or we’ll shoot you right here.” Thomas gave the orders. Then he cuffed me on the side of the skull. My ears were ringing, and I almost went down. I hadn’t expected to be hit.
“So shoot me! ” Wendy stepped forward. Her chin and her little chest were thrust out boldly. “Shoot me right in my face. Shoot me dead.”
“Shoot me, too,” Peter said. “Pow, I’m dead! Who the heck cares? Go on and shoot another little kid.”
“I was thinking I’d start with him.” Thomas pointed his weapon at Icarus. “The blind boy. Ic!”
“Get in the van,” I said to the kids. “Now! Right this second! Icarus first. Please.”
The kids looked at me, and I wanted to make it okay somehow. But it wasn’t okay, and maybe it never would be for any of us again. Thomas kept his gun on us as we climbed into the van.
“Busted,” Icarus whispered from his seat beside Kit. “We’re all dead.”
Chapter 102
KIT, THE CHILDREN, AND I were pushed and crowded inside the semidarkened van. I couldn’t help thinking that it was like a hearse. Or remembering what Kit had said before: “they” want everything to disappear. There can’t be any witnesses.
The hearse coughed once, then started up. It backed out of my driveway. The driver made a right turn, away from the village of Bear Bluff. Heading where?
“They’re going to put us to sleep,” Oz said matter-of-factly. He bluntly stated my worst fears.
“Who did they put to sleep at the School?” Kit asked Oz. You could take the agent out of the FBI… he was still trying to collect information, to get at the truth.
“We’re not supposed to talk about it,” Wendy warned. Her eyes were wide with fear.
“Lots of little skitters got killed,” Peter chirped back. He shrugged it off.
“What are skitters?” I asked Peter.
“Critters who live in the labs. Especially the new babies. They’re called skitters. Or