Awake (8 page)

Helios frowned. “I won’t say
everything
here is great. But I didn’t bring you here to rag
on my stuff. I have gifts for you.” Helios disappeared under a
broken computer case and emerged from a shelf of books. “Come over
here.” Helios motioned with his small white paw.

The teens waded through the junk, following
after him.

Helios cleared his throat. “The real reason
I brought you here is to equip you for the danger ahead. After the
encounter with the snake, I realized you guys are pretty
defenseless. I want to give you the best weapons I have—weapons fit
for legendary heroes like you.”

“Legendary heroes?” repeated Andrew. “In
what universe are we legendary heroes?”

Helios grinned. “Legends are born everyday!
I’ve got a good feeling about you guys. I know you guys have got
what it takes.”

“What would that be?” wondered Kevin.

“Determination…perseverance. The fact that
you guys are standing here, after not sleeping for two days, shows
you are ready for the next step.” He pushed aside a coverless book,
revealing two red yo-yos that were hidden underneath. “These are
for Kevin.”

“Yo-yos?” Kevin grabbed the yoyos and
started playing around with them, one in each hand. “Huh…”

Helios said, “And now for the girl—”

“Wait,” Kevin interrupted, “I thought you
wanted to give me a weapon.”

Helios gave him a dirty look. “Don’t be
greedy. You’ve already got yours in your hand.”

Kevin looked down at the yo-yos. “You don’t
mean—”

“Yes,” said Helios. “Use them well.”

“It’s a toy!”

Helios ignored him and raced down the side
of a slanted table. He went under the table and returned, dragging
out an aluminum baseball bat. After much effort, Helios wiped the
beads of sweat from his forehead and said to Katie, “And a club for
the lady.”

Katie shrugged. Then she picked up the bat
by the handle and started swinging it around.

“Suits me I guess. It’s got good weight to
it.”

After seeing Katie’s reaction, Helios
excitedly climbed up a hill of garbage, which stretched almost up
to the ceiling itself, and pushed down a square plastic container.
“This one’s for you Andrew.”

Andrew eyed the large black container. It
would undoubtedly be something underwhelming. But as he removed the
plastic lid, his mouth opened. There was a modern crossbow inside.
“A crossbow? Wow! Really?”

Helios beamed. “Yup. I’ve got a few
tranquilizer bolts to go with it.”

Tom gulped in anticipation. First there were
yo-yos, then a baseball bat, and finally a crossbow. Judging from
the order of things, he’d probably get the best weapon.

“All right,” said Helios, raising his fists
animatedly. “We’re done here! Let’s go!”

“You didn’t give me anything!” Tom demanded,
“Where’s my weapon?”

Helios blinked. “Oh…you. I almost forgot
about you.” Rubbing his chin, Helios cast his gaze slowly across
the room as he searched for something suitable. Nodding slowly, his
eyes stopped at a metal trashcan. “Don’t worry. I have just the
thing.” He pointed at it. “That’s yours.”

Tom walked over to the trashcan and popped
open the lid. It was empty.

“There’s nothing in here.”

“The lid is yours,” Helios said. “It will
make a perfect shield.”

Tom sputtered, “A lid? You’re giving me a
lid? This is worse than the yo-yo! There’s got to be something else
in here!”

Helios shook his head and replied, “Nope,
sorry. That’s all I’ve got. Take it or leave it.”

Tom heatedly argued with Helios over the
choice of his weapon for a few minutes before Kevin interfered and
assured him that they probably weren’t even going to use the stuff
anyway. Andrew also added that they were in a hurry and should not
be wasting their time. Tom accepted the lid, but stuffed it in the
trunk of the car, thinking he’d never bother with it. It wasn’t
even anything special. He could probably find those metal lids all
over the city.

They continued on their journey and Helios
informed Kevin of the address of the secret laboratory. They were
getting close. But as they drove down the street, Andrew noticed
something by a stop sign.

Andrew tapped on the window. “There’s
something there.”

“Another person?” Kevin’s eyes started to
shine.

“No…I’m not sure.”

Kevin pursed his lips. “Might as well check
it out.”

He stopped the car and everyone got out.
Genesis rushed to the stop sign, finding a Chihuahua lying on its
side. He looked across the street. Several dogs and cats were
sprawled along the asphalt and concrete. Concerned, Genesis nudged
the small dog with his nose.

The Chihuahua glanced at Genesis.
“Agent…Genesis…”

“What happened here?” Genesis demanded.

“Ambush…snakes…a whole bunch snuck
behind…”

“More snakes?” Genesis examined the dog’s
pitiful state. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not sure…I can’t feel anything
anymore…” the dog rasped.

“You’ll be okay,” Genesis assured him. “I’ll
call for help.”

The Chihuahua looked Genesis in the eye and
wheezed, “I think…they know about your plan. Be careful…they might
be looking to stop you.”

Watching the scene, Kevin chewed his lip.
“How could they do such a terrible thing?”

Genesis looked up at Kevin. “I didn’t think
they’d be this desperate. They’re mobilizing. An attack like this
shows they are prepared to fight.” Genesis paused. “The situation
has changed. At first I thought we’d just go and find a cure with
your help. But now it seems that if you continue to help us, your
lives will be in danger.”

Kevin mused. “As if our lives weren’t
already in danger.” He walked back to the car and waved his hand.
“Come on, everyone. This just means we have to hurry.”

Their destination wasn’t much farther along
the road. Kevin parked the car in an abandoned lot. The only thing
in the parking lot was a rusted tractor-trailer. There wasn’t even
a building in sight.

Kevin looked out the window. “Is this really
the place?”

Andrew double-checked the GPS. “This is 1219
Hollowbard Road.” He glanced at the woods and then the truck.
“Well, it is a secret lab. And it’s supposed to be underground
too.”

They left the car and began scouring the
area for clues. Katie stayed in the backseat and left the door
open. She stifled a yawn and watched as the others searched
around.

Finding the tractor-trailer suspicious,
Kevin inspected it right away. The vehicle had been gutted out.
There was nothing left under the engine hood and it had been
stripped of all its tires. He unlatched and opened the back door of
the trailer. The inside was empty.

Kevin sighed and turned away, preparing to
close the door, but before he did, Genesis hopped onto the trailer
and began sniffing around.

Kevin watched the dog explore with his nose.
“You think there’s something here?”

Genesis wandered back and forth. He stopped
at the very front of the trailer and glanced at Kevin. “A human
scent is right here.”

Kevin climbed into empty trailer. Then Kevin
crouched down, brushing away the dirt on the floor. He noticed a
slight crack on the ground and a crowbar on the side. He jammed the
crowbar into the crack and yanked it.
Snap
. He managed to
pry open a hidden panel. Underneath the panel was a dark hole
almost four feet in diameter. With his eyes Kevin tried to gauge
the depth of the hole, but it was too deep to see the bottom. But
there were sturdy rungs on the side.

Pleased with himself, Kevin dusted off his
hands and looked at Genesis. “Once again, it looks like you’ll be
out of action.”

Genesis nodded. “Luna and I will keep guard.
You can take everyone else with you.”

“Everyone else, huh? Will it be all right
with just the two of you? I’m worried about those snakes.”

Genesis said dryly, “I can handle a few
snakes. I’m more worried about what might be down there. The snakes
might not be working alone, and the laboratory is a good place for
an ambush.”

Genesis’s words added more fear than Kevin
had expected. “We’ll be careful,” Kevin said uncertainly. “I just
hope that will be enough.”

- Into the Dark -

“Hey, watch it!”

“Ouch!” Kevin groaned, “You’re stepping on
my head!”

“Sorry!” Tom lowered his foot slowly,
searching for the next rung on the wall. It was nearly impossible
to see anything in the dark.

Kevin reached the solid floor at the bottom.
“There’s got to be a light switch somewhere.” He groped around in
the darkness, feeling the wall for anything to press. Finally,
Kevin felt the shape of the switch and flicked on the floodlights.
Startled by the sudden light, Andrew lost his grip and fell,
knocking Tom off as well. The two boys landed on top of each other
ungracefully.

With Andrew’s foot in his mouth, Tom
mumbled, “Gurd awha heee!”

Andrew removed his foot and asked, “I didn’t
quiet hear you.”

“GET OFFAH ME!” Tom screamed.

“Oh, oh! Sorry….” Andrew quickly got up.

The hole was empty. There was nothing much
to it aside from a door. When Tom opened the door, a cold draft
swept across them. The door led to a giant steel hallway, which was
cold like a freezer. Besides a low hum coming from the fluorescent
tubes overhead, it was quiet.

Kevin hissed out a trail of vapor. “I
should’ve brought a jacket! Why’s it freezing down here?” He stared
at the group. “Wait a minute…. Where’s Katie? I thought she was
behind us.”

“She didn’t want to come down.” Andrew
rubbed his arms, shivering. He looked in his chest pocket. Terminus
was snuggled inside, immersed in Andrew’s body warmth. “I don’t
blame her. Let’s do what we came for…and quickly.”

Kevin nodded in reply, keeping his lips
closed, afraid to lose heat from his breath.

The main hall only had twenty doors, ten on
each side. However, each door was nearly a football field apart.
The other end of the hall seemed so distant and tiny. They began
examining the first few doors.

“This place is massive!” exclaimed Kevin.
“Each door leads to a different department…”

“And they all have code names,” Tom added,
pointing at the sign. “Like this one. It’s called ‘Phantom.’ I
wonder what’s inside.”

“Phantom,” Andrew said nervously. “I don’t
like the sound of that.”

“Why not?” Tom snickered. “Do you believe in
ghosts?”

An uneasy feeling rising in his chest,
Andrew glanced around. “N-no way. G-ghosts don’t exist…I
think.”

While Andrew was looking around, Tom snuck
behind him and let out a ghastly moan in his ear. His eyes nearly
bulging, Andrew gasped, then jumped and spun around, his hand
clutching at his heart.

Squeezing Andrew on the shoulder, Tom
cracked up. “Oh man, are you serious?”

Glaring at Tom, Andrew stormed away.

Kevin ignored them and hurried down the
corridor, glancing at every door.

“There’s got to be something here related to
sleep.”

The third door down had a sign that read:
Fairy Tale. He thought about it for a minute. Many times fairy
tales involved sleep, usually being some form of a curse. Could the
solution to their problem lie behind this door?

A voice behind him shouted, “Boo!”

Kevin thrust back his elbow and made contact
with someone’s gut. Kevin looked over his shoulder and saw Tom
kneeling on the ground, grunting.

Tom held his stomach tightly. “Ugh…I wasn’t
expecting that.”

Kevin smirked. Then he turned his attention
back to the door and placed his hand on the door. “What do you
think? Should we open door number three?”

Tom, still in pain, groaned, “Sure, why
not?”

Curious, Kevin glanced around the hall.
“Where’s Andrew?”

Tom shrugged. “He just ran off. Maybe he
went to check out another door…” A thought came to his mind, and
his face split into a grin. “Or maybe he’s thinking of a way to get
back at me. But I’ll be ready. No one ever gets me back and gets
away with it.” He suddenly forced out a howling laughter that
echoed through the halls, making him sound like a stereotypical
villain.

Kevin said coolly, “Whatever.”

They went inside. It was much warmer in
there, close to the comfort of normal room temperature. The first
area they saw was a large office full of cubicles arranged like a
rat maze. There were dead ends everywhere. The partitions nearly
ten feet high, it was impossible to see across the room. Finding
their way through would be a matter of trial and error.

Kevin stopped to peer inside one of the
cubicles. No one was around. It didn’t look like an ordinary
cubicle, like the ones he had seen on TV. Three flat computer
screens were attached to the walls, providing the user with a
screen at every turn of his head. The screens were showing a
screensaver, which displayed cuddly baby pandas. The place looked
like a giant mess, charts and graphs scattered across the desk.
Stacks of reports towered over, almost about to topple.

“I don’t think anyone’s here,” said Tom.

“I think you’re right.”

“We can still—” Tom abruptly tilted his
head.

Kevin asked, “Something wrong?”

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“A sound…like a soft growl or howl or
something…”

Kevin ran his eyes across the room in
silence. “Nothing.”

“I could’ve sworn—”

An eerie gurgle softly penetrated the walls
of the office. Though soft, it was long and pronounced, like a pot
of water boiling over. They only heard it for a fleeting
moment.

Kevin smiled. “It’s probably Andrew…or his
stomach.”

Tom said, “I bet he’s trying to scare
us.”

Snooping around, they didn’t find much of
interest. The only thing that stuck out was the set of white double
doors at the end of the office area. These doors led to another
area of the facility, one that resembled a hospital ward. One side
was a solid white wall, but the other was a wall of thick glass, or
some other form of transparent material. The two teens gawked in
wonder. Behind the glass were several rows of beds with people
resting on them.