Going Wild (21 page)

“No,” Charlie said. “Just a little singed around the edges.” She pointed to her clothes.

“I'm Alice. What's your name?”

“Charlie.”

The woman crouched next to Charlie and looked into her eyes. “Any pain or dizziness, Charlie? Trouble breathing? Cold? Hot? Any burns?”

Charlie didn't mention her hand or the minor burns on her legs. “Nope, not really.” In the distance a TV news van pulled up.

“Do you live nearby? Are your parents around? We can get you checked out at the hospital just to make sure everything looks good.”

Charlie frowned. “No, that's okay. My mom's a doctor. I'll have her check me over when I get home. But I feel fine.”

“How about we just take a peek at you back at the ambulance and keep an eye on you until your parents get here?” asked Alice. “We'll just listen to your lungs and look for burns, stuff like that. No big deal.”

The camera operator hopped out of the news van and started setting up, and a reporter got out and began talking to the crowd.

“I'm fine,” insisted Charlie. She stood up and started walking
away, warily eyeing the action nearby. Mac and Maria hurried after her.

The paramedic turned to see what Charlie was looking at just as people in the crowd pointed in Charlie's direction. “Let me at least call your parents,” pleaded Alice.

But Charlie walked faster. The man in the suit started coming toward her.

Alice gave up. “Stay out of burning buildings, all right?” she called after her. Charlie ignored her and looked at Maria and Mac. “We need to get out of here,” she said, her voice shaking. “I don't know my way around this neighborhood. Where are we?” She could barely remember which direction she'd come from.

“On it,” Mac said, taking the lead. “We'll get you out of here.”

Maria ran up next to him. “There's that big cement culvert behind these houses,” she said.

“Good idea. Is it dry?” He headed that way.

“Should be. It hasn't rained.” Maria glanced back to see the reporter gaining on them. She grabbed Charlie's arm to help her along.

“Hi there!” the reporter called out. “Excuse me! Kids?” The reporter broke into a run, following them. He shouted out his name and TV station. “Wait! I heard one of you saved the people inside. Is that true?” In between shouts he was frantically waving at his camera operator to hurry up.

“Run,” said Charlie under her breath. They turned behind the
row of houses, jumped down into the culvert, and started running toward Maria's house.

Now that reality was setting in, Charlie was beginning to feel uneasy. Showing her abilities in public in such an obvious way, barely escaping being on the news . . . it made her feel like a spectacle. Did anybody get a good look at her? They weren't far from Maria's neighborhood. Had anybody from school been in the crowd? People don't just climb up and stick to the side of a house. She didn't have a good feeling about it.

After a few minutes, with Maria and Mac glancing behind them, they slowed.

“I think we lost him,” Maria said.

“Thank goodness,” said Charlie, dropping her pace to a walk. Her voice was still raspy from smoke, and her lungs hurt from breathing hard. She didn't tell her friends how uneasy she felt, but she figured they must have a decent idea. All she wanted to do now was hang out at Maria's and be normal again.

Affected by the smoke and the hard run, Mac was wheezing too. He pulled out his inhaler and used it.

They entered through the back door to Maria's house. The smell of delicious cooking wafted through the air. Charlie sneaked into the bathroom and cleaned up, and Maria gave her some clothes to change into. When Charlie went back into the bedroom, Maria and Mac were discussing her newest abilities.

“So you've got this new wall-climbing ability,” Mac said
excitedly. “I got great video footage of it.”

“Yeah?”

“For sure. Watch.” He played it for Charlie.

“Whoa,” she murmured. “I could totally be on
American Ninja Warrior
.”

Mac laughed. “Understatement of the year.”

“Why did you take your shoes off?” asked Maria.

“My feet were tingling,” Charlie said wearily.

Mac and Maria exchanged a puzzled look. Mac shrugged. “Can I see the bracelet?”

She held out her wrist to him, wishing for the millionth time she could just take off the dumb thing, if only for the convenience of letting Mac look at it without her having to hang her arm in the air. She was getting tired of Mac yanking and pawing at her all the time.

He wiped a bit of residual grime off the screen with his thumb and held down the two buttons. The screen changed to the pie chart, and now all five of the vine-like drawings in the gray slices were animated.

“Check it out!” Mac studied it and looked at the girls. “You got them both somehow. What are they?”

Maria hopped up to see. Charlie puzzled over the animations for a moment. “Oh, that one must be a lizard climbing,” she said. “The four squiggly vines are its legs and feet, see?”

“I see it,” said Mac.

“Yep,” said Maria. “Well, we kind of figured that one out already just watching you in action.” She caught Charlie's eye and gave her an admiring look. “You really were the coolest.”

“Thanks,” Charlie said.

“Hey,” said Mac with a frown, but then he laughed. “Kidding. Maria's right—you're pretty great.” He pointed at the bracelet. “Did you know geckos can hang on to a wall using only one finger?”

“I wonder if Chuck can do that,” said Maria.

“I'm afraid to try,” said Charlie. “And isn't hanging by one hand close enough? I almost tore my arm out of its socket. But what's the other ability?” She massaged her shoulder, though it didn't hurt much anymore.

“I don't know,” said Maria. “Did something else happen inside the house?”

Charlie had been thinking a lot about that. “I'm not sure how to explain it,” she said. “But when I got inside, it was dark—there was smoke everywhere. I didn't think I'd be able to find the boy.”

“What happened?” asked Mac.

Charlie blushed. “I started, um, well, chirping. I guess.”

Maria stared. “You did what?”

“Your fifth ability comes from a bird?” asked Mac. “That's boring. Really disappointing, actually.”

“I don't think this GIF is a bird,” she said, looking at the fifth wedge on the bracelet.

“Then what is it? What good would chirping do?”

“Well, when I chirped, it sort of helped me tell where things were. I know that sounds weird, but there I was in the pitch-dark, and I just started chirping in this really high voice, not able to control it at all. And suddenly a silver outline of walls and doorways shimmered in front of me and I could see.”

Mac had the weirdest look on his face. “High-pitched chirping?” He snorted. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, it was kind of awkward,” said Charlie. “Like when you get the hiccups and you can't stop them. But I've never heard a bird do anything like that, so I don't know. . . .”

Maria looked at the bracelet. “Maybe it's some sort of sonar. Like a dolphin uses.” She sat up, excited. “Yeah, that would make sense!” But then her face fell. “There is no way that is a picture of a dolphin.”

“Sonar . . . ,” said Mac thoughtfully. “You chirped, and the walls appeared. . . .” He scrambled for his iPad and typed in something. In seconds he was playing a video. “Did it sound like this?” He turned up the volume.

On the screen was a video of a bat chirping and diving to catch a moth. Bat chirps were inaudible to human ears, but scientists had altered the pitch on the video so that humans could hear it.

Charlie watched, fascinated. “That's it,” she said. “That's the sound.” She looked at the graphic on the bracelet, and the depicted animal became obvious. “It's a bat all right, flying toward us. The
circle is its head, and the wavy vines on either side are wings flapping. The half-circle vines above it are . . . sound waves?”

“Echolocation!” Mac said, and then he frowned. “But . . . you mean you could actually hear your own chirps?”

“Maybe she can hear them because they're coming from her, and other people can't,” said Maria. “Or maybe it's just her own lower-frequency noises echoing—I saw this video in science class once about a boy in England who is blind, and he makes a clicking noise with his tongue to use echolocation. It's really cool! I'll see if I can find it and send it to you.”

Mac just sat back and looked at Charlie with reluctant admiration. “Big props. Echolocation, wall climbing, strength, speed, and healing? That is a whole mess of awesomeness.”

Charlie shrugged. It was hard to fathom.

Mac turned back to his iPad. He closed out the bat video, and then clicked on his Twitter feed. He scanned it quickly, then narrowed in on a tweet. “Uh-oh,” he said.

Maria and Charlie moved closer. “What?”

He clicked on a link that opened to a local news page. “‘Mystery Youth Saves Child, Mother from Fire,'” he read. “‘Footage of the daring rescue. Coverage at six.'”

He located the video, and they watched a slightly shaky, slightly blurry film of Charlie scaling the side of the burning house.

I
n the corner of Dr. Gray's dimly lit lab, one of his mysterious-looking soldiers watched five screens simultaneously. The large man typed constantly, recording everything he saw. Every now and then the muscles along his back rippled, and he shook his head the slightest bit, but this unusual tic didn't appear to interrupt his concentration.

At 6:23 p.m. local time, he stopped typing and stared at one of the screens, then restarted the video to watch it again. He paused it and looked at the person scaling the side of the burning house. He zoomed in, refocused, and zoomed in again, until her face and arms filled the frame. The person appeared to be a girl wearing a cloth mask . . . and a metal bracelet.

“Ahh,” said the man, and then he snorted in anger. He pressed a button on the earpiece that was embedded in his bodysuit. “Zed? It's Cyke. Alert Dr. Gray. We have visual confirmation.”

Shortly thereafter several doorways opened, and a dozen or so similarly suited men and women filed into the room.

When everyone had assembled, Cyke directed them to look at the screen. He pointed to the device on the girl's arm. “What
do you think, Doctor?”

Dr. Gray peered at the still shot, his eyes narrowing. “I think you've got it. Run a visual test. What's she doing? How did you locate it?”

Cyke touched the screen, drawing a box around the girl's arm, and magnified the area. “This afternoon our scanners turned up a second web search for Chimera Mark Five from the same IP address in Arizona as before,” he explained, “and we believe we've identified the residence from which the query took place. Our surveillance team there has been staking out the neighborhood since the first incidence. They've monitored local news as well, but nothing's turned up until this.” He performed a few more operations on the magnified shot, and soon a box opened on that screen with numbers scrolling and a red bar moving across it. “Official match on the bracelet is in progress.”

“How did you get this footage?”

Cyke turned to a second computer and pulled up the same website so Dr. Gray and the soldiers could see the shot unmagnified. “Local news of a fire. A bystander captured it on his cell phone. The girl climbed the side of this house to the second story and carried a grown woman down to the ground.”

Dr. Gray leaned forward in alarm. “So she got the bracelet to work?” he muttered. “But how?”

“Yes, it appears to be working well, Dr. Gray,” Cyke said.

“Well, who is she?” Dr. Gray narrowed his razor-sharp eyes.

“No one knows,” said Cyke. His back rippled again, and his head gave a little shake. “At least no one's identified her yet.”

“Play the clip.”

Cyke obliged.

Dr. Gray watched in stunned silence, then ripped his fingers through his hair. “I don't understand it. Only Wilde himself could have possibly activated it—nobody else would have the knowledge. Certainly not some random child . . .” Dr. Gray trailed off, and stared at the screen, a pained look on his face.

Several soldiers shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to react to Dr. Gray's emotional outburst.

The first screen blinked, and the red bar turned green. Cyke looked at the doctor. “The bracelet matches, sir—it's definitely the Mark Five.”

“What's that?” Dr. Gray said faintly, pulling away from his thoughts. “Oh, yes. Yes, of course it must be. Wilde relocated to Arizona, didn't he? I'm afraid . . . I'm afraid this is no coincidence.” He blew out a breath and scanned the lab, talking more to himself than to anyone else. “Could
he
have been Jack's accomplice in the break-in? And then what—he fled to Arizona with it? Or perhaps they're
all
in this . . . together. Against me.” He clutched the placket of his lab coat, his eyes flickering at the thought of being betrayed. But then he shook his head and gathered his resolve. “No matter. Now that we know the device works, we must triple our efforts.”

He looked up sharply and addressed the group. “Soldiers,
I've said it before and I'll remind you again—trust no one.” The expression on his face turned hard. “This location is not safe,” he said. “We must guard the remaining prototypes with extreme care—we can't let this happen again. If Charles Wilde is involved and has decided to go against me, there are most certainly others preparing to do the same thing.” Abruptly he pushed through the soldiers and stormed around the lab. Stopping at the far wall, he unlocked a glass cabinet, then snatched devices from it. He packed them with care in a small case, and then he returned to the puzzled group, carrying the case and muttering under his breath, “I'll just have to convince him that we're stronger together. That's all.”

He placed his hand on Cyke's shoulder and took a moment to pull his thoughts together. Finally, with an air of calm, he started giving orders. “Cyke, arrange travel for you, me, Zed, and Miko to Arizona, immediately,” he said. “And Dr. Goldstein too, of course.” He glanced at a slight, energetic soldier nearby who seemed to have trouble standing still. “Miko,” he said to her, “give Jack a little food and water so he's fit to travel, will you? Just a little, mind you.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, and slipped away.

Dr. Gray turned back to Cyke. “Let the Arizona team know we're on the way. Tomorrow you, Zed, and Miko will assist the surveillance team in raiding the IP location, intercepting the girl, and grabbing the bracelet.” He paused and added, with a note of bitterness, “I'll take the rest of the soldiers to see if we can locate
our old friend Dr. Wilde . . . and find out what he's been up to without me.”

“Of course, Dr. Gray.”

“If all goes well,” Dr. Gray went on, “we'll set up our lab and continue working from Navarro Junction with help from Jack and, well, whoever else we collect along the way.”

He held up the box of devices to the group of soldiers. “I'm taking the prototypes with me. I want those of you staying behind to pack up the lab and tear this place down. Then follow us to the warehouse in Arizona with the gear.”

The doctor emitted a strained laugh. The wounded look on his face had faded, replaced by one of pride and a hint of revenge. “A new little lab in the desert—how charming. If Dr. Wilde is behind this as I suspect, he's in for quite a shock when he finds out what I've done in the time he's been away.” He looked lovingly at his soldiers. A man in the group stood up straighter and nodded, while a cunning-looking woman at the front narrowed her eyes.

Then the doctor's face clouded again, and he clapped once, loudly. “Zed, get them moving!”

The cunning-looking soldier obeyed and snarled out orders. Within seconds, and at incredible speed, several members of the group swarmed the lab instruments and began breaking them down.

Cyke turned from the computer and stood up, his muscles rippling under the bodysuit. At his full height, he stood several inches
taller than the doctor, and his shoulders were a good deal broader. He looked down at the man. “Pack your things, Doctor,” he said, and began gathering up some papers from his workstation. “We leave in thirty minutes.”

“Just a moment!” Dr. Gray narrowed his eyes. “Get me the Navarro Junction team. All of them.”

Cyke sat back down and clicked an icon on the computer screen. A moment later Dr. Gray was looking at a soldier in a full bodysuit like Cyke's standing in semidarkness inside a large warehouse. Behind him was a table with several unopened boxes stacked on top and a long row of computer monitors, similar to the ones in front of Cyke. A white van with blacked-out windows was parked beyond the table. Other soldiers were putting equipment together in the background.

“Prowl at your service,” the soldier said. His voice was slow and deliberate, and contained the faintest hint of a rumbling sound, almost like a purr.

“Prowl, can you bring everyone over?” Cyke asked. “Dr. Gray wants to do a quick check-in. I see the van—is the surveillance team there too?”

“We're all here,” Prowl said. He called the group to gather around his tablet.

“All present, sir,” Cyke confirmed, looking at Dr. Gray.

Dr. Gray greeted the team and gave them a run-down of the plan. Then he addressed the three members of the surveillance team.
“I need you back at the IP site immediately. Be extravigilant—record every move of every person on that street so we can go in tomorrow and get the job done without any problems. Have a good look at the girl from the video so you can recognize her—she may still be wearing the bracelet. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” said the three.

“Does
everyone
understand our mission tomorrow?”

They all nodded.

Dr. Gray continued. “This task is more serious than I can possibly emphasize. I don't care what you have to do to succeed.”

The soldiers nodded again. “Yes, Doctor,” a couple of them murmured.

Dr. Gray studied each of the soldiers until he was satisfied that they grasped the urgency of the situation. “We will destroy the girl if that's what it takes,” he said. “I must have that device back.”