فصل 38

Chapter 38: Reunion

“Mom,” I said, running toward the cage.

She flinched when she saw me, then scooted herself as far back from us as possible. “Leave me alone.” I took off my helmet. “Mom. It’s me.” She leaned forward, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Stop it!” she said. “Enough of your tricks.” “It’s no trick. We’re here to get you out.” “How dare you use my boy against me. How dare you?” “Mom, I’m real. Ask me something. Ask me something no one else would know.” Her eyes narrowed. “What’s my son’s favorite place to eat?” “Mac’s Purple Pig Pizza Parlor and Piano Pantry,” I said.

“You’re a fake. My son would never call it that.” What was I thinking?

“It’s PizzaMax,” I said. “I call it PizzaMax. We went there on my birthday.” “So did Hatch.”

“Ask me something else.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Mom. Please.” My voice was pleading. “Please believe me.” “Quit calling me that.”

“It’s me. Don’t you know your own son?” Her expression softened a little. “What did I give you for your birthday?” “Dad’s watch.”

She shook her head. “No. I already told you that one. I told you. What does the engraving on the watch say?” My eyes welled up. “’I love you forever.’” This time my answer seemed to reach her. “How do you know that?” “Because I read it every day.” I pulled back my sleeve to reveal the watch.

I saw the doubt leave her eyes. “Michael,” she said.

She scooted herself forward and I ran to her, putting my arms through the cage. “Oh, Michael,” she said.

“We’ve got to get you out of here, before they catch us.” “How? There are guards everywhere.” “We’re going to dress you as a guard, then we’re going to walk out the front door.” Suddenly a light started blinking on a black box on the top of the cage. A feminine automated voice said, “Code required. Please input code. Arming capacitor. Commencing countdown. Twenty-five, twenty-four, twenty-three . . .” “What’s that?” I asked.

Her eyes showed her fear. “It’s an alarm, it needs to be shut off when you come in. Do you know the code?” “No. What will it do?”

A green light turned on in the box above her cell.

“When it reaches zero it will electrocute me.” “Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen . . .” “Ian!” I shouted. “We’ve got to get her out of here. Now!” “I don’t have a key.”

“Find one!”

“I’m looking!” he shouted frantically. “Jack, that guard right there. He’s got a key ring. Get it!” Jack ran out into the hall and smacked the guard over the head with his baton. Jack grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him into the cell. Ian went after the key.

“Eight, seven . . .”

“Hurry!” I shouted.

“I’m hurrying!” Ian said. He ripped the key ring from the man’s pocket. “It’s gotta be one of these,” he said, fumbling through them. He tried one and it didn’t work.

“Three, two, one. Capacitor armed. Prepare for discharge.” My mother looked into my eyes. “Michael . . .” “Get back!” I shouted. I grabbed the bars, pressing my entire body against the cage, and braced myself for the release. There was a bright flash and a powerful snap of electricity, the force of which threw me to the ground. Then all was quiet. The air was full of a powerful smell of ozone.

“Michael?” Ian said.

I slowly opened my eyes. Then I looked in the cage. My mother was standing against the bars staring at me, her eyes wide with panic. “Michael?” I suddenly started to laugh.

“It fried his mind,” Jack said.

I slowly climbed to my feet. “No. What a rush. Let’s get out of here.” Ian continued through the rest of the keys until he found the right one. The lock slid, and he opened the door.

My mother stepped out and threw her arms around me. Tears fell down both our faces. “You shouldn’t have come,” she said. “You shouldn’t have come.” “You can ground me when we get back to Idaho,” I said.

She wiped her eyes. “I love you.” “I love you, too.”

“Lots of love in here,” Ian said, his voice pitched. “But out there, not so much.” “Sorry,” I said, stepping back. I reached down and picked up the extra uniform. “Put this on,” I said to my mother. We had saved the smallest of the Elgen uniforms for her. She quickly pulled it on. It was way too big on her, but she looked all right if you didn’t look too closely.

The bigger problem was her trouble walking. She’d been kept in a cage for weeks and her legs muscles were weak and cramped. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“I’d carry you if I could,” I said. “But they’d notice.” “Just give me a minute,” she said, leaning against the wall to stretch her legs.

“Mom,” I said. “This is Jack and Ian. They’re my friends. I couldn’t have made it here without them.” “Thank you,” she said, straightening up. “I’m ready.” “It’s clear,” Ian said.

Jack opened the door, and we stepped out of the cell, shutting the door behind us. We walked down the hall, back toward the doors we’d entered through.

Ian stopped abruptly. “Change of plans,” he said. “Lieutenant Cox is back in action and buzzing like a mad hornet. Follow me.” We ducked down the first hall we came to just as Cox and two guards stormed past us.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Into the hive,” Ian said.