فصل 11

CHAPTER 11

I stared up at the trees, amazed. Fifty feet above us, the treetops were laden with small wooden houses, suspended by poles and beams that balanced and adhered them to the branches. Long ropes hung down, and men and women were using them as pulleys to ferry wood and people up to the tree houses.

“You live up there?” I breathed. “In the sky?”

“Up among the stars, and much too high for any passing ‘saur to reach us.” Todd grinned proudly. Shawn had the same amazed look on his face.

“How did you build those?” Shawn asked. “How long have you been here? How many of you are there? What do you do about pterosaurs?” “Easy, man,” Todd chuckled. “One question at a time.” I couldn’t blame Shawn. I had a million questions buzzing inside my head too.

“As long as you’ve been living underground, we’ve been living in the trees. Not everyone was lucky enough to fall into government-funded safe houses,” Todd explained. “Don’t tell me you didn’t learn about us in that fancy school? And I have no idea what a ptero-whatsit is. If you are talking about the flying dinosaurs, most of them have flown south this time of year, but they’ve learned to avoid the village. We’re all pretty good shots.” He tapped his bow to show us what he meant before striding over to a tall bearded man and clapping him on the shoulder companionably. “Jett,” he said. “This is Sky and Stew.” “My name is Shawn” came a growl from behind me.

“Right. Sorry, Seth.” Todd turning back to the man with a smug look. “Jett here is the leader of the Oaks. His word is law.” The man extended his hand, eyeing us warily, and we shook it. For the first time I realized how odd we looked in our skintight camouflage. Todd and Jett were more simply dressed, in loose brown pants and simple green tunics. The fabric had a slight shimmer to it when they moved that made them blend into the green foliage around them. I was about to open my mouth to ask about my dad when I saw the look on Jett’s face and stopped myself.

“Todd,” Jett said sharply, nodding to us, “a moment, please.” Todd’s cocky demeanor melted a little at Jett’s tone as he followed the man. Jett motioned to two other men standing near him; both wore massive bone bows like Todd’s strapped to their backs. They walked over to stand by us, and although they didn’t pull out their weapons, it was obvious we were being guarded.

“I don’t like this,” Shawn whispered.

“Relax,” I murmured, not taking my eyes off Todd and Jett.

“I don’t trust him.”

“Who? Todd or Jett?”

“Both. We should just leave. We were doing fine on our own.”

“I don’t think we could leave if we wanted to,” I muttered, trying to swallow my own nerves.

“For your information,” he said, “getting eaten in a tree house isn’t any better than in a mud hut.” “Shhh,” I cautioned. “He’s coming back.”

Todd strode up to us, his arrogant smile no longer in sight. “Sorry about that.” “Are you in trouble?” I asked.

“No. Not yet, anyway,” he replied, his face clouding over momentarily. “Jett said you can stay here tonight. But before I take you up, he insists that you submit to a search. We need to make sure you aren’t carrying a tracking device.” Shawn jerked in surprise, and I blinked at Todd in horror. A tracking device? They were used in the compound as a way to locate important citizens in case of emergency. And the marines had them built into their uniforms. They were all around me in the compound, so why, when I set out on the most important trip of my life, hadn’t I thought to check the stuff I’d stolen for them? I slipped off my backpack as two men approached, serious looks on their faces. One of them began pawing through my pack, while another began patting Shawn down, running his hands over his legs and arms, down his chest and over his back. When the man finished with Shawn, he searched me.

“Well, I think that’s it,” Todd said as the two men walked back over to Jett. They hadn’t said one word to us.

“Did you ask him about my dad?” I asked, glancing around Todd’s shoulder to get a better look at Jett.

“I didn’t.” Todd shrugged. “He was too busy telling me off for bringing you to the Oaks in the first place.” “Sorry.” I grimaced. I hadn’t wanted to get this strange tan boy in trouble.

“It’s okay,” Todd said, brushing off my apology. “He tells me off about once a week for something or other. He did say that he was going to stop by to talk to you both tomorrow. You can ask him then.” “Does it have to wait till tomorrow?” I asked, biting my lip as I glanced at Jett again.

Todd looked surprised. “What’s your rush?”

I fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot as I tried to decide how much to say about why we’d come topside. “It’s just that I kind of have this thing I’m trying to do,” I finally said evasively. “And I’m already late doing it.” “I thought you wanted to ask about your dad?” Todd looked over at Shawn. “Is she always this confusing?” “You have no idea,” Shawn grumbled, slapping at another mosquito on his neck. Poor Shawn, I thought. He looked so miserable and bedraggled standing next to Todd.

“You can try,” Todd said, shrugging, “but if Jett says tomorrow, he means tomorrow.” Before I could think better of it or lose my nerve, I ducked around Todd and jogged over to Jett and the somber-looking men that had searched us.

Jett watched me approach with icy blue eyes set under a furrowed brow. “Yes?” he asked. I swallowed hard and squared my shoulders.

“I’m looking for my dad. His name was Jack Mundy. He would have come by here around five years ago? He was tall and skinny with brown hair and a beard.” I was about to go on when Jett held up a wide calloused hand to stop me.

“We have never had anyone from a compound come this way besides you and your friend over there.” Jett jerked his head to where Shawn and Todd were watching us, Shawn with a wary expression, Todd looking slightly impressed.

“Never?”

“Never,” Jett repeated. I sagged with disappointment, but immediately chided myself for my reaction. I hadn’t expected to find him on my first day topside, if I found him at all.

“Maybe someone else in your village did?” I asked hopefully. “Or maybe you just saw footprints in the woods that you couldn’t explain?” Jett shook his head and his stern demeanor softened a little. “I’m sorry, young compounder, but I know all that happens in this village. Your father never came this way. If he was compound born and raised, his odds of survival weren’t very good. Why did you say he left the compound?” I forced myself to look him in the eye. “I didn’t.”

Jett studied me for another long moment, and then he turned a wary eye to surrounding trees. “We will have to discuss this at a later time. Night is almost upon us.” Surprised, I glanced around and was startled when I noticed how dark it had become. The shadows under the trees were lengthening as the night seemed to weave itself into the very fabric of the trees. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was so much subtler than the instantaneous darkness of the compound. When I turned back, Jett had already grabbed the rope in front of him and was preparing to climb.

“But I have more questions for you,” I cried, thinking of the map in my pocket. I mentally kicked myself for wasting my time asking about my dad when what I should have been asking about was how to get to Lake Michigan. Focus, I told myself sternly. Dad had asked me to do something important, and that something wasn’t to find him. If I managed to successfully deliver the plug, then I could comb through the never-ending wilderness looking under every rock and shrub for my dad. But until then, I needed to put him out of my mind.

“We can talk tomorrow,” Jett said dismissively. “I’ll stop by Todd’s house in the evening.” “I won’t be here in the evening,” I said firmly. “Shawn and I need to keep moving.” Jett paused in his preparations with the rope and raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Then I will stop by Todd’s house tonight. I believe you are planning to spend the night with young Todd?” “We are.” I nodded. “Thank you for allowing us to stay.”

“You are welcome,” Jett said, looking over my shoulder at Todd. He shook his head in disapproval. “Todd tends to leap and then look, and not the other way around. He shouldn’t have brought you here. Now that he has, we can only hope that you are who you say you are.” “We aren’t spies,” I said indignantly, “if that’s what you mean.”

“Until later tonight, then,” Jett said, clearly done with the conversation. I shot Todd and Shawn a triumphant grin. When I turned back to Jett to thank him, he was gone. Craning my head back, I saw him already halfway up one of the long ropes, climbing hand over hand as he headed toward a large tree house sixty feet overhead. I hurried back over to the boys.

“He’s coming to your house tonight,” I told Todd.

Todd shook his head. “I’m impressed.”

“I’m not. Sky is the most stubborn person I know,” Shawn said drily. “Why do you think we’re topside right now instead of sleeping safely in our bug-free beds?” He slapped at another mosquito, smearing a streak of blood and bug guts down his sunburned arm.

“We better head up. It’s getting late, and I’m betting you and Shep are hungry.” Todd winked at me. I tried not to smile at the murderous look that crossed Shawn’s face as Todd led us toward one of the long ropes. I eyed it warily and then looked up at the tree house silhouetted against the darkening sky.

“Nervous?” Todd smirked. “Don’t worry; we haven’t dropped anyone on their head in over a week.” The color drained from my face, and Todd chuckled. “Kidding, it’s been at least a month.” “Not funny,” Shawn frowned.

Todd just shrugged as he flipped open the lid of a large wooden crate buried in the ground at the base of the tree and pulled out a bundle of straps. “It’s your only option unless you are planning on staying on the ground tonight. And if that’s the case, then I might as well have let Big Ugly get you back in the meadow.” “These trees are dense enough to prevent large predators,” Shawn objected.

“The big ones aren’t always the ones you need to worry about,” Todd said. I noticed that we were the only ones still on the ground. Everyone else was climbing or being pulled up to the safety of their homes.

“I’ll send you both up in the harness, just to be safe,” Todd continued, tossing us each a bundle of straps. “Untangle those and get yourselves buckled in.” I jerked mine over my head and began tightening the ropes around my legs. I was so engrossed in figuring out which strap went where that I almost didn’t notice that Shawn hadn’t started moving.

I sighed. “What’s the holdup?”

“How are you getting up?” Shawn asked Todd, jerking his chin at the tree. “Where’s your harness?” Todd cocked his head to the side, a wide grin on his face. “Don’t need one. I’ve been climbing these ropes since I could walk.” “Then I don’t need one either,” Shawn said, chucking his harness back in the crate. “I’ll climb too.” “Shawn,” I groaned in exasperation, “don’t be an idiot. You’ve never climbed anything before. What if you’re scared of heights?” “I’m not,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

“Suit yourself,” Todd said. “But let’s get a move on.” Seeing that I was successfully strapped into my harness, he clipped the back of it to a dangling rope. My stomach churned.

“It’s really not that bad,” Todd assured me.

I looked up and gulped. I didn’t think I was scared of heights, but then again, I’d never had the opportunity to test that theory. Suddenly, Todd stiffened at my side. The dim forest around us had gone eerily silent. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Todd swore, yanking on a small cord as a rumble came from the shadows to our left. “Grab on,” he bellowed at Shawn. A pack of green scales and teeth erupted from the trees. I screamed just as my harness went tight. Todd leaped toward me, curling his hands in the harness straps at my shoulders just as Shawn grabbed on to the straps across my back. We were jerked skyward as below us a pack of man-sized green dinosaurs snapped at the air where our feet had been only moments before.

“What are those?” I choked.

“Nightmares,” Todd said breathlessly, following my gaze. “The buggers are crazy smart and come out at night. They travel in packs. I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.” His description made me think they were probably troödon, but I hadn’t realized that Troödon had feathers. These creatures were sleek, with feathers fading into scales along their joints and heads, their oversized eyes set in the front of their heads like humans staring up at us, as though they were trying to figure out the pulley dragging us to safety so they could disable it. I’d read about the troödon’s massive brains, but it was eerie to see that kind of humanlike intelligence at work.

“Shawn? Are you okay?” I craned my head, trying to look over my shoulder.

“Been better,” he grunted. He tried to readjust his grip, and the motion sent us swinging.

“I bet you’re wishing for that harness about now, aren’t you, compound boy?” Todd grinned.

“Not even a little bit,” Shawn said through gritted teeth. Todd barked a laugh. I peered down at the green predators with their arrow-shaped heads and mouths full of teeth, and shivered.

“Just hold on,” Todd said. “We should be up in the house soon.” I realized then that he was right. The creatures were growing increasingly small, and I looked around myself for the first time. I could see out over the tops of the trees and glimpsed the horizon for the first time in my life. The sun was huge and bloodred in the sky, and I gasped as the whole world spread out before me.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed. “Shawn, are you seeing this?”

“All I can see is the back of your head,” he grumbled.

“Are you sure you guys are okay hanging on like that?” I asked.

Todd smiled. “I could do this all day, don’t worry about me. It’s your buddy I’m worried about.” With a sharp jerk, our ascent stopped, sending us swinging back and forth alarmingly.

“Dang it!” Todd glared up at the tree house still thirty feet above us.

I wasn’t enjoying the view anymore. “What happened?”

“Stupid lifter must have busted again; too much weight. Thought I fixed the thing.” Shawn groaned. “This just keeps getting better and better.”

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We climb, or we hang here all night,” Todd said with a strained smile. “And as much fun as this is, I don’t fancy sleeping this way with our hungry friends below. Do you?” I shook my head. The harness was already digging painfully into my shoulders and back.

“I’ll go first. Shawn, follow me, and then Sky,” Todd instructed.

“Now you remember my name,” Shawn grumbled.

“You compound moles don’t have much of a sense of humor, do you?” Todd said.

“I’m actually hilarious.” Shawn grunted. “Just not when I’m hanging thirty feet above angry dinosaurs.” “Fair enough,” Todd said. He eyed me skeptically. “One piece of advice: don’t look down. Or up, for that matter.” “She’ll be fine,” Shawn said.

“I wasn’t worried about her.” Todd winked at me, and I forced a smile onto my face. He grabbed the rope attached to my harness and began pulling himself up hand over hand. I watched him go, impressed. In less than two minutes, he had disappeared through a small square hatch in the bottom of the tree house.

“Well, this is just great,” Shawn grumbled as he muscled his way up the rope, cracking me in the back of the head with his flailing knee in the process.

“Just climb, will you?” I asked. “And don’t fall. I don’t want to watch you break your neck.” “That makes two of us,” he said, craning his head to look down. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think those green guys would even let me hit the ground before ripping me apart.” “How would that make me feel better?” I muttered. He started climbing, and I watched until he made it to the tree house, not wanting to swing the rope any more than it already was. I took a deep breath to fortify myself and reached for the rope above my head. It was my turn.