Read Online [Janitors 04] Strike of the Sweepers by Tyler Whitesides - Free Book Online

severed his link, dropping Holga into his dad’s waiting hands.
    “We’ve got to move!” he said.
    “We didn’t need your vision to tell us that,” Penny said, pointing. Spencer saw the Sweepers moving toward them at terrible speeds.
    “What do we do?” Spencer asked.
    “While you were watching Mr. Clean, Walter was talking to Bernard,” Alan said. “I think our garbologist has one more trick up his sleeve.”
    Spencer looked to Walter, who was lowering the walkie-talkie, his face ashen.
    “He said to wait here,” Walter muttered. “Said he’s going to drive by and pick us up.”
    “Um,” Spencer said, “does he know we’re on top of the wall?”
    Headlights flashed as Bernard spun the garbage truck around and accelerated directly toward the brick wall. Mr. Clean and the Sweepers hesitated as the diesel engine roared toward them.
    “Is he going to ram the wall?” Daisy asked, bracing her hands against the edge of the brick. Spencer didn’t know what the garbologist was planning. The Auran truck seemed durable, but hitting a brick wall at forty-five miles per hour didn’t sound like a good idea.
    At the last moment, the truck veered hard, Bernard cranking the steering wheel frantically. But the cumbersome, top-heavy vehicle was moving too fast. Spencer watched in absolute horror as the garbage truck tipped, rolled once, and came to rest on its side, with the wheels slammed up against the brick wall.
    “Oh, garbage,” Penny muttered. “There goes our escape.”
    Leaning over the edge of the wall, Spencer saw the Sweepers jeer at Bernard’s failed attempt. But before the enemy could resume their pursuit, the garbage truck’s engine revved.
    Spencer couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He turned to Daisy; her wide eyes confirmed that he wasn’t going crazy.
    Bernard was driving the garbage truck up the brick wall!
    It shouldn’t have been possible, but somehow the Glopified tires were gripping the vertical face and the truck was chugging steadily upward. In a moment, Bernard had reached the top. Turning the truck sideways, he pulled up just below the Rebels. The passenger window rolled down, which seemed a tedious task in the face of the quickly approaching Sweepers.
    Staring straight down through the window, Spencer saw Bernard Weizmann, wearing his goofy leather aviator cap and a huge grin. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking as comfortable as though he were on flat ground.
    “All aboard!” the garbologist shouted.
    One by one, the Rebels slipped over the edge of the wall and dropped through the open side window. When Spencer’s feet passed into the cab, he was surprised to feel a sudden shift in gravity. He dropped comfortably into the truck seat, and although he was sitting parallel to the earth, he felt perfectly upright.
    “Welcome back to Big Bertha,” Bernard said. He reached out and ruffled Spencer’s white hair. “You don’t look a day older than the last time I saw you.”
    Only Bernard could get away with a joke like that. But it was true. Spencer’s Auran powers prevented him from aging.
    “I can’t tell if I’m up or down in here,” Daisy said.
    “Down is always down inside Big Bertha,” answered Bernard.
    Penny was the last Rebel to slip through the window. She let out a quick “whoa” as gravity rearranged itself. Then she rolled up the truck’s window and turned to the driver.
    “Let’s roll, Bernie!”
    Out of the dark night, a Rubbish Sweeper dove. He hit the reinforced windshield and clung there, the impact of his attack causing everyone in the cab to jump. Bernard stepped on the gas, and the huge truck lurched forward, the heavy tires passing over a Grime Sweeper clinging to the wall.
    The Rubbish Sweeper was digging his talon fingernails against the glass, an angry sneer on his beaked face.
    “The bugs here are terrible,” Bernard said. “I just can’t keep my windshield clean.” The garbologist pulled a lever, releasing a stream of