Read Online Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne - Free Book Online Page A

that the effects seemed to wear off very quickly,” Alex piped up. “It makes me think they attack the central nervous system.”
    “That anyone could make this kind of poison is just horrible,” Astrid said. “The people at NORAD should be shot.”
    “Hey! That’s my dad you’re talking about,” Brayden said.
    “But why would they make such awful things?” Astrid asked us. “I mean, a chemical that makes people turn into savages? Or makes them blister up and die? It’s evil.”
    “They made them to protect us.”
    “Protect us from what? From who?” Astrid demanded.
    “From our enemies!” Brayden answered.
    “It’s inhumane,” I spoke up. “Just making those compounds violates the Geneva Convention. It’s illegal.”
    “Nothing’s illegal if the government itself is doing it,” Brayden asserted, like an idiot.
    “That’s just amazingly wrong,” I said.
    “Hey, Brayden,” Astrid said. “What exactly does your dad do for NORAD, anyway?”
    I’d been wondering that exact thing. I had sort of fantasized that Brayden’s dad was like a janitor.
    “That’s classified, Ass-trid,” Brayden replied.
    Then we heard some rattling.
    Chinka-chinka-chink.
    “Hello?” came a distant voice.
    We jumped up.
    Someone was at the gate!
    Beyond the plastic sheeting and the blankets, someone was rattling the gate.
    “They came!” shouted one of the little kids. “They’re here for us!”
    “Anybody home?” came the voice from outside. “Hello!”
    We rushed to the gate. Everyone started clamoring at once: “Hi! Hello! We’re in here! Who are you? Hello! Hello!”
    “Open the gate!” the voice shouted. “I hear you in there.”
    “Yes, yes! We’re trapped inside, we want to get out! We want to go home!” shouted all the little kids in a big jumble.
    Chloe turned to Niko and commanded him. “Take down the plastic. He’s here for us!”
    “Don’t you touch it!” Niko growled. I’d never heard him so intense.
    “Well? Open up! Come on! I’m hungry!” came the voice from outside.
    The little kids were still bouncing with excitement, but I saw the others stiffen.
    Listening real attentively. Something about his tone.
    “We can’t open the gate,” Jake yelled. “It’s stuck.”
    “You can! You can open it if you try! Come on!”
    Chinka-chinka-chink.
    “We’re locked in,” Jake tried to explain.
    “Who’s in there?” the voice shouted.
    “We’re kids from Lewis Palmer!” Jake continued. “We took shelter here from the hail and—”
    “Open the gate, little kiddos!” the voice shouted.
    “We can’t open it, dude!” Jake yelled. “It’s some kind of a security gate. But we want to get a message to our parents—”
    “Get them a message?” The voice started to laugh. “Sure. That’s a great idea. I’ll get them a message. Open the gate, so we can make a message!”
    There was something very, very off in this voice. I exchanged a glance with Alex. He knew it, too.
    “Like I told you, we can’t!” Jake yelled again.
    “Open it, you little twits! Come on, I’m hungry! Just open it. Open it.”
    “We can’t—”
    “OPEN THE F ___ GATE! OPEN IT!!! OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!”
    And the man outside started rattling the gate again. Chinka-chinka-chink .
    I could see the fear wash over the little kids. Their faces, one moment ago bright with hope, went cold and pale.
    Caroline and Henry, standing behind me, each clutched on to one of my legs at the exact same moment. I pried them off and crouched down, hugging them to me.
    When the man outside shook the gate, our wall of plastic and blankets bobbed with the air pressure.
    “Our wall,” I said to Niko. “Is it going to let the air in?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t think so,” he answered.
    “Go away,” Jake shouted, his voice gruff.
    “ LET ME IN! ” the man shouted. “ BY THE HAIR OF MY F ___ CHIN, LET ME IN OR I’LL HUFF AND I’LL BLOW YOUR EFFIN’ GREENWAY DOWN! ”
    He was shaking the gate