my exit. When I looked for
Snuks, she was gone. Her captor was on his knees with a red
glistening stream spurting from between his fingers.
“Where’s your new kid?” He glanced
suspiciously around the room.
“He’s not here.”
Deemi was volatile and unpredictable.
He gave me a violent shove against the wall and then grabbed me.
“We’ve got to find them.” He was desperate.
“You find them,” I said and jammed two
knuckle into his throat. He let go, and I jumped out the window and
ran for the cover of the trees. I ran past the body of Snuks’
captor and saw someone hiding in the bush ahead of me. It was
Geebo. He motioned for me to follow him, and led me to one of the
traps we had set for Deemi’s unit. He pointed to the strip of
laze-eyes he had placed along one side of the trunk of a
tree.
The trap had been tampered with. It
should have let anyone from my Daycare unit pass through it without
harm, but no one from Deemi’s. It had been dismantled, and Geebo
couldn’t figure out how it had been done.
“Did you see Snuks or Teb?” I asked
him.
“Snuks got away.” Geebo patted his
blood-stained razor-disc. “But I haven’t seen Teb since we left the
unit.”
I was relieved to hear that Snuks had
got away. We left the trap and decided to try to make our way to
Christmas.
We moved cautiously, encountering no
difficulties. This unnerved us even more than if we had been
attacked or injured by Deemi’s gang or their traps. We walked
through his territory as if he had never been expecting us. We
found that Deemi’s traps were dismantled, too.
We weren’t far from Christmas when we
heard a noise. I climbed a tree and ws barely up and hidden when
two shadowy forms came from opposite directions to converge on
Geebo. He decided to stay and fight it out. Besides he couldn’t
follow me because he had too much junk strapped to himself. He had
his grease gun out and sprayed the stuff all over, but they got
him. He never made a sound. His body was heaped awkwardly on the
ground, a dark silhouette against the soft green glow of the
grease.
They tried to climb the tree after me
but were covered with the slippery glow grease, and even when they
tried to hide, the thick foliage couldn’t completely conceal their
glow. They waited for me, so I couldn’t climb down. I remembered a
group of trees in this part of Daycare that were clumped together.
Crawling through the tree, I hoped the neighboring one would be
close enough for me to jump across to it.
Not knowing if the tree I was in was
real or not, I moved out onto the branch as far as I dared. There
was a good chance that small branch of a real tree would not hold
my weight. Flat on my belly, pulling my feet under me until I
crouched, I got ready to jump to the next tree. Suddenly, my knee
started to ache.
When the pain subsided a little, I
leaped. My knee cramped just as I took off, and I knew in mid air
that I did not have enough force to make the branch. I crashed
through the branches, grasping at twigs that tore the skin from my
hands. Everything blurred as I plummeted and hit.
I’d been out for awhile, but I wasn’t
sure how long. It was very dark out, and a light snow was falling,
covering the ground. I was cold, but more worried that I had lost
Christmas.
I took a few things from Geebo’s body,
things that I thought I might need in case Christmas wasn’t over.
Carefully, I wiped off my footpads and followed a small trail
through the brush. It was against all the rules for members of
opposite Daycares to break away and form their own team, and I was
beginning to suspect the new kids.
I came to the north gate where
Christmas normally took place and didn’t find anyone. I climbed
another tree and waited there. Perched high in a branch, I cold see
someone hiding in a bush below. Christmas wasn’t over
yet!
A portion of the north wall began to
change color. Normally grey, it became a bright orange. Only a
small section of the wall changed color
Snuks, she was gone. Her captor was on his knees with a red
glistening stream spurting from between his fingers.
“Where’s your new kid?” He glanced
suspiciously around the room.
“He’s not here.”
Deemi was volatile and unpredictable.
He gave me a violent shove against the wall and then grabbed me.
“We’ve got to find them.” He was desperate.
“You find them,” I said and jammed two
knuckle into his throat. He let go, and I jumped out the window and
ran for the cover of the trees. I ran past the body of Snuks’
captor and saw someone hiding in the bush ahead of me. It was
Geebo. He motioned for me to follow him, and led me to one of the
traps we had set for Deemi’s unit. He pointed to the strip of
laze-eyes he had placed along one side of the trunk of a
tree.
The trap had been tampered with. It
should have let anyone from my Daycare unit pass through it without
harm, but no one from Deemi’s. It had been dismantled, and Geebo
couldn’t figure out how it had been done.
“Did you see Snuks or Teb?” I asked
him.
“Snuks got away.” Geebo patted his
blood-stained razor-disc. “But I haven’t seen Teb since we left the
unit.”
I was relieved to hear that Snuks had
got away. We left the trap and decided to try to make our way to
Christmas.
We moved cautiously, encountering no
difficulties. This unnerved us even more than if we had been
attacked or injured by Deemi’s gang or their traps. We walked
through his territory as if he had never been expecting us. We
found that Deemi’s traps were dismantled, too.
We weren’t far from Christmas when we
heard a noise. I climbed a tree and ws barely up and hidden when
two shadowy forms came from opposite directions to converge on
Geebo. He decided to stay and fight it out. Besides he couldn’t
follow me because he had too much junk strapped to himself. He had
his grease gun out and sprayed the stuff all over, but they got
him. He never made a sound. His body was heaped awkwardly on the
ground, a dark silhouette against the soft green glow of the
grease.
They tried to climb the tree after me
but were covered with the slippery glow grease, and even when they
tried to hide, the thick foliage couldn’t completely conceal their
glow. They waited for me, so I couldn’t climb down. I remembered a
group of trees in this part of Daycare that were clumped together.
Crawling through the tree, I hoped the neighboring one would be
close enough for me to jump across to it.
Not knowing if the tree I was in was
real or not, I moved out onto the branch as far as I dared. There
was a good chance that small branch of a real tree would not hold
my weight. Flat on my belly, pulling my feet under me until I
crouched, I got ready to jump to the next tree. Suddenly, my knee
started to ache.
When the pain subsided a little, I
leaped. My knee cramped just as I took off, and I knew in mid air
that I did not have enough force to make the branch. I crashed
through the branches, grasping at twigs that tore the skin from my
hands. Everything blurred as I plummeted and hit.
I’d been out for awhile, but I wasn’t
sure how long. It was very dark out, and a light snow was falling,
covering the ground. I was cold, but more worried that I had lost
Christmas.
I took a few things from Geebo’s body,
things that I thought I might need in case Christmas wasn’t over.
Carefully, I wiped off my footpads and followed a small trail
through the brush. It was against all the rules for members of
opposite Daycares to break away and form their own team, and I was
beginning to suspect the new kids.
I came to the north gate where
Christmas normally took place and didn’t find anyone. I climbed
another tree and waited there. Perched high in a branch, I cold see
someone hiding in a bush below. Christmas wasn’t over
yet!
A portion of the north wall began to
change color. Normally grey, it became a bright orange. Only a
small section of the wall changed color
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