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Authors: James Patterson
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the lower-left
corner. The whole thing quickly goes up in flames as the underground arena explodes in the most unbelievable screams and cheers.
I don’t know how to explain it—I mean, I know I can’t do what they do, but I’m not intimidated; I’m
inspired.
And it’s a good thing, too, because their set—eight great songs—seems to go by in a flash. And then it’s just like the open-mike
list says—next up is a little-known wonder hailing from… Garfunkel’s department store?
“
Wisteria Rose Allgood!
Give it up for her!”
The Bionics drummer actually winks at me as he walks by. And, at least in part to keep my face from exploding into a fierce
blush, I dash out onto the stage.
Chapter 26
Wisty
“UMM, HI, EVERYBODY,” I manage to say after a few seconds in which I feel totally flash-frozen. What did I just get myself into?
The brilliant spotlights and—even more blinding—the glare of hundreds, make that thousands, of pairs of eyes… looking right
at me.
This is definitely a little more than I was expecting or prepared for. It’s definitely a little frightening… but it’s also
exhilarating. I feel a strange connection to all these people. We’re in this together, right? It’s us against the big bad
N.O. They’ve got the guns, but we’ve got the numbers.
“How ’bout those Bionics, huh?” I ask lamely, but they reward me with a massive cheer anyway. Cool. I guess they’re in a generous
mood.
“So I’m going to sing a couple of songs,” I say, trying to slow my speech down and not blurt or stutter. “But first I just
want to remind you all of one important thing. Youknow how we’re kind of outnumbered outside of Freeland?”
Massive
boo.
“And you know how they’ve taken away so many of us? Just kids, even little babies. They have control of the cities. They have
the country. They have the planes. They have the tanks.”
Right then, almost as if on cue, the chasm shakes and shudders from another overhead bomb blast.
More massive boos.
“But what they don’t have is our spirit. That… they
cannot
have!”
Massive cheers.
“And not only that but—as a kid I met in one of their horrible prisons reminded me—
they’re afraid of us.
That’s why they’re hunting us. That’s why they stage their plots and propaganda against us. That’s why they bomb —”
There’s another ground-shaking blast from the surface.
“— the world like there’s no tomorrow. It’s because, for them, there
is
no tomorrow. No next generation. No
future,
” I continue. “And we’re not going to give it to them either! Not now, not ever!”
Massive cheers that last for minutes. This is maybe the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
“There’s just one other thing,” I say when my voice can be heard again. Then I produce my drumstick, the one my mom gave me
the night Whit and I were kidnapped. “They don’t have our…
magic!
”
And, with that, I grab a guitar and even more lights come up, revealing that I’m standing in front of a newly conjured amp
stack that nearly reaches to the ceiling. Now I’ll be even louder than the Bionics.
I strike the first chord of my first song, and I’ve never felt so amazing, so blessed, in my entire life.
At least until Byron comes onstage with a bass guitar and joins in.
Chapter 27
Wisty
EVEN WITH THE KING of the Weasels in my band, I totally understand why people want to become rock stars. There’s no other rush, no other feeling
like it. This cavern has a natural reverb that seems to transform my voice into a chorus of hard-rocking angels. It’s like
an out-of-body experience.
And then I realize I’m playing the audience, too. Hundreds, make that thousands, of people are moving to my rhythm, to my
melody, to my words.
Well, not
all
“my” words.
After I finish the first song and I think my face is going to bust open because I’m smiling so hard from the euphoria, I let
everyone know who
corner. The whole thing quickly goes up in flames as the underground arena explodes in the most unbelievable screams and cheers.
I don’t know how to explain it—I mean, I know I can’t do what they do, but I’m not intimidated; I’m
inspired.
And it’s a good thing, too, because their set—eight great songs—seems to go by in a flash. And then it’s just like the open-mike
list says—next up is a little-known wonder hailing from… Garfunkel’s department store?
“
Wisteria Rose Allgood!
Give it up for her!”
The Bionics drummer actually winks at me as he walks by. And, at least in part to keep my face from exploding into a fierce
blush, I dash out onto the stage.
Chapter 26
Wisty
“UMM, HI, EVERYBODY,” I manage to say after a few seconds in which I feel totally flash-frozen. What did I just get myself into?
The brilliant spotlights and—even more blinding—the glare of hundreds, make that thousands, of pairs of eyes… looking right
at me.
This is definitely a little more than I was expecting or prepared for. It’s definitely a little frightening… but it’s also
exhilarating. I feel a strange connection to all these people. We’re in this together, right? It’s us against the big bad
N.O. They’ve got the guns, but we’ve got the numbers.
“How ’bout those Bionics, huh?” I ask lamely, but they reward me with a massive cheer anyway. Cool. I guess they’re in a generous
mood.
“So I’m going to sing a couple of songs,” I say, trying to slow my speech down and not blurt or stutter. “But first I just
want to remind you all of one important thing. Youknow how we’re kind of outnumbered outside of Freeland?”
Massive
boo.
“And you know how they’ve taken away so many of us? Just kids, even little babies. They have control of the cities. They have
the country. They have the planes. They have the tanks.”
Right then, almost as if on cue, the chasm shakes and shudders from another overhead bomb blast.
More massive boos.
“But what they don’t have is our spirit. That… they
cannot
have!”
Massive cheers.
“And not only that but—as a kid I met in one of their horrible prisons reminded me—
they’re afraid of us.
That’s why they’re hunting us. That’s why they stage their plots and propaganda against us. That’s why they bomb —”
There’s another ground-shaking blast from the surface.
“— the world like there’s no tomorrow. It’s because, for them, there
is
no tomorrow. No next generation. No
future,
” I continue. “And we’re not going to give it to them either! Not now, not ever!”
Massive cheers that last for minutes. This is maybe the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
“There’s just one other thing,” I say when my voice can be heard again. Then I produce my drumstick, the one my mom gave me
the night Whit and I were kidnapped. “They don’t have our…
magic!
”
And, with that, I grab a guitar and even more lights come up, revealing that I’m standing in front of a newly conjured amp
stack that nearly reaches to the ceiling. Now I’ll be even louder than the Bionics.
I strike the first chord of my first song, and I’ve never felt so amazing, so blessed, in my entire life.
At least until Byron comes onstage with a bass guitar and joins in.
Chapter 27
Wisty
EVEN WITH THE KING of the Weasels in my band, I totally understand why people want to become rock stars. There’s no other rush, no other feeling
like it. This cavern has a natural reverb that seems to transform my voice into a chorus of hard-rocking angels. It’s like
an out-of-body experience.
And then I realize I’m playing the audience, too. Hundreds, make that thousands, of people are moving to my rhythm, to my
melody, to my words.
Well, not
all
“my” words.
After I finish the first song and I think my face is going to bust open because I’m smiling so hard from the euphoria, I let
everyone know who
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