فصل 37

Chapter 37: Under the Bowl

I could tell we were near the bowl because I was feeling more electric. Sparks snapped uncontrollably between my fingers and legs and underneath my arms. I’m certain the three guards sprawled out on the ground had noticed how electric I was too. They were all still unconscious.

“Nichelle, stop this,” Quentin shouted from his knees. “That’s an order.” “You’re giving me an order?” Nichelle said. “I think you’ve got that backward, Q-bert.” She crouched down until her face was inches from his and her eyes narrowed in anger. “You were the only family I had. And when things went bad you all left me to die. Michael Vey was my enemy, and he showed more mercy than all of you creeps combined.” “You and Vey?” Quentin said. “That’s pathetic. You’re going to be sorry.” “I was born sorry,” Nichelle replied.

I looked at Quentin and shook my head. “Karma sucks, doesn’t it?” Ostin and Ian gathered the prone guards’ weapons while Jack and McKenna took their keys and handcuffs.

“Lock them all up,” I said.

“Problem,” McKenna said. “We don’t have enough handcuffs for all of them.” There were five of them and only three pairs of handcuffs.

“No problem,” Ostin said. “Guys, give me a hand.” We dragged two of the guards to opposite sides of the metal toilet, put a handcuff on one of the guard’s wrists, threaded it around back through the thick metal pipe that fed into the toilet, and attached it to the other guard’s wrist on the opposite side. We then made Quentin and Tara do the same thing with the second pair. With the last pair of handcuffs, we slid the guard up the base of the toilet and handcuffed his hands around it. By the time we were done they definitely weren’t going anywhere. And they looked pretty silly.

Nichelle smirked at Quentin and Tara. “You look like some weird monument to toilets.” “You’re a loser, Nichelle,” Tara said. “You always were. That’s why everyone always hated you.” “I’m so hurt,” she said. Nichelle put her hand out toward them and Tara and Quentin began to shake from the pain. “Who’s losing now?” Tara screamed out in pain.

“Nichelle,” I said.

She turned toward me. “What?”

“That’s enough.”

“I’ve just started.”

“We’re not like them.”

She looked at me with a peculiar expression, then I saw a look I hadn’t seen on her before. She put her hand down. “No. We’re not like them.” “Where’s Jade Dragon?” I asked Taylor.

“I don’t know,” Taylor said. “The Lung Li guards took her.” I turned to Ian. “Do you see her?”

“No. Just a lot of armed guards looking for us.” “We can worry about her later,” Ostin said. “We need to get out of here before the plant goes on full alert.” As we stepped out into the hall a siren went off.

“Too late,” I said.

“We can’t leave without Jade Dragon,” Taylor said.

“We haven’t given up on her,” I said. “But for now, Ostin’s right. We need to get out of here if we can.” I turned around. “Ian, what’s going on?” “Chaos,” he said. “This place looks like an angry beehive.” “Can you see any way out?”

“No. But we’ve got to move. There are guards coming from both sides of this hall.” I pointed to a large set of double doors. “What’s through there?” “It’s the underside of the bowl,” he said. “It’s where they bring the fish in.” “How many guards?”

“None. Just the feeders. All the guards are outside.” Jack swiped one of the guards’ magnetic keys across the door pad and the door unlocked. We hurried inside and the door automatically locked behind us.

With the exception of a massive steel-plated pool in the center of the room, the space was similar to the Peruvian feeding room, rectangular with a resin-coated concrete floor and forty-foot-high ceilings that curved on one side with the exterior of the bowl. The room was humid and smelled like a fish market.

It stinks in here. I hate fish.

I looked over at Taylor. It was her voice, but she wasn’t talking. There was so much electricity in the air that I could read her thoughts.

“Ian, where do the wires from the lock run?” He ran a finger down the wall. “Right here.” “Tell me what this does.” I put my hand against the wall and pulsed. The intensity of the surge surprised me. Being directly under the bowl enhanced my powers to extreme levels.

“Dude, you melted the pad. You even melted some of the nails in the wall.” “That should at least slow them down,” I said.

“Michael . . .,” Taylor said. “Look.” “Bu dung!” someone shouted. I turned around. There were now a half dozen men standing on the other side of the pool in bright orange jumpsuits with rubber waders and gloves. One of them was pointing a shotgun at us. “Da jya, syou chilai.” “He said, ‘Don’t move,’ ” Ostin said. “And put our hands up.” “Are there any others with weapons?” I asked Ian.

“Not that I can see.”

“I’m going to reboot him,” Taylor said. She looked at the man intensely. At first he looked confused and lowered his gun as if he’d forgotten why he was holding it. Then he fell over unconscious. The other men turned and ran to a door in the back.

“I think you melted his brain,” Ostin said.

I walked over to the man and checked him. He was out but still breathing. I picked up his gun and threw it into the pool.

“Look at all those fish,” McKenna said, staring into the water. “There’s, like, a million of them.” The pool was easily as large as the Olympic-sized one we had at Meridian High School, though much deeper. The water was dark and rough and the pool itself was steel-plated and riveted. There was a car-size, cagelike apparatus that hung from chains from the ceiling a few yards above the center of the pool, and a twelve-foot metal boat was tied to a cleat at the pool’s far edge.

“Ian, how do we get out of here?” I asked.

“I still don’t see a way out.”

“What about that door those guys ran through?” “It’s just a freezer.”

“No pipes out?”

“No Weekend Express,” he said.

“We should use the pool,” Ostin said. “The tunnel leads out.” “We can’t hold our breath that long,” Taylor said. “And there are fish.” “Maybe there are scuba tanks in the back room,” Jack said.

“I don’t see any,” Ian said. “And there are still bars in the pipe.” “Michael can cut through them,” Nichelle said.

“We still can’t hold our breath that long,” Taylor repeated.

“We can improvise a diving bell,” Ostin said.

“A what?” Taylor said.

“A diving bell. It’s how people centuries ago used to explore underwater. If we turn the boat upside down, there’s enough air in the boat to get us through the pipe.” “Yeah, but the pipe is underwater,” Taylor said. “And the air keeps the boat from going underwater.” “It’s a metal boat,” Ostin said. “And a metal pool. If Michael can magnetize enough he could pull the boat to the bottom, then we’ll walk along the bottom to the pipe.” “It could work,” I said.

Something heavy started pounding against the door. “We’ve got to go,” Ian said. “A bunch of guards are trying to break in.” “Let’s do this,” I said.

We ran over to the far side of the pool. Jack untied the boat, but it took all of us to flip it over.

“Everyone in the water,” I said.

“With the fish?” Taylor said.

“Or stay with the Elgen,” Jack said.

“They both stink,” Nichelle said.

“I’ll take the fish,” Taylor said.

We all jumped into the pool, then swam underneath the overturned boat. The inside of the boat was faintly lit by our glows. McKenna lit up her face to brighten it.

“Now what?” Taylor asked.

“I magnetize,” I said. I put one hand on the top of the boat, then reached the other toward the floor and pulsed. It took us a moment to realize that the boat was gradually descending.

“It’s working,” Ostin said.

I could see the floor of the pool coming closer. Every now and then Taylor would scream when a fish swam up against her. It took us about a minute to reach the bottom.

“How long will this air last?” Jack asked.

“Long enough,” Ostin said. “My worry is, how long will Michael last?” Sweat was already pouring down my face. If it wasn’t for the extra power the bowl gave me I couldn’t have done it. “Which way to the pipe?” I asked.

“We spun a little on our way down,” Ian said. “It’s that way. Ten o’clock.” “Everyone start walking,” Ostin said. “Start to the left.” Everyone grabbed onto some part of the boat and pushed forward—everyone except for me. Holding the boat down was not only taking all of my strength, but it was also a difficult balancing act keeping the right amount of magnetism. Too much would crush us to the floor; not enough and we floated up and were unable to touch the bottom and push forward.

Ian kept us moving in the right direction, occasionally looking up to the feeding room. We had traveled about twenty feet when Ian said, “The Elgen are in. They’re looking for us.” “They’ll never look down here,” Ostin said.

“They just did,” Ian said. “They’re pointing at us.” He paused. “Now they’re pointing guns at us.” “Faster!” Ostin shouted. “We just need to make it to the pipe.” A bullet struck the side of the boat next to me, ricocheting with a loud clang. “That was too close.” “Thirty-five more feet to the pipe,” Ian said.

Just then a bullet burst through the center of the boat, grazing Nichelle. “Ah!” she cried. She fell down into the water. Water gushed in through the hole. Jack grabbed her and lifted her as the water around us began to darken with her blood. “Where are you hit?” “Shoulder,” she said, grimacing in pain.

“Don’t worry about pushing,” he said. “Just walk.” The water level in the boat rose as air escaped through the bullet hole.

“Someone plug the hole!” I shouted.

Ian shoved his finger into it, stopping the flow. “Got it.” “How far to the pipe?” I asked.

“Thirty feet,” Ian said.

Another bullet struck the boat, puncturing another hole through the metal. No one was hit but more water sprayed in. Ian stuck a finger in that hole as well. “They’re setting up a machine gun,” he said.

“We’re not going to make it,” Jack said. “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.” “That’s it,” Ostin said. “Michael, can you pulse hard?” “I am pulsing hard!” I said.

“I mean electric, not magnetic.”

“Why?”

Another bullet pierced the bow of the boat and more water sprayed in. McKenna stuck her finger in the hole to stop it.

“They’ve got the machine gun up!” Ian shouted.

“Just pulse!” Ostin shouted.

“I’ll shock everyone.”

“They’re aiming,” Ian said.

“Do it!” Ostin shouted. “Everyone prepare to be Tasered. Go!” I pulsed. Everyone screamed and Ostin, Jack, and Taylor fell into the water, then stood back up.

“Man, that hurt,” Ostin said.

Then Taylor screamed as paralyzed fish floated up all around us. “What did you do?” “Electric fishing,” Ostin said. “Michael just stunned all the fish and they floated to the top of the pool. The Elgen won’t be able to see us or shoot us through them.” “He’s right,” Ian said. “It’s like a six-foot barrier of fish.” We reached the corrugated pipe floor without being hit by any more bullets, but the pipe brought another problem. The farther we got from the bowl, the more difficult it was for me. I felt like I went from carrying a hundred pounds to two hundred. I groaned beneath the strain.

“Are you okay?” Taylor asked.

“How much farther?” I asked.

“We’re getting close,” Ian replied.

Suddenly there was a huge surge of water, pushing us forward and up against the first set of bars. My head hit the side of the boat hard enough that, for a second, I lost magnetism and the boat started to flip over. Jack threw himself against it, holding it for a few seconds before I regained control.

“Michael, are you okay?” Taylor said.

“Yes,” I replied, my head aching. “Sorry.” “They threw a grenade,” Ian said. “It’s like fish stew out there.” “At least we’re at the bars,” I said.

“Can you cut through them?” Ostin asked.

I moved to the front of the boat and grabbed onto a bar. It was thicker than anything I had cut through so far. As I began to heat up, the back of the boat began to rise. I stopped to pull it back down. I looked at Ostin. “I can’t magnetize the boat and cut through the bars at the same time.” “It’s okay,” Ostin said. “We’re in the pipe. Just let the boat float to the top.” “Let it up easy,” Jack said. “If it flips, we drown.” I slowly let the boat rise until it knocked against the top of the pipe. Everyone was now treading water.

I grabbed the bar again and began to cut. It took me nearly five minutes to burn through the first bar, the water boiling next to my hand. I’d have to cut through at least five bars to get the boat through. We were still losing air and the water level was rising in the boat at about an inch a minute. At that rate we would be out of air before I cut through the pipes, and I was already exhausted. I don’t think I could have pulled us back down to the bottom if I wanted to.

“Ian, how far is it from these bars to the end of the pipe?” I asked.

“About twenty yards.”

“Are there any more bars before the end of the pipe?” “No. The next bars are at the first fence, about twenty-five yards past the end of the pipe.” “So if we make it to the end of the pipe, we can swim up.” “Yes. We’ll still have the fences, but we’ll be outside the plant.” “Are there guards up there?”

“Not yet,” he said. “Why?”

“I don’t think I can make the cuts with the air we have left. And even if I did, I can’t make it much farther magnetizing the boat. The farther we get from the bowls the harder it gets.” Taylor put her hand on my arm. “What do we do?” “If I take out one more bar we can swim for it.” “I don’t think I can swim it,” Nichelle said. “I’m not a good swimmer.” “Can you hold your breath for thirty seconds?” Jack asked.

She looked at him. “I think so.”

“Then you can do it. If you can’t swim, I’ll carry you out.” Nichelle looked at him quizzically. “Why?” “We don’t leave family behind.”

For a moment Nichelle was speechless. “Thank you.” “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this.” I went back to cutting. By the time I cut through the second bar there was only six inches of air left in the boat. The gap between the bars was at least twenty-four inches wide. “We can fit through that,” Ian said.

“Can we see which way to swim?” McKenna asked.

“It’s a little lighter toward the end of the pipe,” Ian said.

“Any guards yet?”

“Not before the first fence. If we stay close to the building they might not see us. There’s some kind of concrete retaining wall I think we can hide behind.” “Maybe I should go first,” Taylor said. “I’m a good swimmer. And that way I can reboot anyone on top.” Ostin looked at me. “Are you strong enough?” “I can make it,” I said.

“I’ll go after Taylor,” McKenna said. “I can help fight if someone’s up there.” “Who’s next?” Ian asked.

“Ostin, Nichelle, and Jack,” I said.

“What about you?” Ian asked.

“I’ll go last,” I said. “I need a minute to rest.” “You know as soon as we unplug these holes you’ll only have a minute of air.” “Yeah,” I said. “I’m okay.”

Taylor swam up to the front next to me. “Are you sure you’re strong enough?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Be careful.”

She kissed me. “I’ll see you outside.” She grabbed the bars, took a deep breath, then disappeared under the water.

“I’m ready,” McKenna said. “But someone’s going to have to plug this hole.” “I’ll get it,” I said.

Water gushed in as McKenna pulled her finger out of the bullet hole. I reached up past her and pushed my finger into the hole. “Got it.” “Go,” Ian said.

McKenna inhaled, then ducked under, leaving the boat dim with just Ian’s and my glow.

Ostin looked at me nervously. He had never been much of a swimmer.

“You can do it,” I said. “Remember summer camp.” “Right.” He took a deep breath, then went.

Jack helped Nichelle to the front. “Are you ready?” “I think so.”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

To my surprise, Nichelle kissed Jack on the cheek. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath, ducked under the boat, and swam through the bars. Jack swam after her.

“Just us,” I said to Ian.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Let’s do it.”

He pulled his fingers out of the holes and water shot in like two high-pressure water hoses. He inhaled once, then dove under.

I tried to take a deep breath, but what was left of the air was pretty thin.

“You can do this,” I said to myself. I grabbed onto the bars and pulled myself underwater, then swam as fast as I could toward the end of the pipe.