No Passengers Beyond This Point by Choldenko Gennifer

Author:Choldenko, Gennifer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2011-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

THE EMPTY SCREEN

Idon’t know when I decide to climb back up the tunnel, but once the idea occurs to me, it seems so simple. Just go back the way I came. They can’t have security guys patrolling the tunnel. It’s too small. No one else could fit.

When I get back to my house, then I can talk to Mouse and Finn through one of those screens in that downstairs room. We missed each other, but we can arrange a meeting place. I’ve got this covered. No big deal.

Then I can get my own clothes back. And when we all meet up, I’ll have the missing piece. All I have to do is climb up that tunnel, right?

At first it was a little confusing knowing which one was mine. I remember generally where I came out, but not exactly. But then I noticed the address was stamped on the inside: 401.

The tunnel is about ten feet in diameter. At this end, it’s parallel with the ground, but soon it begins the steep climb to my house. The sides are shimmery black fabric reinforced with springy coils of wire. It’s like a giant Slinky covered in jet-black fabric.

It takes me a little time to get the hang of walking up the cylinder, but eventually I find a way of climbing by pinching the coils with my fingers and digging my toes into the fabric sides. It feels a little like scaling the playground slides, which I used to do when I was little.

The dark is disorienting, but when I’m totally confused, I feel an acorn drop, which gets me back on track. Where did it come from, I wonder. It was almost as if somebody was watching me and knew I needed help.

As I pull myself up, I imagine telling Maddy about this. Pretending to talk to her helps me forget how much my arms ache. I take little breaks. But even resting makes my arms tired, so I keep going.

At last I see a dull flicker of light above, like a flashlight that needs a new battery. I speed up, full of hope, ignoring the nasty voice in my head that tells me Mickey and the other sleazes will be in my dream house now too. Mickey has everything I own that’s worth anything, but I won’t let him get my house. No way. The light glows brighter as I inch upward coil by coil, my arms shaking. My muscles are so tired but I’m doing this. I’m going to climb right back into my house!

“Way to go, India. Way to go, girl,” I tell myself as I pull my legs out of the tunnel into the bedroom suite. The tunnel comes out under my bed, but the bed isn’t broken or cracked the way it was when I fell out of it. I guess they repaired it already because it’s all in one piece now. Though when I look closely I see a fault line—an uneven crack in the mattress.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.