Sylo by D.J. MacHale

Author:D.J. MacHale [MacHale, D.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101600764
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-07-02T04:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

“That root cellar!” Quinn declared, taking off on a dead run for the house. “We’ll all hide down there.”

Tori started right after him.

“No!” I shouted. “The truck!”

Dad’s pickup was sitting right in front of the house, a dead giveaway that we were there. Seeing that, SYLO would tear the place apart looking for us. Tori put on the brakes and changed direction.

“The barn,” she declared.

There was no need for her to explain. I sprinted back to the truck and jumped in the cab while Tori went for the barn and swung the doors open. The engine fired quickly, though I could still hear the sound of the rapidly approaching chopper over its rumble.

“Hurry, man,” Quinn urged through the driver’s window.

I hit the gas, spun the wheel, and drove straight for the barn. There was no way of knowing if they had already spotted the truck. All we could do was hope they couldn’t see this far ahead. And pray. Tori had barely gotten the doors open when I tore through, careening toward the back wall. I jammed on the brakes, skidded across loose hay, and crashed into a stack of lobster traps that came crashing down onto the hood. Racer and Derby reared up and whinnied at the sudden intrusion. Tori went right to them and calmed them down.

We were in, but was it too late? I killed the engine and jumped out in time to see Quinn swinging the big barn doors closed.

“Did I leave tracks out there?” I asked, breathless.

“Too late to worry about that now,” he replied.

Quinn and I leaned against the door, listening intently as the roar of the helicopter grew louder. Tori stayed with the horses, petting them and getting them to relax as best as she could. I couldn’t say which was beating faster, the rotors or my heart. The ground trembled as the powerful chopper flew closer. I wanted to peek out of the window next to the door but was afraid I’d be seen, so all I did was close my eyes and wait. A shadow moved across the sky, blotting out the sun that streamed through the glass. The helicopter was hovering directly overhead. The sound was so deafening that Quinn put his hands over his ears. The shadow remained for a good thirty seconds. Did they spot the tire tracks? Had they seen us scramble to get inside? Were soldiers dropping down on zip lines?

The shadow finally moved off and the sound of the chopper lessened. I held my breath. They might be gone, or they might have been drifting further down the driveway to find a safe landing spot.

The sound grew fainter. They weren’t landing. They were leaving.

I looked toward Quinn. His wide, frightened eyes asked the same question I had: Are they gone? It took several seconds for the sound of the helicopter to disappear altogether and that answered the question. They were gone. But had they left any soldiers behind? None of us moved for a solid five minutes.

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.