The Journey by K. A. Applegate

Author:K. A. Applegate [Applegate, K. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0439115167
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 2000-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

<Aaaaahhhhhhhh!> I yelled.

Flipping trunk to tail. Over and over. Couldn't sense the bottom. Couldn't sense the shape of the tunnel through which I fell.

<Rachel, it's okay!> Cassie's voice in my head. <You're falling down Marco's esophagus ->

<Oh, gross !>

<You should hit in a few seconds,> Cassie continued. <Don't panic, we're coming after you.>

Above, beneath, beyond Cassie's voice - a deep, resonating -

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

The slow rhythm vibrated through me the way the bass guitar does at a loud concert. Disconcerting. At the same time, something about the rhythm was comforting, like the hum of the fridge in a darkened kitchen.

Also . . . I smelled something. Something that wasn't pleasant. Something sour. Like rotting food. No, not exactly. More like -

Puke!

Oh, man. What else would be in your stomach? Half-digested food mixed with some sort of stomach juice. I didn't even like thinking about the stuff much less -

KER-PLASH!

I went under!

Submerged into a pitch-black sea.

My elephant body started to sink. And then I realized the fluid surrounding me was strangely hot. My leathery skin began to itch. To burn!

Air!

I flailed my big back legs. Rose higher.

I hit something soft with my head. Something that gave under the impact and sprang back.

The side of Marco's stomach? Or the top?

My lungs were burning!

Was there air inside a stomach? Good question. And not one I had an answer to. I had to find the opening I'd fallen through! Somehow get back up . . .

Morph! I told myself.

No time!

I needed air now!

I tried to see above me. Too dark!

Air . . .

I needed air . . .

And then, through the panic, like a vision, came an image from the Discovery Channel. An elephant . . . swimming.

I let the elephant brain bubble up. My massive legs kicked. Slowly, I started to rise, I reached my trunk high, up toward where I thought the air should be.

Yes!

I broke the surface. Sucked air in through my trunk, filling my lungs. Ahhh . . .

Rotten, stinking air. Glorious.

Whoever says TV isn't worthwhile isn't watching the right shows.

I looked around, dazed and disoriented. My weak elephant eyes more useless than before. But the sounds! Overwhelming sounds. Sloshing. Bubbling. Far away, that low thump thump. Also - voices!

<Look! One of the aliens has followed us!>

Tseeew!

I jerked sideways.

The Dracon beam shot went wide.

The Helmacrons!

The beam had lit up the air pocket long enough for me to see I was sharing the cavernous space with eight or ten of them. They were huddled together, way off to my left side. To me in my sub-miniature state, they seemed about half a mile away.

More media imagery. Now it was the drowning scene in Titanic. Only instead of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, this nightmare flick starred a pachyderm and a handful of marble-eyed aliens.

Tseeew!

That wild shot let me see that though the Helmacrons' legs were submerged, the rest of their bodies bobbed above the liquid. Treading water or floating? Couldn't tell. Couldn't see any effort to stay afloat.

I could, however, hear them arguing.

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.