The Tundra Trials by Monica Tesler

Author:Monica Tesler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

16

WE ALL STOP WALKING. AND talking. And fighting. We stare at one another with clueless expressions on our faces.

“Did it say ‘worm’?” Lucy asks.

I nod.

“What exactly does that mean?” Cole asks.

“No clue,” Marco says. “But it can’t be good.”

“We need to get out of here,” I say. “Let’s fly.”

“What about the scrambler?” Cole asks. “We can’t use our gloves.”

Yikes. We’ll have to use the manual grips, the ones that nearly got me laughed out of the EarthBound Academy last tour. I fish the grips out of my pack pockets and swap out my glove grips.

“We’re not supposed to use our packs inside Gulagaven no matter which grips we’re using!” Lucy says.

“No one’s going to know, because no one’s down here!” Marco yells.

“Yeah, no one is stupid enough to be in the trash tunnel!” Lucy screams back.

“Are you calling me stupid?” Marco snaps.

“Shut up!” I shout. “This is an emergency!”

Just go. Mira lifts off in her blast pack and soars ahead in the tunnel.

I’m not going to stand around listening to Marco and Lucy fight either. I push off after Mira.

Fly straight, Jasper. That’s all I have to do. No crazy maneuvers, just straight ahead.

As I close in on Mira, a second alarm sounds in the tunnel: “Attention! Worm released. Trash clearance in progress.”

“Oh no!” Lucy cries behind me.

“I have a bad feeling about this!” Marco shouts.

My pack stutters and drops. I hit the ground hard on my right hip. Scrambling to my feet, I try to fly, but my pack won’t budge.

Marco and Lucy zoom past.

“Hey!” Stupid straps. I can’t even lift off.

Mira stops in midair and zooms back for me. Her brain bumps up against mine, questioning. Up ahead, Marco drops to the ground. “I suck with these straps, remember?” I say to Mira.

She shakes her head. Battery. She shrugs out of her pack and shoves it in my face, showing that the orange charging light is blinking.

I check the battery charge on my pack. It’s not the straps. I’m out of juice.

A strange noise sounds in the tunnel, a peculiar combination of squishing and scratching. The noise grows louder every second. Then the walls of the tunnel start to shake.

Mira’s eyes latch on to mine. Run.

We take off on foot through the tunnel. Marco and Cole are up ahead, checking their packs. Lucy hits the ground several meters in front of Cole. It looks like packs aren’t an option for anyone.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” I shout as we overtake Marco. “Go!”

Marco catches us, and we speed ahead to Cole and Lucy. “It’s coming! Run!”

A sound like wet sneakers on a tile floor swells behind us, louder every second.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” Lucy gasps as she sprints.

I’d tell her to shut up, but I don’t want to waste my breath. I need all the lung power I have to outrun whatever is behind us.

The squishing noise is so loud, it must be close. So close it could squash me. I chance a glance over my shoulder.

“Oh my god!” I shout.

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