The Fortress of Clouds by J.A.J. Peters

Author:J.A.J. Peters [Peters, J.A.J.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-11-24T04:30:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen: The Gleaming White Monster

When Lorenz woke them all by crying, “Pónganse las pilas!” it couldn’t have been any later than about four in the morning, and Ben’s head still swam with the fragments of his dreams. It felt like he had been tossing around in a giant sack all night. Thomas roused himself like it was Christmas morning, and Hannah swayed back and forth as she tried to get up. As they made their way out into the cavern with the other kids, there was this nervous eye contact among the four of them, a look that seemed to say, well I guess we won’t be coming back here, will we? It wasn’t as if they had any possessions to leave behind, or memories to be tearful over. But Ben saw Alison and Hannah cast a sad glance across the cavern towards the House of Proof where Ming was still asleep. And Ben, too, realized that he’d miss Cabra, Basho, and Jawl in a weird sort of way.

They were each given crisp black and white army fatigues just like Lorenz’s. They scarfed down a quick breakfast of smoked salmon (expropriated from the finest seafood restaurant in town, according to Delfa) and scrambled eggs on bagels. As they made their way to the tunnel runners, Lorenz gave them all heavy backpacks full of the bombs they would use to blow up the Children’s Facility. And out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Jawl and Basho each swing a machine gun over their backs, and Lorenz place pistols into holsters under each of his arms. It was hard to tell just how many kids were assembling for the raid. There were maybe twelve of them in all: Lorenz, Basho, Jawl, Delfa, the four Graham children, and a few others Ben couldn’t make out.

They clambered into the two tunnel runners, Lorenz barking at them to move quicker. Since each machine only had seats for four, two people had to stand up and hang onto the roll bars. The door was opened by a guard and the two machines surged to life with screams that ripped into the black silence in front of them.

The tunnel runner sent up huge wakes of mud behind them, their headlights barely able to pierce the darkness in front of them. It felt like they were a bullet exploding down the barrel of a gun. Lorenz was with Basho in the lead car, since Basho was apparently the only one who knew exactly which turns would take them to the Children’s Facility. The four Graham were in the second tunnel runner with Delfa and Jawl, who was driving the vehicle with far too much enthusiasm. Ben sat in the front passenger seat and between him and Jawl lay Jawl’s big machine gun. It smelled like greasy steel, and was bouncing around a little too much for Ben’s comfort.

Random turns were made every minute or so, the machines barely avoiding smashing into the walls. Ben felt like he was going to pass out.

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