This Town Is a Nightmare by M. K. Krys

Author:M. K. Krys [Krys, M. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

13

“Should we be concerned that you know how to make a homemade bomb?” Everleigh asked, angling her flashlight at Arthur’s hands.

The twins were bent over Arthur at the edge of the giant hole Beacon and Galen had dug on the side of Town Hall Road with an old shovel they had found behind the inn. According to the building plans, this was the exact spot where the underground pipes of the Sov’s on-land base joined up with the city’s system. So here they were. Ready to set off an explosion.

“Relax, I modeled this off an experiment I did in the fifth grade for the science fair,” Arthur said. “I’m not a terrorist.”

“Sounds like something a terrorist would say,” Everleigh said.

Arthur just shook his head.

“Are you sure it’s going to work?” Beacon asked.

“Well, to be honest, it didn’t exactly work at the science fair,” Arthur said. “My rocket just sort of . . . tipped over instead of launching off the table. I got a B-minus.” He said this as if he were making a confession.

“So embarrassing,” Everleigh said sarcastically.

“Incoming,” Beacon said.

Everleigh quickly switched off the flashlight. They ducked into the grass on the side of the road as a car whizzed past. After a moment, Beacon poked his head up again.

“Coast is clear.”

Arthur and Everleigh popped back up. Traffic seemed so scarce until you had to duck every time a car went past. It was starting to get annoying.

“Are you almost done?” Everleigh said, switching the flashlight back on.

“Actually, yes.” Arthur pushed himself up to his knees and pulled a stub of a candle out of his pocket. “Once this is lit, we need to get way back. When the flame catches on this stuff,” he said, gesturing to whatever it was he’d sprinkled over the pipe, “it’s going to blow.”

Arthur tied a rope around the candle, and then he pulled a barbecue lighter from his pocket. After three attempts, he managed to get a bright blue flame burning from the end of the long wand. He lit the wick, then gently lowered the candle into the hole. He stood up slowly, careful not to disturb the dirt. All three of them took big, cautious steps backward, then Arthur gave the rope a hard yank meant to tip over the candle, and they turned around and ran.

Beacon and Everleigh dove behind a large tree, and Arthur tucked and rolled after them like some sort of action movie star.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

“Well, this is anticlimactic,” Everleigh said after a few minutes had gone by.

“I don’t get it. It should have worked,” Arthur said.

“Maybe the candle went out?” Beacon suggested.

“That’s possible,” Arthur said. “It is a bit windy.”

He stood up.

There was a blinding flash of light as the pipe exploded. Beacon saw Arthur go flying back, right before he covered his head and ducked low. Shards of dirt and metal sprayed over him, and he flattened himself farther into the cold grass. Slowly, he opened one eye. His ears rang, and a pillar of smoke and dust funneled into the air from where the bomb had gone off.

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