The Arrival (Animorphs #38) by K.A. Applegate

Author:K.A. Applegate [Applegate, K.A.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2017-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

Later, Estrid and I flew through the night. Side by side. This, too, was pleasurable.

I almost wished we could spend the rest of our lives like this. Together. Free. No more war. No more duty. No more fear.

It was possible. If we remained in morph beyond two hours, we would become nothlits, like Tobias. We could go where we would never be found.

Not by the Yeerks. Not by the Andalites. And not by the Animorphs.

For one brief moment, I considered it.

<Where are we going?> she asked.

I remembered the way she had looked at me as we kissed. With admiration? Trust? Some other emotion?

We could simply fly away. We could become something or someone else. Life would no doubt be simpler. Life would be a matter of life or death, survival or failure, simple, black or white choices.

But in reality life seldom comes in simple shades of black and white. The choices in the real world, the choices we most often face, are all in shades of gray. And I lived in the real world.

<I would like to see my old friends once more,> I said.

<Why?>

<We were together through more battles than I can count,> I said. <They are no longer my comrades in arms. But I am not indifferent to them.>

<Loyalty is admirable,> she said.

<Yes. It is,> I said dejectedly.

We flew over town toward the barn. Over the mall. Past the school. Over a cluster of stores and restaurants. I took my time.

Then, <Oh, no! Estrid, circle down with me, but remain at a safe distance.>

A terrible spectacle was unfolding below. In the parking lot of a McDonald’s a grizzly bear was terrorizing a group of humans.

<It is Rachel,> I told Estrid sadly. <The angry one.>

The teenagers ran screaming into the restaurant.

Rachel lumbered through the parking lot.

BLAM! BLAM! CRASH!

One by one, she bashed in windshields and windows, slammed foot-deep dents into the sheet metal. Horns and alarms wailed.

Whooo-OOP! Whooo-OOP!

SKKareeeeee!

Rachel raged through the restaurant door.

The people inside screamed in terror. Broke windows. Poured back into the parking lot.

<What is she doing?> Estrid asked. <Are those human-Controllers?>

<The restaurant is managed by a human-Controller,> I answered. <I do not know about the other humans. I fear her destruction is indiscriminate. Prince Jake would never have allowed it.>

I saw someone else come out of the restaurant.

Cassie.

She ran into the shadows and disappeared.

Moments later, an owl emerged from the darkness and swooped into the sky.

<Hurry.> We followed Cassie from a distance. She flew back to the barn.

Estrid and I flew quietly through a hole in the roof and perched on a beam where we could watch without being seen.

Marco lay on top of several bales of hay. He was drinking a soda and reading a magazine.

“Marco!” Cassie cried, in human form now. “You’ve got to help me. Rachel’s going totally postal at McDonald’s.”

“Not my problem. Me, I like Burger King.”

Cassie snatched the magazine from Marco’s hands. “She’s going to kill somebody.”

“What’s it to you? I thought you were out of this.”

“We can’t just stand by while innocent people get hurt.

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