8 The Last One

Chapter 8 THE LAST ONE The smoky air was hot and steamy. Above Jack and Annie, the stream of liquid fire was steadily moving their way. "Separate and search the area!" said Cruz. Jack, Annie, Cruz, and Pinto headed in different directions to search for giant tortoises still stranded on the volcano. As Jack stepped around chunks of jagged black rock, his eyes and throat burned from the smoke. He moved between thickets of green prickly pear cactus and lava cactus. He bent down to look behind a lava plant. "Ouch!" he yelped. The lava cactus had needle-sharp spines. A clump of spines had poked through his shirt sleeve, pricking his skin. Jack yanked his arm loose, nearly falling over.

"All clear!" Cruz shouted. "Annie?" "Clear, sir!" shouted Annie. "Jack?" shouted Cruz. "Clear!" Jack yelled hoarsely. But suddenly nothing seemed clear. He could hardly see through the smoke. His thoughts were muddled. His arm hurt. He didn't know what he was doing. "We have to move quick! The lava will be here soon!" Cruz yelled. "Meet you at the chopper." Jack stumbled away from the cactus plants. He looked up and saw the river of lava oozing down the slope. He felt terrified. "Let's go, Jack!" Annie called. Jack didn't answer. "Jack, are you okay?" Annie called, running to him. "No! Yes!" said Jack, breathing hard. "I don't know!" "Hey! Where's your badge?" cried Annie. Jack looked down at his shirt. "Oh, no! It's gone!" he said. "It must have come unclipped from my pocket!" He looked around wildly.

"Okay. Stay calm. Don't panic," said Annie. "But Cruz and Pinto will see I'm just a kid!" cried Jack. "It's happened again! Just like when I lost my magic baseball cap!" "Don't worry—we'll find it. You start looking," said Annie. "I'll go tell the guys you have one more place to search for tortoises." Annie took off. Jack started crawling on his hands and knees, frantically searching for his badge. He crawled around the prickly pear and lava cactus. He looked deep into crevices. He peered under a shelf of rock. He gasped. Two shining eyes stared back at him. Jack scrunched down to see better.

The shiny black eyes belonged to a giant tortoise! "Oh, no!" Jack said. "We can't be here! You have to go! Lava's coming this way!" The creature kept staring at Jack with a calm, thoughtful gaze. The tortoise was completely tucked inside the small cave of rock. There was no way to get it out. Jack wished he were wearing his badge! He didn't know anything about giant tortoises now—how to help them or what to do! He was overcome with fear and confusion. "You've got to come out!" Jack begged. "Please. …Annie!" he called, but his voice was hoarse. "Annie!" "Listen! Lava's coming!" Jack said to the tortoise. "It's burning up everything in its path!" The creature still didn't move. "Oh, come out! Please! Hurry!" Jack pleaded. He put all his heart into begging the tortoise. "Please! Lava's headed this way! You'll be killed if you don't come out. There are soldiers to fly you to safety. Please, start walking! Walk to me, and I can take you to them! You're—you're one of the last of your kind.

…You—you have to come out.…" Jack felt tears in his eyes. "We can't lose you. Please." Slowly, finally, the tortoise stuck out its neck. It started toward Jack on its thick, stumpy legs. "Yes! Oh, man, that's it! Keep coming, keep coming!" Jack urged. He crawled backward to make room for the tortoise. "Faster. Walk faster." The giant tortoise kept plodding forward until it stepped out from under the ledge. The creature's small head moved close to Jack's face. Its flat nose was almost touching Jack's nose. Jack held his breath as he looked straight into the bright black eyes of the giant tortoise. He and the tortoise stared at each other for a long moment. Jack felt as if he were looking into a face as old as time. He felt as if the two of them had known each other forever. "You're going to be okay," he whispered to the tortoise. "I promise. I love you. The whole world loves you."

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