5 You’ve Got to Have Guts

Chapter 5 YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE GUTS The blood river swooshed Andrew and Judy into a space crisscrossed by long, thick white strands. "These things look like tent ropes," said Andrew. meep… "Act kinda like tent ropes," said Thudd. "Called heartstrings. Tent ropes hold tent in place. Heartstrings hold heart flaps in place." Andrew whammed against a tough, stretchy heartstring and bounced off. The wide, fast river of blood zoomed Andrew and Judy up and up and around. "It's like we're on a blood roller coaster," said Andrew. "Aaack!" yelled Judy. "I'm gonna be sick!"

Whoosh… Whooosh… Whoosh… "Sounds like a big storm," said Andrew. meep… "Sound of Unkie Al breathing," said Thudd. "Leaving heart now. Going to lungs." "Super-duper pooper-scooper!" said Andrew. "We can get out of Uncle Al soon!" The blood carried them into a narrow passageway. They were in a lung capillary now. Whoosh… Whooosh… Whoosh… The blood cell ahead of Andrew was changing from deep purple to dark red. "Woofers!" said Andrew. "It's getting easier to breathe!" meep… "Red blood cells picking up oxygen from lungs," said Thudd, pointing to his face screen. "So how do we get out of this stupid capillary?" asked Judy. meep… "Get out same way big-eater cells get in," said Thudd. He pointed to faint lines in the capillary wall.

"Capillary wall made of single layer of cells. Kinda like patchwork quilt. Got spaces between cells where stuff get in, stuff get out. Food, oxygen, big-eater cells." As the blood sped them along, Andrew ran his hands along the capillary wall, feeling for a space. His fingers poked through an opening between two cells. He grabbed on to the edge of one of them. Judy slammed into him. "Ergh!" Andrew groaned. The current of blood pulled at them. Andrew struggled to spread the cells apart. Suddenly he felt something soft creep across his fingers, then across the top of his hand. Long, thin tentacles came slithering through the slit in the capillary. A tentacle poked Andrew in the eye!

"Holy moly!" hollered Andrew. "A big eater!" He let go of the cell edges and pulled himself completely inside his red blood cell. A stream of bright red cells whooshed Andrew and Judy off again. meep… "Blood got lotsa oxygen now," said Thudd. "Gonna leave lungs." Judy ran both hands along the capillary wall. "We'd better find another hole," she said. "Or else we'll be stuck in Uncle Al forever!" The capillary tube widened.

meep… "Too late!" said Thudd. "Going back to heart now. Heart gonna pump blood into body." The blood river drove them through the flaps of another heart valve. It slammed them into tough heartstrings. It whooshed them up again, then down. "Holy moly!" said Andrew. "Where are we going now?" meep… "Brain, maybe," said Thudd. "Foot, maybe. All kindsa places to go in Unkie Al." Andrew and Judy tumbled through a cloud of prickly orange specks. The specks stuck to their red blood cells like dust. Eek! squeaked Thudd. "Virus!" "Viruses!" said Andrew. "Viruses give us colds and flus!" meep… "And lotsa worse stuff, too," said Thudd. "They're so tiny!" said Judy. meep… "Virus tiny" agreed Thudd. "But virus can get into cell. Change way cell work. Can make

Unkie sick, sick, sick!" Suddenly long, sticky tentacles wrapped around Andrew's red blood cell, then Judy's. "Oh no!" said Judy, ducking inside her cell. "These red blood cells were supposed to keep the stupid big eaters off of us." "Wowzers schnauzers!" said Andrew, peeking out of his cell. "The big eaters are pulling the viruses off of our cells!" They tossed about in the river of plasma as the big eaters crept over their cells, tugging at the prickly viruses. After a while, Andrew felt no tentacles slithering outside his cell. He poked his head up. The big eaters were gone, and most of the orange specks were gone, too. They were in a narrow capillary now. The blood sent them lurching through a zigzagging path. meep… "In Unkie's intestines now," said Thudd. "Part where food get into blood through capillary spaces."