2 No More Running

Chapter 2 NO MORE RUNNING Coke McDonald looked up and saw blue sky overhead, crisscrossed by a series of wires stretching on into what appeared to be infinity. He was lying on a hard surface that seemed to be vibrating. It was windy and cold, and he couldn't move. Of course he couldn't move. His legs were tied together with rope, and his wrists were shackled by handcuffs.

He saw something else too. The horrible smiling face of Dr. Herman Warsaw leaning over him. His breath was bad. "I had thought that you, and geniuses like you, would be able to solve the problems of the world," Dr. Warsaw told him. "That was my grand plan. But then I realized you were just like all the other kids—snotty, disrespectful, disobedient, and immoral. You killed my young assistant Archie. Then you killed my wife. And you almost killed me. So now I'm going to kill you, at last!" Coke trembled with fear. Out of the corner

of his eye, he could see he was on the roadway of a long suspension bridge. Cars and trucks were whizzing by, but none of them were stopping. "I didn't mean to do anything!" Coke pleaded. "I'm just an ordinary kid. I didn't ask to be part of your stupid Genius Files program!" "Shut up!" Dr. Warsaw hissed. "I'm finished arguing with you! This is the end of the line." "That's right!" The voice came from behind, and Coke realized the two bowler dudes were kneeling there, hovering over him. "You tell 'im, boss," said the mustachioed bowler dude. His clean-shaven brother just snickered in the background. On Coke's other side was the maniacally grinning face of Mrs. Higgins, his health teacher. "No more running," she said, touching the scar on her neck that she received back at The House on the Rock. "No more hiding. Finally, we have you right where we want you, and this

time none of your pals are around to bail you out." She was right. Coke looked around frantically. Mya and Bones weren't anywhere to be seen. Neither was his sister. "Where's Pep?" Coke shouted. "Where's my sister? What did you do to her?" "She's dead!" yelled Mrs. Higgins. "We threw her off the bridge." "Noooooooo!" Coke screamed. Why weren't the cars stopping? Where were the police? "Mrs. Higgins," Dr. Warsaw said politely, "would you like the honor of sending this young man to his watery grave?" "Oh, I'm flattered and honored that you would even consider me for such an important task," Mrs. Higgins said, smiling girlishly. "But this is your moment, Doctor. It would only be right if you did the deed yourself. The boys and I will assist you, of course." "If you wish."

The bowler dudes grabbed Coke by his legs while Dr. Warsaw and Mrs. Higgins hoisted him up under each arm. Coke looked around and saw they were in the middle of the bridge. It would be a long way down to the water. He knew from skimming a physics textbook years earlier that for a body falling from a great height, hitting the water would be like hitting concrete. Mentally, Coke began calculating the angle and velocity his body would reach just before impact with the water. He remembered that the kinetic energy in different parts of his body was greater than the binding energy keeping them connected, so when it struck the surface his body would act more like a fluid, in the most disgusting possible way. In simpler terms, he was about to die. "Any last words?" Dr. Warsaw asked, interrupting Coke's train of thought. "No!" Coke shouted. "I'll do anything you want! Anything! Just let me go!"

"Too late for negotiations," Dr. Warsaw said. "It's the real thing, Coke." "Good one, boss," said the bowler dudes. "Shut up!" Dr. Warsaw barked at them. "Help me throw him over this railing." "No!" Coke protested as they swung his body backward, and then forward. "One! Two!" the bowler dudes counted off. The four of them swung Coke's body back once more, and this time they let go, heaving him over the railing and off the bridge. He was falling. He was helpless. It was all over.