Chapter 10

Chapter Ten I sit up, startled, not feeling right. I feel movement. Like I'm on a waterbed, I think. Of course I've never been on a waterbed because waterbeds are for cool dudes. "Dirk?" I groan, groggy. "Is that you moving around? I'm trying to sleep." Dirk's only response is a nasty, phlegmy snore- snort.

And then I smell something like gym socks slathered with buffalo wing sauce. "Dirk!" I bark, sitting up. "Did you let one rip in your sleep?" I'm about to give him major grief—or maybe compliment him on the stunningly powerful odor he emitted—when I realize it's a different smell. Not like anything I've smelled before. It's not evil. But it is monstrous... My stomach rolls and my wheelbarrow bed shifts and squeaks. I'm suddenly feeling not so great about our situation. I crawl out of my sleeping bag and start down the scrap mountain. But then— SNAP! My foot punches through a splintered piece of wood. I pull my sneaker back, but it's sort of stuck, like I stepped on a pile of Elmer's glue or something. Finally freeing it, I push the scrap aside and peer through the hole. Something is glowing: a yellow- orange color.

I press my eye closer, and then— TENTACLE BURST. I topple back. Then I'm suddenly sliding down a scrap avalanche! I tumble into Quint, saying, "Wake up, wake up, wake up." "Huh?" Quint says. "WAKE. UP," I say, wanting to shout but trying to whisper. "This isn't just a pile of junk we're on."

"What's happening?" June asks, all dazed. "I was having the best dream. I had a phone again and I was texting... Emoji heaven..." Dirk's already up. He's realizing what I'm realizing. He stuffs the scraps he gathered for Bardle into his sleeping bag. June grabs her new flagpole spear. I'm about to shout, "NO!" but it's too late. She's pushing the spear down into the junk, using it to get to her feet. I hear a SPURT as the sharp tip hits whatever is beneath us and— GRAWWRRRRR!

Guys. This isn't just a scrap heap. it's something else. Something we didn't invite to our Sleepover. "Like an annoying little sister?" Quint asks. I swear, this kid—it takes him longer than anyone to get his head together when he wakes up. The junk rocks, everything beneath our feet sliding and quaking and shifting. "No, Quint, not like an annoying little sister! Like..."

A MONSTER. The scrap mountain EXPLODES from the inside out, and we're flung to the hard dirt ground. We scramble across the lot, diving for cover behind a heaping pile of tires. "What is that thing?" June says, gasping. "It's big," Dirk says. "That's what it is." I pull the Louisville Slicer from its sheath. Staying low, I wriggle on my belly toward Quint. Together, we peek around the tire mound—and we gasp in horror... "It's like the Kraken," Quint whispers. "The Kraken is a water monster," I say. "Come on—how many times did we watch Pirates of the Caribbean together?" "Perhaps it's an aboveground Kraken," Quint suggests.