Chapter 14

chapter fourteen Water. So much water. It is a town, completely flooded. And there's no way around it.... I've got a bad feeling about this. And not just because I didn't pack a swimsuit. "How are we supposed to get across?" I ask. "Ooh! I got it! I got it!!" Globlet exclaims. "What if... I inflate like a life raft and pull us all across?" "Wait, you can inflate like a life raft?!?" I ask.

"Oh. Oh, right. Yeah, no. I can't. Never mind, ignore that idea." I sigh and take a step forward. I evaluate the situation like a reporter, mining the facts for any information we can use. There appears to be enough floating wreckage—cars, trucks, garbage—for us to jump from one to the next. I think, Just like crossing a stream by hopping from rock to rock. Only way more intense. Neon runs to the edge of the water, then looks back—he's eager to cross. "Okay," I say. "I've seen you leap about and launch yourself. Now you're gonna do the same—from thing to thing—all the way across." I reach into my backpack and pull out my spear that was split in two from being dragged by the Ogre. I hand a piece to Johnny Steve. "We're going to pole-vault. Like the Olympics. We can make it all the way across without ever touching water."

For myself, I use the polearm I swiped from the Rifters. Moments later, we stare out at the watery obstacle course. Then I take a deep breath, crouch, and launch, and we're off— I land solidly atop the roof of a floating truck. Johnny Steve follows—and after a slow, tense moment—Neon jumps, too. I look around, find the peak of a slanted IHOP roof, and make the next leap. BAM. Perfect landing.

We continue like this. No talking. We can't afford to lose focus. We've made it nearly halfway across when Neon seems to be gaining courage. We're standing on the roof of a floating ambulance when Neon gives me this look, like he wants to make sure I'm paying attention. Then, screwing up his face with determination, he swan-dives off the roof! I see the moment when Neon would catch the breeze, if he had wings, and find myself holding my breath. It's like I'm hoping maybe extra backup wings are suddenly going to spring out and take him up into the sky. But... nope.

SMACK He SMASHES onto our next stop: a tangled mess of floating plastic. He tries to get to his feet, but instead he just lands flat on his belly. "Neon! What were you thinking?!?" This is not the kind of setback we needed. But Neon's the whole reason we're doing this at all. Suddenly, Johnny Steve is scurrying past me. "Coming, creature!" he says as he vaults off the ambulance and lands on the plastic island. I'm next, and I hit the plastic surface and slide into Neon. He tries to get up, again, but slips and now he's sliding toward the side.

There's a loud THWACK as he slams his talons into the plastic. "Come on, Neon, you can do it! Put a little pumpkin to it!" Johnny Steve calls down. He looks over to me and says, "That's one of my favorite human phrases." As Neon's talons dig in deeper, I feel the floating hunk of plastic shake. Before I can respond, there is a loud— BBRRRR-ERRMM The plastic starts rising. I've been in situations like this before, and they don't go well. "June!" Globlet shrieks. "My tummy's got the flutterbies!" This plastic is not plastic, I realize. It's skin. It's a body. And it's rising, coming out of the water, higher and higher. "EVERYONE, GRAB ON TO SOMETHING!" I shout. And they do.