Heroes of the Dustbin

by Tyler Whitesides

  “You’re sure?” Spencer asked. “V told me they were here. It was the last thing she said.”

  Sach slipped off the trunk and skidded down the trash pile to join them in the clearing. “I’m telling you,” he said, his expression sober, “the scissors aren’t here.”

  Spencer knew what this was doing to him. After learning the truth about the Toxite brain nests, the Dark Aurans knew the scissors were their only hope. The other alternative for stopping the creatures meant death for the three ageless boys.

  “They have to be here somewhere,” Spencer persisted. “Maybe Bookworm didn’t find them all.”

  “Bookworm?” Daisy turned to her pet, who sat hunkered at the edge of the clearing. “Did you find all the scissors in the landfill?”

  Bookworm nodded, slowly at first, and then overly fast.

  “He’s lying!” Bernard said. “The Thingamajunk’s lying to us!”

  “He wouldn’t,” said Daisy, shooting a questioning look at the garbage figure.

  “Trust me,” Bernard continued. “I know how to read trash. Look at the corners of his textbook. See the way they’re drooped down?” Instantly, Bookworm perked up the edges of his mouth. “And the guilty look in his eye . . .”

  “Bookworm doesn’t have eyes,” Spencer pointed out.

  “Fair,” said the garbologist. “But if he did have eyes, I bet they’d look guilty!”

  “Bookworm!” Daisy turned sharply to her pet. “Are you lying to me?”

  The Thingamajunk shrank down, bits of trash sloughing away as he made himself smaller and smaller.

  “Are there other scissors in the landfill that you didn’t bring us?” Spencer asked.

  Slowly, Bookworm nodded his head, pencil teeth chattering from his guilty nerves.

  “Where are they?” Alan asked, but now the Thingamajunk drew back, shaking his head. He drummed his assortment of trash fingers on the ground.

  “I think he’s afraid,” Bernard said.

  Daisy stepped over to her pet, suddenly warm with compassion. She put an arm around his smelly shoulders and looked him in the face. “It’s okay,” she soothed. “Thanks for getting all those,” she gestured to the pile of collectibles in the center of the clearing. “But we need you to tell us where the other scissors are. Why didn’t you bring them?”

  Bookworm seemed to swallow his nerves. Daisy’s calm voice had a restoring effect on the Thingamajunk, and he collected more trash from a nearby pile, growing back to his original large size.

  “Do you know where the Glopified scissors are?” Spencer asked, doing his best to keep the friendly tone that Bookworm responded to most readily.

  The Thingamajunk nodded his head.

  “Is it far?” Alan asked.

  This time Bookworm shook his head, holding up one finger. Then, thinking about it, Bookworm held up another.

  “One hour,” Bernard said. “Maybe two.”

  Bookworm fist-bumped the garbologist again, while Spencer considered that every conversation with Bookworm was like a game of charades.

  “Then why didn’t you bring the scissors?” Daisy asked.

  Bookworm made a sound that represented a savage growl. Then he worked something up from his garbage body and hacked it onto the ground.

  Daisy picked up the metal road sign. One corner was bent over, but it was clearly a Do Not Enter sign, with a red circle in the middle.

  “The scissors are somewhere you’re not allowed to go?” Spencer asked. Bookworm gave a thumbs-up.

  “Aha!” Sach clapped his hands. “Is it down by the old staircase? Next to the washing machine?”

  Bookworm clapped his hands, apparently relieved that someone else knew about the place he couldn’t go.

  “What’s so bad about that place?” Daisy asked.

  “There’s a strange Thingamajunk that lives in that region,” Sach said. “Most Thingamajunks are nomadic. They wander about the landfill, churning up new trash. Not this one. He’s mean as murder and really territorial. He doesn’t let anyone near his washing machine. Not even other Thingamajunks.”

  “What’s so special about the washing machine?” Alan asked.

  “He lives there.”

  “Whoa,” Daisy said. “He must be really small.”

  Sach and Bookworm shook their heads in unison.

  “Or the washing machine is really big?” Daisy guessed.

  “He’s a collector, of sorts,” said Sach. “We nicknamed him the Hoarder because he keeps anything that comes across his path.”

  “Can’t we trash-talk this grouch?” Bernard suggested. “It seems to work with all the other Thingamajunks.”

  “Or maybe Bookworm can do the talking,” Spencer said. “One Thingamajunk to another.”

  Bookworm shook his head wildly, grunting a few times. He actually looked scared. Spencer didn’t blame him. If what Sach said about this bully Thingamajunk was true, then Bookworm was the very opposite. Daisy’s garbage pet had reacted to kindness, not trash-talk. He liked watching television and eating books. He was the only Thingamajunk who had ever willingly associated with humans.

  “I think it’s time to pay a visit to this Hoarder,” Alan said. “Bookworm, can you show us the way to the washing machine?”

  The Thingamajunk was trembling, but he gave a weak nod.

  Spencer tightened his janitorial belt and checked to make sure that his coveralls were fully zipped. “Should we go get the others?” He asked. Penny and Marv had been working with Olin and Aryl to make sure the Rebel army would be equipped for battle. Rho and the other girls were likely manning the perimeter defenses with Dez.

  “I wouldn’t recommend it,” Sach said. “If we want to face the Hoarder with any sort of diplomacy, we’ll be better off in a small group.”

  “Diplomacy,” Bernard scoffed. “You really think we have a chance of trash-talking our way to the scissors?”

  Bookworm gave the answer they were all fearing. He shook his head and stormed off in the direction of the Hoarder Thingamajunk.

  Chapter 34

  “Heads.”

  The Hoarder’s dwelling was a decent hike from Bookworm’s collected pile of ordinary scissors. Depending on the positioning of the landfill, it might have been days away. The Spade literally had the power to move the ground, bringing up new landscapes as old trash piles folded under. The way the Dark Aurans had left the landfill after using the Spade actually worked out quite conveniently.

  During the hike, Spencer saw a familiar forest of overgrown forks and spoons. He knew that just beyond lay the Glop lagoon and the Broomstaff. But he didn’t get to revisit the old sites, as Bookworm led the group another way.

  Not quite two hours had passed when they came to the staircase Sach had mentioned. It was at least fifty feet wide and more than a hundred stairs high. Spencer didn’t know how the stairway had gotten there. He’d stopped wondering about the fantastical formations at the landfill. It was enough to know that the ground was saturated with Glop and the magic deformed the debris in strange ways.

  The odd thing about the stairs was the way they were situated. They rose on an angle into the blue sky, leading absolutely nowhere.

  Bookworm paused in the shadow of the staircase. He didn’t seem eager to go any farther. Peering around the edge of the stairs, Spencer saw a wide-open field of garbage. On the far side of the field was the largest washing machine he’d ever seen.

  The machine was an old model that had been tipped on its side. The dials and knobs were enormous, and the lid was the size of a football field. The machine had once been white, but rust streaked down the sides and the paint was chipping in huge flakes. The lid was a little bent, and it stood barely open, like a door ajar. Inside was impenetrable darkness.

  “The scissors are inside the washing machine?” Alan clarified with Bookworm.

  The Thingamajunk nodded, pointing across the field of trash to the Hoarder’s spacious dwelling.

  “So, who’s our best trash-talker?” Bernard
asked.

  “Definitely not me,” said Daisy. Her idea of trash-talking usually led to compliments.

  “I’m guessing Sach has the most practice,” Spencer said.

  The Dark Auran nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from his white hairline. “I say we team up on him,” Sach said. “It might be more effective if we all trash-talk at once.”

  “Good idea,” Alan said, stepping out into the littered field. “Let’s do this.”

  Daisy turned to Bookworm. “Thanks for leading us,” she said. “You want to wait here?” Bookworm settled down into a pile of trash, his textbook mouth expressing a clear look of relief at not being asked to join the confrontation. He pointed two fingers at the place where his eyes might be, then turned them to point at Daisy.

  “Okay,” she said, patting him on the head. “You just watch.”

  Spencer waited until Daisy was ready to go; then the two kids jogged a few steps to catch up to Bernard, Alan, and Sach.

  The walk across the field was long. Spencer was sweating in no time, and it didn’t help that he felt exposed and watched. More than once, he caught sight of movement around the edges of the field. He thought he might have imagined it until Bernard spoke up.

  “Looks like we’re not the only ones interested to see how this goes,” said the garbologist. Spencer saw them clearly then, other Thingamajunks spying from a safe distance.

  “If anyone sees a chance to slip into the washing machine, do it,” Alan said. “As soon as Sach identifies the Glopified scissors, we make a full retreat back to the Rebels.”

  It was eerily quiet as they approached the dwelling. Lined up on both sides of the dark entrance were more than a dozen oversized pencils. They rose straight out of the ground like trees, sharp tips skyward.

  Staked onto the pointy end of each pencil was a different scrap of trash. On one stake, a deflated soccer ball tucked inside a dirty pillowcase. On another, a computer keyboard with a fringe of old shoelaces. There was a skewered toaster with flip-flops in the slots meant for bread. A lamp shade wrapped around a fake potted plant.

  Spencer was just wondering what the strange trash could mean when Bernard whispered a cryptic word: “Heads.”

  Spencer suddenly found it hard to swallow. His skin prickled with goose bumps despite the heat. The garbologist was right. These were the skewered heads of dead Thingamajunks, posted outside the Hoarder’s dwelling to deliver a very clear message.

  No wonder Bookworm was terrified. This guy was more than a hoarder. He was a cold-blooded killer. Spencer was just wondering if perhaps they’d made a mistake when a shadow passed out of the washing machine and the Hoarder stepped into view.

  It was, without a doubt, the largest Thingamajunk Spencer had ever seen. Its body was an assortment of trash. Scraps of metal and bags of rotten groceries formed legs and arms. The torso was mostly comprised of a wooden dining table. The creature was nearly twice the size of Bookworm; Spencer had to look straight up to see its head.

  The Hoarder’s mouth was the bumper of an old pickup truck. Its head was a battered lawnmower that was tipped backward, the bottom displayed outward like a face. The moment the Hoarder saw the humans standing uninvited in the entrance, the lawnmower blades spun into action, its face now a blur of movement.

  Spencer and his companions all started trash-talking at once. Among his own insults, Spencer caught snippets from the others.

  “ . . . smell worse than dirty laundry . . .”

  “ . . . fender bender with your face . . .”

  “ . . . only thing you scare is my lawn . . .”

  “ . . . have a picnic on that kitchen table . . .”

  The trash-talking didn’t seem to have its usual effect. Instead of backing down, the Hoarder appeared to be fueled by the taunting words. The large Thingamajunk seemed to grow angrier and more aggressive with every sentence.

  The Hoarder shrieked, a noise that sounded like its whirling lawnmower blades had been pressed against a chalkboard. With one swipe of its lanky arm, all five humans were knocked backward, quickly silencing the useless trash-talk.

  Spencer didn’t doubt the Hoarder’s cruel intentions as it leaned forward to pluck the humans out of the garbage. The Thingamajunk’s hand was hovering just above Daisy when a familiar bellow pealed across the trash field.

  The Hoarder froze, and everyone turned to see Bookworm standing in the middle of the field on quivering legs. The Hoarder seemed to laugh at the smaller Thingamajunk. It pounced over the humans, landing awkwardly close to Bookworm.

  Spencer braced himself for the worst, but the two Thingamajunks did not fight. They stared at one another for a moment, both making short grunting sounds. Then the Hoarder stretched tall on its legs and beat its chest, heavy hands pounding on the kitchen table torso.

  The Hoarder stepped back and Bookworm repeated the gesture, thumping his chest while bellowing as loudly as he could. Both Thingamajunks dropped onto their knuckles and circled one another. Then they turned away and headed for opposite sides of the field.

  All around, the shy Thingamajunks that had been spying now poured into sight. They whooped and grunted, making their way along the edges of the field.

  Spencer was on his feet again, trying to keep up with the others as they ran to the corner where Bookworm waited by the stairs.

  “What’s going on?” Daisy shouted when she reached her pet. “What’s happening?”

  The Hoarder was crouched beside the entrance to the washing machine as the other Thingamajunks filed onto the stairway. They seated themselves on the stairs, quieting their shouts once they had settled in.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sach muttered. Spencer didn’t have to ask what was about to happen. The scene was quickly taking shape. The stairway was an array of bleachers, and the field, an arena.

  Bookworm had accepted a challenge to fight the Hoarder.

  Daisy’s pet Thingamajunk didn’t look nearly as brave as he had a moment ago. His garbage body was shaking and his textbook mouth quivered.

  “What did you do?” Daisy asked.

  Bookworm’s only comfort seemed to be in holding onto Daisy. The Thingamajunk absently stroked her head as if to reassure himself that she was safe. That was why Bookworm had rushed to their rescue. Despite his intense fear of the Hoarder, Bookworm couldn’t bear to see Daisy in danger.

  “You good at boxing?” Bernard asked. Bookworm shook his head. The Thingamajunk didn’t seem to believe in himself.

  “It’s okay,” Daisy said. “We’ll help you fight him.”

  Bookworm gave a thumbs-down gesture, pointing to the host of Thingamajunks seating themselves on the staircase.

  “The others won’t let us help,” Bernard assumed. “You have to fight this guy alone.”

  “What happens if you win?” Alan asked.

  Bookworm brought his hands together like he was snipping an imaginary pair of scissors.

  “And if you lose?”

  The Thingamajunk pointed across the field to where the lifeless heads were staked on the oversized pencils.

  “You can do this,” Daisy encouraged. “The Hoarder might be big, but you’re faster. I believe in you!” Daisy gave Bookworm a big hug.

  Bernard clapped his hands together. “Now go out there and kick some trash!”

  Chapter 35

  “And in this corner . . .”

  Spencer was seated on the fourth row of the staircase bleachers, Daisy and Sach on either side. Alan put a comforting arm around Daisy’s shoulders as she wrung her hands in anxious anticipation over the impending fight.

  Dr. Bernard Weizmann stood at the corner of the staircase, as close to the arena as he could get. Bookworm crouched in front of him, and the garbologist massaged the Thingamajunk’s trash-bag shoulders.

  “I’m your cornerman,” Bernard said. “You’re speedy and you’re smart. We’re going to use that to our advantage. I’ll be spotting for weaknesses in the Hoarder and tending your injuries. Check back with me
as often as you can.”

  At the mention of injuries, Bookworm seemed to slump down a bit. Across the arena, the Hoarder reared up and shrieked, pounding its garbage arms against its kitchen-table chest.

  Spencer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Behind them, the spectator Thingamajunks took up a wild noise. It was like an extreme sporting event, with a violent aspect that was reminiscent of ancient Rome and the Colosseum gladiators.

  Like a boxing announcer, Bernard stepped forward. “In the far corner we have . . . the Hoarder! He’s violent, he’s mean, and he’s rather ugly.”

  As the Hoarder’s shriek subsided, Bookworm rose to his full height, Bernard staggering back as the Thingamajunk bristled his trash to look as bulky as possible. He roared and banged his chest the same way he’d done when he accepted the Hoarder’s challenge.

  “And in this corner . . .” Bernard shouted. “Bookworm the Brave! He’s fast, he’s smart, and he’s shaking like a leaf in the wind!”

  The arena fell strangely silent. The spectator Thingamajunks held perfectly still, not even daring to rustle their garbage bodies.

  The Hoarder charged, galloping with all four limbs as it churned up trash. Bookworm, his trembling visible even from the staircase bleachers, met the charge, sprinting directly at his opponent.

  The two Thingamajunks collided in the center of the arena. The Hoarder’s fist pounded directly into Bookworm’s chest, knocking loose more than a dozen pieces of his body. Daisy winced and the spectator Thingamajunks grunted.

  Bookworm immediately crumpled to a pile of trash, reappearing a split second later at the edge of the field next to Bernard.

  “You’re doing . . . great,” the garbologist said unconvincingly. “Just keep your head protected. You can always make another body; just don’t let him get your head!”

  The Hoarder was coming, clearly anxious to squash Bookworm and reestablish its territory in front of all the Thingamajunks watching.

  Bernard backed up, finding himself a little too close to the action as Bookworm ducked the Hoarder’s next punch. The Thingamajunks circled a few times, Bookworm taking several desperate swings that yielded nothing but air.