by Jude Watson
Yoshi crashed to his knees.
“Yoshi?”
“I’m okay.”
“That was awesome.”
Yoshi dragged himself to his feet. He wiped his katana, taking his time, hoping Anna couldn’t see his shaking hands. “It’s dead.”
“I’ll say.”
“These are weird trees.”
Anna regarded the trees. “Weird trees for a weird place. I think they grow upside down. Look at those hexagonal shapes right near the ground. Except they’re not quite six-sided. They’re sort of … warped. I think it’s a wasp hive, but it’s funny that wasps would build their hive so low here.” She looked across the clearing. “Do you know the way back?”
“I think so,” Yoshi said. “I came from over there.”
She looked at him, puzzled. “No, you came from over there.” She pointed in the opposite direction.
“Look where the ground is trampled,” he said. “And I crashed through those bushes over … ” He stopped. Anna was right. The bushes all looked the same now.
“Do you mean you came to find me and you got lost, too?”
“I didn’t say that,” Yoshi said irritably. “I’m not lost.”
He gazed out at the clearing. Nothing looked familiar.
“I don’t know which way to go,” he admitted. He kicked the tree in frustration, then ducked as a large mantis-like insect flew toward him.
“Watch out!” Anna saw the mantis buzz higher. “You don’t want to disturb the hive. They might sting. They’re like bumblebees—aerodynamically, they shouldn’t be able to fly. But look how fast that guy is.”
“There’s another one,” Yoshi said.
And then another, and another. The bugs seemed to come from nowhere, rising up, darting toward them as if taunting them, then flying above their heads. Soon a cloud of them had gathered.
“Um … ” Anna said, waving the air. “OW!”
One of the mantis bugs had chomped on her arm. Yoshi waved another away from his face. It circled around and buzzed by his ear. A quick, electric pain pulsed.
“I think these are the insects they call jawbugs,” Yoshi said.
Five, ten, twenty more flew into the cloud. Yoshi could hear the buzz of wings and jaws working.
Clack clack clack clack.
“Fight or flight?” Anna whispered.
There was a time to make a stand. There was a time to run.
The punishing voice in his head that was his father said, Cowards run, brave men stand.
Dad, I’m starting to realize something. I’m smarter than you.
“Run,” Yoshi said.
The light was lowering. Shadows were blue pools under the trees. Hank and Kimberly led the way. They’d left the rest of the Cubs at the compound, but all the Killbots had joined them on the search. Two of their own were out there.
Yoshi and Anna had now been gone for hours.
Hank and Kimberly had explained that they were moving in a spiral around the compound, gradually widening out. It was the only way to navigate. They would get lost if they tried to go straight. They dropped blue light cubes to mark their path as they went and carried makeshift bows and arrows: “Not that accurate, but better than nothing,” Kimberly said with a shrug.
“But how do you know which way to go?” Molly asked. “I’m already confused.”
“We have one marker,” Kimberly explained. “See that rust-colored moss?” She pointed at a tree nearby. A creeping red growth, barely distinguishable from the bark, inched up the tree. “Moss grows on the north side of trees back home. For some reason, this moss always faces the compound. It’s hard to spot, and we still get lost all the time. But if we can find that moss, we know where the compound is.”
“If we’re out here at twilight, we’re going to be in trouble,” Hank said. “The light cubes don’t stay lit for very long if they’re not picking up energy from the fire.”
“Have you figured out how to track the moon phases?” Molly asked.
“No, the mist is always too thick,” Hank said. “Sometimes it will take on a tinge, or clear for a few minutes, and we can see. But not often. We’ve noticed that the green moon means the animals are more likely to attack, though.”
“We call it midori,” Javi said. “That’s green in Japanese.”
“Neato,” Kimberly said. “I like it. And watch out for a green vine that moves. We call it creeper. It will twine around you and pull you down.”
Javi nodded. “We call it tanglevine.”
“That’s good!” Kimberly approved. “Shucks, you guys are so much better at naming things!”
“There’s a clearing just ahead,” Hank said. “We should have a lookout for snakehogs.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about that one,” Molly said.
In front of them, the body of an animal was lying on its side, almost wedged between a grove of strange trees, their roots rising in the air. A pool of blood seeped into the dirt.
“A snakehog,” Kimberly said. “Wow. They’re impossible to kill.”
Way to go, Yoshi.
“I think I just became a vegan,” Javi said.
“What’s that mean?” Kimberly asked.
“It’s sort of like a vegetarian, only even more annoying,” Javi answered, looking anywhere but at the snakehog.
Hank crouched by the animal. “They must be close. This happened not too long ago.”
Molly lifted her head. Lately, her sense of smell had intensified. Sometimes this wasn’t so great, but right now … she could smell the creature, which turned her stomach over. There was something else, too, though … something fresh, something blue. “Is there water nearby?”
“A stream,” Kimberly said. “It … changes direction, somehow? We never know when we’ll be able to find it. That’s why having the gel water is so important.”
“It’s close,” Molly said. “If I were lost, I might follow a stream.”
“I’d follow GPS,” Javi said, looking around.
“Follow what?” Kimberly asked.
“Um, it’s short for ‘good positioning skills,’ ” Molly said, lifting an eyebrow at Javi.
“Following that stream will just get them more lost,” Hank said. He looked over and spoke sharply to Javi. “Don’t go into that grove.”
Javi paused, his hand inches away from a tree trunk. “Why? I want to see the trees.”
“Jawbugs nest in there,” Hank said. “It won’t be pretty.”
“Well, the bugs are pretty,” Kimberly said. “But gosh, do they bite.”
Molly pointed to the trees and shook her head at Akiko and Kira. “Abunai,” she said.
“Dangerous,” Javi explained to the others as a jawbug appeared over his shoulder.
“Move away from the trees,” Hank said quietly. “Slowly. Now.”
Javi retreated, taking slow steps.
“Good,” Kimberly said. “Where there’s one, usually others follow. But I don’t see any more of them. They tend to swarm in the evening.”
“We’d better get out of here anyway,” Hank said.
“Theories?” Molly turned to Javi, Akiko, and Kira. She knew the sisters were learning English at a rapid rate. With any luck, they had an idea.
Akiko pantomimed walking out into the clearing, seeing something alarming, and running for the trees.
Molly nodded. “I think that’s what happened, too. One of them, or both of them, were stalked by the snakehog and took cover in the trees. Then—”
“The jawbugs attacked,” Kimberly said. “So they probably ran—”
“To the stream,” Javi finished. “That’s what I’d do.”
Molly nodded again and led the way. The smell of water and vegetation grew stronger. Within a few minutes she could hear the rushing sound of the stream. They pushed through some reeds and saw Yoshi and Anna just picking their way to the bank. Molly felt relief course through her, but it came out in a rush of annoyance.
“You idiots!” she
shouted.
“Nice to see you, too,” Yoshi said.
Now Molly could see that he looked exhausted. Water dripped down his cheeks, making tracks in the mud smeared on his skin. Blood dripped down his neck. Anna examined a cut on her arm. Her cheek had a painful-looking swollen bite.
“I’m sorry, I was just scared,” Molly said in a low tone. “We’ve been searching for you for an hour.”
“One hour? Try three,” Javi said. “Are you guys okay?”
“I’ve been better,” Yoshi said. “What are those bugs? People-eaters?”
“They chomp pieces out of you,” Kimberly agreed.
“I’ll say,” Anna said, examining her bloody knee. “They chased us and we jumped into the stream. We had to find a place where it was deep enough to go under. Then we sat in the stream until they went away.” Her teeth chattered. “I’m freezing.”
“We’ve got to make tracks,” Hank said tersely. “The dark is gathering. It’s prime hunting time for the big beak.”
“Not to mention the Thing,” Kimberly said.
“The Thing?” Anna asked. “You didn’t say anything about a Thing.”
“We’ve never actually seen it,” Kimberly said as they quickly moved through the forest, aiming for the faint blue glow of the light cube ahead. She picked it up and put it in her pocket. “We hear it.”
“It’s big enough to shake the ground,” Hank said. “We don’t want to run into it.”
The blue lights of the cubes ahead were starting to flicker and dim. The chilly night wind—what the Killbots called yokaze thanks to Akiko and Kira—was making Yoshi and Anna shiver.
Hank moved quickly, setting the pace, occasionally giving a worried glance at the sky. There was no sun, just a gradual dimming of light that meant evening was coming on fast.
Anna stopped suddenly. A small, moving green cloud was ahead, blocking their way. “Jawbugs,” she said. The trauma of the recent attack made her go pale.
“Will they attack?” Molly asked.
Hank kept a wary eye on the cloud. “They only attack in large numbers. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
A few more bugs joined the cloud.
“Let’s keep moving,” Hank said. “Everybody hold a light cube. It will help a little. They’re not afraid of it, exactly, but they don’t like it.”
They walked, watching as more and more jawbugs joined the cloud. A tight group of the insects broke off and swooped down at Javi, brushing against his forearm as he protected his eyes. One of them bit. “Ow!” he shouted, waving the light cube.
The cloud wheeled and swooped down, attacking Hank. He covered his face and darted and weaved, trying to avoid them. The bugs attacked again, diving and snatching at their clothes, moving so fast they were a blur, terrifying and relentless.
“Everybody hold a cube over your head!” Molly called.
Kimberly quickly passed cubes among the group. As soon as they each held one, Molly barked another order.
“Now run!” she yelled.
Molly held her cube high over her head and burst forward, followed quickly by Javi, Anna, and the others. The cubes cast their strange light through the forest, giving the woods an eerie, fairy-tale quality.
The insects hovered just above, jaws working, wings fluttering. Molly heard a jagged buzzing noise as one swooped close to her ear, then she felt a shock of pain. She bludgeoned the jawbug with her cube, sending it spiraling away, but the electric sting of the bite still burned.
What would it feel like to be stung by a whole cloud of those things?
Behind her, Kira yelped, “Itai!” Molly could only guess that meant ouch.
“These lights will fade soon,” Hank huffed. “We have to get back to the compound. Hurry!”
The bugs kept tracking them, swooping again and again only to be driven away by the lights. Why were they so aggressive?
“This is starting to feel personal!” Javi yelled, running and swatting. It was like he’d read Molly’s mind.
The fire at the compound was now visible through the trees. They ran for it, finally stumbling past the border. Dana, Stu, Drew, and Pammy leaped to their feet, startled.
“Jawbugs!” Hank shouted. “Get in positions!”
The Cub-Tones moved quickly and assuredly, taking up their instruments. Dana handed Hank his oboe. At a nod from Hank, they began to play.
The music flowed out from the instruments and soared into the air. Hank’s oboe took the lead, playing a melody that seemed to twine around the trees and fill the forest. The bugs wheeled away with it, riding the music until they disappeared.
“Uh, wow,” Javi said. Akiko clapped joyfully, while Kira peppered Yoshi with questions.
The music stopped, and Dana hurried over to Yoshi with a small jar. “Let me look at you,” she said.
“I don’t need any help,” Yoshi said, twisting away.
“Don’t be such a chicken,” Dana said. She broke a water cube over a cloth and dampened it. Then she washed away the dirt and blood from his face and dabbed some kind of gel on his cuts. “We experimented with a bunch of plants. This one has antiseptic qualities. It also helps with the pain.”
Scowling, Yoshi let her tend to his cuts. “Okay, okay. Now Anna,” he said, twisting away.
“What was that, with the music?” Molly asked. “How did you know that would work?”
“The bugs swarm the camp every night,” Dana said. “But for some reason, Mozart always drives them away. Clarinet Concerto in A.”
Dana turned her attention to Anna, then to the others. Hank was last. He had an ugly cut on his hand. His shirt was shredded. He sat, glowering.
Dana finished and then said gently, “Why don’t you keep playing? It might not be too late to capture some whistling birds.”
“No, it is too late,” he said angrily. “It’s almost dark.”
“Is that what the net is for?” Javi asked. A net made of densely woven material stretched from one tree to another.
“At dusk we build up the fire,” Dana said. “If we play music, it seems to attract these plump little birds. They get too close, and … dinner! They taste like chicken.”
“We call them slide-whistle birds,” Javi said.
“Perfect name,” Dana said. “That’s exactly what their song is like!”
“They’re really good with berry sauce,” Javi said.
“We do that, too!” Dana grinned.
“Dinner would be good,” Molly admitted. “That was close, out there.”
Hank stood. “It wasn’t close, it was stupid,” he said with sudden fierceness. “This is our compound, our rules. Nobody goes into the woods alone. Ever. And nobody heads into the upside-down trees. They’re full of jawbug nests. First you went off by yourself,” he said, pointing to Anna, “then you.” His furious gaze rested on Yoshi. “The list of things you don’t know would choke a snakehog. You endangered all of us. Never be so stupid again.”
“Stupid? I’m the one who saved her!” Yoshi said, shooting to his feet.
“Um, you didn’t really save me?” Anna said. “I was safe in those upside-down trees.”
“You are never safe in those trees!” Hank shouted.
“Well, I was,” Anna argued. “The hogsnake thing wouldn’t enter. Yoshi just went all ninja and disturbed the jawbugs.”
Yoshi glowered at Anna, then swiveled back to Hank. “Anyway, you can’t give me orders.”
“Oh yes, I can,” Hank said. “As long as you’re here, you obey them. You never leave the compound alone, and you never go into the upside-down tree groves. If you don’t agree, we’ll take measures to make sure you do.”
The tension boiled. Molly saw the deep flush on Yoshi’s face. He hated to be cornered, and he hated to be told what to do. Plus, Anna had embarrassed him. Why hadn’t she just let him think he’d rescued her?
Hank took a step toward Yoshi. He was older and taller than Yoshi and all lean muscle. The guy looked intimidating, even holding an oboe. Crash moved t
o his side, Dana to the other, flanking him. Molly caught a flash of the grit and discipline that had helped these kids stay alive.
Akiko and Kira stood at Yoshi’s shoulder, and Javi moved in, too. It was the middle school playground, all over again. Except there was something else here that was deeper and scarier.
“Everybody?” Kimberly spoke up. “Can we cool it, here? It’s just silly to argue, considering.”
“So now I’m silly and stupid?” Yoshi asked.
Kimberly looked from one group to the other. “Oh, golly,” she sighed. “I really miss being popular. People used to listen to me, you know? Hank lost his cool, but he’s right. He’s protected us and he can protect you.”
“We don’t need his protection,” Molly said. She wasn’t in the mood to be peacemaker. She was too tired and hungry. Nobody intimidated her crew like this. “We’ve been doing just fine. At least we push ourselves. At least we’re trying to get out of here!”
“Good luck, then,” Hank said. He gestured to the dark woods. “There’s the door. Have a ball. Go!”
Suddenly, the ground lurched under their feet. Molly stumbled, almost knocking into Hank. The woods came alive with the sound of roaring and screeching.
“It’s the Thing,” Kimberly whispered.
You see?” Hank spit out. “The woods aren’t safe. Everyone, secure the compound!”
“You’ve never even seen this ‘Thing,’ ” Yoshi said. “Maybe we should investigate to see what kind of a predator we’re dealing with.”
“You can hear the animals going crazy trying to get away from it. If you go out there, we’ll have to rescue you again. No thanks.” Hank turned to Molly. “Control your people. Mine have tasks to do.”
Molly and Yoshi both bristled at the order.
“Loser,” Yoshi muttered under his breath.
The Cubs moved like a synchronized machine. Stu and Drew threw wood on the fire, building it up. The girls began to place light bricks in a ring around the compound. As soon as Javi figured out what they were doing, he offered to help.
As he hurried to the far edge of the compound, he came close by the lean-to the Cubs called the storage shed. There was a cut-out window in the wood at the back with a flap made of leaves and vines braided together. For a second, he could have sworn the curtain moved.
