Monster Factory

Chapter 15

The goblin placed its hands on either side of the crack in the pod and reared its head way, way back, as far back as its body would allow and then, as hard as he could, the goblin slammed its green jelly head straight at the crack in the glass.

Its head connected with the door with a wet thud that spread its head across the glass like a bug hitting a car windshield at full speed. With its hands on either side of its exploded head, it somehow leaned further forward pushing himself into the crack of the glass pod.

"Hurry, man! Hurry!"

On the other side of the pod door I saw a thin jet of green goo arc onto the floor.

Gross.

Still, the goblin squeezed through the tiny crack like someone was pouring hair gel through a keyhole.

The sand was up to my chest as the green puddle outside the pod reformed into the goblin. Clawed hands reached up from the growing puddle and dragged the rest of its body out of the goo. He stood up, shaking his head and looking confused. For a second, I thought he was going to wander away, forgetting about our deal and why he was even there in the first place. Goblins aren't known for their brain power.

I slapped my hand against the pod door and his tiny black eyes found me. He waved.

I pointed at the metal latch on the outside of the pod as the sand rose past my chin. Still he looked confused. I pointed at the last of my chocolate bar and then back at the latch as the sand covered my face.

I held my breath and plugged my nose, but I didn't hear the lock disengage. I pressed my head against the top of the pod, keeping my face out of the sand as best I could.

Then I heard the smallest, faintest click.

The pod door exploded outward, and the black sand flooded out of the pod, carrying me with it. I tumbled out of the machine and onto the concrete floor in a wave of microscopic nanobots. I was still rolling as a gruff voice yelled, "Hey!" I heard stomping boots and then another rush of black sand as the next pod door sprang open. And the next and the next until all of the doors were flung open wide by the hungry goblin.

Nate, the kid I met on the bus, and the rest of the kids tumbled out of the pods shivering and scared. Rough gloved hands grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me to my feet.

"What did you do? Get back in there!" the soldier growled.

I reversed his grip on me and snapped a kick toward his knee. I heard the bone crack like dry kindling. The soldier cried out and he collapsed to the floor. His arms pinwheeled as he tried to stay upright, but it didn't help. A half second later, his legs were completely horizontal and he crashed to the cement floor. The back of his bald head knocked against the concrete with a hollow bong!

"What's happening?" Nate asked. "How did we get here?"

"That's not really important right now," I told him. "You guys have to get out of here. Fast. Get to the street and call the police."

I pointed toward one of the dark hallways.

"Keep following that hallway till you get to a set of stairs; at the top stay to the right, there's a hole in the floor. After that, there's a sewer exit, which will take you to the street."

Nate stared down into the dark hallway and shook his head.

"It's d-d-d-dark, man. I can barely see in there."

I stripped off my hoody and handed it to him.

"Put it on."

He stared at me.

"Trust me."

Once he had the hoody on, I showed him where the button was on the right cuff. The hood extended and wrapped his face into a killer night vision mask. Nate struggled at first thinking the sweater had come alive and wanted to eat him or something, but he relaxed when the night vision cameras came online.

"Whoa ... this is so awesome!"

Nate turned his head left and right. "I can see! I can see in the dark!"

Behind us, the soldier was snorting in his sleep. He wouldn't be out for long.

"Nate," I said, "you need to lead these guys out of here. Can you do that?"

"Sure."

Four of them formed a human chain, holding the hand of the person in front of them as Nate led them down the tunnel. I waited for them to disappear into the dark and then turned to Ruby.

"Now what?" Ruby asked me.

"I need you to go back to Wychwood and get them to send some help."

"What about you?" She said.

"I need to find Dr. Devon. He is the only one who knows how to stop this."

"Then, you're gonna need me right here, because I know where he is."