NINETEEN
The boys raced through the locker room and sprinted outside onto the athletic fields. The stadium lights were off, and the grounds of the school were completely dark.
Glenn pointed to the far end of the soccer field, which was bordered by a thick tangle of woods. “We’ll cut through there,” he said. “If anyone follows us, we’ll lose them in the trees.”
But Robert realized something was wrong. The grass on the field was wet and muddy, even though it hadn’t rained in nearly a week. He felt like he was running across soft, spongy marshmallow; in some places, his sneakers sank six inches into the ground.
“What’s going on?” Glenn asked.
“I don’t know—”
Suddenly the field ruptured and Robert sank to his waist in dirty water. He held tight to the cocoon and gripped the sides of the earth with his free hand, trying to hoist himself out even as the muddy ground collapsed around him.
At first he thought it was an earthquake. The soccer field appeared to be cratering. Water was gurgling up out of the ground. Then Robert smelled chlorine and immediately realized what was happening.
The burrow was bursting.
The soccer field was just a thin skin across its surface, and now it was sinking into a giant underground lake. The water churned like an ocean at high tide; dead or drowning bugs were floating everywhere, thousands of them, flies and beetles, spiders and centipedes. Robert would have to swim to survive; he had to let go of the cocoon. The silk strands were melting, dissolving like cotton candy, revealing the mummified corpses of his pets. He looked down at Pip and Squeak for a final farewell.
“I’m sorry, guys,” he said. “This was all my fault.”
Squeak seemed to twitch his whiskers, and Robert thought it was just his imagination. But then Pip opened his eyes halfway and shook his head. It’s not your fault, the rat seemed to be saying.
“Wait, you heard that?” he asked.
This time, Pip nodded. Squeak opened his eyes, and the rats managed to wag their tail. Robert quickly checked their body for cuts or bites. Their fur was matted with gunk, but it seemed the helmets and homemade glove-coat had protected them from any serious injuries. The water was still raging all around them, and Robert was struggling to stay afloat. He placed the rats on his shoulder, explaining to them, “I need you to hang on while I swim. Can you do that?”
He felt a familiar tug on his shoulder as the rats dug in with their claws.
“Look out!” Glenn shouted.
A fifty-five-gallon barrel erupted from the churning sea, casting giant waves that nearly struck Robert in the face. He kicked his legs, treading water, doing his best to keep Pip and Squeak above the surface.
With an ear-splitting screech, Miss Mandis rose out of the lake, clawing at her skin and shedding her human disguise. Her true face was green, triangular, and studded with large compound eyes. Her angular limbs ended in bladed tips that made swimming impossible; she scrambled to pull herself onto the top of the barrel, which was floating like a life raft.
She saw Robert and shrieked. “You’ve ruined everything! Our entire army, destroyed!”
Robert realized she was unable to swim after him—that she was unable to swim at all. He paddled away from her as Pip and Squeak clung to his shoulder. Just hang on a little longer, he promised them. I’m going to get you out of here.
A moment later, the shaggai broke through the water’s surface. His spindly limbs and heavy wings made him equally ill-suited for swimming. He reached toward Miss Mandis’s barrel, and she slashed at him with her bladed limbs.
“Stay back!” she warned. “You’re too heavy!”
“I’m sinking!”
“Find your own barrel!”
But there were no other barrels, at least none that Robert could see. He knew that only the empty barrel had risen to the surface because it was buoyant enough to float.
“Move over!” the shaggai growled.
“Let go!” Miss Mandis shrieked, flicking her forelimb at his head. “You’ll sink us both!”
The shaggai ignored her threats. He reached for the top of the drum, trying to pull himself up as Miss Mandis chopped at his thorax. He bellowed in pain, sliding off but clinging to the lid to stay afloat.
“Not the lid!” Miss Mandis cried.
But it was too late. The shaggai’s grip was strong. The lid popped off and water rushed to fill the void. Miss Mandis shrieked as her life raft capsized.
“No!” she shouted. “Nooooo!”
The two creatures clung to each other, as if together they might keep themselves from sinking, but it was no use. A wave swept over their heads, and they disappeared beneath the churning waters.
Glenn swam over to help Robert. “Are you OK?”
“I think so.”
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
The boys reached the far end of the field, dragged themselves up on the muddy shore, and then turned to study the wreckage. The water had finally stopped churning and settled to a state of calm. The new lake was enormous, spanning the entire soccer field. Thousands of bloated bugs bobbed on its surface.
Beyond the lake, police officers and firefighters were emerging from the school, pointing their flashlights at the strange body of water that had mysteriously appeared behind Lovecraft Middle School. The boys ducked behind the trees and escaped into the woods. Robert lifted Pip and Squeak off his shoulder and carried them in the safety of his arms.
Glenn studied the rats in disbelief.
“They’re alive,” he said.
“I knew you would be,” Robert whispered to his pets. “This whole time, I always knew you would be.” He scratched the backs of their necks, assuring them that everything was going to be all right, and both of his rats quietly chattered their teeth.