Running on Fumes Read online

  Suspicious behavior: Gathers rattler venom and poisonous plants.

  Suspect of: Ecoterrorism.

  Possible motives: Determined to get his ideas out to the world at any cost.

  * * *

  “Come on!” Einstein Wannabe grabbed Dave’s mom by the hand and towed her out of the tent.

  Frank moved closer to one of the tables. “My mom doesn’t like people in here when she’s away,” Dave said. “But you should come back later. She’ll give you the full tour.”

  “That would be great,” Frank said. We left Dave helping his dad hang the wash, and continued exploring the compound.

  The smell of something baking took us in the direction of the dining hall tent. Whatever was cooking didn’t smell like rutabagas. Or tofu. Actually, tofu doesn’t really have a smell—or a taste.

  It didn’t take long to find the source of the smell. A rack of rolls was baking under a spiderweb of magnifying glasses.

  “This is ingenious,” Frank said. “Sun-powered cooking. No electricity.”

  “Why don’t they just use a fire?” I asked.

  “You mean burn trees—one of our greatest natural resources?” a familiar voice asked.

  I turned and saw Petal standing behind me. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s what I meant.”

  “It isn’t as bad as burning fossil fuel,” Frank said, attempting to bail me out. “No harm to the ozone layer.”

  “True,” Petal said. “But trees moderate the climate. They improve air quality and conserve water. And animals depend on them for food and shelter.”

  She stepped closer to Frank and put her hand on his arm. “They are much too valuable to be used when there are so many other sources of energy.”

  “T-true,” Frank stammered.

  Yeah, he actually stammered. The guy can rappel down the side of a burning building, leap from a plane without a parachute. But he can hardly spit out a sentence around a pretty girl.

  And Petal was looking especially pretty. She had her curly red hair in one of those Pebbles Flintstone ponytails on the top of her head. Is it just me, or is Pebbles hot? For a cartoon character, I mean.

  “So what are the bow and arrow for?” Frank asked. He’d gotten his tongue back in working order. “Hunting tofu?”

  I shouldn’t rag on Frank. I hadn’t even noticed that Petal had a quiver of arrows over one shoulder and a bow in the other hand. I’d been too focused on her hair.

  “We don’t hunt at the compound,” Petal said. “You’ve probably noticed that we don’t eat meat.”

  That would be a yes.

  “Mr. Stench doesn’t believe in eating anything that has a face,” Petal continued. “Neither do I.”

  “So why the bow and arrow?” I repeated Frank’s question.

  “Just for fun. See that bale of hay down there?” Petal didn’t wait for an answer. She strung one of the arrows, then let it fly.

  It hit the bale dead center.

  Petal immediately got another arrow in place. I heard the string twang. Then I saw the second arrow neatly slice the first in half.

  It was even better than Stench’s attack on the pineapple. “Either of you want to try?”

  A loud gong prevented me from uttering a big, “Totally.”

  “Time to go into town with Mr. Stench,” Petal said.

  Stench was leaving the compound. Score. That meant Frank and I could do some serious investigation. Maybe get into that locked “thinkatorium.”

  “He wants you guys to come with us.” Petal propped the bow and the quiver of arrows against the tent. “Come on. He hates to be kept waiting.”

  Clearly, we had no choice. Frank, Petal, and I ran over to the Seussmobile and climbed in. Dave and a couple of guys we hadn’t met were already in the back. Stench had the wheel. Mondo had shotgun.

  I squeezed my way past a bunch of paint cans and took a seat. I couldn’t help noticing that Petal made sure to sit next to Frank.

  “So what are we going to do in town?”

  It seemed like everyone at the compound lived off the land, but there were a few things they had to buy. Stuff for the labs, clearly.

  “Just a little mission,” Stench answered for Petal. “Don’t worry. You two will have fun. I promise.”

  A mission. I didn’t like the way that sounded. You didn’t call running errands a mission.

  What exactly did Stench have planned?

  SPLASH!

  The van hit a bump. Petal knocked into me—and stayed there. Her shoulder pressed against mine.

  I caught Joe rolling his eyes. It’s not like I’d done anything to encourage Petal. Her name was Petal, for one thing. It was hard to imagine going out with a girl called Petal Northstar. Especially because I suspected she’d chosen the name herself.

  But more important, Petal was a suspect. And you can’t get emotionally involved with a suspect. That’s pretty much Crime Fighting 101.

  “How’d you know that stuff about how burning wood doesn’t affect the ozone layer?” Petal asked me.

  It wasn’t a hard question. But my girl difficulty was kicking in. It’s not just the blushing, which is bad enough. My tongue also seems to double in size, so I can hardly talk. And my brain goes into low gear. So even if I could talk, I wouldn’t have anything human-sounding to say.

  “Alex is a science geek,” Joe volunteered.

  Thank you, Joe. Even I could have come up with an answer that made me look less like a dork.

  “I used to have a crush on Bill Nye, the Science Guy. You know, from TV?” Petal confessed. And she actually blushed. It looked okay on her. Just turning her cheeks a nice pink.

  “Are you serious?” Dave asked from behind us.

  “I know, I know. He’s so goofy with that little bow tie and everything,” Petal said. “But I just loved how he got all glowy when he talked about science. He had passion, you know?”

  I inched over on the seat to put a little space between the two of us. But Petal used another bump to get right back up against me.

  Joe let out an extra long, extra loud sigh. “We’re almost there,” Dave said, misinterpreting the cause of the sigh.

  Almost there. Those words almost made me forget about Petal. The mission—whatever it turned out to be—was getting close.

  I glanced up at Stench. He seemed calm and happy, but he still had his humongo sword.

  The ride grew smoother as Stench pulled the van off the dirt road and onto a paved one. A few moments later we entered a small town.

  We passed a park with a white gazebo in the center, then turned onto what was clearly the town’s main street. Shops lined both sides. I spotted a little grocery store. A movie theater. A drugstore. Some clothes shops.

  Stench pulled into an empty parking place. “Get ready,” he told us. “I need to make a purchase. It’s go time as soon as I get back.”

  He climbed out of the van. Mondo, too.

  “Great, they’re back,” I heard someone outside say.

  Dave squatted next to the closest paint can and used a Swiss Army knife to pry off the top. The paint inside was a deep red. He moved on to the next can. More red.

  “So what is this mission, anyway?” Joe asked. “I’m ready for the fun!”

  I knew him well enough to tell that his enthusiasm was fake. But I bet he had everyone else fooled. Joe is first-rate undercover.

  “It’s going to blow your mind, little brother,” Solar Man said. “Just go with the flow. It makes the first time so much better.”

  “Cool,” Joe said.

  What else could he say?

  “Go back where you came from, hippie freaks!” a man shouted as he walked past the van. He slammed his fist down on the windshield. Hard.

  The van rocked. Paint sloshed out of one of the open cans and on to the floor. The smell filled my nostrils.

  “The chief is back!” Solar Man announced.

  A second later the van’s front door swung open. Stench deposited a paper sack on his seat. “L
et’s move,” he ordered.

  Petal slid open the side door. She grabbed an open can of paint and stepped out. I glanced around for rollers or brushes but didn’t see any.

  I had an idea where this was headed. And I didn’t like it.

  Solar Man grabbed a can of paint, then joined Petal next to the van. Dave handed cans to Mondo and Stench, then took one for himself and jumped out.

  “I opened cans for you guys too,” he told Joe and me.

  We picked up the cans and joined the others, huddling there between the van and the SUV parked next to it.

  “Alex and J. J., just follow the others,” Stench instructed. He turned his head and eyes on the sidewalk. I heard the voices and footfalls of people approaching.

  “Now!” Stench shouted.

  He rushed the sidewalk. Lifted the can of paint. And dumped the contents on the shoulder of a woman carrying a leather purse.

  “Let the animals live!” he shrieked. “Industrialization is evil!”

  “Killer, killer, killer!” Dave raced up to a man wearing leather loafers and doused the guy’s shoes with the deep red paint.

  “This is their blood!” Solar Man joined the fray. He managed to splash a woman and her little girl with one swoop of his can. Petal was right behind him, ready to pour her paint on the next innocent bystander.

  I glanced at Joe. There was only one thing to do.

  “Animal murderers!” I tore up to the sidewalk and splashed the paint onto the ground where there was already a puddle of red.

  Joe pretended to trip. He spilled his can into the gutter.

  “Back, back, back!” Stench ordered.

  I joined the dash back to the van.

  Two teenage boys from the town blocked our path.

  The shorter one advanced. “Get those tree-loving freaks!”

  RUN!

  A third guy joined Beefy and Scrawny—and I heard more feet pounding toward us. In a second, the group from the compound could be outnumbered.

  I didn’t think any of the anti-tree-loving-freak group was going to want to hear how Frank and I didn’t really throw paint on anyone. Or how we barely knew the actual paint throwers.

  So there was only one thing to do.

  “Run!” Dave yelled.

  Yeah, that was the one thing.

  Mondo hustled Stench down the sidewalk to the right. Dave and Solar Man went left. Frank, Petal, and I bolted down an alley between the drugstore and Ye Olde Toy Shoppe.

  An alley that happened to dead end at the back of another building.

  At least there was a door. I grabbed the doorknob with both hands. Twisted. It didn’t budge.

  Petal shoved up beside me and pounded on the door. I shot a glance over my shoulder. We didn’t have time to wait for anyone to let us in.

  Scrawny and two new friends—I’ll call them Red Face and Buzz Cut—were bearing down on us.

  “Up!” Frank yelled.

  That was the only safe direction to go. I used the doorknob as a foothold. That got me high enough that I was able to grab the rain gutter.

  It creaked under my weight as I hauled myself onto the roof. “Come on, come on!” I urged Petal. I dropped to my stomach and leaned down.

  Frank cupped his hands and gave Petal a boost. I grabbed her wrists and hauled her up beside me. Then Frank started climbing up the gutter drain.

  The gutter held for him. Barely.

  I hoped it wouldn’t for Scrawny and company—because they were definitely coming after us. Red Face already had his sneaker positioned on the doorknob.

  “Let’s move!” Petal shouted as we got to the top of the building. She pulled herself to her feet and raced across the roof—and when she got to the edge, she didn’t hesitate. She leaped across to the next one.

  Frank and I were half a step behind her. And the thud, thud, thud I heard made it clear that the townies were right behind us.

  “Get those mutants,” one of them shouted.

  Pain exploded in the center of my back. One of those butt breaths had thrown a rock at me!

  “Over here!” Frank yelled.

  He veered across the roof. “Jump!” he ordered. He hurled himself off the building.

  I didn’t think. I just followed my brother.

  I didn’t go splat on the sidewalk. I went kabang—on the top of the van! A second later, Petal landed half on top of me.

  What’s the deal? Do I look like a big foam mattress or something?

  I used one hand to grab tight to one of the solar panels. I used the other to wave good-bye to Scrawny, Buzz Cut, and Red Face.

  “I’m going to miss those guys,” I told Frank as the van took a corner.

  Frank didn’t laugh. What did I tell you? No sense of humor.

  The van slowed, then came to a stop.

  “That was beyond belief!” Dave cried as he slid open the side door.

  Frank, Petal, and I scrambled off the top of the van and climbed inside. I shoved the door shut behind us and we were off.

  “Inspiring,” Stench said. He sounded impressed with what the other had done.

  Yeah, I thought. Real inspiring. We’d managed to escape from some guys who were pissed off that we’d thrown paint on a bunch of innocent people.

  It’s not like Scrawny and Beefy and the gang didn’t have a good reason to come after us. They were the good guys in a way.

  And Frank and I were in the van with the bad guys. True, we didn’t throw paint on anybody. But we were there. We didn’t stop it from happening. No time.

  Plus, it would have blown our cover.

  There was no way to feel okay about what went down. But Frank and I had made what we thought was the best call.

  I glanced over at my brother. Petal was all snuggled up against him again—and he looked like he couldn’t wait to get away from her.

  She didn’t seem quite as cool to me anymore. Not after I’d seen her throwing that paint.

  Half an hour later, we were back at the compound. Just in time for lunch: spinach and tofu patties with salad.

  Salad never looked so good to me.

  I heaped another helping onto my wooden plate and passed the bowl to Einstein Wannabe, who was sitting next to me on the palm-frond floor mat.

  “I appreciate your love of the solar panels,” he told Solar Man. “But they can only take us so far. Geothermal energy is my pick. There’s all that heat at the core of our planet. Just waiting to be turned into steam.”

  Petal nodded in approval from her seat next to Frank. “Mama Earth is ready to provide. With the right turbines you can run almost anything with steam.”

  “Why go to the center of the earth for something we have right over our heads?” Solar Man argued. “You don’t have to dig for what Papa Sun provides.”

  Mama Earth and Papa Sun. Gag me with a tofu patty.

  “What we need is more wind turbines,” Dave’s dad chimed in. He smiled at his wife. “I’m no scientist like Janet, but wind seems the way to go. There are acres and acres of land that could be wind farmed.”

  “The problem with that is lack of infrastructure,” Janet said.

  “So we set up the systems we would need to get the energy to the places it’s needed,” Dave’s father said.

  “There’s always hydroelectricity,” a man in a long robe like Stench’s suggested. “The motion of the tides can create energy.”

  “Why not use them all?” Petal suggested. “Sun, water, the earth’s natural heat, wind. Anything but fossil fuel!”

  At the words “fossil fuel” the whole group erupted. I couldn’t even figure out who was saying what. “Wasteful.” “Ozone destroying.” “Polluting.”

  Stench headed over to see what the hoo-ha was about. He jumped right in. “The use of fossil fuel will bring about the destruction of civilization,” he boomed.

  Every head in the dining hall turned toward him. “Fossil fuel makes us slaves,” he continued. “Slaves to the countries that produce the most oil. And every drop of tha
t oil we use brings us one step closer to annihilating the earth.”

  Solar Man gave a hoot of agreement. Everyone else in the place applauded. I joined in. Frank did too.

  “But they won’t see, will they?” Stench asked. He moved past our group and began pacing around the dining hall. “We tell them and tell them, but they won’t hear.”

  Stench threw up his arms. “We are trying to save their lives, and they call us madmen. So what are we to do?”

  It felt like everyone had stopped breathing. The big tent was silent as we waited for Stench to continue.

  “We give them a taste, that’s what we do,” Stench finally went on. “We give them a taste of the destruction to come. The only thing that will get their attention is pain.”

  He began to pace more quickly. “When they feel the pain, they will change. And the world will be saved!”

  More applause. No one asked what kind of pain and destruction Stench was talking about. No one suggested other ways of communication.

  “I have a plan. You will all have the chance to play a part when the time comes. And it is coming soon. Be ready. Stay strong. You will be given assignments when the time is right. And we will be the ones who have saved our precious planet. We will be—”

  “I’ve gotta hit the bathroom,” Frank whispered to me.

  “Me too.”

  Guys aren’t like girls. We don’t go to the bathroom together. But no one in our little circle seemed to think it was strange. They were all too busy listening to Stench. Keeping low to the ground—and out of Stench’s view—we snuck out.

  “I figured this was the perfect time to look around a little,” Frank said once we were in the clear. “Stench didn’t seem like he was going to shut up for a while. And clearly he wasn’t going to give any solid information about his plans.”

  “All that stuff about pain and destruction. I think he was talking about more than throwing some more paint.”

  “Yeah,” Frank agreed as we walked. “The guy has lost it. I think he’s capable of anything.”

  “Do you think he really has a plan? Or do you think it’s all talk?”

  “That’s what we have to—”