Joshua Dread (14 page)

But nobody in the car was listening to me. Sophie dug into her pocket for her cell phone. “I need to call my dad.”

“Why get parents involved?” I said in a too-loud voice. “Your dad’s probably busy. Ooh, look—the light’s green. You can go now, Stanley.”

But Stanley kept his robotic foot on the brake. “I believe Sophie is correct,” he said. “Captain Justice prefers to be informed about any sighting of the Dread Duo.”

It would probably take Captain Justice a few minutes to get dressed. Plus another minute or so travel time. Meaning my parents had maybe five minutes—at most—before their little party was interrupted. And I really didn’t want to relive the scene from the other week.

I unlocked the backseat door and was out on the pavement in a second. Sophie and Milton called out to me, but their voices were nothing more than a blur in the background.

I nearly got flattened by a minivan while I was bolting across the street, but I managed to get to the curb. When I reached the fence, I thrust out my arms. A current of energy pulsed through my hands, and a charred hole formed, big enough to climb through.

I was ducking through the gap in the fence when Sophie came running up behind me.

“Joshua, are you crazy?” The fence clattered as she climbed through after me. “The Dread Duo will kill you.”

“No, they won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just … am.”

Sophie stared back at me, waiting. But there was no way I could tell her the truth—not without also telling her who my parents really were—so I decided on plan B instead.

“You and Milton need to get out of here!” I said in a harsh voice. “I’ll be fine. Now—go!”

Sophie only shook her head, her jaw clenched fiercely. A second later, Milton caught up with us, gasping for breath. “No way we’re letting you go in there by yourself,” he said.

Everything was happening too quickly. There wasn’t any time to try to talk them out of following me. But bringing them along didn’t seem like such a good option either. And any minute now, Captain Justice was going to show up.

Just when I thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, it did. One of the zombies was glaring at us from behind its lifeless red eyes. Then it began staggering in our direction.

“That doesn’t look good,” Milton said.

An awful growl ricocheted across the parking lot. The zombie was getting closer.

An idea lodged itself in my mind. I wasn’t sure whether it would work, but we were out of options.

“Milton! Do you still have any of that beef jerky on you?”

He blinked. “I might’ve taken a few for the road. Why?”

“Give it to me. Quick.”

Milton reached into his pockets and pulled out a handful of Justice Jerky. “Here you go. But this hardly seems like the time for a snack.”

The zombie’s dragging footsteps grew louder. Was it my imagination, or had I just caught a whiff of its rancid breath?

Doing my best to keep my hands from shaking, I unwrapped the sticks of jerky, then held them up.

“Uh … Joshua?” I could hear the anxiety in Sophie’s voice. “What are you doing?”

“Just something my mom showed me. She knows all sorts of tricks for dealing with zombies.”

As soon as I’d said it, I realized how strange that must’ve sounded. But it was too late now. The zombie was only a few feet away. I began waving the jerky back and forth. The zombie stopped, and a hungry look passed over its gray features. Its dull eyes followed the jerky like a dog watching a ball about to be thrown.

“You want the Justice Jerky?” I said.

I couldn’t be sure, but the zombie seemed to nod. Its mouth was open, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth.

“You
sure
you want the Justice Jerky?”

The zombie was now hopping up and down eagerly.

“Then go get it!” I tossed the handful of jerky as far as I could across the parking lot.

The zombie spun around and shuffled after it.

Before Sophie and Milton could ask any questions, I took off running. My parents were no longer standing in the parking lot. They must’ve gotten inside the building by now, and were searching for the acid.

The tied-up group of scientists and security guards watched as I went running past.

“Hey, kid—wait!” a woman yelled. “Don’t go in there!”

The woman’s voice blurred into the background. Through the glass double doors I could see my parents.
And something was wrong. I could tell from their faces. Mom took a quick step forward, then backed up again. Dad’s hand inched closer to his utility belt.

It was like they were cornered, trapped on all sides. But by what? All I could see were shadows at the edges of the lobby.

And then one of the shadows moved. Dark shapes shifted out of the corners of the lobby, moving closer to my parents.

It was as if the shadows were alive.

A wave of terror swept over me. Smoke creatures. There were four of them. And they had my parents surrounded.

I pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. My parents must’ve locked it from the inside. Through the glass, I watched as Dad raised the Deactomatic. For a split second, I felt my heart leap. But before Dad could pull the trigger, one of the creatures lunged forward and knocked the device out of his hand.

Every last ounce of my hope trickled away. My parents were powerless. I could hear their muffled screams on the other side of the door as the smoke creatures swirled around them like storm clouds.

Panic flashed through my mind. I slammed my fists against the double doors, and my spontaneous combustion did the rest. The door exploded into a million glass shards.

I rushed into the lobby, the surge of energy still throbbing in my veins, just in time to see the last trace of my parents vanish behind the dark smoke. There were two flashes of light this time—one for each of them—bursts of lightning from within the chaos of clouds.

In the next moment, the smoke creatures were gone.

And so were my parents.

T
he sound of my scream echoed through the lobby. I felt suddenly as though a hole had been ripped open inside of me and everything that had ever mattered was falling through it. One second, my parents were there, struggling with the smoke creatures. And then—nothing.

Behind me I heard the sound of footsteps crunching over broken glass. Sophie came running into the lobby. The moment we looked at each other, I saw recognition in her eyes.

“The Dread Duo,” she said. “They’re—”

“My parents.” I nodded. “Yeah.”

Now that the truth was finally out there, I didn’t feel any of the emotions I would’ve expected—no fear or shame or even embarrassment.

I just felt empty.

And Sophie didn’t react the way I’d expected either. I’d figured she might be angry or shocked. But all she did was gaze back at me sympathetically.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

A second later, Milton stepped carefully through the broken doorway. “What happened?” He glanced expectantly around the empty lobby. “What’d I miss?”

“My parents were just attacked,” I said, staring into the empty space where they’d just been. “They’re gone.”

“What d’you mean? The Dread Duo kidnapped your parents?”

“No, Milton.” I shook my head. “The Dread Duo. They
are
my parents.”

I’d spent the previous twelve years hiding their identity, and now I’d just confessed the truth twice in one minute. If Milton was freaked out that he’d been living down the street from two of the world’s worst villains, he didn’t show it.

Instead, he only blinked and asked, “What happened to them?”

I told Sophie and Milton what my parents had told
me—about the smoke creatures, the nano-beings, supervillains getting transported.

“Transported
where
?” Sophie asked.

I shook my head, staring at the glass shards around my feet. “I don’t know. There’s only one way to track them. And to do that, I’d need—”

The chemical compound my parents had been trying to steal. Zenoplyric acid. And we just happened to be in the lobby of the one place in Sheepsdale where you could actually
get
it. My parents had mentioned that the lab was normally well guarded. But at the moment, all the employees and armed security guards were still tied up outside. Meaning that we had the building all to ourselves.

I started running across the empty lobby. I knew what needed to be done.

Sophie and Milton called out after me. “Wait, Joshua! What’re you doing?”

I turned around, my heart beating in my chest like an engine in overdrive.

“I’m going to steal a deadly chemical!”

I’d never stolen anything in my life. That was more my parents’ area of expertise. And I definitely never
would’ve considered breaking into a heavily secured laboratory to steal a vial of dangerous acid.

At least, not until now.

There were no other options. The only way I’d ever be able to find my parents was to get my hands on that chemical. Besides, my mom and dad had already done most of the hard work for me. All I had to do was find the stuff.

We didn’t have much time. Any minute, Captain Justice would show up and untie everyone outside. The entire building would return to lockdown mode, and any chance of finding my parents would vanish.

Milton and Sophie trailed me down a long corridor, past empty guard stations. When I reached an elevator, I stopped and looked back at them.

“You guys should turn around,” I said between heavy breaths. “I can handle it from here.”

“We’re not leaving you,” Sophie said.

“Yeah,” Milton huffed. “We want to help.”

I shook my head. “This chemical I’m looking for—it’s rare. And dangerous.”

“But you need it, right?” Sophie asked. “You can use it to get your parents back?”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“Then maybe we should split up.”

I stared back at her. Sophie—Captain Justice’s
daughter—was offering to help
me
? Even after finding out who my parents were?

Milton stepped forward. “She’s right. This building is huge. If we split up, we’ll be able to cover more ground.”

I gave Sophie a sharp look. “Your dad probably wouldn’t approve.”

“Our parents’ problems are between them,” Sophie said. “You’re my friend. And I want to help.”

As much as I hated the idea of dragging my friends into this, they
did
have a point. The building was huge, and we’d have a much better chance of finding what we were looking for with three people looking instead of one.

“Okay,” I said. “Here’s what we do.”

We decided that Milton would explore the rest of the first floor, while Sophie and I would divide up the second floor. If anyone spotted us, we could just say that we’d gotten lost trying to hide from the Dread Duo.

“We’ll meet up outside,” I said, pressing the elevator button. The doors slid open.

“Wait,” Milton said as Sophie and I entered the elevator. “What are we looking for again?”

“Zenoplyric acid.”

“And how do I know if I’ve found it?”

I thought about this for a second. “I don’t know. I was kind of hoping it would be labeled.”

Milton looked like he had about a thousand questions
he still wanted to ask, but the doors slid closed between us before he had a chance.

Sophie and I were alone in the elevator. Except for the smooth jazz saxophone playing softly in the speakers, it was silent. My entire body felt coiled with uncertainty. When the doors opened at the second floor, Sophie and I gave each other one last look.

“Good luck,” she said.

“You too.”

Then we set off in opposite directions. Soon the only sound was the squeak of my footsteps against the floor and the rhythm of my breathing.

I explored one room after another, looking across walls of lab equipment, opening cabinets, checking the labels of every chemical I came across. But I couldn’t find the zenoplyric acid anywhere.

I was beginning to wonder whether my parents had made a mistake—whether the chemical was even here at all—when I heard a sudden beep behind me. Spinning around, I saw sensors lining the door I’d just passed through. A pair of heavy steel doors dropped down on either end of the room, blocking the entrance and exit.

A second later, the alarm went off.

I
was trapped.

With the siren ringing in my ears, I frantically surveyed my surroundings. It was a laboratory, similar to a dozen others I’d passed through already. The only escape routes I could see were the doors at both ends of the room, and they’d just been closed off by solid steel barriers.

I slammed my fists against the hard steel surface and tried to concentrate my power on blasting my way through. But the barricade was way too thick, and the only thing that felt like it was going to explode was my
head. The wailing alarm was like a police siren in my brain.