Joshua Dread (21 page)

S
o that was how the Dread Duo ended up sharing an armored SUV with Captain Justice and his daughter (not to mention me, Milton, and a robotic butler).

With the hover scooters strapped to the roof, the SUV pulled onto the highway.

“Shall I switch to hover mode, Mr. Justice?” Stanley asked, looking back at us from the front seat.

“Let’s just keep it on the road, Stanley,” Captain Justice said. “Better not to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

Stanley nodded, and the SUV continued on. We drove for a long time in uncomfortable silence. I could tell that nobody knew quite what to say. It had been only a couple of weeks since Captain Justice had stopped my parents from destroying the world. Not to mention all the times in the past when they’d shot at, insulted, threatened, captured, and tried to kill each other.

But in the underground lair, they’d worked together to stop Vex. And now nobody quite knew
what
their status was, if they would go back to being hated enemies who tried to kill each other every few months … or if they now had a different kind of relationship. How exactly were they supposed to treat each other in the future?

Basically, it was awkward.

“That thing Vex said earlier about your mom,” I said to Sophie. “Was he …”

I stopped speaking when I saw the way Sophie’s expression had changed. All at once, I knew I’d stumbled onto the wrong topic. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I can talk about it.”

Her head was turned toward me, but she wasn’t looking
at
me. Instead, her eyes seemed to be watching the scenery pass in the window.

“Sometimes I wake up at night and it’s like it was only yesterday that I was out in the backyard with my mom,
taking photographs of bugs. Other times, I feel like—like I can’t remember anything about her at all.”

She took a deep breath.

“My mom was a photographer,” she said. “She worked for magazines, newspapers. She traveled a lot. Europe, South America, LA. My parents were never home at the same time. Either my mom was on assignment or my dad was out saving the world. For my tenth birthday, my mom took a little time off, and the three of us went skiing in Colorado. When we got back home, she was supposed to fly back to her assignment. But she called the magazine and convinced them to give her an extra couple of days so we could all be together, at least a little longer.”

Sophie shook her head slowly, her eyes still focused on the window.

“The next day, she was supposed to pick me up from school, but she never showed up. Later I found out why. Someone had planted a bomb in the car.” Sophie exhaled. “She died before she even made it out of the driveway.…”

Her voice trailed away.

“My dad eventually tracked the murder back to Vex,” she said, after a long pause. “He did it to intimidate my dad, to make a point. I guess it’s the same thing he was trying to do to me with those Firebottomed Rompers.”

I thought about the armored SUV that we were riding
in, the bodyguard robot, the machine gun towers. It was all to protect Sophie. And even after all that, Vex had nearly gotten to her anyway.

“Ever since my mom died,” Sophie said, “my dad’s been following Vex. That’s part of the reason why we were always moving around. My dad traced Vex across the country, and we moved from town to town every time he tracked Vex to a new location. A couple of months ago he found evidence that Vex was working on something in Sheepsdale. Something huge.”

“So
that’s
why you moved to Sheepsdale.”

I felt a note of relief. Captain Justice wasn’t there to drive my parents out of town. And now that they were carpooling together, who knew what would happen between them?

“Does this mean you won’t have to move around anymore?” I asked hopefully. “You and your dad can stay in Sheepsdale now that Vex is dead, right?”

Sophie’s mouth turned into a thoughtful frown. “What makes you think Vex is dead?”

“Um, let’s see … A ton of metal and stone fell on top of him. And then he got buried underneath a burning building. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance he’s a goner.”

“But you never
saw
him die.”

“Well, no. But …” I could feel my confidence sinking. “Even if Vex
did
survive somehow, that hotel was
surrounded by police and firefighters. They’d find him and arrest him before he could go anywhere.”

Sophie’s eyes stayed fixed on the window. I could tell she couldn’t get Vex out of her head.

In front of us, my parents were trying to make conversation with Captain Justice.

“Those hologram weapons of yours are quite interesting,” Dad said.

“Oh, thank you,” Captain Justice said.

“Do you make them yourself?” Mom asked.

“No, no. An engineering firm in California designs them for me. And then the wristbands are assembled in China. After that, my public relations department comes up with the name.”

“Well, they certainly do seem to come in handy,” Dad said. “We would’ve all been crushed back there if it weren’t for that Protective Umbrella of Honor.”

“Virtue,” Captain Justice said.

“Pardon?”

“You would’ve been crushed if it weren’t for the Protective Umbrella of
Virtue
.”

“Right,” Dad said. “Of course.”

Captain Justice cleared his throat. “Yes, well … these wristbands have helped me out of many a jam. Though, I must say, I’ve always admired your technology too. That Deactomatic of yours. Truly innovative. Is it something that you purchased?”

“Actually, that’s one of my own inventions.” Dad glanced away, trying not to smile.

Mom placed a hand on Dad’s knee. “He invents most of the technology that we use.”

“Really!” Captain Justice looked genuinely impressed. “I don’t see how you find the time.”

“A lot of late nights in the garage,” Mom confessed.

“And who takes care of the zombies?” Captain Justice asked. “Because I’ve noticed on more than one occasion how well trained they are.”

“I suppose that’s mostly my responsibility,” Mom said.

“It’s
entirely
her responsibility,” Dad confided. “I just try to stay out of the way.”

“Well, take my word for it,” Captain Justice said, “most zombies are
far
less disciplined. The last time I battled the Abominator, his zombies were all so poorly trained and unorganized. Half of them didn’t even
try
to eat my brain.”

I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. They actually seemed to be having a normal conversation—or normal for them, at least—without a single insult or death threat. I guess it shouldn’t have been too terribly surprising. They actually had a lot in common. It was just that in the past, they’d always been too busy trying to kill each other to sit down and talk like civilized human beings.

I tried to imagine the three of them getting together
again at some point under less crazy circumstances. Maybe a cup of coffee or dinner somewhere. If they took off their uniforms and avoided the past— Would something like that be possible? It seemed pretty unlikely. Then again, it had also seemed unlikely that my parents would ever be in the same car as Captain Justice in the first place.

But there we were.

I
was almost happy to return to school on Monday. After the crazy couple of weeks I’d just lived through, it was a relief to get back into a normal routine.

At home, my dad was working on a new invention, the No Handz WonderGroom, a machine that brushed your hair for you. He’d even tested it out on himself the night before.

“I think it still needs a little work,” he’d said afterward, carefully touching the brand-new bald spot on the side of his head.

Mom spent all of Sunday driving around Sheepsdale,
rounding up the zombies who’d gone missing after the Dread Duo’s operation at ChemiCo Labs had gone awry. Most of them had broken into the health food store that was just down the highway from the lab. They’d eaten their way through the entire inventory of tofu by the time my mom had gotten there.

“Just one more on the loose,” Mom said, pouring a jug of water into Micus’s pot. The houseplant flapped his branches up and down appreciatively. “But I’m sure it’ll turn up eventually.”

One thing my parents didn’t mention was the ride home they’d shared with Captain Justice. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen the next time the three of them ran into each other. With my parents, it was only a matter of time before they got themselves involved in some kind of plot for world domination or destruction. Whenever that happened, Captain Justice was sure to show up eventually. And now that they’d been carpool buddies, it might be a little awkward to go back to trying to kill each other.

At school, I was having even more trouble than usual concentrating during class. My thoughts kept turning back to those last fiery moments in the lair. The way time had stopped. The string of light that had appeared from my fingertips. The jolt that had knocked me backward and had done the same to Vex.

You’re Gyfted beyond anything we’ve ever seen before
, Mom
had said.
You have an extraordinary power, Joshua. But that power is volatile
.

As annoying and unpredictable as my spontaneous combustion could be, I guess I didn’t have much choice but to live with it. And I had to admit, it
had
come in handy.

No matter how I tried to put Vex out of my mind, he kept burning through my thoughts. It seemed impossible that he was still alive. But if he was, I knew he would make it his personal mission to come after us. And if that time came, my friends and I would have to be ready.

When lunch rolled around, Milton and I took our seats at our usual table. Just looking down at the food on my tray caused my appetite to shrivel. It was Meat Surprise Monday in the cafeteria. They called it a surprise because—well, nobody knew
what
it was.

After scooping a little of the brown mush onto my fork, I tried to stomach a bite. The meat was definitely surprising. And not in a good way.

“Guess what,” Milton said, taking a bite of his sandwich. “James Wendler said he’d give me his chocolate milk for the rest of the year if I let him have the copy of
Super Scoop
that Captain Justice autographed.”

“I doubt your mom would be okay with that,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but …” Milton’s eyes went all dreamy for a second. “So much chocolate milk …” He took another
bite. “Besides, Sophie can always get me another autograph.”

“You really think she’d do that?”

“Why not? Captain Justice is her—”

Milton stopped talking when he noticed the sharp look I was giving him.

He’d been this way all day. Almost blabbing the truth in the middle of a crowded hallway or making mysterious comments that only we would understand. Unlike Sophie and me, Milton wasn’t used to keeping so many secrets. And the effort seemed to be taking its toll.

“Maybe you’re right,” Milton said now. “A Captain Justice autograph is worth more than just one chocolate milk per day.”

“That actually wasn’t the point I was trying to—”

“I bet I could talk James up to a chocolate milk
and
an ice cream sandwich.”

The conversation came to a halt when a wave of perfume rolled past. A second later, the Cafeteria Girls took their usual seats at the table. They were all wearing pink. The one sitting closest to me had on a pink camouflage outfit, as if she were planning on hiding out in a jungle made of bubble gum.

“So I figured it out,” she announced.

“Figured
what
out?” asked one of her color-coordinated friends.

“Who Sophie Smith
really
is.”

This got everyone’s attention. Including mine.

“Sophie Smith is hiding her identity,” Commando Barbie said.

“She is?”

“That’s right. And I know why.”

I nearly blurted out,
You do?
Luckily, the other Cafeteria Girls said it before I had a chance.

Pink Camo Pants nodded. Her eyes moved around the table. They passed over Milton and me quickly with an expression that said
Eww
.

“Remember when Sophie first showed up in Sheepsdale?” she said. “It was the day after Captain Justice had that big fight with the Dread Duo. That couldn’t just be a coincidence.”

My stomach lurched, and I had a feeling it wasn’t the Meat Surprise. It sounded like the girls were actually on the right track. I already knew what would happen if people around town started figuring out Sophie’s real identity. I’d been through it enough times myself. There’d be a sudden move. A new town, a new name, a new life.

And Sophie would be gone.

I’ll admit, I hadn’t known her all that long, and for at least part of that time we’d been mad at each other or ignoring each other, or both. But we’d been through a lot together. Something about surviving a few near-death experiences with someone makes you feel close to them.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I didn’t want to see her leave.

The girl in the hot pink camouflage said, “There’s a reason why Sophie Smith just happened to show up in Sheepsdale the day after the Dread Duo were battling it out downtown. Isn’t it obvious?”

Everyone at the table waited for her to go on. I was clasping the edge of the table nervously. Milton was so distracted that he’d eaten his way through his entire sandwich and was now chewing on the plastic Baggie it had come in.

“Sophie’s parents are the Dread Duo,” Commando Barbie said.

I nearly burst into laughter. Sophie’s secret was still safe. And apparently mine was too.

“Wait a second …,” said another girl. “How could Sophie’s mom be the Botanist? I thought she didn’t even
have
a mom.”