Modelland (50 page)

“It’s time, Tookie,” Piper urged.

Tookie ducked under the banner. Instantly, Piper rushed down four flights of stairs into the depths of the stadium, the girls right behind her. A giant pile of stones lay in front of them. Following Piper’s lead, they began lifting the rocks until a horizontal ZipZap flush with the ground appeared under the rubble. It had jagged, pointed, rusty teeth and a zipper pull that flamed crimson, as if warning not to touch it. Taking a deep breath, Tookie yanked it open. “Ouch!” It was hot to the touch. A whirlpool of thick, hot air and reddish liquid whipped inside.

“Is blood?” Shiraz wondered aloud, holding tightly to Dylan’s hand. Muted screams streamed out from the deep.

“Let’s go,” Tookie said. And then, after a slight hesitation, she fell straight backward and disappeared into the hole.

The girls’ bodies twisted around the curves of the ZipZap. It was pitch-black inside the tunnel; terrifying growling and wailing sounds echoed off its walls. The tunnel’s surface was hot, burning through the girls’ clothing and singeing Tookie’s bare legs. Everyone yelped in pain.

Suddenly, the path leveled off. Tookie saw a fork straight ahead.

“Left or right? Left or right?” Tookie screamed. “I think we should go left!”

“No! Right!” Shiraz answered.

“Left!” Piper said.

“No, right!” Dylan said.

Tookie leaned to the right. The girls did the same. They whipped through a new tube. Gradually, a pinprick of light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Where would they end up? In LaDorno, or in the Diabolical Divide? Tookie’s heart thumped.

The light grew closer and closer. Dylan screamed. As they reached the end, they picked up speed, their bodies whipping against the tube. And then, suddenly …

Thump!

The girls fell into a pool of thick red mud. The air smelled charred and rotten. There were no telltale signs of LaDorno anywhere. No buildings, no streets, no cars. Tookie looked into the air and saw four fireballs shooting straight toward them.

“We’re in the Divide!” she screamed. “Get back in the ZipZap!”

They all tried to stand, but the mud sucked them downward. Tookie rose and then fell face-first in the mud. It stung her eyes.

“I got you!” Tookie yelled. From somewhere deep within, she found the strength to rise. She then reached down and, one at a time, pulled Piper, Dylan, and Shiraz free.

“Hurry up!” Tookie screamed over the sound of crackling flames. “Back in the ZipZap!”

Just before the four fireballs were about to consume them, the girls jumped back into the ZipZap. Tookie took the left fork and the girls continued to slide, until … 
splash!

Tookie’s nose burned with the scent and taste of chlorine. Blue-gray buildings rose around her. The moon hung high in the sky overhead. A few lonely cars whipped around a traffic circle. Beyond it was the mist-covered mountain of Modelland.

She looked down and saw water lapping at her neck. She looked to the side and saw a statue of Mayor Devin Rump standing beside her.

They were in a fountain in LaDorno.

“We made it!” Dylan yelped. She splashed over to Tookie and gave her a huge hug. “And you were right. We shoulda gone left!”

Piper waded over and hugged Tookie, and then Shiraz did too.

“Now what?” Dylan said, tucking a clump of wet blond hair behind her ear.

Once they broke free, they looked around at one another, suddenly realizing something.

“I guess we go our separate ways.” Piper pointed out what they were all thinking. “I’ll find my way back to SansColor. And … to Mother, the
queen.
” She made a face.

“Back to Canne Del Abra,” Shiraz said morosely. “Will again deliver good news to the people, but no to me.”

“I’ll hop a train or somethin’ to Bou-Big-Tique, I guess,” Dylan murmured. “Back to the customer service desk. Back to life confined in a store.” Her jaw trembled slightly. She gazed up at the mountain.

“What do
I
do now?” Tookie said aloud, not expecting an answer.

Suddenly, Dylan’s face fell. She stared at something in the sky. “Tookie …” Her voice shook.
“Run!”

To Tookie’s horror, she saw Ci~L’s familiar pouch, in flying mode. It swooped ominously above them, dropping lower and lower with each rotation. She was coming after them!

The girls screamed and clambered out of the fountain, running down an alley, ducking under fire escapes and around garbage containers, and climbing over fences, Ci~L’s pouch in pursuit.

They skidded to a stop at an open manhole cover. They scooted down the ladder and ran through a labyrinth of dark, steaming tunnels. “Where we go now?” Shiraz yelled.

“We’re heading north by northeast,” Piper advised. “Head up the next ladder we find!”

Fifty steps later, they found a ladder leading up through an open manhole. Tookie scrambled up and out once more, emerging in the deserted town square. She looked around at the marble ground and the giant clock in the center.
This is where Metopia’s T-DOD is held
, she realized. It looked so empty and desolate, devoid of people, walkers, souvenir sellers. The clock tower loomed in the corner, and various fountains spewed water on all sides. Immense billboards of Intoxibellas Evanjalinda and Bev Jo decorated the sides of buildings.

As Tookie spun around, she noticed a telltale question-mark-shaped crack in the pavement and felt a clenching in her stomach. This was the exact point where Ci~L had selected her for Modelland. Right here, on the edge of the square, Ci~L had appeared out of the top of the car, extending her hand to Tookie. Over Myrracle. Over
everyone
.

She gazed up at the mist-covered mountain once more, a pang of regret and nostalgia mixing inside of her. So much had happened, she felt like an entirely different person. And yet she was in the exact same place she’d started.

A strange scratching sound emerged from behind a nearby trash can. Shiraz grabbed Tookie’s arm. “What that?”

“I don’t know,” Tookie whispered. “Shhh.”

The scratching noises intensified. Something breathed raspily in and out, in and out. A dog? A cat?

“What if it’s Ci~L?” Piper whispered.

Tookie stepped back, her heart thudding hard. But before she could turn around and make yet another escape, something larger than a cat climbed out of the trash can. A burr-riddled, dread-locked redhead dressed in a hospital gown, a series of fresh cuts and burns on her arms.

Tookie’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

Lizzie
.

Lizzie’s eyes locked with Tookie’s and she let out a joyful yet mournful yelp. The two girls ran for each other, crashing together hard. After a long embrace, Lizzie stuck her hands out to her sides, palms up. Tookie did the same. Both girls pointed to the sky, then made a motion as if checking their underarms for a scent, then did a deep curtsy.
“What’s up, Hot Queen?”
they cried together. Lizzie stared at Tookie’s arm, which was still adorned with the long ruby
bracelet from ManAttack. “You really
are
a queen today, girl!” she whooped.

“You have no idea, Lizzie.” Tookie had
felt
like a queen with the SMIZE. It had fallen off after ManAttack.
I wonder where it went
. Maybe one of the crazed Bellas back in the OrbArena had found and pocketed it. Maybe the Likees.…

The Unicas watched them, cocking their heads, trying to make sense of the reunion.

Then Tookie grabbed Lizzie’s hands. “Is it really
you
, Lizzie? I was sure you’d be
gone
by now!”

“Oh no.” Lizzie shook her head. “I’ve been waiting for you, Tookie. Right here, all day, every day. Well, I hide in the daytime, of course—they
see
me, during the day, they keep looking for me—but every night, I’m right here in that trash can. I saw you get chosen. Your face was huge for the world to see on the big screen on T-DOD!” Then Lizzie trembled a bit, looked down at her feet and said, “I always told you that you were special.…”

“I’m sorry,” Tookie said. Her worst fear had come true—Lizzie
had
seen her take the Scout’s hand. She remembered how Lizzie had stood in her driveway the morning of T-DOD. How she’d let out that scream, thinking Tookie had abandoned her. “I wanted to escape with you, Lizzie. But they threw me into the car—I was stuck!” Tears fell from her eyes. All this time, she’d feared that Lizzie hated her for leaving.

“I understand,” Lizzie said. “I mean, at first I was confused. And hurt. And angry. But it’s
you
, Tookie. I know you wouldn’t do that to me. I knew you’d come back.”

Tookie put both hands to Lizzie’s face. “I
did
come back, Lizzie.” Guilt shot through her body. Yes, she was back. But the
reason for her trip was not to be with Lizzie, but to dodge danger and death. Still, Tookie continued, because the look in Lizzie’s eyes felt like home. “And … and I’m ready. For Exodus.
Really
ready. Let’s go. Right now.”

Lizzie gazed into Tookie’s eyes and nodded, her eyes filled with sad joy. “Really?”

“Really.” Tookie turned and grinned at Shiraz, Dylan, and Piper. “This is Lizzie, guys. My very best friend from Peppertown.”

When she turned back to Lizzie, Lizzie’s expression had changed from bright and lucid to something tortured and crazed. She stared at the sky, her eyes stricken with fear. “They’re coming for me!” she shrieked.

Tookie and the other Unicas gazed at the sky too. Ci~L’s pouch whizzed past her own billboard, which now read WHERE THE HELL IS Ci~L, DAMN IT!? WE
NEED
HER!

Lizzie started to shiver and convulse, her eyes locked on Ci~L. Then, turning, she broke out into a run down the city streets.

“Lizzie!” Tookie screamed, chasing after her. The Unicas followed. “Lizzie! Where are you going? Come back!” She pounded down the LaDorno streets, passing spas, high-end hotels, jewelers, exclusive nightclubs, all kinds of things she used to dream about as a simple girl in Peppertown. But she barely noticed them right now, the storefronts streaking past. “Lizzie!” she screamed again, catching a glimpse of Lizzie’s bright red hair rounding a corner. She looked over her shoulder to tell Shiraz, Piper, and Dylan to hurry up. But they were gone.

Her stomach twisted.
Nooooo!

Tookie walked in circles on the sidewalk, wondering which way to go. Just then, a huffing, puffing bus from Peppertown—the
only one that trekked into LaDorno—pulled up beside her. Vigorous knocks pounded on the windows. Tookie looked up and her heart lifted. Shiraz, Dylan, and Piper were inside.

Get in now!
Piper mouthed through the window.

Tookie peered up the steps. The freckled driver grinned down at her. “Come on the board!” he said in broken English, with an accent that sounded just like Shiraz’s. “Your little Labrian friend, all my Canne Del Abra so proud of her. She tell me your plight! I help you get away from crazy flying lady!”

Tookie climbed aboard and gazed at Shiraz, who shrugged and shot the driver her best CaraCaraCara expression, which made him break into a googly
I’ll do anything you want
smile. It seemed they
had
learned something valuable at Modelland after all.

“Where’s your friend?” Piper asked.

Tookie looked around desperately. She couldn’t even form the words that she’d lost Lizzie again. It couldn’t be happening.

“Oh my God!” Dylan gazed through the side window. “There she is!”

“Who? Lizzie?” Tookie asked, brightening.

“No!” Dylan screamed. Tookie followed Dylan’s gaze. Ci~L soared through the sky. But then, suddenly, Ci~Ls appeared on either side of the bus as well, keeping pace with the speeding vehicle.
She’s using her power of Multiplicity
, Tookie thought.
Now there are THREE Ci~Ls trying to kill us!

“Down that alley,” Piper commanded the driver. He turned a corner fast, losing the two Ci~Ls that flanked the bus. At the opening on the other end of the alley, Tookie could see the Obscure Obelisks towering in the sky, all lit up by the moon. She was surprised Mayor Rump hadn’t taken them down yet.

“There’s Ci~L!” Dylan screamed. “She’s—all of her are—landin’!”

Tookie whipped around and saw the three Ci~Ls skid to a stop on the bricks behind them, their pouches retracting into their arms. As soon as the three Ci~Ls noticed the bus, a determined look settled over their identical faces, and they sprinted after it again.

“Faster!” Shiraz ordered the bus driver.

“You gots it.” The Labrian man sped down the alley toward the Obelisks, hydroplaning on the slick street. The bus then hit a pothole, sending the girls flying out of their seats. When Tookie scrambled up again, one of the Ci~Ls was right alongside the bus, staring through the window at them!

Everyone screamed. Dylan looked like she might faint. “Have the mercy!” Shiraz wailed.

Then Tookie looked out the front windshield. Ahead of them stood Lizzie. Frozen. Staring at the oncoming bus. “Don’t run!” Tookie screamed at her through the glass. “Lizzie, stay right there!”

Lizzie blinked, then stared at something on the ground. It glinted in the moonlight. She bent down to pick it up. Tookie stared at the shiny sharp metal object in Lizzie’s hand. Lizzie then raised it and brought it down hard onto her inner wrist. “Noooo!” Tookie wailed.