The Adventures of Kid Combat Volume Two: The Heist of Spring Road Toys (5 page)

At that moment, Mr. Thompson emerged from the
stockroom. He looked very anxious and checked over his shoulder
many times to make sure his wife was not within hearing range. He
walked up to Kyle and Samantha and spoke.

“Kyle, you’ve always been very loyal to us,
and that’s why I’m going to tell you this. I didn’t want to worry
Mrs. Thompson, but we have received many threats in the past few
weeks.”

“Threats? What kinda threats?” Samantha
said.

“All sorts of them. From the other tenants of
the building threatening us if we don’t sell, to that curator,” Mr.
Thompson said with an obvious dislike for the man. He looked up and
out the window. There, in the short distance, stood the museum. Mr.
Thompson snarled. “That nasty curator. He stopped by here last week
after I closed down the shop and Mrs. Thompson was at home. He went
off on how if we don’t sell to him that there was going to be
trouble. He’s quite mad, Kyle. I’m afraid for me and especially for
my wife. We’re getting up in age and I can’t defend us like I once
was able to,” Mr. Thompson said and again looked over his shoulder
for his wife. He stood up and shook his head. He was very upset and
stricken with sadness. “Maybe it would be best if we just sell this
place to the museum.”

“No, you can’t!” Samantha pleaded. “It’s not
right what he’s doing to you. You have every right to stay here!”
Samantha paused. “Please, Mr. Thompson, don’t give in to them. I’m
sure everything will work out soon. Just have faith.”

“Maybe you’re right. I don’t know,” Mr.
Thompson said with little conviction. Just then they heard Mrs.
Thompson coming back from the stockroom. Mr. Thompson composed
himself and started back to work on the shelves. “Not a word to
Mrs. Thompson, Kyle. I have your word?” Kyle just stood there and
nodded as Mrs. Thompson entered the room carrying a large box in
her hands.

“I’m sorry, my dear Kyle, it’s not here yet.
We are expecting a large shipment of toys this afternoon. Perhaps
check back then?” Mrs. Thompson said with an upset look in her
eyes. She hated to disappoint the kids.

“No worries. I’ll stop back tomorrow,” Kyle
said without giving it a second thought. The group of friends paid
for their purchases and headed out the door. The kids proceeded
down the block and walked past the museum once again on their way
home.

“That’s just awful what Scott is trying to do
to the Thompsons,” Samantha said as she glared at the establishment
she had just escaped from the night before.

“Yeah. We need to keep our eyes open for
them,” Wedge said.

“We just need to make sure we get to Scott
before he gets to the Thompsons,” Gears said.

“I think we officially have our next mission.
Don’t you think, Kid?” Rocket said.

“Absolutely, Rocket!” Kid said back to him.
He stared up at the museum for a few moments as he walked by it.
“Let’s get to our ball games. We’ll have plenty of time to figure
out a strategy.”

Chapter Four:

Dinner at the Christensens’

5:30 PM

The fences at Maple Forest were made of wood.
The thick supports were made out of old railroad ties sticking
straight out of the ground. Each support was three feet tall and
eight inches thick. The brown, broad pieces had notches carved out
of them in squares to allow the main pieces of the fence to connect
into them. These fence pieces were smaller than the supports that
held them up. Averaging four inches wide and two inches thick, the
fence lined the perimeter of the baseball field and the edge of
Maple Forest from the houses and backyards of their owners.

Over the years, the fence had gotten worn
down and the pieces of wood that made up the fence had warped and
become uneven. Rain worsened the condition, as well as years of
neglect.

Maple Forest had no playground of its own.
There were no monkey bars, no slides, and no mazes to crawl
through. It was bare of any sand diggers, look-out posts, and even
swings. In an effort to make up for the lack of amenities, the
children of Elmcrest walked the top of the Maple Forest fence. They
would take turns in groups walking along the top platform of the
fence, seeing who could make it the farthest without falling down.
This would go on for hours. The boys and girls really got into it.
Sometimes the fence walking competitions would overshadow the
baseball games, especially if someone was close to making it all
the way around Maple Forest. It never happened, but a few people
came close.

It was a long day at Maple Forest. The kids
of Elmcrest played their games for hours. It was growing late in
the summer, and the kids knew that they only had a few weeks left
of summer vacation before they had to go back to school. To counter
this, they soaked up every minute of daylight. From lunchtime to
dinnertime, packs of kids would be at Maple Forest enjoying their
last days of freedom.

A tired Kyle Christensen walked back from the
baseball diamond to his house on Sunnydale Drive. His friend
Samantha accompanied him on the very short half-block walk.

On the way home, the two talked briefly about
the mission from the previous night and the epic failures that
surrounded it. Both friends looked frustrated that things went so
wrong.

“I just can’t believe how bad things got last
night, Sam,” Kid said, walking to Sam’s right. He looked down at
the ground almost embarrassed to look at his friend.

“Yeah, I know. And the twins weren’t even
there,” Samantha replied. She let out a small smile that was lost
on Kid.

“Dude,” was all Kid could get out at first.
The two friends stopped walking, and Kid continued. “We rushed
through this mission, and it almost cost us.”

“Dude, we didn’t rush through anything. We
planned for weeks,” Samantha argued. “The boys checked the rover,
like, seventeen times. Stuff just happens. We adjusted and got what
we needed,” Samantha said, trying to ease Kid’s mind. It worked a
little bit, but also in turn made Samantha feel a bit guilty that
her mistake of dropping the camera made her friend feel so bad.

“I guess you’re right,” Kid replied. “I don’t
know. I guess we can chalk this one up to bad luck and just work on
protecting the Thompsons from that curator guy.”

“That’s the spirit!” Samantha said back and
gave Kid a pat on the chest. “Now, get to dinner before your dad
kills you for making him wait.”

The two parted ways at Sam’s driveway, and
Kyle proceeded into his house. It was dinnertime at the Christensen
household, and that was not a time to be late. He made his way up
the driveway and entered the backdoor off the porch.

That door opened into the family’s kitchen
area. The modest room was full of action as dinner was in full
swing. The Christensen household was ablaze with smells that
immediately embraced Kyle as he entered. Kyle’s mom had multiple
burners going on the stove as a feast was in store for the family.
The steam rose out of the pots and masked the white cabinets with a
small hint of moisture.

The countertops were also full of dishes and
utensils used to create the artwork that was to become their
dinner.

Kyle’s mother was in the center of all the
excitement. Glowing from the happiness that surrounded her, she
almost danced around the kitchen as she prepared the meal.

Kyle was truly one of the lucky kids left in
Elmcrest whose family was not blinded by the greedy, corrupt ways
of Jones. They still cared for one another and were by all means
happy.

This was true for most of the members of
SOCKs families. The core fabric was very important in shaping the
kids of the organization into what they were today. They fought
back against Jones to preserve that precise thing.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Kyle’s mom said as he
entered. “How were your games?”

“Good,” Kyle replied, entering farther into
the kitchen. He poked around the dishes on the counter, trying to
sneak some dinner in. His mother would have none of it.

“Now, Kyle, go upstairs and clean up for
supper! You’ve already made your father wait this long. Now get!”
she sparked with a hint of sarcasm wrapped in a package of love.
Kyle didn’t answer, but he scurried off to his left and up the
sixteen stairs to the second floor of their home. Making his way
down the long hallway, Kyle turned left at the first door and
entered into his room.

The door itself had little ornamentation on
the outside, but the inside of the room was filled with
decorations. The walls were painted a light blue that was mostly
obscured by posters of rock bands, baseball players, and other
various interests.

There was limited furniture in the room. A
standard twin bed was nestled up against one wall. A wood desk, big
enough to seat a small child, was on the other wall. That was it
for furniture in the room.

The room was a typical ten-year-old’s room.
The hardwood floor underneath Kyle’s feet barely showed through the
mess that covered it. From toys, to laundry, to just plain junk, it
was a vast contrast to Kid Combat’s room within The Playground.
Here, Kyle was a kid, and he allowed himself a little bit of a
mess. Besides, who had time to clean with his busy life? At least,
that’s what he told himself.

Kyle made his way into his room and searched
for some clean clothes to put on for dinner. Taking various
articles off the floor and giving them the old sniff test, Kyle
weeded out the bad ones from the good ones. He finally found a
decent shirt and settled on wearing the same shorts.

As Kyle was going to turn and leave, he
glimpsed out his window. Looking across the driveway, he noticed
the light on in Samantha’s bedroom. There, he saw Samantha sitting
at her desk, facing out the window. She looked to be in deep
thought. She also looked very unhappy, almost upset.

Kyle took it upon himself to interrupt her
concentration and see what was wrong with his friend. He rifled
through various toys and articles of clothing on the floor, looking
for his radio. He sifted through the rubble and finally found his
transceiver. He stood back up, looked out the window, and radioed
Sam.

“Kyle to Samantha. Come in, Sam. Over,” Kyle
said. Samantha looked up from what she was doing and out the
window. There, she saw Kyle staring back at her, and he waved. She
let out a half smile, leaned over to her left, and grabbed her
radio off the corner of her desk. Samantha was always neater than
Kyle was.

“Hey, Kyle, what’s up?” Samantha said.

“Not much. I saw you over there working and
figured I’d radio you. Over.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s nothing,” Samantha said very
tersely. Kyle knew that when Samantha wasn’t in the mood to talk,
it meant one of two things—either she was mad at someone or mad at
herself. Kyle poked to find out what was wrong.

“Sam, come on. What is it?” he said
inquisitively. Samantha knew she wouldn’t get out of not telling
him now. She paused for a second, reflected on her thoughts, and
came clean.

“It’s just … what you said outside. Things
went wrong, and I had a large part in it. I don’t know. I feel like
I let you down and made you upset, so I’m trying to figure out who
the two boys were from last night. I’ve been looking through our
files to see if I could come up with any matches from what I could
remember.”

“Oh, you didn’t upset me, Sam,” Kyle said to
his friend. “Like you made me realize—it’s just bad luck. I can’t
control everything.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Samantha came back. Her head
dropped slightly.

“You did the best you could. It wasn’t your
fault,” Kyle said, trying to reassure his friend. It wasn’t
working.

“Well, I was the only one in there. It has to
be my fault,” Samantha said. Kyle was losing her, and he changed
the direction.

“Maybe it was my fault. Sending you in alone
and all. I guess we will never know, but thinking about it this
much isn’t good for anyone.” Kyle paused. “What did you find in our
files?”

“I can’t be certain,” Samantha started, “but,
from what I could remember, I think I might have found matches for
two boys. It’s a long shot, but so far these two boys from Byron
Junior High look like the best bet.”

“That’s good Sam. I can’t wait to see what
you have,” Kyle said. Just then he heard his mother call from
downstairs.

“Kyle! On the double!” Her voice echoed
through the house. The Christensen family was getting impatient
waiting on Kyle to show his face for dinner.

“Ugh. I gotta go.”

“Yeah, I know,” Samantha said. She knew what
life was like at the Christensen household. “I’ll bring you my
findings tomorrow. We’ll go over them then.”

“Sounds good. And Sam?”

“Yeah, Kyle?” asked Samantha.
“Don’t beat yourself up anymore. You’re safe now. That’s what’s
important. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

“OK, Kyle. Have a good night. Over,” Samantha
finished. She put down her radio and shot a quick smile over at
Kyle through the window. He waved back at her and proceeded
downstairs for dinner.

Samantha stayed up half the night researching
the two boys she saw, hoping for any leads. Kyle enjoyed a nice
peaceful dinner at home with his family.

What Kyle didn’t know was that while he
relaxed without a care in the world, something more sinister was
happening downtown.

*******

The Science Museum in Elmcrest was officially
closed. The exhibits were all shut down for the evening, and all
the main lighting was off. The night guards started to make their
rounds, a little more alertly today than usual, looking for any
intruders. They wouldn’t find any tonight.

On the third floor of the museum stood the
only four people remaining in it besides the guards. They were the
same four people that had huddled in the main foyer the day
before.