The Wanderers

Chapter 13- Into the Lair

“No! There is no way you are going, Timber!”  Isac shouted

“But what about their parents!” I said, pointing at Josh and Timmy.

“Timber you don’t understand how dangerous this is!” Timothy cried.

Katy, who was busy blowing on her wet nail polish, glanced up at me and said, “I think she’s doing the right thing. Come on… we can survive this.”

“I don’t mind Timber going if she’s going with us.” Travis explained.

We were back in Isac’s apartment and they weren’t letting me go for the “job” alone. We’d been arguing for almost half an hour now. Travis had been let out of the hospital, after some more treatment.

“But Travis, you’re hurt.” I said gazing at his wounded shoulder.

“I can manage it.”

“Okay then its settled, I, Travis and Timber will be going and you three can stay here.” Katy said.

Isac groaned and mumbled, “Fine… count us in. Oh and Katy… hobos don’t wear nailpolish.”

                                                                    . . .

At four o’clock that afternoon we were at Jasmine Square.  The place was filled with hobos. They were everywhere. With Timmy and Katy’s help we’d dressed up as hobos and just saying, we looked ridiculous. Katy was all pissed off because we forced her to take off all her makeup. Finally we allowed her a bit of lip gloss. Man, that girl was stubborn. We nestled down near the center of the square where a huge sculpture of a jasmine looked like it was floating in the fountain. Water spewed out from the holes in its cement petals.  Some mischievous hobo children were picking out coins from the water, which usual citizens threw in for “good luck”. 

I looked down at the rags I was wearing, stained with mud and dirt. My usual straight hair was turned frizzy, making me look like I electrocuted myself. I glanced at the others. Travis was holding his shoulder, wincing  slightly. His hair was untidy and was plastered to his forehead with sweat. Isac looked highly uncomfortable and stressed like he always was. Even the twins looked slightly freaked. The only one who didn’t give a shit about what was happening in the world was Katy, who was frantically running around, starting conversations with random people.  Just then a loud noise slapped me out of my thoughts. Two large helicopters descended from the sky and landed gently on the helipads. I saw a man climb out from the helicopter. He took out a mike and spoke into it. “Hello!” The entire square fell silent. Everyone looked up at the building and the tiny figure of the man perched onto it. “Thank you for coming here today! I’m Max and I would like everyone to form a single line in front of the building’s doors. No shoving or pushing. I know you’re excited but if any violence is to take place here on Jasmine Square I will have to ask that person to leave”. Slowly, everyone made their way to the doors. Travis slipped his hand into mine. I gazed up at his marvelous turquoise eyes.  That’s when I knew I would never tell the others about what happened that night. His secret was safe with me.

Finally it was our turn. The six of us and one other hobo climbed into the elevator and clicked the terrace button. We were supposed to go in groups of seven. The other hobo smiled at us, showing his stained yellow teeth. Well atleast his breath didn’t smell. “Howdy…I’m Galileo.”

I smiled back and replied, “I’m Ashley, this is Samantha and this Jason.” I said pointing to Katy and Isac. 

Travis looked around nervously and said “I’m Mark, and these are my siblings Alexis and… and…”

“Bob. My name is Bob. Sorry about my older brother, he has a slight memory problem.” Josh added. Phew… that was close.

Galileo smiled again. “Aren’t ya folks excited?”

“Yeah totally. I can’t wait to get ma money!” Katy exclaimed. Then she and Galileo had a long conversation about useless trash collectors. I hardly suppressed a laugh.

The elevator doors sprang open and we walked onto the terrace. The view was breathtaking. I could feel the wind rushing through my hair. I closed my eyes for a while taking in the beauty of my surroundings. I could see the entire village laid down before me as if it was a doll house I could rearrange and play with. I smiled to myself. I wanted to rush over to the railing but Max ushered us on. We quietly got into the helicopter. It was a cold place. You couldn’t see where the pilot was sitting or even where that compartment was. It felt like we were in a prison. Locked in a room with dull gray walls except it had many seats for the passengers to sit.  We were shown ours. They were in one of the last rows. Finally, when both the helicopters were filled, we set off. I noticed that they were no windows whatsoever in the room. It was almost like they didn’t want us to know where we were going.

                                                                              . . .

I opened my eyes and found Katy shaking me awake. “Dude you slept the entire ride. Now get your ass up.”

 I rubbed my eyes and stretched. “How long was I asleep?” I asked.

“About five hours.”

“FIVE HOURS!”

“Yup.”

I got up with a start and looked around. The room was bustling with energy. Hobos were talking and laughing and singing songs. “What happened? And where are the others?”

“We landed half an hour ago. They’ll let us out any time now, hopefully. Come on, get up, everyone’s associating with the hobos. They’re pretty cool people you know.”

I spotted the others hanging out with Galileo and his friends. They looked like they were having a good time. Just as I was about to join them an announcement blared through the speakers , “Please take your seats passengers, we are about to let you out.” Everyone rushed to their assigned seats. Then a door opened and Max came in along with a number of other people all dressed in white lab coats. He shut it, quickly. “Okay everyone, hello again. I’d like the last row to get up and go with Lauren.” He gestured to a pretty brunette in a white lab coat, who smiled.

Slowly, all the rows were assigned with a guide. We had Francisco, a man in his thirties with a jolly face and possibly the coolest mustache the world had ever seen. Just then, a bigger door opened. Bright light entered the helicopter room. I gulped. Who knew what horrors waited for us in there? I was scared. Josh and Timothy came on either side of me and grabbed my hand. I looked down at their worried faces. I’d never felt more protective about anyone in my entire life.  Then we followed Francisco out of the room and into the lair.