When the smoke had finally faded outside the cave, Tsara was incensed. She wanted nothing more than to capture Treen Alee and make Lance happy, but once again Treen had eluded her. “If you idiots had stormed the cave in the first place we would have her!” Tsara yelled. Then she walked over to Sheridon and Ariel, now in handcuffs.
“We let these pathetic wanna-be heroes keep us from our mission?” She glared at Sheridon. “You look angry, big brother. You’d like to smash me to pieces wouldn’t you?”
“You gonna pay for killin’ my mother.”
Tsara adjusted the collar on her slinky uniform, then took off her hat.
“I didn’t realize you knew about that,” she said smiling. “After living in a city like Grevelton, your mother’s better off dead. Didn’t Treen Alee train you to think positively?”
“Don’t let her bother you, Sheridon. She hasn’t got much time left,” said Ariel.
“What are you talking about?” Tsara asked. “It is you who should be worried.”
“You can kill us but that won’t save you,” said Ariel, staring out into the wilderness. “Treen’s out there and all the computer chips in the world won’t help you or Lance.”
“Eliminate them!”
“That’s enough, Tsara!” shouted Mr. Blue, storming between the droids and followed by none other than Lance.
“What are you doing here, Lance? You asked me to handle this,” Tsara whined. “I’m trying to make you happy — ”
“Quiet!” shouted Mr. Blue. “I am in charge here!”
“Now look what you’ve done, Tsara,” said Lance, “You’ve upset Mr. Cobweb. It started with that smoking mess he saw from the chopper and now you’re trying to kill these two before he can say goodbye,” he added.
“Where is Treen Alee?” Mr. Blue demanded.
“She’s escaped into the woods along with Russell Wellbay,” said Tsara.
Mr. Blue glared at Sheridon and Ariel, but said nothing. “Take these two back to the lab and throw them in with the others until I get there — and find Treen Alee!”
“Not to worry, Cobweb. I’ve set the Ecnal Grizzly in attack mode and it’s searching for her as we speak.”
After trekking upwards in the mud for so long, Treen and Russell barely had enough energy to slow themselves when they finally began to slide downwards. They stopped to rest near a pond crowded with aspen trees. All they could hear was the tapping of leftover raindrops that rolled off the leaves to the surface.
“Aren’t you glad you quit smoking?” Treen asked. Breathing fast, he turned to face her but didn’t answer.
“You really should close your mouth,” she said, “Many, many bugs are flying around out here.”
“Look, over there at that shack,” said Russell, pointing across the pond. “It’s kinda rickety but at least we wouldn’t be out in the open.”
“Let’s check it out.”
They jogged along the water, circling to the opposite side and continuing fifty yards to the shack. Treen had barely touched the door but it fell back and hung on by the center hinge. She walked inside and squeezed her nostrils; the rotten smell reminded her of the Rondo brothers. Maybe they’d just left or maybe it was one of their old hideouts. Either way, the only items inside were tree stump chairs and a lopsided table with Grevelton Sucks carved into the warped wood.
After they’d removed their packs, they sat on the stumps and talked about Ariel and Sheridon’s capture. Even though she knew it wasn’t her fault, Treen felt sick about the situation. She stared out of a broken window and watched the storm clouds drift away.
“So what’ll we do now?” asked Russell.
“We’ll have to leave soon and find out where that helicopter was flying to.”
“If we do find the lab, what then? You saw all them droids.
There’s only two of us.”
“We’ve already proven that these droids aren’t flawless. If we want to save our friends and family, we have to keep outsmarting them. As far as Mr. Blue goes — well, you can see the results of his decision making thus far. His own stupidity will most likely take care of him.”
A short time later, they stood to put on their packs. They froze. They stared at each other. The crackling outside the limp door grew louder. Then, a thunderous growl blew through the shack. A grizzly had found them.
“Treen, we gotta get outta here!”
“Hurry, put on your backpack!” she said, as the bear ripped the door down. The monster couldn’t fit its whole body inside, but jammed its head through the doorway and roared, mouth full of silver fangs.
When Treen saw its shiny teeth, she knew it wasn’t a real bear — but the Ecnal Grizzly from the factory. Russell was halfway through the window when she dashed over, grabbed his ankles, and yanked him down to floor.
“What are you doin’?” he shouted, rubbing his head. Just then, the grizzly galloped around to the window and stood, its sevenfoot frame rising above the shack. Russell scurried behind the table.
Treen knew they couldn’t outrun the mechanical beast, and that the only thing separating them from the Grizzly’s mouth was the shaky old shack that the bear had now started to pounce on.
The grizzly’s nonstop thumping atop the roof, fired sharp pieces of wood down into the shack, before a large section of the roof fell in. Treen and Russell stared up through the jagged hole at creature. It stared down at them and growled, struggling to keep its balance. “Get under the table!” Treen shouted, afraid that the rest of the roof was about to give.
The grizzly couldn’t stay up and settled back on four legs. With very little of the shack remaining, they couldn’t stay hunched under that table.
“Somehow we have to blind that thing. It’s our only chance to get away,” said Treen.
“Are you nuts?” How we gonna get close enough?” I say we make a break for it!” said Russell, scrunched beneath the slanted side of the table. “We can’t outrun it if we’re stuck in here.”
“We can’t outrun it, period. That might’ve worked back in the factory when it slid all over the place, but outdoors, that Ecnal Bear is faster than a cheetah...”
The bear seemed to holler even louder as it circled the decaying structure, pausing only to slam its head against the walls that amazingly still stood.
“Quickly, check your backpack to see if there are any sandwiches left,” she said.
Bewildered, Russell moved his head upward and forgot about the low end of the table. “Owww! We’re about to get eaten — and you wanna eat?” he said, rubbing his head.
Treen couldn’t waste time explaining. She grabbed the backpack herself, digging inside until she felt the sharp edges of wrinkled aluminum foil.
Two flat and soggy sandwiches remained. She reached out from under the table to pull in the longest, thinnest piece of wood that the grizzly had conveniently punched down from the roof. She then slid the sandwiches onto the stick; she took out Russell’s cigarettes and lighter, then reached into her own pack for a can of spray paint.
The grizzly passed by the doorway. Treen put on her pack, picked up the items, then crawled away from the table towards the window.
“Treen, what the heck are you doin?”
“Just take out your paint and get ready to run.”
A few steps from the window, Treen held out the soggy shiskabob. The droids didn’t eat but were equipped with smell sensors. Hopefully, the scent of ham, mayonnaise and mustard was enough to keep its fangs from her fingers. Mimicking the friendly call normally reserved for cats, Treen informed the bear that dinner was ready:
“Here grizzy, grizzy, grizzy.”
When the bear’s profile appeared in the window, the shiskabob began to tremble. Treen exhaled, trying to slow a heart that wanted out of her chest.
The grizzly turned its massive head and faced the window. Treen watched its nose and, just as she’d hoped, it moved all around.
The Ecnal grizzly lumbered closer. Treen noticed that the creature had quit looking at the snack on a stick to stare at a bigger meal: he