THE TRAIN’S MUFFLED blast belched up from the bottom of the hill. Its wheels thumped slowly on unseen tracks. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was. All I knew was that it was closer. And it would soon emerge, heading north.
I looked back upward for Mom. She was putting up a good fight. Even though her arms were locked, she was managing to spin in the air, kicking at zombies only she could see. Skilaki laughed as she watched.
No one was paying any attention to me.
Move. Now.
I squeezed Aly’s hand. She turned to look at me. So did Cass. Sweat beaded my forehead.
HOOOOO . . .
I let go of Aly, ran down the walkway to the left of the tomb, hopped the fence, and sprinted down the hill. The incline was steep and my knees buckled.
“Hurry, Jack!” Aly cried out.
She and Cass were behind me. I knew Skilaki would see us. I expected to feel her power lifting us from the ground, boomeranging us back to her.
There. A tugging at my limbs. A force that was pulling me backward. I could see Cass stumbling beside me. I grabbed one arm, Aly the other. “Keep going!” I shouted.
“The farther we get . . .” Aly said, “the weaker her power!”
With each inch we were gaining strength. I guess even an ex-sibyl’s power isn’t infinite. “Keep it up,” I said. “This is distracting her from Mom!”
Soon we were running free down the grassy surface toward a highway ramp. Just beyond it were the tracks.
We hopped a barrier and sprinted across the ramp. I could hear the approaching train clear and close. The only thing separating us from the tracks was a tall chain-link fence.
“What are we doing?” Cass asked.
I whipped off my backpack and held up the glowing orb. “Destroying this,” I said.
Cass’s jaw dropped. “It’s a Loculus, Jack! You destroy that, we die!”
“If I don’t destroy it, my mom dies!” I shouted. “The portal remains open. The Shadows can come and go. They can suck souls from innocent people whenever they want. Are our lives worth that?”
I dropped the Loculus back into the pack, ran to the fence, and hopped as high as I could. Clutching onto the links, I climbed upward. Fast.
Cass and Aly were scrambling on to the fence to my left, yelling words I couldn’t hear. As I hopped down the other side, I could see another silhouette racing down the hill from the Tomb.
Marco.
The locomotive burst out of the tunnel with a sound like a bomb blast. I dropped the pack, took out the orb, and reared back with my arm. No chance to second-guess. No matter what Cass and Aly said. All that was in my mind were Professor Bhegad’s final words to my dad.
I am always willing to do what’s right.
I threw the Loculus as hard as I could, spiking it directly down at the track. Toward the train that was now inches away.
“He diiiives for the block!”
Marco’s voice startled me. He was over my head, leaping from the top of the fence, flying over my head at impossible speed.
“Marco, don’t!” I grabbed for his shirt in midair but he was already by me. He slapped the Loculus off course to the left. It thudded to the ground and rolled away from the track.
“Have you lost your mind, Brother Jack?” he yelled.
I ran for the golden orb, but it was no contest. Marco’s G7W skill put him light-years ahead of me. So I did the only thing I could. I rammed into his side, hard. It didn’t do much, just slightly threw him off balance. But it bought me a fraction of a second. Just enough to grab his shirt.
I hooked my leg around his, and we both fell to the ground.
Marco swatted me aside with his palm. “Sorry, Brother,” he said, leaping away toward the Loculus.
The train was coming closer, moving slowly. The Loculus had stopped rolling now, about three feet from the track. I scrambled to my feet, but Marco had gotten a big head start.
On me. But not on Cass. He had run ahead while we were scuffling.
He scooped the Loculus off the ground as Marco leaped high, ready to swat aside Cass’s throw. Instead, Cass underhanded the orb toward me. It spun in the air. I dived for it. Aly was running toward me, too. Behind her, a Shadow was scaling the fence.
Got it.
My fingers closed on the golden sphere and I thudded to the ground. The tracks were to my left, inches away. The locomotive was a blur of black looming closer, and my teeth rattled with the noise.
I stretched my arm out and tossed the Loculus directly on the tracks.
Marco yanked me away from behind, pulling me to safety. Together we rolled onto the gravel, huddling protectively as the hulking train sped by. The ca-CHUNK-ca-CHUNK-ca-CHUNK of its wheels on the track was deafening.
“Duuude, what did you just do?” Marco screamed.
His face was red, distorted. I had never seen him so angry.
But my eyes were drawing upward, to a small, fast-moving cloud of blackness floating over the fence. It was dropping fast, gaining human form.
“Watch out!” I cried as a zombie materialized, its shredded clothes flapping in the air directly over Marco’s head.
He spun around, crouching for impact.
But the Shadow never reached the ground.
Instead it vanished into thin air.