“What kind of soda?”

There was barely time to react. In a heartbeat, Leslie’s gang of Pluggers was everywhere. Spencer reeled away, dropping his backpack and scrambling for his weapons.

“How did they get into the landfill?” Penny screamed as the Pluggers closed in.

“The gorge doesn’t keep out Toxites,” V answered. “They probably flew, or burrowed, or climbed. What I’m wondering is how they knew you were here?”

Leslie’s hungry-eyed Filth was the answer. The creature was still baited with Alan’s scent. There was nowhere the Rebels could go that the Extension Filth wouldn’t find them.

Alan smashed into the nearest Extension Grime with a pushbroom. The creature’s Glopified armor repelled the attack, which barely did enough to knock it back. Its long tongue snaked out, but Spencer’s dad batted it away.

As the Grime breath reached her, Daisy turned in distraction to look at the forest. “Whoa! Those are definitely the biggest spoons I’ve ever seen. Just think about how much cereal I could eat in one bite!”

An Extension Grime paused next to the distracted Daisy. Its neck started to balloon, filling with venomous slime. Walter reached the girl just as the creature expectorated. Walter and Daisy tumbled to the ground inches from a steaming smear of greenish slime.

The Extension Grime doubled for a second attack, but V leapt into the fray. The Spade thrust like a spear and punctured through the Grime’s Glopified armor, causing the rider to pull back.

In the wide-open space, the Pluggers had a huge advantage. The Extension Rubbishes were circling like vultures, diving at the Rebels whenever an opportunity presented itself.

“Into the forest!” Walter shouted, dragging Daisy toward the huge utensils. Penny cleared a path, her mop strings woven into a defensive net. An Extension Filth came loping in for Spencer. He felt its breath and swooned with fatigue. Alan shot a stream of air freshener and pulled his son into the safety of the silverware.

At the edge of the forest, one of the Extension Rubbishes went into a steep dive, hoping to pick off Bernard as he slipped into the shelter of the utensils. Wings folded back and armored talons flexed, but Penny screamed a warning.

Bernard flopped down on the ground, covering his head with both hands. Penny’s mop strings whipped overhead, lassoing tightly onto the stem of a metal fork. With a grunt, she pulled.

The Glopified strings bent the huge fork, angling the sharp upturned tines just perfectly. The Extension Rubbish, at the steepest part of its dive, was unable to turn aside. There was a crunch as the fork stabbed through the armor. The creature croaked once, impaled high upon the tall fork. Then it disintegrated, leaving its rider perched precariously on the sharp tines.

The Rebels had fought their way into the forest, but Leslie’s Extension Filth instantly took off after them, anxious to sink its buckteeth into Alan Zumbro.

There was a low rumble of thunder overhead. The heavy clouds let down a few drops—a mere warning of what was sure to come.

The Rebels were ducking and weaving through the utensils, staying as close together as they could manage. As in a true dense forest, it was dark among the tall silverware. And the blackening clouds only served to block out the last glimmer of daylight.

Spencer felt his heart racing as the sound of Pluggers pursued them through the forest. The Rubbishes flew overhead, waiting for a clearing in the utensils. The Filths bludgeoned their way forward, spiky quills raking through the forks and spoons. But the Grimes were catching up, their reptilian bodies easily designed to move through tight spaces.

There was a bright flash of lightning overhead, momentarily silhouetting the Extension Rubbishes against the dark sky. Thunder cracked and the clouds opened their full fury. Sheets of rain poured down, causing the dry ground to run with muddy rivulets. There was another flash in the stormy sky.

“This is not a good place to be in a lightning storm!” Alan shouted to his companions. It was true. Nothing could be worse than running through a forest with metal trees. “We need to find shelter!”

“There’s a cave over there!” V pointed through the utensils, her long white hair hanging in wet ropes from the rain. “This way!”

Daisy slipped in the mud, but Spencer pulled her back up as they raced for shelter. For a brief moment, Spencer lost sight of V. Then lightning brightened the sky and he saw her standing in the mouth of a black cave. He ran toward her, the utensils thinning until he found himself in the open air once more. Without the cover of the silverware, the rain was more intense than ever. Spencer could barely breathe as the water struck his face.

“Everybody inside!” V shouted. Penny was already in the opening, reaching out for her uncle and pulling Walter through the mouth of the cave and into the shelter. Bernard and Alan ducked through as Spencer helped Daisy find her footing in the threshold.

There was something strange about the cave. The sound of rain pinging overhead reminded Spencer of BBs on a tin roof. The air was stale, with a peculiar, moldy scent. The pounding rain was almost deafening, but their shelter seemed dry and secure.

Rho and V stood just outside the cave’s opening, watching for approaching Pluggers. Walter fumbled in his backpack and produced a flashlight. The bulb flicked on and illuminated the cave.

Their shelter was perfectly smooth and rounded, forming a cylindrical chamber that dead-ended a short way down. Spencer reached out and touched the wall. It was hard, but not stone. It felt more like cold metal.

“Guys,” Bernard said. He was crouching at the end of the tunnel, his yellow boot sticking to something that had pooled there. Walter’s light shone on the viscous puddle, and the garbologist leaned down and swiped the substance with his finger.

Spencer looked away as Bernard lifted the finger to his mouth and took a quick taste.

“I don’t think this is a cave,” the garbologist said. “I think it’s a giant soda can.”

“What kind of soda?” Daisy asked. ”

“Going by this residue,” said Bernard, “I’d say it’s a 7-Up can.”

The shape of the cave made sense now. It was an aluminum can, a hundred sizes too large, lying on its side in the mud. The cave’s mouth made a perfect oval where the can had been popped open.

“I don’t like this,” Penny said. “Only one way out.”

Alan nodded. “We should get out of here while we can . . .”

Mop strings flicked through the oval opening and seized Spencer around the middle. He was jerked outside, back into the pouring rain.

Spencer skidded on his back in the mud, writhing to see who had attacked him. As he traced the mop strings back to their source, his heart sank.

It was Rho.

Spencer sat up just in time to see V slam her pushbroom into the side of the soda can. The rain-soaked soil gave way into a tremendous landslide; carrying the old aluminum can down a slippery slope.

Spencer watched his friends topple out of sight. He staggered to his feet and lunged at V. But the Auran was too quick. She turned, drawing a green spray bottle from her belt and pulling the trigger. A fine green mist engulfed Spencer. He felt his legs weaken and buckle. Spencer fell backward, and Rho caught him under the arms.

His vision was growing fuzzy, and, try as he might, Spencer couldn’t remember who had just sprayed him with the green solution. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he blacked out completely.