Chapter Twenty-Eight

There’s No Repellent Strong Enough

Geth had just helped Phoebe up and out of Blue Hole Lake when something small and noisy smacked up against his left shoulder. Whatever it was bounced off and flew into a crowd of female cogs.

“What was that?” Phoebe asked.

“They have really big bugs here,” Geth answered.

“There’re so many people,” Winter moaned.

Geth looked at the thousands and thousands of hot, unsettled, screaming people and strongly suggested to Winter and Phoebe that they still keep themselves hidden.

“You!” A heavy man with a square red face stopped them. “Come with me.”

“Okay,” Geth answered. “But . . .”

Apparently the red-faced man didn’t have time to explain things. He waved frantically at Geth. “Come.”

“What’s this about?” Winter whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

“I have no idea,” Geth replied.

Phoebe was mesmerized by all the cameras and flashbulbs. She stared at a tall reporter with red hair as he frantically clicked off hundreds of shots of her.

“Come on,” Geth insisted.

“What are they doing with those sparkling lights?” Phoebe asked.

“They’re taking your picture,” Winter answered.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that millions of additional people can now drool over you,” Winter explained.

The red-faced man waved at them to get them to run faster. In the distance they could hear crashing noises and the roar of a crazed crowd. The red-faced man stopped and looked in that direction.

“I knew it,” he said, pressing a button on his walkie-talkie.

The sound of a gun going off cracked through the air.

“What was that?” Phoebe asked, plugging her beautiful ears.

“That was a gunshot,” Geth said.

“I’m not sure I like Reality,” she frowned.

The red-faced man seemed to lose interest in them; he stormed off as a tank fired out a shot and more fences started to come down.

“We’ve got to get somewhere safe,” Geth said. “Follow—”

Geth flew backward, landing on his rear and slamming his head against the dirt.

“Geth!” both Phoebe and Winter yelled.

Winter knelt down next to him and tried to pull him up.

“Leave him be,” a voice demanded.

Winter looked at Geth as he lay there. Geth’s eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving. But there on his forehead, standing as tall as a fancy toothpick could possibly stand, stood Ezra. He was pulsating a muted purple color and had both of his fists up as if ready for a fight. Winter might have been surprised by a talking toothpick if it had not been for the time she had spent carrying Geth around when he was one.

“You must be—” Winter started to say.

But her words were halted by Geth as he sprang up, swiping Ezra into his right hand. Geth slowly opened his fingers and held up his palm. Ezra was not happy—small bits of steam were rising off of his purple tassel.

“You’re Ezra,” Geth said, holding him up close to his face.

“And you’re Geth,” Ezra spat.

Geth wiped the spit from his face with his other hand.

“You did this to me,” Ezra raged. “Took all the pleasant and left me the rage.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Two more tanks fired as the scene became complete anarchy. Dennis finally arrived and stopped to stare at Ezra in Geth’s hand.

“Jealous?” Ezra snapped.

Dennis looked at Geth. “You must be Geth.”

“I am,” Geth answered kindly. “This is Phoebe and Winter.”

Dennis looked at both of them and his bald white head went even paler.

“And this is, and this is, and this is,” Ezra raged. “Who cares who anybody is? The only name that matters is mine because in a few moments you will be dead.”

Ezra leapt from Geth’s palm and slammed his metal leg directly into his forehead. The leg pierced the skin a good inch before Ezra pulled it out. Geth stumbled backwards but was able to pinch Ezra’s tassel and fling him upward. Ezra flew up and then came right back down on Geth, pushing him to the ground and jumping up and down on his chest.

Geth rolled over, catching Ezra off guard and landing on top of him. All around, guns were going off and fights were breaking out.

“Run,” Geth yelled to Phoebe and Winter. “Go with Dennis and get somewhere safe.”

Geth could feel himself rising from the ground as Ezra lifted him from beneath. Geth began to spin as Ezra twirled him. He spun faster and faster until he flew up and into a platoon of soldiers. Geth knocked all the men and women down and landed on his stomach.

Ezra sprang up from where he was and perched on the edge of a fence, looking down at Geth.

“Had enough?” he screamed.

Geth was shaking his head, trying to regain his composure.

“Oh, really,” Ezra said. “Excellent.”

Ezra opened his arms and Geth was forced to the ground, unable to move. The deranged toothpick then shot off the fence, holding his arms and legs in and aiming directly for Geth’s face. Geth pushed a fallen soldier off of himself and turned his head just in time to have Ezra miss his face and pierce his left earlobe.

Ezra was stuck tight.

Geth stood up, looking around, while Ezra was wedged in his left earlobe looking like a really tacky earring. Geth reached up to feel his ear.

“Hands off,” Ezra screamed. “Get me out of here!”

Hordes of beings continued to flow over the downed fences. Some military members tried to stop the flow, but that only made things more heated. Geth was knocked over by a rant being chased by a soldier.

“Pull me out,” Ezra screamed again.

Geth stood up. “Not here.” He took off running with Ezra still in his ear.

“What are you doing?” Ezra yelled.

Geth leapt over a small concrete wall in the parking lot and up onto a tank that wasn’t moving. He jumped off of the tank and over a half-fallen fence.

“What are you running from?” Ezra yelled. “I’m stuck in your ear.”

“I’m running until you’ll talk to me.”

“What?”

“You need to talk to me.”

“I need to kill you!” Ezra screamed.

“See,” Geth said, “that’s not really a motivation to stop.”

Geth ran through crowds of protestors who had been picketing the whole idea of strangers coming in from another realm. One lady whacked Geth in the stomach with a sign that read, “Foo is for foo-ls.”

Geth gently pushed her aside and jetted down a row of cars and media trucks. Two rows over at the end was a large black S.W.A.T. vehicle. Geth turned and headed directly toward it.

“Ewwww,” Ezra yelped. “Ear sweat.”

“Sorry,” Geth said insincerely.

Ezra spat. “And I keep getting your hair in my mouth.”

They reached the S.W.A.T. vehicle, and Geth pulled open the sliding side door and bounded up into the van. Two police officers were inside: One was looking at a computer screen and the other was on the phone. Geth grabbed the officer on the phone and tossed him out the door. Then, before the other officer could react, Geth yanked him up by the shoulders and threw him out the door also. Geth slammed the metal door shut and thrust the lock into place.

The vehicle was all stainless steel inside. There were a couple of computers and rows of empty lockers that had once contained weapons. Geth ran to the back doors and pulled the latch down to secure them. Someone was banging on the side door demanding to be let in.

“What are you doing?” Ezra demanded. “Where’s Dennis?”

Geth moved up behind the front driver’s seat and tried to lean in to see in the rearview mirror. He couldn’t do it, so he pulled out his kilve. He knocked the side of the rearview mirror and sent it flying down into the driver’s seat. Geth set his kilve down and picked up the mirror. He held it so that he could see Ezra stuck in his left ear. Ezra’s arms were pinned to his side and he was desperately trying to kick at Geth’s neck and face.

“Wow,” Geth whispered.

“Take a picture,” Ezra mocked. “It’ll last dumber.”

“You’re different from what I was,” Geth observed.

“You mean stronger?”

“Different,” Geth smiled. “I didn’t have the cool purple hair or body armor.”

“It’s nail polish,” Ezra barked. “Now, pull me out so I can finish you.”

“How come you can’t get out yourself?” Geth asked. “You lifted me up.”

“My arms are bound,” Ezra yelled. “I need my arms.”

“Well, then, we should probably work things out while you’re still pinned in.”

“Work things out?” Ezra gagged. “Unless you’re talking about your funeral arrangements, that makes no sense.”

Something huge slammed the outside of the vehicle, throwing Geth into the row of empty lockers. He fell to the floor, his head hitting a row of metal cabinets. He stood up, righted himself, and looked for the mirror he had just dropped.

“Looking for this?” Ezra asked.

Ezra was standing on the desk by the computer holding up the mirror.

“Thanks for knocking me loose,” Ezra cackled.

“Trust me,” Geth replied, “it wasn’t on purpose.”

Ezra punched the rearview mirror with his right hand. The glass broke into three pieces, and the pieces slid out from the plastic frame. Ezra dropped the frame and picked up one of the pieces of glass. It was twice the size of him. He looked at his reflection and smiled vainly.

“What are—”

Before Geth could get his question out, Ezra threw the piece of mirror at him. It whizzed through the air and lodged itself in Geth’s left shoulder.

“Owww,” Geth said with surprise.

He looked at the piece of mirror sticking out of his shoulder. A small stream of blood was dripping out from below it. Geth gently took ahold of the glass and slid it out. “What are you doing?”

A second piece of the mirror slammed into Geth’s right arm. Geth pulled it out quickly and flung it back at Ezra before he could react. It flew past Ezra and shattered up against the front window.

“Worthless,” Ezra screamed, throwing the third piece of mirror.

Geth turned, and the glass stuck into his right leg. He stared at the glass poking out of his leg and tried to look angry. He pulled the piece of mirror out and flung it at Ezra. He missed again, and glass sparkled all over the van.

“I hate you,” Ezra yelled.

Geth lunged at Ezra, and Ezra lifted his arms and sent him flying backward into the back doors. Ezra jumped off the desk and onto Geth’s neck. He then repeatedly pulled Geth’s chin down and slammed Geth’s head into the doors.

“You made me what I am,” Ezra roared. “And I am angry!”

Geth reached up and wrapped his fingers around the deviant toothpick, trying hard to bind his arms, but Ezra bit back, taking a nice chomp out of Geth’s left index finger. Blood squirted everywhere.

Geth reached for his kilve lying on the floor, but Ezra waved his arms and Geth flew to the ceiling as if his backbone was made of metal and the roof of the vehicle was magnetic.

“This is madness,” Geth hollered.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” Ezra replied, holding up one arm to keep Geth in place. Ezra waved his other hand, and Geth’s kilve on the floor began to hover. Ezra waved some more, and the kilve rotated around so that the pointed end was aiming right at Geth’s heart. Ezra lowered the kilve as far as he could and then he shot it straight for Geth. Geth twisted just enough for the kilve to miss his stomach and punch a hole through the roof.

“Can’t we talk?” Geth yelled.

“No way,” Ezra smiled. With a wave of his hand he pulled the kilve back down and shot it up at Geth’s neck. Geth was able to bend just enough that the kilve only scraped the side of his neck while making another hole in the ceiling. Ezra pulled the kilve back down and aimed toward Geth’s face.

“You shouldn’t be doing this,” Geth insisted. “What do you think will happen to you if I die?”

The flying kilve stopped short just inches in front of Geth’s face.

“What did you say?” Ezra asked.

“What happens to you if I die?”

“I go on to rule the world,” Ezra said seriously.

“I don’t think so,” Geth said. “You’re a part of me.”

“Don’t say that,” Ezra growled. “I am my own self.”

“Maybe now,” Geth said. “But you were a part of me, and if you kill me, you will perish.”

“I don’t believe it,” Ezra said.

“There’s one way for you to find out.”

Something else large hit the side of the vehicle, and Geth wiggled like a piñata on the ceiling.

“We should be out there,” Geth said. “We should be helping to bring this to an end. I need your anger.”

Ezra put his hands down, and Geth fell to the floor.

“Thanks,” Geth said sarcastically.

“You owe me,” was Ezra’s only reply.

“For what?”

“For not killing you yet.”

Geth stood up and dusted off his chest and knees. Somebody else was now banging on the door and there were two cops jumping up trying to get a look through the front window.

“We have to stop this,” Geth said, “or in a little over two days everyone will be dead. Including you.”

“I can’t die,” Ezra said.

“You’re wrong. Our lives are hooked together.”

“I’m tempted to shoot you just to find out,” Ezra moaned.

“I need you.”

“Save your mush for the ladies,” Ezra sniffed.

A bullet struck the front window, leaving a tremendous spiderweb in the bullet-proof glass.

“They’re trying to get in,” Geth said.

“You’re as bright as Dennis.”

Geth was quiet as what sounded like a dozen people began to bang on the back doors.

“What do you know, anyway?” Ezra asked as if this were a drug deal and knowledge was the drug.

“I know what I’ve told you,” Geth said. “In two more days this will all be over. Every creature will fade and every person will begin to wither away. Four days from now—five, tops—there will be nothing alive but the trees and plants in the ground.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m a lithen,” Geth said proudly. “We have been taught the consequences since birth.”

“And if we do things your way?”

“We travel as fast as we can to meet up with Leven.”

“Thumps?” Ezra spat.

Geth nodded as the vehicle rocked back and forth.

“His father’s a generic noodle,” Ezra observed.

“You know his father?”

“He’s not far from here,” Ezra sighed. “He’s probably in the scuba shop. Wait a second; I was going to kill you.”

“But you changed your mind,” Geth reminded him.

“You left me with nothing but anger and confusion,” Ezra wailed over the sound of some sort of saw cutting through the lock. “I hate everything, and my mind never stops buzzing.”

“I’m so sorry,” Geth said. “It wasn’t me who chopped us up. But if it makes you feel any better, my body fluctuates. I get bigger and smaller, and at certain times my fingers and toes don’t match my feet and hands.”

“Really?” Ezra smiled. “You’re just saying that.”

“Not at all,” Geth smiled back. “I’m incomplete without you.”

“Okay,” Ezra said, disgusted. “I’ll see if what you’re saying is correct. But there’s still a good chance I’ll kill you in the end.”

“Fair enough,” Geth agreed. “Now, how do we get out of here?”

“Why get out?” Ezra asked. “The keys are in the ignition.”

Geth smiled. “I’ve never driven.”

“How hard can it be?” Ezra asked. “I’ve seen Dennis do it.”

“I’d never pass up the chance to try something new,” Geth said.

“I like that about me,” Ezra said happily.

Geth jumped behind the wheel and looked for the keys. He put his hand around them and turned as hard as he could. The huge engine roared to life and the banging and screaming on the outside increased.

“Push that stick,” Ezra ordered.

The large vehicle jumped forward two feet.

“Now press that skinny pedal. Hard.”

Geth jammed his foot down on the gas, and the massive vehicle seemed to fly forward. Geth plowed into the back end of an expensive-looking car and then swerved to avoid running over two hundred people.

“Is there a way to stop?” Geth asked.

“Yes,” Ezra answered. “But why would we want to? Go that direction, to that white building—and keep your foot down on the pedal.”

Geth kept the vehicle pointed toward the scuba shop. He moved around cars and rioting creatures. He made it around two news vans and straightened out.

“The building’s coming,” Geth yelled. “How do I stop?”

“Hold on,” Ezra insisted.

The scuba shop was getting closer and closer. It was ringed with tanks and soldiers.

“I don’t want to run anyone over, or run into a tank.”

“Hold on,” Ezra ordered.

“It’s right there,” Geth motioned. “In front of us.”

“Hold,” Ezra said.

The scuba shop was one hundred feet away.

“Now,” Ezra said calmly. “Push the other pedal as hard as you can.”

Geth took his foot off of the gas and slammed it down on the brake. The gigantic vehicle squealed and then spun in a circle, throwing dust up in nuclear-sized clouds. Geth could feel one side of the vehicle lifting up and the wheels chirping madly as they came to a stop. The vehicle shook for a few seconds and then settled.

Ezra nodded toward the lock on the front door. Geth pulled it back and the door opened. There was a tank two inches away.

“Driving a car’s even more fun than I thought it would be,” Geth said happily.

“Yeah, it looks easy,” Ezra replied.

Ezra jumped from the back of the seat onto Geth’s right shoulder. “I still might kill you,” he said honestly.

“I appreciate the warning.” Geth stepped out of the vehicle and headed into the scuba shop.