Chapter Thirty-Two

Oklahoma Bound

Santa Rosa, New Mexico, was a mess. All over there were fires and fights breaking out. Some vehicles were racing to get to the scene; others were racing to escape it. The air was filled with twice as many helicopters as before, and there was no semblance of law down below. Every fence and tent had been torn down while jeeps and cars had been tipped over or torn apart.

The government had tried to stop the flow of Foovians coming in, but that had just created panic, and greater numbers were spilling out mad and ready to fight. And on top of that, all the commotion had attracted any avaland or telt from miles away to come join the party.

It was complete chaos, and there was no sign of it slowing.

Dennis had taken Winter and Phoebe to the secured scuba shop, where they had waited for Geth to return. When Geth did come in with Ezra on his shoulder, only Dennis was surprised.

“I thought you were going to kill him,” Dennis said to Ezra.

“Has your face always been so bland?” Ezra asked Dennis.

“It was your plan,” Dennis said boldly.

“Well, maybe I’m just drawing them in to my confidence,” Ezra whispered.

“Are you?”

“No,” Ezra said.

General Lank looked about as desperate as a man can look. What was supposed to be his big chance had turned into the beginning of the end of the world. He kept asking Ezra and Dennis what he should do and radioing important people who were dealing with things falling apart in their own parts of the world.

“What do we do?” Lank said as he paced the room. He stopped in front of Geth. “Well, what do we do?”

“I know what we have to do,” Geth said. “We’re going to Oklahoma.”

“The play?” General Lank asked.

Elton Thumps hit his head with his palm and screamed.

“See what I’ve been dealing with?” Ezra asked Geth. “Total and complete incompetence.”

Ever since Geth and Ezra had returned, Ezra had begun to see the value of having part of him be a big man. He was also quite impressed with how handsome he was. And when Phoebe held onto Geth’s arm and looked him over to make sure he was okay, Ezra kind of felt like she was talking to him.

“Dennis,” Geth said kindly, “will you come with us?”

Dennis looked at Ezra. “Are we on the good side now?”

Ezra screamed, “Can’t you think for yourself? Your brain’s as smooth as your forehead.”

“All right,” Dennis said, embarrassed. “We’ll come with you.”

“We’ll?” Ezra questioned. “You got a gimped-up monkey in your pocket? There’s no ‘we’ll’ any longer. I’m with me.”

“Okay,” Geth said nicely. “But ‘we’ll’ need everyone.”

“Not me,” Elton insisted. “Don’t count on me.”

Geth didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t really invited anyhow.

“I’m going down through that empty lake and into Foo if it kills me,” Elton announced.

“Let’s hope it kills you,” Ezra said.

“You won’t succeed,” General Lank said. “There are just too many still coming out, and the tunnel’s probably packed with thousands behind those thousands.”

“I’ll go by myself,” Elton growled. He grabbed his stomach and mumbled something about Leven.

“Suit yourself,” General Lank moaned. “Your presence has always been a joke.”

“What?” Elton said angrily.

“This mess is because of you,” General Lank accused. “You were supposed to understand what was happening.”

“I do understand what’s happening,” Elton replied. “You’re looking for a scapegoat, you old fool.”

“You’re useless,” General Lank said. “They needed you because of your son and now you have no way—”

“Hold it,” Winter insisted. “This isn’t helping anything. You two can argue later if you want, but for now Geth and I are going to Oklahoma.”

“I don’t understand, but fine,” Lank said.

“So,” Geth asked, “where’s Oklahoma?”

Lank reluctantly pointed east.

“And do you have a helicopter we can borrow?” Geth added.

General Lank put his head in his hands and began to sob.

“I like my style,” Ezra cheered.

Phoebe gazed up at Geth and smiled. “Is Reality always this exciting?”

Geth, Dennis, Ezra, General Lank, and Elton all began to answer Phoebe’s question as she sat there looking beautiful.

Lilly sighed and whispered into Winter’s left ear, “Is she for real?”

“She gets worse,” Winter whispered back.

Geth stood up and picked up his kilve. He slipped it behind his back. “Now, about that helicopter, General.”

General Lank waved a tall soldier over as Lilly continued to whisper in Winter’s ear. “I’ve never flown before,” she said excitedly.

“Me neither,” Winter said back.

Lilly wrapped her arms around Winter’s neck and smiled for the first time in a very long while.

ii

Elton Thumps was sick of it—sick of it. His whole body burned with the feeling of hate and darkness. He had spent his entire adult life studying, investigating, and wondering about Foo, and still he had nothing to show for it. He was bitter and resolved to the fact that if it had not been for Foo he would have still had his wife, his child, and possibly his self-respect.

Now he had nothing but a blackness in the gut.

General Lank had finally said what everyone was thinking: Elton Thumps was a joke and a failure. The government had used him for their purposes and now, when the chips were down, they were ready to leave him by the side of the road and pretend he had never happened.

Elton unbuttoned his shirt and looked at his stomach. Large black scratches were pulsating and oozing. He looked away and quickly buttoned his shirt back up.

Elton rummaged through the scuba shop and found a couple of guns. He then threw on a military jacket, a helmet, and the most rugged boots he could find. He loaded the jacket pockets with food and ammo and left without saying a word to General Lank.

Once outside the scuba shop, Elton moved through the rings of guards and tanks and worked his way over to Blue Hole Lake. The empty lake was still spewing out hundreds of strange creatures and beings like a volcano. Elton worked his way to a steeper spot where there wasn’t anybody climbing out at the moment. It worked for a little bit and he was able to climb down the back wall of the empty lake. Then the flow of refugees was just too great and too strong for him to continue forward.

Hundreds of beings were crawling over each other frantically trying to get out. Those climbing out seemed to realize that things were falling apart. Many had weapons ready and were already looking for someone to fight.

Elton turned around and moved in reverse. Walking backwards, he squeezed himself down through the opening and into the cavern, but a huge woman carrying a crying child in her right arm pushed him back out and kicked him down.

Elton tried again, but there were too many people and odd-looking beings coming out. He tried to be forceful, ordering those who were about to trample him to make room for him to climb down.

Nobody was listening.

Elton attempted to dive between people and crawl his way into the watery cavern, but he was forced out again by a thick group of huge rants who had linked arms and were plowing through everyone.

Elton pulled out his gun and waved it around. Nobody seemed to care—the refugees just kept coming and coming, wave after wave of frantic and excited beings. Some looked scared, some looked anxious, and others looked as if they were out for blood, here to fight for their place in Reality.

Elton fired his weapon into the roof of the cavern. Everyone in the cavern stopped, while those already in the empty lake scrambled out.

“That’s better,” Elton said. “I’ve got to get back behind you all. Now, move!”

Apparently no one was in the mood to cooperate. They surged forward again, trampling Elton, walking over him as if he were a rug. He dropped the gun and it slid to the far side of the cavern. Elton tried to reach for it, but it was no use.

Feet rained down on him in the face, the neck, the stomach. Elton tried to scream, but nobody cared. Feet just kept pounding down on him. Then, as if someone had pulled the plug on the tunnel, the walls of water collapsed inward, washing over everything and pushing out all the air. Deep in the tunnel the door slammed shut, and everybody unfortunate enough to still be in the passageway was enveloped in water and darkness.

Working toward Foo had been a really bad idea.