In the gloom of the surplus store, they stared at one another, their faces pale with fear. The creatures outside continued to circle the building. They had cut off the power, and the lights were out. The pounding on the front door had stopped but Adam knew the next attack would be worse.
“What are we going to do?” Cindy whispered.
“We’re not going to get out of here on foot,” Bum said. “That’s for sure. But we might not need to. Just before you guys showed up, Sally and me found a couple of hot air balloons in back. They must be from the First World War. They were carefully packaged. I bet they’ll still work, if we can get them up on the roof and inflated.”
“But they can’t get us in here,” Cindy said. “Maybe we should just stay here until help arrives.”
Sally shook her head. “No one’s coming to save us. And you have to notice they’re not leaving. They’ll get in here eventually.”
Adam peered out a crack in the window. “I don’t see Mr. Patton. What do you think they did to him?”
“It’s better not to think about it,” Bum said. “Come on, let’s get the balloons out.”
The boxes the balloons came in were massive. Actually, there were four boxes per balloon. The balloon gondola and supporting ropes were packaged separately. There was also the wide-mouthed burner that went beneath the balloons, and which would allow them to control their height. At the moment Adam just wanted to get into a balloon and fly away as far as possible.
But he was worried about his family: his mother and father and little sister. He wished he could call them to warn them to get out of town, but the Cold People had destroyed the telephone lines. He prayed they weren’t changed into monsters, although his little sister had been practicing to be a monster since her second birthday.
They were fortunate that there were stairs that led up to the roof. Working together, they were able to get all the balloon boxes up there. They were also lucky that the exterior walls of the surplus store were relatively smooth. The Cold People who were prowling around outside wouldn’t be able to climb the walls and get onto the roof.
Standing on the roof and looking down, Adam could see that the monsters were not giving up. Bum stood beside him as he scanned the area. There were maybe ten Cold People visible. But Adam suspected there were more than that already entering the town. Bum put his hand on Adam’s shoulder.
“Sally and I can put the balloons together,” he said. “Why don’t you and Cindy go back down into the store and keep guard?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Adam said.
“Keep your flamethrowers ready.”
Adam nodded. “Work fast. They’re strong. They’ll get in here eventually and they know it.”
Sally worked better alone, and Cindy was happy to leave her and join Adam on guard duty. Actually, happy may have been a poor word to describe Cindy’s state of mind. Adam had seen her scared before, but never like this. In their minds, they could both still hear Mr. Patton’s screams. But there was no sight of him. Cindy stayed close to his side as they patrolled the narrow aisles of the store. The minutes crept by.
“There are so many explosives in here,” Cindy whispered finally. “If they do break in and we have to use our flamethrowers, we’ll probably blow ourselves up.”
“We have to be careful,” Adam agreed. He gestured to what looked like a box of dynamite. “How did Mr. Patton ever get this stuff? You’d think it would be illegal.”
“Everything is legal in Spooksville,” Cindy said weakly. The words seemed to choke in her throat. Her eyes filled with tears. Adam touched her side.
“What is it?” he asked.
She put her hand to her head. “I keep thinking of Watch. I wish he was here with us. I wish we could take him with us in our balloons.”
Adam patted her on the back. “I keep thinking of him too.”
Cindy wiped at her face. “You must think I’m acting like a sissy. I don’t usually cry. But since I’ve been here in this town, it’s been one crisis after another.”
“Yeah. But at least you never get bored.”
Cindy forced a smile. “That’s true.”
Again Adam gestured to the box of dynamite. “I think we should load some of this into our balloons. You never know when it may come in handy.”
“Why? You saw that the grenade didn’t even stop the cold creature.”
Adam paused. “I know that. I just have this feeling—I can’t explain it. I think we might want this dynamite later.” Adam bent over and studied the boxes. “Here, there are fuses and detonators and everything. I want to haul some up onto the roof. Will you be all right down here for a few minutes?”
Cindy glanced uneasily around the shadows. “Don’t be gone too long.”
Adam was surprised when he got back up on the roof to see that Sally and Bum nearly had the balloons together. In reality there were not many parts to assemble. Bum even had one of them already filling with hot air. The burner was blasting away beneath the huge canopy as Adam walked over and set down his case of dynamite.
“We should be able to take off in a few minutes,” Bum said.
“Good,” Adam said. “I want to take these explosives with us.”
Sally looked up from her work. She was hooking the ropes onto the balloon gondola that would carry at least two of them aloft.
“The more firepower the better,” she said.
“How is it downstairs?” Bum asked.
Before Adam could answer, they heard Cindy scream. Adam realized he had left his flamethrower downstairs because he needed both hands free to lift the dynamite onto the roof. He raced toward the ladder. Bum and Sally started to follow but Adam stopped them.
“Finish getting the balloons ready!” he yelled. “I’ll save Cindy!”
Adam hurried downstairs. It was darker in the store than it had been only minutes ago. He saw his flamethrower lying at the base of the ladder where he had left it. The tip was still spouting a short flame. He didn’t see his friend, or hear her anymore.
“Cindy!” he called as he picked up the flame thrower.
Off to his left, in the direction of the back door, he heard glass break.
“Adam!” Cindy shouted.
Relieved she could still respond, Adam ran toward her.
In the rear of the store, he found Cindy guarding a door that was about to cave in. As he feared, the Cold People were bending back the metal security bars. There were a total of four of them, all working on the same door. One of them was already squeezing its head through the bars and reaching for the lock.
“Shoot it!” Adam yelled as he ran up.
“I can’t!” Cindy cried. “I just can’t burn someone!”
“If you don’t they’ll freeze you.” Adam pushed her out of the way and raised his flamethrower. The cold man took one look at the burning tip of the weapon and started to withdraw his head. Adam shot off a huge tongue of fire but it missed completely—the cold creature was that fast. But the wood around the door caught fire, which was not good because it made it easier for the door to collapse. Adam grabbed Cindy’s hand. “We have to get out of here!” he said.
They ran toward the stairs that led up to the roof. But just as Cindy put her foot on the first rung, the back door exploded in a shower of sharp glass and twisted metal. All four Cold People rushed in. They came at Adam like flying blocks of ice. He shoved Cindy in the back.
“Get up on the roof!” he shouted.
“You come too!” Cindy cried.
“Give me a second,” Adam said. With Cindy running up the stairs, he raised the flamethrower and squeezed the trigger hard. The stream of flame that flew out was huge—it caused the Cold People to scatter. But while they did, another two monsters burst in through the ruined back door. Adam realized he couldn’t hold them off forever. He stepped onto the stairs and started up the steps.
He had almost made it to the roof when something cold grabbed his right ankle.
Adam tripped and fell.
Sprawled along the steps, he turned back and saw a creature below him.
Blue, icelike fingers were wrapped around Adam’s foot.
The creature tightened its grip.
Adam felt its nails dig into his skin.
He saw blood—his blood. It stained his white socks red.
Adam gasped and raised his flamethrower. But he could not shoot the monster straight in the face, not unless he wanted to fry his own foot. For a second he didn’t know what to do. Blood continued to stain his sock.
The creature began to pull him down.
Its eyes shone with cold light.
Adam decided he could stand a little burn.
He fired with the flamethrower. But he aimed high, above the creature’s head and away from his bleeding foot. The heat of the fire, however, was enough to force the monster to jerk back a step. Adam was able to pull his foot free. But the monster was quick to recover. Once more it reached out with its freezing claw. But this time Adam was ready for it.
He shot the monster right in the face.
For a second the creature’s head was a ball of pure flame.
Adam heard a weird scream. It was thin and high-pitched, the sound an alien bat might make as it died. Perhaps the Cold People were like evil vampires, Adam thought, who spread by stealing human blood and replacing it with Cryo fluid. The scream pierced Adam’s chest and made his heart shiver.
But the monster’s face did not burn.
Rather, it seemed to blur. Its features ran together. It was a ball of wax thrown into a simmering oven. The eyes seeped into the nose. The mouth dissolved into the chin. Its powerful hands seemed to reach up to hold the parts in place, but the moment they entered the flames, they too began to melt. Adam watched in horror and amazement. The creature toppled backward, and fell down the stairs.
It landed in a disfigured pile on the floor.
The other Cryo Creatures gathered around.
They stared down at their partner.
Then up at Adam. Their eyes very cold.
Adam felt hands on him, trying to pull him up onto the roof.
“We’re ready to take off!” Sally yelled. “Leave them!”
“I’m coming,” Adam said as he limped up the remainder of the steps.
But once on the roof, rather than running toward the waiting balloons, Adam turned back to the door and locked the flamethrower trigger on high. It was a shame to leave the weapon behind, but he was determined to even up the score for what they had done to Watch. With the weapon gushing fire, he threw it down into the store. The creatures scattered as it landed beside their fallen comrade. Adam noted the direction of the spouting flame.
It was pointed toward Mr. Patton’s ammunition supplies.
Adam ran toward one of the waiting balloons.
He heard loud explosions below.
Adam limped as he ran.
His injured ankle was turning strangely numb.