Chapter 44
The Cleanup and the Cover-up

Sam and Tameron were revived, and work began to clean up the mess. The chickadees left through the broken wall, headed toward the Forest of Flight and its hidden portal to the Secret Zoo. P-Dog led his coterie back to their exhibit. Mr. Darby informed everyone that order had been restored in the City of Species, the sasquatches having fled back into random sectors. There had been damage to the city, but no word yet on casualties.

Tank nodded. “I’ll call Red . . . have him check on the lights.” He touched his earpiece and said, “Charlie, it’s Tank. Can you get ready with the lights? I don’t know how much longer these flashlight fish can do their thing.” He paused for Charlie’s response, then added, “Roger. We’ll let you know when to throw the switch.”

Tank turned back to the group—Mr. Darby, the scouts, the Descenders, Blizzard, Podgy, and Little Bighorn. He pointed down the hall to where alligators and sasquatches wriggled in nets. “What do we do with them?”

Ella said, “The apes. From Metr-APE-olis. They’re strong and coordinated—trust me, I know. Maybe the apes could take them back to the Secret Zoo through Giraffic Jam. That exhibit’s just around the corner. You guys must have a big truck, right? Have the apes load them into a truck and then someone drive them over to Giraffic Jam.”

A smile stole across Mr. Darby’s face. The old man turned to the Descenders and said, “You see . . . already they’re thinking like Crossers.”

Sam acknowledged this with a nod.

“I’ll pull the apes,” Tank said. “On my way back, I’ll pick up some wheels. And we’ll need some Constructors, too.”

Though Noah had no idea what a Constructor was, apparently Mr. Darby did. The old man nodded. “Your walkie-talkie, Mr. Pangbourne. I’ll call Mr. Gordon on the south perimeter and have him gather a crew.”

Noah couldn’t believe how prepared the Secret Society was.

Tank unclipped his walkie-talkie and let it fly. Before it landed in Mr. Darby’s hands, he turned and headed for Metr-APE-olis.

Mr. Darby snagged the walkie-talkie out of the air and pressed its button. “Mr. Gordon? Mr. Gordon, are you there?”

A staticky voice arose from the speaker: “Gordon here.”

“Mr. Gordon, we need the services of Constructors at Creepy Critters. Can you work on gathering a crew?”

“Roger that. When do you need them?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Got it. Give me ten minutes.”

A small burst of static sounded, and Mr. Gordon was gone.

“What are Constructors?” Ella asked.

Mr. Darby peered down the hall. “Ohhh . . . they fix things.”

For a while, there was nothing to do but wait. At one point, Marlo appeared from nowhere and touched down on Noah’s shoulder. At another, Blizzard padded up to the scouts and lovingly nudged Noah with his big head. Noah smiled and leaned into the bear, half disappearing into his deep white fur. Richie and Ella stood on either side of Little Bighorn, patting him. Megan waited beside Podgy.

After ten minutes had passed, Tank came through the busted wall leading a group of apes, as many as twenty. The apes grunted and snorted and sniffed the air with upturned nostrils. A large truck backed its semitrailer up against the building. In a cloud of exhaust, Tank jumped to the bumper and kicked a latch, opening the big rear door. He pulled out the loading ramp and dropped one end to the ground.

“Okay,” Tank said. “Let’s do this.”

The apes went to work. They moved in groups on the alligators, not-so-gently dragging the nets across the floor and up the ramp. The scouts stood back and watched. The Descenders gathered the smaller animals that had got out—crabs and snakes and frogs and turtles—and returned them to their tanks, where they promptly escaped into the hidden passages leading to the Secret Zoo. The Descenders even collected the bugs they could find—beetles and spiders and anything else.

As the groups worked, four men with huge backpacks walked up behind Mr. Darby. To get his attention, one man said, “Nice mess—who made it?”

Mr. Darby spun around and smiled. “I’m not certain whom to blame, but I trust you can clean it up.”

The men scanned the area. Noah realized they were the Constructors Mr. Darby had referred to.

“How much time we got?”

“Can you beat the sun?” Mr. Darby asked.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. Most of the damage is superficial.”

Noah scanned the surroundings: the shattered aquariums, the mounds of debris, the busted tiles. He turned to Richie and mouthed, Superficial?

Richie shrugged. Apparently the damage didn’t seem superficial to him, either.

The Constructors walked down the hall and opened a door marked “Employees Only.” They wheeled out a flatbed cart with a stack of thick glass panes. They pulled it down the hall and stopped at a spot that held the remains of at least ten busted aquariums. They slipped off their backpacks and rummaged through the contents.

To the scouts, Tank said, “Watch this.”

One man worked a pry bar to reshape the twisted framework of an aquarium. Another man used a sharp-bladed tool to clean the edges. A third man then lifted a plate of glass to the place they were working, and the fourth man wiped a velvet towel across it. The magic moved a rectangular piece of the pane into the face of the aquarium.

“Unbelievable . . .” Megan muttered.

“What’s up with the velvet?” Ella asked Mr. Darby. “You grow it on a magic farm or something?”

“Patience,” said Mr. Darby. “You will learn about it in your crosstraining. And ultimately . . . ultimately, you will see.”

The Constructors proceeded to a second aquarium, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, each man performing a different task. Once they’d restored a full section of the wall, they hoisted their gear and wheeled the cart to a new area.

The apes continued to gather the animals, and a half hour later the truck was loaded. The floor of Creepy Critters looked strange in its new emptiness. Everyone congregated at the rear of the truck, and Tank pulled the trailer door closed.

“Okay,” he said. “Me and the apes . . . we’ll take care of biz from here.”

Richie stepped forward. “Thanks, Tank. Thanks for being there again.”

“No problem, little man.” Tank extended his knuckles to Richie. “Give me one of these.”

Richie softly punched his small fist against Tank’s huge one. Then, with a smile, he shook out his hand and mouthed, Owww!

To the other scouts, Tank said, “And you guys?”

The three friends stepped forward and took turns tapping their fists against Tank’s.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Tank winked. To the Descenders, he said, “I’ll see you guys back inside.” He turned and whistled at the driver. The truck pulled out, spewing a final cloud of smoke into Creepy Critters. Tank led the apes across the yard, where they walked along the slow-moving vehicle. As it turned, moonlight struck its side and revealed what was written across it in bold letters: “DANGER! LIVE ANIMALS!”

Richie said, “I bet that sign has never been more true.”

“I think not,” Mr. Darby said with a smile. “And on that note, I also think it’s time for our scouts to return home before someone’s found missing from bed.”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “I should probably close my window before my parents wake up and wonder where the draft is coming from.”

Sam walked over to Noah. He started to say something and stopped. His eyes shifted nervously. At last, he said, “That was good. In the tunnel, with the curtain . . .” His mouth hung open while he searched for more words. “Just know you did good.”

Noah’s heart warmed. It was the first time a Descender had congratulated him on anything.

Hannah and Solana stepped up to Megan and Ella. Hannah said, “Nice job with that sasquatch. If you hadn’t jumped on that thing . . .”

“Not a problem,” Ella said. “We girls have to look out for each other, right?”

Hannah winked and popped a bubble.

With their good-byes complete, Mr. Darby said, “Blizzard and Little Bighorn, will the two of you kindly see that the scouts get safely to the front gates? We’ll have Charlie keep the lights down until you return.”

The two animals lumbered over, and the scouts climbed onto their backs, the boys on Blizzard and the girls on Little Bighorn. As Noah situated himself in his normal front seat, he looked down at Podgy.

“Podge, I have to be honest. Those centipedes not only grossed me out, they scared me to death.”

Podgy tipped his bill beneath one flipper, a gesture of agreement.

“Centipedes?” Richie asked. “What are you—” His face shifted. “Hey! Speaking of centipedes . . . I got a really good joke!”

“What?” Noah gasped.

“A joke . . . I got a joke about centipedes!”

Ella shot Richie a look. “If you even think of telling one of your dumb jokes right now . . .”

“What?” Richie said. “You want me to save it for later?”

Noah laughed and tapped the side of Blizzard’s neck. “C’mon, Bliz, let’s get out of here.”

Blizzard growled. Together, the two animals charged down the hall in the magical glow of the flashlight fish. They reached the Creepy Core and headed on to the exit. They barreled through the busted doors and jumped down to the ground. Side by side, they stormed through the darkness, their paws and hooves stamping impressions into the snow.

The scouts leaned forward and felt the cold breeze. Adrenaline coursed through them as another Secret Zoo adventure came to an end. As they neared the front gates, Noah raised his fist and cheered.

The other scouts followed his lead.