Escape by Gordon Korman Read Free Book Online Page B

any landmark that might point her in the direction of the lookout tree, where Luke, Lyssa, and Ian should be waiting.
    Suddenly, there was a yelp, followed by the crashing sound of someone tumbling through the underbrush. Her stomach tightened. Her friends!
    But then she heard Red Hair’s voice. “Chel-ton! You okay?”
    “I fell in a hole!” came the muffled reply. “Abig one. And — hey, there’s something down here!”
    Charla came up a few yards behind Red Hair, who was on his hands and knees searching the jungle floor for the other man. A familiar notch was carved into a palm trunk close to where he knelt. A feeling of deep dread took hold in her gut.
    The smugglers had found the bomb.
    SEPTEMBER 3, 1945
    1240 hours
    Colonel Duponfstared at Junior, which had been dangling at the end ofthe defective crane for morethan four hours.
    “Andthat’s the only way to move it ?”
    “Ninety-five hundred pounds, Colonel,” replied Holliday.
    LieutenantBosco, communicationsofficer, ran up. “HQ says the nearest hydraulic is in Tin-ian. They can get it to us inthree days .”
    “Three daysl” The colonel regarded the flurry of activity on the runway. There was almosta carnival afmosphereas the men loaded up the plane, looking forward to reunions with wives and families .
    If he gave the order to wait three more days, he’d have a revolutiononhis hands

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Day 23, 5:50 p.m.
    The day had started out hopeful for JJ. Lane. It didn’t stay that way.
    His one-of-a-kind sunglasses remained focused on the cloudless sky, now dimming, awaiting the arrival of the plane that would not appear — Charting a New Course, come for Will and, with any luck, the rest of them.
    That had been one flaw in his reasoning — that CNC might try to rescue Will, the sickest, but leave the others to serve out their “sentence” of maturing and learning teamwork and building character —
    And whatever else those professional torturers think we have to do.
    For that reason, he was sticking to Will like glue. It wasn’t exactly hard to do. Will had barely moved all day. He was burning with fever, and JJ. had the feeling the kid wasn’t all there. Oh, he knew when he was hungry, or when he had to set out into the jungle to go to the bathroom. But one time when JJ. was helping Will into the trees, the boy said, “Get out of here, Lyssl I’m going to the can!”
    JJ. was taken aback. “It’s not Lyssa, it’s JJ.”
    Will seemed indignant. “My leg hurts, but I’m not blind/’ he muttered.
    “They’re coming to get us today/’ JJ. reassured him. “Just hang in there and you’ll be okay.”
    And what was the bleary reply? “I hope Dad takes the tunnel. There’s traffic on the bridge.”
    Two months ago JJ. Lane had been riding down Sunset Boulevard in the passenger seat of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Porsche. Now he was the bathroom monitor on Gilligan’s Island.
    Instantly, he felt guilty for the thought. None of this was Will’s fault.
    JJ. scanned the horizon. Where was CNC? What was taking so long?
    The waiting was hard, but he passed the time by imagining the looks on the others’ faces when they returned to the campsite to see a rescue plane. Especially Haggerty. Luke always acted like he had some special confirmation from God that whatever he did was exactly the right thing.
    Ajuvenile delinquent from somerusty old mill town who thinks he’s better than me/If CNC comes,I’m going to rub it in Haggerty’s faceoil the way home.
    If? No, he meantwhen . CNC was definitely coming. They’d be here soon. Only —
    He checked lan’sNational Geographic Explorer watch — how this cheap piece of junk still worked when JJ.‘s Rolex had dropped dead was one of the great mysteries of the planet.
    6:15. Soon it would be too dark to land.
    Maybe they were coming tomorrow.
    But Will’s sick now! For oil they know, we’re getting reody to cut him open!
    CNC were jerks, but they wouldn’t let a bunch of kids operate on a real