[Janitors 04] Strike of the Sweepers (16 page)

“The
Manualis Custodem
is a really important book,” Daisy said. “And it sounds like Mr. Clean will do anything to get it.”

“Like letting Spencer go?” Dez said.

Spencer stopped in the middle of the hallway. His heart was pounding, and he knew that Dez could be right for once.

“That’s what I would do,” Dez went on. “Capture you, tell you what I want, and then let you go. You’ll run straight to it.”

Spencer pressed his hands to his face, angry and embarrassed that he’d missed the obvious. And worse, that Dez had pointed it out.

“This doesn’t change anything,” Spencer said. “The
Manualis Custodem
is sitting out in the open. We’ll just have to make sure that nobody follows us.”

“That might be kind of tricky,” Daisy said. She pointed out the window to the parking lot.

Big Bertha, the garbage truck, was parked exactly where Bernard had left it. But surrounding the big vehicle were half a dozen Pluggers.

Chapter 26

“Piece of cake.”

There were two of each breed of Extension Toxite, with riders kicked back in the saddles, as though they’d been waiting for quite some time.

“They must have come down from New Forest Academy,” Spencer said.

“We really could have used Earl’s help about now,” Daisy pointed out. “Three of us and six of them?”

“I think I count for at least two people,” Dez said. “I’ll swoop in there, plunge the truck, fly it back over here, you guys jump in, and I’ll drive us out of here.”

“You are
not
driving Big Bertha!” Spencer said. To emphasize his point, he jingled the key chain.

“Why do you always get to do the cool stuff?” Dez complained.

“Because,” Spencer said, “I’m responsible and you’re not.”

“And Spencer has white hair,” Daisy said.

The boys looked at her. “What does that have to do with anything?” Spencer asked.

Daisy shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought we were talking about your qualities.”

Spencer turned back to Dez. “Do you really think you can plunge Big Bertha without getting caught?”

“Piece of cake.” Dez reached over and took a plunger from Spencer’s belt. Then he sprinted down the hallway.

“How can Dez think about cake at a time like this?” Daisy asked.

She and Spencer moved to the nearest doors and waited for whatever trick Dez might have up his sleeve. It occurred to Spencer that the bully might take off and leave them behind. It was an uncomfortable thought, especially now that Dez knew about the
Manualis Custodem.

But the next moment proved Spencer wrong. Dez came soaring off the roof of Viewmont Elementary School, a streak of black in the faint dawn light. There was a huge Extension Grime sitting on top of Big Bertha. Dez was upon the rider before he could sit up in the saddle.

The BEM Plugger screamed as Dez jerked him from the slimy monster. The extension cord at his waist went taut and then snapped in a burst of sparks. The Extension Grime perked its head up, pale eyes wide. Severed from the rider, it no longer received the calming flow of electricity. It saw the school, with residual student brainwaves lingering there, and became instantly possessed with the wild drive to get inside.

The huge Toxite leapt from the garbage truck and skittered forward, shaking out of its armor like a snake shedding skin. Spencer and Daisy backed up frantically as the monster compressed its body, squeezing bonelessly through the minuscule gap under the door.

The Toxite breath hit Daisy in a wave of distraction. “Hey, Spencer!” she called. “Which do you like better: hopscotch or jump rope?”

It took Spencer a moment to realize that the huge Grime wasn’t attacking. It was happy to be in the school and scuttled off down the hallway. Earl would have his work cut out for him when he got out of his cage.

Daisy’s wits returned to her, and she suddenly looked confused. “Did I just say something about hopscotch?” she asked.

There wasn’t time to answer. Dez had dropped the Plugger and was winging around. The Rubbish riders took flight. Although Spencer would never admit it aloud, Dez was clearly the superior flier. The Pluggers were riding Rubbishes, but Dez
was
one.

He weaved between the two Pluggers, slammed the plunger against the top of Big Bertha, and flapped his way back toward the school.

Dez was anything but graceful, as evidenced by the way he set the garbage truck down. He swung Big Bertha around, sending the front bumper through the nearest school window and causing Spencer and Daisy to hit the floor as glass showered around them.

Dez twisted the plunger handle, detaching the vehicle with so much momentum that Big Bertha skidded backward and crushed the school doors, blocking the planned exit for Spencer and Daisy.

The Pluggers were swarming on Dez, but he took to the sky like a rocket. Spencer unclipped a broom and drifted through the shattered window. Daisy was right behind him as they landed just beside Big Bertha’s door.

Spencer fumbled with the key and shoved it into the little lock, muttering under his breath. “This garbage truck can drive on walls, but it doesn’t even have one of those remote unlock buttons?”

A Filth Plugger appeared around the cab of the truck. The beast roared, and Daisy flicked a mop in its direction. The strings tangled around the creature’s face, but she didn’t wait to see how the rider reacted. Spencer had the cab door open, and Daisy dropped the mop handle to follow him inside.

Spencer and Daisy were both wedged into the driver’s seat as she pulled the door shut.

“Okay,” Spencer muttered. It took a second to locate the ignition. He thrust in the key and turned it. The engine cranked over and over, but Big Bertha didn’t want to start. The Plugger had guided his Extension Filth to the truck door. The huge creature was slobbering on the driver’s side window, its heavy claws raking against the glass.

Spencer slapped the steering wheel in frustration and tried turning the key again. “Come on!” he yelled.

“Give it a little gas,” said Daisy.

Spencer looked down at the pedals beneath his feet. He felt a trickle of sweat on his forehead. “The gas is the one on the right, isn’t it?”

“Haven’t you ever driven a car before?” Daisy asked.

Spencer stared at her. “I’m twelve,” he pointed out. “Have you?”

Daisy nudged Spencer into the middle seat. She dropped her right foot down, pumping the gas pedal while she cranked the key in the ignition. Big Bertha responded perfectly, the Glopified engine coming to life with a diesel purr. Daisy grabbed a lever and put the truck into gear. Spinning the wheel, she guided the garbage truck across the school parking lot.

Spencer’s eyes were huge, his mouth dangling half open. “Since when do you know how to drive?” he finally managed.

Daisy shrugged. “My dad’s a car mechanic and I grew up in Idaho.” She swallowed hard. “But I’m not very good. And my dad said I should never drive unless he’s in the car with me.”

“Just pretend I’m your dad,” Spencer said.

Daisy shook her head. “No. That’s just weird.”

Dez was suddenly flapping alongside the garbage truck. “Roll down the window!” he yelled. “Let me in!”

“Keep driving!” Spencer said to Daisy. “We’ve got to find the freeway and get back to Welcher.” He slid across the cab and rolled down the side window. Dez reached out and pulled himself in. He didn’t look comfortable, bent in half, with his wings flapping behind him like flags in the wind.

Once Dez was inside the truck, Spencer shoved him into the middle seat and rolled up the window just as a wet Grime tongue splatted against the glass.

“Hey,” Dez commented, “I didn’t know Daisy was driving! From the outside you look like an old man.”

“Don’t bother her, Dez,” Spencer defended. “She’s trying to concentrate.”

“I was being serious,” answered the bully. “There’s something different about the glass. It makes the driver look like an old dude. Must be an octopus illusion.”

“
Optical
illusion,” Spencer corrected.

Dez shot him a glare. “That’s what I said.”

“At least I won’t get arrested,” Daisy said. “No wonder the Aurans never get caught. They’ve been driving these trucks for decades, and everyone thinks it’s an old man behind the wheel.”

Daisy blew past a stop sign without even yielding. “Did we lose the Pluggers?” Spencer asked.

“I took out a Grime and a Rubbish,” Dez bragged. “The others are probably too scared to come after us.”

Just then a Plugger on Filthback pounced into the road. A dustpan shield was in his hand, and a pushbroom was leveled to launch the garbage truck into the air.

Chapter 27

“We’re doomed.”

Daisy screamed and threw her hands up. Dez reached over and jerked on the wheel. Big Bertha missed the Plugger by mere inches, hopping over a curb and smashing a fire hydrant. A geyser of water erupted, dousing the windshield and causing the Filth to rear back.

Daisy was back in control, with both hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. “I can’t see a thing!” she screamed. Water was streaming down the flat windshield, making everything look distorted as they barreled blindly down the street.

“Use the wipers!” Spencer said.

Daisy flicked a little stick beside the wheel, but instead of the windshield wipers, she activated the right-turn signal.

“That’s not it,” Dez said. He leaned across her and twisted something. The headlights turned off, leaving them driving with what little light the dawn was providing.

“Just stop for a second!” Spencer shouted. Daisy slammed on the brakes. The Pluggers would surely catch up, but it was better than driving blind.

Spencer yanked open the glove compartment and drew back in disgust. Besides the gag-worthy smell, there were several fuzzy lumps that appeared to have once been muffins. Spencer didn’t know if Bernard had forgotten about them, or if the garbologist was performing some weird experiment.

In addition to the moldy muffins and a crinkly road map, Spencer saw Holga and the bronze nail they had stolen from Garcia. But what he was looking for was buried under some tissues in the very back of the glove compartment. It was an operator’s manual.

Spencer gathered his courage, held his breath in case of deadly spores, and reached into the glove compartment. He pulled the operator’s manual free and slammed the compartment door, shutting away the nasty muffins.

“We’re doomed,” Daisy muttered. “We’ll never make it back to Welcher. We can’t even figure out how to use the windshield wipers!”

Spencer found what they needed in the index. He flipped to the page, looked at the diagram, and then leaned across the cab and turned on the windshield wipers.

Spencer held up the operator’s manual in victory. There was a thump on top of the cab that caused all three kids to look up instinctively. In the next second, the huge face of an Extension Grime was creeping down Daisy’s side window, tongue probing for a way in.

Daisy stepped on the gas pedal, and the truck lurched forward. But the Grime’s sticky hands held tight.

They made their way out of the neighborhood and onto a larger street. Spencer saw the Grime’s throat begin to pulse outside Daisy’s window. He saw the skin stretch like a bullfrog as the mouth began to fill with acidic slime.

“Faster, Daisy!” Spencer yelled. “You’ve got to throw this guy!”

“I’m just following the speed limit,” she said. “The sign said 25 mph! I don’t want to get a ticket!”

“And I don’t want to get dead!” shouted Dez. He leaned over and pushed on Daisy’s leg, causing her foot to bear down on the gas pedal.

The Grime spewed its venomous load onto Daisy’s window. Spencer smelled the burning acid as the slime oozed down the glass. Then the Grime’s tongue was back at it, working to find a way into the cab.

Daisy suddenly giggled. “Sometimes,” she said, “if the mood is just right, I think those red lights look like eyeballs.”

Spencer didn’t know what red lights she was talking about until he looked out the windshield again. Just yards ahead, a stoplight had turned red. Cross traffic was moving through the intersection, cars full of tired people with early-morning jobs.

“Let go of her leg, Dez,” Spencer said. “We have to stop.”

“I’m not pushing her anymore,” Dez answered. He held up his hands to prove his innocence.

Daisy seemed deep in thought. “Why are street signs always so negative? I mean, that one says, ‘no right turn.’ It would be a lot nicer if it said, ‘you may go straight or turn left.’”

“It’s the Grime breath,” Spencer realized. The venom must have weakened the glass enough for a brainwave-numbing draft to get through. “She’s a distracted driver!”

He clipped out his vanilla air freshener and released a long spray in Daisy’s direction. She blinked hard, and then Spencer saw the danger register on her face.

“RED LIGHT!” she screamed, and she slammed hard on the brake.

Big Bertha skidded to a halt, the nose of the garbage truck jutting into the intersection, barely missing the cross traffic. There was a chorus of honking, and the Extension Grime flew off the roof. The Plugger hit the stoplight and launched from the saddle. His extension cord became entangled on the overhead traffic light, and he dangled there, unconscious. The impact unplugged the Grime, and it moved fluidly through the intersection and out of sight.

Spencer glanced in his side mirror. “Two Pluggers on Filths closing fast.”

“There’s still one Rubbish out there too,” Dez added. Spencer didn’t question him. It took one to know one.

The traffic light turned green and Daisy drove through, leaving the intersection in a chaotic mess of fender benders, with a random guy dangling by an extension cord from the traffic light.

“Phew,” Daisy said. “That was a close one.”

The sound of a police siren wailed out from behind the garbage truck. Spencer checked his mirror again, noticing a patrol car pulling up tight to Big Bertha’s rear bumper.

“I hate it when this happens,” Dez muttered. Spencer didn’t want to know what previous experiences Dez had had with the police. Daisy had tears in her eyes as she began to slow down.