[Janitors 04] Strike of the Sweepers (17 page)

“What are you doing?” Spencer asked her. They couldn’t stop now, no matter who was trying to pull them over.

Daisy glanced at Spencer. “Will you visit me in jail?” she asked.

“You’re not going to jail,” Spencer said. “The Aurans must have had a way of dealing with this.”

He turned back to the operator’s manual, thumbing through pages until he found a section titled, “Frequently Asked Questions.” He had to find an answer before Daisy’s resolve wore out and she surrendered.

“Here!” he said, his finger tracing a line in the manual. He read aloud. “What do I do if the police try to pull me over?” He cleared his throat and read the answer. “The Glopified Garbage Truck 2.0 has a special feature that should prevent anyone from following you unwanted. Simply tap the brake three times quickly. The truck’s Glopified brake lights will confuse the driver of the vehicle behind you, making them unable to remember why they were following you in the first place. The pursuer should depart quickly.”

Spencer looked up from the operator’s manual. “Tap the brakes!” he said.

“Already did,” answered Daisy. Behind them, the police car turned off its siren and lights and veered away onto a side street.

“I got to get me one of these,” Dez said, patting the dashboard.

“Too bad it won’t shake the Pluggers,” Spencer said. “They’re gaining on us.”

“Hey,” Dez said, “that’s the freeway! Take a right.” Dez pulled on the steering wheel again. They squealed around a corner going way too fast. Narrowly missing a guardrail, they merged onto a northbound freeway.

“Faster, Daisy!” Dez demanded. “Let’s see if those Pluggers can keep up with us now!”

But even at 65 miles per hour, the Pluggers were catching up. Spencer watched the creatures come, leaping and bounding past slower cars on the freeway, beast and rider invisible to everyone but the kids in the garbage truck.

“I should just fly out there and take them down,” Dez said.

“We’re going too fast,” Spencer said. “If you jump out of this truck, it’ll probably rip your wings off.”

“You got a better idea?” Dez said. One of the Extension Filths had caught up to them. The Plugger on its back urged the beast forward, and the kids heard the quills scrape into Big Bertha.

“There’s got to be something . . .” Spencer muttered as he thumbed through the table of contents. “Chapter 8,” he said. “Offensive and Defensive Capabilities of the Glopified Garbage Truck 2.0.”

Spencer turned to the page, annoyed that Dez kept coaching him to read faster. Spencer skimmed down the page, mumbling and skipping portions as he looked for something that might help them in their current predicament.

“The Glopified Garbage Truck 2.0 is equipped with various defensive capabilities that should prevent you from crashing. The entire shell of the vehicle is heavily reinforced and armored, with shatterproof glass and puncture-proof tires. The front and rear bumpers are Glopified to minimize damage. In the unlikely event that the truck should become totaled and can no longer function, a self-destruct button is located under the driver’s seat. Detonate the truck and leave no evidence behind.”

Dez tried to reach under Daisy’s seat.

“What are you doing?” she yelled. “Do you know what self-destruct means?”

“Chill,” Dez said, withdrawing his hand quickly. “I just wanted to check if it was really there.”

“Here we go!” Spencer said, reading again. “The Glopified Garbage Truck 2.0 is equipped with four trashcannons, two on each side of the vehicle.”

“Whoa!” Dez said. “Trashcannons?”

Spencer read quickly. “To arm the trashcannons, the rear of the truck must be loaded with garbage.”

“Got that,” Dez said. “I had to ride in it last time.”

“Disengage the safety by flipping a small switch below the steering console.”

Dez shouldered up against Daisy, rummaging around until he found what he was looking for. As soon as he flipped the switch, Spencer heard the trashcannons prepping for action. He glanced in the side mirror. Two ports had opened on the side of the garbage truck. He could see the rims of two metal trash cans resting in the openings like cannons on a pirate ship.

Spencer turned back to the operator’s manual. “The trashcannons are now ready to be fired. Simply press the numbered red buttons to release a slug of high-powered garbage.”

Spencer hadn’t even finished reading when Dez’s hooked finger slammed down on the third button. There was a deafening boom, and Big Bertha shuddered. The rear trashcannon on Spencer’s side exploded, releasing a missile of compressed trash with unbelievable force.

The Plugger on the Filth didn’t stand a chance. His mount was instantly blown to dust, and he was sent skidding and rolling off the side of the freeway.

“Eat trash!” Dez yelled. The second Filth Plugger pulled back, trying to devise a strategy that wouldn’t include getting major road rash.

“Slow down,” Dez said to Daisy. “Get us in range.”

She let off the gas, and Big Bertha quickly slowed. The Filth rider tried to adjust his belt, scrambling with the dial on his battery pack, but the beast was too eager for a fight.

“Almost there,” Dez said, watching out the window. “Turn to the left a bit.”

Daisy changed lanes rather sharply, and while the truck was angled, Dez fired the front trashcannon on Daisy’s side.

It was a distance shot, and Spencer wasn’t sure if it would hit. The garbage slug flew at the Filth Plugger, bits of high-powered trash breaking apart like buckshot. The Extension Filth went down under the hailstorm, throwing its rider and severing the cord.

“Haha!” Dez shouted. “Just like a video game!” Spencer thought he was having way too much fun with this.

“One more to go,” Spencer said.

“I’m guessing that guy on the Rubbish is somewhere above us,” said Dez.

“Out of range.”

“Yeah,” Dez mused. “We need to draw him down to our level.” He shoved past Spencer and rolled down the side window. Spencer squinted his face against the sudden strong wind.

“What are you doing?” Spencer shouted.

“We need bait!” Dez reached out and grabbed Spencer by the shoulder, his talon fingers digging painfully. With one swift motion, he hefted Spencer up and shoved him out the window.

Spencer thought he was dead. He waited to hit the road and tumble to a painful end. But instead, he dangled there beside the window, Dez holding him easily at arm’s length.

“Are you out of your mind!” Spencer yelled. He couldn’t look down; the road rushing past below him made him feel sick. Daisy screamed and let off the gas when she realized what Dez was doing.

The Sweeper kid turned back to her. “Keep driving, Gullible Gates!” he threatened. “Hit the gas, or I drop him.”

Big Bertha lurched forward again as Daisy began to accelerate. Dez shouted out to Spencer, “You should probably kick and squirm a little more. You’re the bait! You have to look alive!”

Spencer had been trying desperately not to squirm, since wriggling out of Dez’s grip would likely cost him his life. “Pull me in, Dez! This is crazy! Pull me in right now!”

“Take it easy,” Dez said. He turned his beaky nose to the air and drew in a long sniff. “That Rubbish is close; I can smell it.”

“He’s close, all right,” Spencer said. He could see the Rubbish directly overhead, keeping pace with the garbage truck. “But he’s not going to take the bait. That Plugger just saw two of his friends get blasted. He’s not coming down.”

Dez grunted and pulled Spencer back into the cab. “Well,” he said, “it was worth a try.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Spencer said, strapping on his seat belt. He sucked in deep breaths of air to steady himself. “It was
not
worth it! You just dangled me out the window like—”

“Hang on!” Daisy yelled. “I’ve got an idea.”

All of a sudden, they were four-wheeling off the edge of the freeway and up a steep embankment with a high retaining wall. Big Bertha chugged and jolted. Then Daisy turned the wheel so sharply that two tires came off the ground.

Spencer thought for sure they would roll down the embankment and land upside down on the freeway. But then, just as they’d done on the wall of New Forest Academy, Big Bertha’s tires adhered to the concrete retaining wall. They were driving sideways, with the two trashcannons on Spencer’s side pointed straight into the air.

Dez brought his fists down on both buttons at the same time, rocking Big Bertha with a tremendous
boom!
The garbage projectiles shot straight into the air, taking the overhead Rubbish and its Plugger by complete surprise.

The big bird was coming down, its wings shot to tatters. Just before the creature dissolved, the Plugger leapt from the saddle, tapping a broom and soaring out of sight.

Big Bertha came off the retaining wall, its tires finding new purchase where the steep embankment rose. The truck bumped back to the freeway and merged alongside a few stunned drivers.

Daisy flipped the safety switch under the steering console, and the trashcannons powered down, folding out of sight. The ports closed, and Big Bertha returned to looking as normal as she could.

They drove in silence for a moment before Daisy finally said what all of them were thinking. “Does anybody know how to get back to Welcher?”

Chapter 28

“Good times, good times.”

Spencer woke up in the parking lot of Welcher Elementary School, appalled to find Dez Rylie behind the steering wheel and Daisy asleep in the seat beside him.

“What happened?” Spencer said, his voice accusatory as he sat up straight. “Did you green-spray Daisy so you could drive?”

“Relax,” Dez said. “She was getting drowsy behind the wheel, so she let me take over.”

“How long was I asleep?” Spencer didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t remember drifting off.

Dez shrugged. “Maybe five or six hours.” He pointed his hooked fingers out the window. “We’re home now.”

Five or six hours? “Why didn’t
you
get tired?” Spencer asked.

“It must be my Rubbish half,” Dez said. “I’ve been awake for a whole night, and I’m not even feeling it.”

Dez’s superpowers were really getting on Spencer’s nerves. Now he didn’t even need to sleep?

The map that they’d found in the glove compartment lay open on the seat next to Dez. Spencer snatched it and shoved it back into the compartment.

“I’m surprised you got us here,” Spencer said.

“I can read a map,” Dez said. “I know you think I’m an idiot, but I actually learned lots of stuff at New Forest Academy.”

Maybe he was being a bit too hard on Dez, Spencer thought. The bully did seem different after his time at the Academy. He was still incredibly annoying, and Spencer wouldn’t trust him with anything. But Dez actually seemed a tiny bit smarter.

Daisy woke up suddenly, sitting at the edge of her seat. “We’re home already?”

Spencer checked his watch. It was two o’clock in the afternoon. “What day is it?” he asked. Staying up all night had really thrown him.

“Wednesday,” said Daisy.

It was crazy to think of all that had happened overnight. They’d gone to Colorado and infiltrated New Forest Academy. They’d stolen Holga, and Director Garcia had been killed. Then they’d gone to Massachusetts, taken a flying Port-a-Potty into the Atlantic Ocean, and been captured by Mr. Clean. Now they were home in Welcher once more. But so much was different. They were alone.

“Okay,” Spencer said. “There’s a little more than an hour left in the school day. We’ve got to get down to the janitor’s closet and secure the
Manualis Custodem.
”

“And we’re going to have to do it without a hall pass,” Daisy pointed out.

“I don’t need a hall pass,” Dez said. “I don’t even go to school here anymore.” He shut off the garbage truck and tucked the bulky key chain into the back pocket of his jeans.

The three kids moved across the parking lot. Spencer knew that most of the school doors were locked during the day, so they’d have to enter through the front.

As Spencer pulled open the door, Daisy grabbed his arm. “Wait,” she said. “We can’t go in there with him.” She pointed at Dez.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the bully asked, sticking out his chest to look more intimidating.

“Look at him,” Daisy said.

Spencer hadn’t considered how Dez would appear to people who hadn’t used magic soap. Would he look normal to them? Or would his features be distorted and inhuman, as they looked to Spencer and Daisy?

“Listen,” Dez said, “if that guy doesn’t look weird to Mrs. Hamp, then I’m pretty sure I’m good to go.” He pointed into the school, where the secretary was conversing with someone at the front office.

The man was definitely a Sweeper, long slimy Grime tail twitching behind him. Mrs. Hamp looked as bored as ever, clearly oblivious to the fact that the visitor was half monster.

Daisy’s eyes went wide and Spencer froze. It was as he had feared. Mr. Clean had already dispatched someone to search the school.

“You two can stand there like lame statues,” Dez said, “but I’m going in.” He stepped through the front door and sniffed the air. “Never thought I’d say this,” he muttered, “but it’s good to be back.”

Spencer didn’t let him reminisce. In a flash, he and Daisy were dragging Dez past the front office, where Mrs. Hamp was handing the Sweeper a visitor pass. “The library is down the hall to the left . . .” she was saying. But Spencer knew the man wasn’t going to the library. First, he would surely search Walter’s janitorial closet.

The three kids moved fast, heedless of Welcher Elementary’s strict no-running-in-the-hallways rule. Spencer was determined to beat the Sweeper to the
Manualis Custodem.

Dez smiled at a few landmarks along the way. “Remember that time I threw a bowl of melted ice cream in Mrs. Natcher’s face?” he said as they passed the cafeteria. “Good times, good times.”

Then they were there, Spencer leaping down the steps three at a time. The secret closet in the back of the storage area was open. Spencer’s heart pumped an extra beat. He didn’t know if they’d left it that way, or if someone had already been here.