So it turned out that Itex owned, like, half the world. It wasn't just a company. It was a huge multinational, multifaceted conglomerate that had its fingers in virtually every type of business there was, including food, medicine, real estate, computer technology, manufacturing, and even book publishing-so heads up, whoever's reading this.
The more info we found on the Web, the more I started remembering the Itex logo. Now that I recognized it, I realized I'd seen it on a million things in my life, going all the way back to the School where we were created. It had been on test tubes, pill vials, lab equipment-you name it.
I logged off the computer and stood up. "Let's get out of here."
I'd seen enough.
111
"No."
"Please, Max," Nudge begged.
We were airborne, heading south. On the Web we'd found an address for Itex headquarters. It was roughly between Miami and Everglades National Park.
"No way. It's too risky. The whole place is fenced in. There's a million people there. We'll be in crowds."
"Fang?" Nudge wheedled.
Fang shrugged, as much as he could shrug while flying. He held up his hands as if to say, Talk to the boss. I'm just the hired help.
That wiener.
"Pleeease, Max?" The Gasman added his voice.
I stared ahead stoically, refusing to look down at the tall water tower wearing mouse ears. Of course, we had to pass right over Orlando.
"Max?" Nudge said.
I didn't respond. I knew what she was trying to do.
"Oh, come on!" said Total, from Iggy's arms. "We're not going to the Magic Kingdom? How lame is that?"
I glared at him. It didn't faze him.
"A couple rides?" Angel asked wistfully. "Splash Mountain?"
"Maaax?" Nudge said again.
I made the supreme mistake of looking at Nudge. Shoot! I winced and looked away but not quickly enough. She got me. She had given me Bambi eyes. Now I had no choice.
I gritted my teeth. "Fine. A couple rides, some cotton candy, and we're out of there."
Everyone cheered. Fang gave me a look that said, You sap.
"Who let whom have a freaking dog?" I responded.
He chuckled.
And we were on our way to the land of the Mouse.
112
"Disney World?" Ari felt like his head was about to explode. "Disney World?" His gravelly voice rose into a harsh shriek. "They're not on vacation! They're on the run! They're running for their lives! Death is following them like a bullet, and they're on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?"
He snapped his teeth shut so hard the impact jarred his skull.
This was the end.
He would show them what a freaking Small World it was. There was about to be a rain of destruction on Main Street, U.S.A.
Disney World. You've probably been. I'm assuming that most of America has been there, because you all seemed to be there the day that we went. All of you at the same time.
When the gates opened, we poured in with the rest of the crowd and found ourselves on Main Street, U.S.A. It was, well, adorable. I admit it freely. Old-fashioned storefronts, an ice-cream parlor, a trolley line in the middle of the street-all painted bright, cheerful colors. Everything was pristine, everything in perfect shape.
"I want to go in every shop," Nudge said, awed. "I want to see every single thing."
"Don't these people have jobs?" Fang muttered. "Why aren't these kids in school?"
I ignored him. If he had backed me up, we wouldn't be here.
"We need to pick the most important things," I said, as we headed toward Cinderella's Castle. "In case we can't stay too long."
"I vote for Pirates of the Caribbean," said Total. He was wearing a small leather halter and a special vest that said "Guide Dog at Work. Do Not Pet. Thank You." We'd bought sunglasses for Iggy, so the two of them had quite the team costume.
"Ooh, Swiss Family Treehouse!" said the Gasman.
"Yeah!" Angel agreed.
Nudge stopped and stared up at the castle. "It's so... beautiful."
"Yeah," I said, smiling at her. Inside, of course, I was wound tighter than a yo-yo. All these people-we were horribly exposed and yet contained within a crowded space, so I was twitching like a water drop on a hot skillet.
Avoiding the worst of the crowds, we headed for Adventureland.
"Yes! Pirates of the Caribbean!" Total said. If he could have made a fist, he would have punched it.
Being in a dark, enclosed, watery place with a bunch of strangers sounded like a nightmare to me, but as usual I was in the sensible minority. We got in line, and actually, it didn't take too long to get onto a boat. I was trying hard to keep it together for the younger kids, but my heart was pounding and sweat broke out on my forehead. I glanced at Fang and saw that he was just as twitchy as I was. Because we were the only two who had any freaking sense.
Please, I begged silently, please do not let my last moments on earth be me crammed into a tiny boat in the dark, surrounded by mechanical singing pirates.
Yes, that would be cruel, my Voice said snidely.
I ignored it.
114
"I want my own treehouse like that," Gazzy said around a mouthful of cotton candy. "I mean, for all of us. Wouldn't that be so cool?"
"So, so cool," Angel agreed, ice cream dripping down her wrist. "Can we do the Swiss Family Treehouse again?"
I handed her a napkin. "Maybe after lunch." Biting off a piece of my ice-cream sandwich, I did another 360 sweep. No Erasers. I couldn't say for sure we were the only mutants here because, you know, Disney World. But so far no one had morphed right in front of us.
"We could make one," Iggy said. "Find a humongous tree and build our own treehouse."
"Yeah!" said Gazzy, pushing another wad of cotton candy into his mouth. "We could do it! I know we could."
I rubbed his shoulder. "Okay. I'll put that on our list of things to do. Try not to eat too much junk, huh, Gazzy? I don't want you hurling on Splash Mountain." He grinned at me, a lighthearted child's grin that tugged at my heart. Yeah, yeah, if only.
"This way to Frontierland," Fang said, pointing to a sign.
I scanned the crowd again, then looked down at my map. "First Frontierland, and then-looks like the only good thing in Liberty Square is the Haunted Mansion."
"I want to see Mickey's Country House," Angel said.
"That's in the Toontown Fair place," I told her. "We need to go through some other stuff first. But we'll go."
She shot me a beautiful, innocent smile, and I tried to put all thoughts of our country's government out of my head.
"You know what's creepy?" Nudge said, eating caramel popcorn. "A chipmunk that big." She pointed at an adult-sized costumed chipmunk who was waving and strolling around.
"Who is that?" Total asked. "Chip? Or Dale?"
"Don't know," I said. "As long as he doesn't turn into a huge, chipmunky Eraser, I'm good. Yo-look. There's Splash Mountain. Line doesn't seem too bad."
"Is your dog talking?"
I turned around. A sunburned child was looking at Total suspiciously.
I laughed. "Our dog? No. Why? Does your dog talk?" I gave her a patronizing smile.
"I thought he was talking," she muttered, still staring at Total.
I said to Gazzy, "Jason, have you been practicing your ventriloquism again?"
Gazzy shrugged with the perfect amount of bashfulness and nodded.
"Oh," said the girl, and looked away.
I narrowed my eyes at Total, who pulled his lips back over his teeth in an embarrassed, ingratiating grin.
Not amused, I glanced over at Fang. He smiled, lighting up our immediate area, and offered me some Cracker Jack.
115
He had them. Ari took a bite of his ice cream bar, feeling the thin chocolate crunch between his teeth.
He'd seen them go into Splash Mountain. Now he was sitting on a bench at the exit, waiting for them to come out. It had taken a long time to find them in this place. He couldn't fly here, and he couldn't unleash a huge crowd of Erasers to sweep the joint. Too much commotion.