“They escaped,” Edan whispered. He touched the flickering light on the front of an empty cage. “Hundreds of them.”
“Do you think—”
“That those are the scrabs we just ran into? Definitely. Some of them, at least. Did you see those things on their necks? I saw those same things on a few of the scrabs.”
He walked back to the only remaining row of scrabs and pointed at one. It had a silver oval attached to each side of its neck, and three more across its forehead. Edan was right—I’d seen something just like that on one of the scrabs in the nest.
The scrab opened its mouth, and I tensed, waiting for the roar. Nothing came. Its face twisted with rage, mouth wide open, but its scream was nearly soundless. It was the same as the scrab that had almost killed Edan. Just a tiny squeak.
It turned to stalk farther into its cell, and I saw a third device, this one glowing red, at the base of its spine.
“Yeah, I’m just bringing him back now,” a voice said. I heard the barn door slide open.
Edan and I darted to the next row and crouched behind the last empty stall. I snuck a peek around the corner.
Sanchez, one of the men who had picked us up in the van, was walking down the first row. He had a scrab on a leash, like a pet. It snarled up at Sanchez, ready to take a bite out of its owner.
“Hey,” Sanchez said sharply. He was holding a black box in his hand, like a small remote control, and he aimed it at the scrab and pressed something. The scrab jerked, like it had just been electrocuted, and collapsed onto its stomach.
Sanchez yanked roughly on its leash, forcing it to its feet. He stopped in front of an empty stall in the middle. He unlocked the cage.
“Sit,” he said to the scrab.
The scrab sat.
I cast a baffled look at Edan.
“In,” Sanchez said. The scrab stood and walked into the cage. Sanchez locked the door behind it.
I quickly ducked back behind the wall as he stepped away from the cage.
“He’s in,” Sanchez said. He must have been talking into an earpiece, because I didn’t hear a reply. His footsteps faded as he walked away. I heard the barn door open again.
“What are they doing?” I whispered to Edan. “Why are they training them?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “But let’s get the hell out of here before they decide to stick us in those cages.”
“There’s another door over there.” I pointed to a door in the corner of the barn.
We jogged across the barn. The scrabs in the first row turned to watch us as we ran.
I grasped the doorknob. It didn’t budge. I fumbled with the cheap lock, realizing for the first time that my hands were shaking.
I finally freed the lock and pushed the door open. I practically launched myself out of it. I let out a relieved sigh as Edan shut the door behind us.
We stood in the dark, but a light shone over two vans parked in a patch of grass not far away. Behind them, I could see the wall surrounding the property. It was tall and topped with the messy, scary bundle of barbed wire that they used in prisons. Not the kind of wall we could climb.
I glanced at Edan. His face was tight as he looked from the wall to the front gate manned by the armed guard.
The guard was opening the gate, a black van like the others rolling through. The guard pulled the gate closed behind them.
“That gate doesn’t look super strong, right?” Edan said. “They just latch it when they close it.”
“I guess?”
“So we could probably drive a van right through it,” he whispered. The van stopped next to the others beneath the light, and Edan’s eyes followed the man who jumped out of the driver’s seat. He walked into the nearby small shed.
“Do you know how to hotwire a car too?” I asked.
“No, I don’t know how to drive. So that skill would be kinda useless.”
“You don’t know how to drive? How do you plan to bust a van out of here, then?”
He looked at me in surprise. “I assumed you could. Don’t Texans drive everywhere?”
“Sure, but my dad never let me touch his car. My brother let me drive around a parking lot once, though.” Like a year ago.
“That’s one more time than me. You’ll be fine. Assuming I can get those keys.” He pointed to where the driver was coming out of the shed. “I think they keep them in there. He was swinging them when he went in, and now his hands are empty.”
We waited until the man walked away before creeping through the dark to the shed.
“The door is probably locked, and it’s too bright over there, anyway,” Edan whispered. He pointed to a small window over his head. “Do you want to give me a boost, or do you want to climb in?”
“I’ll give you the boost.” I knelt down on one knee. He put a hand on my shoulder, using it for balance as he put his foot on my knee. He grabbed the edge of the window and pulled it open. His feet left my knee as he started to pull himself in.
“I see them! Hold my legs. I can grab them without going all the way in.”
I wrapped my hands tightly around each of his ankles and glanced over my shoulder. We were still alone.
“OK, I’m coming out,” he said, voice muffled. I moved my hands up to his calves, then his waist, as he slid out the window. He let go of the ledge, bumping against me as he hit the ground. I held tighter to his waist, steadying us both.
He whirled around, a grin on his face. Three sets of keys dangled from his fingers.
“All three of them, huh?” I almost
