Free Dead Water Zone by Kenneth Oppel Page A

back the spasm of fear in his stomach. How far would Sam take this experiment on his own body?
    Day 6
    They’re looking for me. I’ve seen an unmarked helicopter circling Watertown. There are two men—one was at the lab when the City issued special security clearances for the project. They must have found something I left behind. I can’t believe I was so careless. What? Some scribbled notes retrieved and reassembled from the paper shredder? They can’t know very much—but enough to trace me here. What do they want? My findings? My findings destroyed?
    I followed them one night as they moved nervously through Watertown. I felt like a wraith, sliding in and out of shadow effortlessly, pressing my body into alcoves, flat against walls. They have a picture of me and showed it to a punk in black leather. One of the men gave him money.
    I can’t be interrupted now. I’m not finished yet. I’ve grown much thinner, much stronger and quicker, but that’s become almost insignificant. There’s something much more important to be done. But first I have to keep taking it into me. And I must find out where the primary source is.
    Day 7
    I go out only at night now. Daylight hurts my eyes. Too much stimulus. I can travel across Watertown alone, soaring across rooftops like adream. I never knew that the light changes throughout the night, the spin of the moon and stars. You can hear more clearly, too. Always the sound of the boats, night crews on deck handling metal and rope, voices drifting. I have listened to fish beneath the water’s surface, insects sleeping, the sound of the mist gathering in the night.
    “So, it was Sam,” Paul whispered. But why had he appeared, only to run away? Twice. Why hadn’t he stayed to explain? And the inevitable conclusion: he didn’t want to see me.
    Day 8
    I think I’ve found the source.
    Wandering deeper into Watertown, taking samples, I found a wide canal that encircles a kind of citadel island. The dead water is more potent here. The surrounding area seems deserted. Why?
    I’m worried the helicopter men will track me to the boathouse if I wait any longer. I need somewhere safe to carry on the rest of my experiment undisturbed. It’s time to move on. I’m certain the source lies beyond that canal.
    Paul hammered at the keyboard, but he’d reached the end. There were no more words.
    “Rat Castle,” said Monica, in amazement. “No wonder Mom wandered around there. She must have been drinking from that damn canal.”
    “Sam’s in there.”
    “But Decks said—”
    “Decks was wrong.”
    “She might be there, too, then,” said Monica quietly. “With that much dead water in her, she could have jumped right across.”
    Paul stood up quickly. “We’ve got to go there.”
    Monica took a deep breath. “No. Not yet. It’s too dangerous.”
    “But we’re wasting time!”
    “Paul, I want to go, too. But it’s still light out. At nightfall Armitage’ll come and tell us what’s happening with Cityweb.”
    “Sam hates his body! He’d do anything to change it, even if it might kill him.” He faltered for a moment. “Because he knows he’s going to die anyway.”
    “But why?”
    “It’s part of his condition. They say he’ll only live another twelve years maximum, probably less.”
    “Oh.” She seemed to draw into herself, then said bitterly, “So he thinks he can heal himself with the water.”
    Paul nodded. “When he called me, he wasscared. I think he wanted me to come here and stop him. Why else would he have called? I owe him this.” He studied her face, suddenly needing to tell her. “I let him down.”
    “How?”
    “The stupidest thing I’ve ever done. We weren’t the same afterward. And then he left for college and it still wasn’t fixed. Isn’t.”
    “Tell me.”
----
    “Lick it up,” Randy Smith said.
    Pinned to the ground, Sam just stared back.
    “Make him lick it up!” Randy shouted. Gavin and Peter grabbed Sam by the hair and forced his face