Free The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) by J.J. Thompson

closed his eyes tightly, turned his head and waited. I hope
it doesn't hurt too much, was his last thought.
    Justin waited, hand out
and eyes shut. And he waited. And waited a bit more. But nothing
happened. Finally, after about a minute, he carefully opened one eye
and took a peek at the monster.
    The monkey machine had
come to a complete stop no more than six feet away from him. It
wasn't staring at the rune on his palm, which was Justin's first
guess as to why it had stopped. Instead, the thing was staring
straight at Justin and...sniffing.
    It sounded like a bellows
as the machine sucked in air and then snorted it out again. The
expression on the surprisingly mobile face was one of confusion. The
monkey looked baffled at Justin's appearance. It actually raised an
arm and scratched its dented metal head, the metallic screech setting
Justin's teeth on edge. After what seemed like an eternity, the
monkey-bot reached behind its back, raised its hand and...held out a
mango.
    Justin heard a soft,
inquiring cough from the machine. It apparently wanted him to take
the fruit. With a visibly shaking hand, Justin reached out and
accepted the mango. The monkey seemed pleased. It nodded its head,
cocked it to one side for a moment and gave him one last long look.
Then it headed back toward the far side of the clearing where it
continued its interrupted harvesting.
    Justin stood alone and
tried to make sense of what had just happened. He looked over at the
monkey and then down at the slightly bruised mango in his hand. Why
am I still alive, he wondered. He was dazed and confused but also
felt a small stirring of hope. Maybe we're safe, he thought.
    “ Hey
Justin!” he heard and spun around, almost falling over. He saw
Aaron and the others peeking out of the bushes. “Is it safe to
come out?”
    Justin looked at the
monkey machine and then back at his friends. “Yeah,” he
called. “I think so.”
    The seven teens quickly
made their way over to Justin. Aaron's face was white and he looked
shaken. He got close to Justin and stared into his eyes. “Are
you okay, Just?” he asked breathlessly.
    “ I
guess so,” Justin replied and then wiped off his forehead. His
laugh was a bit shaky, but he felt a sense of relief.
    “ That
was the bravest, craziest thing I've ever seen anyone do, Justin,”
Maria exclaimed and then gave him a huge hug. She stepped back,
looking a bit embarrassed but also seemed proud of him. Even Dominic
slapped him on the back.
    “ But
how did you stop it, Just?” Aaron wanted to know.
    “ I
have no idea, bud. But it wasn't the mark on my hand. It didn't even
seem to notice that. I think it just liked how I smelled.”
    “ Smelled?
What do you mean, how you smelled?”
    “ Don't
ask me. But it stood there and sniffed me a few times and then gave
me this.” Justin held out the mango for them all to see.
    “ Wow,
that's weird,” Dominic said. He glanced at the monkey that was
still gathering fruit. “But who cares why it stopped. This
could be our chance to get out of here.”
    Justin looked at Maria.
“I agree,” he said. “Before it has a chance to
change its mind, I think we should take the stairs while we can.”
    Maria nodded.
“Absolutely. I saw it look at us when we came out and it didn't
react. So come on everyone, let's move!”
    The entire group headed
for the stairs. By unspoken agreement, no one ran, just in case it
attracted the machine's attention. Instead, Justin took the lead and
they walked slowly but steadily to the stairs, gave the monkey-bot
one last cautious look and then began to climb.
    The steps weren't very
wide but they were quite high, making each step a stretch. Justin's
legs began to ache after only a few minutes. He was sure that the
others felt the same, since only Maria was taller then the others and
she was only about five-seven.
    Sure enough, as they
climbed around and around, he began to hear groans and grunts from
the teens struggling behind him.
    The staircase had