Forces of Nature Read Online Free Page B

dozen ice cubes tumbled out of the driver’s-side door and fell into the mud. Zack knew it was the one filled with foil-wrapped steaks. Tomorrow night’s dinner was being served early. And uncooked.
    That’s when Zack saw another bear emerge from some trees and gallop toward the car.
    He ran after Olivia and didn’t look back again.
    He didn’t know exactly how, but he knew for certain that somehow Amp was responsible for this mess.

Meltdown
    â€œT his is Amp’s fault,” Zack gasped, his hands on his knees, trying his best to catch his breath.
    â€œHow do you figure?” Olivia said, leaning her back on a tree.
    They were standing in a small clearing carpeted with pine needles. The soaring trees around them dimmed what little light was able to get through the dark rain clouds above. They had run along the creek for as long as they could and now they stood huffing and puffing after putting a good mile or two between them and the bears.
    â€œOh, please. Amp totally started that fire,” Zack said.
    â€œWe don’t know that for sure,” she answered.
    â€œC’mon, Olivia, this mess has his tiny fingerprints all over it.”
    Olivia kicked a pinecone with her muddy sneaker. “Okay, maybe it was, but he was only trying to be helpful.”
    â€œOur tents are probably melted hunks of plastic right now. Thanks a lot, Amp.”
    â€œYou’re always so hard on him,” Olivia sighed. “He means well.” Olivia snapped her fingers. “Hey, you guys talk with your minds all the time. So just tell him to get his tushy over here.”
    â€œHe won’t know what the word tushy even means,” Zack groaned, pressing his forehead onto the rough bark of a tree.
    â€œC’mon, squirt out one of your mental phone calls. We’re in a jam here. We need some Erdian backup.”
    Zack rolled his eyes. “You know you can talk to him that way, too, but you just don’t like to.”
    â€œIt makes my skin crawl. You’re good at it. You two do it all the time.”
    â€œHe’s probably out of range. I’ve got to be within fifty yards or so. There are no long-distance calls. His brain is probably the size of a peanut. His peanut brain has a very limited range.”
    Olivia stared at her friend for a moment. “You’ve got some serious anger issues, you know.”

    â€œWhat is the point of camping anyway?” Zack roared, holding up his arms. “Weren’t we perfectly happy with carpet under our feet, our comfortable beds, and cable television? Now I’ve got a blister on my heel that’s killing me, our campsite has been burned to the ground, my mom’s probably been washed out to the ocean, and a pack of bears has taken the family car. Whoop-de-do! I can’t wait for next year’s camping trip!”
    Olivia looked away for a moment. “A group of bears is called a sleuth.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou said ‘a pack of bears.’ Technically, or scientifically, it’s called a sleuth of bears.”
    â€œAre you trying to make me cry?”
    â€œHey, Zack, look up.”
    Zack followed Olivia’s eyes and looked straight up at the soaring trees around them. He noticed that they were all twisted, like corkscrews. Unlike most trees, which grew up straight toward the sun, these trees were bent at odd angles, their bark wrapping around the trunks as if the trees themselves were confused about which way was up.
    â€œTwisted Grove State Park,” Zack whispered, the trees giving him an uneasy feeling.
    â€œKinda creepy,” Olivia said quietly.
    They continued to stare up at the strange trees in silence. Besides a few chirping birds and the hiss of the rushing water in the nearby creek, it would have been perfectly quiet, which made the twisted trees all the more troubling for some reason.
    â€œToo bad Amp’s not here,” Olivia said.
    â€œYeah,” Zack agreed