Nightmare Read Online Free Page B

him. She was a short, sturdy woman, deeply tanned with short black hair that curled tightly across her scalp. A black mass seethed inside the mesh cage with a slight hissing noise. Evan looked at it intently, changing the subject without actually saying anything.
      "Crickets," Grace explained. "Don’t try this at home."
      In one smooth motion she opened the cage and swept it in an arc. A small cloud of insects scattered over the pond, dropping into the water with a drawn-out splash. The pond instantly erupted in bubbles. The water thrashed and frothed. A few moments later, it calmed again. More peeps and croaks peppered the air. Evan didn’t see a single remaining cricket.
      "Piranha frogs," Grace said. "They got no teeth—no frog has—but they’re so aggressive you’d hardly notice."
      Evan was impressed despite his anger. "Do they attack the other frogs?"
      "They would if we let ‘em," Grace said. "But we got a whole bunch of sensors in the ground and in the trees. They notice a frog leaving its habitat, and it gets zapped with sub-sonics. We can’t hear it, but they can, and it sends ‘em straight back. Otherwise we’d have to use wire fences." She closed the cage. "What are you two on for today?"
      Pup shrugged. "I’m showing Lizard—" Evan bristled again "—around a bit. Easy day for me."
      "Then you can help me for a minute," Grace said. "Here. Take this back to the bug barn and bring back a full one. Make sure they’re dusted."
      Grumbling, Pup accepted the cage and left. A bit nonplused, Evan followed.
      "How do we know what to do?" Evan asked.
      "You and me? We do pretty much what everyone else tells us. Don’t matter who—if they’re older, we do what they say. ‘Course you pay special attention to the managers. They tell you to jump, you act like a frog and jump."
      "Managers?"
      "There’s five of ‘em—Master Ting, Master Varl, Mistress Quick, Mistress Yee, and Master Greenleaf. They ain’t slaves. They work for Mistress Blanc. She’s the owner."
      "I know that," Evan said, trying to show he knew something.

      They approached a great white building shaped like a giant log half-buried in the ground. On one end was a set of sliding double doors large enough to drive a brace of tractors through. Pup chose a smaller door off to one side and Evan, who was starting to feel like a stray puppy, followed.
      The inside was dimly-lit and cooler, with a clean concrete floor. Rows of mesh cages and huge glass terrariums stretched the full length of the building, interspersed with sinks, gleaming worktables, and racks of equipment Evan didn’t recognize. In several places he saw what looked like bathtubs. Insects crawled, flapped, and fluttered inside various cages and containers. The air was alive with clicks, chirps, and whirrs that were very different from the frog noises outside. More people, recognizable as slaves by their silver bands, moved among the rows, though they were dressed in blue and wore shoes. One man noticed Evan and Pup and hurried over.
      "Don’t get your muddy feet on my clean floor," he said. "What do you want?"
      Pup held up the cage. "Grace sent us for more crickets. She wants ‘em vitamin-dusted, too."
      The man snatched the cage and stalked away, muttering about filthy muckers.
      "What’s his problem?" Evan whispered.
      Pup shrugged. "He’s above us. Buggers—don’t let ‘em hear you say that word—are higher up than us. Most of them sold themselves into slavery by choice to pay debts, so they get better treatment and the easier work. They got family what’s free, too."
      The man returned and all but shoved the cage—now full of crickets—at Pup. They delivered them to Grace at another pond, but before Evan got a chance to see another piranha frog feeding, Pup took him by the arm and lead him away. His hand was rough and callused.
      "Got to make a break for it before she gives us something else to do," Pup muttered. "I can