King of the Mutants Read Online Free PDF Page A

couldn’t swallow. It couldn’t be true. What was he talking about? I didn’t come from a freak farm. My nails dug half-moons into the palms of my hands. Was I really so messed up I wasn’t even born the normal way? I was hatched? I wasn’t human?
    “Dr. Greizenheimer has been making new ones too,” said Burt. “All kinds. It was time for an upgrade anyway. The doctor wants to get rid of the mistakes, the ones he can’t use. Truth is, Gator’s disappearance works out well for us. He would have been a third-rate attraction once we get the new batch in.”
    My toes vibrated. Sweat squished in between my toes. I breathed through my nose, trying desperately not to believe what I’d just overheard.
    “So Burt gets some new freaks for the show?”
    “You bet and Grumbling’s is going to make a fortune. This new lot will put us on the map. Some kid with flippers instead of arms. Can you imagine it? The freak lives in a fish tank, too.”
    “Yorgi hates freaks,” muttered the evil clown with a disgusted sigh. “You really want the mutant’s head on a stick?”
    Shivers of fear shot right down to the tip of my tail.
    “No, bring that science experiment back here. I’m sure Peaches would love to get her claws into him like the last guy,” said Burt. The evil glee in his voice permeated my bones. “Grab your posse and hunt that freak of nature down. He can’t be too far, and besides, nobody would help a monster like him out.”
    Footsteps crunched on the gravel and then there was silence.
    Man, oh man, this was bad. Death threat aside, there was only so much shocking information a kid could digest at one time. Waves of nausea swallowed my body from the inside out. Dizziness set in. I grabbed a tent pole to try and balance myself, hoping it wouldn’t fall down. Freddie put his hand on my shoulder, just as I hung my head in shame.
    “Look, Mav,” he said. “I don’t think I want to join the circus after all. I mean, I was envisioning something way different. That conversation? Well, it’s just so messed up. What kind of place is this? What are you going to do?”
    I bit down on my bottom lip and met Freddie’s concerned gaze.
    “Clearly, I’ve got to bolt seeing that they want to lob my head off,” I said.
    Freddie’s eyes widened in question. Or maybe it was fear. I went silent for a moment to think about my options. My tail went mental when New York City was mentioned.
    I had nothing to lose.
    I ran my tongue over my teeth, a bad habit that crops up when I’m nervous. The taste of freshly drawn blood saturated my mouth. I swallowed it down, gulped, and finally managed to stutter out, “Guess I’m going to the Big Apple to find out if all that stuff they said about me is true.”
    Freddie stared at me for a long moment, his lips pinched in concentration. “I’m going with you,” he said matter-of-factly. “I grew up there, I know the city like the back of my hand, and I really, really want to get back to my old neighborhood. Running away to this circus didn’t quite work out. So my schedule is totally open. You up for it?”
    At first I didn’t answer him, but then I thought about it. Freddie didn’t seem like a bad guy, I didn’t know the city at all, and truthfully I was scared. Plus, I had someone on my side for once. Once he got over his initial shock, Freddie didn’t seem to judge me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Snaggletooth, but maybe I’d found my first human friend? That alone gave me the extra push I needed. I shrugged and shot Freddie a nervous half-smile.
    “So us two guys are going on a road trip?” Freddie nodded his head excitedly. “The girls better watch out—”
    “Mmm-hmmm,” I agreed, although girls were the last things on mind. I had more pressing issues. Like we were still stuck in between the tents, Yorgi and his crew wanted to hunt me down so they could make alligator fritters out of me, and we had to get to New York from Florida.
    “How are we going to get