Radium Halos Read Online Free PDF

to be heard about
the noise. “Tom Thomas could fly his little helicopter and lift us
out of here with a rope. Seems yer firefighters could use
ol’Sam.”
    “Huh?” Seth
chuckled. “That was my favourite show when I was a kid. My dad had
an uncle from England send DVD’s over.” He laughed harder. Kieran
joined in.
    “You guys are
messed up!” I tried frowning but couldn’t stop the smile. Could
this night get any crazier?
    The
firefighters finally broke down the other door. Their flashlights
were so bright, they had all of us holding our hands out to
covering our eyes.
    Rylee stood
closest to the door and yelped when the light hit her eyes. “Turn
that thing off, please!” She staggered like she’d been hit. Seth
grabbed her arm to steady her.
    One fireman
swept his torch over the walls. I nudged Kieran and pointed.
“They’re black.” I kept my voice low.
    “Wha’?” he
said.
    “The walls,
they’re black now. Weren’t they sorta glowing in the dark before?”
I continued to whisper.
    He blinked, and
scratched his left temple. “Yeah, ‘tis weird. Maybe it was the
moon.”
    Four more
firefighters filed through the door, one of them Seth’s dad. Jim’s
boisterous voice shouted commands and had us walking out single
file, holding onto a rope with a fireman between each of us. We
laughed at the bright yellow rope but Jim insisted we use the buddy
system so no one would be left behind.
    Ten minutes
later we stood on the wet grass, among flashing cop cars, fire
trucks, and the local TV crew. Only in a small town, the
freakin’ media’s got nothing more exciting to cover? I found my
dad a split second before he noticed me. He stood, hands in his
back pockets of his jeans, doctor bag hanging over his shoulder and
his right foot tapping.
    He ran over and
squeezed me tight. “Everyone okay?” He motioned to Jim and walked
to get his medical bag where he’d dropped it when he’d dashed over.
“Let’s get all of you to the ambulance. Check and see if you’re all
okay.”
    A policeman
stepped forward. “Your folks have been notified,” he paused when he
reached Kieran, “except yours, young man. We didn’t realize there
were six of you.” He handed Kieran the cell from his chest pocket.
“Here. Call your folks”
    Kieran pushed
the phone back at the officer. “Thanks, but I’ll let me Dad know in
the morning. No sense in waking ’im if everything’s alright.”
    Poor guy.
He’s embarrassed by the officer’s concern. I inhaled a deep
breath, about to say something. The air smelled of wet earth. It
felt like mud clogged in my throat. I gagged and began
coughing.
    Dad rushed back
to my side and pounded my back. “You okay?”
    Holy smokes.
You don’t need to shout, Dad. I bent forward and raised a hand.
“I’m… okay…” I tried to clear my air passage. “A bug must’ve been…
trying to… suffocate me.” I swallowed and took shallow breaths.
“Honest, I’m fine.” Please don’t embarrass me.
    “I’ll get you
home soon, kiddo.” Dad put his arm around my shoulder when I
straightened. “Let me just check the others and we’ll go. My car’s
parked beside the first ambulance.”
    I rested my
head on his chest, suddenly exhausted. “The Bug’s parked somewhere
in the field.”
    “We’ll get it
in the morning.”
    Seth spoke from
behind. “I’ll take it back to my place. Kieran can drive my
truck.”
    “Thanks.” I
lifted my head. It felt so heavy.
    Rylee’s folks
had come and, to my surprise, Heidi’s mom was here on her own. It
made me wish Mom were here, but the feeling quickly evaporated.
    I tried to
focus on my friends, but my eyes rolled from sudden exhaustion. I
tried blinking several times to refocus but gave up. Tapping Dad’s
shoulder, I asked, “Is it okay if I wait in your car?”
    He bent down to
grab something out of his medical bag. “Let me check you once more
–”
    “Dad! I’m
fine.” I winced at the harshness in my tone, and lowered my