The Deadly Past by Christopher Pike

1
    T he horror started without warning.
    Adam Freeman and his friends were not far from home when they were attacked, just a half mile north of Spooksville, in an area where they seldom went. The woods they had hiked through to get there were not nearly so thick as the others around Spooksville. Resting on top of a hill, they saw nothing but rocks, desolate valleys, and a few bushes. Sally Wilcox, who had led them to the spot, said it looked like the far side of the moon.
    â€œI bet they used to do nuclear testing here,” she said as they continued climbing to the top of a rocky bluff that gave them a view of the ocean and Spooksville itself. “That’s why not much grows here.”
    â€œThat’s ridiculous,” Cindy Makey replied, brushing her long blond hair back from her cute face. “The government only performs nuclear tests in Nevada.”
    Sally stared hard at her with brown eyes that matched her brown hair. “I wasn’t talking about the U.S. government,” she said. “Remember Spooksville used to be part of ancient Lemuria, which went under the Pacific Ocean more than twenty thousand years ago. New Agers believe the Lemurian culture was peaceful, but I know for a fact that they built just as many bombs as we have today.”
    â€œLike you would know,” Cindy snapped.
    â€œBum does say that Lemuria really existed,” Watch said tactfully. Watch was known for always wearing four watches and having no last name.
    â€œI hate to disagree with Bum,” Adam Freeman said, catching his breath and wiping the sweatfrom his face. Adam was the shortest one in the group, and very conscious of the fact. Yet he was also the group’s leader. “But how come there isn’t more evidence of Lemuria and Atlantis still lying around?”
    â€œYou heard what Bum said,” Watch replied. “When the two lands warred, they completely wiped each other out. But Bum says that Lemuria and Atlantis were descendants of even more ancient cultures. I believe him. I think our history books are very limited in their scope.”
    â€œBut do you really think this place used to be radioactive?” Cindy asked, uneasily glancing around. “If that’s true, we shouldn’t be here.”
    â€œWhy?” Sally asked with a snigger. “Are you afraid you might mutate into a plain-looking girl?”
    â€œIt looks like that happened to you already,” Cindy replied.
    Watch raised his hand before the two girls could get going. “If there was radiation here,” he said, “there would be no plant life at all. I don’t think we have to worry about it.”
    Adam cocked his head to one side. “What’s that funny sound?”
    â€œI don’t hear anything,” Sally said before pausingto listen closely. Then a puzzled expression crossed her face. “It sounds like wind blowing through a narrow valley.”
    Watch shook his head, as he also listened. “It sounds like a distant heartbeat to me.” He scanned the area with his thick glasses. “But I don’t see anything that could be making the sound. Do you guys?”
    Cindy pointed. “What about that bird way over there?”
    The brown bird to which Cindy was pointing seemed to be flying over a mountain range far beyond Spooksville. This puzzled Adam who didn’t understand how they could even see something as small as a bird at such a distance. The sharp peaks over which the bird swept were at least three miles away. Also, it was kind of a funny-looking bird, with a long pointed head and an especially wide wingspan. He shook his head as he stared at the creature.
    â€œThat can’t be a bird,” he said.
    â€œOf course it’s a bird,” Sally said impatiently. “What else could it be? A plane?”
    Watch—who didn’t see very well even wearing his glasses—stared at the strange creature. “Ithink Adam is right,” he said