Disney after Dark

The two security guys hurried past, only seconds behind them.

Fi

“They’ve gone,” she said. “We lost them.”

Fi

5

“But you gotta help us!” Fi

“Listen, I can’t,” said Brad, the Imagineer who had produced the DHI film shoot at MGM-Disney. Behind him the soundstage hummed with forklifts moving equipment around.

From the Magic Kingdom, Amanda and Fi

Brad looked at Amanda a couple times. “Do I know you?” he finally inquired.

“She’s a friend,” Fi

Again Fi

Remember? You must know how to find her. It’s important.”

“Your parents could make a formal request, I suppose.”

“Yeah, right! My parents?” Fi

Brad shook his head, said he was sorry, and stepped back onto the soundstage. Fi

Brad slowed a step, but did not stop completely.

“What if the DHIs are all in danger?”

Amanda and Brad looked at Fi

“What are you talking about, kid? There’s nothing wrong with the technology,” he said, taking a step closer.

“No?” Fi

“What’s wrong with the technology? There’s nothing wrong with the technology,” Brad said more forcefully. “Nice try.” He turned his back on Fi

Fi

“Wayne Kresky? How do you know Wayne?” Brad sounded impressed.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out. Cal Wayne. Ask him if he knows me.”

“You know Wayne,” Brad repeated, somewhat astonished.

“I know about the Overtakers.”

The color in Brad’s face drained away. Fi

“The sooner you clear this with Wayne, the better. The longer it takes for me to get to the other hosts, the greater the danger.”

Brad’s voice cracked as he said, “No one is in danger.”

Fi

Fi

A few minutes later they walked past the giant replica of Mickey’s sorcerer’s cap.

“What was that all about?” she asked. “What school do the Overtakers play for?”

“School?”

“They’re a sports team, right?”

“Oh…Right.” Fi

“Everybody has dreams like that. For me…well …it’s more like a nightmare.”

“But what if somebody tells you something in the dream, something to look for when you wake up, and you wake up, and there it is?”

“I’d have to think about that,” she conceded.

Fi

She said, “If you know this guy Wayne, maybe he could help you find the others.”

“No. He’s the one that asked me to find them.”

Amanda’s face twisted. “Oh.”

They reached the bus pickup point at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Her bus arrived.

She said, “The Overtakers aren’t a sports team, are they?”

“No.”

“And you’re not going to tell me what they are.”

“Maybe sometime.”

“I can help you, Fi

He saw something behind her eyes, as if she knew more than she was letting on. Or was that just another girl trick? Fi

Amanda climbed onto the bus, pausing briefly to talk to the driver. There were no tickets required on the Disney buses, so why would Amanda stop to talk to the driver? As the bus pulled away, Fi

Wayne? Was it possible?

6

His hand trembling, Fi

Lee

Maitland

Jackson

He recognized these as the names of four middle schools. Four schools where he now believed he’d find the other DHIs. The note wasn’t signed, but he knew it was from Brad.

“You don’t have to do this,” he reminded Amanda, though it was a little late now. They were riding a somewhat smelly city bus toward Lee Middle School. One-story buildings painted pink, sea blue, and white streamed past. Heat waves shimmered from the pavement. Another fall day.

“I’m okay,” she replied.

He wanted to think this had been his idea, but he knew better. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to talk him into letting her join him, but here she was.

“We might not get back in time for fifth period,” he warned. They’d skipped out on lunch together, slipping out a door near the gym. They’d be in some serious trouble if caught.

“I’m a big girl, Fi

The bus driver, a fat guy with a blotchy red face, kept an eye on them in the mirror. Fi

“That he’s watching us?” Amanda said, interrupting. “Yes.”

“What if he’s some kind of spy?” Fi

“Oh, please. He’s just curious about a couple of kids on their own in the middle of the day.”

He felt stupid for having said that.

To drum it in, Amanda asked, “What kind of spy? For whom?” She whispered into his ear,

“The Overtakers?”

She meant to tease him, but Fi

“You saw those guys yesterday at the Magic Kingdom,” Fi

“You weren’t supposed to be there. You broke the rules,” she reminded him. “You think they’re Over-takers?” Again, she was teasing.

“As if you’d know.”

“When are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“When I find out myself,” he answered.

“These other kids. The other DHIs,” she said. “You think they have the answers?”

“Not exactly.”

The driver picked up a black radio microphone with a curly black cord and spoke into it. They couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“What if he works with truancy cops?” Fi

“Now you’re making me paranoid,” she said sharply. She reached up and pressed the signal for the next stop. The brakes hissed as the bus slowed and pulled over to the curb.

As they hurried off the bus, Fi

Nine hot blocks later they reached the school. Fi

It was a nicer, newer school than theirs. They walked down the main hall, trying to look like they knew where they were going. Neither had been here before.

“What’s the plan?” Amanda asked.

“We’re here at lunchtime for a reason,” Fi

They located the cafeteria by following the noise and smells. To save time, Fi