Read The New Kid for Free Online Page B

weapons, which he unpacked and inspected. The pulse generator pistol had shifted in transit, but he examined it and it looked fine. And of course he had his computers. Lots and lots of computers; enough computing power, in fact, to service a small university. He was wired in and dialed in to the max. He had to be. His survival was at stake.
    He set up his largest monitor, connected to his most powerful XTC 9000 computer, and fired up his Demon Hunter game. He fed in some data and the hero on the screen came to life, charged down a hallway, and using a microartillery bracelet, unleashed a barrage of firepower that blasted a horrifying winged demon. He glanced at his kill count. 642. Will smiled. The microartillery bracelet kicked ass, but was nothing compared to his power rod.
    Turning his attention away from the game program, Will opened several more crates and set up his chemical analysis and modification lab. Once it was operative he concocted a cleansing healing potion. Rolling up his shirt sleeve, he applied it to his forearm where the Goth punk had sunken in his rusty screw teeth. The salve stung at first but as it began to simultaneously disinfect and heal, the pain lessened. Will watched as his skin repaired itself, the wounds pussing, then scabbing, then smoothing over in a matter of seconds instead of the usual days. It said a lot about how much he had to use it that he’d recalled his precise formula off the top of his head without having to consult the data on his mainframe.
    He was rolling his shirt sleeve back down when he heard a noise. His head jerked up to the right and he saw the barest flash of an
image. Eyes, a pair of eyes. Silently cursing himself for leaving a small corner of one of the basement window wells exposed, he grabbed a boltdriver and sprinted out of his secret warren. He took the stairs three at a time and burst up into the kitchen and out the door.
    Outside he ducked into a crouch and quickly scanned the yard for movement. There! A figure was darting through the shadows. Fortunately the guy didn’t look too big or strong so Will pocketed the boltdriver and took off running across the dark yard, his feet slipping on the wet grass. The interloper was fast and evasive but Will had experience, lots of experience, not to mention time-bending speed, so when the guy zigged Will zagged and leapt into him, knocking him sideways and taking him down with a flying tackle. The guy was slender and strong and had arms taut with muscle, but Will swiftly overpowered him and flipped him over. Then his jaw dropped. It wasn’t a guy, it was a girl. It was her . Natalie.
    “Back off, you freak!” she shouted.
    “Whoa! Um, it’s Natalie, right?” he stammered.
    “Yeah, that’s right, it’s Natalie. I don’t think we really met properly before.”
    Will was stunned and didn’t see the punch coming. But he sure felt it. Not only was Natalie strong, she had one heck of an uppercut. Will blinked up at the stars, and now she was looking down at him. She looked pissed. “Do you always go around tackling people?”
    Will got up rubbing his jaw. He couldn’t help but notice again how she seemed even prettier when she was mad as a hornet.
    “Why are you in my yard?” he asked.
    “I was out walking, and I was . . . curious. This is my neighborhood, too, you know.” Natalie’s eyes sparkled with life and Will was again flummoxed, this time by his attraction to her.
    “What were you doing spying on me?”
    “The question is, what were you doing in your basement that you didn’t want anybody to see? And what is that thing?” She pointed to the boltdriver, which had fallen out of Will’s pocket.

    “It looks like some kind of taser or something. Are you a hood?”
    “It’s just a . . . prop. Sometimes I make videos.” Will hastily shoved the boltdriver back into his pocket.
    “Uh-huh.” Her tone said she didn’t buy it. “And that goopy stuff you were putting on your arm?”
    Will couldn’t