He envisioned the city they’d just left, the layout, the circular road—and the solution to Chu’s riddle crystallized in his head, as clear as anything he’d ever known. In that moment, he knew they shouldn’t be on the train.

They had to stop. They had to go back!

He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. He felt like the world was crushing him. Grunting, he tried to push his arms up into the air. It felt like he had fifty-pound dumbbells in his hands. The second he relaxed, his arms slammed back onto the wall.

Then it got worse.

A horn sounded, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, and then the room shifted. With the spinning and the pressure, it was hard to tell which direction the room was moving, but it seemed to have dropped into a black hole, catapulting forward at a speed that was too much for Tick’s mind and body to handle.

He passed out.

Chapter

30

~

Forest Exit

Tick.”

He heard someone say his name, but it sounded hollow, like an echo coming down a long tunnel.

“Tick!”

There it was again. Louder this time. A sharp pain splintered across his mind, and that seemed to do the trick. Groaning, blinking through squinting eyes, he woke up.

“Dude, are you all right?”

Paul. It was Paul.

“Come on. Help him up.”

Sofia.

Tick felt hands grip him by the arms and haul him off the floor, setting him down on a soft bench. Every time he opened his eyes, all he could see were things spinning and rocking back and forth. His mind felt like a pack of termites had been set loose inside for lunch. And the nausea . . .

“I gotta throw up,” he whispered.

“Not on me, you don’t,” Paul said. “Hurry, let’s get him out of here.”

They grabbed him by the arms again. He heard a door open, felt refreshing cool air wash over him as they helped him stumble outside the portal.

“There’s a garbage can,” he heard Sofia say; they changed directions.

“Hurry,” Tick groaned, trying his best to get his feet under him. A cold line of metal pressed against his neck.

“Go for it,” Paul muttered.

Tick let it all out, then slid to the ground and leaned back against the garbage can. “Ah, that feels much better.” He opened his eyes fully and got his first good look at where they’d arrived.

The station looked much like the one they’d left earlier—maybe a little dirtier, less well-kept. Just as many people milled about, though, some leaving portals, some entering them.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You passed out,” Sofia said. “I think I might have, too, just for a few seconds. When we finally stopped, Paul and I slid down onto the bench, but you crashed straight to the floor.”

“Yeah, man,” Paul said. “You were out like a light.”