Chomp Chapter 21 Summary

  • Because Derek sits on his helmet, he doesn't die from the electric bolt running down the tree and into its roots, right where Derek is sitting.
  • Instead, the lightning rockets him off the ground and lights his rear-end on fire.
  • Now Derek cannot remember the entire morning or what has just happened.
  • Electricity is running through his body and the wound from the lightning bolt seems to prove to him that he actually is now a vampire.
  • Not knowing how to build any type of shelter or platform, Derek sleeps in the mud.
  • On the airboat, Mickey recalls a night at a bank when he also had a gun pointed at him. He followed the thief back to his house and then scared him into giving him back his money and leaving town.
  • But Mickey doesn't think he can reason with Jared the same way—drunks aren't exactly know for being reasonably.
  • We find out that Tuna's dad fires his gun not only at Link, but also at the stuffed alligator.
  • Mickey acknowledges that he needs to be careful while dealing with this drunk man—Jared keeps his finger on the trigger and the gun pointed at Mickey all the time.
  • Another thing Mickey thinks about is that he needs to be patient, which is difficult for him.
  • He is glad that Jared doesn't see Wahoo waving them down, and figures that Link can now take the kids back to the dock.
  • After telling Mickey to slow down, and throwing up over the side of the boat, Jared asks for another beer (which he'd stolen from Sickler's).
  • They can hear another airboat coming in the distance, so Mickey tries all sorts of things to distract or confuse Jared to keep him from the kids.
  • It is hard to see through the dense rainfall.
  • Mickey accidentally rams the boat right into a log in the water and the boat flies.
  • Back up: Before that, in the saw grass, Link is awake and can talk a bit.
  • Wahoo tells him about the men driving by and asks him how to drive the airboat.
  • Once Wahoo gets the hang of it they take off in search of Mickey; Wahoo really enjoys driving the boat.
  • They follow Jared's trail in the water but the storm gets worse, so Wahoo drives toward an island. A piston in the engine breaks, though, so they end up drifting in to shore.
  • Lucky for them, they land far away from the trees that attract lightning.
  • Soaking wet, Wahoo gives Link his Expedition Survival! jacket.
  • Tuna tells Link that her dad is crazy and a liar, since he had told her he sold the gun.
  • Wahoo is very nervous about such a maniac holding a gun to his dad's neck, and also that Mickey might have a bout of blurry vision while driving the boat and crash it.
  • Link's breathing is wheezy and Wahoo wonders if a piece of bullet has punctured his lung.