Part Four
"If you die, I'll literally go out of my freaking mind."
"Look, at the end of the day I'm able to handle our, like terrible, life-shortening lifestyle. But that was because no matter how many horrible ghouls got up close and personal and nearly caused me to exit my body in an ethereal form, it always ended and that was that."
Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats as Fred sped down the empty highway.
Shaggy was leaning against the back door of the van, Daphne sitting right next to him. All of them were out of breath and Shag's breathing seemed to hitch every few seconds, his hands were shaking hard. But he couldn't get them to stop.
They had just been chased out of Fred's house by a woman taller than Shaggy wearing what looked like a baby doll's face.
She was recognized as Marilyn Andrews, an ex-special forces who had been terrorizing Coolsville for the past month or so. That it, until some meddling kids came along and did what they do best.
They thought it was gonna be like every other case, every loose end gets tied up and the bad guy goes to jail for a long ass time.
Except this time that's not what happened.
Instead Andrews escaped, and her first instinct was to go after the meddling kids that thought they could outsmart her. Just to ensure it would never happen.
"Shaggy she's ex-special forces, of course she can break out of prison. I-I guess we were just hoping she wouldn't remember how." Velma gently pet Scooby's head that was resting on her lap.
Shag let out a tired laugh, "Or course we were. You guys know what your problem is? Like, you're never willing to admit when maybe this is out of our hands. Maybe, just for once, we could let the damn police handle something!" He lifted his hands up in frustration.
He knew that Velma and Fred would rather die than admit they were in over their heads.
It was possible they still had trouble trusting adults and that was why they never bothered to never get them involved.
Nobody responded.
Daph had gotten on her knees and turned around to look out the window, probably checking to see if they were being followed.
She let out a sigh of relief and pressed her forehead against the glass.
Shaggy felt his heartbeat relax as he looked at her calmed face and her gentle eyes. For the moment everything was quiet, all of them just trying to grasp onto reality and keep their wits about them.
Velma continued to pet Scoob's shaking head.
Fred gripped tightly onto the steering wheel.
Shaggy and Daphne stared into each other's eyes trying to find an anchor to hold onto.
Eventually, the silence was ended by Fred handing Velma his phone and telling her to dial 911. Shaggy felt a rush of relief run over him and he finally felt his tense body relax.
Velma explained the situation as clearly as she could, she was having trouble forming full sentences.
"G-Got it, okay...um thank you officer."
She hung up and turned to Fred, "Uh- They tell us to head toward the high school a-and wait for them. I-In the van of course."
Fred nodded and without signalling, he turned right toward their school.
As he turned he said, "Daphne, there's a compartment right next to where we keep the spare tire. Open it and get what's inside." Daph nodded slowly and began to crawl over to where the tire was kept.
She wobbled around as the van sped up and slowed down.
Shaggy crawled over behind her and helped her lift up the door where the tire was. Instantly he spotted the compartment and motioned toward it. Daph followed his hand and nodded.
She leaned over his lap and opened the little door.
After opening it she froze for a few seconds, Shag placed a hand on her shoulder, "Daph, like you all good?"
"Jeepers."
She uttered this just under her breath causing Shaggy's hair on the back of his neck to stand up.
Jeepers was Daph's filler word she used when she couldn't think of anything better to say. Most of them had a filler word at this point, except Fred who never really needed to voice his feelings.
Velma turned around in her seat, "What was that? Freddie what did you hide?"
Fred's face was grim and he stared straight ahead at the road, not replying. Shag was attempting to spot what had shocked Daph but to no avail.
Eventually, Daphne removed her hand from the compartment, Shaggy and Velma's eyes widened when they saw what she was carefully holding.
"Jinkies Fred."
"Zoinks."
They used their filler words at the same time, not really sure how they were supposed to react.
Velma turned around with her brows furrowed, "Fred just what the hell are you doing with a gun in the Mystery Machine?! Are you crazy? If the police find out, who knows how much trouble we'll be in!"
Shaggy and Daphne flinched, Velma rarely raised her voice at Fred since they both never seemed to be disappointed in one another.
It was like watching Mom and Dad fight, not fun.
"Velma, we're getting chased by a freakin ex-special forces that's probably learned how to survive cyanide pill and escape Gulags, me getting arrested for unlawful possession is the least of our damn worries!" Fred snapped back at her as he made a turn into the high school parking lot, sending Shaggy and Daphne crashing into the back doors.
Daph yelped as she dropped the gun, terrified it would go off.
"Freddie when were you gonna tell us-no-me about this unknown Plan B?!" There was hurt in her voice, Fred remained silent as he tried to find a parking spot that was relatively hidden.
Daphne leaned over and tried to grab the gun but was once again flying against the door, a loud thud echoed through the van.
Shaggy looked over to her and saw her bite her lip and run the back of her head.
He sighed, they had all lost their anchors and were drifting off, it was getting too hard to pull themselves together.
As Fred turned into a dark parking spot behind a tree the gun slid right in front of Shaggy, without a second thought he reached over and grabbed it. Guns were heavier than he thought, he rested it in his lap as he tried to even out his breathing again.
Now all they needed to do was not move, or breathe, or anything to draw attention themselves until the police came.
He could really see how much he was trembling as he held the gun, he felt a rubber band that was being pulled back so far that instead of snapping, it might just break.
Everyone was way too close to snapping at this point.
His hand felt like they were both cell phones set to vibrate and people wouldn't stop calling them.
He saw two hands go over his own, he recognized the assortments of rings and the sparkly purple nail polish. The second her hands touched his a shiver went up his spine and his breathing hitched.
Her touch didn't normally do that, usually it just calmed him.
The quiet was becoming too much to bear.
It was like when you play hide and seek and you have a hiding in plain sight spot, and the seeker is in the same room as you.
You end up holding your breath and don't even dare to move out of fear of being discovered, and then having to be It. This was like that, but a million times more terrifying and ended in them dying if the seeker found them.
Nobody in the van was moving or speaking, just sitting there and using up as little oxygen as they could.
Daph's hands were still rested gently over Shags.
And he really hoped she didn't move them. Getting chills from her hands was better than being too scared to look up from his lap.
You could hear everyone release a deep breath as Fred broke the silence, "Daphne," Her grip of Shag' hands tightened, "Since you're the only one in this van with actual experience with firearms, you're getting the gun."
Shaggy could hear her breathing pick up and felt a panic in her voice.
"Bu- Freddie those were just hunting rifles and shotguns, for killing pigeons! Thi-This is a 9 mil, I-I've only fired one of these once!"
She was practically squeezing the life out of his hands at this point, but he couldn't find the energy to stop her.
"Daph that's one more than any of us, you're the best shot here. Besides it's only if Andrews beats the police here." Shag's blood ran cold at that statement, there was a chance the psycho would be able to find them and cut their intestines out and wear them a horrifying scarf of meddling kids.
Daph sighed, "But...Fre-"
She was cut off by the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring into the parking lot.
Her hands were quickly pulled away from him as she covered her mouth with her hands, closing her eyes tightly.
Shag ignored the cold feeling he got when her hands left his and placed the gun in front of her. He then got on his knees and turned around as quietly as he could, he then peeked out the window.
It only took a second to spot the huge woman sitting on the vehicle scanning the area.
Instantly he dropped down from the window and held his breath, "Like, that's definitely not the police." He whispered it so quietly that only Daph could have heard him, but she didn't react.
He heard shuffling and peeked back to see that Fred, Velma and Scooby were all ducking down in the front seat so no one could see them through the windows.
He looked back down at the grey carpet, counting slowly in his head so as not to lose his shit at the last second.
For a while they just heard the engine softly humming on the other side of the parking lot.
The farther away she felt the more unbearable everything became.
Why wouldn't she just leave?
Suddenly the engine roared and was heading distinctly in their direction.
Shaggy felt Daph's hand reach out for his and he held onto it tightly. Both of their knuckles were white as mayonnaise on a BLT. Shag didn't even know what was running through Fred and Velms' heads. He had a good idea of Scoob's mental state, right around the same as his.
The engine's purr was getting closer and closer as Shag's grip on her hand got tighter and tighter.
He swore he could hear the motorcycle on the other side of the doors.
He could practically see Andrews right in front of them.
But instead of the doors being ripped off their hinges and them all getting their tongues ripped out, the sound of the engine grew distant, heading off in the other direction.
He heard Daph's breathing for the first time in the past two minutes.
He also felt a wash of relief go over his body.
But that all was reversed the second he heard the loud ringing of Fred's cell phone from the front seat.
There was the sound of scrambling and the sound of the NCIS theme song was silenced.
That didn't change anything though, it was way too late.
Shag peeked over and saw a tear running down Daph's cheeks as the sound of the engine halted, Andrews had parked. There was the sound of footsteps toward the van, he saw Daphne's hand reach for the gun out of the corner of his eye.
Before he had time to think, there was a loud *BANG* and a bullet whizzed through the side of the Mystery Machine.
Shaggy let out an ear piercing scream, and for once he wasn't the only one.
Immediately, Fred, Velms and Scoob jumped over the front seat and into the back.
Shag could barely process what was happening as Velma shook Fred, begging for him to have a plan. Daphne leaned over and slapped her telling her to shut her damn mouth.
Shaggy grabbed onto her shoulder and pulled her back, the whole van felt like it was spinning. He then heard another *BANG* and pulled Daph down so they were both in the fetal position. Another bullet, this time through the driver's side window.
Fred was trying to steady his breathing while everyone was either crying or on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Okay," His voice was shaking, like a pillar about to break apart, "She's gonna kill us if we stay here. W-We need to get into the school building."
Shag took a second to clarify what he said, "Like no way man! Are you out of you're damn mind Fred? There are a good 50 feet between the Mystery Machine and the front door. And in those 50 feet at a bullet hell being provided by a fucking psychopath lookin like Andre the Giant with a damn machine gun!"
Another *BANG* and they all ducked down again, she was getting closer.
Velma stepped in, "Shaggy it's not 50 feet, it's 43 feet and 15 inches."
Shag stared at her with a look of disbelief on his face, "Right and that makes it so much better! That brings out chances of survival up a whole 7.8%! Like, good for us!"
*BANG*
"Shaggy we will indeed die if we try to make a run for the front door. But if we drive up to the front door we'll have a higher chance." Shaggy gulped, he didn't like the way any of that sounded.
He had completely zoned out while they went over their plan.
All he knew was they were splitting up (of fucking course they were) and that he was with Daph. Which didn't make him any happier since he knew that if he was with Daphne he'd be more likely to do something stupid in an effort to protect her, even if she didn't need it.
They waited until the next *BANG* and Velma made her move for the driver's seat.
Ducking down, she turned the key in the ignition and the poor, scarred Mystery Machine awoke. Her next move was to put it in reverse straight toward the front steps of the school.
She put her foot on the gas and floored it.
Sending the rest of the gang forward crashing into the front seat.
There was a wave of *BANGS* but luckily all of them were near misses.
"HERE WE GO!" Velma yelled and the gang braced themselves for impact with the front steps.
The collision shook the whole van and knocked the wind out of Shaggy, his chest feeling tight. But he didn't have time to think about that because Velms had already put it in park and they were all crawling over to the back door.
Daphne pushed both of the doors open, the gun still in her right hand.
All of them quickly jumped out of the back and began to make a run for it.
Except Daphne, who had stopped and was staring at Andrews who was making her way toward the school. Shaggy groaned and rolled his eye as he ran back over to her and grabbed her free hand.
He then began to drag her into the school where they made a left toward the Chem lab where Scoob was supposed to be hiding.
"I swear Daph you make every horror movie mistake in the book. Like you didn't get the nickname Danger Prone Daphne by making smart decisions."
Daph only responded by tightening her grip on his hand.
When they made it to the Chem lab Shaggy could hear someone kick the front doors open and head in the direction where Fred and Velma went. Daphne prayed that Fred wouldn't get hurt and that Velma could handle herself.
Shaggy let out a loud sigh of relief and slid down the wall he was leaning against.
He looked around the room and spotted Scooby hiding under one of the desks in the corner, Daphne's desk to be exact.
Maybe Daph's scent calmed him down.
He then realized he hadn't let go of her hand yet. Looking up at her, he saw that she was staring down at the gun in her hand, a troubled look on her face.
"Daph, like I-I uh...I doubt you'll need to use it. Before you know it the police will be here they'll slap some cuffs on good ol' Andrews the Giant. And then we can go out to the nearest all you can eat buffet and prove how false their advertising is." She sent him a grateful smile but the doubt was written in her eyes.
They had rested there for maybe 8 minutes, aside from the occasional door slamming things were pretty quiet.
Daphne still hadn't let go of Shaggy's hand, but he wasn't really letting go either.
Shaggy was getting ready to walk over to the window and see if there was any sign of the damn police, wherever the hell they were they need to get in gear and save their lives already.
But he was cut short by one of those dreaded *BANGS!*
Both of them jumped and Scoob whimpered.
After a second Daph said in a voice laced with terror, "Tha-That came from Fred and Velma's direction!"
"Daph wai-"
Daphne had already opened the door and was making her way toward the gunshot.
"Damn horror movie mistakes." Shaggy muttered under his breath as he stood up, breathing heavily he stared out the doorway.
He turned back to Scooby who shook his head, his choice had already been made. Shaggy let out a long, shaky sigh and gulped, this could be listed as one of those stupid things he would do to protect Daphne even though she didn't need it.
As he turned out of the door he spotted Daph a few feet ahead of him, trying to find where the *BANG* came from.
He began to follow her cautiously, being wary of all the places a 10 foot tall monster could pop out and turn his kneecaps into belt buckles. He was brought to attention by the sound of Daphne cocking the gun.
"Zoinks." He whispered, this was for real.
They made their way down the hallway slowly, both a several feet apart from each other.
Shaggy felt his soul jump out of his body for a second at the sound of a deafening scream echoing through the whole school. Velma's scream.
That prompted Daph to break into a sprint towards the central courtyard.
Shag groaned as he jogged after her but grew nervous when he lost sight of her around the corner.
He then turned on his super speed when he heard a different *BANG* to the *BANG* he was used to.
As he reached the courtyard he froze for a second, drinking in the whole scene.
Velma's turtleneck was covered in what he hated to assume was blood. Tears were streaming down her cheeks but her face seemed to lack any sort of emotion or understanding of what was before her. Fred was on his knees next her, all the color had been drained from his face and he looked ready to throw up.
Daphne was only a couple feet in front of him, her back was to so he wasn't sure what her state was.
All he could see was her shoulders rise and fall with her breathing.
Lying in the middle of the courtyard, with an AK still in her hand, a bullet hole through the side of her head, was Marilyn Andrews.
Her eyes were still open and angry, the hunger to kill them still fresh in her lifeless face.
Shaggy's heartbeat had spiked and his breathing picked up.
It had just clicked.
Daphne had shot Andrews in the head to save Velma.
Daphne had killed Andrews.
Daphne, who saw the good in all people and preached that life was a sacred thing.
He felt like his legs were about to give out, "Daphne?"
She gasped and turned around, he saw that her face was drenched in tears. Her eyes were trembling and filled with so many different emotions he couldn't comprehend. A stark contrast to Fred and Velma's eyes that seemed glazed over and blank.
She dropped the gun and, without saying a word, wrapped her arms around his neck.
He heard her break into sobs as she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.
This only made his wanna cry with her, but instead he wrapped his arms around her and began to stroke her hair. Just letting her cry.
The jingle of Scooby's collar could be heard back in the school, making it's way closer to them.
And like the ringing sound of a cruel joke, police sirens quickly filled the parking lot.