Chapter Six
Arthur could feel that the end was near. He was slowly walking down the hallway hoping to get to the janitor's closet and escape this horrible nightmare. Mr. Ratburn was right behind him. He had made Arthur go ahead in case any of those deranged crazies came running to attack them. Arthur was quietly thankful that if any of them snuck up from behind Mr. Ratburn would be the one to die. After all, Arthur was pretty sure he deserved it because he had been part of the reason this whole thing had happened. What a selfish, evil man he was. If Arthur ever escaped, he would make this story famous and blame Mr. Ratburn for the evil that had happened here. But for now, he just needed to find the janitor's closet and escape.
It was completely silent except for the faint sound of footsteps as Arthur and Mr. Ratburn slowly crept down the hall. He wondered if anyone was still left alive besides the two of them. Brain would have been with them, but Mr. Ratburn had killed him. Arthur was seething with anger. He started to wonder why he even needed Mr. Ratburn coming along with him. After all, he did know where the janitor's closet lay, so why did he need Mr. Ratburn coming with him? But he wasn't about to try to escape. He remembered the gun Mr. Ratburn had pulled on Brain. He was too afraid of the same fate befalling him if he attempted an escape. So for now, he was stuck with Mr. Ratburn looking for the janitor's closet.
"In case you're wondering why I'm coming with you," Mr. Ratburn whispered, breaking the silence, "it's for your own good. Do you honestly think you could fight off a whole crowd of these things on your own? You've probably encountered only one or two at a time, three at tops. If you have encountered more than that, you probably ran away. But not this time. Let me tell you, the drug that was designed to make these kids super soldiers was also designed to have them come together as one army and take on anything. They have a hive mentality. They're like ants or bees. You don't fuck with an army of bees, you understand? You couldn't fight them off alone. I have this gun."
Arthur thought about what Mr. Ratburn had said for a while. "If they really are like ants, or bees, like a hive, if we kill the queen, will that stop all of them from doing any harm?"
"If we find the queen, which would be the first person infected with the drug. I believe that would be Binky. But let me tell you, we couldn't kill the queen with bullets, especially a queen like Binky. He was already strong before, but the drug enhances the queen to superhuman levels. He's probably gotten much bigger, and stronger. He controls the others with his thoughts, and tells them what to attack. If we run into him, we're done for. Let's just hope we don't run into him."
As soon as Mr. Ratburn had finished saying that, a howl broke loose somewhere from deep within the school. It was the worst sound Arthur had ever heard, infinitely worse than all the other horrible howls that had come before it. A few seconds later, another howl broke loose from somewhere close by. Soon, another one had started up. Howl after howl rang in Arthur's ears, until it seemed like there could be as many as a hundred. They sounded like deranged, dying wolves, but much worse. The howling lasted ten seconds, and then it died down. Suddenly, Arthur heard a great trampling of feet, like everyone in the school was marching somewhere. Arthur had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was terribly wrong.
"They're gathering," Mr. Ratburn whispered, and for the first time Arthur sensed a great fear in Mr. Ratburn. He could tell the howling had deeply shaken him. "That's the gathering howl," Mr. Ratburn continued. "They're going to all gather together, and then they're going to hunt down every last person in this school who isn't one of them and either kill them or make them one of their own. We don't have much time. We have to make it to the janitor's closet before they find us. It may already be too late. Hurry, Arthur, hurry! We need to get to the janitor's closet if we want to survive!"
With those words, Arthur and Mr. Ratburn started running down the hall. At that point, neither of them cared if they made any noise. It was all about making it to the janitor's closet. The crazies were on the hunt. The queen of the hive, Binky, was gathering them all together. Then they would sweep the halls of the school until every last person was eliminated or became one of them. Arthur was horrified by either of those things happening to him. He couldn't decide which one was worse. He would never want to die, but he also would never want to become one of those awful crazies. He tried not to think about the awful possibilities. His survival instinct kicked in. He was going to survive this no matter what.
"We're almost to the janitor's closet!" Mr. Ratburn screamed while they were running, and Arthur realized he was right. They were almost there. Once they got there, they could finally escape this horrible nightmare and be free. They would go their separate ways, because neither of them wanted to have anything to do with the other one. Arthur started running faster and faster. He could almost taste freedom. This was it. In a few moments he would leave this school and be free.
Arthur and Mr. Ratburn turned the corner and stared down another long hall. In the middle of the hall on the left side, stuck between two rooms, was the tiny janitor's closet. It was their freedom. Both Arthur and Mr. Ratburn started running towards it at top speed. Every moment that passed was another moment they came closer to freedom. When they finally got to the janitor's closet, they were both panting and sweaty. But they had finally reached safety. They had finally reached freedom.
"We did it," Arthur panted, sweating buckets. "I can't believe it, but we actually did it. We're going to be free." Arthur looked up into Mr. Ratburn's cold eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Arthur moved his hand towards the doorknob to open the janitor's closet, but Mr. Ratburn grabbed his wrist in a tight grip and wouldn't let him touch the door.
"About that," Mr. Ratburn said with a cold smile. "While we were running here, I've been thinking long and hard. And I realized, if we both escape, we're going to be free to tell the story of what happened here. If you escape, I know for a fact you're going to pin this entire thing on me. I'm going to be the villain, and I'll probably be forced into hiding, while you're celebrated as a hero. However, if I escape, there will be no one left alive to blame anything on me. I'll write the story and I'll be the hero. I'll say I did everything I could to save you, but in the end it was too late. So Arthur, I'm sorry it has to end like this, but you leave me with no other choice." With the hand not holding Arthur, he pulled out his gun. "Goodbye Arthur. It's been nice knowing you, and you should consider yourself lucky for making it this far, but it has to end sometime, doesn't it? Don't worry; I'll portray you in a good light in my book of what happened here. Who knows, it may even be a bestseller." Mr. Ratburn lifted the gun and aimed it right between Arthur's eyes. Arthur knew this was the end. It was so unfair. After all he had been through, after all he had seen, and Mr. Ratburn was going to be the one to betray him and kill him. Arthur closed his eyes. He hoped the bullet went through his brain quickly and it was over fast. He didn't want to die a painful death, like all the others had.
Suddenly, a scream came from the end of the hallway. "Don't you dare fucking touch him!" Both Arthur and Mr. Ratburn turned to see who it was. Running down the hallway towards them was Francine. She was alive. Arthur opened his mouth in shock. Francine had lived! In the moment of confusion, Mr. Ratburn let go of Arthur, and that's when Arthur took his chance. He leapt towards Mr. Ratburn and toppled on top of him. The gun skidded away from them and towards Francine. Francine picked it up and pointed it towards Mr. Ratburn, but Mr. Ratburn took Arthur and put him in front of him like a shield.
"Don't think your aim is so good, Francine," hissed Mr. Ratburn. "Try shooting me, and you'll shoot your beloved Arthur instead." Mr. Ratburn was gripping Arthur around the neck. It was impossible for Arthur to breathe. His face was turning blue as Francine stood there, figuring out what course of action she should take.
Suddenly, another but infinitely more horrible scream came from down the hallway. The three of them turned to look at what it was. They saw the sight they never wanted to see: the army of crazies. They had found them, and they were slowly advancing upon them. In his fear, Mr. Ratburn let go of Arthur for a second time. Arthur ran towards Francine's side as she held the gun at Mr. Ratburn.
"This is what you fucking deserve you evil fucking prick," Francine hissed at Mr. Ratburn. She lowered the gun at Mr. Ratburn's left kneecap and fired. Mr. Ratburn shot to the ground and howled in pain. His left leg was immobilized. Francine pointed the gun at his other kneecap and fired again. Both of his legs became immobilized. He could only crawl with his arms. Mr. Ratburn rolled over in pain and Francine shot at the middle of his back. Mr. Ratburn screamed again. He was now completely immobilized from the waist down.
"I hope they fucking get you, and I hope you die the worst death anyone has ever gone through. It's what you deserve," snarled Francine. She then turned to Arthur. "Quick, they're advancing on us. I know we have to go to the janitor's closet, I saw the whole thing with you and Mr. Ratburn. Sorry I didn't come to your rescue earlier, I was trying to figure out what I should do. Then I decided to just come screaming at Mr. Ratburn. I guess it ended up working. Now let's get out of here!" With those words, Arthur and Francine opened the janitor's closet, ran inside, and locked the door. They could hear Mr. Ratburn moaning in pain outside as the army of crazies slowly advanced on him.
"Do you think we should help him?" whispered Arthur to Francine inside the janitor's closet.
"No, he'll try to kill one of us again," said Francine.
"I wonder where the way out is," said Arthur. "Let's look for any openings or exits. We have to find the way out." Francine and Arthur quickly felt the walls and floor, looking for the exit. Arthur found it in the center of the janitor's closet. It was a small hatch that had a ladder going down to the bottom. Arthur could tell from the smell that the bottom was the sewer Mr. Ratburn had been talking about. Francine started climbing down and Arthur followed suit. They could hear the screams of Mr. Ratburn as he was devoured by the army of crazies. Arthur cringed and tried not to think about what was happening up there. Finally, the two of the reached the bottom. They were in the sewers.
They were finally free.
Arthur gasped. He couldn't believe he and Francine had made it, but they had. Arthur looked back on everything that had happened. On Binky going crazy. About finding Francine and Muffy together. About George being slaughtered. About Mr. Ratburn being evil and shooting Brain. About Muffy running away. About finding Fern and seeing her turned into a crazy after she had been so courageous in helping Brain. About finding Sue Ellen and then having her run away, too. And about almost being killed by Mr. Ratburn, being saved by Francine, and then escaping.
It had been one crazy day.
Arthur had expected this moment of freedom to be filled with emotion, but he felt numb. He knew he would be flooded with emotions later, but he was still in shock. Finally, he turned towards Francine.
"What happened after you ran away?" he asked her.
Francine shook her head. "It was crazy. I saw everyone either dead or a crazy. It was horrible." She shook her head again. "I thought you had died Arthur, but you were the only one I didn't see, so I had a hope that you were alive. I'm so thankful you're alive. Now let's get the fuck out of here. Sorry I've been swearing so much, but this is just a really fucking tense situation."
"Believe me, I know what you mean," said Arthur, and for the first time that day, he smiled. He was free, and he was with Francine. He was glad to be alive.
As they began walking down the sewer and towards freedom, Arthur didn't even notice the smell of the sewer. He was looking towards the future. He knew what had happened here was evil, and he knew the truth had to be known by everyone. Everyone needed to realize how corrupt the system was that it would allow something like this to happen. He needed this story to be heard, but he wouldn't write it alone. He would write it with Francine. He would tell his version of events, and she would tell hers. It would be a long, difficult process writing their story, but Arthur knew it had to be done. These events had to be written down. He smiled at Francine, and she smiled back. He took her hand, and they continued walking through the sewer, into the future, and into freedom.
THE END