The University of Oz
Chapter 10: Don't Drink and Run
"We're dead, SO dead!" shouts Jade as she stumbles up the stairwell next to Derek and the Slacker. The chaotic stomping of guards approaches behind them like an avalanche as the alarm continues to scream through the air. The Slacker struggles to keep up, holding his shoulder in excruciating pain.
"I can't…do this…" he says in between deep breaths. His exhaustion gets the best of him and he trips on his own foot, sending his body crashing against the stairs. Derek and Jade turn around when they hear him fall.
"Hold on!" shouts Derek as he goes to help him up.
"There's no time, they're catching up!" Jade blurts out, yanking on Derek's arm for him to keep running.
"No! I'm not leaving him!" responds Derek as he tries to pull the Slacker back up to his feet. Jade hurries next to Derek to help, but the guards quickly come up the spiral stairs and into view. Being unsuccessful at getting the Slacker back on his feet, Jade and Derek desperately begin dragging him up the stairs.
"Get out of here, man!" the Slacker yells through his anguished groans. "Just run, don't worry about me, dudes!"
"I told you I'm not…" Derek shouts before he and Jade are both grabbed by someone behind them. They let go of the Slacker as they're pulled backwards and pushed toward a nearby open door. Before Derek has a chance to protest, he and Jade are flung through the door, and whoever threw them followed inside and slammed the door shut. Jade and Derek fall to the cold, hard ground in the pitch black room. The sound of the stampede outside continues, as the Slacker's yells can be heard. The rumbling noise and his yells both stop at the same time, and after a brief moment, the guards can be heard slowly walking up the rest of the stairs.
"Oh my god, they got him. They got the Slacker," says Derek as he tries to feel his way around the dark room to stand up. Jade says nothing as she lies on the floor, still shaken up by what had just happened. Derek slowly rises to his feet.
"Who's in here? Who saved us?" he asks, trying unsuccessfully to adjust his eyes to the darkness. A strange, feminine voice answers his question.
"I've come to save you, Derek!" it says.
"Vicky?" asks Derek excitedly. The feminine voice quickly turns into maniacal laughter, and then continues in a male tone.
"Stupid nerd…you're just too much fun."
The lights flick on, and standing before Jade and Derek is the Wicked Jock himself. His helmet is off and he's looking at the two heroes with a confident smile.
"Look at you two," he says. "So pathetic."
Derek steps in front of Jade and they both slowly back away.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," says the Jock. "You guys seem to be good enough at getting rid of yourselves for me."
"What do you want?" demands Derek.
"Well you know I want those cleats, and I'm going to get them," says the Jock. "But first I think you deserve to see each and every one of your new friends die."
Derek looks at the Jock with a mixture of shock and anger.
"W-well," he begins, struggling to speak. "You're…you're gonna have get through me to get her." He stands firmly in front of Jade, shielding her. The Jock laughs.
"Like I said, I don't even have to do anything," he says. He then looks Jade in the eye. "You're just like all the others. Hot, but brainless. You want to be back with your precious sorority girls right now, drinking your terrible troubles away."
"Shut up, ass!" yells Jade.
"Such an attitude, too," responds the Jock. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I need to get some practicing in before I have some fun with Sabrina."
"You're all talk," says Derek angrily.
"You keep telling yourself that, nerd," responds the Jock. "And while you're at it, have fun keeping this dumb chick away from my alcohol collection."
"What?" asks Derek. The Jock simply responds with another laugh before vanishing in a burst of dark energy.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asks Jade. Derek turns around to talk to her, but he is dumbstruck by what he sees behind her.
"Oh…crap," he says.
"What?" responds Jade as she turns to look as well. The sight leaves her speechless. The narrow room, which is more like a hallway, appears to go on forever. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with shelves completely stuffed with beer. Derek turns back to the door and looks up to see a sign.
"Beer Room," he reads aloud. "Absolutely no fruity, girly drinks allowed." He quickly runs back to Jade.
"We need to get out of here," he says, trying to yank her away.
"But…my head," she begins to say. "It still hurts so bad…"
"And this stuff won't help you," says Derek.
"You don't understand," continues Jade. "You don't know what it's like to feel like this. I NEED alcohol." She eyes the beer like a child in a candy store. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes of bottles and cans, taunting her with their attractive amber hue.
"He's getting in your head," responds Derek. "You've come this far. You don't need this."
Jade ignores Derek's words and takes several beers off of a nearby shelf.
"Stop!" shouts Derek as he goes to grab them. Jade twists away and starts running down the narrow room. Derek chases after her. As Jade runs, she opens one of the beers and immediately begins chugging it down.
"Don't do this!" Derek yells. His words do nothing but crumble to the ground as Jade downs one beer after another. The alcohol takes hold of her as she stumbles around, quickly losing her balance. The pursuit continues as she chugs a third beer, then a fourth, then a fifth. Derek can't believe how fast she's drinking them, but he tries to remain focused on catching her.
The effects of the alcohol worsen within her, and she completely loses all coordination. She violently crashes up against a nearby shelf, sending beer cans and bottles all over the floor, tripping both herself and Derek.
"Jade!" yells Derek as he struggles to move the beer out of the way. Jade is now lying down on the ground, blissfully laughing and opening every beer she can get her hands on. As Derek moves closer to her to stop her, he hears the door at the entrance of the room burst open as guards start to rush in once again.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," he says, looking back toward the door. He tries to drag Jade, who is now laughing even harder, toward the door at the opposite end of the room. She grabs onto a nearby shelf with all of her strength.
"I'm not leaving this place! This is the best I've felt all day!" she says between her laughter. Derek tries to pull her away, but fails. As the guards quickly approach, Derek hangs his head in shame.
"I'm sorry, Jade," he says before he lets go of her arm and makes a run for the exit. As he approaches the door, all he can hear behind him is Jade's laughter, which becomes increasingly buried under the sound of the marching guards. With tears in his eyes, he flings open the door and slams it shut behind him, finding himself back outside on a balcony. He presses himself up against the wall to look down at the dismal city of abandoned buildings beyond the walls of the castle that he is now trapped in…alone.