Chapter Nine-East High Escapes
Recap:
The rest of the gang stared into blank space, Troy and Gabriella's words reeling inside their heads. They were surprised as to how much association their two best friends had with the people who wanted to kill them.
Their task of getting out alive will sure be a hard one…
Troy stared out into the distance. It had been 15 minutes after he and Gabriella told their 'stories'. No one had spoken or moved since. Was it bewilderment? Was it because they were scared? Troy knew that they should be moving. Every minute they wasted could be gained by their opponents.
Troy cleared his throat, startling the rest of the gang.
"Troy?" Taylor asked softly.
"We should get going," Troy said, standing up.
"Get going where?" Chad asked. "I mean, there's no where out," he added quickly.
"Well, we're just going to have to find a way out," Troy answered.
Gabriella stood up and looked at Troy reproachfully. "Troy…we can't go back out the way we came in. So, um, how are we going to get out of this place?"
"Um…" Troy looked around the garden. He leaned over the railing but, much to his dismay, the rope suspended from the rooftop to the gym had been taken down. "We'll have to get out through the door,"
"So, you mean, that we basically have to go back the way we went and fight our way out??" Chad asked.
Troy nodded. "Yeah,"
"Are you crazy?? We were lucky the other time, this time one of us might die!" Sharpay exclaimed.
"If we stay here, we die," Troy said firmly before turning to the door.
The gang exchanged a look and followed him cautiously.
Troy poked his head out of the door, and checked either side of him. "Ok, let's go," he whispered and ran out the door quickly, with the others following him closely.
They ran through the hallways, praying that they wouldn't run into anyone. They ran past all the classrooms, the hall, the Senior Lawn, and skidded to a halt in front of the gym.
"What're we doing here?" Kelsi asked quietly.
Troy looked at the rest of the gang, then back at the gym. Chad seemed to comprehend what he wanted to do. "Troy, we CAN'T and we WON'T go in there and save everyone,"
"Why not? Are we just going to leave them in there to die?" Troy asked.
"Troy," Gabriella said meekly. "They won't die. Last time I checked, they were after you and me,"
Troy blinked at her. The gang nodded, agreeing what she was saying.
"Gabriella's right, Troy. This Gregory guy doesn't have any reason to kill them. The only reason he hauled everyone up there was to find you," Sharpay said.
"But how does that explain why he killed people before?" Taylor asked.
"I think there's something about him we don't know yet. He has strategies, and everything he does has a purpose," Gabriella said.
"Maybe he just kills everyone that gets in his way," Zeke piped up.
"Or maybe…he killed the previous people to ask them where Troy was, and they said they didn't know, and he killed them," Gabriella interjected.
"But…" Jason began.
Everyone's heads turned to Jason. "But what, Jason?"
"Don't you think the gym would be a good disguise?" Jason said.
Taylor raised her eyebrows. "Look Jason, we don't have time to play games right now…"
"No, seriously. Listen, there are at least 1000 people in there in the gym, one of us could go undercover…we could easily blend in," Jason explained.
"That would work," Troy contemplated the idea.
"Good thinking, Jason," Sharpay congratulated.
"Okay, here's the plan. We'll all have to split up. The two of them can't be in four places at once, so if something happens to one of us, there are other alternatives," Troy said. The gang nodded in understanding.
"Sharpay and Ryan, you guys are going back to the office and try to call and get some help. Taylor, Kelsi and Gabriella, you three try making diversions and avoid getting caught. Jason, you go into the gym and act undercover. If anything happens call anyone of us and we'll past the message on," Troy dug through his pockets, then presented Jason with a pocket messaging device with a butterfly printing on it. "It's my sister's, I stole it off her to piss her off," Troy explained briefly as he saw Jason's eyebrows rise. "Chad, Zeke and I will take care of those guys. So are we ok?"
Everyone nodded. "Ok, good luck everyone, let's go,"
And just like that, everyone darted off into their separate directions.
Taylor, Kelsi and Gabriella ran through the hallways of the Science block.
"Where are they-," Taylor put her hand over Kelsi's mouth as they neared voices.
"That stupid Bolton…I can't believe they escaped again," Gregory growled.
"Oh don't worry Boss, we'll get him soon," Sam reassured his boss, sounding like a clingy poodle.
Gabriella made eye contact at Taylor and Kelsi then motioned for them to follow her. Gabriella then began to creep up the stairs, the two girls hot at her heels. Once at the top, Gabriella quickly moved into a classroom.
"What're we-?" Taylor was instantly cut off by a bookcase crashing down.
Taylor and Kelsi's expressions were of total horror as they looked up at Gabriella who, with a lot of strength, had created the crash.
"Come on, quickly!" Gabriella exclaimed, pulling the two girls behind her as they flew down the corridor.
Troy, Chad and Zeke were trying to find Gregory Roberts and his sidekick. They had searched through half the school but they were no where to be seen.
"Where the hell are they?" Zeke asked, exasperated.
"I don't know…but isn't it weird how when we don't want to run into them we do, and when we do want to run into them, we don't?" Chad asked.
"Whatever Chad, let's just keep moving,"
The three boys continued through the hallways…until they heard a loud crash.
Chad looked up at the ceiling in fear. "What was that?" he squeaked.
"My guess is Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi have made their first distraction," Troy said.
"Are you sure it's not them?" Chad asked anxiously.
"No, I doubt it," Troy said.
"Oh my god, Gabriella, what were you thinking?" Taylor asked incredulously.
The three of them were standing in the drama room.
"Making a distraction, Tay," Gabriella said, stating the obvious.
Taylor opened and shut her mouth repeatedly, unable to say anything.
Suddenly, the three girls heard the sound of two people running up the stairs. They looked at each other in terror, then burst out the door and ran as fast as they could, wherever they could. Just as Gabriella rounded a corner, she caught a glimpse of Sam, his eyes gleaming with a look that told her all she needed to know. She kept running and running but she could hear Sam catching up.
Just to her misery, it was a dead end. To say Gabriella was terrified was an understatement.
"Well honey, doesn't it seem rather cozy in here," Sam grinned, his yellow teeth bearing.
Gabriella shrunk back, until she hit the wall behind her. This was it.
Well, at least she thought it was. Suddenly, a mass of blonde was hurtling towards Sam. "You son of a bitch!"
Sharpay Evans was furious.
She managed to punch Sam's head in and give him a broken nose. She grabbed a science book lying on the desk in the hallway and was soon batting his head with it. But Sam was starting to fight back and had given Sharpay a very nasty bruise on the side of her face. Gabriella then took action and kicked one of Sam's legs, which he groaned at but didn't fall. When all hope was about to be lost, a certain twin brother came to the rescue, kneeing Sam straight in the crotch and did a charging side kick. Sam was as good as dead.
"Th-thanks you guys. Without you, I would've been…" Gabriella trailed off.
"Yeah, you can thank me another time, but right now we need to find the others and get out of here. We called the cops already to tell them to get their asses down here. They wouldn't come at first, but then I explained Troy's story and threatened them," Sharpay informed.
"Being with Sharpay is a plus sometimes," Ryan added.
"Ok, I'm flattered, now let's GO," Sharpay said, then dragged the two down the hallway.
"Dude, did you hear that?" Chad whispered, pointing to his left, where there seemed to be a fight going on.
"Yeah-," Troy looked behind himself, only to find someone missing.
"Where did Zeke go?" Chad squeaked, looking behind him as well.
"I have no-," Troy was cut off.
"TROY! CHAD! RUN, RUN NOW!"
Troy and Chad turned around to see Kelsi limping towards them at high speed.
"GO, RUN!" Kelsi shouted.
Troy and Chad looked at each other. Chad then proceeded to haul Kelsi over his shoulder and then ran for dear life.
Brian was chasing them, and he was catching up fast. Chad began to slow down, what with Kelsi hanging onto him. Troy slowed down as well, to keep up with his team mate.
"Go Troy, go! Take Kelsi with you and get out of here!" Chad urged.
"No! I'm not leaving you to die!" Troy exclaimed.
"Then all three of us will be dead! Hurry UP and LEAVE!" Chad said.
But it was too late. In the time that they had wasted arguing with each other, Brian had caught up.
"Lovers quarrel?" he asked menacingly.
Kelsi, who was sandwiched between Troy and Chad, had an expression of sheer terror on her face.
Brian then withdrew a gun and pointed it at Troy's head. "Maybe this can solve all of your problems,"
Chad was about to do something when a loud scream was heard down the passage and two figures were running towards them.
Chad squinted. Wasn't that Taylor and Jason?