Chapter 11
Velma sat up front in the Mystery Machine with Daphne and Fred. After ten hours of driving that day, they still hadn't reached their destination. With a twilight sky gleaming overhead, she watched tiredly from the passenger window as they passed a sign for New Gate, Ohio.
"This would've been so much faster if someone hadn't shattered the GPS," said Velma with a sideways glance.
"I said I was sorry," Daphne retorted.
"Actually, you didn't."
"Well," said Fred before they could start a fight, "We've made it this far."
"Yeah, but we're supposed to stop in Columbus. We're still hours away," said Velma, impatient. Even she heard the tension in her voice. Just knowing every second brought them closer to he Four made her more and more unsettled.
Scooby and Shaggy slumped together in the back seat.
"We've got hours to go, for real?" Shaggy asked. "Me and Scoob finished all the frozen corn dogs. What are we supposed to do 'til then?"
Busily smacking his lips together, Scooby perked up. "Rind more corn rogs!"
Daphne and Velma looked back in pure disgust.
"You just ate seven boxes of Barney's Corn Diggidy-Dogs. A garbage truck could not ingest that much junk." Daphne said.
Shaggy tapped his chin. "That seems like a fair analyses."
Scooby giggled.
"Well, what do you think, gang?" Fred asked. "Should we keep going or stop for the night?"
"Keep going – " Velma started.
"– Stop for the night," said Daphne.
The guys waited in silence for another brawl to start. They'd driven for days from Midsomer without incident. But none of them believed the tense peace between the girls could actually last.
Daphne clucked her tongue. "You know what," she said.
The guys held their breath.
"Why not drive another hour or two? I mean, we've already come this far," she said.
Velma looked at her in unbelief.
"You guys ok with that? I can drive if you need me to," Daphne suggested.
Fred and Shaggy exchanged looks.
"Um, I'm good for now," Fred said.
Silence.
Then, Scooby whispered to Shaggy.
"Rhat is happening?" he asked.
"Like, beats me, Scoob," said Shaggy patting the dog's head. Still scarred and battered, Scooby had healed considerably. But the bloodstains along his stitches and the shaved patches of fur were still off putting, even for Shaggy.
Five days had passed since they escaped Midsomer. They snuck their way off Lester's plateau and back into town where they found the van. After driving out into the desert, they never heard what happened to Crystal or Scrappy or any of the others.
While the gang tried not to think about their fate, Scooby remained secretly conscious of Amber's honing device on his collar. Deep down he knew that those aliens would be just fine.
It was Scrappy he worried about.
A few miles later, the van approached an old, iron bridge. Graffiti discolored the rusty bars with messages like "RH wuz here," or "the end has come" and "she's watching." Caution tape fluttered off the side of the railing like it had been torn through. At the same time, lightning flickered in the distance, giving shape to the scraggly trees across the river.
Velma absently clutched her QuickMouse as she pulled away from the window.
The rest of the gang felt it too, going quiet, their eyes roaming for danger.
That's when bloody, ghoulish hands grabbed the side of the bridge. It started to climb up.
"Jeepers!" said Daphne.
"Fred, go!" Velma shrieked. It gathered its slimy body up in a heap, long dark hair trailing down its face.
He slammed on the gas, but the van hardly budged. "I'm trying!"
"Fred! You're in park!" Shaggy said.
"Oh," he switched gears and hit the pedal.
Just as the creature started for them, they jolted forward, each of them ramming back against their seats. They heard its inhuman screech as they rushed past. It followed after them like an echo for a whole mile.
Still wide-eyed, Fred asked, "You think we lost it?"
"Why were you in park?" Daphne said.
"Yeah, I think it's gone," Velma assessed.
"I don't know," Fred answered. "I don't even remember doing that."
As buildings and abandoned cars came into view, Velma felt the hair prickle along the back of her neck. But she kept her nervousness to herself.
They drove further along this crumbling road of ruins, framed by temperate forest. Broken signs reflected off the headlights while the small town drew nearer.
Suddenly, something heavy rammed into the side of the van.
"ZOINKS!"
Shaggy and Scooby ducked down behind their seat.
"What was that?" asked Daphne. She yanked out her Glock. Twisting around she noticed a faint dent in the side door.
Then, another flash of lightning revealed a huge object in the middle of the road.
"Jinkies!"
Fred swerved, but just as soon lost control. Grasping the wheel, he grit his teeth while the wheels screeched in resistance. Then they flew off the side of the road and crashed into a ditch. The windshield shattered across their vision and everything went still.
A moment later, all Velma noticed was the sound of deflating airbags and the horrible pain in her knee.
Groaning, she tried to collect herself.
"Is everyone all right?" asked Fred turning around in his seat, blood leaking down his chin.
"I'm ok, man," said Shaggy his hair askew.
Scooby whimpered in agreement.
Daphne readjusted herself and got a look around. She'd cut her arm on something. But none of that worried her.
"Maybe we're ok now," she said, "but look!"
Outside the cracked windshield, scaled, slimy mutants lingered among the trees. Their filmy eyes reflected the headlights like dim, floating orbs. Some started to approach the wreckage.
Shaggy gulped loudly. "Like, oh boy."
"Now everybody stay calm," said Fred, deflating the airbag with a knife from his belt. "Grab only what we need. We're gonna have to run."
"Rhat?!" said Scooby.
"Like, I second that. What?!"
"If we don't run now, they'll smash through and we'll be trapped. It's our only option," Daphne said, patting herself down for a weapon check. "Most of my arsenal is in the back."
Velma tucked her QuickMouse in her backpack and scrambled for her flashlight.
Frozen by fear, Shaggy and Scooby stared wide-eyed in the backseat.
"Guys can you…?" Daphne started. Then just as quickly gave up. "I'll get it myself." She climbed over the front and back seats and started for her bunk, when something pounded on the back door.
"Uh Scoob," said Shaggy. "Was that your stomach?"
Scooby stared dead ahead. "Uh… rope. Was it rours?"
Shaking his head, Shaggy gulped. "Nope."
That's when a massive claw broke through the steel door.
"RUN!" said Daphne.
They bolted out of the van and straight down the road, leaving behind everything. The monsters growled in pursuit, their feet trampling through the grass and the gravel.
Daphne fired at them. But the bullets only made them angrier.
Velma lagged behind, being the shortest, the slowest and carrying a backpack. She could feel the heat seeping off their bodies as the mutants reached for her.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself onward.
All the sudden, something slammed into the beast right at her back. She glanced behind her and found it was another mutant, just a darker shade of green. As a fresh wave of mutants rushed in, all of them darker scaled than the original she soon realized they were a competing tribe. They battled over the same prey.
She almost stopped simply to observe.
Fascinating…
"Velma!" Shaggy called, running back for her with Scooby at his heels. He grabbed her hand, hauling her along.
"They're fighting over us!" she said.
"Great. Run!"
Still shaken, the gang hurried through the deserted town of New Gate with its shattered movie theater and filmy grocery store windows. With the mutants fighting far behind them, they slowed to an exhausted jog. Here, the wind pick up, cool but daunting. A summer storm was about to begin. They could hear the thunder in the distance.
Catching movement further down the road, Fred signaled them to hide.
"Behind here!"
They all crouched behind a blue pickup truck. Panting, Velma pulled out a water jug and passed it on to Shaggy.
"Thanks," he said, took a gulp and handed it on to Daphne.
She refused, "Logs me down."
But Fred was eager for a sip. "Why thanks, Daph…!"
Instead, she stretched passed him and right over to Scooby. "You thirsty, Scoob?"
Teeth chattering he shook his head.
"You ok?" she asked.
He just whimpered, crouched by their feet.
"I'm not," said Fred, adamantly.
She corked the jug and gave it back to Velma. "You'll live."
"This feels like Midsomer all over again," said Shaggy. "Just like, less hot."
Velma felt a raindrop. "Thank goodness for that."
Daphne peaked over the bed of the truck. "We need to find shelter. But not here. All these windows around us are busted."
"Then like, where?" Shaggy asked.
Fred poked his head over the truck too. "There!"
Velma scooted around to their side. "What are you looking at?"
"That huge brick building. The windows are all boarded up already."
"It's just an old museum. Looks like it's been closed for years," said Velma.
"Which means there probably haven't been any mutants wandering around in there," said Fred.
"That sounds ominously optimistic," Shaggy retorted. "But, I'm with ya. You ready, Scooby Doo?"
He still seemed on edge. "Ro-k."
Getting up, Shaggy noticed something in the driver's seat of the truck. He jumped. Scooby almost bolted.
The gang turned around.
"What's the matter?" asked Velma.
"Like there's somebody in there!" said Shaggy.
"Another corpse?" asked Daphne, shining her flashlight through the passenger window. "What the - ?"
Velma peaked inside. "A suit of armor?"
"Like," Shaggy gulped. "Anyone home?" He backed away to stick beside Scooby.
"What's a suit of armor doing out here in the middle of a ghost-town?"
Shaggy sniggered. So did Scooby. "Maybe he went out for the knight." Neither he nor the dog could resist cracking up a little. "Get it?"
The girls rolled their eyes.
"Come on, let's get out of here," said Daphne.
They broke into the abandoned museum as quietly as possible. And by quietly, both Daphne and Fred kicked down the front door and watched it smash against the marble floor with a bang.
"Well, that was subtle," said Velma, practically waiting to get attacked by creatures in earshot.
Daphne sighed. "Not the time for sarcasm." She pushed her hair back in a tired fashion.
Closing up the entrance behind them, the gang carefully ventured further into the main lobby. Dust coated the checkered floors while busts of famous explorers lined the walls on podiums.
"Welcome to the Gem of New Gate," read a banner hanging over the help desk. At the desk were maps for the County Museum. Velma picked one up and poured through the various exhibits, exits and floors.
"That's it? That's what it's called? Just the County Museum?" said Shaggy.
"You wanna phone the mayor and make a complaint?" Fred asked, studying the state of things.
"Sure. You think the dude speaks in moans or growls?" Shaggy asked, checking out a biplane on display. Scooby clung to his legs, his tail between his legs. His insecurity only put Shaggy further on edge.
Dozens of artifacts stood on display behind glass walls or on shelves seeming perfectly undisturbed. Fred even noted an odd lack of dust on the lobby's "welcome" counter.
"Wow, look at all this!" said Velma, as her eyes fell over an Ancient Egyptian pitcher. "It's from King Tut's tomb!"
Daphne sniggered. "Are you ever not a nerd?" She meant it as a joke, but her tired tone didn't sound very kind.
Velma simply turned away while fixing her glasses. Shaggy shot her a look.
Oblivious, Fred noted, "For a closed down museum, this is pretty well furnished,"
"Maybe it went bankrupt and everyone fled," said Shaggy.
"But they stayed behind to border up the doors and windows?" Fred asked.
"Who cares? Let's just secure an area and find a place to sleep," Daphne said followed by a huge awn.
"Hey if this place is so preserved, you think they got a stocked cafeteria?" Shaggy asked.
Scooby lit up. "I bet rhere is!"
"With actual food in it?"
The dog's tongue rolled out and he spun around. "Roh boy!"
"First, we make sure it's safe," Fred reminded them.
"Roger that!"
"But you're right, a cafeteria sounds pretty good right now," he admitted.
"Hey guys," said Daphne.
Everyone turned at the warning tone in her voice.
"This is all the fire power I have," she said, holding up her Glock.
Fred patted the pistol in his holster. "I have a few rounds."
"Shaggy and Velma?" Daphne asked, looking at them.
They shook their heads.
"Like, I got nothin'."
"I only grabbed my computer and some other necessities," Velma admitted.
Daphne sighed, looking so tired she almost aged ten years. Worry lines creased her otherwise smooth forehead.
"We'll make do," Fred assured her.
!
On their way to the cafeteria, Scooby and Shaggy paused.
"Does anyone get the feeling that we're being watched?" Shaggy asked.
"In here?" asked Daphne. "We scoured this place, there isn't a sign of mutant life anywhere."
"Yeah… this place is clean," said Fred, "and not just in terms of safety. It's actually really tidy in here."
"Well there's something weird about this County Museum. I just hope it doesn't make relics of us!" he said, eyes brazing over a mounted deer head on the wall.
A few seconds passed and Scooby stopped abruptly. He whipped around, ears rotating. "Rid you hear rhat?"
Shaggy wrung his hands together. "Like, no. What was it?"
The gang stared back the way they came. Daphne grew more irritated.
"Can we not do this right now?" she asked.
Nervous, Shaggy nodded and tried his best to ignore his thumping heart. Scooby clung beside him and kept his head ducked.
As soon as Fred and Daphne turned away, Velma touched Shaggy's arm. He started until he realized it was only her.
"I really think we'll be reasonably safe in here," she told him.
He met her eyes and allowed his pinched expression to relax.
"Ok," he said.
Scooby nuzzled her hand.
Satisfied, she looked ahead… but not before catching sight of something dark looming in her peripherals.
Tall, standing at attention in black, armored plates and carrying a sword, it watched them from hidden corridor.
But when she turned her head to look, it was gone.
She whirled around in search of the strange apparition. Scooby released a high noted whine.
"You ok?" Shaggy asked.
"What? Yeah. Yeah. Everything is fine," she said.
Just fine.