Chapter 12 – by Tallulah
Gum dashed down the full pipe, wishing she had her skates. She couldn't go fast enough, her feet were too slow, catching on the concrete ground, legs aching so bad, help me help me help me…
"Gum? Gum, you okay?"
Yo-Yo's voice rang down the pipe, distorted by the echo.
"Run!" Gum screamed, so loud her throat hurt. "Just run!"
She heard them start to move, and tried to make herself dash faster, but her legs suddenly seemed heavy, too heavy, useless, she wasn't moving quick enough, it was gonna catch her. Catch her and shove her in a cage with the others, and no one else would be able to get down there, she yelped as she stubbed her toe on the concrete. Breath was rasping in her ears. She'd starve. Like the others were. Help me…
And suddenly there was the edge of the pipe, and there was the twilight sky, and there was freedom…
And there were footsteps slamming into the ground behind her, and a low snarl of rage…
Gum kicked herself off from the ground, and ran so fast her surroundings blurred until she reached the gate.
I'll get you! I'll get you! You can't get away from me!
Out of the park, down the street…lucky there weren't many pedestrians around. She was starting to shiver, the water seeping into her skin was icy.
"Gum!"
She looked round. Thrash, Tracer, Yo-Yo, Kell and Onishima were lurking across the road. Onishima was standing a little apart from the other four, not looking at all happy about his position.
Gum ran over to them, dodging a car.
"You okay?"
"What happened?"
"Who's down there?"
Gum tried to speak, but her throat was hurting too much. Hands shaking, she took her dress from Kell and pulled it back over her head. Warmth.
"I couldn't take your skates," Kell said. "They were too heavy. Ditto your helmet. Sorry."
Gum shrugged as she zipped up the dress. Her hands were shaking.
"It's – it's a chimera," she gasped. "He's got them all locked up down there, in cages, they can't get out, he's starving them to death, he's got skin made of stone and he's very angry."
"So what's the good news?" Yo-Yo said.
"Um…I think everyone's still alive?" The feeling was slowly returning to Gum's frozen feet. Grit. Rain. Scratches. "Oh, and there's a drainage grate that leads down to his lair, further along the pipe. That's where I got out."
"So – what do we do?" Tracer said at last.
"Simple," Thrash said. "We go down through the grate and mash him."
"Did you even listen?" Gum snapped. "He's made of stone! You could attack him with a chainsaw and nothing would happen!"
"Well, we gotta do something!" Thrash snarled at her. "That motherfucker's nabbed my entire gang! Nobody kidnaps the Poison Jam and gets away with it!"
"Yeah, cos nobody wants 'em," Yo-Yo muttered.
Thrash whirled on him, colossal fists raised.
"Quit it," Tracer said. "I know what we can do."
"Oh, yeah, what?" demanded Onishima.
"Shorty, you've got a bunch of weapons at your disposal, right?"
"I guess. No one to stop me, anyway, because most of the police force is down under that damn park."
Tracer nodded. "Okay. Yo-Yo, I'd say you're the fastest of us, aren't you?"
"Yep." Yo-Yo grinned. "And I got some new netrium upgrades a few days ago. I'm hell on wheels."
"How's this for a plan, then?" said Tracer. "Shorty gives us a bunch of high-explosives. Then, while Yo-Yo lures the chimera away, the rest of us plant the explosives around the park. We free the prisoners, get the hell outta there, and then kaboom. No more chimera."
There was a short silence.
"When you say 'lure the chimera'," Yo-Yo said at last, "you mean 'get chased by an insane and homicidal super-strength hybrid with stone skin.' Right?"
"Yep."
"Crap."
"What if we don't get out of the park in time?" Gum said. "Some of the prisoners look pretty weak. They won't be able to move fast."
"That's a risk we'll have to take," Tracer said. "Come on, mate. That thing ain't gonna listen to reason, is it? And it's not gonna be taken down with normal weapons, like Gum said. It's either this, or leave the park altogether, and then it'll just start sneaking out of the park and nabbing people off the streets…"
Everyone glanced at the park, and then inched a little further away from it.
"Can't we tell Toji about it?" Kell said at last. "It's his family pet, after all."
"All he can do is bash down the park," Onishima said. "And he mayn't want to. He mayn't believe us."
"I'd believe us," Thrash said.
"Well he won't. I hate to admit it, but the techno-boy's right. This is the only way."
"But – but that means the park'll be destroyed," Kell said. "It's the coolest place ever and it'll be vaporised."
Yo-Yo looked over at the park, which lay beneath the darkened sky like a miniature city.
"Yeah," he said slowly. "But – there's nothing else we can do. It was fun there, but – but…"
Tracer sighed. "Sorry, mates."
Thrash growled and kicked the wall.
"Huh." Onishima grunted. "I don't know what you're all complaining about. You get to go back on the streets, destroy public property, and give me a damn heart attack, and I have to spend morning, noon and night trying to take you down."
"Oh, come on, Shorty, you know you love it really," Gum said, grinning as she remembered how enthusiastic he'd looked when he'd caught up with her, Garam and Disk, that hot crazy day in Kogane-cho.
Seemed ages away.
Because now Garam and Disk were both locked up under the concrete.
And she had to get them out.
"Come on," she said. "Let's take that stone freak down."
***
It was darker now.
Gum stood at the entrance to the park. She felt sick. Too much of this plan seemed to depend on her. And if she goofed up, it didn't just mean prison or something, it meant a grim and fiery death. One little slip-up in timing, one stumble, one clumsy grip, could kill her.
Her stomach trembled, and she closed her eyes a moment.
She was wearing Tracer's skates – no one wanted to risk going back to the full pipe for hers. Her toes were sore, pinched in different places, her heels were sliding around over the sweaty soles, and she was wobbling on the caterpillar tracks.
Tracer, Kell, Thrash and Onishima stood behind her, all clutching boxes of what looked like the Rokkaku Group's entire stock of anything that exploded. Gum wished her hands weren't sweating so much, and gripped the bolt cutters more tightly.
"Once we set these off, you have ten minutes," Kell hissed. "Ready, Yo-Yo?"
Yo-Yo nodded. His face was almost the same shade as his hoodie.
"Good luck," Gum hissed, and watched as his shadow shrank into the full pipe. She shivered. No going back now. She wanted to hyperventilate, and cold sweat was prickling all over her body.
"Hey, guys, you in here?" Yo-Yo's voice rang out into the quiet night. "Guys?"
"Nice impression of someone who doesn't know what's going on," Kell murmured. "I only hope he remembers what he's meant to be doing."
Gum nodded.
"It's coming closer," she whispered.
She could feel the chimera, creeping up the tunnel, cold on her mind.
I'll get you, I'll get you all, come down into the ground, in the dark…
"Run," she whispered. "Yo-Yo, run…"
And then she heard the click of skates on concrete, and the fury in her mind exploded outward – COME BACK HERE!
"Now," she said, and they crept forward. Tracer, Thrash, Kell and Onishima separated from her, disappearing into the dark pool of night.
Now she was alone. She took a deep breath, and carried on towards the full-pipe.
I'll get you! You can't escape!
It wasn't too close. Yo-Yo had gone out the other end of the pipe and the chimera with him. Its rage was pulsing on the edge of her consciousness like a warning lamp.
Now.
She crept into the dark pipe. Tiles of moonlight patterned the floor.
Dripping of water.
Footsteps.
Faraway traffic.
What if it was here? What if it knew she was here? What if it was going to grab her any second…what if…what if…
She stopped. Her legs were shaking too much for her to skate, and tears were stinging her eyes.
Stop it, she told herself. You can't afford to panic. You gotta save them. Beat and Tab and Mew and everyone. And Garam.
At the thought of him she started to move again.
I mean, she thought, the worst that can happen is you get blown to bits.
Eeep.
Past the narrow point – please don't let him be there –
And along towards the drainage grate.
Wait…
I'll kill you! When I get hold of you I'll rip you up! I hate you!
Getting closer.
Gum eased open the grate. It creaked.
The chimera's rage was building in her mind like lava…
She dived through the grate, and crept down the stairs, gripping the wall to stop her skates slipping on the damp stony surface.
Keep walking.
But how long had she got?
And now she was back in the cavern. The light seemed even dimmer now.
"Guys?" she called, trying to keep her voice low. "Everyone? I've come to get you out of here, but we have to move fast."
She hurried over to the first cage and brought the bolt-cutters down on the padlock. Her muscles burned for a moment, then the cutters bit through the lock, and the cage door swung open.
She dashed from cage to cage, chopping at the locks, not stopping to see who she was freeing, because running through her mind was the question – how much time? How much time? – and she could still hear the chimera, whispering in the back of her brain.
More people? Good! More to come down in the dark…
Oh, shit, he's seen them. She slammed through another padlock, now listening intently, trying to grab every word.
That's right, run, run, you'll have to come back to this park sooner or later. I've got your friends! And now – now I'm going to get YOU!
"Catch me if you can, dog-breath!"
Yo-Yo's voice rang in her head.
Gum thanked her lucky stars her watch had a stopwatch function. She set it for ten minutes, and immediately the numbers began to tick down, counting away the time she had. Counting away her life, no, don't think like that…
How many cages left? The cavern was nearly full. Only three. She ran over to them – it was a Keisatsu, a renegade – and Garam.
"Gum," he said as she freed him, "what's going on?"
"I'll explain. Listen up, everybody!" she called, and her voice flew out over the cavern and bounced off the walls, showering people with waves of sound…up, everybody…everybody…body…
Quickly she described the situation.
"…and we have…eight minutes till the bombs go off," she said at last. "So we head up those stairs over there, out of the drainage grate, and out of the full pipe. Then we must get out of the park, pronto. Okay? I'll go first cos I can sense the chimera. Garam, you go last and make sure no one gets left behind. Now let's move."
She wanted to make them go faster as they climbed the stairs. But that was impossible – about half of them were seriously starving, and no one was in peak condition.
What if they didn't get out? What if the bombs went off and trapped them down here? To die – in the dark – in the cold – no –
She almost stopped walking.
"Gum, you okay?" Beat was just behind her, being supported by Piranha.
"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine." She glanced at her watch.
Five minutes.
And there was the grate. She pushed it open, and light rushed in.
"This way," she said, and climbed out.
The chimera wasn't far away, but he wasn't dangerous yet. Yet.
Four minutes.
So many people. Going so slowly.
What if she was wrong? What if the bombs had been set off earlier, and they were gonna blow any minute –
You can't think like that. You mustn't. You gotta believe we'll get out of here because if you don't we may as well just give up and die right now.
So cold.
And there it was. The end of the pipe.
This would be the tricky bit. It could see them out in the open. And any slowing down could be fatal.
She took a gasp of night air, and kept walking.
Three minutes.
Nearly at the gate.
So close…
"Quick," she hissed. "Just run out!"
And rudies and Keisatsu started to hurry past her like scraps of paper, ashes on a bonfire, out of the park, out into the streets, out into safety. Safe. Yes. As Garam reached her, she said, "Is that all of them?"
He nodded. "Let's get out of here!"
GOTCHA!
The roar of triumph burst into her brain.
"Shit! Let go of me, you stone-faced jerk –"
"Yo-Yo!" Gum yelled.
"What?"
"He's got nabbed."
Two minutes thirty.
"I'm going to get him," Gum said. The chimera was closer now. She started to dash towards the rage and the triumph. They burned orange in her mind's eye.
There, in the dark, by one of the telegraph poles, a figure, clutching something, scurrying down towards the full pipe.
Gum took a deep breath.
"Hey, jerk!" she hollered. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
"You!"
A hiss. Something leapt towards her. Dimly, she saw Yo-Yo break free and run for the gate.
Two minutes.
She dodged it. Her brain was humming with its thoughts. Hatred. Fury. Desperation. It made her eyes sting.
"Gum, get the fuck out of here!"
Garam. What was he doing still in the park?
And a heavy hand smacked her round the face and sent her flying into the ground. Sobbing, she struggled to her feet as pain pulsed through her jaw.
"I won't just take you into the dark!" the chimera roared. "I'll break you up and hurt you so you can't crawl out!"
Gum's mouth throbbed. She couldn't talk properly now. There was blood around her teeth. Tears running down her face.
One minute thirty.
"Run!" Garam screamed, his voice cracking.
Gum dodged another blow, and started to dash for the gate. She could hear it, breath rasping with fury, as she dodged round a snack shack, jumped a grinding pole. Slipped, stumbled down a quarter pipe, felt the skin on her knees rip.
Thirty seconds.
Where was the gate? She couldn't see the gate…oh help oh help…
"Gum! Gum, over here!"
She looked round, and saw a torchlight piercing the darkness. Choking for breath, she ran towards it.
"You won't get away! You won't!"
It was gaining.
Her foot slipped on a dead paint can, and she nearly fell. Had lost time. No time. Time is a gift and I don't have any. A claw brushed her dress. The torch. Focus on the torch. It had moved out of the park, stood on the street. Nearly there.
Five seconds. Was it enough? Couldn't tell. Oh please God please…
She jumped…
Strained her leg muscles till they almost snapped…
Over the threshold…
Into the street…
Out of the park.
Glanced at her watch.
No seconds…
And behind her, there was a slow, deafening bang, and heat rushed out of the park, shoved her forward, she flew across the road and hit a shop canopy, and light, too much light, burning away her vision, and a long, loud scream that echoed in her brain…
And then the darkness again.
"Gum?"
She blinked. She could smell old rain, and smoke, and a faint scent of fried chicken.
Sitting up, she looked down from the shop canopy. Garam was staring up at her.
"You okay?" he said.
Was she? She shrugged.
"My helmet and skates were in that park," she said. "Shit."
"You wanna come down from there?"
"Might be nice."
He reached up and helped her down to the pavement.
"Is it – is it dead?" he asked.
Gum thought. Her mind was empty of any other voices and the pounding hate had gone.
Gone at last.
"Yes," she said. "I think it is."
Garam hugged her. He was trembling.
"That," he said, "that…that was…horrible. I ain't never been so scared in my whole life. I hope you're satisfied."
Gum stared over at the wreckage cooling beneath the smoky sky.
"Garam," she said, "stop moaning. We just achieved a lifelong dream."
"What?"
"The park is dead!" Gum yelled. "Dead! Dead, do you hear me? It's gone! I blew it to smithereens! It's dead!"
She threw back her head and shrieked with laughter.
"I knew it!" she hollered. "I knew it was a mistake to build it! And I knew it hated me! I was right!" Tears poured from her eyes as she rode a wave of joy. "I was right! I was right and they were wrong! Hallelujah! Worship me! Love me!"
Garam grinned. "Gum, you're hysterical."
"I know! And it's brilliant!" Her giggles echoed round the dark street, over the empty windows of the houses, up to the silent, black sky. It felt so good just to laugh, just to devote her entire body to laughing, her mind lightening, her stomach and face aching, tears pooling in her eyes… "I was right! I was right! I was right!"
Finally she stopped, and leant back against Garam. She wasn't sure why, but it seemed the right thing to do.
"Thanks," she said at last.
"For what?"
"For waiting for me. And pratting around with a torch. You saved my life."
"Course I did."
He stroked her shoulders.
"Gum?" he said.
"Uh-huh?"
"You know you just asked the world to love you?"
"Yeah."
"I think I do."
Gum shivered. So. Something else new. But good. A kiss in the dark.
Oh…
"Garam?"
"Uh-huh?"
"You know I said I'd get my castration scissors if you so much as mentioned having sex?"
"Yep."
"Maybe I could take that back."