AN: Time for some action, people! This is going to be a very interesting chapter…and all readers should start praying for Mush, Skittery, and Blink (Oh, look! My three favorites in one chapter! This is gonna be fun…). Next chapter I'm taking reader request, so tell me who you want to have an encounter with the dinos next. Thanks to all my reviewers!
Mush
Just how I wanted to start my morning- seeing a severed arm lying in an alley, and then having no explanation for why it's there. After that, I just wanted to sit down and sulk the rest of the day. But Blink was already in a not-so-great mood, and adding to that mood wouldn't make the day any better.
As the day went along, I tried to block the memories from my head, hawking the headlines and plastering a smile on my face. I knew Blink was still shaken up from what happened the night before, cause he was having trouble concentrating on selling, and that's not like him.
We were just sitting down to take a break before lunch when Snitch ran up to us, breathing heavily.
"Hey, you guys, have ya seen Skittery? He said he'd sell wit me today, but I haven't seen him since we left da lodgin' house." He said, lighting up a cigarette.
Blink looked at me, and I shrugged. "We haven't seen him. Didn't he pick up his papers?"
"No…guess I'll keep lookin'. Thanks anyway."
He walked away, and Blink sighed deeply. "Maybe he went ta Central Park. He goes dere when he has enough saved ta take a break from sellin'."
"Should we go take a look? I mean, Snitch seems really worried. Maybe Skitts forgot his promise."
"Wouldn't doubt it. Let's go."
We weren't far from Central Park, and Blink led me straight to where Skittery usually goes- a place further into the park, with thicker foliage and beside a small pond. It was a peaceful spot that not many people knew about- in fact, it had come to be known as the newsie's spot, since newsies were practically the only people that came there.
Just as we suspected, Skittery was there, sitting on a boulder by the pond and smoking a cigarette. He noticed us approach, but didn't say a word.
"Hey, Skitts. Hows it goin'?" I asked, sitting down beside him. He just shrugged, throwing the cigarette into the pond and draping his arms over his knees. Blink sat down and let his legs hang off the end of the rock, looking down into the murky water.
"Ya alright?" I asked Skittery.
He hesitated a moment, staring straight ahead by with an unfocused gaze. "Yeah. I's fine."
I sighed in frustration. Why did everyone in this damn world have to lie about how they felt? Did they think it didn't show? I could tell just by looking at him that something was wrong!
"Snitch is really worried about ya." I said quietly, and he cursed, obviously remembering what he had promised. He stood up and turned around, and I heard him gasp.
"Mush…Blink…" he hissed, not moving an inch. I stood up and turned to see what he was looking at, and my heart jumped into my throat.
A huge lizard, at least as tall as me, was staring right at us, its lips curling in a vicious growl. Its golden eyes narrowed as it watched us, and its tail swished back and forth across the grass.
"Maybe…if we go back the other way…we can get outta here." I whispered as the creature began flexing its claws. We began backing up slowly, and then Blink turned around to scout an escape route- but then he froze.
"Guys…we's trapped." He said, and Skittery and I looked over our shoulders to see that there were two more of the creatures behind us. We were completely surrounded.
"We're gonna have ta run."
"Should we split up?"
"Wait." Skittery started, studying them carefully. "They're gonna work together ta take us down. We need to split up two and one. They'll go after the one that's alone…the other two can get away."
"We can't leave someone alone like dat." Blink said, but I knew Skittery was right. Better one of us than two. I took off running, ignoring Skittery and Blink's cries of protest.
"GO!"I screamed at them, and Skittery grabbed Blink's wrist, pulling him the other way at top speed. Just as we suspected, two of the creatures came straight after me- but the third took one glance at me, and then followed Skittery and Blink.
Damn, these things are fast! I thought as I pushed my body into a downright sprint. I looked around for any means of escape, eventually spotting a low branch on a tree.
I suddenly felt a huge weight slam into me from behind, and I heard my shirt rip as its claws dragged me down to the ground. I rolled over, throwing it off me and throwing a punch at the same time, connecting with the lizard's jaw and stunning it. I stumbled back to me feet and found that I was just below the branch- but there were two very hungry looking lizards ready to pounce on me.
Time for some acrobatics.
I jumped straight up and grabbed onto the branch, swinging forward and kicking one in the face and kicking the other one on the back swing. I swung my legs up backwards over the branch, balancing on my stomach and pushing up the rest of the way. Just as one of them jumped at me, I climbed up a few more branches and was out of their reach.
I sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree, gasping for air as the creatures snarled and growled beneath me. They were circling the tree, but I could tell that they had no way of getting to me. But as long as they were pacing there, I had no way down.
I briefly wondered if Blink and Skittery had made it out, but I convinced myself that I didn't need to worry about them. They had both been on the streets their whole lives, and they could escape the best cops in the city- they knew the ins and outs of escape.
I could only hope that those skills had pulled them through.
Skittery"Come on, come on!"
"Damn, that thing's fast!"
I pushed my way through some hedges, jumping over a small stone wall.
"Blink, how much further?"
No answer. I looked over my shoulder, realizing that both Blink and the lizard were nowhere to be seen.
He'd gone back for Mush. I knew it.
A growl suddenly derailed my train of thought, and two of the creatures stepped out of the trees, their yellow eyes locking in on me.
"Oh, shit!"
I turned around and started running again, finally breaking through into an alley. I went through the first door I saw into a closed down warehouse, and I heard the door fly open and hit the wall behind me, and I dove behind a stack of crates near the stairs to the basement. I could hear their claws clicking on the cement floor, and I was worried that they could hear my heart pounding in my chest. As the sound grew closer, I opened one of the crates and climbed inside, gently closing it behind me.
I could hear them turn the corner, and I could immediately tell my plan was flawed- they were sniffing their way along the row of crates. They would be able to smell me!
I felt the crate I was in being nudged, and then a horrible shriek rang through the air. I clamped my hands over my ears, my head exploding in pain at the awful, animal sound.
The crate was suddenly slid across the floor, and though I couldn't see out, I knew that couldn't be good. But for once, I was wrong. They had simply shoved my crate aside to inspect the others. They could smell me, but they didn't know where I was!
After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the door hit the wall as it was thrown open, and silence followed. I started to reach for the door, but then I felt the crate start to tilt; it was right at the top of the stairs. And before I could do anything, it fell.
The world spun around me, and I felt the wood cutting into my skin. And then, quite suddenly, everything went black.
BlinkI knew that Mush wouldn't be able to shake two of those things if Skittery and I couldn't get rid of one. And I knew that if I didn't do it first, Skittery would go back after him. And with the rash decisions I'd seen him make before, I had the feeling he would end up dead.
I turned and headed in a different direction, and I heard the lizard screech and skid on the grass as it turned to follow me. Good, I thought, that should give Skittery time to get out of here.
It was gaining on me, and I had no idea how I was going to find Mush. I didn't want to start yelling just in case there were more of these things out here. I just headed back to the pond, and then tried to remember which way Mush had gone.
Just as I got there the lizard tackled me, and I fell seven feet off a ledge into the pond. I felt its claws cut into my back, and suddenly the water started turning red around me. I pushed away from it and swam as hard as I could toward shore, the pain in my back hitting me like a sledgehammer. As I pulled myself out of the water I realized that the creature was having trouble following me- it couldn't swim very well.
"Mush!" I yelled, knowing that time was limited. "Mush, where are you?!"
"Blink?!"
I turned and ran in the direction of his voice, but I skidded to a halt when I saw two of the lizards right in front of me.
"Blink, run!" Mush yelled, and I looked up and saw him standing in the tree, just out of their reach.
I suddenly felt a raging anger fill me, the same temper that usually got me soaked back at the lodging house. "I am so done wit dis SHIT!" I screamed, and then I picked up a branch and swung it at the nearest lizard's head. It connected with a sickening crack, and the thing fell, unconscious. The other one came at me, its jaws snapping shut on the wood. I pulled the wood down close to the ground, pulling its head down as well, and then I lifted my foot and slammed it down on its head.
"Come on!" I yelled at Mush, and he jumped down and started running alongside me, back towards civilization on the same path Skittery and I had taken.
"Where's Skittery?" he asked, looking behind us to make sure we weren't being followed.
"I led that thing away from him. I think he's safe."
"You don't know?!"
"Hey, somebody had to come save your ass, ya bum!"
A strange clicking sound made us both shut up, and flashes of brownish-red moving in the woods around us noted the urgency of the situation. How many of these things were there?!
We were surrounded, with no choice but to stop and stand back to back. There were five of them circling us now, and I groaned in frustration.
"God…I don't wanna die a virgin."
"Now's not the time, Blink."
"Got any ideas?"
"Actually, I do."
He suddenly turned around and grabbed onto my hips from behind as the lizards advanced on us.
"Mush, when I said I didn't wanna die a virgin…"
"When dey get close enough, I'll lift you up, and you kick dose two at da same time. Dat'll give us a path out."
"When?"
"NOW!"
He lifted me up into the air and I kicked, both of them stumbling backwards. We took off running between them, and a shriek suddenly cut through the air.
Then, they just disappeared into the trees. They just seemed to give up. Maybe they had another meal somewhere else, or just didn't want to mess with two of us at the same time. Or it could be those strange, rhythmic booming sounds that seemed to be shaking the ground.
Mush and I took one look at each other and knew we didn't want to face whatever was making that noise. We took off running at top speed, and gradually, the noise faded.
We kept running until we reached an alley, and the odd claw marks on a doorway in the alley made me stop and think.
"Ya don't think…" Mush started, and I pushed the door open in a panic. The only reason those things would've gone in here is if they were hunting something.
"Skittery! Skittery!" I yelled as we walked through, expecting the worst. I almost wanted to tell Mush to stay outside if I weren't so worried about those things coming back.
I made my way to the stairs in the back, and on the landing below, Skittery lay in a pile of shattered wood. I ran down the stairs, Mush not far behind me.
"Are you okay?" Mush asked, and Skittery swallowed hard and shook his head. He tried to move, but I stopped him.
"Don't move. Let's clear some of dis wood away."
We actually had to pull a couple of shards out of him where they had impaled on him, but luckily, he wasn't too badly hurt. The main thing that was hurting him was his head where it had slammed on the stairs on the way down.
I looked at Mush as Skittery threw his arms on our shoulders, limping from a gaping wound on his right leg.
"To da lodgin' house?"
"Yeah."
AN: Ah, more lovely foreshadowing…Review, please! I'll send the dinos out on you if you don't!
