AN: More suspense ahead…and hopefully the end…but I really don't know. My muses are in complete control now, and they aren't telling me anything. So let's just get started and see where it goes!

                                                                                                                                                           

Dutchy

            We helped Mush pick up Skittery as Spot continued pelting the lizards with stones from his slingshot, and slowly but surely, we made it inside. A split second later Jack had five newsies at the door, nailing boards onto it as fast as they could.

            "Set him down here." I said, jerking my head towards an empty table. We set him down carefully, and I quickly put my hand right over his mouth, relieved to feel his breath on my palm.

            Blink wasn't quite as calm as we were. "Jack…what was he doing out there?" he hissed, backing Jack up against a nearby chair.

            "We was tryin' ta take out a few of them so we wouldn't have ta board up da front. He was bait."

            "He was injured!!!"

            "He volunteered, okay? I feel bad enough already!"

            "Well, yeah…you should."

            Mush saw his opportunity and took it without hesitation. "Blink…Jack…now's not the time. Just shut up, both of ya."

            Blink turned away from Jack and began to help Mush with the rebandaging of Skittery's arm, and Specs and I set to work on where a new wound had been opened up in his leg. Spot and Jack talked quietly off to the side for a few minutes, and then Jack came over to us, his face grim.

            "How is he?" he asked.

            "He'll be fine. He just had a few nasty blows out dere. Coulda been worse if we hadn't got dat thing offa him." Mush said quietly, not looking up from the bandaging. We could tell he was very disappointed in Jack for letting this happen in the first place.

            Blink obviously couldn't help himself. "How long were you gonna wait, huh? Until that thing tore his arm off and gutted him?!"

            "Blink!" I snapped, knowing that the younger ones here didn't need to be hearing that kind of stuff. He got the hint and handed Mush another piece of tape, keeping his eyes glued on the table. I looked up at Jack, hoping that my frustration wasn't showing through on my face.

            "What are we gonna do, Jack?"

            Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Brooklyn is holding off da lizards pretty well with their slingshots, and some guys with guns are out hunting 'em down."

            "That doesn't tell us what to do. We don't have slingshots, if you hadn't noticed." Specs snapped.

            "I know! I just…we don't know. We just don't know."

            Blink was just about to comment when we heard a strange sound coming from above. A scratching and pounding.

            "They're on the roof." David said, looking toward the stairs.

            "How'd they get up there?"

            "They jumped from the other roofs. The fire escapes on the other buildings are down."

            "They can't get in from up dere, can dey?" Race asked, and Davey nodded frantically.

            "That door isn't boarded up there."

            Spot immediately saw the danger and took charge where Jack froze up. "Okay, kids. Dere's a basement here. I want everyone in dat basement five minutes ago, and I want dat door boarded up right now. GO!"

            Everyone scrambled to follow Conlon's orders, but I was reluctant to move Skittery again. He was in enough pain right now, and moving him again could do further damage.

            "We…we need something to carry him down on." I told Jack, hoping he would snap out of it and help us out. He looked around frantically, and then grabbed a flimsy but large table that wasn't being used and kicked the legs off of it. He set the top of it down on the table next to the one Skittery was on, and as the scratching above got more intense, we carefully lifted him and set him down on the makeshift stretcher.

            From there, it still wasn't easy to get him down to the basement, but we somehow managed it. A few newsies took charge of boarding up the door just as we heard the upstairs door slam open. We were safe, once again, but we couldn't be sure how long that would last.

Mush

            "Alright, what now?" I asked, wondering just how long those boards would keep the lizards out.

            "We can't just hide in here, Spot. We gotta do something." Blink said, pacing frantically in the already cramped space. I put a hand on his shoulder, and he stopped pacing, leaning against the wall next to me instead.

            "Dere's not much we can do without weapons." Spot said with a shrug as he lit up a cigarette. I started to make my way over to Jack when my foot suddenly fell straight through the floor- I was lucky the splintered wood hadn't impaled on my ankle.

            "Mush, you okay?" Blink asked, rushing forward.

            "My foot's stuck." I said, trying in vain to pull it out. Blink leaned down and somehow we got it out- and then we saw exactly what I had stepped on.

            "Spot…about us not havin' weapons…ya might wanna take a look at dis." Blink said, excitement evident in his voice.

            There was an absolutely absurd amount of guns hidden in a compartment under the floor. I mean, we'd heard the manager of Tibby's was a wacko veteran, but this? This was too good to be true. We began pulling out the guns and ammunition, stacking them off to the side and making sure none of the younger ones got around them.

            Spot's eyes were gleaming now. He looked as if he was ready to go out and start a world war. He picked up one of the rifles, examining it closely before readying it to fire.

            "Let's go kick some lizard ass." He said, handing the rifle to me and handing another one to Blink. He looked around carefully at who was uninjured- and who he trusted with a weapon- before handing guns to Jack, David, Snitch, Bumlets, Specs, and Dutchy.

            After handing out guns, each of us was loaded down with as much ammunition as we could carry- and we looked like we were prepared for a war. Snipeshooter was absolutely stunned- he'd always loved war stories, but he didn't dare go against Spot's orders and ask to go along. He knew better.

            "You eight are with me. As soon as we're out dat door, ya board up again. You's in charge, Itey. Can you handle dat?"

            "Sure thing, Conlon."

            "Good. Let's go."

            We carefully pried the boards off the door, and Spot looked straight at Dutchy, who was holding the gun as if it might go off without pulling the trigger.

            "You ready to shoot?" he asked, and Dutchy's eyes got about as big as saucers.

            "ME?"

            "No, your identical twin. Yes, you, ya bum. As soon as I open this door, you fire rounds until there's nothin' left alive out dere, got it?"

            "I think so…"

            "On da count of three…one…two…three!" Spot threw the door open and Dutchy pulled the trigger, the sound making me want to cover my ears and run back down the stairs. Lizards were screaming and screeching all over the restaurant, their cries slowly giving way to silence as Dutchy mowed them down like an old pro. Spot finally gave Dutchy the signal to stop, and by then, he was shaking so bad that we had to push him forward to get him to move.

            "Good job." Spot said, patting Dutchy on the back before moving forward. "Cover me." He ordered as he began prying boards off the front door.

            "Where are we goin', Spot?" Jack asked.

            "We're going to take out as many of dose suckers as we can."

            "But what about the big one?" Blink asked.

            Spot just shrugged. "Keep shootin' till it's dead. Just aim for the head and the eyes."

            Oh, for heaven's sake…we were running into this without a clue as to what we were getting into.

            "Alright, Dutchy, get ready again." Spot said as he pulled away the last board.

            "Why me?" Dutchy asked, and Spot smiled a very evil smile, and continued on to pelt us all with extreme sarcasm.

            "Just because you look so cute mowing down rabid lizards. Go!"

            He threw open the door and Dutchy opened fire, taking out at least three more of the monsters.

            "Alright, let's split up." Spot said as we walked out into the street. "Jack, Dutchy, Specs, and Bumlets, you're with me. We take the 3rd street route to Brooklyn. Mush, Blink, David, and Snitch, you take the route down 15th. We'll meet at the bridge. No group crosses until the others are there, got it?"

            We all nodded and split up down the two respective streets. We walked for about ten minutes in silence, taking out the occasional lizard and telling people on the street to go back inside. At least it had stopped raining for the moment.

            "They're all gone." Blink said, and I locked eyes with him. We knew what that meant.

            "Davey, Snitch…get into a doorway and don't move. Don't fire until I start firing. Go!" I yelled, and we all split up and got into doorways as the pounding started again. It was coming. I suddenly realized that Blink was standing in front of a glass shop window, and there was a family inside, watching him with terror in their eyes. Two little boys and a baby girl were huddled in one corner, and the parents started to move toward the door, but Blink motioned for them to stop and be quiet.

            The huge lizard turned the corner, its feet crushing anything that it stepped on. I couldn't see David and Snitch from where I was, but I knew they had to be terrified- they hadn't seen the thing before now. I decided to wait until it got to the middle of the street- where we all had an angle on it- and then start shooting. Otherwise it could just turn and run away too easily.

            Somehow, I had the feeling that the firepower we had wouldn't be enough. But we had to try.

            Unexpectedly the baby in the shop behind Blink let out an ear-shattering cry, and the monster headed straight for him.

            I don't know what happened in that moment. I could plea temporary insanity in any trial. Cause that's what I felt like it was when I heard the shattering glass and the shout of surprise- and possibly pain.

            I opened fire, shooting round after round at the creatures head and neck. It jerked back, shaking its head viciously as Snitch and David both joined me in shooting. But none of our shots seemed to be making any difference. It was like we were bouncing pellets off of it. But he was not going to take Blink unless it was literally over my dead body!

            I heard the sound of a new gun, and I realized that Blink was on his feet and shooting- he was okay. Then he looked straight at me and yelled, "The bridge! We gotta get it to da bridge!"

            The bridge…he was right. The only way we would get rid of this thing was by throwing it off the Brooklyn bridge. I had no idea how we would do that, but it had to happen.

            The city of New York depended on it.

                                                                                                                                                           

AN: Another one of my annoying cliffhangers! The next chapter is definitely the last- the final showdown with the king of the dinosaurs. And our boys are the ones who have to take it down.

Fun times ahead…

Oh, and if at any point I've accidentally referred to Davud as 'Davey', please excuse the mistake. I'm writing this fic and the Big Brother Newsies Style fic, and in that David is always referred to as Davey. Just warning you in case I slip up or already have.