When she caught up to him, she breathlessly leaned against his shoulder for support. "Marco...I am not leaving. Whatever you are planning to do, you have to let me help."
Marco wrapped his arm around her, to support her. He wanted to tell her no, that she should go outside where she'd be safe. Except that he wasn't sure that she'd be any safer out there anyway. The beasts hadn't been staying in the gym--they were spreading to the outside world.
Besides, much as he didn't want to involve Ellie in his plan, what he had in mind would probably take more than one person to pull off.
So he nodded, reluctantly.
"We need to seal that hole so nothing more comes out of it," He informed her, trying not to let his voice shake. "I think I know how."
They were almost to his intended destination anyway: the chemistry room, which was mercifully unlocked.
Unfortunately the chemical pantry wasn't.
"We need to get in there," Marco told Ellie, looking around for something they could use to break the door open.
What Marco was talking about was...really big. Ellie wanted to tell him that they should just forget about the hole and leave the school. That they should find somewhere to hide from these creatures. But she had the feeling he wouldn't accept that as an option. Besides, he was right. They couldn't just let the hole remain open. More people would die.
"Okay, umm.... what about.... what about just getting the key? The school is under attack. I am sure that no one is sitting in the office thinking, 'What if someone decides to steal the key to the chemistry lab and blows everything up? I should probably stay here with the evil ghoulies & keep an eye on it.'"
Marco nodded sheepishly. He hadn't even thought of that, and yeah, okay, a key would be much easier. He headed over to the teacher's desk and yanked open the top drawer, hoping that there'd be one there. Sure enough. "El, you're a genius."
He unlocked the pantry and went in to gather supplies. He wasn't even sure what chemicals to look for, so he just grabbed any bottles that had the flammable sticker on them and started handing them out to Ellie.
They'd also need something to light them.
He looked at the little chemistry lab butane torches and grabbed a couple of those as well.
Supplies collected, it was time to actually do it. The hard part. He hoped he didn't look as terrified as he felt. Despite what they were about to attempt, he really didn't have a death wish.
"Maybe we should forget it. Let someone else worry about it," he thought. Except he knew in his heart that he couldn't. If they could even just seal off the hole temporarily it would save a lot of people--many of them his friends. And then they could figure out a more permanent solution, and start working on getting rid of the things that had already escaped.
"Okay," he assured himself, "we can do this." There was still another problem though. "We need to find something that we can use to delay the explosion. So we can place these, light them, but not have them go off until we can get away from them a bit. Like a 'Molotov cocktail'," he informed Ellie. "We need to find something to use as a fuse."
"Marco, I don't know about all of this," Ellie proclaimed. "What you are suggesting sounds really dangerous. What if something goes wrong? Look, I want to stop this just as much as you do, but we aren't superheroes. We are not the X-Men...or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We are just kids and it's not our responsibility to risk our lives against these things. We are only going to get ourselves killed."
Marco wanted very much to agree with her and run like so many others were doing. They could head for the hills. Hole up until...until something found them and killed them. That didn't seem like a good option, either. And his gut was still telling him that this was what his Nana meant when she told him he had to be at the dance tonight. It was his destiny.
He smiled sadly at Ellie as he set down his supplies for a moment and wrapped his arms around her again. "El...my Nana told me this was coming," he informed her. He explained what his grandmother had told him about the force of good that would emerge, that his friends and he himself would be part of that force. "Now, I know we're not superheroes. But somebody has to do this. If we don't, the whole city will be overrun by morning. We won't stand a chance. Our friends, our parents…it'll all be gone. There'll be nothing left to save." He gazed into her eyes, making sure that she understood what he was saying. "What we're doing, I doubt it will do anything more than buy time. But we can use that time to organize and plan a defense. We...I need to do this." He kissed her temple affectionately. "But you should go. Find Sean and then find someplace safe to get people together."
Ellie shook her head. "No...I am with you." She took a deep breath and nodded. They could do this. "So what's the plan?" she asked as she took some chemical bottles.
"The way I see it, we need to place these," Marco picked up a couple more chemical jars, "around the edges of the hole. Just inside it, if that's possible. A few on each side. We put cloth in the jars and light cloth—that should give us enough time to get away. They should explode and cause the hole to collapse in on itself." It sounded good, anyway. "I don't think it will hold for a really long time, but it should buy a day or two, maybe." He hoped. He had the feeling that it would, but it could just be wishful thinking. "You can maybe try to distract the things. Take some of these," Marco handed her a couple smaller chemical jars, "and set a few smaller cocktails around the gym. You can set them off and maybe draw some attention away from the stage. And we need to get everyone who's left in the gym out. Maybe you can help them and I'll go up and place these in the hole..." Marco knew he was babbling, but he was nervous, and not altogether sure that this plan of his had any chance whatsoever of working. It probably shouldn't work, but he had a feeling that somehow it would.
"Okay," Ellie sighed breathlessly. "I think that we can do this." She turned her eyes up to Marco's face. "Promise me that you won't do anything too stupid."
Marco smiled and hugged her again, briefly. "Come on, El. Since when have I ever done anything stupid…Don't. Answer. That. I promise. You be careful, too. Promise," he insisted as he started once again collecting up his things again. "We better get going. The sooner we get this done, the better."
Something told Ellie that Marco wasn't so sure he could keep his promise, but she shook off the feeling. If Marco promised, she trusted him. She gave him a shaky smile and nodded. "Okay. I promise, too. Now let's do what most teenagers only dream about...let's go blow up the gym."
Despite the horrible situation, Marco couldn't help but grin. Just that little trace of humor did him a lot of good. There was hope for them yet. They just had to maintain some semblance of normalcy even in what had just turned into an insane world. Everything was eventually going to be okay.
Marco dumped the garbage from the small wastebasket and filled it with as many bottles as it would hold. He pocketed one of the mini torches. And as an afterthought, he grabbed a couple pairs of safety glasses. Dorky, but hopefully effective. He gave Ellie a lopsided grin as he donned a pair and handed the others to her. Ready as they'd ever be. "Let's do it." He started walking back toward the gym, lugging the basket of chemicals.
It was strange. To Ellie it felt like she was doing the stupidest thing possible, yet she couldn't turn around. She followed Marco, thinking that he was far too brave for his own good. The idea to lock him in a closet or something briefly flashed through her mind. It would greatly increase his chance of survival, but she knew that Marco needed to do this....no matter the cost. She sensed that there would be a big one too. "No. I can't think about that right now," she told herself. "Just concentrate on the task at hand. Yeah right. Who am I trying to fool?"
They reached the gym quickly and easily, but from there out, ease wasn't likely. Marco took one last look at Ellie, giving her a brave smile. He refused to say goodbye, though, instead opting for, "Be careful. You get in trouble, " He kissed her cheek lightly. "See you later," he said, knowing he was probably lying. He headed into the gym, sticking as close to the wall as he could, hoping not to draw any attention to himself.
He cringed as he spotted several of his friends amidst the rubble. Craig was awake, but clearly dazed. Marco could see blood on his temple. He'd probably been hit by part of the falling ceiling. Then there were Jimmy and Hazel, and not far from them, Ashley. All three were lying unconscious (please only unconscious). He wanted to stop and check on them, but couldn't afford to. Ellie could help them, or if he succeeded, he'd help them on the way out.
Marco also spotted several students (including Jay and someone he really hoped for Ellie's sake wasn't Sean) being carried off toward the far exit of the gym. He really hoped they were still alive, but there was nothing he could do to help them just then, either. He needed to stay focused on his task.
"Okay," Ellie thought, "so I need a distraction." She looked around the gym for something that would really get the attention of a demonic fiend. And here she was thinking that Paige was the very embodiment of evil. She needed to do something. She felt so helpless just standing there watching Marco run off like some big hero or something. She found herself invoking every deity she could think of, hoping to stumble onto a miracle.
It wasn't the miracle she was looking for, but somewhere in the midst of her invocations a small fire erupted at her feet. Within a few moments the small frame traveled along an unseen fuse until it reached some of the debris from the ceiling. It ignited, precariously close to Jimmy's prone form.
"Okay...what the hell was that? The day just kept getting stranger & stranger. I am dreaming all of this so there is no need to worry anymore. I am just going to sit down and wait until I wake up. Yep...that is what I am going to do," Ellie decided silently.
"Hey!" Spinner yelled at the stupid bloodsucking vampire. "Let go!" He swatted at it, almost losing hold of Paige in the process. It wasn't easy fighting when he had someone slung over his shoulder. Maybe he should put her down or something. Except then something would probably drag her off. So he kicked at the vampire thing, trying to keep it back away from Paige.
"Foolish boy," the vampire minion laughed at Spinner's attempt to fight it. What was that? Didn't they teach humans to fight anymore? The minion ignored his swats and once again lunged for the prize on his shoulder. It grabbed the girl by the hair and pull, trying again to wrench her free of Spinner's hold.
Dylan screamed as he felt the wolf's claw rip through his flesh. He was knocked from his feet. The wolf was on him practically before he even hit the ground. Its teeth dug into his shoulder. This was going to be it, this was how he was going to die.
He tried desperately to pry the wolf's jaw apart and was rewarded as he was given a moment of reprieve. He threw the wolf from him and was startled at the force he was able to put behind it. The wolf crashed into the wall and fell with a yelp. He watched for a few moments as it slowly got up and loped away, tail between its legs. It was way too hot, Jimmy thought as he slept. And his head was throbbing. He groaned and dried to throw off his blankets. Except that there didn't seem to be any blanket. There was something covering him, all right, but it wasn't fabric.
His eyes flew open and he immediately realized that there was a small fire right next to him. And that he was buried in ceiling tiles. The ceiling, he realized, must have collapsed during the earthquake! "Hazel!" he called out immediately, searching for his date.
Ellie heard someone calling for Hazel. Okay, that definitely sounded real. She gave up on her idea that it was all a dream and hurried over to Jimmy. She started trying to pull some of the debris off him. "Jimmy, you have to try harder. The fire is growing stronger by the second and I don't think I'm strong enough to help you up right now," she told him, thinking of her injured back. She looked around for something to help put out the fire.
Jimmy was still getting his bearings, but Ellie's words got him to focus on the most pertinent problem. He started shoving chunks of the ceiling off himself and got up, moving away from the fire. "Thanks," he said to Ellie. It was only then that he got a better look around. "I must have hit my head really hard and am hallucinating," he figured, looking around again, searching for Hazel. Hallucinating, maybe, but there were real fires, too. "We have to get everyone out."
And then he saw her. Hazel was pinned beneath more of the ceiling only a few feet away from where he'd been. The fire was getting dangerously close to her. "Ellie help me!" he called out as he started trying to dig Hazel free. There was no way he was going to be able to get her out of there before the fire reached her.
"Okay...uh...," Ellie stammered. "What the hell do I do?" she wondered silently. She start trying to pull Hazel out from under the debris. "The fire is spreading fast and I don't know how to put it out." She stared at it feeling more and more helpless every second. Her gaze got lost in it's bright fiery colors....which needless to say, was probably not the best thing to be enamored by at the moment. Slowly it started to get dimmer, its powerful hues becoming dull & lifeless. It slowly got closer to Ellie as she tried to free Hazel from the caved ceiling. Ellie backed away slightly as she pulled harder, not getting much farther with getting Hazel free.
Suddenly she felt a powerful heat surrounding her ankles. She looked down to notice that the fire was literally touching her. She felt no pain, though. Just warmth. She felt herself growing more desperate by the moment. The fire was practically on top of her now. Okay, so it was on top of her, but that meant it was almost to Hazel's prone body, and somehow Ellie knew that Hazel would feel it. "Come on, Hazel. You have to wake up!"
Marco managed to get up to the stage without attracting attention, but once he was there, he realized a problem. He had the chemicals and the torch to light them, but still nothing to use as a fuse.
Frustrated he moved back into the gym, searching for something to use.
Tablecloths. He grabbed one from the remainder of a table and began ripping sections from it. It would have to do. He readied a couple chemical jars with long fuses and crept back onto the stage to set the first couple jars.
He decided not to light them just yet--he was afraid if he did he might cut himself too short of time to set the ones on the other side. So leaving the jars unlit, he grabbed the rest of the jars and tried to sneak to the other side of the stage without being noticed.
Jimmy and Ellie almost had Hazel uncovered. The fire should have reached Hazel by then, but miraculously, it hadn't. Jimmy pulled the last large chunk from Hazel's legs, freeing her. He pulled her away from the flames before they could reach her. He was about to turn back to make sure that Ellie was okay when he heard a groan behind him. He turned to see Craig stumbling closer. He seemed really out of it. "Craig! Over here!"
Marco managed to get to the other edge of the stage and noticed Manny Santos lying unconscious near the edge. He set down his remaining jars and went to her. Unable to wake her, he grabbed her arms and dragged her, looking for somewhere safer for her to be until he could come back for her. Somewhere she wouldn't be caught in the blast.
After getting her safely away, he went back to finish his task. He placed the last of the jars. Time to do it. He looked around to make sure that there was no one else left in the line of fire. Dylan, Paige, and Spinner were all fairly close to the stage, but should be all right, he figured. Unless the blast was much bigger than he expected.
His hand was trembling as he lit the first of the long fuses. He only hoped they were long enough to give him time to light the rest of them.
"Is she okay?" Ellie asked as she stepped away from the flames. She walked over to Jimmy and Hazel and started to check her for injuries. "Hazel, wake up."
Hazel showed no sign of waking, but she was breathing, and Jimmy could feel her pulse beating strongly. She'll be okay. She has to be. He looked over to where Craig was still stumbling around in a daze. "Craig!" He looked back to Ellie, startled as he noticed that the fire that should have swallowed Hazel seemed to have stopped moving in their direction at all. He didn't think too much about it, though. He was just relieved and not looking a gift horse in the mouth. "We need to get everybody out. I'll take Hazel, you should help Craig," he called to Ellie.
The fuse was burning a lot faster than Marco had hoped for, he noticed immediately. He didn't have much time, but he had to get the other side lit or it would all be in vain.
He didn't have time to carefully get back over to the other side--he just run as fast as he could, scrambling past several beasts as he tried to get to the first jars before the ones on the other side blew.
He felt one of the beasts lunge for him and barely managed to dodge its grasp. His safety glasses went flying, and he felt the remainder of his basket of chemical jars slipping from his grasp. He didn't have time to worry about it. He was just relieved it didn't catch him.
He reached the far side and quickly light fuses.
As he finished, though, he turned and found himself face-to-face with the beast that had nearly grabbed him moments before.
It had the basket, and one of the jars in its upraised claw.
Marco backed away, but tripped and fall off the edge of the stage, landing hard on the gym floor.
He involuntarily cried out in terror as he looked up and saw the thing raise the chemical jar over its head, ready to slam it down on him.
At Marco's cry, Ellie turned to see him lying on the gym floor next to the stage. "Marco!" she called to him as she started running towards the stage, praying she made it in time.
Dylan looked up as he heard Ellie yelling Marco's name. He looked first toward the yell and saw Ellie running to the back of the gym. So he looked in that direction and saw Marco.
Time seemed to freeze as Dylan watched in horror as the beast on the stage hurled something down at his Marco's head. Within moments Marco's screams filled the air. And then the beast leapt down upon him. NO!
Dylan began to run, just as Ellie was, knowing that Marco's life depended on them reaching him. He barreled into the beast and shoved it off his boyfriend.
Marco heard Ellie scream his name, but didn't have time to look for her before he saw the chemical jar falling toward him. He didn't even had time to raise his arms to try and deflect it. He tried to roll onto his side, but rolled the wrong way. The jar hit the ground and shattered, sending glass and chemicals into his face. It burned his skin and eyes. He began screaming from the extreme pain and fright as the world went suddenly dark. He wasn't unconscious, he only wished he were. He clawed blindly at the ground, trying to get away, but then he felt a great weight upon him and teeth ripping into his skin. He felt something else hit the thing on his back, shoving it away. He couldn't see what was going on, though, couldn't see if the thing was about to attack again.
"Ellie!" he cried out desperately, unsure which way to go, or how to escape. He also seemed to have lost control of his legs. He couldn't feel them. But he didn't want to die, he needed to get out. He used his hands to try and drag his body. "Help me! Ellie!"
Ellie crouched down next to Marco, trying to calm him. "Dylan...what do we do?" she asked helplessly as she took in Marco's injuries.
Marco heard Ellie's voice and dragged himself toward her. "Ellie?" He grabbed onto what he hoped was her. "Ellie?"
Dylan turned to try and help but is stunned as he took in the pathetic sight of his boyfriend's broken body. Marco's lower body was twisted in an unnatural position and Dylan could see the blood pooling about him. But worse was revealed when Marco turned his head slightly toward Dylan. Dylan let out a cry of sympathy as he saw Marco's face. His skin looked partially melted and his eyes were a murky white.
Before he could recover from the horrifying image, the beast was on him. Dylan found himself thrown to the ground and immediately felt teeth tearing into him. Moments later, his world went dark.
A/N. This fic is the product of a Role Playing Game on Yahoo Groups. If you're interested in taking part, we need more players! Please only sign up if you're serious about participating. You can find us by clicking on the homepage show in our profile, or by going to the yahoogroup entitled degrassienchanted.
The authors of this story are as follows:
Serenity (plays Ellie, Alex, and other characters as needed), Chaos (plays Marco, Dylan, and other characters as needed), Azaria (plays Paige), Daq (plays Spinner), and Tiffany (plays Jesse). All other roles are currently "available".
The game will be transcribed into this story and posted as a fanfic. Hope you enjoy!
