The Zymotic Zone
I really need to speed things up, so I will be trying to post these final chapters quickly. Anyways, I hope none of you guys were attached to Joel, because I killed him very early in the series. And I did get his name from Joel Madden of Good Charlotte. On with the chapter! BTW, I'm sorry for any mistakes in my grammar or punctuation. I have no more spell check.
Chapter 8
"Somebody do something!" Kit screamed. "There's a fire in the last safe place!"
"Do not worry," came the calm voice of Reneé. "I have a solution." She grabbed the wet beige leather jacket that was full of water and was drying in the sun and placed it on the fire. It stopped the fire temporarily, but it was still spreading. "Please get your things and leave for the van," Reneé said smoothly. The Baudelaires stared at the woman. How could she be so calm in a time like this? But they followed orders. Violet and Sunny grabbed their luggage and headed to wait for the elevator, followed by Quigley. All the members of VFD were getting out slowly, while Kit got the keys to the van.
Klaus and Jessica couldn't make it through the door, as it was crowded. They got pushed down by the crowd and fell down. Jessica fell right beside the fire, and was screaming, "Klaus! Help! I'm going to catch on fire!" Klaus grabbed the girl, and they sat down close to the fire. Klaus' eyes widened with fear as he saw it spread for the door out, which was now empty. He and Jessica were trapped.
"We're trapped," he said sadly.
"No, we're not!" Jessica said angrily. "We can jump over the fire if we hurry!"
"No," Klaus insisted.
"Klaus," Jessica said as the air filled with smoke, "Listen to me. Let's just jump over it. We don't have much time." She grabbed Klaus' hand and rushed to the doorway, where the fire glowed brightly. It looked as if two people could jump over it.
Jessica coughed and then said, "On the count of three. One, two, three!" They jumped together, holding eachother's hands tightly, making sure not to fall. After making it through the fire, they noticed that Kit and the others were gone.
"They're gone," Jessica cried desperately. "I can't believe they left without us."
"They probably thought we came with them," Klaus said quickly. "But look," he pointed to the floor inidcator on top of the elevator door, "it looks like they're stopping on every floor. We might make it in time if we hurry." Indeed, the elevator has just stopped on the sixth floor and then headed to the fifth, stopping again. Jessica nodded and she pushed the button, which opened another elevator. They hurried inside and pushed '1'. They waited as the elevator went down.
When they headed to the first floor, they saw Kit and the others emerging from the elevator. They joined them, and Jessica heard Kit say, "That elevator was broken, but at least we got out of the burning floor."
All of the VFD members headed into the large dark blue van, and Kit started to drive to a nearby airport. Jessica looked throught the window of the crowded van and tears fell down her eyes. Her true home, friend, and all her possessions were gone, burning up. Pretty soon, other people would see the fire and panic and run, and some would die of inhaling smoke. She had these thoughts until they got to the airport.
"Everyone out!" Kit called. "Wait for me at the entrance to the airport!" The Baudelaires, Quigley, and Jessica did as told and waited for Kit to park the van. As they were waiting, they were surprised to see a very familiar face. It was Hal, the worker of the Library of Records at Heimlich Hospital. But he looked different. He no longer wore glasses.
The Baudelaires looked at eachother worriedly. "Halno?" Sunny asked.
"I don't know if Hal remembers us, Sunny," Violet asked. "But there's only one way to find out." She headed to Hal and waved at him. "Hello, Hal," Violet said. "It's me, Violet Baudelaire."
Hal looked at her and cheerfully said, "Hello Violet! Glad to see you. If you're here, then the others should be too."
"Um, aren't you mad at me and my siblings? Don't you remember? You thought we destroyed the Library of Records?" Violet asked.
"Ohhh, I know you didn't do that. It was obvious work of O, so I'm not mad," Hal replied.
"O? You mean you're in VFD?" Violet said.
"Yes, I am."
Violet was a bit surprised. "What happened to your glasses?"
"I got contact lenses instead," Hal responded. Violet turned around and headed to her siblings and told them everything. They were equally surprised. Soon, Kit came and started to talk to Hal. The children could not hear what they were saying. Then Kit gave them simple instructions: "Follow me."
Everyone, including Hal, who joined them, followed Kit into the airport. She spoke with one of the workers, who lead them outside to where all the jets where. Kit then lead the VFD members to a jumbo jet with the VFD insignia on the side. It read:
Vast Flying Donations: Make a donation to this organization and the world will be quiet soon
"VFD," Jessica whispered. The name of the jet did spell the organization of VFD.
"Go inside, place your belongings inside, and sit down and enjoy the ride. Sunny, will you please come and help with the cooking?" Kit asked.
"Sure!" Sunny said happily. She headed to a specific area of the plane with Kit and they started to concoct delicious meals. Meanwhile, Quigley, Violet, Klaus, and Jessica sat down in a private room with big windows and comfy sofas. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with a vase of flowers on it. At the corner were some board games that lay as if they hadn't been used for a while. The teenagers sat down and said nothing for a while.
Jessica glanced out the window and gasped at what she saw. Hotel Denouement, once a enormous, bright, beautiful building, was now a small, dark, ugly pile of rubble and debris. She could see fire trucks trying to put an end to the horrific fire, and people running out scared. She could have sworn she saw a giant sugar bowl that looked just like Esme Squalor. Tears went down her cheeks again, but this time with more emotion. Klaus noticed this and asked her what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Klaus asked.
"Oh, nothing," Jessica said angrily. "Just that Hotel Denouement is just a pile of rubble and debris, and I can see Esme Squalor in her hideous outfit, fleeing from the scene of the crime along with Olaf and the troupe." Klaus, Violet, and Quigley came to the window and saw what Jessica meant. A lot of things were wrong, she was right. But many things weren't wrong.
Klaus tried to be optimistic. "At least we found the sugar bowl, and at least it's in the right hands." This was true; the sugar bowl was with honorable members of our organization, and it was safe.
Violet followed Klaus' lead. "And at least we escaped from Count Olaf." Yes, it was lucky that everyone escaped the rath of Count Olaf's fire and that no one had to actually see him, with the exception of Klaus and Jessica, who was founded by Olaf by accident.
Quigley said the last right thing. "At least we WILL find out the secret of the sugar bowl, and everything else we need to know about the organization VFD." Indeed, the youngsters would soon have the knowledge of many old, great volunteers who arewilling to make room for new trainees, and know the truth about their parents' lives and the sugar bowl.
There are many secrets in this world, and many people know them. Usually, these secrets go down generations of families as legacies, which need to be fulfilled. The current offspring of the current family of the legacy must fulfill it, and to do so, must know the secrets of their legacy. To know the secrets, some one must speak them, and this is a hard job, as you need to speak them at the right time, or else. The Baudelaires will know their secrets soon enough, and the timewill be right.
These last chapters will be short, but full of detail. And what I mean by last is that I think this story will end at 10 chapters, though I'm not sure. Review please. I will update at 53 reviews or more. Sorry for the shortness. And about the legacy thing, don't review and ask why, but I think the Bauds have a legacy to fulfill. More will come in my sequel to this story, the thirteenth book.
TelepathicPrincess