Ch. 6
To cups of instant hot chocolate they sit down and think about possible locations of Wendigo's manifestation. Scott tries to find a news station on television but every channel just registers static snow. Phil points to the clock, "We have about an hour and ten minutes to find and stop it so come over here."
"Now, as I said before, Wendigo will manifest itself in a graveyard somewhere in higher elevations. Would anyone have an idea where there might be something like that?" asks Scott.
"I know at least one. I used to clean the mausoleum. It's the catholic cemetery up in the West Hills, near the intersection of Burnside Street and Barnes Road. It's a good bet Wendigo's manifesting there. It's up in the hills and out of the way. No one to poke around," informs Phil. "There is another one up on Mount Scott, but I think this one's higher."
"Okay, we'll look first in the West Hills," states Scott. "If you're wrong I seriously doubt we'll have time to get over to Mount Scott. Phil, I think we can leave most of the meters behind. Item checklist: Two Proton Packs, two Ghost Traps, and two Ecto Visors.
"Waitaminute. Two? You guys are not leaving me here alone. Last time maybe there was a choice. But now you need me. There's probably a larger army of zombies up in the cemetery. The odds are better with a third person. And I seriously doubt anyone's going to complain about legality at a time like this. I'm a quick learner. You can give me a crash course in the equipment on the way up there. DAMN IT, I'm coming with you!"
Phil sees the fire in her eyes and says, "you know, Scott, a third person there will only help our chances of stopping this thing, at least to fight off zombies."
Scott reluctantly says, "Okay, but only to fight off zombies and help Raiza. Leave the demon to us."
"Agreed," chirps Daryn.
The zombies outside the door are puzzled by a loud mechanical roar from inside, and are smashed against the building by the huge iron doors as they fly open and Ecto-A roars out. "Watch this," says Scott to Daryn. Phil flips a lever and the wheels turn over and tank treads drop in their place. "It was a little special modification from the trust fund – sorry Phil – for offroading or really bad weather." Ecto-A tears down the street toward the West Hills. Any zombies that get in the path are bowled over and crushed by the large grill and heavy treads of the vicious vehicle.
Inside, Scott explains the important functions of the proton pack and how to use the pack's neutrona wand. Then he turns on the radio and tries to find a broadcasting station. Phil focuses entirely on driving. Ecto-A sprays snow behind as it speeds through the blanketed city. After minutes of searching, Scott finds a remote station and listens to the broadcaster:
"…And ever since this insanity began, no one's seen hide or hair of the Ghostbusters. If you're still out there, I speak for the whole City of Portland, best of luck in stopping this disaster. We're all counting on you. This is KRUK 1750 AM and we will continue to bring you what few news updates we can receive as long as we can…"
Along the way, they see a number of overturned military vehicles and several fallen soldiers, most of whom have become zombies themselves. The other soldiers are too busy fighting off the hordes of undead to accompany the speeding white ambulance into the hills. They travel up Burnside Street and wind around through the hills to the tunnel just outside the cemetery grounds. Except for the periodic streetlights, the whole area is dark and eerily silent. The tunnel entrance has so much snow that it is impossible to get a large Cadillac through it. The Ghostbusters have to go on foot from here.
They get out of the car and go into the trunk for their gear. All three power up their proton packs. There is the same eerie silence and though the white snow on the ground reflects light in the distance there is only darkness. Daryn looks around cautiously. Between the dark silhouettes of the trees she can see homes. Where there are homes there are people. Where there were people, there are probably zombies. Phil can feel things watching them through the trees. Scott takes a step toward the tunnel, when a zombie jumps down from the hill above the tunnel onto him. Without missing a beat, Phil lunges forward, pulls the thing off Scott and pushes it away. Daryn and he fire at it. The icy zombie explodes into a mess of viscera and flame when hit with the concentrated atomic fire of the proton streams.
"Thanks," says Scott, silently chiding himself to be more careful.
After they climb through the tunnel, Daryn stops right outside. She turns to them and says, "Scott, Phil, thanks. For letting me come, for even surviving to be here right now, for getting back to the firehouse in time. Be safe." She glomps both of them and continues cautiously. Both guys stand there stunned for a minute.
"I think she likes me," states Phil.
"What? No she doesn't! She likes me," Scott fires back.
"She hugged me first," Phil argues.
"She hugged me harder," Scott replies.
The two are facing each other now and arguing.
"She likes me better."
"No she likes me more!"
"She likes me."
"She likes MORE ZOMBIES!" Scott shouts, pointing.
"More zombies, wha—YAAH!" Phil notices and quickly ducks away from the icy grip of another two zombies while Scott fries them both. They catch up to Daryn, who is busy firing at zombies here and there. All three get up to the road between the two areas of the catholic cemetery. The sights alarm the Ghostbusters a little.
Up on the left hill is a huge pulsating black blob. Behind the cemetery, four purple-white lightning bolts shoot down from the cloudy sky into each of the radio antennae on the nearby power station. On top of the right cemetery hill, there is a small stone gazebo under which Raiza is sitting on a throne of ice. An eerie pale blue light emanates off her. She is dressed in light blue and white, a gown of ice and fabric. An icy crown rests upon her head. She appears slumped over on her throne. Daryn immediately runs up the right hill. Scott shouts a warning.
"Daryn, it's a terrible idea to run right up to her! She's probably possessed!"
Daryn almost reaches Raiza before the message sinks in and she starts to back slowly away. But the Ice Queen's attention has been drawn. Daryn realizes she's not looking at her roommate as the Ice Queen begins levitating. She fires icy electric beams from her fingers, knocking Daryn back several feet. She lands in deep snow. The Ice Queen goes to turn her ice on Scott and Phil, who immediately exchange glances, and roll out of the way of the electrical pulse. They each fire back and miss. They reunite as the Ice Queen hovers right over them. Her hands begin pulsating with icy electricity. The two Ghostbusters increase their gun beam settings to full and fire at the Ice Queen's hands as she fires out a concentrated beam. The meeting of her beams and theirs results in a loud crackle that knocks her out of the air and back on her icy throne. She slumps over. Phil dashes up to check for a pulse on Raiza's neck while Scott fries another zombie near Daryn and dashes over to her. Daryn groans as Scott helps her to her feet. "First rule of ghost busting," Scott advises, "is to never go alone." Daryn nods as she shakes off the stupor.
"Raiza's heart is beating and she's breathing just fine," shouts Phil down to Scott and Daryn. Both feel relief upon hearing the news, and do not notice the four icy zombies about to grab them. Fortunately Phil does see the four undead minions and shouts, "Get down!" as he fires and melts all of them. Phil rejoins the party.
"Have you noticed that since that small altercation with sleeping beauty up there, the zombie numbers have increased by a lot?" asks Phil. "I'd guess it figured out people were here." The trio then shoots a few more zombies before running up the left hill. Just then, they feel a tremendous rumbling in the ground. They drop to their knees as the whole mountain shakes from trembling akin to an eight-magnitude earthquake. Then they hear a sinister, otherworldly voice. It says:
"Fools! You have just gotten yourselves an early annihilation by coming here. For far too long people have corrupted the natural existence of this planet with their garbage and have upset its harmony by fighting over its land. I am the almighty Wendigo, destined to rule all, and I will soon free this planet from the scourge that is humanity. I will start with you."
The Ghostbusters stare in horror as the big amorphous blob on the opposite hill starts taking shape. Four purple lightening beams shoot into it from the metal antennae of the nearby power station. One vaporous pale blue beam pours into the blob from the unconscious Ice Queen. The black blob morphs into a twenty-foot-tall cicada ice robot with a glowing purple star on its forehead. It begins to stomp toward the surprised exterminators.
"You know, I think he's serious," quips Phil.
"We'd better get serious, because we have exactly eight minutes to defeat this thing," chides Daryn, looking at her watch.
"Remember, team, fire at the eyes!" shouts Scott.
Wendigo stomps toward them, firing electrical charges from its claws. The Ghostbusters fire back on it and scramble for cover behind gravestones. Their proton fire does little more than slowing the beast as it calls up more icy zombies. They all but ignore the zombies as they keep scrambling from gravestone to gravestone, to avoid getting squashed by Wendigo. By now there are so many zombies that two take the place of every fallen one. The Ghostbusters are using all their energy just trying to keep away from the zombie hordes and the stomping of the humongous ice robot.
'Here's your humorous death. The bug is going to step on us.' Scott shouts to the others, "I don't get it. Mr. Helms said that the key to beating Wendigo is to burn its eyes to expose its heart. It's not working."
A trio of zombies grabs Scott just then. Wendigo fires his electricity beam and hits the Ghostbuster right square in the chest, burning off the zombies and knocking him back twenty feet in the air against a tree. He screams in pain and falls to the ground.
"Scott!" Daryn shouts, and runs over to her fallen teammate.
Phil pauses for just a minute in his hiding spot and looks over at the large power antennae behind the graveyard. He then leaps up, dashes over, and fires at a section where the purple charges seem to be converging. The big beast staggers back and the zombie army closing in on Scott and Daryn instantly turns toward the lone Ghostbuster. Scott regains consciousness and looks over at his friend firing at the power station. 'I'm such a moron. Not "eyes" but "eye," like a hurricane.' "Go help Phil! I feel fine!" Scott lies. He groans as he gets to his feet. Three ribs are cracked. The pain will have to wait. He fires on the zombies approaching Phil and cuts a path for Daryn, also shooting zombies before concentrating her proton stream at Wendigo's eye. The proton streams are starting to halt the flow of the purple electricity. The beast drops to one knee in pain, and calls down more of the Ice Queen's pale blue electricity into itself. Its chest cavity is just beginning to open. Scott uses the opportunity to close in, take out several zombies, and fire at Wendigo's eye.
"Damn it," curses Phil. "Even with all three of us, there still isn't enough atomic energy to neutralize the electricity! We'll have to cross the streams."
"You know what will probably happen if we cross the streams. Dr. Stantz went over it with us. The team in New York survived by sheer fortune. I doubt we'll be so lucky," snaps Scott.
Daryn points to the approaching zombies and the recharged bug behemoth. "If you have a better idea at this point we're all ears."
"Fine," shouts Scott. "But if we wake up dead I'm gonna' be really pissed off!"
They slowly move closer together, uniting the proton streams. Their streams connect and overload atomic energy into the electric eye. The recoil threatens to launch them all in different directions. A rumbling thunder drops the zombies for good. Pale blue electricity stops flowing out of the Ice Queen. The bug behemoth lands on its ass. Scott glances over his shoulder in the direction of the padded thump and sees the beast sitting there with its chest cavity wide open and its heart exposed. He withdraws his stream from the proton field and turns it on Wendigo's chest. The creature howls in pain and begins to shrink as positrons wash over its heart. Wendigo continues shrinking until the four purple lightening beams retract from it and shoot back up into outer space, the creature itself explodes, and the eye explodes--sending waves of electricity toward the Ghostbusters, sending them once again behind gravestones for cover. The collapsing eye sucks in all the ice and snow. After a few seconds, all is calm and quiet.
Scott, Phil, and Daryn lay on the green grass behind the gravestones for what seems like eternity; each one unsure if the battle is over. Then Phil sits up.
"Scott, are you okay?"
"Yes." He holds his side and sits up. "Daryn, are you okay?"
"Uh-huh." She sits up and looks at her watch. The time is 12:01am. This particular cemetery overlooks the Tualatin valley. The trio stares down at the panorama of city lights for a few minutes. Then Daryn remembers Raiza and mentions. All three stand up and walk over to the opposite hill. Raiza awakens as Daryn reaches for her friend and roommate. She helps the stunned girl to her feet and supports her as she walks.
"Wha—happened?" She asks groggily. "Where am I?"
"You were kidnapped and possessed, but we rescued you and annihilated the monster that possessed you," replies Phil, supporting Razia on the opposite side.
"If it is okay with you, I know a pretty good neurologist and psychiatrist. We'd like to have you examined for any possible brain damage or mental trauma caused by this whole thing. And also I'd like to run a few quick painless tests on you at our headquarters. Is that okay?" asks Scott.
Raiza nods affirmatively and talks with Daryn about the events of the whole ordeal, as they all walk back to Ecto-A.
"One more thing," says Phil. "Would you like to have dinner sometime?"