"Do you believe us now?" shot Dr. Egon Spengler to Nurse Crabbe. She nodded but fear kept her from speech. Kirsty started mumbling.
"No, no, no… you're not supposed to be real! They said you were only my imagination! They… You…" Kirsty broke down into shaking sobs. John ran to her side and embraced the terrified girl. "Come on, poor girl, we're not going to let them get you."
"No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering," purred Pinhead from the other side of the buckling gate. "Toymaker! It's good to see you again."
"Nurse Crabbe, go with the two security officers and round up the other girls. Get them to a hiding place. John, take Kirsty and try to find a way out of the building," barked Winston. "Do it now! Go!"
The head nurse and the two officers tore off down the hallway toward the patient sleeping rooms. John gathered up Kirsty and they started jogging down the long hallway toward darkness. Egon leaned in to his partner.
"What are you planning to do?" He asked quietly.
"Get our Slime Blowers from the car."
"You know the only way out is past the Cenobites," quietly stated Egon. "You'll need a distraction."
"Yep. I'm gonna' be the distraction. You get the packs."
The gate's resistance finally broke and the fiberglass and metal structure tore from the wall and hit the polished tile floor with an echoing clang. The Cenobites strode forward. Pinhead sent half his Cenobite army down after Nurse Crabbe and the officers. He, "Chompers," "Butterball," and the rest of the creatures followed John and Kirsty.
Winston and Egon ran off with John and company, but took a sharp detour into a darkened closet, and listened for footfalls. When everything died down, they snuck out back toward the lobby, and cautiously surveyed the territory. There were two Cenobite creations standing guard near the center of the lobby. One of these two had eyes all over its body, bloody wounds where the eyeballs had been rammed. The other could best be described as a "Minature Pinhead" with long spinal tap needles sticking out of its head and arms in patterns of inverted crosses. Both of these creatures were facing away from Winston. He crept along slowly, and reached down, picked up a small chunk of fiberglass, and threw it at the Miniature Pinhead. The creature growled in surprise, and turned to face its would-be assailant. It charged up to Winston and started swinging at the Ghostbuster, attracting the attention of the eyeball monster. Both creatures came after Winston and he led them down a dimly lit expansive hallway. Watching all of this, Egon left his hiding spot and ran toward the admitting entrance and Ecto-1, giving one last glance at Winston and the creatures. Dodging the attacks of the Cenobite creations was rapidly sapping the energy of his colleague, whom probably couldn't hold out much longer. He broke into a wind sprint and quickly made it out the broken building entrance.
Egon dashed over to Ecto-1 and retrieved both Slime Blowers from the rear of the car, put one on, and powered it up. The second Blower was too heavy to drag along, meaning Winston would have to come get it. Time to test the blood slime He ran back inside, down the hallway, and also threw a small chunk of debris at the creatures. They turned from his winded colleague and charged toward him. Miniature Pinhead prepared to whack him with its needle arms when he opened fire on both creatures. They stumbled around a bit in the slime shower and fell down motionless. Egon escorted his slightly bruised colleague toward the path back down the hallway to the side entrance and kept watch at the door. Winston hustled back out to Ecto-1 for the other pack and spied John's face in a second-story window. He saw Winston as well and was staring at him. The golden reflection of the parking lot lights off the window illuminated his worried expression. Winston quickly rejoined his colleague in Vineland's side entrance lobby, and both men faced the difficult task of deciding whom to rescue first.
"When I was getting my Slime Blower I saw John's face in a window on the far end. Man looked really worried, like Pinhead and his cronies weren't far behind. We ought to rescue them first," advised Winston. "Remember, we're shit out of luck if Pinhead kills them."
"True, but I don't relish the idea of living the rest of my life with the deaths of a registered nurse and several young women on my conscience, do you? We should go after them first," countered Egon.
"Damn it, I wish we had Ray and Pete here," cursed Winston. "Pinhead and his two top cronies were moving faster toward John and Kirsty."
"Heeeelp!" John's voice echoed from down the hallway.
"I guess the choice is made," commented Winston, as both Ghostbusters sprinted down the hallway toward John and Kirsty. They didn't see the two creatures Egon had shot down get back to their feet and shake off most of the slime before charging down the corridor after them.
…
John was trying his hardest to keep still and silent, as was Kirsty. After an initial breakdown in the hallway, John's efforts and her own resolve sent her mind out of panic mode and into survival mode. Afraid she'd emit a terrified squeak and give away their positions in the prevalent darkness should the mega-demons enter the room, she had pulled John's hand over her mouth and was holding it there with her own. John had hoped his desperate glance had communicated to Winston that the footfalls of Pinhead and his top demons were growing louder. The clangs and thuds of overturning beds, tables, chairs, and other such furniture in nearby rooms meant that the two hiding human beings didn't have much time left before they were found. He silently regretted that he had screamed for help, because it directly cut in half the number of rooms that the Cenobites would need to search to find them. John had lucked out in choosing a room that was piled high with boxes, old sheets, and other such storage junk. Crawling to their cramped and dusty hiding place in the pitch-dark maze of junk had made a little noise. At least, the Cenobites would have to dig through a lot to get to them if they found them, meaning more time for Egon and Winston to return with their weapons.
They then heard the creak of the door and spied a faint glow of white light from that direction. "You two will soon learn the pleasures of hell," a breathy voice growled from the direction of the light. The trio of Cenobites had located them faster then John had anticipated. John tensed up and tightened his huddle on Kirsty. He was uncertain what he felt greater: the rapid thumping of Kirsty's heart or the mad pounding of his own. "Come children, embrace your fate. There is no way out. You will know physical pain like never before, and you will learn to crave it." The sudden thump of an overturning box startled him and caused him to errantly bump an elbow, making a slight scratching sound. Pinhead, Chompers, and Butterball immediately turned to face the direction of the noise. The three demons began an assault on the room's junk with their otherworldly hooks, trying madly to uncover the origin of the noise. John felt naked and helpless without some kind of charm or weapon to protect himself and his charge. Kirsty got his attention with a gentle elbow nudge and motioned in the dark for him to follow her. He guessed she had found some kind of pathway through the dusty junk that led right to the room's door and was out of sight of the awful Cenobites.
Winston and Egon rushed down the corridor, shooting any Cenobite creations they found along the way. They hustled up the dimly lit tile staircase to the second floor and toward the extreme end of the facility wing. Footfalls distracted the Cenobites for just a moment, and the two escapees saw their opportunity. They crawled out the door and slammed it behind them. The two Ghostbusters spied the would-be victims and ran up to them. All four people were standing in near total darkness. Only pale white halogen glow from further down the hall made their shapes visible.
"He's… they're in that room…" gasped Kirsty.
Egon's PKE Meter beeped to life from his gun belt. The meter registered the same information as had Ray's at the bookshop. These were no demonic creations, they were the real deal: undiluted, chaotic, evil, Cenobites.
"You know, it would be a better idea to ignore them right now and hustle down to the girls at the other end of the wing," suggested Winston. "I feel better about avoiding a confrontation with those nasty bastards until we have to."
"Agreed," said Egon flatly. "Can you two stand?"
"Yes," said John, helping Kirsty to her feet. "We sneaked out the door when they were trying to find us in the maze of junk in that room."
Just then, an otherworldly chain broke through the window glass of the room's door and snaked toward them in midair. Not a word was needed as they dashed down the upper-level corridor. They dashed down the stairs only to be confronted at the bottom with an army of cenobite creations, all of them dripping with pink slime.
"Oh, shit," moaned Winston.
The chain that had been pursuing them now hovered like a floating Cobra at the top of the stairwell. Pinhead and his two Cenobites advanced into the pallid white glow of the stairwell lights. Illumination seemed to make them uglier than before. The trapped four humans moved up to the small mezzanine between both sets of stairs. John and Kirsty moved discreetly behind Winston and Egon, both of whom were directly facing upstairs. Suddenly the two Ghostbusters opened fire on the trio of Cenobites, hoping to down them in a slime shower. Terror took all motion from the four humans when they saw the three Cenobites still standing, pink slime dripping off their sinister frames.
"You Ghostbusters have meddled in my affairs long enough. I will relish adding you to my ranks," stated Pinhead, controlled glee making his breathy voice seem more otherworldly. "You have eluded me long enough, Toymaker," he hissed, turning attention to John and Kirsty. He then motioned toward Egon Spengler. The waiting hook now shot straight toward him, curved spike gleaming in the light of the stairwell. He put his arms up to shield his face and braced for tremendous stinging pain.
The pain never came. The hook got within inches of Spengler before an invisible force field repelled it. A mixture of surprise and annoyance exploded across Pinhead's pale blue face. He tried sending three more hooks at the two standing Ghostbusters. All three again came within mere inches of the paranormal exterminators before snaking back from the invisible force field.
Winston and Egon exchanged glances at each other, and then at the heavy slime-filled tanks on their backpacks. Pinhead growled in rage and frustration and again attacked with the hooks, but this time summoned a whole volley of the little surgical steel devices. Again, they all snapped back in unison from the invisible force field like demented metallic dreadlocks. The Ghostbusters under siege again exchanged glances and sprayed John and Kirsty without a word. They both shrieked in surprise when hit by the cool, gooey slime and fell down in the pink, putrid shower. Pinhead tried summoning his hooks against the fallen slimy humans. The two paranormal specialists saw the positive results of their attempted experiment as the hooks were again stopped by an invisible barrier mere inches from their victims. John and Kirsty stood up and faced the army at the bottom of the stairs.
"BANZAI!" shouted John as he dove into the waiting sea of sub-demons. The others followed right behind, Winston and Egon smacking off angry Cenobite creations with their large, heavy, thermos-like pack cannons. After a lot of struggling, they all managed to get through and charged back down the corridor. While fighting through the mob, Egon could have sworn he spied their missing accountant, Louis Tully. Louis seemed unharmed but distant, as if controlled by an unseen force. Egon chose to keep the sight to himself.
The four humans ran down the dimly lit corridor back toward the other wing. Upon reaching the lobby with the admitting entrance, John got an idea.
"Winston, toss me the keys to your vehicle," he said quickly. Winston looked at him curiously. "Pinhead's after us and we don't want him showing up while you guys are saving the girls and their nurse. We'll start Ecto-1, drive around the parking lot, and meet you guys at the back side of the building."
Winston tossed John the keys and sent Kirsty and him out to Ecto-1. Then they went charging down the dim hallway to the sleeping quarters. The two Ghostbusters shot the dozen Cenobite creations they found along the way, and upon reaching the quarters, began calling for Nurse Crabbe. After hearing her voice they wandered into a large shower room, found several more hideous Cenobite creations, and shot them all. Martha Crabbe and the fifteen girls all came out from custodial closets whose white doors blended into the shiny walls almost perfectly.
"What happened to the two security officers with you?" Asked Winston.
"Didn't you see them out in the hall? They died trying to keep those awful creatures from getting us," replied Nurse Crabbe. "I only looked back quickly, but both officers appeared to be having long things rammed into their heads. I didn't want to see any more."
"Well, we discovered that our weapons don't work on the Cenobites," started Egon. "But, if we shoot you, the Cenobites cannot harm you."
"Oh. Will the slime hurt us?" Asked the head nurse reluctantly.
"Naah. In fact, if any of you pass out from the shower you'll wake up feeling like a million bucks," reassured Winston.
"Girls, please gather over here around me in a small group," commanded Crabbe.
As soon as the girls were all gathered in a tiled corner of the expansive shower room, the two Ghostbusters opened fire on them and coated them all with the smelly, gooey slime shower. A few of them passed out from the murky assault, but most just stood there shocked.
"Now, get back in your hiding spots. My PKE Meter indicates that the creatures we downed outside the shower room are walking again. Is there anything in any of those closets that you can use to fight off the Cenobite creations if you're found? We're not sure if they can still attack you with foreign objects," asked Egon urgently.
"Well, there are brooms and mops," said Nurse Crabbe, motioning for the girls to return to their hiding spots. "But some of the girls are not ready to be fighting anything, let alone terrifying monsters."
"I was afraid of that," replied Egon. "Okay. Winston and I will attract the attention of the creatures. They seem to have limited memory capacity. We will attempt to make them forget about you and come after us."
…
Out in the parking lot, John was attempting to decipher the puzzle of lights and buttons on the dashboard of the converted ambulance. He had the car started, and wanted to do as much as possible to draw the attention of Pinhead, his cronies, and the Cenobite creations away from the hospital. That meant either drawing attention to the vehicle with extra lights or frying half the Cenobite army with the roof cannon.
"Pinhead's still in there with the girls, right?" Asked Kirsty. John could see the worry carved in her weathered yet cherubic face. "Won't he kill all of them after we leave?"
"Not likely. Pinhead's not patient at all. He won't bother to wait around to clean the slime off the girls while his intended quarry is getting away. And he operates mostly on instinct. In short, he doesn't want them and won't wait for some quick side-suffering if it takes any kind of effort," replied John.
It seemed to ease her mind a little, but she still wore a slightly worried look. John, meanwhile, spied Pinhead and his cronies emerge from the building's wrecked admitting entrance and march toward them like demented soldiers. He wished he could figure out which of the many buttons activated that damn cannon. It would have to wait until he retrieved the vehicle's owners. He put Ecto-1 into gear and stepped on the gas, sending the aged vehicle lurching forward and down the road away from Vineland Home for Girls.
The toy maker's descendant made sure to keep the Cenobite army close enough to stay in view, but far enough to keep from grasp. After reaching the bottom of the winding drive, John made a sharp turn onto the manicured lawn of the facility's grounds and sped back toward the building.
…
Egon and Winston were standing at the door of the shower room, in plain view of the walking Cenobite army. Worse still, the slimed sub-demons were waking up from the shower room floor. After spying the two paranormalists, they marched toward the doorway. The two Ghostbusters looked at both advancing hordes of Cenobite creations. They had barely been able to fight off the army in the other corridor, and there were twice as many sub-demons here, and two people fewer in their party. There was only a single way out: the gated hallway window behind them. It would have been a simple matter of blasting off the gate had they their Proton Packs. But sliming the windows would not do any good. The creatures stalked slowly toward them. Those that had weapons had them outstretched, ready to bludgeon the two interlopers for their intrusion. Winston and Egon backed up and looked at the painted bars protecting the clear glass window, and their one escape.
Just then, they caught the reflection of familiar blue lights in the glass of the window. John had arrived. They began banging on the structure, attempting to make noise and draw attention. It worked as the vehicle stopped and the passenger door opened. Kirsty saw the frantic motions of the two guys and ran to the window. Winston motioned for the young woman to listen carefully and then shouted.
"RELAY THIS MESSAGE TO JOHN. THE CAR HAS A ROOF CANNON. THE CONTROLS ARE ON THE UPPER LEFT SIDE OF THE CB RADIO. THE SMALL JOYSTICK ROTATES THE CANNON, THE LIGHT-SWITCH-LIKE KNOB INCREASES THE FIREPOWER, AND THE RECTANGULAR BLACK BUTTON FIRES IT. SET IT HIGH, AIM IT AT THE WINDOW, AND BLOW THE WINDOW OUT."
Kirsty nodded affirmatively and quickly went back inside the car. Winston and Egon saw motion from the roof of Ecto-1 and each kneeled down in opposite corners, shielding themselves from the anticipated heat. The Cenobite army was just about to close in when a gigantic orange beam ripped through the window, smashing out the glass and launching the painted metal structure. The atomic beam fried half the advancing sub-demons and the gate flattened the rest of them, before the beam fried them as well. The two Ghostbusters arose and walked out to the car through the new doorway, brushing tiny splinters of glass off of their persons.
"Thanks a lot, man!" Exclaimed Winston, storing his Slime Blower in the rear of the vehicle. "We were goners if you guys hadn't shown up."
"You're lucky Kirsty saw you and startled me into stopping the car," replied John.
"Even when I first met Miss Cotton, I knew she was a sharp woman," stated Egon, storing his own equipment in the trunk.
"Now, out of my driver's seat," stated Winston. John chuckled and moved to Ecto-1's back seat, along with Kirsty.
"Ecto, girl, you saved us again," purred Winston to the vehicle, patting the steering wheel.
"Now back up," commanded Egon. "I assume Pinhead hasn't gotten back to the building yet, and we don't want that to happen."
"Pinhead and his cronies won't hang around to kill the nurse or her patients; too much effort," stated John. "They want us."
Winston threw the vehicle into reverse and back out onto the green grass. He turned the car around, to face the advancing Cenobites. "Everyone strap in tight!" He shifted into overdrive and sped toward Pinhead. The car bounced and thumped around as it made contact with the demonic leader first, and then his two closest Cenobites. Many of the creations moved out of the ambulance's path and attempted to smash in the windows as the huge vehicle raced past them. Ecto-1 had nearly tipped over, but maintained balance when its passengers tensed up in their seats. Winston drove back onto the winding driveway and back down toward the town.
Surprised and relieved that the town of Vineland had survived the ordeal intact, the two Ghostbusters and the two survivors sped back along highway fifty-five toward the New Jersey turnpike, Manhattan, and the firehouse.