!REVIEW RESPONSES!
DJ-Dude2649: I'm glad you like it:) Yes we will be seeing Crocker, AJ, and Chester soon, along with a few others;) and don't worry, Vicky will answer for everything soon,
!ENJOY!
Chapter 4: School Shoot Out
As they slept, Danny tossed and turned restlessly as he dreamed. He could hear himself and his friends and family laughing. He heard what sounded like a machine starting up and he heard a man and woman screaming. He screamed as he bolted awake. He was breathing heavily for a few moments before realizing it was morning and Bucky was standing by the door with Timmy and Jimmy beside him.
"Hey buddy, you alright?" He asked as Danny got up.
"Yeah, just had a bad dream, are you two ok?" The teen asked.
"We're fine, better than sleeping in a treehouse." Timmy frowned.
"Well, you slept on a classroom floor, little man; lucky the monsters didn't get ya." Bucky laughed as they looked around fearfully. "But I bet Danny scared 'em all away, huh?" He added. Just then a boy around Timmy and Jimmy's age ran into the room with a big grin on his face. This was Bucky's son and Timmy's friend Chester McBadbat.
Chester had short blond hair, turquoise eyes and wore an olive green coat over a black shirt, jeans and he also had braces.
"Dad! We're gonna enforce the backdoors like they do in the zombie movies!" He exclaimed before running off.
"We better get going or we won't hear the end of it." Bucky smiled and they followed him and his son down the hall. "That's my boy, Chester; nothing bothers him, like water off a duck's back, y' know."
"That's a valuable trait lately." Danny smiled.
"No kidding but frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers." Bucky laughed. "But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." He added as they walked up to the Dinklebergs, Chester an old woman and a tall man who looked very similar to the woman.
"The word is you were on your way to Amity Park," Bucky said.
"My family's from there, I just want to make sure they're ok." He replied.
"Well, Amity Park's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to, even if he's just a kid himself."
"Maybe, we'll see how things shake out with this place." He replied.
"Ha, good luck with that kid." Bucky laughed before turning to the pale man and old woman. "That's Denzel Crocker, he's a teacher here, and his mother Dolores-Day Crocker."
"Hey there, I'm Danny and this is Jimmy and Timmy."
"I know who Turner is," Crocker growled and Danny straightened up, glaring at the man's tone. "He's my worst student."
"Denzel, watch your tone." His mother scolded. "They're just children, we're all here because we're trying to survive this nightmare."
"Maybe Mother, but unlike these brats I'm prepared." He smirked and pulled up his shirt to reveal a small handgun sticking out of his pants pocket. Before they could say anything Geraldine Waxelplax approached the group.
"Well, we should get to work; we've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get the doors secured, the better." She explained.
"I wanna help!" Timmy and Chester grinned
"Yeah? Well, I need a good foreman." Bucky smiled.
"You can sit on the side and yell at us whenever we take a water break." Mr. Dinkleberg laughed as the four of them headed for the doors.
"I can keep an eye on your little brother while we're checking our supplies." Dolores smiled. Danny looked to Jimmy to see if he was fine with that. The boy nodded and Danny decided to see if the others needed any help.
"Hey, there Bucky." Danny smiled. "Need any help?"
"Naw, I think I got it; do YOU need any help?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, in taking care of those two boys, you know what you're doing?"
"I think I've got it handled okay," Danny replied. "As long as I keep them safe, I think I'm doing alright."
"With those things out there, maybe that's not enough," Bucky said without thinking but quickly cleared his throat. "But you gotta ask yourself if you're the type of guy who can do better than that if their parents don't show up soon."
"I'll keep that in mind." Danny nodded before heading off to see if Jimmy and the girls needed help. He looked around and saw Crocker skulling down the hall to who knows where, but he didn't really care. He found them in the cafeteria looking through boxes of canned food and other supplies. "Whoa, you three actually look relaxed."
"Jimmy was just telling me about school." Mrs. Dinkleburg smiled
"Oh, uh, how is that?" He asked the boy.
"It's easy." He shrugged. "Especially when I have an impossible I.Q. of 210."
"Whoa." Danny breathed, very impressed. "With that brain, you'd pass college by the time your thirteen."
"Hopefully." Jimmy smiled as he picked up a box to take it into the back. Once he was gone Danny turned to Mrs. Dinkleberg and saw the distraught and teary look in her eyes.
"Are you ok?" He asked as he took a seat next to her.
"Just for a moment then it was almost like we didn't see flying monsters or people eating each other for the past three days." She chuckled bitterly.
"So, uh, what do you do when monsters aren't walking around?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"My husband is an entrepreneur and I'm unemployed." She explained. "What is it that you do, other than school?"
"I used to dream of being an astronaut." He smiled.
"We need to HOPE that we can go back to our jobs and dreams soon, Danny, it can't stay like this." She smiled. Danny simply nodded before going back to check on how the door barricade was coming along. Bucky must have been looking for more materials and Timmy was looking in the lockers to see if there was anything useful inside while Chester was watching his dad.
"How are you doing, boys?" He asked them.
"Not good, there's nothing in here." Timmy glared as he slammed another locker shut and walked off down another hall.
"What about you Chester?"
"I'm the foreman! Lift with your back, Dad!" The blonde boy shouted.
"Hey, Danny." Bucky smiled before turning to his son. "Chester, why don't ya go help Timmy out, Danny can keep me on track." He laughed. Chester nodded and ran off to find the bucktooth boy.
"Need a hand?" The teen asked.
"That'd be great, if you could hold up those two-bys to length, that'd be a big help." He replied and Danny picked up the boards; after a few minutes, Bucky sighed in exhaustion. "My boy doesn't know how bad it is."
"No, he doesn't," Danny said, having noticed it right away.
"I saw a guy new our trailer kill a kid, a boy, just shot him right in the face." Bucky whimpered. "For a moment I thought it was my Chester until he came up behind me asking what that bang was."
"Was the boy one of the infected?"
"I don't even know, he was either attacking the guy or asking for help." He said in a shaky voice. "He didn't even hesitate, he just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between this kid's eyes and pulled the trigger; you don't see things like that."
"They don't fall as you think."
"Did you have to do it?"
"What?"
"Kill." Bucky glared. "Have you had to off one yet?"
"Sometimes it's kill or be killed; I had to kill two." He replied. "One was my cab driver, the other was a little girl who was staying with Timmy and Jimmy."
"I could kill one, maybe, if it was far away," Bucky said, not meeting the teen's eyes. "I'm just glad we're getting this place secure." He added. "Mr. Crocker just wants to save himself and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there."
"I suppose he's not wrong."
"How about you? How's your family?"
"My sister and parents are in Amity Park, I hope."
"Oh, man, I hope so too, maybe it's not too bad there."
"Hey Bucky, thanks again for the ride yesterday." Danny smiled. "I mean it, you and Mr. Dinkleberg might have saved our lives."
"No problem, Danny, couldn't leave you guys behind." He chuckled. "Anyway, when you see Geraldine around, she might want some help in the office, I think she's trying to call for help." He explained and turned but to the doors. Danny nodded and headed off to the principle's office; as he looked for the office he saw Crocker's mother heading to where they were working on the doors with bottles of water.
"Hey Dolores, do you know where the principle's office is?" He asked.
"Yes dear, just down that hall and two more lefts." She smiled before walking off...
When Danny managed to find the way the principle's office he saw Crocker standing therewith Geraldine. It seemed he had just walked into something very heated and tense. After a few moments of awkward silence, Crocker walked out, giving Danny a glare. He turned to the woman but she refused to meet his eyes as she messed with an old radio, trying to get a signal.
"You should know that if you weren't leaving with the Dinklebergs today, I wouldn't stand for your lack of honesty last night." She finally said.
"I'm not sure I follow." He frowned.
"I have been a teacher for a long while now, in that time you learn when children and teachers are lying or trying to hide something." She explained. "How'd you get out of Amity Park?"
"I got a ride and then I was in a wreck, I walked until I found the boys and then Bucky and Mr. Dinkleberg brought us here."
"Hmm, well, you're no worse for wear." She frowned. "Where's your family now? Parents? Girlfriend?"
"My parents are in Amity Park, with my sister."
"Well, I hope they're alright."
"But now you've got these little boys to take care of, you just stumbled upon them?"
"I was looking for help when I came upon Timmy's house, then I was being attacked and they came to my rescue." He explained before glaring. "What are you even getting at?" He asked. She said nothing for a few moments as she kept trying to get the radio to work before standing up and walking over to the teen.
"Can I give you a piece of advice?" She asked and he nodded. "I do not know who you are or what you did, but you had better become a better liar, and fast." She glared. "Let's say things don't get better back in the cities, or they get worse before they do, you're gonna have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're gonna make it and if those same people question yours, you're gonna be in trouble; so whoever you are, and whatever you did, keep it to yourself."
Danny wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut.
"But at least you have the common sense to listen to someone's advice." She smiled.
All of a sudden there was a loud crack and a bloodcurdling scream echoing down the halls.
"What the hell?!" Danny cried.
"GO! I'll get Mr. Crocker and his gun!" Geraldine ordered and she ran off down the opposite hall. Danny quickly ran into the classroom they had slept in and grabbed his sword before going to help. As Danny ran to see what was happening, he saw the Dinklebergs and Bucky following close behind. As they got closer to the screaming Danny's stomach dropped when he heard familiar growls and hissing. When they reached the doors, they saw that Chester and Dolores were trapped under the boards and some lockers.
Dolores was trying to fight off three infected trying to get through the doors as Timmy and Jimmy stood back in terror.
Suddenly two ghosts flew in through the doors and circled overhead before lunging at Timmy and Jimmy. Reacting almost on instinct, Danny pulled out his sword and sliced through both ghosts before turning to see that the Dinklebergs had grabbed the two boys and ran off to safety and Bucky tried to save Chester. Danny ran up to Chester and tried to pull him out from under the boards and lockers, but to no avail. Just as an infected tried to bite them, Danny drove to blade into its head and it turned to goo just as Bucky managed to free his son.
"I got you!" He said as he scooped Chester into his arms and hugged him tightly, his voice shaking.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!" Dolores suddenly screamed in terror. Bucky turned to the old woman but then ran away to take Chester to safety. Danny made to run to help Dolores, but it was too late. The board she was using to defend herself was knocked out of her hand and the infected bit into her shoulder as she screamed just as Crocker ran up with his gun and shot the monster in the head. They both stood there for a moment as the boys, the Dinkleberg and Bucky returned.
Quickly Crocker rushed to his mother's side and cradled her as blood gushed from her wound and onto the floor, mixing in with the goo around them.
As her eyes darted around in a blind panic, her son sobbed into her uninjured should as she gasped her last breath. Crocker hugged her dead body for a few moments as Danny stood in front of Timmy and Jimmy to block their view of Dolores. Just then Hershel stood up with his back to them all, incredible anger and sadness radiating off him.
"Get out." He hissed before turning to them. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"
"I'm sorry," Bucky said, looking anywhere but the body or Crocker.
"SORRY?! Your family is alive! You don't get to be sorry! And YOU!" He screamed before turning to Danny. "You didn't even try to help!"
"I was worried about the boy," Danny replied sympathetically
"But you weren't worried about a poor OLD WOMAN?!" He screamed before pulling it out his gun and aiming it at them. "GET OUT!"
"What is going on here?!" Geraldine asked as she rounded the corner next to them.
Suddenly Crocker turned around and shot her in the stomach. Everything froze for a second before Geraldine crumbled to the floor, clutching her bleeding stomach, releasing a breathless gasp. That was all the signal they needed before Danny grabbed Timmy and Jimmy's wrists and dragged them to the classroom to grab their rucksacks. Quicker than lightning, they grabbed their bags and ran out the front doors just as Bucky was about to drive off.
In the pickup truck were the Dinkleberg's and Chester.
Danny quickly threw the boys into the back of the truck and jumped in after them as they peeled out of there to who knows where...
!READ AND REVIEW FOR UPDATES!
