I own nothing sourced from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but dont distribute this story without my permission please.
A/N: it's dawned on me that maybe some people have gotten lost with my last few chapters, the 3 chapters previous to this one all happened simultaneously, this story is moving along the chronological timeline, whilst chapters 3, 4 and 5 all happened at the same point in time, but from different viewpoints and in different locations- just thought i'd clear that up in case there was any kind of confusion going on!.
Zack and Cody finally managed to hobble under the smoke toward the back of the cinema, having to dodge bodies and rubble all along the way, the building was falling apart and the heat inside was intense, with a strong fire still burning and creating thic
Zack and Cody finally managed to hobble under the smoke toward the back of the cinema, having to dodge bodies and rubble all along the way, the building was falling apart and the heat inside was intense, with a strong fire still burning and creating thick black smoke.
Finally the twins escaped out into the corridor where there was a little more light and the high ceiling meant the smoke was a little higher in there so they could stand up and look around more, nothing could have prepared them for the site before them. There were mangled, bloody bodies strewn across the whole area, at least thirty of them, with a variety of injuries ranging from the relatively minor to the fatal.
Screams of panic, cries to go and moans of pain filled the air, some of the moans of pain coming from Zack and Cody, who, although able to move, were quite severely injured and loosing blood quickly, although the makeshift bandages helped this a little.
"Oh, god, it's horrible" cried Cody
"Yeah, I know, don't worry little bro, you've got me, you'll be ok" Zack tried to comfort Cody
"I wont be ok until we find London and Maddie, I hope so much that they are alright" Cody was deeply worried but desperately tried to hang onto hope, although the chances of them surviving did not seem good, Cody was amazed that not everyone had been killed, the destruction was so massive.
"Why did they run off to the bathroom together anyways?" Zack asked, he was regaining some logical thought and he suddenly thought it pertinent to ask
"To talk about me…um, I kinda made a move on London in the cinema, I like her, I really like her" Cody replied.
"Oh, well she'll definitely go out with you when you save her life!" Zack tried to cheer Cody up, but Cody was unable to shake a feeling that something terrible had happened to London, Cody didn't want to think like that but he couldn't help but be pessimistic.
"Which way is the bathroom?" Zack asked, breaking Cody's silent thought
"That way" Cody pointed down the corridor to the left and the Twins set off avoiding the rubble and smoke, trying to get there as fast as they could.
Zack and Cody's advance to the bathrooms was quickly cut short by the fact that a large section of roof had collapsed just around the corner from their cinema, on the way to the bathrooms, the destruction in the general area of the bathrooms seemed much more intense than in the other parts of the complex, so it seemed obvious to the twins that the explosion had originated in that area. Zack and Cody tried to stay positive, but they knew the intense destruction in the area made it all the more likely that both Maddie and London had been killed.
Zack wanted to stay strong for his little brother and so outwardly as much as he could he tried to stay positive and optimistic, but deep inside he felt horror and fear that Maddie had been killed, recently they had become all the more close and Zack thought that he might have finally gotten his 'Sweet Thang' in the not too distant future. Cody sensed his twins fear and said "I'm sure Maddie is OK Zack, I just know it"
"Thanks Cody, I hope your right" was all Zack could think to stay, desperately trying to believe his brothers words.
Eventually, with a lot of careful climbing and slow going Zack and Cody managed to get over the rubble and toward the bathroom, there were some people like them around, but they were looking for a way out, an escape route, but this way there was none, the emergency exit corridor had been sealed shut and fire raged on the floor above preventing any exit from the roof. The fire-fighters and police outside were the only hope for those still trapped inside.
When Zack and Cody managed to get to the other side of the rubble to an opening near where the bathrooms were, the destruction still massive but not as much as behind them they saw a figure that appeared positively angelic to them.
"MADDIE!" Zack and Cody screamed in unison, screaming being a relative term because their injuries prevented them from any proper screaming. As the twins got closer to Maddie however they noticed something, where was London? And why Maddie looked so sad, she was crying. It hit Zack and Cody at the same time, the look on Maddies face said it all, they suddenly realised London Tipton was dead.
"no" was all Cody could get out in a timed voice before collapsing against a wall.
Zack went over to Maddie and gave her a big hug, "I'm sorry Maddie, but I'm so glad your alive, sweet thang" Zack trying to be strong for Maddie and Cody, he felt he needed to be the rock in the situation, but inside Zack was experiencing more pain than he had ever thought possible.
Maddie couldn't speak, inside she was happy the twins were alive, but having just had her best friend die in her arms she was incapable of any kind of happiness, she couldn't even smile, she just hugged Zack, and then they both hugged Cody.
"We need to get out of here" Zack finally said, breaking the silent mourning embrace. Maddie and Cody silently knew he was right, they didn't want to leave London, but they knew there was no sense in them staying inside; the building could collapse at any moment. The three of them set out the way Zack and Cody had come, the smoke was getting thicker so they knew they needed to get out quicker, it had been about 25 minutes since the initial explosion. When they reached the cinema they had been in before Zack, Cody and Maddie followed the trail of other bloody victims, trying desperately not to look at the bodies which were strewn across the floor, there must have been at least 30 dead bodies in the main hall alone.
After moving through the main hall, staying low under the smoke and dodging bodies, injured victims and rubble the 3 friends eventually made it to the ticket hall, and just as they entered the hall they saw it, a huge fire, blocking the exits, the whole hall was burning, but through the flames they could see their rescuers desperately trying to douse the flames so that they could get in a rescue those trapped inside.
"I guess we're best off to find somewhere safe here, tend to our wounds as best we can and hope they get through quickly, I'm starting to feel faint" said Cody, his makeshift bandages were soaked in blood and beginning to loose their effect.
Just and Zack and Maddie opened their mouths in agreement they were interrupted by another massive explosion, as second blast, obviously aimed to kill off any survivors of the first one, and any rescuers that had made it inside. The explosion came from somewhere in the ticket hall, less than 100 feet from Zack, Cody and Maddie the blast threw them backwards and sent rubble in their direction. Zack, in a act of remarkable heroism thew himself in front of his twin, shielding him from the blast, but putting himself in harms way, all three were stunned and blinded by the chocking smoke, Cody was the first to stir
"Zack?"
"Maddie?"
Cody received no answer….
Ok, well, there's a nice long chapter 6 to head into the weekend with, i thought a cliffhanger was needed, hope you like it, and as always, keep the reviews flowing and the views up! more to come very very soon!