And here is Chapter 5! I will be totally honest with you, I didn't like this chapter. About half way through writing it, I got a sudden urge to start writing the next chapter, so the end of this one is pretty rushed, so this is probably my least favorite chapter yet. That said, Chapter 6 is my favorite chapter yet, and I had so much fun writing it. So, be honest when you tell me what you thought about this chapter, because I know it isn't my best.
I really wanted to post this chapter on Wednesday, but I hadn't finished Chapter 6 yet. Marching band camp started this week, so I was really tired when I got home everyday this week. Fortunately, I have a weekend off to write, so I'm hoping and praying for an update by Monday.
As for the movie for which Tina is auditioning, nobody is right just yet, but I will tell you that there was one very close guess. Again, a huge hint is in the first chapter, and if you do your research, you should get it.
Okay, read and review!
Disclaimer: I'm sure you all get the picture by now: I own nothing...
Chapter Five - Unbearable.
Welcome to Creepcreek, Illinois! Population: 89
Brittany read the sign that they were passing aloud, chuckling as she said 'Creepcreek.'
"Wow, I'm surprised this place was even on the map. It's more like a small gathering of people than a city!" Mercedes exclaimed as she looked around the tiny town, or rather, for the tiny town. Despite the entrance sign, all that the Gleeks saw were trees, trees, and more trees. They hadn't even left the vast forest yet. "Okay guys," Mercedes said, "keep an eye out for any signs of human life…"
Brittany looked out the window. "Okay, let's see…tree…tree…rock…tree…oh, hey, gas is only $2.13 here…"
"Oh wow, what a bargain," Tina said, "I'll have to tell my parents. With this economy, I wouldn't be surprised if they drove all the way out here to get gas every time they needed it…wait, what?"
All six passengers turned to see where Brittany was looking. Sure enough, off to the right, nearly invisible from the trees, a large sign with gas prices was on the side of a small dirt path barely big enough to fit Mercedes' car.
"Wow, good eye, Brittany!" Rachel complimented.
"What?" Brittany said, spacing off.
"…Never mind."
Mercedes pulled onto the path, and could now see the bright lights from the out-of-place gas station.
"Civilization! Oh sweet Jesus, thank you!" Kurt exclaimed. There were even several cars parked in front of the gas station and by the gas pumps.
"See, I knew everything would be fine!" Mercedes said.
"I'm bored."
"Puck, I don't want to hear you complaining. You got us into this, after all," Matt scolded.
"I'm glad I didn't go in the other car. Things would have been awkward with Rachel, you know?" Quinn said to Matt.
"Yeah, slapping someone isn't usually very friendly," Matt said.
"Wait, what?" Finn called from the back seat. "You slapped Rachel!"
Quinn hesitated. "…I…thought she…told you…"
"Why the hell would you do that!"
"Finn, calm down!" Mike implored.
"I want to know why you slapped my girlfriend!"
"Finn, it wasn't really Quinn's fault," Matt defended her.
Finn ignored him. "Was it jealousy?"
"You're kidding me, jealousy! Why the hell would I be jealous of Rachel!" Quinn turned around in her seat to glare at Finn.
"Oh, I could think of a couple of reasons!"
"Finn, seriously, I'm over you! And you weren't there! She called me a slut!"
"Did you ever think that maybe she had a point!"
"Finn!" both Matt and Puck yelled at the same time.
"That was uncalled for, man, this isn't like you," Puck said.
Finn glared at Quinn with icy eyes, remembering everything that had happened during the school year, how Quinn cheated on him, lied to him, and put him through hell. How could he nearly have forgotten? How can he forgive?
"Finn…" Quinn said as compassionately as possible, "You know I'm sorry about everything that happened…" She fought back the tears in her eyes.
"Sorry isn't good enough," Finn said callously. He opened the car door and ran out into the midst of the trees, sick of remembering the worst time of his life.
Puck sighed. "I'll go get him before he hurts himself."
"That's probably not a good idea…" Mike said. "And I'm sure you know why…I'll go get him."
Before Matt could protest, Mike stepped out of the car and ran to follow Finn.
Quinn burst into tears.
Artie coughed awkwardly. "Um…how did that happen?"
"Wanna know something?" Brittany asked Santana as they walked through the gas station's front doors. "It would be really cool if someone made a T.V. show about our lives."
"Why?"
"'Cause it would be cool. We could call it: Eel G.!" Brittany said the title waving her hands in the air dazzlingly and looking off into the distance brightly.
"What kind of name is that? Who would watch that show, anyway?"
"You're probably right…just a bunch of geeks or something."
"Ladies, please focus on the situation at hand," Rachel insisted as she followed the two inside, "We heartlessly deserted my boyfriend…and everyone else…somewhere in the woods where ferociously wild animals could easily get to him…I mean them…We have to return before something happens!"
"Rachel, calm yourself," said Mercedes, "We'll be back in no time." She looked around the gas station for a potential answer, but paused hesitantly.
There was someone behind the counter and several people walking around shopping, but they weren't acting like normal people. Though they were dressed ordinarily, they all stood with an erect posture and wide eyes that seemed to stare off into the distance.
"Um…excuse me?" Mercedes said cautiously. All at once, every single pair of eyes darted straight to the teenage girls standing at the door. Their faces were impassive and even seemed plastic.
"I…think I'll go wait in the car with Kurt and Tina…" Rachel said as she quickly left the gas station. Santana stepped forward confidently.
"Our friends' car broke down about twenty miles down the road. Do you guys have a tow truck or something?"
The mysterious residents just continued to stare intensely, until finally one spoke up. "You don't belong here…"
"What kind of supernatural crap is this?" Santana said, crossing her arms, "I think you people have watched way too many CW dramas…"
"Leave…"
"Ugh, how rude!" Mercedes. "We'll just go find help somewhere else then. Let's go, ladies."
Mercedes quickly stepped out. Santana followed, dragging Brittany along with her.
Suddenly, thunder boomed threateningly, and in a matter of seconds, the clear blue skies became monochromatically cloudy. Nearly immediately after, it began to pour excessively.
Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany hurried back to the car, where Kurt, Tina, and Rachel were motioning them to hurry up. They jumped into the car hastily, closed the door, and turned back to see what was happening.
Through the pouring rain, they could distinguish the silhouettes of the shady characters, all now standing outside of the gas station and watching them malevolently.
"Drive! Drive! Drive!" Rachel yelled in panic. Mercedes started the car and started driving back down the dirt path through which they had arrived. Only a few seconds after getting on the path, vehicle stopped and seemed to sink just a bit. The sound of the wheels trying but failing to get the car somewhere was audible.
"Crap…" Mercedes said, stepping out. Sure enough, the rain turned the dirt into mud and the car was stuck. She climbed back into the car.
"Okay, you guys get out and push and I'll step on the peddle."
"Are you crazy! Those freaks are out there!" Santana complained.
"But if you don't, we'll be stuck here forever!"
"But at least it's safe in the car!"
"And we have Jesus!" Brittany held up her bible.
"…okay…we'll just think of something else, then…" Mercedes sighed.
Why did we have to start arguing? Why did I have to be reminded of everything that happened?
Finn stopped running for a second to examine his surroundings, which, like the past several minutes, consisted of only trees. The road was no longer in sight. On top of that, it had just started to storm again, making vision even more impossible.
Great, now what? I'm probably going to die out here. Whatever. They probably don't even care.
Finn leaned against a tree, and then sat on the wet ground, putting his face in his hands.
What's wrong with me? I probably overreacted earlier…that was the past, after all. I shouldn't be complaining about it now…
"Finn! Finn! Come on, man, where'd you go!" Finn heard a familiar voice calling, followed by thunder roaring fiercely. "Finn, where are you! I hate thunder and lightning but I'm not going back to the car without you!"
Finn sighed, then responded: "Mike!"
"Finn?" Mike followed the voice until he found Finn sitting by one of the trees, understandably drenched. "Finn…" Mike started.
"I know, I know…"
"But I don't. What got into you back there?" Mike sat down beside Finn.
"I…remembered everything Quinn did to me and I got sort of overwhelmed…"
"'Sort of' seems like an understatement to me…"
Finn laughed, then sighed. "We've barely been on the road for two days and look what's happened so far!"
"Yeah, I'm kind of scared to see what else we have to go through," Mike admitted, "but we can't keep going on if you don't come back to the car…"
"But how am I supposed to face Quinn now?"
"People have problems, Finn, but they don't go away just by ignoring them. I know you want things to be okay between you and Quinn, but you have to at least try."
Finn sighed again. "…Okay, let's try then." He got up, then helped Mike up. "And besides, I'm cold and wet out here. So let's go."
"Perfect, so…I came from that way…" Mike pointed in a specific direction, "…I think."
"You think?"
Mike shrugged innocently.
"I'm hungry," Puck said, taking out a bag of Doritos from the back of the seat.
"When aren't you hungry, Puck?" Artie wondered. "By the way, where are Finn and Mike? They've been gone for like twenty minutes! And it started raining again!"
"I'm sure they're fine," Matt reassured. "I hope…" He handed Quinn another tissue, which she blew her nose in and tossed away before taking another.
"Hey, this reminds me of that one scene in the movie Jurassic Park!" Artie exclaimed. "It's stormy, which makes it really dark, and the car won't move. Now all we need is a ferocious monster to attack us."
"I don't exactly think we need any monster to attack us," Matt said.
"Although that would explain why Mike and Finn aren't back yet. Maybe they got eaten," Puck suggested. He opened his bag of Doritos and rubbed the fog off of the window to see if he could see Finn and Mike anywhere, but his eyes grew wide. He began to eat the Doritos like popcorn at the movies during an intense scene.
"Puck? What's up?" Artie said, trying to look over Puck.
Curious, Matt rubbed the fog off of his window to see what was up, and he saw it, too.
"Oh, cool! A bear! Right by my car! Quick, someone take a picture!" Matt exclaimed. The black bear was busy investigating the parked vehicle. It sniffed around the tires, the doors, and the windows, until it reached the window through which Puck was looking.
"Puck…put those Doritos away…now…" Artie said. The bear pressed its nose to the window, its interest piqued. It raised a paw and started scratching at the window.
"Hey, watch it! My mom will kill me if I get a scratch on this car!" Matt worried, though it was probably too late.
The bear, oblivious to Matt, started shaking the car, trying to get to the treats inside.
Quinn screamed. "It's going to kill us, isn't it? We're all going to die, aren't we?"
The bear just roared and continued shaking.
After having walked through trees for ten minutes in a direction Mike and Finn thought wasn't the right one, they finally emerged onto the road.
"Holy crap, is that a bear!" Finn yelled a little too loud.
"Shhhh!" Mike insisted. The bear turned from the car to the teenage boys standing on the side of the road. "Don't…move…" The curious black bear started walking toward the two newcomers.
Puck jumped out of the car, waving the Doritos in the air. "Hey!" he yelled, hoping to distract the bear, "Hey! Over here!" Once the bear looked that direction, Puck threw the bag off to the side. The bear rushed for the cheesy treat as Mike and Finn rushed to get in the car. Puck joined them.
"That was close…" Mike said.
But the bear wasn't done. It finished the Doritos and turned back to the car. It started to approach the car again, but it was suddenly frightened by a bright light. It ran off into the forest.
Everyone in the car turned around to see what scared the bear, and sure enough, headlights were visible in the distance. The incoming car pulled up behind them, and a figure stepped out.
"I can't take this anymore! We have to get out and push the car!" Rachel declared.
"Are you crazy!"
"Do you want to die!"
"Haven't you seen the movies!"
Suddenly, all the skepticism died down as they noticed headlights coming down the path. A man in a truck drove up behind their car, and Mercedes and company noticed a familiar minivan being towed along behind them.
From there, everything was explained. The man towing Matt's car was someone named Charlie, who had driven up behind them and helped them out. Charlie explained how the residents of this tiny town simply scare people like they did because they rarely get visitors, possibly because there is a gas station just before that town and nobody ever has to stop. Charlie got through to the once-thought-to-be crazy people and Matt's minivan was filled up with gas. The thunderstorm let up, and Brittany spread the word of Jesus to the townsfolk. Then, the two cars filled with Gleeks took off once again, back on the route to Hollywood.
Gah, I hate that ending. But I just wanted to start on the next chapter. I promise, Chapter Six will be awesomesauce. Something big is going to happen within the next two chapters, so get ready!
So, hoping for an update on Monday! The more you review, the faster I write, so review!