CHAPTER 7
Carrie took the stage right as Sue Snell arrived. Chris, who couldn't resist being smug, texted her that Carrie was about to take a fall. Sue spotted Billy's car, and parked to deliberately block him in.
You're not getting away with this, Chris.
When she finally gained entry by Rick Holcomb and Keith Shepard exiting, Sue stormed through the lobby.
Rick and Keith met Eric and D. in the parking lot. Rick and Keith, the inside men, were dressed in formals. Rick's tux was blue, Keith's was a plain, conservative black with a white shirt. Eric and D were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. They both carried weapons bags. The boys armed themselves swiftly, Keith and Rick shed their jackets and put on ninja masks.
"Prom queen chosen?" asked Eric, handing Rick his rifle.
"Yeah, it was Carrie White and Tommy Ross," said Keith.
"Carrie?" said D. "Can I shoot her, Eric?"
"Okay, just make sure it's your first shot. I'll take out Ross."
The weapons, ammunition and homemade explosives were swiftly divided up.
"Guys, thanks, it's been great knowing ya." said Eric. "I really thought one of you would snitch us out, but you're all perfect gentleman. Now, you all know the plans." He held up the the transmitter with the switch. Ready?"
"Yeah—yes—uh huh," they said.
"Set . . . Go!" He pushed the button. Inside the gym, three explosions went off, each one illuminating the windows with a solid wall of white light. "Everyone is now blind and deaf." Eric and D rushed to the center doors, Keith took the far left door, Bill took the right.
Inside the gym, Tommy and Carrie were on their way to the stage. The school song was being played and sung.
"Heather," said Sue, grabbing the redhead by the arm, "where's Chris?"
"What are you talking about? She's not here."
Sue knew that was bullshit and walked on in disgust. Heather and Chris were thick. Whatever was happening, Heather knew about it, but Sue didn't have time to interrogate. Something was going down now. With wet, lank hair, and dressed warm up suit and t-shirt, Sue stood out like a duck in a pond full of swans.
Vic now announced, "Ewen High! I give you your newly crowned King and Queen of the prom, Tommy Ross and Carrie White!"
Carrie was on stage next to Tommy, smiling with a radiance Sue had never seen from her. For a moment, she caught Carrie's eye. But Sue was searching around for a threat.
It has to be something dropped from above . . .
Her eyes scoured that direction. A camera flashed. She saw something glint galvanic gray above the stage lights. Moving to the side to get them out of her eyes, she focused there again, and another flash revealed it. A bucket, strung precariously with a rope. It was thirty feet above Carrie. Chris was at the other end of the line, her expression maniacal, Billy standing behind her. For a moment, they looked like a two-headed monster to Sue.
"Chris!" Sue said.
She was grabbed on the arm. It was Rita Desjardin, Sue's gym teacher, who was pissed. "Sue! Come on!"
"What are you doing?"
"Come on!"
Sue was surprised by Rita's strength. In the crowd, with all the applauding and music, Sue couldn't figure out how to tell her teacher what was about to go down. "Miss Desjardin, Please! It's not me. It's Chris!"
As Sue tried to reason with her, Rita continued to push or drag Sue toward the door.
"You're not gonna ruin this for Carrie," said Rita.
"It's not me!"
As Sue was forced closer to the door, she was deafened by an explosion. A bright light caught her peripheral vision. Two more explosions followed. These shook Sue's bones but she didn't hear them above the buzz of her stunned hearing. When she and Rita raised their heads, they were two of a handful of people in the gym who weren't blinded by the stun bombs. Several people were already injured. The air was full of smoke, and the sprinklers activated, soaking them immediately with an eerie, silent rain. Sue turned, and through the uneven smoke could discern aimless shock coalescing into mass panic. She caught Carrie's eyes, which looked wide, and unfocused, Tommy had his hand over his. Then Rita hit Sue on the elbow.
Sue spun around and froze. A guy in a tuxedo and Ninja mask took aim at her with a Kalashnikov. Rita, who had served in Iraq, tackled her under the cover of a table, saving Sue's life as the shots started.
When Carrie and Tommy marched up toward the king and queen spots, Chris giggled and almost jumped up and down on the catwalk. Then she regain her composure and now went still with the patience of a spider in a web, watching a fly walking close to the threads. As Carrie took her place, Sue was ready for the dirty work.
But her silence and focus disturbed Billy, who again mistook it for cold feet.
"Hey, what's wrong. Come on, go. You can do this."
She ignored him. She wanted this to have maximum effect on Carrie. Not just a blow to her psyche, but a mortal wound.
Not yet . . . Carrie doesn't believe it, yet. Let her pinch herself, know it's real, settle in to being the new popular girl. Once the blood hits her, she'll want to kill herself.
"We are fucking doing this," said Billy. "It's too late to back out now."
"Ewen High!" Vic said over the speakers, "I give you your newly crowned king and queen of the prom: Tommy Ross and Carrie White!"
"Pull it!"
"Shut up, Billy!" she snapped, too loud. She feared he made her give herself away.
A shift in Carrie's posture signaled Chris.
She believes. Sucker! Freak! Freak! Now you die!
She yanked the rope, and it jammed in the pulley.
Fuck!
Billy took the rope and tried to clear it, when the deafening explosions hit. The three flashes were so bright, that it lit up the dark catwalk. Chris thought they were spotted, not that it mattered with nuclear war starting. Then, smoke obscured the whole apron below.
"What the . . . ?" Billy mouthed. His eyes were wide, an expression Chris never thought she'd see on Billy: fear, bewilderment. They stood paralyzed, neither of them saying or hearing anything. Then Chris decided.
I came here to do this, I'm gonna do it.
She gave the rope one last hard tug before they fled.
The stun bombs seemed like a good idea, but Eric failed to consider two things. One was the smoke, which blinded the shooters, though not as much as their quarries were blinded. The second was, the sprinkler system, which, of course let loose with a downpour. For the time being, this was only an annoyance, but their explosives weren't waterproof.
Eric calculated that authorities would arrive soon, but by that time, many prom-goers would be dead, and then it would be time to detonate the car bomb, which would kill the rest of the students and teachers, police and rescue crews.
Good. Kill 'em all. Thought Eric.
He and D. barged into the center doors, and had a clear line of sight to the prom king and queen. Tommy was blinking, holding his head. Carrie's eyes were wide, blind and trancelike. D. aimed at her head and squeezed off two shots with his Bushmaster. Eric took aim at Tommy.
Tommy, hit in the chest, was tossed backward. Carrie's head lurched to the side. Blood splattered across the starry, venetian backdrop. As she fell, her arm pitched upward sending the red roses of her bouquet scattering across the stage. The king and queen were overthrown.
Eric wasn't interested in what happened next, but D. stopped and watched in amazement as a stream of blood poured down on the stage, followed by a falling bucket.