A/N-8/2/14: I've also written most of Chapter 9. It should be up by the middle of the week.
CHAPTER 8
After Rita saved Sue's life, Sue decided survival depended on sticking with her. They retreated from the gunman in stages, staying under cover. When Sue tried to look over the table. Rita pulled her down by the hair and mouthed, "Stay low." Or maybe she said it aloud. They were both still deaf.
Sue had no idea how Rita led them between the gun sights through all the smoke seemingly without even a glance. Sue watched Donna Simard and Billy Preston get gunned down next to them. This happened in a silent, eerie, driving rainstorm where everything was soaked and slick.
Rita took her to a fire exit on the far left, but held Sue back. There was already a mob trying to push out against doors that wouldn't yield. One of the gunman showed up and simply picked them off like target ducks in a box. Some of Sue's lifetime friends died in front of her: Jessica McClean, Hank Stampel, Donna Troust, George Dawson and Frieda Jason all went down. Last shot was Mr. Morton, the assistant principal.
Sue recognized the gunman. Is that Dillion Koibuld? It seemed to Sue he would be doing this. Dillion, D., then threw something in their direction. It landed to Sue's right. Rita's face distorted in panic. Sue saw the word, "Run!" form on her lips. Rita grabbed Sue's sleeve and dragged her so hard that even with Sue following, it tore. They broke cover, Sue felt a shot whiz over her head. She followed Rita. They dashed and dove. Rolling, Rita grabbed an upended table and dragged it over them.
A bone-shaking blast went through Sue. The air turned so hot Sue could hardly breathe. Steam rose from the floor. This and the smoke blinded the shooter to them. A deformed metal chair landed nearby, followed by a table leg, and then by a human leg. Sue was too dazed to scream. Rita got to her knees, and Sue read the words, "Keep moving! Keep moving!" on her lips as Rita again pulled Sue along. They ducked into the doorway that led back stage.
The air was clear back there, but it was darker. Rita immediately looked for the exit. Sue staggered after her, but found herself distracted.
Where's Tommy?
She had completely lost track of him after the first explosions. Sue called his name. Meanwhile, Rita tried the exit doors and found them chained shut from the outside.
Still dazed, Sue wandered on to the stage. Due to the smoke and mist, she could see almost nothing of the pandemonium beyond the apron. Her ears were still too shocked to hear much.
Blood!
It was everywhere. A huge puddle of it. It was splashed on the venetian scene painted so skillfully on the backdrop. Carrie lay unmoving at the pool's edge closest to Sue, but Tommy lay further back, just as inert. Sue cried out just as Rita caught up and pulled her down to her knees next to Carrie. Sue barely heard Rita say, "Stay down, we're in the open."
Sue touched Carrie, rolled her on her back. She was limp, her eyes shut, her hair stained red along its right edges, like highlights.
She's dead.
But Sue didn't look very close. She crawled over to Tommy while Rita stayed with Carrie. Tommy's shirt and jacket were soaked in blood. In the center the bullet wound was conspicuous. He was limp, his eyes open and unblinking. He was either dead or critically wounded. Sue began to cry. She could think of nothing else now. It felt like the world was ending.
Carrie bled from the temple, her right eye swollen on the edges.
Oh no! Thought Rita.
But closer scrutiny showed Rita that it was not an entrance hole, but a partly singed cut.
Graze!
She took Carrie's pulse. It was rapid, but strong. Her breathing was also healthy, if fast. Rita had assumed the blood was Carrie's. Now it was a mystery.
Where did all this blood come from? Somebody must have bled out back here.
Rita discarded that theory. The blood puddle where Carrie lay smelled putrid. No way it was a fresh bleed. Baffled, she searched Carrie for other wounds. As she found none, Carrie's eyes opened, staring in a trance that made Rita shudder. The girl's body went cold beneath Rita's touch, even though she breathed heavily.
Shock?
"Carrie? Carrie?" Rita patted her face.
Beyond the apron, the massacre went on unabated by anything but the smoke and the sprinklers. Up above Rita and Sue, the stage lights buzzed and went out. The red emergency lights made all the blood look like water.
A/N-8/2/14: I don't think it's too much of a spoiler now to mention that Carrie comes into play big time in the next installment.