Trading Places

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Chapter 8- Gwen Cooper

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School's Out

The anomaly had opened in the middle of the gymnasium, in the middle of the school day. The chances of keeping witnesses out were zero and it was only through pure dumb luck- and the quick thinking of a couple of the les panic-inclined teachers- that the casualty list wasn't longer. By the time that the two black four-by-fours arrived and the soldiers and ARC team piled out, there was already a ring of schoolchildren around the gym, their noses pressed to the windows in the hope that they would see something interesting.

"Of all the places," Abby complained, hoisting the gun over her shoulder, "why did it have to open here?"

The kids had begun to notice their presence by this point and those not still pressed up against the windows were now staring at the team. A low whisper began at one end of the crowd, alerting the kids further down that there were soldiers with guns. One slightly braver girl near the back, close to the team, marched right up to Abby.

"What's going on? Who are you? Are you going to arrest someone?"

Abby shook her head, assuring the girl that they weren't, and smiled at the faint disappointment on her face.

"Can you tell me where your teacher is?" she asked and the girl nodded, leading her toward a grey haired man in a tweed suit.

"Mr Duffy? This lady asked to speak to you."

The man turned, sending the girl back to her classmates, and looked Abby over speculatively. He didn't look entirely impressed, despite the gun slung over her shoulder.

"Mr Duffy, I'm Abby Maitland. We're here about the, um, problem in your gym."

He laughed. "You think that is why we had to evacuate the school?" he asked. "My dear, the problem, as you so tactfully put it, happens to be-"

He paused, glancing back at the children who had, in the hopes of overhearing something interesting, edged closer. At his glare, they backed off again, though not far enough away that they wouldn't catch the majority of the conversation.

"Perhaps we should talk elsewhere," he suggested.

Abby led him over to where Danny and Sergeant Andrews were talking whilst Gwen helped Sarah unload the anomaly closing equipment from the back of the car. She introduced them all.

"So, Mr Duffy, what did you mean when you said that the anomaly wasn't the problem?"

"Anomaly- is that what that thing is in the gymnasium?" He frowned at them. "Just who are you people?"

Danny smiled. "All you need to know is that we do this for a living," he said. "Now, what we really need is for you to tell us what we're dealing with."

"Well, the first thing was that- what did you call it? –anomaly, in the gymnasium. One of the girls went in to collect the netballs for their lesson at around 10:30. She came running out in hysterics, going on about 'weird things appearing in the air'. We thought she was making it up and so Miss Rashid went back with her to check." He ran his hand though his hair and let out a sigh. "We closed off the gym and called the police but then we got reports of the children seeing creatures. We had no choice but to evacuate the building; we couldn't risk any of the children being hurt."

"You were right to do that," Abby confirmed. "Tell me, did you see any of these creatures?"

Mr Duffy shook his head. "No, but I know that some of the other staff did. Hold on one moment." He hurried away toward one of the groups of teachers who were calling around the parents on their mobile phones, making arrangements for the children to be sent home. He returned with a young Indian woman, wearing jogging trousers and a t-shirt.

"This is Miss Rashid. She saw the creatures."

Abby ran through the introductions again and repeated her earlier question to Mr Duffy.

"At first I though that a bird had got into the building," she told them. "They do sometimes, the pigeons wander through the doors to pick up bits of food and crisps that the kids drop. It wasn't a pigeon though. It looked like a cross between a really big bat and a lizard." She saw the glance that passed between Abby and Danny. "I know how that sounds but that is what it looked like! Its body was shaped like an iguana, only without the tail, but its face and wings were like a bat and it was covered with dark fur like a bat."

Abby was about to ask more but at that moment, a blonde haired boy came rushing over. He hopped about, trying to get their attention whilst simultaneously trying not to interrupt.

"What's the matter, Jason?"

"Mr Duffy, they went inside! Everyone was talking about the bat-things and Alex said they were going to see," the boy informed them. "They told me not to tell anyone but…"

Five minutes later, Abby, Gwen and Sergeant Andrews crept down the corridor towards the Hall while Danny and a couple of the soldiers escorted Sarah to the gym. She needed to get the anomaly locked as soon as possible, to prevent anything else from coming through.

"How many of these things are we actually looking for?" Andrews asked, his eyes scanning the corridor, gun angled to follow his gaze.

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "At least three. They were seen in three places at about the same time, too far apart for it to be the same one."

"Three? It's going to take forever," Gwen complained. "There are five floors and goodness knows how many classrooms! Isn't there any way we can bait these things into the open?"

"If we can catch one, or even get a good look at one, then I can identify it on Connor's database. I brought his laptop with me, just in case," she said, indicating to the backpack she carried.

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In the gymnasium, Sarah tried to ignore the hundreds of kids' faces pressed against the window, the teachers' efforts to get them to back away falling on deaf ears, and opened the laptop. She had the silver cylinders set up around the anomaly, everything in place, just waiting for the programme to come online. Danny patrolled by the door, finger on the trigger of his gun, itching to be searching for the creatures with the others.

"You know, closing that thing today would be a good idea," he said dryly.

Sarah glared at him, turning back to the laptop when it was ready and tapping away at the keyboard. When the anomaly pulsed and then compacted into a tight ball of light in the air, she could hear the chatter from the excited audience even through the window. She saw them staring at her and the now-closed anomaly and felt the ridiculous urge to stand up and take a bow. Instead, she set the laptop down on the floor and walked over to Danny.

"This thing is locked down for now," she told him, "but what are we meant to do if it doesn't fade? We just can't leave it, closed or not, in the middle of a school."

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "That's Lester's problem. He gets paid to sort out things like that."

They heard the sound of footsteps out in the corridor, running, and then a voice yelling. Danny frowned, going to open the double doors as the soldiers who had accompanied them rushed over. He indicated to Sarah to stand back, being the only one not armed, and cracked the door open. A boy of maybe thirteen or fourteen was sprinting toward the gym, his eyes wide and frantic as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Kid! In here," Danny called to him, holding the door open. He couldn't see what the kid was running from but then his attention was occupied by the red bloodstain that was spreading across the sleeve of the boy's shirt.

The boy came crashing through the door, almost running into Danny. "It's behind me! It came at me and I couldn't lose it," he panted.

Just then, a dark shape came flittering though the open door. It let out a high pitch squealing sound as it swooped low over their heads, leathery wings beating fast. The boy backed off, hiding behind the soldiers. Guns raised, they tried to get a shot but the creature moved too fast for them to hit it safely. They backed themselves towards the entrance, to get outside and put a door between them and it, belatedly realising that Sarah had run in the opposite direction. The creature realised it too, choosing to go after her instead, obviously assuming it had more chance against a lone person than a group.

"Sarah, it's heading your way!"

She swore and ducked as it flew at her, and made a run for the storage room at the far end of the gym. It didn't have a door but that she didn't intend to lock herself in. No, she could see what she wanted on the shelf at the back of the room.

Danny figured his expression must reflect that of the line of children outside the window as he watched Sarah plant her feet firmly and swing the tennis racket as the creature flew at her. As soon as it was close enough, she swung, the racket hitting the creature with enough force to send it careening out of control and into the wall. It hit with a sickening thud and slid to the ground, unconscious.

By the time that Danny reached her, the adrenalin that had been keeping her from panicking had vanished and he reached out to gently take the tennis racket from her shaking hand.

"That was a hell of a swing," he teased lightly. "You OK?"

Sarah took a deep breath and then nodded. "Fine."

"Well, I think you've earned yourself some fans," he informed her, indicating to the watching kids. When she turned to look, she saw the excited smiles and heard some of them clapping. She smiled at them, a little embarrassed at the attention.

"I was thinking that maybe we shouldn't put that thing back through the anomaly just yet," she said. "It might help if Abby and the others could see exactly what they were looking for."

"Good idea." He glanced back to where the soldiers were making sure that he critter was still unconscious before trapping it in a makeshift cage. "Once we've made sure the corridor is clear, we can get the kid out of here. In the meantime, I'll keep him with me-"

"No offence, mate, but I'd rather stay here with her."

They both turned to look at he boy, whose cheeks flushed slightly as he was caught staring admiringly at Sarah.

Danny rolled his eyes. "They'd always rather hang out with the pretty girl," he grumbled, not offended in the least if his smile was anything to go by. "Fine, you stay put."

He took out his mobile phone and called Abby, informing her that they had caught one of the creatures. He frowned and then went over to the cage, took a photo of the bat-thing with his phone, and sent it to her.

"Danny, why don't you go and help them?" Sarah suggested. "We'll be fine here; the anomaly is locked and so long as no one lets any more of those things in here, we're pretty safe."

She could see that he really wanted to go and help with the hunt, eventually agreeing on the condition that one of the soldiers stayed with them. As he left, Sarah turned to her young charge.

"So, what's your name? I'm Sarah."

"Christian."

Sarah led him to one of the wooden benches that ran along the end of the gym and sat him down.

"OK, I need to have a look at your arm," she said. "Did it bite you or just scratch?"

As he told her what had happened- the creature had tried to bite but its teeth had just grazed his skin –she cleaned up the wound and dressed it with the medical kit that her military guard had with him. He looked a little shaken up and a bit pale, but he assured her that he felt alright. She was still going to advise the doctors to give him rabies shots and antibiotics, just in case the creature's bite carried any infection, to be on the safe side. She got his arm cleaned up and it looked as though he'd be fine a bit longer, until they could take him outside without risking either being attacked or the creature escaping when they opened a door.

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Danny and Neil, his military escort, jogged quietly along the corridor towards the steps at the end. The teachers had reported seeing one of the flying creatures in the staff room and so that was where he and Neil would start. Abby and her team had taken the far end of the building, where one had been seen in one of the art rooms.

"What are these things?" Neil asked as they scanned the next room before cautiously entering. They were searching systematically, closing off each door as they cleared that room and moving onto the next.

"Haven't a clue," Danny replied happily, thoroughly enjoying this. "Identification isn't exactly my area of expertise. Abby said she'd call when the figured it out- apparently, she brought Connor's database with her."

They reached the staff room and immediately both men went into alert mode. The room was a mess of coffee mugs, paperwork, overturned chairs and general mess. There were coffee mugs on the floor, smashed as their owners dropped them in their haste to get out of the room. There was a faint rustling sound from somewhere under one of the tables and Neil pointed. Danny nodded. They each took opposite sides of the room, slowly working their way to the table where the sound was loudest, guns at the ready.

Danny watched as Neil mouthed 3-2-1 and then gave the table a kick to send it sliding aside to reveal one of the creatures munching its way through a dropped sandwich. When it realised its hiding place had gone, it screeched and launched itself into the air with a flap of its wings. Unfortunately, its moment of distraction with the sandwich meant it wasn't fast enough to avoid the tranquiliser dart that Danny shot into it. Seconds later, the drug took effect and it dropped like a stone.

He pulled his phone out and dialled.

"Abby? One more down." Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he turned to Neil. "She says there is at least one more, but after that they don't know."

Neil glanced at the creature on the floor as he waited for Danny to reload the dart gun. "You reckon we should take that back first?"

Danny shook his head. "That dart could have taken down a hippo," he said. "It'll be out for hours. We'll collect it on the way back."

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Abby informed the others of Danny's capture, hoping that her guess of another one left to catch was accurate. It didn't make the search any easier, however; there were a lot of rooms left to search and the creature could be hiding in any one of them.

"I need somewhere to check through Connor's database," she said. "I'd really like to know exactly what we're dealing with."

They holed up in one of the empty classrooms, after it had been thoroughly checked for lurking critters. Gwen sat down next to Abby, watching with interest as she typed in the parameters of the search and waited for the results.

"So this thing has every known dinosaur and creature on it?" she asked.

Abby smiled. "Not yet, but Connor's working on it. Every time we come up with something new, he adds it in."

A few minutes later, she sighed. There was nothing about the bat-things, at least, not that matched the picture that Danny had sent her.

"What about that one?" Gwen said, indicating to a picture on the screen.

Abby squinted at it sceptically. "Well, I suppose this could be a later version," she mused. "Ours could be a more evolved one; that would explain the differences."

"Does it happen to say anything about how we catch the damn things?" Andrews asked from his lookout position at the small window in the door.

"No," Abby admitted.

"I've been thinking, and you can tell me that this is a silly idea if you like," Gwen began, "but I saw this wildlife programme about bats once. These things are kind of like bats, right? Well, anyway, they were recording the sounds that the bats made and playing them back to entice them out of their roost."

Abby and Andrews shared a look. Andrews nodded.

"What have we got to lose?" he said.

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To Be Continued…