Chapter 10: At the parking lot and football dugout
Back in the gym, Fred, Daphne, and some of their schoolmates were searching around for clues as the party was put on hold.
"Anything interesting, Daph?" Fred asked as they looked around.
"Nothing yet, Fred." Daphne shook her head before her eyes caught something else and she quickly added, "um...wait a minute!"
"What is it?" Fred asked as he quickly turned around.
"Look over here, right near where Scoob found the powder and residual." Daphne says as she pointed to the floor area.
Looking down, Fred can see footprints facing the wall and a few more heading away from the wall.
"They're footprints!" He proclaimed. "And look where they lead to!"
"To the door leading to outside." Daphne said. "Maybe we should follow them."
Before Fred could respond to the suggestion, they heard running in the hallway.
"Say, do you guys hear running?" Augie asked as Fred and Daphne turned to pinpoint the source of the running.
"We sure do, they're coming from the hallway behind the door." Daphne said before raising an eyebrow in recognition and said. "Sounds like Shag and Scooby."
Sure enough, the duo soon burst through the gym doors and quickly slammed them shut behind them before rushing over to Fred and Daphne.
"What happened?" Fred asked. "What were you guys running from?"
"You two looked like you've just seen a ghost." Daphne added as Shaggy and Scooby catch their breath.
"Like, we sure did." Shaggy said. "Scoob and I had a run-in with the zombie at the chemistry lab, but we managed to lost him."
"Reah." Scooby nodded. "Barely."
"Jeepers." Daphne remarked. "Sounds like the zombie football player came close to sacking you guys."
"Yeah, it sure did." Shaggy nodded. "And speaking of which, we managed to test out what the powder and residual were."
"Groovy, what was it?" Fred asked.
"First off, the powder is some luminous paint that Mr. McDabble taught us to make during chemistry class." Shaggy explained.
"Zowie! Sounds like either Mr. McDabble is involved in this, or someone in our chemistry class is." Taffy offered.
As Taffy made the remark, some of the students looked around and noticed Mr. McDabble is nowhere to be seen in the gym.
"Say, I don't see Mr. McDabble here." Skip remarked. "Maybe he is involved in this somehow."
"Could be it. After all, while Scoob and I were at the chemistry lab, I noticed that one of the cabinets used for storing the chemicals was empty." Shaggy added.
"So maybe someone took the chemicals to make the paint." Daphne suggested. "Maybe Mr. McDabble."
"You guys said that you also tested the residual." Biff quickly added. "What was it?"
Opening his notebook, Shaggy flipped through the pages before stopping and said, "Well, the residual is magnesium chlorate."
Upon hearing this, Dee-Dee snapped her fingers. "Of course! It is highly combustible and perfect for creating explosions."
Fred suddenly snapped his fingers. "Like the smoke screen we saw earlier when the zombie football player showed up."
"Exactly." April nodded. "And the drama club uses it for smoke effects."
"That certainly settles it." Daphne nodded as she turned towards Shaggy and Scooby and added, "And while you guys were at the lab, Fred and I discovered footprints that led to outside from where the plaque was."
"Like, I wonder where those footprints leads to." Shaggy rubbed his chin as he and Scooby looks at the footprints.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Fred replied. "Let's follow them."
"Right." Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby all nodded before proceeding to follow Fred and the trail of footprints.
By the time Shaggy and Scooby had changed back to their earlier costumes, the group had followed the trail of footprints, which lead them outside the school building and into the parking lot.
About halfway to the other side of the parking lot, though, the trail ended abruptly.
After surveying their surroundings and seeing that no other similar footprints can be seen, Fred scratched his head as he said, "Well, the footprints end here."
"That's peculiar." April quipped. "Pretty sure a pair of footprints don't just disappear in the middle of some place."
"Maybe our zombie football player had a vehicle." Bubbles offered.
"Bubblehead, zombies can't drive!" Shelly said dismissively.
"Maybe not, unless you've got a better idea on how the footprints disappear just like this?" Henry asked as he gestured at the trail.
"Say guys, I think Elmo's found something." Augie suddenly called out as his bulldog sniffed on the pavement.
"Groovy, what is it?" Fred asked as they walked over.
Looking at where Elmo was sniffing at, they noticed it is a puddle.
Walking over to Elmo, Scooby sniffed at it before he looked up and said, "Rit's gasoline. Resh."
"Fresh gasoline, as in the puddle was recent?" April asked.
"Looks to me it is, which means there was a vehicle parked here recently, or at least idling." Dee-Dee offered.
Glancing around with his eyes towards the pavement, Shaggy paused when he noticed something.
"Say guys, I think we've got another clue." Shaggy declared.
"What is it, Shag?" Daphne asked as they turned towards him.
Pointing at the object in question, Shaggy said, "Like, we've got some fresh tire tracks here."
Walking over to take a closer look at the tire tracks Shaggy had found, Fred rubbed his hand on them and nodded. "You're right, Shaggy. These tire tracks are fresh."
Shaggy nodded as he turned towards Scooby and said, "How about you sniff at the tracks and identify what they are, Scoob."
"Rokay." Scooby nodded before sniffing the tire tracks, then he said, "Ri smell fertilizer."
"Fertilizer?" Biff remarked. "Could you and Elmo pick up a scent and lead us to where there is fertilizer, then?"
"Rokay." Scooby nodded before he nodded at Elmo, who promptly joined him in sniffing the fresh tire tracks.
"It's fertilizer alright, Scooby." Elmo said to the Great Dane. "Let's lead the way."
Scooby nodded. "I'm right behind you."
Seeing the two dogs taking off, everyone else exchanged looks with one another briefly before following them.
A short while later, the two dogs led them to a fork in a pathway with one heading towards the baseball field and the other leading to the football field before stopping.
"Hmmm, interesting." Elmo said to Scooby.
"What is it?" Scooby asked.
"I am picking up traces of fertilizer at both the football field and the baseball field." Elmo explained.
"Interesting, so do I." Scooby agreed. "Perhaps we should split up?"
"Exactly what I was thinking." Elmo nodded.
"Say guys, what's the holdup?" Skip asked.
"Rlmo and Ri are picking up re scent from both re baseball rand rootball fields." Scooby explained as Elmo nodded in confirmation.
"Sounds like we're gonna have to split up, guys." Fred suggested. "Perhaps half of us go with Scooby and check out the football field while the other half goes with Elmo and check out the baseball field."
"Like, maybe some groovy clue is lying around there in the dugouts." Shaggy offered.
"Reah, reah!" Scooby nodded excitedly.
"That's the idea, Shag." Fred nodded.
A short while later, the group split into two with Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Daphne, Skip, Henry, Bubbles, Dee-Dee, and April going to the football field while everyone else, comprising of Elmo, Augie, Biff, Shelly, Debbie, Tinker, Brenda, and Mark going to the baseball field.
"Keep quiet and don't make a noise." Fred whispered as he led the way to the football dugout. "We don't want to attract the attention of the zombie football player."
The others all nodded in reply as they glanced around, but unbeknownst to either one of them, the zombie football player was hiding behind a nearby wall they had walked past.
With a smirk, the zombie followed the group into the team dugout. With each of its steps on the wooden floor, the zombie was making rather loud creaks with its footsteps.
"Gosh, this place sure gives me the creeps." April remarked quietly as they followed Fred through the dugout.
"No need to remind us, April." Shaggy said. "And with our footsteps making such a racket, it sure doesn't make me feel any better!"
"Maybe we ought to tiptoe, guys." Skip suggested.
"Sounds like a brilliant idea, Skip." Fred nodded as they all proceeded to tiptoe. However, the loud footsteps from the zombie behind them persisted.
After taking a few steps, the group paused and the zombie stopped behind them.
"Golly, I wonder who is making all of that racket?" Dee-Dee asked.
"It certainly wasn't me." Bubbles started.
"Nor me." April added.
"Maybe we just need to tiptoe a little more carefully, guys." Fred said.
Everyone else nodded and resumed walking down the dugout, and the zombie swiftly followed suit.
Several more steps went by before they paused once again, and Daphne said, "Some tiptoeing we're doing."
Glancing towards the nearby wall where their shadows were casted on, Shaggy mentally counted the heads.
"Like, I count 10 of us, but there are 11 heads on the wall, guys." Shaggy whispered. "I think we're being followed."
Lifting their right foots, the group acted like they're going to step down.
The zombie followed their moves and ended up stepping his foot down, resulting in a loud creak that prompted the ten to turn towards it.
"Busted!" Shaggy laughed nervously at the zombie, who only raised its arms menacingly and growled loudly.
"Let's get out of here!" Fred shouted.
Without further urging, the ten took off running down the hallway and the zombie quickly followed suit in close pursuit.
Soon, the parties involved in the chase reached a section of the hallway where there are five doors on both sides.
Without hesitation, the ten took the first door on the left, followed by the zombie.
Then, they raced out of the third door and sprinted across the hallway, while the zombie raced out of the fifth.
Soon, the ten split up and began racing out of random doors in random and the whole scene soon becomes mixed up as the parties simultaneously exits a door and races across the hallway.
Eventually, the ten collided with each other while running in the opposite directions.
As they regrouped, the zombie reappeared and roared at them, leading them to take off and run.
Following another turn, the group swiftly entered through a door, closed it behind them, and hid behind the wall near the door.
Without paying much attention as to its surroundings, zombie raced by the door without stopping.
For a few seconds, it was eerily quiet as the group held their breaths. Then, Henry tiptoed towards the door and peaked through the blinds on the glass window.
Seeing that the zombie wasn't returning, he reported to the others, "Coast is clear, guys."
The group sighed in relief as Shaggy said, "That's a relief, was worried that the zombie was gonna sack us."
As Shaggy was speaking, Daphne looked around and asked, "Where are we?"
Turning on his flashlight, Fred looked around before replying, "We're in the teams locker room."
Nodding, everyone else followed suit and looked around before April's light shined onto a sheet of paper.
"Say, what is this?" April wondered as she walked over and picked it up before showing it to Fred.
Looking at the paper, Fred remarked, "This looks like someone's science notes."
"Like, and take a look at that, gang." Shaggy added as he pointed to a certain direction.
Everyone looked towards where Shaggy was pointing at, towards a locker.
"Say, that locker door is glowing like the zombie." Skip remarked as they walked over to the locker.
"Maybe that's an indication that this is the zombie's locker?" Bubbles asked.
"More like someone must be using it as a storage room to store the materials needed for the zombie costume, as well as the chemicals needed." Dee-Dee said.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, guys." Fred declared as he tries to pick the lock open.
As they watched Fred trying to open the lock, Daphne decided to step in. "Here, let me try, Freddie."
Fred momentarily raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he moved out of the way, and everyone silently watched Daphne getting to work.
In no time did the redhead pick the lock open and opened the locker door.
"That's using your good old noodle, Daph." Shaggy complimented as Daphne opened the locker door.
Daphne smiled at the compliment as they all peered inside.
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