Chapter Twenty-Five

They’d parked two blocks from the elementary school under low-hanging pussy willow trees. Mick led the way, finding an open window so they could sneak inside. Heidi had flashbacks to second grade and Mrs. Gatti’s class. The room looked the same. She even found the puzzles she used to piece together. The one with the three pigs had been her favorite. She wondered if Mrs. Gatti was still alive. She’d been old when she taught Heidi.

Mick locked the window and jammed it closed with a wedge of wood. They found their way to the second floor where the middle-grade classes were held and where the chairs were big enough for them to sit on. On the blackboard the teacher had written: Read Chapter 5 in your text. Take the chapter test with answers in your binder.

“Why are we here?” Marnie said.

“This place is like Fort Knox,” Mick replied, plopping onto the teacher’s chair with his boots on the desk.

“Not exactly,” Chuck said. “We just got in with no problem.”

“That’s the only window with a bad lock. No one can get in from the outside now. This place was built to withstand natural disasters. Probably a nuclear bomb, too.”

“You come here a lot?”

“Sometimes, especially if it was raining and I didn’t want to be in the trailer sharing the same air with Dwight.”

Heidi thought her emotions had been worn to the quick, but thinking of Mick in this big, dark, kind of creepy school alone at night made her sadder still.

Mick said, “Chuck, you feeling okay?”

The pale light filtering through the tall windows highlighted the droplets of sweat on Chuck’s face and neck.

“I kinda hurt, but I’ll live.”

“Hold on. They have painkillers in the nurse’s office. Be right back.”

Mick ran out of the classroom, his boots echoing down the halls. He came back breathless and holding a paper cup of water and a bottle of Tylenol. “Take two and call me in the morning.”

Chuck downed a handful of the white pills. Once he’d settled down, Mick told them how the Melon Heads had gotten to Dwight and his mother. Marnie put an arm around him while he talked about watching them take Dwight. When he got to the part about his mother, he choked back tears and had a hard time continuing.

Heidi blanched. “Not you, too.” She thought she was going to be sick. She didn’t need further proof that her family was in mortal danger.

“Please tell me you didn’t see them…do stuff to her,” Vent said.

Mick flashed him an unreadable look. “I thought maybe I could change things around, take Dredd’s place and save you guys.” He chucked an eraser across the room. It bounced harmlessly against a window. “Now, I want to hurt them.”

“Jesus, Mick,” Chuck said.

Mick got quiet. “Yeah, well, at least they got Dwight out of my life.” She knew there was a lot left unsaid in that.

Chuck filled in Mick and Marnie on the horror show at his house. He had to stop several times, especially once he got to the part about his parents, holding back tears. “They’re not going to stop until we’re all dead.”

“You’re right,” Mick said, pacing the room now. “Though I think they’re going to leave me alone, at least for now.”

“Just because they didn’t kill you when they did Dwight and your mom in, doesn’t mean they’re not just making you sweat it out a little bit longer,” Vent said. He was at the blackboard, nervously breaking chalk pieces in half.

“We found Dredd,” Marnie said.

Heidi felt an electric charge run through her. “You did? Where?”

“In the house where he grew up. His real name is Chris Runde. The place is boarded up. All of the houses out there are. He was hiding out in the basement. We got him to tell us stuff.”

“More like tied him up and forced him,” Mick said with a measure of pride in his voice. “The Melon Heads kinda choose people from time to time to be their helpers, or guardians or whatever you wanna call it. Dredd was chosen over his brother and I think they chose me, this time around.”

“Chose you to do what? They murdered your mother right in front of you. That doesn’t sound like a chosen person,” Vent said.

Mick shrugged. “Who knows. To feed them, mostly. I get the feeling meat is meat with the Melon Heads. Maybe eating a mother is like going to a Chinese buffet to them. No big deal. At least one of our mothers. They wouldn’t do it to one of their own, though.”

“We are so fucked,” Vent said to the blackboard, going so far as to write it in big block letters.

“We know where they live,” Marnie said. “Mick had Dredd draw us a map.”

Mick took the folded map out of his back pocket and laid it out on the desk. It was almost impossible to see in the dark. Vent flicked his lighter on and they gathered around.

“I can’t tell where that is,” Chuck said.

“You have to start here,” Mick said, pointing at a big dot on the left-hand side of the page. “That’s Dredd’s house. They live deep in the woods, even deeper than that place where we brought Dunwoody. Fennerman, who worked with them before Dredd, had set that up as a special spot to leave them things like food and clothes. He raided Goodwill boxes every now and then and dropped off used clothes. Dredd said the Melon Heads were the ones who decorated it with that creepy stick teepee stuff.”

“What kind of food did he leave them?” Heidi said. “Like, people?”

Mick nodded. “Who knows. I think mostly it was just wild game. I don’t get the vibe that Dredd and Fennerman were killers. Though they would, if necessary, point the Melon Heads in the direction of someone they could take. I guess that’s like leaving someone for them to eat.”

Marnie wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Heidi worried at her thumbnail.

Vent studied the map, his finger tracing the crudely drawn route to the Melon Heads’ encampment. “How far are we talking to get to them?”

“They live another two miles out. Dredd said there’s an old cave system out there where they hunker down. Not all of them, though. They have like sentries all over Milbury, night and day,” Mick said ominously.

“Which means they’d know when we’re coming,” Chuck said. He sounded exhausted and deflated. “It’s not like we have an arsenal and manpower to just go out there and rush them.”

“We might not have to,” Mick said.

“What do you mean?” Heidi asked. She was afraid of whatever plan Mick was hatching in his brain, but she was also desperate. Time was not on their side. For all she knew, her parents were being savaged at this very moment. Or Marnie’s. Or Vent’s. Neither option was acceptable.

Mick flicked his hair from his face. “If they’re giving me a free pass, I should use it.”

“You gonna walk in there and take them down by yourself like Rambo?” Vent asked, dripping sarcasm.

“I wish. No, they have a leader, like a king of the Melon Heads.”

Chuck had stopped sweating and looked steadier. “So?”

Mick’s façade of confidence faltered a bit, then he said, “I’m gonna find him, and I’m gonna take him.”

Marnie had pulled her feet onto the chair with her arms wrapped around her legs. “I don’t think they’re just going to let you kidnap their leader. They’ll kill you for sure. It might be better if you stick to what you wanted to do, especially now since they’ve let you live when they could have killed you. Try to gain their trust and work with them.”

Mick flipped through the pages of a phonics textbook. He snapped the book shut and threw it on the floor. It hit with such a loud bang that everyone jumped. “You can’t control them. Even if they let me in, they’ll end up controlling me. We have to waste them, and we have to do it now.”

Heidi knew there was no point in asking how they would do such a thing. Every way she thought about it ended with her and her friends dead.

He saw the concern etched on her face and said, “We’ll figure it out. We have yours and Chuck’s big brains on our side.”

“I’m so done, I don’t think I could pass a first-grade spelling test,” Chuck said. He sagged in the chair, resting his arm on the sliver of a folding desk attached to the side.

“That’s why we’re here. Safety in numbers,” Mick said. “We can take turns keeping watch.”

Heidi thought about the state her parents must be in. On the one hand, she didn’t want to hurt them or cause them any more stress. On the other, she was pissed at them for not believing her when she’d spilled her guts out. It wasn’t shocking that they dismissed her. Just upsetting. It would be dark out soon. There was no way she was going back outside. The school was built in a tucked away lot, blocks from the nearest house. If the Melon Heads jumped them as they went to the van, no one would hear their screams.

“I’ll take first watch,” Mick said.

“I’ll take it with you,” Vent said.

“Nah. Take a shift with Heidi or Marnie. Watch their backs. Okay?”

Vent opened his mouth, ready to protest, and then looked at Heidi and Marnie. “Yeah. That makes sense, man.”

“Let’s all go down to the gym. They have these mats we can use for beds and towels for pillows. We’ll bring them back in here.” Mick walked out of the classroom.

Heidi looked over at Chuck. “I can bring one back for you.”

He struggled to get out of the chair. “I’ll manage. Besides, safety in numbers.”

The four of them shuffled after Mick. Heidi stayed close to Chuck, ready to help if he got unsteady on his feet. It was weird walking through her old school. It smelled like art supplies and industrial floor cleaner. Their footsteps echoed down the hallways and stairwells, adding to the creepiness. She was positive she couldn’t have done it alone. Having her friends nearby made it easier. Mick was right.

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” she said softly.

“What was that?” Chuck asked as they walked through the gym, the wood slats cracking under their boots and sneakers.

“Nothing.”

It took five minutes to find the storage room where the mats were stored and break the lock. Five more to get them up to the classroom because they had to pause several times for Chuck and once even for Marnie, whose strength was visibly flagging. They set the mats close to one another and settled in as best they could. Mick told Vent and Heidi he’d wake them up in three hours and closed the door behind him as he went to patrol the empty halls alone.

* * *

Crash!

Heidi popped up from the mat. Her heart fluttered as she tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.

“What the fuck was that?” Vent said, scrambling to his feet and running to the door.

“Oh my god,” Marnie said. She reached out for Heidi’s hand in the dark.

Only Chuck had somehow managed to sleep through the sound of breaking glass.

The three of them didn’t dare move, six ears straining against the sudden silence.

“Maybe Mick was screwing around with something and dropped it,” Vent said. It was entirely plausible. Heidi could just see Mick messing with the trophy case. Maybe he’d tried to get the championship trophy he’d won when he was on the baseball team in seventh grade and knocked something else over. If it was one of those glass teacher’s awards that were given out at the end of every year, she could see him doing it on purpose.

The thwap of running feet, getting closer by the second, murdered that thought, that hope, before it had time to roost in her brain. Vent pulled the window shade on the door aside. “It’s Mick!”

He opened the door and Mick came bounding in, his chest heaving. “They found us.”

“How?” Chuck said from the floor. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles.

“I don’t know, but they just broke through the cafeteria window. I saw four of them sneak in. They went straight to the kitchen area and started loading up on all the milk cartons, stuffing them in these old-looking sacks.”

“Maybe they’re on a supply run,” Heidi said, again pinning her hope on the hopeless.

Mick shook his head. “I think that’s just a happy discovery for them. They’ll be checking the rooms soon.”

“What are they, fucking bloodhounds?” Vent said. He shut the door as quietly as he could so as not to alert them to their whereabouts.

Marnie had gone to the window. “I wish we’d stayed on the first floor. We could have just gone out the way we came in.”

“That would also bring us one floor closer to them,” Mick said.

“But then—”

Mick shushed Marnie. They could hear multiple Melon Heads running up the stairs. The sound was distorted in the empty building, so it was impossible to tell if they were on the landing below them or had just scampered up to the floor they were on. Mick looked out of the door’s window. “They’re not here yet. I think.”

“You think?” Chuck said, keeping his voice low. “You need to know, dude.”

“It’s hard to see. The only light is that red exit sign at the end of the hall. If they came past it, I woulda seen them.”

“What do we do?” Marnie looked to be on the verge of a full-on panic attack. Heidi pulled her close, could feel her trembling.

“We go to the roof,” Mick said.

Vent’s eyes went wild. “The roof? Are you out of your mind? We’ll be trapped there.”

They listened to doors being smashed open, chairs and tables being overturned just below them. “You want to take your chances and walk down there?” Mick said.

“Vent’s right,” Chuck said. “Going to the roof is suicide.”

“You have to trust me on this. Follow me.”

Mick didn’t wait for them to voice any more objections. He walked to the door and slowly opened it without making a sound.

“What do you think?” Heidi asked Chuck. She was hit with a desperate urge to pee.

“I think Mick knows something we don’t. It’s not like we have another rational choice anyway.”

Chuck, Heidi and Vent left the classroom. Heidi turned back and saw Marnie hadn’t moved. She motioned with her hand for Marnie to follow them. Her friend shook her head. She was crying and holding on to her stomach.

“Come. On,” Heidi hissed.

“I can’t,” Marnie said.

“Yes, you can. Just stay right beside me.”

The Melon Heads sounded as if they were getting closer. Heidi had to swallow hard to get her heart out of her throat. Of all the times for Marnie to break down. Heidi told Chuck to stay and she hustled back into the classroom. “We’re not leaving without you. But if you make us stay, we’re all going to die.”

“We’re all going to die anyway.”

Way too much of the whites of Marnie’s eyes were visible. She flinched when Heidi went to touch her arm. “No, we’re not. Only if you stay in this room.” It sounded like a massive desk had been thrown against a wall. They could feel the impact through the soles of their feet.

“Girls, we have to go,” Chuck whispered urgently. Vent was halfway down the hall, following Mick.

“I know,” Heidi shot back. Did he think they were in here swapping stories about their crushes? “Marnie’s too scared to leave.”

“I’ll carry her.”

They were talking about her as if she wasn’t in the room, which, in a way, was getting truer by the moment.

“You only have one arm.”

“I’ll manage.” He hopped from foot to foot, anxious to get to the roof. The foolishness of Mick’s plan seemed better and better the closer the Melon Heads got.

Heidi knew he couldn’t manage it, especially if Marnie put up any kind of resistance. She grabbed Marnie by the shoulders and looked her square in the eye. “You coming?”

Marnie shook her head.

“Then I’m sorry.” Heidi hauled her arm back and smacked Marnie in the face. The dazed, terrified glaze melted instantly.

“Hey!”

“Run,” Heidi said, pulling her along. This time, Marnie didn’t object. Heidi spotted the iron rungs in the wall at the end of the hall under the neon exit sign. Vent was at the bottom, waving them on like a Little League coach signaling for his player to slide in to home. They were less than twenty yards away when they heard the unmistakable sound of the Melon Heads’ beating feet to the top floor. Heidi got behind Marnie and pushed her so hard, she and Chuck nearly got intertwined and fell. She whipped her head around and spied the first Melon Head shadow reaching the landing. It turned its bulbous head toward them.

“Oh shit!” Vent said, clambering up the ladder.

Chuck made Marnie go ahead of him. He siezed her by her ass cheek and nearly shot-putted her up the ladder. Vent reached down from the open hatch and grabbed her arm, pulling her the rest of the way.

“You’re next,” Chuck said to Heidi.

She cast a worried glance down the hall. All four Melon Heads were there, cautiously approaching them.

“You’re hurt. I should go last.”

“I’m hurt, which is why I’m going last,” he said. He pushed her into the ladder. The bridge of her nose nearly collided with the rung. She grasped the rung above her, but her foot slipped off and she lost her grip. It was a fall of a mere two feet, but it was time lost. She yelped in desperation, hurrying to get a better hold.

Maybe it was her worried cry that did it. The Melon Heads suddenly broke into a run.

“Go! Go!” Chuck yelled.

He turned to face the Melon Heads, his sole good fist raised.

Heidi sped up so he would have space on the ladder. She was halfway up when she realized he wasn’t behind her.

“Chuck!” she cried with such ferocity, her heart nearly broke, her throat ripped raw and bloody.

She couldn’t see Chuck, but she could hear him struggling against the Melon Heads.

Heidi looked into the open hatch with the stars twinkling against an onyx sky and cried out for Mick. “They’re killing him!”

“Get off me, motherfucker!” Chuck bellowed. There was a heavy thump against the wall and a Melon Head howled in pain.

Mick shouted, “I’m coming.” His boots started descending the stairs, almost crushing her fingers.

Heidi jumped off the ladder, both to make room for Mick and help Chuck. She landed hard on her right ankle, rolling it in the process. She limped into the hallway and gasped at the sight of three Melon Heads grappling with Chuck, who was a full head and shoulders taller than the tallest one but at a definite disadvantage in every other way.

Heidi didn’t have a weapon, nor did she have the strength to take even one on, much less three Melon Heads. She screamed like a wild and angry animal, her bellow garnering the full attention of the Melon Heads.

The trio dropped their hold on Chuck at the same time, grinned lasciviously, and pounced on her.