Summer

Chapter 4- Iron man

It was a damp mid-morning in the grand gloomy city. The Sun was nowhere to be seen in the dark overcast sky. Light mist covered and obscured everything in sight with patches of rain falling from the sky on the soaked ground below. While there was still the normal hustle and bustle anyone would expect from a large metropolis, the loudest sound anyone could hear were the lighting strikes shooting off what seemed every few minutes.

In the lower south west part of the grand lake, several fishing boats where far enough out into the water to get their catch of the day, but close enough that they never lost sight of the docks leading to shore. The docks themselves were as busy as ever even with the fishing boats gone. As a number of leisure boats were secured waiting for tourists, more than a few stands selling nautical gear and nick-nacks, along with a houseboat here and there.

The houseboat closest to the shore as the dock would allow was a bright red beauty kept afloat by pontoons. All of its doors, windows, blinds, and even its gates were closed. The only part that was open was the observation deck, and it was kept dry by the extended collapsible roof.

On the observation deck was a young woman with teal colored hair in a bob cut sitting on a stool with a pencil in her hand, a canvas on a tripod in front of her, as she eyed the dreary lake beyond. Gwen squinted at the lake as she licked the tip of her pencil. Sketching best she could from what she saw over the mist shrouded lake before the canvas itself shifted to its side, scraping a line through her art. Gwen was confused before she heard a purring sound from below.

Looking down, Gwen saw a familiar black cat rubbing against the canvas's leg, its deep blue eyes staring up at her. Gwen smiled at the tom cat as she tried to shoo it away. The cat shifted its tail and walked up to just in front of the artist and started undulating at the ground fallowed by loud hacking. Gwen backed away and shook her head as the cat spat out a hair ball.

"Bah!"

"O-oh, come on Missy!"

Gwen spat back at the cat who just ignored her, licking down her front leg. Gwen groaned again as she grabbed her canvas and stormed into the houseboat. Locking the door behind her and trapping the cat outside. Rolling her eyes with a sigh, Gwen walked into the living room, doing her best to avoid the old furniture in the small cramped living room. Making her way into the kitchen, Gwen scanned the room for the outlet of her disgust. Sitting at the wide party booth bolted into the wall between two cabinets was none other than Bridgette Merrow.

Bridgette herself looked like the older sister everyone wishes they had growing up. She was athletic and had the kind of curves that would give guys neck injures whenever she walked past them, but not the kind that made other girls hate her at first glance. She had a real tan people only get from being out doors and the type of face that whenever she smiled she lit up a room. Bridgette wasn't just physical, she had the kind of brain and common sense that seemed to have advice for every problem, but also modest enough with a good sense of humor that made people want to hear it.

Bridgette herself was sitting cross legged in the booth seat, an old silver laptop sitting open in front of her next plate filled with hot pockets. The lifeguard was wearing comfy looking blue and white plaid sweat pants, a matching blue tank top, and her golden hair tied back in her usual pony tail. Gwen glared at Bridgette as she leaned her canvas against the sink across from the booth. Gwen tried to keep up her angry look but Bridgette's look of surprise and mouth full of hot pockets made it hard.

"Missy just barfed up a hairball." Gwen sighed, turning her gaze back to the door so she could keep her glare. "Almost got on my shoes."

"R-really?" Bridgette swallowed, looking at the same door. "Sorry, Missy was saving up for the twins. She doesn't like them. They're at a job interview right now... and since they're gone she settled for you."

"Huh, if I wasn't the fallback I'd be impressed by that cat." Gwen nodded as she ripped off the first page of the canvas, rolling it up before tossing it into the trash can at the end of the room. "Surprising and gross."

"You miss thos old movies don't ya?" Bridgette smiled as she pointed at the canvas, its page now revealing a crudely drawn sketch of a large bulky man with a hockey mask on his face with a machete in one hand and a human head in the other. There was some blocky buildings and trees in the background. The whole doodle drawn with nothing but sharp- deep edges and angles. "Let the series die."

"Huh? Oh that." Gwen shrugged as she slid into the booth opposite of her friend. "I got bored last week. I watched the movies so much that I tried fast sketching to keep it interesting. With how slow he walks... meh."

"Mom that worried huh?"

"Yeah." Gwen answered, snatching a hot pocket. "Whenever she was at work I had to be home to look after my brother. Wouldn't let the kid leave the house. Thank god for video games, kept him distracted and quiet."

"Hah." Bridgette barked. "You weren't the only one babysitting. It was the same with the twins. My aunt actually paid me to keep them in here until their interview. I love'em but I wish I had some time to be bored like that."

"Yeahhh, she wouldn't let me leave either." Gwen smiled sheepishly. "Had to sneak out my window to have any fun with anybody and get back before either woke up."

"I would'ah settled for seeing just one." Bridgette sighed, eating another hot pocket. "I got to see Geoff for a day after a week of babysitting only to get stuck with another round. But worse because we were cramped together with nothing to do. I couldn't even skype with him. Someone talks the whole boat hears it."

"Okay, point Bridgette. You had it worse." Gwen nodded, eating another hot pocket. "Sooo, you get five minutes to talk about how great the party was that I missed."

"Uh-huh. You just want to know if me and Geoffy hooked up or not." Bridgette smirked. Looking away, Gwen could see from her reflection on the reflective mini-fridge that while her dull expression didn't change, her cheeks did. Changing from her usual pale to a light pink. "Well we did. I found him on cookout duty. After getting Lash to take over we went up to the locked guest room. Guess who had a key."

"Nice." Gwen nodded, her face heating up more. "How wasted were you two."

"Sober enough to play it safe. Locked the door and everythin-Oh my god. Is that how your face looked last time you caught me and Geoff? Its so cute." Gwen bit her lip at her friends chuckles, covering her now bright red face in her hands. Bridgette smiled as she pushed the plate of hot pockets to her friend. "Is Trent helping you at work today?"

"Yes." Gwen mumbled, eating a hot pocket.

"Well maybe you could find an empty room that needs to be worked on." Still blushing, Gwen smiled back as she ate the last hot pocket. "You two'll do great."

"Hope so," Gwen nodded, checking the time on her phone before hopping out of the booth. "I gotta go or I'll be late for work."

"Hey, I'd help but I gotta head out for my shift soon." Bridgette waved, shutting her laptop as Gwen stepped out the door. "Look out for the serial killer. He might get ya!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now the time is here. For Iron man to spread fear!

The lyrics sang in Gwen's ears as she sat in the bus seat with her knees up against the back of the row in front of her, Gwen's duffel on the floor. Gwen's arm rested against the lining of the window to her left, while to her right sat Trent, who had his own headphones on.

Vengeance from the grave. Kills the people he once saved!

Out the window, Gwen could see the many old blinking neon signs of the usual shops and bars of the familiar street. The bus stop next to the empty gas station was in sight just down the road. Sighing, Gwen turned and looked further up the bus and saw that aside from the group of people in front of them the bus was empty. The group sitting in the inward facing seat looked a bit weird. Now, strange people taking the bus wasn't anything special in any city, especially the kind Gwen lived in. But these guys were different.

It was a group of four, two guys sitting across two girls. One very big girl, like professional basketball big, had a dark complexion while wearing a pocketed camping vest and short shorts blowing a piece of gum. The other was a muscular girl with asian features wearing a tight muscle shirt and compression shorts, her uni-brow flexing each time she curled the dumbbell in her hand. Across from them was a pale guy in a bright track suit and head band sound asleep, and next to him was a heavy looking dude with a milder dark complexion in a suit jacket over a hoody fidgeting on his phone.

While they all wore different outfits, at least one piece of their clothing was the same matching shade of blue. They all had a bang of strong B. O. coming off of them covered in varying levels of grime and some kind of green slime. Clear fresh bruises and scratches spread out over their bodies and clothes.

Heavy boots of lead. Fills his victims full of dread!

'What happened to these guys?'

Gwen asked herself as the bus slowed to the stop at the curb, lyrics still blasting away into her ears. Feeling Trent nudge her side as he stood up, Gwen fallowed him past the group and off the bus. It still raining out, Trent opened up his camo printed umbrella for them as the doors closed. Rolling up her head phones as her song reached the drum solo, Gwen looked around and saw that the street around them wasn't nearly as deserted as the gas station next to them, with lots of traffic driving down the road and people drifting on the sidewalk.

"See, the bus is way better than a motorcyc-" The musician laughed. "Yeah, couldn't finish that with a straight face."

"And, you've never even ridden one either." Gwen mockingly slapped Trent's gut as they walked. "Plus, free ride."

"Meh," Trent shrugged, crossing the street. "Another one, no weirdo's."

"Right!" The doodlist barked. "Did you see the shape of those guys?"

"I don't wanna think about it." Trent shook his head. "Not my problem.

"All their clothes matched. Navy blue." Gwen snapped her fingers. "Maybe they were part of a team. Fight club maybe? Nah, they would'ah had black eyes or something."

"H-hey, what's Josh having you do?" Trent asked, clearly eager to change the subject.

"Huh? Oh, well for some wacky reason he's closing down the theater for a while and making us clean it up. No extra pay, but half price movie tickets." Gwen explained. "Why he waited til now I have no idea. You saw how messed up it is."

"It still count as a date if we're both only paying one ticket between us?"

"Welllll," The doodlist rolled her L's. "We usually watch the movie together for free anyway. Sooo, nah."

"Either way," Trent shrugged, rubbing Gwen's back as they walked. "still worth it just to spend some time with you after a week."

"You say that now." Gwen half groaned, grabbing his hand. "We are cleaning up old garbage."

"I'm sure the smell'll remind me." Trent joked, tugging at his shirt. "Gonna have to burn these after we're done. I really don't want polio."

"Huh." Gwen smiled. "First the blanket and now your clothes. I'm worried the theater is making you a pyro. If it is, please don't burn it down til after I get another do nothing job."

"How much you complain about the place, pretty sure you'll do it."

Instantly the couple saw the familiar Maple cinema, its worn blood red bricks completely ignoring the storm. The chipped sign next to it was covered with a piece of cardboard, its spray painted message was all but unreadable by the rain. The cars driving into the parking lot in front of the theater were all parked next to the waffle house to its right.

The couple walked silently over and through the parking lot and into the main entrance of the theater. Once inside the two found that the lobby had several bins on each side with varying levels of garbage inside them. Standing in front of the counter at the end of the lobby was Josh, Gwen's boss, this time wearing what looked like a freshly bought cold grey jump suit with his usual name tag pinned on it as he shifted through a clip board.

"Gwen, right on time." Josh greeted, disinterested as he flipped another page on his clip board before shifting a look at Trent. "This your extra hand?"

"Yup," Gwen eyed at Trent as he answered. His enthusiasm clearly forced, trying to look good in front of Gwen's boss. "Here and ready to clean."

"Tone it down kid. Its gonna be a long day. The only cheerleaders I want to hear are on a screen, my finger on the mute button." Josh deadpanned as he reached into his pocket. Gwen snorted at her boss's line and the surprised-embarrassed look on her boyfriend's face. Josh tossed a yellow plastic wrist band at Trent before he continued writing on his clip board. "That's good for half off on tickets for one week. Now, we're doing the upper floors right now. Mostly the projection booths. They're the main problem. We'll probably do down stairs later this week. Staci and Leonard are already here, each have a plus one."

"Those two seriously got others to help?" Gwen asked, skepticism dripping from her voice. "Who are they?"

"Weirdos, who do you think?" Josh shrugged, same flat tone. "The only one who didn't bring an extra was Zoey. Oh hey, speaking of."

Turning to look to where Josh was pointing was none other than Zoey Krieger. Zoey looked like the little sister everyone thinks the world of growing up. A bit younger than Gwen, Zoey had an adorable child like face, plucky brown eyes, and her smile made people just want to hug her. Clearly an athletic girl, Zoey had plenty of developing muscle and curves in her legs while her upper body was slender if a bit lanky. With what little time Gwen had been with the younger girl, Zoey always seemed nice and cheerful if a bit too eager to please.

Zoey herself was walking in from the hallway that led to the employee parking lot out back, dragging a plastic garbage bin on each arm. Zoey was wearing a crimson red hoody along with dark brown skinny jeans, her hair pulled back into a short pony tail. The doodlist gave a polite wave as she slumped the bins she was dragging over to the group of pales.

"Hey Zoey." Gwen greeted as the hipster girl walked over. Zoey gave a polite smile at the doodlist as she adjusted her trademarked flower in her hair. "Doing okay?"

"Uhh-"

"Nuff chit chat." Josh gave the girls a look. "Its not gonna be a fun day and we've got a lot to do. Both of ya, go upstairs and find a room that hasn't been cleaned out yet."

"Got it." The girls nodded, their tone sounding very practiced as they walked off to the closest set of stairs. Turning around the corner, the doodlist looked back and saw Josh absentmindedly scribbling on his clipboard. "Sooo, what'd we miss?"

"Well," Zoey sighed. "everything you saw down stairs was from booth A."

"You're kidding?" Gwen asked. "All that was from Lenny the larper."

"Yeah." Zoey answered, reaching the top of the stairs. "Leonard's room is actually why Josh started all this. There's this giant hole in the ceiling. None of the lights work. We're still not done with it. All those bags were just from the piles of garbage lining the room. I'm not surprised he's so crazy with how bad it smelled in there."

"Wow," Trent whistled as they walked down the hall of booths. The faint smell of old garbage mixed with ammonia in the air. "I thought we were slobs."

"We-wait." Zoey asked, stopping the couple behind her in the hall. "You two, in there... Really?"

"Zoey don't judge." Gwen glowered at the hipster girl, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Like you never took your boyfriend in your booth?"

"Ugh..." Zoey coughed, looking away from the Gwen's gaze as she rubbed her arm. "Well, its just- the smell alone in these rooms."

"Well we had some ah-" Trent coughed back, rubbing his nose. "air fresheners, to help us get through it."

"Anyway, don't blame Lenny too much. The oldest expiration dates we could read went back a couple decades. We're still working on it but Josh wanted us to pick up the pace so now each of us are working on our own room."

Zoey explained, eager to change the subject as they made it to Gwen's booth. Opening the door the rotted smell of the room hit the trio like a wave of rot, with all three having to cover their faces just to breath. Flipping on the lights, the trio walked in with the piles of loose garbage lining all but a single path from the door to the projector and the desk at the end.

"Okay, so which part of this was furthest away from where you two ah..."

"Ugh," Gwen sighed as she pointed. "Over there."

The couple looked at each other blankly as Zoey walked over. Gwen and Trent quickly fallowed suit and started shuffling the trash on the floor into garbage bags they brought. This went on for a couple of hours, the already thin air getting stuffier and hotter in the cramped room as time went on. Ironically moving all the layers of garbage off the floor only aggravated the stench, which the opened door did little to help.

Tying up one last bag of garbage, Trent whipped the sweat off his brow as he slumped down in the old swivel chair. Gwen was right behind him and sat on his lap, leaning against his chest. Across the room from the couple Zoey was still shuffling another pile of garbage into a bag, the wrappers rustling around on the floor as she grabbed them. Wiping her hands with a towlette, Gwen squinted intrigued as Zoey fished out a large bottle from the pile.

"Hey guys." Zoey held up the old bottle to them, whipping off a bit of the grime and stubborn wrappers. "I think I found something."

"Huh," Gwen blinked as she and Trent hopped off the chair. Gwen grabbed the bottle by its neck out of Zoey's grasp. The bottle was fairly large, most of it full of clear liquid. What little remained of its original label was faded and unreadable. "What do you think it is?"

"How'd we never find it?" Trent asked as he pried open the cap and took a whiff, only to wince before closing it. "Nah-i-it's strong."

"Its been laying in a pile of garbage for who knows how long." Zoey shrugged. "I'm gonna toss it with the bags."

"Hold on Zoey." Gwen pleaded, holding the bottle away from the hipster girl. "The bags are all gonna get tossed in the dumpster out back. We don't want any drunk hobo's lying around our cars, right? Me and Trent'll dispose of it right."

"Uhhh, okay. Well, I'm gonna take these down. I'll be back soon."

Zoey nodded, grabbing two of bags by the knots and heading out the door. Gwen tilted her head at the girl, as the doodlist could have sworn she hear the younger girl mumble something in Spanish. Gwen had little time to ponder the thought when Trent grabbed the bottle out of her hands.

"So, how long do you think Josh had this in here?"

"I doubt he even knew." Gwen squinted at the bits and strips of old paper still on the bottle. "Look how messed up the label is. Its probably been here for years."

"Who do you think put it here then?"

"Meh. Don't care. Its ours now." Gwen shrugged, before growing a naughty smile. "Hey, Zoey's gone and the other's are busy... wanna have some fun with the bottle."

"Fun and crazy." Trent nodded, growing a lop sided smirk. "But ah, the room is still pretty gross and the smell is actually worse. No blanket or anything this time."

The couple looked around the room for a moment, both silently cringed at the smell of the room as they took a breath. Looking at each other for a moment, Gwen smiled as she grabbed his hand and lead her boyfriend out the door. Trent stepped up so he was walking by Gwen's side, his free arm wrapped around the doodlist's thin waist before quickly sliding down to her tight behind in her black skinny jeans. Gwen smiled at this, and returned the favor with her free hand as she swung around to his front. Trent leaned down and kissed Gwen as she kept leading him the short ways down the hallway before her back hit the dead end wall. Stopping the kiss, their hands still over each other, Gwen reached over and grabbed the knob for the first booth of the floor and the only one they knew was clean.

The door creaked only a couple of inches in, the young couple stopped in their tracks, their eyes shot wide open from what sounded like a fog horn. Breaking away from each other, the two artists peaked into the dark room and saw what looked silhouettes of a couple of walruses laying on the wooden desk back of the room, flopping on top of each other. Opening it up just a bit for light, the image of Staci in only her hot pink sweat pants under a wider guy who looked like he glued a bean bag sized wad of hair on top of his head, fully clothed but in the middle of kicking off his shoes.

Both artists stood silently in the hall as Gwen quietly shut the door, shocked expressions on their faces a foot apart from each other. The only sound in the hall being the faint sound of horns, honking, and alarms coming from the booth next to them. Wiping off the tip of the bottle in his hand, Trent took a deep breath.

"Wanna go back to cleaning the room?"

"Oh yeah." Gwen nodded blankly, walking back to her booth. "Wanna shower in bleach and wear hazmat suits for a week?"

"Oh yeah." Trent answered back, opening up the bottle before blindly taking a swig. Instantly the musician spat out his gulp on the wall and winced. "W-wow, b-burns."

"O-oh boy." Gwen sighed, patting the back of the hunched over musician as he coughed. "Go back to the booth. I'll go get some bleach, or wipes, or something."

Gwen sighed as she walked away from her wheezing boyfriend, waving to her as he leaned against the wall. Dragging her heals as she slumped over to the broom closet, Gwen waited until she could no longer hear Trent's wheezing before she folded her arms and sighed again. Gwen was about to open her mouth but only bit her lip, the walrus image still fresh in her mind made her cringe. The doodlist stopped again as she heard another faint sound, words this time, coming from inside the broom closet just down the way. Walking closer, Gwen could make it out it was some sort of chanting. Instantly, Gwen cringed again. The image of a familiar moss colored gnome cap and green robe hitting the floor entered her mind.

"Oh, no way Lenny is getting some too." Gwen groaned, making it to the broom closet. Her hand hitting the knob, Gwen heard a second more bellow voice join the chanting. "Oh you gotta be kidding me."

Gwen was about to knock on the old wooden door when suddenly the doodlist heard a loud boom coming from inside. Instantly a shock wave fallowed, causing the door to nearly pop off its hinges. Confused and scared, Gwen tugged the handle, but before she could blink the door bursted out, knocking the doodlist to the floor under it. Gwen couldn't see who it was exactly, but that it was a larger gal wearing green and brown covered in some sort of white goop as she ran over the door on top of the doodlist.

"Its real! Its really real!" The girl screamed as she sprinted down the hall, arms waving in the air. Just behind her Leonard hopped on top of the door in his full wizard garb, covered from head to toe in the same white gonk.

"Tammy wait!" Leonard yelled, running after her. "I have it under control."

Confused beyond reason, Gwen tossed the door off of her and stood up, neither of the two in sight. Turning to the broom closet, the doodlist saw that it was completely trashed. Every last bottle of bleach, soap, and chemicals were bursted open and their contents covering everything, its smell a hundred times stronger than any of the booths. The odor near unbearable, Gwen turned to leave but as she took the first step her foot caught on something and she fell flat on her face. Looking down at her feet, Gwen grabbed an old leather bound book, completely clean and goop free. Tilting her head at the book, Gwen shifted down the hall, holding her breath.

Heading back to her booth, Gwen looked down at the old leather book in her hands. The doodlist could see that it was completely clean on all sides, and not just from the chemical gonk from the closet. There were no cuts, scrapes, or stains on the old leather or any damage to any of the pages. It was completely clear and bare with nothing on it, even words. Curious, Gwen stopped as she opened the book and flipped through it, before she felt her eyes start to water. Wiping them, Gwen sniffed the air and found the same horrible chemical smell as in the closet, discovering that globs of the gonk had covered her shirt in patches.

"GAH!" Gwen huffed back to her booth, its door still open, close another bag before looking at her surprised. "Lenny did something stupid in the broom closet. The whole room is wrecked and in come kinda white slime."

"What?" Trent laughed. "Was he trying to make a potion?"

"Don't care, but some of it got on me. Strong stuff." Gwen explained, wiping her eyes. "I'm gonna go home and take a shower. If Josh has a problem with it he can blame Leonard."

"I'm gonna stay. I don't want you to get fired because of what some idiot did."

"Fine." Gwen shrugged. "But gimmy your shirt, I can't really wear this one home."

Without skipping a beat Trent took off his yellow shirt and handed it to the doodlist. Leaving the young musician in his long sleeved camo undershirt. Taking it, just as quickly Gwen took off her black Sabbath T-shirt in a huff before sliding on Trent's. The yellow shirt felt like it was two sizes too big for her and probably looked even more so. Gwen sighed as she jammed her now ruined shirt into her pants pocket as she noticed the blush on the musician's face.

"O-oh crap. I-I guess the fumes are getting to me." Gwen felt her face heating up. "Hope the peek made today worth it."

"It was way better than the other one today." Trent blushed, but his face instantly went blank fallowed by an awkward silence in the room. The image flopping walruses returned. "Uh-uh, nice sports bra..."

"S-sorry Trent. Moment died."

Gwen winced, turning toward the door. The doodlist smiled as she grabbed the bottle sitting on the chair next to the exit. Making back down to the empty lobby, the smell of old garbage and rotted wood still in the air, as Gwen heard the voices of Josh and Zoey in the open theater next to her. Wiping off the gonk from her skin with her old shirt, Gwen heard the creaking sound of the staff parking lot door open.

The doodlist shrugged at the sound, remembering how Lenny and his friend ran out, but a creeping feeling crawl up her spine. Then it hit her, the lack of mumbling about spells and wizards, which Leonard couldn't ever shut up about. Walking down the hall and peaking over a dark corner, with just barely enough light Gwen saw the silhouette of of giant of a man in a thick coat that did little to hide his mountain of muscle as he slowly walked closer. Her heart beating faster, Gwen raced back as quietly as she could into the theater she heard the others in. Spotting Josh and Zoey haul another set of garbage bags into a plastic bin Gwen clapped to get their attention.

"Some guy in a mask just came in and walking over here." Gwen all but whispered, clear panic rising in her voice. Zoey stared at Gwen silently as Josh stood still looking at the door for a moment before walking past her.

"Gwen, call the cops." Josh ordered, peaking our the door to the theater. Gwen and Zoey were right behind him, the doodlist felt the creeping feeling in her spine again as she saw no bars on her phone. "Go out the front door. I'll stay to get the others out."

The girls wasted no time and ran though the empty lobby for the open exit at the end, but before they were even half way there a black iron crowbar smacked hard against the floor not a foot in-front of them. Stopping on a dime, the girls froze where they stood before turning to where the crowbar came from. Half way up the stairs to their left, Gwen could see the man from before, his arm still stretched out too them from the throw. Now in more light, while still a giant of a man, was clearly wearing an all black outfit of fatigue pants, gloves and closed dark leather jacket. But what really stood out was the solid mesh mask over his face that gave off the appearance of a skull.

With the same hand he pulled out a pistol from his hip and pointed it at them as he slowly walked down the stairs. Terror filling her chest and her heat beating faster, the image of Gwen's mother and brother flashed before her eyes. Her home. Her friends. Then finally the thought of never seeing them again.

Everything stopped in the empty lobby as the sound of loud rustling echoed in quite room the from behind the desk. The masked man turned and pointed his pistol at the lobby desk, but his gaze never completely left the girls. A moment of blood chilling silence filled the room as the man walked closer to the desk.

"You behind the desk. Come out or I'll make you!" The masked man shouted, the tense silence continued as he stepped closer. "Look, I don't have to kill any-"

Suddenly Josh erupted from behind the desk, a sawn-off shotgun in hand and blasted at the fugitive, blowing the man mountain half a foot back and landing hard on his back. Covering her years where she was, Gwen felt herself take a nervous breath, almost feeling relief. It didn't last long and was replaced by sheer terror as the masked man stood back up and shot a few rounds at the desk. The fugitive fired another two shots as he ran for cover, limping on his side. Taking this as her que, Gwen grabbed Zoey's wrist and ran for the front door. But again like before, were stopped when several holes were blasted into the wood of the door and its window blasted.

"Go back into the theater and hide!"

Josh screamed as he blasted his second and last shot at the fugitive. This time it was Zoey who grabbed Gwen's wrist and both girls fallowed Josh's order. Making through the door just in time to see Josh reload his gun. Once inside, Zoey pulled Gwen to the right side of the room as it had the most garbage bags with plenty of places to hide. Making it to the middle row of the room and hiding between the chairs, Gwen pulled out her phone as both girls got down on their knees. The doodlist bit her lip before mouthing a curse at the no signal sign on her phone.

The doodlist almost dropped her phone and Zoey gave out a scared meep as another shotgun blast went off just outside of the room. A tense silence filled the air for a moment as the gunfire stopped. Suddenly the sound of a crash and smashing wood erupted exactly where the shotgun blast came from.

Gwen's eyes were shut hard as all she could think about was how best to stay hidden, when suddenly she felt a vice like grip around her body, so tight that the doodlist couldn't breath. Instantly Gwen opening her eyes and found Zoey huddled against her with her head crouched down. Even more, Gwen found that her own arms were wrapped around the younger girl, probably holding on to her just as tight as Zoey.

The two girls gripped each other even tighter as they heard the sound of a loud struggle coming from behind the desk just outside the theater before everything got quiet again. Peaking through the chairs, Gwen saw the masked fugitive walk into the theater, his gun pointed down as he looked around the theater, some fresh blood spattered on his hand.

"You two. Come on out. I'm not here to hurt anybody."The masked man shouted, adrenaline in his voice as he tried to catch his breath. While Gwen couldn't see his eyes through the black mesh mask, she could see his head shift from side to side as he slowly walked down the isles. Clearly looking for her and Zoey. "I will find you and i'll pull ya out if i have to. And since my good hand's busy, you're stuck with pointy. You won't like him."

'How did this happen?' Gwen asked herself, closing her ears tight. 'How did working in this run down trash bin get like this? How did i get caught up in this? All i want to do is blow off work, practice art and fool around with Trent and that bottle of booze we found...'

"I will find you two." The masked man announced before a bag of garbage was hurled into the middle row of the left half side of the theater. Spreading garbage everywhere. "Make it easier on all of us and just come out."

Peaking through an opening, Gwen saw the masked man walk down another set row of chairs as he picked up another bag of garbage with his hooked hand. Taking a deep breath, Gwen took out the bottle in her pocket along with her ruined black Sabbath shirt. As Gwen twisted off the cap, she noticed the confused look on Zoey's tear stained face. Gwen was about to open her mouth as a sack of garbage landed right next to them only a few chairs down. Gwen was just barely able to slide in her old T-shirt into the bottle before Zoey squeezed her again.

"You're boss is still alive." Another bag of garbage crash landed in the center isle of the theater. Letting go of each other, the girls crawled to the end of the row. Out of the row of chairs, Gwen typed up her plan on her phone and showed it to Zoey. The red headed girl's tear stained eyes lit up in surprise and life. "Just ruffed him up a bit."

Each step the masked man took sounded like thunder against the cluckered and shipped floor in the theater, the terrifying sound only rivaled by Gwen's heartbeat as she tried ignite the shirt fuse of the bottle in her hand. But the zippo just refused. Anger and fear building in her chest, Gwen kept on as she saw the terrified Zoey at her side grab a brook and kick off the brush from the stick before taking deep breaths. The doodlist was scared and confused beyond reason as Zoey stood up for everyone to see before she ran down the side of the room to the bottom center stage of the theater, broomstick in pointed at the armed man mountain intruder.

Peaking through the chairs again, Gwen could see the masked man tilt his head at the shaking girl at the end of the room. His pistol still pointed up, the masked man walked down the left walkway, his gaze shifting from Zoey to the chairs each time he passed a row. Leaning against the side of a chair and parallel to the row, the masked man missed Gwen as he walked by. Much to the doodlist's relief. Taking this as her cue, Gwen finally managed to light the fuse to the bottle.

"I used to work here. There's no backdoor in this room. What are you getting at kid?" The masked man asked as he finally made it to the bottom of the room. Standing only a few feet away from her, the masked man tilted his head again at the silent shivering girl, her broomstick still pointed at him. The man shook his head mockingly as he held up his pistol before waving around his hooked hand to his side. "I've got a gun kid, and more. Now, what can you tell me about-"

Before the masked man could finish his sentence, the gun was knocked out his hand by Zoey's broomstick and lost in the first few rows of chairs. Gwens' eyes were wide open in surprise and while she couldn't see it, the doodlist could tell the masked man was just as surprised. Zoey herself, while still visibly afraid, wasn't shaking nearly as much and her broomstick still pointed at him before she jabbed the masked man in the chest. The man stood still for a moment, silently looking down at the girl, before he slammed his hooked hand down against Zoey's broom stick and slicing it in two. Zoey yelped in surprise and fear, holding the two pieces of her improvised weapon, before the masked man punched her in the chest where she had hit him. Knocking her back a few feet and off the forgotten opera house stage.

Taking this as her cue, Gwen stood up and threw the improvised Molotov cocktail at the theater floor just in front of where Zoey was standing. Smashing open when it hit the floor and bright orange flames erupted mere feet away from the masked man who cursed in fear and surprise, then in pain as it quickly spread closer to him. The masked man distracted, Gwen ran up to the stage and hoisted the cringing Zoey to her feet. The fire quickly spreading to the old wood of the theater and the scattered garbage everywhere, Gwen pulled Zoey's arm over her shoulder and helped the coughing girl an herself out of the room as the masked man pleaded for help.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blinding bright colorless light was shining, beaming into Gwen's eyes. A deafening white noise surrounded her, no other sound at all. As she breathed, there was nothing in the air. Hearing, sight, smell, even the sense of touch was lost. The silver lining, there was no worry. As all memory was gone too. The girl once known as Gwen Wallace was isolated to the world.

Then suddenly, the blinding light was gone and in its place was a freckled pale woman in her mid 20's who's complexion was barely more tan than Gwen's own. She had her long brown hair in a neat bun. The woman was wearing a white button down shirt with a name tag reading miles. Mile's Eyes behind her wire rimmed glasses focused on Gwen, her mouth was moving but the doodlist couldn't hear anything. A pair of brightly colored pair of gloves suddenly appeared in front of Gwen's face she didn't notice before with a small black flashlight in the left, the blinding returned.

On instinct alone, basically what Gwen was running on, swatted the flashlight out of her face and Mile's hand. Blinking hard, her eyes readjusting, Gwen saw the blank look on Mile's face staring back at the doodlist, her mouth moving. Instantly, the world opened back up again for Gwen Wallace.

Overwhelming sounds of police and emergency sirens were going off in all directions around her, blasts of rushing water was erupting to her side. Looking past Miles toward the sound, Gwen saw none other than the old Maple cinema. Its front door smashed open and cut to pieces, every window was open with smoke leaking through them and the walls themselves. Several high powered streams of water were being spraying into the building from the fire engines in the parking lot just from Gwen's view.

Looking back down at the front door, Gwen could a firemen in his full gear walking out carrying out none other than Josh himself with his partner holding up the rear. Gwen couldn't see if her boss was alive or not, only that he was wearing a neck brace and face was beaten and blue as he was being carried to an ambulance just down the parking lot, its lights still flashing. Behind them was Trent. Gwen instantly let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Coughing as he was being led out of the burning building by another fireman, other than that he looked fine.

What wasn't fine was the image of Staci and that bearded afro guy from before in only their underwear being escorted by another pair of fireman, and strangely enough that same girl from before who ran out screaming from the broom closet. Still in the same white goop. Though, Gwen could see a pair of EMT's running over and covering all three in thick blankets as they walked away. But of course that left everyone's favorite oddball. Unlike everyone else who was escorted, Leonard himself was carried out by his fireman. Kicking and screaming incoherently at the building almost looking like he was trying to get back in the burning pile of timber. Certain death be damned.

"*Ma...ma'ah...ma'am?"

Gwen's focus instantly shot back to Miles, and now having a good look, discovered that the white button up shirt was actually an EMT uniform. Not only that, but the doodlist was sitting in an ambulance, specifically the floor of it with her legs hanging off the open ledge. Miles herself was kneeling in front of Gwen with the same blank expressionless look on her face, her gloved hands snapping and waving in front of Gwen's own face.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Miles asked, clear clinical concern in her voice. "You were unresponsive."

"H-how long?"

"About a minute." Miles answered, looking at her watch. "We were talking and you stopped. Are you alright?"

"U-um, yeah."

"Well we're taking you both back to the hospital to get looked over."

"U-uh, okay- wait, both?"

Some concern peeked out of the emotionless expression on Miles's face as she pointed down. Gwen looked and discovered that the doodlist was wrapped up in the same kind of thick blanket she saw the other EMT's wrap around rest of the staff. Not only that but Zoey herself was sitting right next to the doodlist, both girls still hugging each other inside the blanket. A mask of unresponsive fear was on the crying girl's face. The moment, the millisecond that fact was known in the doodlist's head, Gwen held Zoey a little tighter, which Zoey did the same.

"Listen, I know you're both scared right now." Miles rested a hand on Gwen's shoulder, rubbing it to try and give the doodlist some small amount of comfort. "Whatever happened in there, you're safe now. You'll be alright."

"I-I-I, I think I-we'll be alright too." Gwen nodded, tugging the blanket so Zoey had more cover.

"Yeah you will. We're taking you both back in the same ambulance."

Miles nodded as she stood back up, like before Gwen felt herself letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. Gwen took a sigh of relief as she looked back at the burning building and the firefighters doing their best to save it. But even from where Gwen was sitting, everyone could tell it was a losing battle. With all its history, that day included, Gwen didn't how to feel about that. The doodlist's gaze shifted back to Miles the EMT as she handed Gwen from the floor.

"We found this with you. Is this book yours?"