Chapter Ten

Freebird

Andy stood and then helped me to my feet; I was shivering from a mixture of fear and the cold that seemed to hang in the basement. It just figured that the only place in Texas that was actually cool happened to be the basement of some psycho's house. The water filled my cowboy boots and I wrinkled my nose in disgust; I didn't even want to think about what else was in this water. I bent down, took off my boots and tossed them aside; I'd probably be able to run faster if I didn't have to worry about tripping all of the time.

I squinted my eyes through the dim light and peeked around the basement, trying to find a way out; huge curved metal hooks hung from the ceiling and I didn't even want to think about what used to hang on them. To my left there was a heavy oak desk, cluttered with all sorts of things that I couldn't make out in the darkness; the smell of death and blood was strongest over there.

Andy took my hand and we started through the basement, heading away from the front door and deeper into the cellar. Water dripped from the rusty pipes over head, the only sound in the entire basement aside from our breathing. Soon the ground rose upward and the water was behind us; directly in front us was a rickety, wooden staircase that rose upward, leading to somewhere I couldn't see. I prayed it was the way out.

"Come on." Andy whispered and I didn't need any further prodding.

I started up the staircase, stopping suddenly when I heard the familiar grating a metal against rust and a heavy boom echoed through the basement. The door had been opened, someone was coming down here. Andy and I both turned in the direction we had come, frozen, listening to the footsteps that creaked down the rotting staircase.

My breath caught in my throat when the chainsaw screamed to life, tearing through the silence of the basement. I screamed and Andy gave me a push from behind. "Hurry!" He shouted above the roar of the metal. The choking smell of gasoline filled my nose and I knew that the man and his chainsaw were advancing in our direction.

I pulled myself up the stairs, my bare feet slapping against the uneven wood; Andy was right behind me, always exactly a stair behind so we didn't knock into each other. The staircase began to shake and I looked over my shoulder, instantly wishing I hadn't. The man with the chainsaw was driving the blade into the wooden planks behind us, tearing into whatever the saw happened to run into. "Faster!" Andy cried and I saw that the man was swinging the chainsaw under his feet. He was playing with us, having his fun before he killed us. That thought almost made me sick again.

The plank beneath my feet broke and I screamed, my foot going through the stairs; I lost my balance and slammed face first onto the wooden planks in front of me. I felt my nose crunch, breaking from the fall and tears filled my eyes again, waves of pain flashing in front of my eyes. The chainsaw was closer now; we were going to die.

Andy grabbed me around the waist and yanked me to my feet like he had done hours ago back at the Crawford Mill. He didn't waste any time throwing me over his shoulder like the man with the chainsaw had done earlier, heading up the stairs as fast as he could. I could see the man advancing on his, getting closer with every pacing second, not hindered by the chainsaw that he swung in his hands.

With a pig-like squeal, the man lifted the chainsaw and swung the blade inches in front of my face; I screamed as I felt the wind caused by the tiny teeth brush against my face. Next time he swung, he wouldn't miss.

Suddenly, Andy spun around and I found myself facing double wooden doors, locked with a broom handle inserted between the two handles on the door. "Open it!" Andy cried and he took a step closer to the door, and I banged my forehead on the wood.

The chainsaw was so close it seemed like the only thing that existed in the world; the sound filled my ears, so loud that I thought I was going to lose my hearing. And that would be a blessing, I never wanted to hear that shrieking chainsaw ever again.

I grabbed the broom handle and tugged it free from the door, throwing it in the direction of the man with the chainsaw. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the chainsaw whirling through the air, cutting downward, heading straight for Andy and I. I screamed and Andy did too; I pushed open the doors and Andy stumbled backward, tripping over the last stair and both of us hit the ground outside the cellar doors.

I untangled myself from Andy and jumped to my feet, rushing back to the doors and slamming them shut in the same instantly the chainsaw blade punched through the wood, sending sparks and wood chips flying into the air. I screamed and fell backward; the doors bucked and rose when every jerking motion the chainsaw made. They wouldn't hold for long, and I didn't really want to be around when the man was finally able to get through.

Andy stumbled to his feet and grabbed my wrist, yanking me away from the doors. "This way." He commanded, taking off toward the clump of woods that surrounded the back of the Hewitt house. I realized we were running in the opposite direction of the car graveyard, back toward the road and where we had picked up the girl. Once we got to the road we could flag down a car and get the hell out of here! We were almost free, we had almost escaped!

These woods were not as dense as the ones that surrounded the Crawford Mill and led to the car graveyard and soon we had left them behind. I glanced over my shoulder, but there was no sign of the man with the chainsaw; I could, however, hear the chainsaw sputtering and tearing through the doors. The man was free, the doors had been destroyed and now there was nothing between him and us.

I turned back around and saw a dilapidated cabin looming in the distance, standing alone in the middle of the field that we know stood in. "Thank you Jesus." I thought I heard Andy mutter but I wasn't quite sure. But those were my thoughts exactly.

The chainsaw was roaring yards behind us, tearing through the mass of trees that we had left behind. This house was going to provide our only chance to get away from him before making a dash for the road. If he had caught up to us already, then we'd never be able to outrun him in open space.

Andy flung the door open and pushed me inside ahead of him. Rats squeaked and rushed away from the door, heading for the dark eaves in the room. I hated rats, but right now, I think I could learn to live with them. Andy hurried inside and slammed the door shut behind us. "We've got to find somewhere to hide." There was no where in the living room. I hurried down the single hallway in the house with Andy right behind me, heading for the back of the house.

The hallway turned off into another single large room, but this room had two closets at opposite ends: places to hide. Andy ushered me toward the first closet, the smaller of the two and pushed me inside. "I love you." He whispered and gave me a kiss before I could even respond.

He turned to go and I grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me." I pleaded. I didn't want to be left alone, not even if hiding together would give us away. I doubted there was enough space in the closet for both of us, but I didn't want to be alone. "Please."

Andy looked indecisive. The chainsaw roared to life suddenly and I could hear it ripping through the front door; the man had found us again. That seemed to make up Andy's mind; he hurried inside the closet; quietly shutting the door behind him.

I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from breathing out loud; Andy wrapped his arms around my waist and somehow managed to get behind me, with his back pressed up against the wall. I leaned against his chest, my heart beating so rapidly I thought I was going to explode.

The chainsaw was silent now, but I could hear the man's footsteps as he walked down the hallway, the boards creaking beneath him. He was going to find us, I just knew, and we were trapped like rats. The broads creaked again, louder this time, and I could tell he was in the room. I shut my eyes as tightly as I could but tears still managed to squeeze past my eyelids; Andy held onto my hands tightly, his breath frozen in his chest.

For a moment, the world was utterly silence, it was as though time had stopped.

The door was yanked open suddenly and with such force that I thought it was about to be torn right off its hinges. The man's face (it's not really his face!) appeared directly in front of mine and I screamed; there was no where to go, we were trapped. He reached out and grabbed the front of my shirt, hauling me forward with such force that Andy couldn't keep his hold around my waist; I prayed that the straps on the cheap shirt would snap but they didn't. Damn quality workmanship!

I screamed again when the man threw me to the ground; the fall knocked the wind out of my lungs and I remained, stunned, on the ground, unable to move. I groaned when he slammed his foot down onto my back, driving what breath I had left in my body out my mouth and nose.

Above me, the chainsaw started up again and I realized he planned to skewer me, right there, when I didn't even have a fighting chance. I didn't even have the breath to scream and my mouth opened and closed silently, like a fish trying to survive on land. I felt like a fish, helpless, about to be gutted and someone's dinner. I started to cry, shutting my eyes.

There is absolutely no way to prepare for the moment you are going to die; nothing in the world makes sense in the seconds before, not everything you've heard about a better place and being with your grandparents that have already died. My whole life didn't flash in front of my eyes, either. There was nothing but complete, paralyzing fear and the thought that I didn't want to die. The last thing I was going to hear was the chainsaw as it sliced through the air, toward my body.

Before the chainsaw could tear in my back, someone slammed into the man pinning me to the floor with such force that he nearly released his hold on me. He didn't however, and I was still pinned to the floor with his foot crushing my spine; he did, however lose hold on the chainsaw. I opened my eyes in time to see the blade drop, still going, inches away from my face; it spun around across the floor, jerking and hopping closer and closer to my face with every second.

"Andy!" I screamed, trying to wiggle away from the spinning blade but the man's foot kept me rooted to my spot. "Andy!"

Andy yelled as he charged into the psycho with all of his weight; the man's balance was upset and he teetered, his foot losing its hold on my back. I was able to breath again and I quickly jumped to my feet before the chainsaw had the chance to tear into my face. Blinking my tears away, I turned in the direction Andy and the man had stumbled and saw that the man had thrown Andy to the ground.

Ignoring me, the man turned back around, picked up his chainsaw and advanced toward Andy. "No!" I screamed and leapt at the man, digging my fingers into the flesh on his back, trying to distract him from Andy. The man swatted me aside as though I was little more then a pesky gnat and drove the chainsaw downward.

"No!" It was impossible, after all of this, Andy couldn't die. Not now. "Andy!" Andy's scream was cut short when the chainsaw tore into his chest, tearing easily through flesh and muscle and killing him instantly. I screamed wordlessly and buried my face in my hands, feeling as though my heart was being torn out of my chest. Not Andy! Not Andy...

I opened my eyes slowly, almost painfully, unwilling to see what was left of Andy. The man with the chainsaw was still looming over him, driving the blade into the flesh and sinew that was left of Andy and I could tell he was enjoying it. "Stop." I whispered, tears falling down my cheeks. "He's already dead."

The man with the chainsaw turned in my direction, swinging the chainsaw away from Andy and at me. I sniffed, coughing, and stared at him for a minute, frozen by fear and the fact that I didn't really care anymore what happened to me. Andy was dead, why did it matter?

Andy died for you! My brain screamed and that was true. And you're just going sit around and die too? No, no I wasn't. I was going to get the hell out of here and never, ever come back to Texas again.

I jumped to my feet as the chainsaw roared through the air, heading for my head; instead, the blade found nothing but empty air. I spun around and headed for the single window in the room, my only chance of escape; if I headed for the door then I would give the chainsaw a perfect target.

The window was stuck, the wooden sill around it so warped with water damage that it had molded around the window. That was it, my last chance to get away was a bust. I banged lightly against the glass with my palm but I didn't have the energy to do anything. I didn't have the energy to survive anymore.

I heard the chainsaw screaming behind me, coming for me and suddenly, I had one last idea. Steeling myself, I remained in front of window with my back to the man and his chainsaw, forcing myself not to run, not to turn. I felt the chainsaw whirling behind my back and ducked before the blades could finish what they had started, dropping to my knees and covering my face.

The blade of the chainsaw went crashing to the glass window, shattering it and squealing through the glass; shards went flying in all directions and I winced when one sliced into my shoulder.

The man behind me howled in pain and I lifted my head, glancing behind me; some of the glass had cut into his face and he was squealing like a child, holding his hands over his face. Serves him right, now he knows what it feels like. The chainsaw had once again hit the ground and I leapt to my feet before it could get anywhere near me. I put my hands on the window sill, ignoring the remaining shards of glass that sliced into my palms and boosted myself out the window and onto the ground below.

I didn't even look behind me to see if the man had pulled himself together long enough to follow after me and took off running. My legs ached and with every step I took my back seemed to hurt even more, yet I didn't stop, couldn't stop, running. I was doing to make it, I was going to get away from this place.

I pushed past the gnarled, limp trees that seemed bent on blocking my path and found myself staring at the road. The actual road! I had made it! I fell to my knees, blinking away the tears before they had a chance to fall; I still had to find a ride, a way to get away from here before the chainsaw man could chase after me.

I lifted my head again and peered through the darkness. It seemed too good to be true: headlights coming in my direction, heading the opposite way I had come, heading away from this hellish place. I stumbled to my feet and limped into the middle of the road, waving my hands over my head. "Stop!" I cried, my throat raw and the words barely came out above a whisper. "Please, stop."

The car slammed on its breaks, tires squealing, stopping seconds before it knocked into me. I laid my hands on the hood and whispered "stop" again, feeling as though I couldn't even stand up anymore. The driver's side door was flung open and a young man came rushing out of the car. "Are you all right? Miss?" He said. I turned to look at him.

"Help me." I whispered before everything became black.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When my eyes fluttered open once more, I found myself staring out the windshield of a car I never been in before with a jacket I had never seen spread across my shoulders. My body ached and I didn't even want to move, for fear of how much worse it would hurt to do.

I moved my head slightly, turning to look at whoever was in the driver's seat. It was the young man that had stopped when I had run into the road. "Where are we?" I croaked and he jumped, turning to look in my direction.

"Thank God you're awake, I was getting really worried." He said and I just blinked. "We're going to the hospital." The hospital, I needed a hospital all right.

I looked away from him again. "What happened to you?" The young man asked and I wasn't even sure how to start. "Were you in a car accident?"

I shook my head but couldn't find the strength or the words to explain what I had just been through. Andy was dead; Erin was dead; Morgan and Kemper were dead and somehow I had survived. There were no words to explain the way I felt at that moment.

The man in the driver's seat seemed comfortable with the fact that I didn't answer and turned his attention back to the road in front of us. The sun was rising and his was the only car driving down the cracked pavement.

I looked out the window, staring at the houses on either side of the road; I was away from that horrible place once and for all. I was safe, I had escaped.

As this thought dawned upon me, I also realized that the car radio was on, playing a song I had heard for the first time hours ago while still safe and happy in the van with Andy and the others. "Freebird", Erin's favorite.

Tears filled my eyes as I listened to the words. "I'm as free as a bird now; will you still remember me?..." I sniffed but didn't make any move to wipe the tears off my cheeks.

The road stretched out in front of the car, leading someplace I had never been, someplace where I could get help. I had made it, I had survived. I was free.

------------

So, that's the end of the story, I hope that everyone enjoyed it. I'm sorry that Andy had to die, but it just seemed fitting since only one character survived in the actual movie. Thanks for all the reviews I've been getting, tell my what you think about the end. I might, if I have the time, do a sequel but no promises ;) Anyway, thanks again so much for all the reviews, you guys have been so great!