128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Nine: The Rescue Operation | Part 3

The group moved carefully through the dark hallways. Thankfully, there was no sign of the creatures near them, so they continued to pad through the corridor. Finally, they arrived back at the back exit.

"So," Matthew whispered. "We're going to do something perilous. We're going to move all this blockage away from the door."

The detectives and students stared at him, not knowing what to say or how to respond.

"W-we're going to... what?" Jane quivered in fear, knowing that following Matthew's instructions would make a lot of noise.

"We're going to move this blockage away," Matthew repeated.

"B-but that's going to make a racket!" Liam exclaimed quietly. "We might accidentally draw attention from the creatures!"

"Don't worry," Matthew reassured him. "We have guns," he said, bringing out his pistol.

"Whoa!" Liam and Ben both squeaked as they stepped away from him. Meanwhile, Jane just flinched a little but didn't panic at the sight of the weapon.

"We won't hesitate to shoot them if they try to attack us," Matthew convinced the students.

"A-all right then..." Liam stuttered.

"I'll start with the furniture on top, and you guys can start with the lower ones once we take down the higher ones," Matthew instructed.

Matthew, Daniel, and Emma began to reach up and bring down the boxes, tables, books, and other items stacked at the very top of the pile. Carefully and steadily, they brought them down slowly and placed them on the ground gently. They tried hard not to groan, despite the weight of the objects that tired them out quickly.

Liam, Ben and Jane then helped to remove the items that were reachable for them and moved them away from the door. Finally, Matthew gently pulled the police tape away, ensuring it didn't emit loud noises while it was being peeled off. Within a few minutes, the door was free of all the heavy objects blocking it.

"See? That was both quick and quiet," Matthew said.

However, the creatures were equally fast in being spotted again. The detectives didn't understand how the monsters had found them, but there was no time to formulate an explanation. The three detectives brought up their guns as the students flinched once again.

"Stay with us. Don't move too far. We're going to shoot once they come at us and approach us. Don't be afraid. We'll take them down for sure," Daniel instructed.

The students nodded as they complied. They covered their ears, knowing that the gunshots were going to be loud. Liam was so frightened that he even squeezed his eyes shut while the other two glued their eyes open, nervous but excited to see what would happen. Meanwhile, Emma wrapped her arms around them, protecting them in case anything went wrong.

Just then, the two creatures charged at them, their eyes red shooting murderous glares at them once more. One came from the left and the other from the right, surrounding them from both ends.

Matthew counted up to three as the creatures neared them. "One..." he began.

"Just shoot it!" Ben screamed as fear began to overwhelm him, just as it did for Liam.

"Two..." Matthew continued to count slowly while the creature was ready to slash them dead.

"Shoot it! Shoot!" Ben wailed in fear as he began to leak tears of fear. "Shoot!" he screamed one last time, closing his eyes just as Liam had done.

"Three."

And then, Matthew and Daniel released the trigger multiple times, causing the bullets to fly out from each of their guns. The bullets pierced right through the two creatures, each one receiving five. With that many wounds, the creatures succumbed to their injuries and instantly fell to their deaths before they could lay a claw on the group.

The creature that Matthew had shot perfectly lay its longest claw right before it could touch his shoe. The beast seemed to have glass shards stuck in its body for some reason, but it didn't quite intrigue Matthew.

"That's it. They're finished," Matthew said as he sighed in relief. Even he himself was nervous about it, although all of them eventually got over their fear.

"That was fast," Jane commented without stammering this time. Surprisingly, she was the only one who dared to watch the whole thing. Meanwhile, the two boys slowly peeled their eyes open.

"I-it's done?" Liam asked. "It's done! It's done, it's done, it's done!" he cried tears of joy.

While the students were celebrating their victory, the detectives discussed the key.

"I think I know where the key goes into," Matthew announced to them as he glanced at something.

"Where?" Daniel asked, not noticing what was supposed to be rather obvious, just as the others didn't.

Matthew pointed to the keyhole right at the rear exit door, glancing at it too. "There."

"Oh, I... never thought about that," Daniel said.

"It's just a guess, but we won't know until we try it out," Matthew said as he pushed the key into the door.

It fitted perfectly.

"Perfect!" Emma cheered excitedly, hoping to see what was on the other side. They all desired to see Mr. Palmer, even though they didn't exactly like him. That way, they all could finally leave.

"I'll open it," Liam said as he hastily dashed forward and turned the doorknob open quickly.

"No, wait! We don't know whether the other side is safe and whether there's—" Daniel tried to stop the boy. But it was all too late.

The door opened, and Liam was the first to dash into the room. It was entirely pitch black, as the hallways in the school were already dark enough and couldn't light the room up any more.

"I don't see any Mr. Palmer in here," he articulated. "Mr. Palmer! Are you in here?" he called out in the room.

Instead of a person responding, something else responded. And not through talking, but making awful sounds.

Suddenly, the thing stood up. The room's ceiling was rather low, so its head hit the very top of it. And it wasn't the only one that had awoken.

A dozen other creatures also got up as they leaned against the wall. They all turned abruptly to face the door, the thirteen pairs of red eyes glaring at Liam first and then the rest of the students and detectives.

"Detectives... I... there are creatures... in here..." Liam stammered, his body wholly overwhelmed in fear. Fear that felt worse than just watching a creature, but instead coming face to face with many creatures.

The monsters quickly charged at him, tugging him away. Jane tried to pull him back, only to get scratched in the process.

"Detectives! Help me! Detectives!" Liam screamed as the creatures pounded and pranced on him, his painful cries nearly bringing tears to the stupefied detectives' faces.

"Close the door!" Ben screamed, knowing it would be a bad idea to let the creatures leave their "quarantine".

"B-but Liam is in there!" Jane panicked, not knowing what to do and what choice to make.

"We can't save him!" Ben howled. "Look at those creatures! How many are there? Close the door, now!"

Jane hesitated for a moment, not knowing how shecould just give up on Liam. However, she knew that he was gone. His crying hadalready stopped, and she knew she had to do the same. And so, she shut thedoor...