"W-w-why were there so many in t-there?" Ben began to panic, turning his head away to face the wall.
"I don't know any more than you do," Matthew said, shell-shocked like the others. "But I think I may know why Mr. Palmer couldn't get the back exit open."
"What do you mean?" Emma questioned as she tried to guess the rationale behind the jammed door.
"Jane, did you see anything inside just now? Beyond the creatures?" Matthew asked, looking at her.
"I-I don't really know. It... it was so dark and... I don't want to recall what I saw going in just now..." Jane quivered, shaking in fear and pulling her hair.
"Calm down, Jane. Don't think about Liam. Try to remember. Was there anything behind the creatures? Anything on the wall?" Matthew asked, patting her shoulder.
"I... I'm not positive, but..." Jane trailed off, afraid to give the detectives inaccurate information.
"It's okay. Just say it," Matthew told her.
"I think... I think I saw... not a wall but... a door behind them, while they were still... hibernating of some sort..." Jane revealed.
"So, you guys may not have seen whatever was inside the room properly, but all you need to know is that it was a room, not a tunnel," Matthew then said to the detectives.
Daniel raised an eyebrow, unsure what to make out of Matthew's vague statement. "And?" he asked.
"And so, Palmer couldn't have been in the room because he was in a tunnel, not a room," Matthew elaborated before giving them time to catch up. "Jane claimed that she had seen what was probably a door at the very back of the room. When Liam first opened the door to the room, the creatures were seemingly passive, leaning against the back of the room."
"So... the creatures jammed the door because of their weight?" Emma asked to confirm with Matthew, beginning to understand what he had meant.
"Exactly," Matthew said, snapping his finger.
"Then, if Mr. Palmer isn't in the room, where is he?" Daniel asked, still confused.
"The tunnel is behind the rear door of the room," Matthew announced. "And so is Mr. Palmer."
Daniel, Emma, and Jane froze. They couldn't believe they had to somehow get past the creatures just to rescue Mr. Palmer. It was ugly enough for them to witness the sudden death of a student because opening the back exit door was a mistake, and now they were going to do it again in hopes of helping the trapped CEO out of the room. It just didn't seem realistic and reasonable.
Meanwhile, Ben was still leaning against the wall behind them, traumatised by the loss of his friend. He wasn't paying attention to anything at that point in time, but the detectives didn't mind. After all, the students were the victims; thus, they deserved some time to rest and recover.
"Whoa!" Daniel gasped as he looked at Jane's bleeding arm. "What happened to you?"
"Oh... that?" Jane answered, glancing at her wound for a moment. "I tried to pull Liam out just now, but... one of them scratched me, and I lost my grip on him..." she trailed off.
"That looks really bad. I'll go get the first aid kit from the car right now," Emma volunteered as she ran towards the main exit, going solo.
"Emma, wait!" Matthew stopped her. "It's not safe to go alone. I'll go with you, just in case." He then turned to glance at Daniel. "Daniel, take care of the kids. We'll be back in no time," he added. Daniel nodded, and so Matthew left with Emma.
"So, how do you plan to get all the creatures out of the room and kill them?" Emma questioned Matthew as she walked with him.
"I don't really know. We can't repeat what we did with the captain when he was in the museum, nor can we shoot them all down since there are thirteen of them in there. We'll have to try something else," Matthew revealed his doubts.
"But... why don't we try getting Palmer out from the other end of the tunnel?" Emma suggested something that, for some reason, no one had thought about earlier.
"Hmm... that's a good idea too. My only worry is that the door or gate outside can't be unlocked because of the way it's locked. After all, he couldn't even get himself out from that side," Matthew hesitated.
"After we get Jane some treatment, we should check it out," Emma said as they approached the main entrance.
Looking at the entrance, they noticed that glass shards were spread all over the floor. The entrance's glass doors were completely gone now, and the metal frames that held them in place were bent and broken as well. Furthermore, the light rods on the ceiling near the entrance were shattered, causing darkness to flood the lobby.
"What happened here?" Emma flinched, looking at what a mess the floor was now.
"Only a creature could cause such destruction," Matthew theorised, noticing how badly everything in the lobby was damaged.
"Let's just get to the car quickly," Emma said, stepping over the big chunks of glass and concrete. "We should also check on Norman and make sure that he's—," she added before pausing.
Emma let go of her gun, which fell to the floor loudly. She stared at the car, and her jaw dropped. Her teeth chattered nervously, and she found it hard to say anything at all. The trepidation building up within her had completely paralysed her, and she thought that her knees were going to give way at any moment.
"E-Emma? W-what's wrong—," Matthew asked before he stepped forward and saw what she was seeing. He stopped, too, before dashing towards the car. Emma followed behind hastily, desperate to determine whether Norman was all right.
The two officers stared into the car. The windows of almost every door were shattered, and the entire rear left door was pulled off, revealing very clearly whatever was inside.
"N-Norman!" Emma screamed, panicking as she hurried into the car to examine the injured boy.
"How is he?" Matthew questioned.
Emma touched his wound before looking at her hand. "T-there's a lot of blood! It's all over the carpet, and it's drying already..." she trailed off, hinting that whatever had happened wasn't recent.
Matthew got a closer look at Norman. His entire body was turned upside down, and there were four massive wounds that punctured his back. It was very obvious to Matthew what had harmed the boy.
Emma brought him out of the car and turned him over so his head faced upwards. She placed a finger below his nose before she started to squeak in terror. "H-he's not breathing!" she shrieked before trying to revive him desperately.
"Emma," Matthew called.
She didn't respond. She was determined to save Norman, who, to Matthew, had no hope already.
"Emma!" Matthew called again. "He's... he's dead."
She still refused to say anything. She kept trying and trying, pressing on his chest with much force.
"Emma! He's dead! He's not breathing, he doesn't have a pulse, and the blood stains on the carpets are dried! He's gone already..." Matthew trailed off.
Only then did she come to her senses and stop trying. Instead, she began crying before looking away from the boy.
"When I shot that creature in the hallway dead just now, I noticed it had glass shards stuck onto its body. And now I understand," Matthew said. "That was the very same creature that killed the poor boy."
Emma looked up and stared at him. "H-how do you know that?"
Matthew shook his head. "You get it, don't you?" he asked. "Those glass shards got stuck in its body when it crashed out of the glass doors to attack Norman. It then re-entered the school to come after us. It's... it's probably been almost half an hour since Norman passed. So please, stop trying already."
Emma stood up and broke into a sob, wailing miserably. "Do you... do you know why I... I-I am now trying so hard... to help everyone in need?" she cried. "I... this is my way of redeeming myself. After... after I betrayed your trust, I feel the need never to stop trying to save someone. So... so how can you tell me to stop trying?"
"E-Emma... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it that way. Please calm down," Matthew said, brushing her shoulder. "You did it with a good heart. But you have to understand that sometimes... it's too late. It isn't your fault that you couldn't revive him. It really wasn't. So please, think better of yourself."
Emma finally stopped sobbing, rubbing her tears away. She nodded her head. "I... I will..." she answered Matthew's plead.
Meanwhile, Daniel and the two remaining students exited the main entrance, running towards the two officers.
"W-what happened?" Daniel said, sprinting towards Matthew and Emma.
"Norman... Norman got attacked in the car earlier when we weren't around..." Matthew said.
Daniel noticed how Emma's nose was rosy, and her eyes were watery. "Are you okay, Emma?" he asked, worried.
"I'm fine. But... Norman isn't. We couldn't save him because he was already... gone," she admitted, sighing.
"How did that even happen?" Ben shrieked in fear before running towards Norman's body. "Buddy! Wake up!" he wailed.
"He's... he's already dead. I'm sorry, Ben..." Matthew said, wiping a tear flowing from his eye.
"Bullshit! Wake up!" Ben said, shaking Norman vigorously. Matthew flashbacked to how Megan had done the same to Emma. When Emma had faked her death and when Megan begged for her to come back alive. But there was a clear difference this time—Norman had indeed left them.
Matthew pulled Ben away from the body. "Don't... don't focus your attention on it. It will only make you more depressed..."
"But maybe I want to be depressed! My best friend just died!" he cried out before running back to Norman. Matthew knew he couldn't stop Ben by then, so he let him be.
"We still need to get the first aid kid out. I'll get it," Daniel said, noticing how Emma seemed very worked up and traumatised at the moment and didn't seem to have the mental capacity to interact with anything within the car anymore.
Daniel pulled the trunk of the car open and grabbed the only thing that lay in it: the first aid kid. He pulled it out before closing the trunk again. "I got it," he said to the detectives, holding the kit up. "I can do it, by the way."
"A-all right, then..." Emma nodded, agreeing as she blew her swollen nose into a tissue.
Daniel began to treat Jane's wound with an alcohol-based solution. "This is going to hurt. Bite onto this cloth if you need to," he warned, handing over a fresh wet cloth the Jane.
Jane nodded, anticipating the pain. "It'll be fine... it'll be fine..." she repeated, reassuring herself.
"Here we go," Daniel said before pouring the solution on the open wound. Jane flinched, her legs kicking a little, but the pain subsided quickly as the alcohol flowed down her cuts.
"That wasn't so bad, eh?" Daniel asked, laughing along with Jane. "Now, I'm going to wrap the bandage around your arm. It shouldn't hurt as much as it did just now."
Jane, once again, flinched a little, but not so much this time. The pain wasn't bad enough to make her kick her legs anymore.
Daniel then cut the bandage and attached the end of it to her arm. "All done," he said, placing the bandage and alcohol solution bottle back in the first aid kid.
"Thank you, Mr. Daniel," Jane said as she got up and glanced over at her bandaged arm one more time.
"Are you feeling better now?" he asked, checking in on her condition just to be sure.
"Yeah, much better now. It doesn't hurt as much anymore," she answered, grinning.
"So... where should we go now?" Emma asked, finally speaking and going back to her normal state.
"Well, as you suggested, we should visit the back exit tunnel from the outside," Matthew said. "Do you guys know how long it takes to get to the outer end of the tunnel by walking around the school?" he inquired, turning to look at Ben and Jane.
"Well..." Ben began. "I know the tunnel is about two minutes of a walk from one end to the other since I always go to the school by the back exit. The tunnel was built so that it connects with Ellenwood Park and passes under Wallock Hill. Beyond the park is downtown."
"So, to get to the outer end of the tunnel, we'll have to head for downtown?" Daniel asked to confirm.
"Well, technically, yes. It will be longer than walking through the tunnel, of course, but it shouldn't take more than ten minutes," Ben said.
"We better get going then. I don't know how Mr. Palmer is doing right now, waiting for us and trapped in the tunnel," Matthew reckoned as he hurried the rest.
As such, the five ran down the empty street that passed by the school. Without the car, they had to keep up the pace as they needed to get Mr. Palmer out as soon as possible. They couldn't tell when and whether the creatures would choose to crash through the door and rampage through the tunnel, going after Mr. Palmer.
The school seemed somewhat isolated from the rest of the town, with no one in sight. The cold air caused the atmosphere to feel even more desolate, other than the fact that a few locals were strolling through the lonely roads.
"We're almost there," Ben directed as he began to receive the scent of fresh cornflowers in his nose.
"That smells... great," Emma admitted, detecting the strong scent of the flowerbeds too.
"And here is Ellenwood Park," Ben announced, pointing at the nicely arranged groups of flowers and trees which formed the park. "Actually, the proper entrance is at the other end of the park, facing downtown. But, I assume we don't have time, so we have to... step over the plants."
"No way," Emma shook her head in dismay as she observed Ben going over the poor flowers.
"Just try to step on the gaps between the pots and beds," Jane suggested as she followed Ben's steady footsteps.
"All right then..." Emma said as she went next. "It's quite hard to... balance... but it's fine," she commented as she struggled not to fall or crush any of the pretty flora accidentally.
"The tunnel gate will be in front of us," Ben pointed out.
After all the detectives and students had crossed over the plants onto the main walkway, Ben pointed towards the tunnel gate. And behind the entrance stood a figure, panicking, shaking, quivering, and sobbing. The man looked so pale that the detectives feared he would collapse at any moment.
"Are you... are you Sergeant Davis from the NYPD?" the man said, pointing to the first male officer he saw standing before him, his finger shaking erratically.
"Oh, no. I'm Detective Washington," Daniel shook his head. He then brought Matthew forward. "This—is Sergeant Davis," Daniel corrected, introducing him.
"Hello. You must be Mr. James Palmer," Matthew said as he stepped forward to speak to the frightened man.
"Yes, yes. I... I thank you for coming. You didn't have to... but you did. Thank you. I... I've been waiting here for more than an hour already," Mr. Palmer explained.
"We'll get you out as soon as we can," Matthew reassured the frightened man.
"T-thank you. I'll r-really appreciate it," Mr. Palmer said, shivering uncontrollably this time. "O-originally, I-I was waiting at the other end of the tunnel, thinking that you'll get me out via the s-school," he began explaining. "B-but... I heard some awful sounds... sounds originating from that creature. And it seemed to be just right behind the door to the school...."
Matthew cleared his throat. "Well... you are right. Thirteen of them were leaning against the door. And that's why you couldn't open the door."
Mr. Palmer gulped nervously. "D-did you say... thirteen?" he asked, not entirely convinced by Matthew.
"Yes. And they are still behind that door, and we don't know when they might break through," Matthew revealed, sighing.
Mr. Palmer began to hyperventilate upon hearing the startling news. "P-please... get me out of here..." he cried. He turned to look behind at the other end of the tunnel; the lights there all out since it was already night. "I... I really don't want to get slaughtered by them..." he pleaded.
"We'll try our best," Matthew said as he inspected the countless number of locks on the gate that were placed on the inside somehow. "It seems we'll have to remove the locks from the inside."
"How are you going to get in?" Daniel said, wondering how Matthew was going to put himself on the other side of the gate.
"I'll need one of you to help me get over this wall here," Matthew said, pointing to the wall that the gate was attached to, as it was shorter than the gate itself.
"I'll do it," Ben and Daniel both volunteered as they raised their hands simultaneously.
"Well, what's your height?" Ben asked Daniel.
"5 feet 10 inches. How about yours?" Daniel asked, not convinced that Ben was taller.
"5 feet 7 inches," Ben replied.
"Well, then I should do it," Daniel said as he headed over to Matthew to help him up.
"Not so fast," Ben stopped Daniel before approaching the two detectives. "I think some "weightlifting" would be good training for myself," he remarked.
Daniel raised an eyebrow, staring at Ben. "Well, if you insist," Daniel said, allowing the student to help Matthew up.
"Just climb onto my shoulders," Ben said as he supported Matthew's feet up onto his shoulders. "Yikes, you are heavy!" he exclaimed as Matthew began to balance his entire body weight solely on Ben's shoulders.
"What did you expect from a twenty-six-year-old? That's kind of why Daniel wanted to do it—," Matthew said before getting interrupted.
"Never mind," Ben said, resisting the urge to relax his shoulders, which would cause the detective the fall. "Just quickly get over the wall," he groaned.
Matthew stuck one foot up on the wall first, followed by his other, before getting into a full squatting position. For a person with his height, it would have been a cakewalk to do so, and it was for him.
"It's still a bit high," Daniel commented, looking up at Matthew, who was now squatting on the brick wall. "I think you should sit at the edge of the wall first and then slide off it slowly," he suggested.
Matthew nodded, signalling that he had understood exactly what he had to do. He carefully lowered himself and sat on the wall, his legs in a criss-cross position. He then brought his legs downwards, which dangled off the edge of the wall. Preparing to land on his feet properly, Matthew swung his legs to warm up a little before hopping off the wall and landing on the hard ground.
"Nice. Now you can help the man out," Daniel said as he clapped, satisfied by Matthew's success.
Meanwhile, Matthew scrutinised the three padlocks on the door. They were all fitted securely in place and were traditional locks, not numbered ones. Thus, they didn't have the privilege to guess the numbers this time round. Furthermore, they had no idea where the keys to the locks were, and they didn't have time to find any.
"There are three locks here, and all are conventional padlocks. We'd need the keys to unlock them, but it's obvious that we don't have the time and resources to search for them," Matthew announced.
"Honestly, why don't you all just shoot at the lock? All three will come off with at most six bullets," Ben suggested.
"We could do that, but we can't waste any more bullets. Plus, a lot of shrapnel would burst outwards from the lock. It's too risky," Matthew explained, altogether disproving the idea.
"Hang on, guys," Emma said as she began rummaging through her messy handbag. "I... have a paperclip here," she finally said, pulling out a container of paperclips she had and picking out one of the many clips that resided in it.
"You'll have to climb over the wall and drop it down inside here, though," Matthew reckoned.
"What? Can't I just pop the clip through the holes of the gate?" she asked.
"It won't work. Try it, and you'll know what I mean," Matthew said, looking at the holes too.
"Oh, yeah," she said as she found it impossible to squeeze the clip through the holes. "I bet it won't even work even when I bend the clip into a straight line," she added, acknowledging that the clip would still have some curved bends.
"Ben, I'm sorry to trouble you again, but could you help me up the wall?" she said, looking at the tired student.
"Oh, sure. I definitely wouldn't mind," he said as he carefully carried her feet onto his shoulders. "I guess it's time for round two," he began groaning again.
"Okay, Matthew, I'm going to drop the clip right now—," she said before the clip, and her entire body was thrown over the wall. She immediately crashed onto the rough surface of the floor with a loud thud. A cracking sound followed, hinting that she had fractured a limb.
A shocked Daniel yelped in fright while Jane gasped in terror. They couldn't believe what had just happened.