No rest for trouble

Chapter 14

Marxes fingers tried to hold onto the edge of the concrete hole. The hard surface prevented his fingers from slipping off. Marxes tried to pull himself out. His hands are making his arms a little bit tired. Grace put down her bag of chips and went to help. She ran back and forth just like Marxes did. She managed to push him a bit. Marxes arms now gripped the cement edge of the concrete hole. He struggled to pull himself up. In fifteen seconds, Marxes was out of the concrete hole. He felt that he should be sleeping after all that climbing. "Hey! What about me?" Grace whined from inside the hole. Marxes groaned as he pushed himself up.

The two scooters were lying on the concrete. Marxes put one of the scooters down into the hole. Grace picked up her bag of chips and ate the rest of her chips. Marxes stood up. He felt a little bit drowsy. Grace dropped her bag of chips. She went back and forth in the cement hole. She got out of the hole with just the front wheel of her scooter gripping the outside edge. Grace stood on the other side of the concrete hole. Marxes waited for Grace come to where he was standing. Grace noticed that her friend was being a little bit sleepy. "I need a nap." Marxes said. Grace looked around she did not see the monster anywhere. The undead creature watched them from a distance and let out a snarl. The undead creature ran towards Grace and Marxes. The monster was aiming himself at Marxes. Grace pushed him aside and the smelly monster fell into the concrete hole. He growled frustratingly as he made one jump. Its hands gripped the outer edge of the hole. Grace pushed Marxes. "Let's get to your house. We could have you get some sleep. In the morning we could tell our parents that they had a bad dream. They were just imagining that the undead creature was terrorizing them." Grace spoke. Marxes pushed his scooter while Grace looked behind them. She saw that the monster was only halfway out of the cement hole. Marxes rode his scooter on the sidewalk. Grace watched for any traffic. She was worried that Marxes could fall off his scooter into the street. The two friends travelled down the road. They both stopped while they were approaching the school zone speed limit sign. Grace wasn't sure if there was a police car at the school. Grace and Marxes saw the principal's car parked in the parking lot. The principal was upset that the school windows were broken. He sat in the classroom with the broken windows. Marxes nearly tumbled off his scooter. Grace prevented him from falling into the street. Grace was feeling tired too. The two friends slowly approached the school. They were riding on the sidewalk across the street from the middle school. Marxes and Grace took one at the windows. There was some plastic that covered the broken window. The two friends went on their way. They eventually passed the school. Marxes struggled to keep himself awake. Grace quickly got in front. She stopped while she was at the intersection. She and Marxes crossed two streets. They were on the sidewalk that now went in the direction of their house. Grace watched as Marxes' foot pounded the ground. Marxes was speeding along the road with his scooter. Grace chased behind him.

"Marxes, come back here!" Grace shouted. Marxes ignored her and continued to go down the stretch of road. "I need to get some sleep." Marxes complained while going down the street. His scooter took a turn to the left. Then he turned the scooter to the right. His scooter was now rolling all over the sidewalk. Grace struggled to keep up with him. "Don't you fall off that scooter!" Grace warned as she started to catch up with him a little. Grace noticed that Marxes went down the street that went past the abandoned cemetery. Two things dread in Grace's mind. Either the neighbors will catch them, or the monster will scare them again. The smelly creature ran down the sidewalk past the middle school. The undead monster jumped off the sidewalk and landed on the roof of a nearby a house. A feint foul smell filled up the house. The monster followed the directions that Marxes and Grace were taking. The undead creature jumped off one other house roof to the other in a matter of seconds. It was almost as if the monster was a bouncing basketball. Marxes dangerously crossed the road going in the direction of his home. He knew that he was on same street where the abandoned cemetery was. Marxes rode on the sidewalk swaying back and forth as he went. Grace also crossed the road. She used the flashlight app from her cellphone to help figure out if there any cars coming down the street. Grace got onto the other side of the road. She jumped onto the sidewalk with the help of her scooter. She trailed after Marxes on that sidewalk. All of the adults were asleep on this street. Grace pounded one of her feet to catch up with Marxes. She pushed herself in order for scooter to go fast. Grace and Marxes didn't see any traffic on the street.

The smelly monster was only a few house roofs away from the two friends. Marxes was only one house distance away from Grace. The undead creature jumped on the parked cars parallel to the nearby houses. It jumped without making too much noise. Marxes and Grace were only five houses away from the abandoned cemetery. Grace saw the undead monster on one of the parked car roofs before jumping into the darkness, and landing on the next house roof. "Stop Marxes! You need a break! Stop pushing yourself too hard!" Grace called out to him. "I need to get some sleep." Marxes said as he neared the abandoned cemetery gate. Grace was quickly catching up to him. Marxes went slower and slower on his scooter. He stumbled off the scooter. Marxes then leaned on the cemetery gate part that held the hinges for the gate. Grace stopped. "You almost gave me a scare! You could have been hit by a few cars!" She said with a whisper. "Why are you whispering? I want to get back home so that I can sleep." Marxes complained as he began to close his eyes. Grace looked behind and the undead creature was nowhere to be seen in the darkness. Marxes snored once. Grace looked at the old cemetery. Yellow police tape covered the whole wooden door hidden behind some vines of ivy. Most of these vines were cut down. As the door needed to be seen by the demolition workers. Grace looked at the cemetery. She saw that there was only one wooden tombstone left. The other gravestones have been pilled on top of on another. The holes that the demolition workers dug up had been filled back in again. There was only one hole in the abandoned cemetery. That hole wasn't big enough to have an entire coffin taken out from the ground. Marxes was so tired to even notice it. Grace notice that the wooden gravestone was leaning a little bit. "The wind must have moved it over." Grace said to herself. Marxes got up from his short nap and looked at the hole. "That looks like a narrow hole to dig in the ground." He spoke drowsily. Grace wondered if a wild animal dug it up, or maybe a worker wasn't able to finish properly. Grace turned on the flashlight app on her phone. She climbed over the fence and went to check the hole for herself. She shined the light from the flashlight app into the hole. There were a few pieces of wood stuck to the sides of the narrow hole. Grace wasn't sure what kind of wood it was. Suddenly, there was the scent of rotting food. Grace turned around. The monster jumped from the nearby house roof and landed in the cemetery.

Marxes and Grace jumped when the creature appeared. The foul stench was enough to keep him awake for a while. Marxes got onto his scooter. The agile monster let out a horrible growl. Grace slowly back away from the monster. The smelly creature let out a snarl when she was only one foot away from the cemetery fence. He tried to knock her to the ground. Marxes shouted at the monster to get its attention. The monster looked at Marxes for a second. Grace ran around the creature. She went to climb over the section of nearby fence. In no time, Grace was on the sidewalk. She picked up her scooter. The monster noticed the deception and jumped over the cemetery fence. Marxes pounded his one foot and the scooter instantly sped up. The smelly creature try to tackle Grace to the ground. Grace shined her camera at the monster's face. The undead monster closed his eyes. He held his own hands in front of him. Grace ran down the sidewalk passing the smelly monster as she shined the light from the flashlight app at the creature. She also pounded her feet on the curb so that she could catch up to Marxes. The undead monster let out a growl and jumped onto the house roof nearby. Marxes and Grace went onto the street that led to Marxes' house. The undead creature jumped onto the last house that was next to where the street ended. He let out a snarl as he watched the two friends ride away on their scooters. Marxes and Grace got into Marxes' house. They took their scooters up to Marxes room. His parents were still there. They were still scared from their encounter with the monster. The scooters were put in the hallway. Marxes and Grace went to put the chairs that were in the hallway and put them back in the living room. After seeing Marxes and Grace were out of sight. The smelly monster jumped onto the next house roofs that were next to the same street as Marxes' and Grace's house. The undead creature was only three house roofs away from Marxes' house. Marxes and Grace hauled his parents out of his bedroom. They put them in the bedroom. Marxes went to sleep on the wooden floor on the outside of his room. Grace went to look in the nearby closet. She found a blanket and a spare pillow. She woke up Marxes. He was feeling cranky by being woken up. Grace got Marxes to sleep on his bed. She took the spare pillow and blanket and went to sleep on the hard-wooden floor in the hallway nearby.