The Monster Apocalypse

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

"We're here?" She leaned up against the back of his seat again and tried to see something, anything, out the front windshield. "Here, where? We can't be in Bodie yet. We're still on the paved road."

"Well..." he said, like he had jumped too soon to his excited announcement. "We're to the dirt. The sign. Three more miles." He smiled and looked at Brin. "The ghosts probably want to stay as far away from Bodie Ghost Town as they can."

"...because they're ghosts," Brin said.

"Exactly."

He turned back around as Brin shook her head. She turned to her right to see her brother finally facing the front direction. He seemed on edge, nervous—like he didn't think he'd make it out of this increasingly chaotic adventure alive.

"You're going to be all right, Justin," Brin said. "We're all going to be fine—"

"I'm not worried about me, Brin," her brother said, interrupting her. "I'm worried about you. If something... if something ever happened to you..."

"Shh." Brin planted her index finger on Justin's mouth. "Stop worrying. Worrying isn't going to help any of us."

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. I suppose you're right."

The suburban came to a complete stop, just to the left of the BODIE GHOST TOWN: THREE MILES AHEAD sign. Brin felt the suburban touch off the paved road and onto the rocky dirt road. This was it. There was no turning back now.

"All right," Mrs. Hallow said, in a triumphant voice. "I did it. I got you all here."

"Not quite," Anaya said. "We still have three more miles to go—"

"I've been doing some thinking," the vice principal said, focusing her attention on Mr. Barker, who had been quiet in the passenger seat for most of the journey. "I'm not going to be much of a help to you guys in there. I'll just be a nuisance."

"You'll be what?" Mr. Barker asked, shaking his head. "Don't be silly, Rosalie. You're smart. You're strong. You're—"

"Way too old for this shit," the vice principal said. "I intended to go into this forgotten city alone, all by myself, to get our beloved Principal Stine out of there." She turned to her right and looked at the students, taking time to acknowledge all five of them. "But I secretly hoped and prayed I'd stumble upon the rest of you. You all have much more courage and strength than I do." She looked back at Mr. Barker. "Which is why I must leave you, here and now."

"What?" Ash said.

"You can't just leave us!" Valerie shouted with a high-pitched squeak.

"I won't be gone for good," the woman said. "Trust me, I'll be watching. And I know you'll do well. I want every single one of you to make it out alive, return home, and be back at Grisly High first thing tomorrow morning, understand me?"

Brin thought of asking Mrs. Hallow to stay and help them fight, but she stopped herself; it was an issue Brin had been mulling over since the vice principal picked everyone up. Mr. Barker was a little older than everyone else, but he was in his early thirties, and was strong and surprisingly buff behind those dorky outfits; plus he was a werewolf. Justin was a few years older than the high school students but was definitely capable of taking care of himself and helping out the group. Mrs. Hallow, on the other hand, looked seventy years old. She wouldn't be able to help. If anything, she'd hold them back.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mr. Barker. "Just stay out here in the cold and wait for us to come pick you up?"

"No," the woman said, shaking her head. "I believe in all of you, I really do, but if I did that, I'd be sitting out here all night." She looked back again. "No, I have other plans in mind."