Chapter Twenty-One
“I want him!” Dillon snaps.
“I want him!” Krik retorts.
“I want him!” Dillon barks.
“I knocked him out. I should get him,” Krik points out.
“He embarrassed me in front of Lady Zoli. I want my revenge!” Dillon snarls.
Squee watches the pair from the stone floor, where he is sitting on his knees with his hands chained behind his back. Shmee is resting on a table on the other side of the room.
“Hm,” Squee grunts thoughtfully.
“What?” the zombies snap.
“Nothing,” he says quickly, “I’ve just never experienced something like this. Usually people argue about not wanting me.”
The duo glare at him for a second before Dillon steps forward. “I get first shot.”
“No way!” Krik snaps and shoves him back. “I do!”
“Gentleman, please quit your squabbling.”
The boys look up at the sound of the voice. Standing on the table next to Shmee are the Doughboys, both looking pretty refined for Styrofoam.
“Mr. Fuck, Psycho Doughboy,” Krik and Dillon exclaim before kneeling politely.
“There’s no reason to argue,” D-boy explains as he hops off the table and strides over to Squee. “Recently we learned that Squee is just like Nny. Unlike the girls, who only have a set amount of imagination, Squee has an endless well. No matter how much is stolen from him, it’ll just multiply to keep the reservoir full. He has an infinite imagination.”
“So, after the Nightmare drains Devi and Tenna,” Mr. Eff adds, “Johnny and Squee will be kept around, as sort of endless snacks for our lord.”
“However, Squee does have a choice,” D-boy says as he looks up at the boy. “Squee, how would you like to join the Nightmare?”
“What?” Squee exclaims.
“It’s not so bad. We’ll protect you better than that bear ever could,” he explains, “you’ll be invisible. No one will ever hurt you, no matter what you do. You can even kill people and never get caught. And all we ask in return is your imagination. What do you say?”
Squee looks away and nibbles the inside of his cheek. “Invisible? Nothing can hurt me? And all you want is my imagination?”
“Exactly,” Eff nods.
“That… is not a fair trade.”
“What?” the Doughboys exclaim.
Squee swallows hard and glares at the Styrofoam duo. “Writing stories is my passion. I love it more than anything, even life. And if I lose it then there’d be no point in living.”
He steels his nerves and growls, “I’d rather be dead than a slave to the Nightmare.”
“You’ve been spending too much time around Nny,” Eff sighs.
“It doesn’t matter,” D-boy shrugs, “either way the Nightmare will own you. Whether you grow up on Earth or in a cell in this castle, your imagination is ours. Just remember, you had a choice.”
Squee doesn’t waver. His entire body is trembling and his heart feels like it’s going to explode through his ribs, but his glare doesn’t waver. He will not cower away from the Doughboys.
“Do what you will with him,” D-boy says to Krik and Dillon as he walks back to the table. “Just don’t kill him.”
The zombie duo looks down at the trembling boy and smirk.
“Let’s just beat him together,” Krik smirks.
“Good idea,” Dillon snickers.
Fear completely washes over Squee because this time he knows they’re serious.
“Shmee,” he whimpers.
“Stay calm, Squee,” Shmee demands, “I can help you. But first I need your help. To beat them and the Doughboys, I’m gonna need to siphon your imagination.”
“What?” Squee exclaims.
“Not all of it. Just enough for me to enter onto this plane of existence,” he clarifies, “but I will need to siphon a little bit more every few seconds to remain here.”
“What-what do you mean?” Squee asks.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Shmee grunts, “just trust me.”
“Alright,” he nods, “take as much as you want.”
“Stop talking, fag-lit,” Dillon growls.
“Clench your teeth,” Krik warns.
They both lift their legs and slam their feet into Squee’s gut. He gags as he flies across the room into the wall. He falls to the floor as his breath rushes from his lungs.
The zombies laugh and stride towards him. Squee tries to run away but he can’t move right. He can’t breathe.
Krik and Dillon stand over him. Dillon starts to lift his foot, most likely to stomp on Squee. But before he can, something slams into him and sends him flying across the room.
Before Krik even has a chance to figure out what happened, that same thing slams into him and sends him in the opposite direction.
Shmee lands in a crouch on the floor. He looks at Squee and smirks.
“You okay?” he asks as he begins undoing his handcuffs.
“I… I will be,” Squee grunts as he sits up, rubbing his wrists. “You… you can touch them? Can they see you?”
“Yes. I’m part of this plane of existence now,” Shmee nods, “but not for long, so let’s get out of here.”
“You aren’t going anywhere, you rat nest,” Eff snaps. Both Doughboys are standing in front of the only door, looking right pissed.
“You want a piece of me, you Styrofoam fucks?” Shmee grunts as he stands in front of Squee.
“You don’t stand a chance,” D-boy growls.
“Squee, listen to me,” Shmee growls, “once that door is unblocked, make a break for it. And don’t stop running, got it?”
“Okay,” Squee nods. He stands up on shaky legs, his breath trembling. But he trusts Shmee. And he’s ready.
“The odds are unfair,” Eff points out, “it’s two against one.”
“You’re right,” Shmee smirks, “feel free to get back-up.”
The Doughboys snarl. Shmee grins and charge them. He jumps down and falls on them, leg first. They jump out of the way and he smashes the stone floor with his supposedly plush foot.
Shmee quickly jumps out of the way when they swing at him. The Doughboys start attacking him relentlessly, but he dodges each attempt. They jump all over the room like gravity doesn’t even exist, bouncing off the walls, ceiling, and floors. Squee is so enthralled in the fight, he temporarily forgets his current situation.
“Oh, right!” he exclaims. He quickly runs across the room to the door and jiggles the knob.
“Locked,” he squeaks.
“Of course. You didn’t think we’d actually leave it open, did you?” Krik scoffs. Both zombies are on their feet again and stalking towards the boy.
Squee presses himself against the door, continuously jiggling the knob, hoping against hope that it’ll open.
“Now sit still,” Dillon demands as he pulls back his fist. He swings. Squee ducks with amazing speed. Dillon smashes completely though the door. He shouts in pain and pulls his hand back. Squee takes the chance and jumps though the hole and out into the hallway.
“Shit! After him!” Krik demands. The zombies clamber through the door and chase after him. But Squee is much faster than them and gains quite the lead. Unfortunately he doesn’t know his way around like the zombies do.
He follows the length of the hallway until it turns right. As he takes the turn, he looks behind him. Krik and Dillon are nowhere to be seen. But Squee doesn’t stop running.
He looks back ahead and squeals when he sees the undead duo emerging from a room up ahead. They completely block the hallway, their fists drawn back.
Squee can’t stop now. He’s going at full speed. But he can’t exactly plow through the zombies. Is there any way he can get past them?
His eyes widen when he spots it. A space between Dillon’s legs. He might just be able to slide between.
He speeds up, his eyes narrowing with concentration. The zombies smirk as they prepare to punch him.
They swing. He ducks and, using the force of his dash, slides cleanly between Dillon’s legs. Both zombies are so bewildered, they don’t even realize what’s happened until Squee is already halfway across the hall.
“What the fuck? Is he a fucking ninja?” Krik snaps as they continue to chase after him.
“We cannot let him get away!” Dillon barks.
Squee gains the lead on them again. He’s had quite the history of running from and avoiding things, so he’s kind of an expert on it. In perfect conditions, no one can ever hope of catching him.
Unfortunately, these conditions are not perfect.
He slides to a sudden stop, his heart sinking at the sight before him.
“A dead end,” he sighs. He turns around and scans the hallway. “One of those doors must lead to another hallway. I just have to figure out which one.”
He starts to move forward but stops when he notices Krik and Dillon quickly running towards him. He jumps back against the wall, his arms up in front of his chest.
“We got you now,” Krik hisses. He swings his fist. Squee dodges quickly. Krik grunts in pain when he punches the wall.
They both swing at him incessantly, but Squee dodges each attempt. He’s so quick; he’s really pissing off the zombies. And that just makes their attacks sloppier.
When they’ve finally both retracted in pain, Squee slides past them and towards the doors. He throws open the first one and looks around. Just an empty room. He goes to the second door. Another room.
Where does he have to go?
He starts to go to the third door when something tugs on the back of his shirt and lifts him off his feet.
“Got’cha,” Krik snarls.
Dillon smirks as he stands in front of them and draws back his fist. There’s no dodging this, so Squee curls up in a ball and covers his face.
Krik suddenly drops him. Squee lands hard on the floor, just under Dillon’s fist. He turns around to see what’s going on. Krik is on the floor and Shmee is standing on him.
Without wasting anytime, the bear flies off Krik and smashes into Dillon, breaking his ribs. The zombie gags and collapses to the floor. He turns and faces Squee.
“I-I got lost,” Squee whimpers.
“It’s okay, just find a place to hide,” Shmee demands frantically, “they’re not that far behind me.”
“Whuh-,” Squee starts to say, but is cut-off when the Doughboys slam into Shmee.
The three of them tumble across the floor, thrashing at each other. They slam into the wall and stand up, facing off with each other.
“We got you, you weak little rat nest,” D-boy laughs.
“Screw you, Styrofoam pricks,” Shmee snarls.
“You’ve got quite the dirty mouth for a teddy bear,” Eff comments.
“Says a doll named ‘Fuck’,” he retorts.
They glare at each other, the suspense rising. Squee starts panting as he sits on his knees and watches the supernatural fight begin again.
