“Home,” Stash mumbled. He pressed something into Josh’s hand. Then, before Josh knew what he was doing, Stash staggered back, pretending to be hit, and fell into the flames that had engulfed the garden. Josh watched, a scream stuck in his throat, as Stash disappeared behind the wall of fire.
The next thing he knew he was being pulled back by Scrawl and Charlie. “We have to get out of here,” Charlie yelled above the roar of the inferno.
Josh turned his back on the garden and followed his friends through the door. When they were in the hallway again, Firecracker shut the door behind them. “Now what?” he said. “We got them all, didn’t we?”
Scrawl nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “But somehow I don’t think we’re done yet.”
“What are you holding?” Charlie asked Josh.
Josh looked at the key in his hand. “Stash gave it to me just now. But I don’t know what it’s for.”
Scrawl took the key from Josh and looked at it for a long moment. “I think I know what this is,” he said.
“What?” asked Josh.
“You know how Clatter wears that coat with all the keys sewn on it?” Scrawl said. “He doesn’t just do it because it looks cool. He does it to hide things.” He held the key up. “Things like this.”
“What’s the key to?” said Firecracker.
Scrawl held the key up. “If we’re lucky—the way out.”
24
“Clatter is a genius,” Scrawl said as they walked. “But he’s also paranoid. He has escape routes all over the place. I think this key opens the door to one of them.”
“How do you know?” Charlie asked.
“Here,” said Scrawl, pointing to one end of the key, where the letter F was stamped. “F for Feverfew.” He turned the key over, and on the other side was the number 237. “Room 237,” he said. “Whatever this key unlocks, it’s in that room.”
“What if it isn’t?” asked Firecracker. “What if Clatter gave him the key to trick us?”
Josh thought about the look in Stash’s eye when he handed over the key. A lump formed in his throat. “I don’t think he did,” he said.
“Okay,” said Firecracker doubtfully. “Then let’s get up to room 237 and see what’s up there.”
They headed for the stairs, but the ding of the old elevator drew their attention. The doors opened, and Clatter emerged with Seamus and Finnegan. He strode across the lobby toward where the four exhausted friends stood.
“Play along,” Scrawl whispered to the others as Clatter got closer.
“I must say, you’ve impressed me,” Clatter said. The tone of his voice was warm, but Josh heard an undercurrent of frostiness that he didn’t like. “Your methods on the final test were a bit crude, but given the time constraints, rather brilliant.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Scrawl said. “Now how about keeping your end of the deal?”
Clatter took a deep breath. “As much as I’d like to, I’m afraid I can’t,” he said. “You see, you didn’t complete the game in the allotted time. You were exactly one minute and seventeen seconds over.”
Scrawl shook his head. “I knew you’d never let us go,” he said.
“Mmm,” Clatter replied. “Your lack of faith in me is disappointing. But it’s irrelevant, as you lost.”
“So now what?” said Josh. “You kill us?”
Clatter feigned shock. “Of course not,” he said. “They do.” He nodded toward the stairs, where a dozen or more zombies were shambling toward the lobby. “And now I will say good-bye,” said Clatter. He, Seamus, and Finnegan walked rapidly toward the waiting elevator, stepping inside. As the doors shut, Clatter tipped his hat and smiled. “Good luck!” he called out.
Scrawl glanced at the zombies, then ran for the elevator. “Help me!” he yelled to the others.
Josh, Charlie, and Firecracker joined him at the doors. Scrawl looked up at the needle over the door. It was only halfway between the lobby and the basement. He shoved the grate that covered the elevator doors aside and started prying them open.
“What are you doing?” Josh said. “We have to get to the second floor.”
“We can’t let them get out of here,” said Scrawl, trying to force his fingers into the crack between the doors. “If we don’t stop him, Clatter will keep on doing what he’s been doing. He’ll just replace us with other players. More people will die.”
“And how are we going to stop him?” Charlie asked.
“There’s a hand brake on top of the elevator,” Scrawl said. “The mechanics used them for stopping the car during shaft maintenance, when they rode on the roof to access the pulleys. If I can get to it, I can stop the car between floors and trap them there. That way the police will know just where to find them.”
“There’s no time for that,” Firecracker said.
“Not if you keep arguing,” said Scrawl. “Now help me get these doors open.”
Firecracker and Josh took one door while Scrawl and Charlie took the other. At first the doors wouldn’t budge, but then they reluctantly creaked open. Josh peered inside. He could just see the top of the elevator car.
“We’ll wait for you upstairs,” Josh told him. “In room 237.”
Scrawl shook his head. “Don’t wait,” he said. “In case something goes wrong, I want you on the way to the police. Now get out of here.”
Josh started to object, but Scrawl was already lowering himself into the shaft. He clung to the ladder. “Go!” he yelled. “Now!”
Josh and the others turned and faced the zombies. In order to get to the stairs, they were going to have to fight their way through, and they had no weapons left. Even then, they had no idea what waited for them in room 237. It could be nothing, Josh thought. We could be walking right into a trap. But it was their only chance.
“We can’t kill them,” Josh said. “So let’s just get through them. Don’t let them grab you, or you’ll probably get bit.”
“Really?” Firecracker said. “Thanks for the tip.” He grinned at Josh. “Race you to the second floor,” he said, and took off.
Josh watched as his friend ran straight at one of the zombies at the front of the pack, a fat man wearing a blood-spattered butcher’s apron. Firecracker lowered his shoulder and hit the z square in the chest, sending him flying backward into some of the other zombies. They fell like bowling pins, and Firecracker shouted, “Strike!” triumphantly.
Charlie and Josh followed him, dodging the zombies that grasped clumsily at their clothes. Firecracker was already halfway up the first flight of stairs, calling for them to hurry. Charlie ducked under the arms of a zombie woman swinging her purse like a weapon—and Josh, who was behind her, was hit right in the face by it. He fell backward, hitting his head on the tile floor.
Stunned, he couldn’t move. He saw the zombie woman’s face as she leaned over him. Her milky eyes rolled back in her head and her mouth opened, revealing broken teeth. She dropped her purse and reached for him with hands covered in sores.
“Back off, meatbag!” he heard Charlie yell.
The zombie woman turned her head, snarling, as Charlie’s foot hit her in the stomach. The z let out a grunt and was flung to the side. Then Charlie was grabbing Josh’s hand and pulling him to his feet. His head throbbed as he stood, and for a moment he thought he might faint.
“Come on!” Charlie encouraged him. “We’re almost there.”
Josh forced himself to move. He saw the stairs ahead of them, clear of z’s. They just had to get to the second floor. His feet moved up the steps as behind them the zombies moaned in frustration. Josh knew they would follow, and even though they moved slowly, there were a lot more of them.