Action Climax

Ch 11 - Action Climax

Ellie drove the gas-powered jeep through the miles of strip malls and vegetation that made up the park. She was racing to find the maintenance shed from where all of Quaternary Park was powered. She wondered if anything ever came of the game warden they’d met. She wanted that large weapon as, well, it was obvious some humans were as deadly as she had imagined.

The jeep’s headlights tried to light the way forward through the wall of inbound water but only about twenty feet ahead was clear at any one time. Ellie leaned forward to try to see a bit better. She was worried that Ian would dry off before her task was completed and he’d stop glistening. She stepped on the gas to get to the shed faster, but then a group appeared in her headlights.

She slammed on the brakes and the jeep skidded forward across the mud.

A large group of New Agers were rooting in the dirt. One was chewing some rhubarb while mumbling “needpowah. needpowah.” One pulled up a large quartz and held it overhead. It yelled, “MAGICWOCK! MAGICWOCK!” and the rest of the New Agers kowtowed in agreement.

Ellie leaned on her horn. She imagined the moisture off Ian’s abs slowly evaporating, “MOVE! MOVE!” Ellie’s talons waved wildly at the pack of New Agers. Unfortunately for her, some Homeopaths joined the New Agers.

The new humans were lowing, “PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. PLAAAAACEEEEEBO.” The combined herd sniffed at each other and a New Ager offered “MAGICWOCK.” to an unimpressed Homeopath. The Homeopath licked the proffered quartz, wrinkled its nose, and asked again, “PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. PLAAAAACEEEEEBO.”

Ellie panicked and honked her horn, “There’s water over there with nothing but a single atom of fennel! I bet the shore has some black tourmaline or a bloodstone!”

The combined herd looked at Ellie and then where she was pointing. “PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. MAGICWOCK! PLAAAAACEEEEEBO. MAGICWOCK! PLAAAAACEEEEEBO,” said the melange as it slowly left the road.

“Ian’s probably still sitting there and it was pretty hot in that room,” she told herself as the minutes passed. The road cleared after the last Homeopath followed the rest. She managed to get around a badly-maintained, muddy curve in the road before more feral humans were highlighted by the jeep.

She slammed on the brakes again as her headlights lit up some Ribbon Wearers. The male was in mid-application. “IMHELPING. IMHELPING.” it cooed as it placed another red ribbon on its festooned chest of various-colored ribbons. The female near him was unimpressed, “NOTENOUGH. WHEREMORE.” She was fascinated by this behavior but Ian’s thorax wouldn’t stay glistening forever. She drove around the two carefully but then sped on the path.

The maintenance shed appeared in Ellie’s headlights through the pounding rain. She stopped and gathered herself. The rain beat down on the roof of the jeep. She panted a bit and the windows of the jeep fogged as she steeled herself for the task ahead.

She looked around the shed carefully. She didn’t see any Icky. She gathered herself and opened the door. The rain drenched her from head to toe. Fortunately, having worn very short shorts, she had no pants to get soaked. She brought a flashlight from the vehicle and started towards the entrance of the shed. The door opened with a loud creak. Ellie peered into nothingness.

It was pitch black in the shed. She turned on her flashlight and pointed it into the murky darkness. Nothing was there. She walked carefully inside. Her talons clanked heavily on the metallic grate that made up the shed’s flooring. The collected rain from her body dripped between the grating gaps to an unknowable abyss below.

She could only hear her breathing and see portions of the space at once. Her flashlight beam finally hit her goal. The sign read, “Quaternary Park. MAIN POWER SUPPLY.” Ellie hoped the power restart was simple to execute; her interring job had given her little experience restarting theme parks.

She opened the door and found a twelve-socket power strip with the word Staples with “XtraCapable” in script below. A square USB-A transformer wart was plugged in and the wire coming out was glowing red. There was a switch on the wall, but the knob was taped down. “DO NOT TURN OFF!” was written nearby.

Ellie was sure she didn’t want to disturb the tape. She decided to unplug the USB-A cord directly from the transformer. She ripped a small piece of her top to use as a glove, and she reached for the red-hot cable.

“Here goes nothing,” said Ellie and she yanked the USB-A cord hard upwards. It slid out without fanfare and the wire’s glow immediately faded. Ellie could feel more than hear as the entire park’s energy was removed. She counted to five slowly.

She put the USB cable back into the wart. It didn’t fit. She swore she didn’t turn it over, but she did so now. She tried again. It didn’t fit.

“DAMN IT!” she yelled. She blew on the rectangle and stared hard at the orientation. She tried again. It didn’t fit.

“Please. Please. This time. Please fit!” she prayed with the cord in both talons. She closed her eyes and felt the plug slide home. The warmth of the power could be felt surging through the Staples-brand USB-A to USB-C gold-tipped cable.

She sighed as the lights came on in the shed and she could see clearly now. As she turned, Muldoon’s severed arm dropped down from the ceiling. Ellie screamed in terror.

“WHARFROM! WHARFROM!” yelled the blue Icky that now blocked her exit from the shed.

Ellie backed away in fear as she tried to think how to escape. The blue Icky’s curiosity increased and its hands started to reach for Ellie, “WHARFROM! WHARFROM!”

Ellie’s deep blue eyes widened, but she knew what to do. “Savannah! Of course!” She flipped her hair in what she hoped was “southern.”

The blue Icky looked and cocked his head. His hands drooped. “Gud,” it said, somewhat deflated, and let her pass.

Ellie jumped into the jeep. Ian’s moisture was ahead.