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They watched the door take repeated blows.
Chubby passed out two more batons with the instructions,  Knees or collar bones.
Avy reared her baton upward in a striking position, the alarm piercing her ears. She saw the
door give way with a final blow, then swing open on bent hinges. Two men rushed in, crouching
low. Their feet tangled in the piano wire strung from the doorway posts. They tumbled face down
132 Gate Walker
onto the carpet. Avy jumped at one, raining blows on his shoulders. Sebastian and Chubby placed
well-aimed swats on the other, smacking his knees. Some of Avy s strikes went wild, hitting the
man over the head. He scrambled across the carpet, yelping. She gave him a hard kick in the rear,
forcing him to crawl out of the door and into the alley. Chubby took the other by the collar, then
flung him outside.  And stay out!
They heard another crash coming from the front of the theater. They ran down the aisle
toward the main entrance doors, just when they were beginning to buckle. They could see three men
on the other side putting their shoulders against the frames. Two panels of glass popped from the
doorframes to shatter on the floor. The men scrambled on their knees to crawl through the openings.
Sebastian stood by a cord on the wall that led to a large package hoisted up to the ceiling.
Before he yanked the cord, he waited until the intruders got to their feet. The huge carpet roll
sitting atop the makeshift frame broke from its mooring, tumbling down. The men went to their
bellies, disappearing under five hundred pounds of musty cinema carpet. Like pigs in a blanket,
they thrashed under the suffocating load.
Chubby leapt in the air, coming down with all his weight on a struggling form. A gush of air
along with a muffled cry for help escaped from underneath.
Avy picked out what looked like a head and gaveit a sound crack with the baton. Sebastian
pounded his fists on one man who seemed to be upside down flailing his legs. A leg popped up,
tearing through the rotted pile. Sebastian twisted the ankle, tearing a shoe off, which he then began
to use as a weapon.
Avy threw a bear hug on a shapeless form near the floor that rose up tent-like the squirming
mass pitched her backward. A knife drove up through the fabric, making frantic sawing motions. A
slit appeared, then a gun thrust out from the opening. The barrel flashed several times. One bullet
went through a display case. Another ricocheted off the floor and struck a wall poster. She swung
the baton at the gun wielding hand but missed. The barrel panned around in front of her face. She
ducked just before another shot zinged by her ear.
Chubby jumped on the upright mass, knocking it over. He wrestled the gun hand, prying the
fingers back. Something snapped, followed by a howl of pain. Chubby wrenched the gun loose and
pitched it against a wall.  I ll cap your ass if you try that again! said the guard.
A voice answered,  Okay I give up!
The three stepped off the carpet. Sebastian threw a heavy flap back, ordering the intruders
out. He held his gun on the men while they crawled on their knees from under the carpet. Out in
the open, the sweaty men backed up against the lobby wall with their hands up, breathing hard,
staring down the barrel of Sebastian s pistol.
 I ve already called the cops, Sebastian lied.  You ve really dug yourself a hole this time!
The men looked at each other dumfounded. One peeled off, running for the door. The others
lingered for a moment before they broke into a run. The sounds of their footsteps faded down the
sidewalk.
Chris Stevenson 133
Avy rubbed a carpet burn on her elbow.  That was close. I think he parted my hair.
Sebastian checked her scalp, running his fingers over it.  Thank God, he said.  I didn t
expect gunfire. I almost let loose with some lead myself.
 Sebastian, you re not a killer. You re not like them. They  Something tweaked her nose.
A heady, burning scent wafted in the air. It smelled like burnt toast. She turned around, aghast.
Smoke billowed from both theater wings.
Chubby pointed to the back of the theater.  We re on fire!
Clouds of black soot frothed out of the theater wings in tornado-like swirls. An orange glare
backlit the walls, evidence that the storeroom had caught. The decorative auditorium drapes were
scant yards from the source of the fire. The animal cages sat next to them. They would catch any
minute.
 Chubby and I will get the animals off the stage, then take them through the front, said
Sebastian.  Avy, you get out to the street.
Before she could object, the two were running down the aisle. She had no intention of
standing around just watching them. She remembered Gretchen in the backroom.
Avy squeezed through the broken front doors and turned around to face the entrance. She
took two steps to get through it. She counted the Gates, ending at the rear exit door. Crouching
low, she entered the backroom.
The top of the workbench was ablaze. A bright orange wall of flame had climbed up into the
joist beams. Acrid smoke lay like a blanket just above eyelevel. She duck-walked across the floor,
stepping over the mattress until she came to the cardboard box. The radiant heat broiled the side
of her face and forearms. When she leaned down to get the dog by the scruff of the neck, a paint
can exploded, showering a lava-like spray across the room. Falling to her knees, she screamed,
feeling certain she was on fire. Avy brought the dog up under her jacket, pulling it tight to her
breasts. She crawled over the mattress, noticed her purse on the floor and managed to hook her
fingers in the strap.
Once outside, another explosion sent a heat wave up against her back. She started the Jeep,
pulled away from the building, not stopping until she was a safe distance from the inferno. The
dog cowered on her lap. Avy s hair was singed, giving off a putrid odor. Though she d received
some hot spots on her arms and back, she had no serious burns.
From the safety of the vehicle, she saw a backdraft twister roiling out of the rear theater
door, curling up the back wall toward the roof. A small window exploded, showering the parking
lot with shards. Above the roar of the fire, she could hear combustibles popping inside. A shaft of
flames shot straight up from the top of the building, turning the roof hatch into a missile. Sirens
wailed in the distance. She backed her Jeep even further, reaching the far end of the parking lot, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]