Thursday, September 30, 2010

Yellow Bandana


Continued from “The Howl”

The howl was followed by a moment of eerie silence. Then came the ear splitting clanging as someone half tripped, jumped, and tumbled down the metal stairway to the pavement below.

Three figures in dark hoodies stared up at Gonga, their mouths half open while the fourth and fifth members of their group hurtled back down the stairs towards them.

“What kind of a clown is that?” the guy wearing a yellow bandana demanded.

The echoes stopped as his two stair climbing companions picked themselves up off the pavement.

“It’s a gorilla,” the first one panted, shouldering his way past the yellow bandana and heading toward the street.

“Come on, you’re not going to let that purse get away that easy, are you?” yellow bandana demanded, catching him by the shoulder.

His hood fell back as he turned, showing a mane of black hair.

“Dude, I ain’t fighting a wild gorilla for anything. Don’t you watch TV? Those things are ten times stronger than humans.”

“Well, then go call the zoo,” yellow bandana sneered. “Better yet, Pete, you got that gun back at home still?”

“Maybe,” Pete grunted, his hoodie pulled low over his face, hiding his expression.

“Go get it, we’ll stake this place out while you’re gone. There’s no other way down from here. I’ve looked before.” Yellow bandana turned away, his orders given.

Pete scowled in the shadow of his hood, but turned to go.

I pulled back from the top of the ladder, into the shadows. Gonga dissolved into the darkness. “Are you OK?” I whispered softly, hoping the girl was still close enough to hear me.

“Who are you, and where did you get that costume?” she asked from less than five feet away.

I jumped. But no one could tell from inside my Gonga suit.

“I’m Gonga, I work for The Textbook Game,” I hissed, trying to do my Gonga voice in an undertone. It came out somewhat garbled.

“Never mind,” I switched back to my normal voice, “the real question is, what are you doing out this late at night?”

“Going home.”

Silence.

“More to the point,” I said, hearing movement at the bottom of the ladder, “have you explored this roof yet? We need to find another way down. I don’t think I can take on five at once. At least not if Pete gets his gun.”

“I didn’t see anything,” she said, “but I haven’t explored everything yet.”

To be continued…

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