Chapter 17
The library was absolutely quiet. Then, one by one, the Oozmas entered the huge room, weaving carefully around the tables. They followed Mike as well as they could, slowly, trying desperately not to make a sound. Heel to toe, heel to toe.
The second event of the Scare Games was under way. Across the room, flags were hanging from the arms of a tall statue. The goal of the event was to sneak across the library and remove a flag without alerting the librarian. She was as strict as they came: fifty feet tall, stern, with tentacles just waiting to grab noisy students. Her glasses were thick and her eyesight was poor, so she had to rely almost entirely on her sense of hearing. If team members made noise and attracted her attention, she’d toss them out. The last team with a flag left still dangling on the statue would be eliminated.
The Greek Council president and her vice president were watching from a side room overlooking the library. “We are at the halfway point of this event, and things are getting interesting,” the president whispered to the crowd of onlookers. Everyone held their breath as the sorority girls from HSS reached the statue. The girls quickly snatched their flag and raced out of the library, passing the test. Of course, the RORs had already gotten their f lag and passed, too. “Only two teams left,” whispered the president. “Who will make it out with their flag and who will be eliminated?”
The vice president continued. “In a real scare, you do not want to get caught by a kid’s parent,” he whispered. “And in this event, you do not want to get caught by the librarian.”
The librarian pressed a scaly finger to her lips and said, “Shhh. Quiet.”
Terri scoffed and whispered, “I’m not afraid of some old librarian!” Just then, a student sneezed. The librarian whipped around toward the sound and seemed to become even larger and more terrifying. She grabbed the student in her tentacles.
“I said, quiet!” she snarled at the poor student.
Then she hurled the student upward, through a hole in the library’s glass dome ceiling. The student flew into the air, then dropped down into the trees outside and landed in a stream. Onlookers cheered and howled.
Mike looked at his frightened teammates and whispered, “Do exactly what I do.” They nodded and crept slowly through the library, mimicking Mike’s every move.
Sulley looked from his team to the EEKs, who were gaining speed. “FASTER!” Sulley whispered impatiently, trying to move his team along.
But Mike held up his hand. “Slow and steady,” he told the team.
“Slow and steady,” Art whispered, holding up his hand, imitating Mike exactly.
Sulley groaned in frustration as they each relayed the message down the line exactly as Mike had said it. Finally, he just couldn’t take the Oozmas’ snaillike pace a minute more. He bolted toward the flag, leaving his teammates behind.
Mike’s eye went wide. “Sullivan!” he whispered.
“Sullivan!” Art whispered.
“Sullivan!” Terri and Terry whispered.
Mike shushed the team. “Shhh!” Art whispered to Terri and Terry.
“Shhh!” the brothers whispered to Don, who whispered it to Squishy.
Mike shook his head and sighed.
They all watched as Sulley ran to a ladder that was fastened on a track against the bookshelves. He climbed to the top and pushed the ladder so that it slid across the shelves toward the flag. Mike gasped as the librarian whipped her head around. She adjusted her glasses but didn’t seem to notice Sulley. “Hmmm,” she murmured suspiciously, and then returned to her work.
Sulley was near the flag now but not quite close enough. He inched forward, extending his arm toward the flag. He was almost touching it when the bottom of the ladder began coming off its tracks. A moment later, both Sulley and the ladder fell to the ground with a thunderous CRASH!
第 17 章
圖書館里鴉雀無(wú)聲。OK會(huì)的成員們挨個(gè)兒進(jìn)入大廳,小心翼翼地繞開桌子行走。他們盡可能安靜地跟在麥克后面慢慢地走著,極力不發(fā)出任何聲響——由腳跟到腳尖,再由腳跟到 腳尖。
現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行的是“驚嚇杯”的第二場(chǎng)比賽。圖書館里,一座高高的雕像手臂上掛著各隊(duì)的旗子。這輪比賽的目標(biāo)是,在不驚動(dòng)圖書館管理員的情況下摘下旗子。管理員不茍言笑地看著大家走進(jìn)來(lái)。她足有五十英尺高,表情嚴(yán)肅,觸角時(shí)刻準(zhǔn)備去抓住那些吵鬧的學(xué)生。她視力很不好,戴著厚厚的眼鏡,大多數(shù)情況下只能靠聽覺(jué)。如果團(tuán)隊(duì)里有人發(fā)出聲音讓她聽見,她就會(huì)把他們?nèi)既映鋈?。雕像上懸掛的最后一面旗子所屬的?duì)伍將被 淘汰。
希臘議會(huì)的會(huì)長(zhǎng)和副會(huì)長(zhǎng)在位于圖書館上方的側(cè)廊房間觀看比賽。“這場(chǎng)比賽已經(jīng)過(guò)半,可真是越來(lái)越有意思了。”會(huì)長(zhǎng)對(duì)著觀眾們小聲說(shuō)道。所有人都屏氣凝神,只見黑絲絲姐妹會(huì)的姑娘們來(lái)到了雕像前,迅速抓過(guò)旗子跑出圖書館,通過(guò)了比賽。當(dāng)然,精嚇會(huì)隊(duì)也早已拿到旗子完成了比賽。“只剩兩支隊(duì)伍了,”會(huì)長(zhǎng)悄聲說(shuō)道,“究竟哪支能成功奪旗,哪支會(huì)慘遭淘汰呢?”
副會(huì)長(zhǎng)繼續(xù)低聲說(shuō):“在實(shí)戰(zhàn)中,你不能被小孩的父母逮到。而在這場(chǎng)比賽中,你絕對(duì)不能被圖書管理員逮到。”
只見管理員伸出一根長(zhǎng)有鱗片的手指放到嘴唇上說(shuō)道:“噓,安靜。”
泰瑞小聲嘲笑著說(shuō):“一個(gè)老館員有什么好怕的!”剛說(shuō)完,一位學(xué)生打了個(gè)噴嚏,管理員迅速轉(zhuǎn)向聲音的方向,看起來(lái)愈發(fā)龐大而嚇人。她用觸角一把抓住了那位學(xué)生。
“我說(shuō)過(guò)了,安靜!”管理員對(duì)著那個(gè)可憐的學(xué)生咆哮道。
然后她將那個(gè)學(xué)生高高舉起,從圖書館圓頂玻璃天花板上的一個(gè)洞口扔了出去。那學(xué)生被扔到空中,然后落在外面的樹上,最后掉進(jìn)小河里。觀眾們發(fā)出一陣歡呼和叫喊聲。
麥克看著驚恐萬(wàn)分的隊(duì)友小聲說(shuō):“我做什么,你們一定要照做。”隊(duì)友連連點(diǎn)頭,跟在麥克后面躡手躡腳地緩慢前進(jìn),模仿著他的每一個(gè)動(dòng)作。
毛怪看了看自己的團(tuán)隊(duì),又看了看熔巖城姐妹隊(duì),只見她們已經(jīng)開始加速。“快點(diǎn)兒!”他強(qiáng)壓著聲音急躁地說(shuō),想讓自己的隊(duì)伍也加快速度。
但麥克舉起他的手向隊(duì)員們示意,說(shuō)道:“慢一點(diǎn),穩(wěn)一點(diǎn)。”
阿拱也舉起他的手,精準(zhǔn)地模仿著麥克低聲說(shuō):“慢一點(diǎn),穩(wěn)一點(diǎn)。”
正如麥克叮囑的那樣,隊(duì)員們一個(gè)一個(gè)完全模仿著他,把他的話和動(dòng)作從隊(duì)伍前一直傳到了隊(duì)伍末尾。毛怪非常懊喪,開始抱怨起來(lái)。最終,他再也不能忍受OK會(huì)隊(duì)員蝸牛一樣的腳步,于是丟下隊(duì)友,自己朝旗子沖過(guò)去。
麥克的眼睛瞪得老大,小聲喊道:“蘇利文!”
“蘇利文!”阿拱也小聲喊道。
“蘇利文!”泰瑞和泰銳也小聲喊道。
麥克示意隊(duì)伍安靜下來(lái)。“噓!”阿拱小聲告訴泰瑞和泰銳。
“噓!”泰銳兄弟小聲告訴老唐,老唐同樣小聲告訴史乖寶。
麥克搖搖頭,嘆了口氣。
他們看著毛怪跑向書架旁的一個(gè)梯子,梯子的底端固定在一個(gè)軌道上。毛怪爬到梯子頂端,推動(dòng)梯子,讓頂部越過(guò)書架朝旗子滑去。這時(shí),管理員突然轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭,麥克被嚇得倒吸了口氣,幸好她只是扶了扶眼鏡,似乎并沒(méi)有注意到毛怪。“嗯……”管理員狐疑地咕噥了一聲,又轉(zhuǎn)回去繼續(xù)工作。
毛怪離旗子很近了,但還是夠不到。他又向前挪了一點(diǎn),準(zhǔn)備伸手去拿旗子。眼看就要夠到了,梯子的底端突然脫離了軌道。片刻之后,隨著一陣?yán)坐Q般的“轟隆”聲,毛怪和梯子一起砸到了地面上。