Part 2 (Conclusion): Ladybug, Ladybug, Where Are You?

FROM THE BEGINNING: https://rigglew4.blogspot.com/2018/05/part-1-ladybug-ladybug-where-are-you.html

As the locust swarm grew closer to the parking lot, their mass became bathed in light. Arriving police cars illuminating the scene. The first arriving car sliding on a carpet of locust, unable to stop, slamming into parked cars. “Well that’s just great! Jorge, see if you can stall them. Keep them back while we try to talk sense into Lindsay.”

Jorge descends the stairs trying to hold onto the railing while trying to hold up his police badge, “Stay back. We’re dealing with a hostage negotiation situation.” But seeing Jorge’s badge, the local Pittsburgh police will have none of that as officer Otis speaks up, “You’re out of your jurisdiction Cleveland.” Looking over his shoulder at the arriving van, “Tell the SWAT team to setup snipers 2^nd floor across the courtyard. Someone find the circuit box for room 23. On my command…” Jorge cuts him off, “To hell you say. We already have FBI on the scene. Agent Ima Beotch is deep into the negotiations and is close to a resolution. You do ANYTHING now, and she’ll make certain your captain re-assigns you as a walking beat cop!”

Back at room 23, Ima is indeed working toward a resolution, “Lindsay, just listen to Regina’s coughing. She’s sick and frightened; her anxiety making things worse. Now we know you’re concerned for her. Why else break into that veterinarian store. But the steroids you got aren’t strong enough. She needs real meds, and I’ve got a doctor here that can help. Just let me in and we can work out a plan together.” [Extreme persuade roll] Maybe motherly instincts are at work, but the door chain is removed, and dresser blocking the door slid back. Lieutenant Peter is just as persuasive [Extreme persuade roll], as Lindsay cracks open the door, “Just the two of you. Your reporter girl stays out. She’s already proven she’s a liar.”

Once inside Peter retrieves the DVD from his vest pocket, “No time like the present to see what we’re dealing with.” Lindsay takes Regina to the bathroom as the 2 officers settle in front of the TV. Minutes later, “Holy shit! You’re right Lindsay. We need to hide and protect the kid. Hide her someplace. But first, get her out of this hotel and away from the local police and reporters.” Peter concocts a plan, “OK, I get Regina to hold onto my back, we cover her with a blanket and pretend she’s a backpack.” [Peter fumbles his disguise roll] But Ima isn’t convinced, “Listen to her coughing. It’ll never work. Sorry Lindsay. Let me cuff you outside so the local police can see. We’ll put you in Peter’s car and claim we are taking Regina to the hospital then you back to Cleveland. There’s just no other way to appease the Pittsburgh police.”

As the group exits the room, Ima cuffs Lindsay for all to see as Dawn slips on her police writer vest and begins loudly talking into her phone as if she is a news reporter giving an on-scene account, “And there you have it folks, crisis averted. The Cleveland police, in full cooperation with your heroic local Pittsburgh police, were able to peacefully rescue this little girl. In a moment I’ll bring your Pittsburgh’s officer Otis online to give his accounting.” Otis has taken the bait as he begins to straighten his tie while donning his bowl hat to make it formal. In the background, Peter and Ima put Lindsay and Regina in the backside. With cuffs removed. Ima then hops on her motorcycle to lead the motorcade. Peter stops the car beside Dawn, “Time to go doll.”

Leaving office Otis mid-sentence in his interview.

Dawn and Peter in the front, with the others in the back. Jorge already administering a steroid shot to Regina as Lindsay rubs her freed wrists. The caravan already turning onto the interstate, Dawn twists to face Lindsay, “I’m sorry your uncle George couldn’t make it. Sorry he thought he had to sacrifice himself that way. I just wish we could have…what’s that shadow behind us? It’s huge and getting closer. AAAUGH!” As claws scrape the top of the car, the others get their first glimpse of the flying beast. “What the hell?!” Dawn has already passed out as Peter floors the accelerator, “Hang on folks.”

The Hunting-Horror already swooping back for another pass, when Peter spots the approaching exit. He swerves just prior to the beasts’ attack. He’s lost his escort Ima on her Ducati but not the beast. Peter tunes out Lindsay’s and Regina’s screams, thankful Dawn is not awake to add to the volume. But the screams do give him warning when the horror gets closer as the volume and tone become more disturbing.

Meanwhile Ima finds her own interstate exit and quickly closes on the police car, aided by the vision of the huge beast climbing for its next diving attack. The car and bike converge. Peter too busy looking over his shoulder for the beast, turns back to drive just in time to avoid a parked car. But now the bike in his face. He swerves again, this time jumping the median and plowing into stop signs!

The impact not hard enough to deploy airbags but Peter is cut and shaken. Ima too had to swerve to avoid the collision but maintained a controlled slide. She quickly hops off her bike to tend the car. “Slide over.” Ima behind the wheel, backing up, then flooring it. With the beast blocks away in its long swooping turn, Ima is able to navigate the streets and escape.

“That beast is looking for us. Well, looking for Regina. We can’t go back to Ohio.” So they decide to hide in the wilderness to the northeast of the state. With cellphones turned off, the car starting to smoke from probably a busted radiator, they get off the main roads. And find an abandoned cabin.  With the aid of now awake Dawn, Lindsay carves the elder sign on all entrances. “It worked at the hotel. The beast didn’t find us till we were away from the room.” Dawn still a little skeptical, “You sure we don’t need lambs blood?”

Thankfully there was a grocery store miles away but within walking distance. The police cruiser too much of a give-away. The Sunday newspaper includes an article about the hotel hostage situation. How the FBI was involved. But the FBI’s Ducati bike found abandoned on the streets of New Castle. Theories of gang-related activities; maybe the girl was a mobster’s daughter under the witness-protection-program, hidden out in a preacher’s house in Ohio. What happened to the Cleveland police car? Or the officers? Were they really police, or mob members in disguise?

The countdown to Tuesday came and went without incident. One last trip to the grocery store. But this time, the Wednesday news includes an article about an Ohio Reverend Balfour who had sacrificed his wife and was in jail for murder. Meanwhile, a small cholera outbreak had killed all firstborn within a 10 mile radius of the church. As Dawn exits the store, with the newspaper crammed into one of the grocery bags, the clerk calls out, “Hope you didn’t have relatives in Ohio. To be safe, I’d boil any and all water. Ohio ain’t that far away and we share the same rivers.”

EPILOGUE

By preventing the sacrifice of Regina, the investigators stopped the global catastrophe but not the local one.