Title: Ghost Town-the alternative universe rewrite
Chapter: 8
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Rating: PG
All the other stuff, see chapter one

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Steve opened his eyes to the sight of sunlight streaming through the net curtains. For a brief moment he thought he was dreaming, then the sound of a door shutting along the corridor snapped him awake and he groaned.

" This is becoming a habit,"

Rolling onto his back he lay, one arm over his eyes, thinking back over the previous two days. This town of Ackman's was turning into a Terror-Town for the Earth people, he thought, keeping his eyes closed to the bright sunlight. Since coming to the town they had survived a forcefield, flood, capture, a snake, flaming matches and the death and resurrection of one of their group. On top of that they had a little girl hell bent of making their lives as difficult, and deadly, as possible. Steve groaned again and considered just turning over in the sinfully comfortable bed and just forgetting about the rest of the day. Life just seemed too difficult and today was likely to be more of the same. He had discussed exhaustively their various options late into the night with Dan and Mark. Fitzhugh and the girls had turned in earlier, unable to stay up any longer and listen to the men go over the same ground. Much later the three men called a halt to their plans and made their way to their respective rooms. Despite their lengthy discussion, no real plan of action had been reached. Without access to either the power source or the remote control, any action they took was doomed to failure before they started. Currently, their only hope of leaving the tiny town rested on the ability to get the red truck through the forcefield with as many people crammed into the insulated cab as they could. Steve and Dan had successfully jumped into the town, it remained to be seen if they could repeat the manoeuvrer without irreparable damage to the truck or themselves.

Finding the light too bright to ignore, Steve raised himself up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Pulling on his boots he got up and stretched, his back and arm muscles protesting at the previous days strenuous activity. Relaxing, his shoulders slumped for a moment as if carrying the weight of the world, Steve grabbed his jacket, shrugged himself into it and left the mockingly cheerful room.

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Dan heard a door bang and cracked open his gritty eyes. Finding the room brightly lit he quickly shut them again. He had been dreaming about Earth, about his academy days when he and Steve had attended the same flight simulator course. It had been a pleasant trip back into the past but the sound of his ship-mates making their way down the stairs jolted him back to the present and their less than successful attempts at escaping the model town.

" Just a couple more minutes," he told himself, snuggling into the pillow.

Suddenly the building shuddered, the jolt making Dan's eyes fly open in surprise.

" What the hell ?"

Above him, to his horrified gaze, a crack appeared where the ceiling joined the wall. As he watched the gap widened and he found himself squinting up at the sky. Before Dan had a chance to scramble off the bed a Giant hand reached in through the roof and closed around him, lifting him off the bed and out into the bright morning. His scream was muffled by the fingers wrapped around the upper part of his body, but his legs were free and he kicked at the fingers confining him.

" Keep still you squirming worm, or I'll crush you," hissed Lizzie, letting go of the roof of the guest house so it crashed back into place.

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Lizzie had rushed back to the house the previous evening when she'd heard the bell tolling, fearing that her Grandfather would come running, but when she'd returned and peeked in at the living room, she found her Grandfather snoring in front of the fire, his book fallen to the floor. Stamping her foot in frustration she ran upstairs and slammed her bedroom door, vowing to wreak revenge on the Little People for giving her a fright. The next morning her Grandfather had lectured her again on the need for care and caution when dealing with the tiny Earth people. Ackman admonished her not to let any of her pets loose in the town or to tease and torment his 'guests'. Lizzie fumed in silence, not willing to let her Grandfather know she'd been at the town, flicking matches at the little vermin. Then Lizzie heard the words that made her day, her Grandfather was going into town to run some errands, leaving Lizzie alone, except for Mrs. Phall, who would be coming in later that morning. Lizzie kept her jubilation inside, outwardly seeming compliant and remorseful. It was a good enough act to fool Ackman and he went away happy that Lizzie was once more the adoring Granddaughter he knew and loved. Lizzie almost did cartwheels when she waved goodbye to the old man, rushing inside to get dressed as soon as the car was out of sight. Bursting out of the back door a little while later, she raced around the side of the house and picked up the container holding her pet spider, then she collected another glass beaker and carried the two items down to the edge of the town. In her pocket she carried the forcefield remote control and, after checking that none of the Little people were up and about, switched off the forcefield and stepped into the town. Making her way stealthily to the side street she reached the guest house and put down the glass beaker. Finding the catch for the roof she flicked it open and lifted the roof up. Ackman had made all the building this way to make easy access to the interiors, now that feature made Lizzie's capture of a Little Person that much simpler. Inside she immediately saw the dark skinned man still lying on his bed. Reaching inside she scooped the man up, his muffled scream and kicking legs making her giggle. After putting the roof back she reached down and picked up the empty glass beaker and dropped the tiny man inside.

" Now I have you all to myself, and there's nobody around to help you,"

The Little Man pressed himself against the glass, his eyes darting everywhere for an avenue of escape.

" LET ME GO !" Lizzie heard him shout. Looking down she saw the other occupants of the house start to spill out onto the road, their horrified faces staring up at the Giant girl and her captive.

" Don't bother ringing the bell again, my Grandfather has gone out. I'm going to pay you Little People back for trying to get me into trouble."

Steve and Mark were staring helplessly at the glass jar containing Dan, held tightly in Lizzie's grip, the girls, Barry and Fitzhugh crowded behind them.

" LET DAN GO!" shouted Steve, but the girl only laughed and started to move away, stopping to pick up the other jar containing the spider and heading out of the town.

" We have to find out where she takes him, come on," said Steve, taking off at a run, the others, after a brief, shocked pause running after him.

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Lizzie carried her prize to the end of the street, stepping past the forcefield, making sure to switch it back on. Then she knelt down, in plain sight of the Little People, and put the glass jar containing Dan on the ground. The other container she placed a little way behind her, still unseen by either her captive or his friends. Between her and the Little People, the railway tracks stretched in either direction, gleaming in the sunshine. Lizzie eyed the tracks and decided to see how far she could manipulate the situation. Opposite her, the small group had reached the limit of the town and stood watching her.

" What do you intend to do with Dan ?" asked Steve, eyeing the Giant girl as she knelt by the tracks.

" I think that will depend on how co-operative you are, I might decide to feed him to one of my pets, or maybe I'll send him on a train ride, or maybe I'll tie him to the tracks and see what happens when a trains runs over him,"

Steve heard the shocked gasps of the people around him.

" Oh no, Steve we must do something," said Betty in a shocked whisper.

" That monster, can't we alert Ackman ?" hissed Fitzhugh.

" Not without risking Dan's safety," said Steve in an aside, his hand covering his mouth as he thought furiously, his mind choosing and discarding a handful of possibilities.

" What will you do to save you're friends ?" asked Lizzie, addressing her remark to Steve.

" What did you have in mind ?" Steve replied,

" Would you do anything to keep your friend from being my pets meal ?" Lizzie asked, her hand reaching behind her and bringing out the glass container with the spider. The huge black body of the arachnid was curled up in its web, its legs drawn up tight against it's body in a defensive posture. Lizzie tapped on the glass and the spider unravelled itself, its long legs spreading out and tripling its body size.

" Oh god," said Valerie faintly, her horrified face reflecting all their feelings. Dan hadn't seen the spider as yet and Lizzie turned his jar around so he was facing the cage. His reaction was to flatten himself as far away as possible from the glass close to the spider. His wildly staring eyes flicking back between the insect and the huddle of his friends on the other side of the track.

" STEVE !" yelled Dan, trying to press himself through the glass and away from the huge black monstrous threat.

" You can't do this, let him go, please," Steve pleaded, looking despairingly up at their tormentor. Lizzie chuckled and moved the spider box away, out of sight. Dan immediately slumped to the bottom of his jar, his eyes shut and his chest heaving in relief.

" I don't want to waste my toys too quickly, so I think we'll try a little train ride this morning," Lizzie informed them. She produced another remote and pressed a button. The sound of carriages bumping together and the squeal of wheels on the track alerted the Little People to the arrival of the train out of a siding. Lizzie brought it to a halt in front of the platform.

" Get on board, all of you, I'm going to give you a trip on my Grandfathers train,"

Steve exchanged a look with Mark, both men uneasy with the situation.

" You'd better hurry, Little People, I don't want my pet to get impatient, so get into the carriage now," said Lizzie, an edge creeping into her voice.

" We'd better do as she says, lets get onboard," said Steve. The small group made their way to the raised platform, then one by one they boarded the carriage. Once inside they found hard wooden seats and glassless windows, the doors at either end of the carriage only moulded, not real.

" Now hold on tight, Little People, I think you're going to enjoy the ride," Lizzie gloated, holding up the train remote and twisting the large knob in the centre. Immediately the train started to move, the carriages bumping and the metal wheels screeching as they gained traction. Inside the carriage everyone grabbed something to hold onto, Betty gripping the back of one of the wooden seats, the next jolt making her sit down heavily, Barry landing in the seat behind her. Mark and Steve had snagged the empty window frames to keep upright as the train jerked and jolted forward; Fitzhugh pulling himself onto a seat, bracing himself between two of them, while Valerie found her back against one of the fake doors, her arms braced against the moulded door frame.

Lizzie twisted one of the dials round to its fullest and watched in glee as the train sped up quickly, reaching the first bend and speeding round it dangerously. Inside the carriage Betty, Barry and Fitzhugh held onto the seats and tried to keep themselves from getting thrown around as the train rocketed down the track. Steve had worked his way down the middle of the seats, back to the door they'd used to enter by. Mark, seeing Valerie nearly thrown to the floor as the train made the corner, tried to make his way towards her, the rocking of the carriage making it difficult.

" Valerie, reach out and take my hand, if you stay there, you'll end up on the floor the next bend," Mark told her, reaching out his hand while trying to keep his feet on the swaying floor. Valerie, bouncing off the metal wall, stretched out her hand but a particularly violent jolt sent her bouncing back, her head hitting the metal wall hard.

Steve had reached the door and eased the top half of his body out the door window in an effort to see up ahead. The train was speeding down a straight piece of track, wooden fencing and the backs of buildings flashing past in a blur, but Steve could see a corner coming up fast as the track circled the town.

Ducking his head back in, he shouted over the noise of the wheels. " Hold on tight, everyone. There's another corner coming up and we're not slowing down !"

Mark had reached the last of the wooden seats, close enough to reach Valerie. As the train careened around the corner, Valerie found herself thrown to one side, as she passed him Mark snagged her arm and pulled her towards him. They both fell together onto the front bench, Mark getting the wind knocked out as Valerie's full weight landed on top of him.

Steve held on grimly as the train seemed to go even faster having negotiated the turn in one piece. Looking over he saw the set face of Betty, her eyes closed as she hung on tightly, Fitzhugh in front of her, his face a mask of fear as he braced himself against the rocking of the carriage. Behind Betty, Barry clung to his seat, Chipper held firmly to the boys side as they slid back and forth on the smooth wood.

Risking his own life, Steve once more tried to look outside the carriage, the houses still flashing past, unrecognisable blurs as the train carried on its headlong course. Looking down, Steve tried to judge their speed, trying to estimate if jumping was an option. He quickly discounted that idea as suicidal at best, fatal at worst. The wind whipped his hair around his face, blinding him, but when he brushed his face clear he saw a dark maw looming, further along the track.

" Tunnel coming up, its gonna get dark real quick," he yelled, ducking back inside quickly. He only just reached a bench and got himself braced when the train entered the tunnel, plunging the carriage into darkness. The noises became even louder, magnified by the walls of the tunnel, deafening the occupants of the carriage until nothing seemed to exist but the rattle and clank of the metal walls and the squeal and clunk of the wheels. As suddenly as the darkness had fallen, light spilled into the carriage, making Fitzhugh throw his hand up to shield his eyes. Outside Steve could see the forest wall rushing past the windows as they skirted the outer limits of the town, pulling himself up and holding onto the window frame, Steve managed to lean out and peer ahead, the speed of the wind whipping past enough to make his eyes water.

" We're getting near the station, lets hope that girl only intends us to go once round the block," he called out to the others, getting a faint nod and smile from a white faced Betty, while Fitzhugh only clung on grimly his mouth set in a tight line. Mark and Valerie had disentangled themselves and were working their way back towards where Steve sat, the swaying of the train making their trip tortuous, Mark bracing Valerie with a hand on her arm when the train jerked her nearly off her feet. They reached Steve and fell, rather than sat, in the bench in front, Mark twisting in his seat to face Steve.

" We have to find a way off this train, Steve, if she keeps this speed up much longer it'll leave the tracks entirely,"

" I agree, but so far I don't see many options open to us, do you ?"

" Can we get on the roof, maybe we could get to the engine and stop this lunatic ride,"

" There's nothing to hold onto, its all moulded in one piece, plus it would be slippery as hell up there at this speed, one wrong move and you'd end up smeared along the track,"

" I guess we have to hope that girl wants us only shaken not dead,"

Steve nodded his agreement. " We'll be coming up to the last bend, better get a grip and hang on,"

The train didn't appear to slow for the last bend, the wheels squealing in protest as they tried to grip the track. Inside the carriage, Valerie gritted her teeth against the awful noise, reminiscent of nails scratching down a blackboard. She felt bruised all over, despite Marks best efforts to help her. Suddenly her world appeared to tilt at a crazy angle and she felt herself fly through the air, landing heavily on the smooth surface of the roof. From her perspective the world continued to revolve around, her vision blurring as she felt herself flung once more through the air to land awkwardly between two of the hard, wooden benches. Around her, she heard the screams and cries of her friends as they were also tossed about like dolls inside the screeching metal box. Finally the sound faded and the world stopped spinning and Valerie found herself not moving at last, just in time for the light around her to wink out as she lost consciousness.

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