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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] band wrapped around his neck. His eyes were wide and frightened. Duct tape over his mouth looked like it was wrapped all the way around his head. Above his head, neon orange letters proclaimed that this was "The Dismemberment Game!" Smaller letters in black magic marker said "StarringRogerTanglen and Andrew Mayhem." A note taped to Roger's chest read "Pigs, stay away! This is Andrew's game." Fixed to the door were six machete blades, the flat edge of each blade on the wood. The bottom of each blade was attached to a mechanism that was clearly designed to swing it. A blade on each side of his head was positioned to lop off his arms at the shoulder, while blades on each side of his waist were positioned to lop off his legs. A blade next to his right shoulder was set to decapitate him. The sixth blade was at the very bottom of the door, resting on the pavement perpendicular to the door. Between Roger's legs there was an enormous slab of raw meat, probably a cow flank. "Oh dear Lord..." whispered Tony. "All right, everyone back!" shouted Bruce, waving his arms. "Clear some space! We need anything solid we could use to block those knives!" I walked up to the door. "Can anyone get a chainsaw or something to cut him free?" The officer closest to the door shook his head. "Look at the back." I did so. From behind, I could see that the door was propped up by two pieces of wood at the bottom. The entire back of the door was a maze of what must have been thousands of multi-colored wires. Connected to the door by several other wires was a laptop computer, which the cop who'd taken my fingerprints currently had balanced on his palm. Page 176 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "We don't know which one of those wires will spring the machete blades," said the fingerprint cop. "If we cut the wrong one, it could go off." He extended the laptop toward me. "Take this. It's for you." I took the laptop from him and looked at the low-resolution, black-and-white display. "GET ANDREW MAYHEM,THENPRESS ANY KEY. YOU HAVE 43 SECONDS REMAINING." The countdown continued. "Don't press it yet," said the fingerprint cop. "We need as much time as possible to figure out a way to get him out of this." The wires were long enough that I could walk around to the front of the door while still holding the laptop. I looked up at Roger and asked "He's got Kyle and Theresa, hasn't he?" Roger gave me a small nod, and then closed his eyes. Only sixteen seconds remained on the display. I couldn't panic. I couldn't lose it. I had to stay calm, focus, and make everything all right. When only three seconds remained, I pressed the space bar. A new message appeared: "ENTER YOUR MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME." With my free hand I typedinKENDALL and hit return. "BAD BOY, ANDREW.I SAID NO COPS. I'D PLANNED TO SAVE THIS GAME FOR A LITTLE LATER, BUT YOU'VE FORCED ME TO RUSH THINGS.TOO BAD FOR YOU.AND ROGER." The screen wentblank,then a new message appeared. "YOU MUST ANSWER FIVE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY. EACH TIME YOU MISS, ROGER LOSES AN APPENDAGE." "MyGod,whois this guy?" asked Tony, looking at the screen. "I don't know." Page 177 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html The number 10 appeared at the bottom of the screen, and went down by one with each passingsecond."PRACTICE QUESTION. WHO WAS THE TWELFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?" "Who was our twelfth president?" I shouted. The cops began discussing it amongst themselves, and one counted on his fingers while reciting names. "Hurry!Ionly have three seconds!" "Tyler!" said the guy counting on his fingers. "No,no,Taylor! Zachary Taylor!" I typed in T-A-Y... "TIME'S UP." The bottom machete blade swung upward like an enormous mousetrap going off. It split through the meat and smashed into the wood withaloudthunk ! The top of the blade came less than an inch from splitting Roger's jeans and the sensitive parts beneath them. Then it swung back and returned to its original position. There was a gasp of shock from the crowd of police officers. Roger's eyes were closed so tightly that his head looked ready to burst. "QUESTION ONE. RIGHT ARM. WHICH SKULL WEARS THE COWBOY HAT?" Whichone?Gaggles or Boo-Boo? I couldn't remember! No, it had been Gaggles, right? Five seconds remained. No time to replay the video in my mind. I typed GAGGLES and hit enter. Page 178 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "CORRECT. RIGHT ARM SPARED." I let myself breathe a sigh of relief. "QUESTION TWO. LEFT ARM.WHICH SKULL BIT FIRST?" I definitely knew thisone.Boo -Boo. I typed in BOO-BOO. Enter. "CORRECT. LEFT ARM SPARED." If they were all questions from the video, I could handle this. I'd certainly been paying attention when I watched it. "QUESTION THREE. RIGHT LEG. WERE THERE MORE OR FEWER THAN FIFTY BITES THAT KILLED THE WOMAN ON THE BED?" I didn't know! Possibly more than fifty, but I hadn't counted. I typed inMORE.Hesitated for a couple of seconds. Then hit return. "CORRECT.FIFTY-EIGHT, TO BE EXACT.RIGHT LEG SPARED." If that question ever poppeduponJeopardy I'd be set. "QUESTION FOUR. LEFT LEG. IN MULTIPLES OF FIVE MINUTES, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CLEAN UP AFTER THE AVERAGE GHOULISH DELIGHTS MURDER-ON-TAPE?" How the hell was I supposed to know that? "Give that here!" said Tony to someone behind me. As he walked up to the Page 179 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html door, I saw that he held a metal pipe, about two feet long. Bruce stepped forward and each of them took an end. "Left leg, correct?" he asked me. "Correct!" Three seconds remained on the timer. I typed 60 and at the last second hit enter. "WRONG. THE CORRECT ANSWER IS 45. LEFT LEG SEVERED." The blade positioned by his left leg swung with incredible force, striking the metal pipe withaloudclang . Bruce and Tony both let out a grunt as the pipe was wrenched out of their grasp. It slammed against Roger's leg with a sound that had to be bone breaking. Roger let out a muffled cry of pain. The blade swung back to its original position. Roger was badly hurt, but at least he still had his leg. "FINAL QUESTION.NECK." "The next one's going for his neck!" I shouted. Bruce and Tony quickly positioned the pipe so that it would block the blade, and two other cops joined to help them hold it. "WHO AM I?" If I knew that, I wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with! Carl, Farley, Dominick, Linda...maybe even Rachel...who coulditbe? I had a one in five chance of guessing correctly. One in four, if I discounted Rachel. Even if the pipe stopped the blade from cutting him, if I got this wrong Page 180 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |