At 9:27 AM, authorities ordered all police to apprehend the suspect at Sunled School if possible. If arrest is unfeasible, then death would be acceptable. All Allen could think of was Gryce; "Hurry, hurry," he repeated under his breath as his vision tunneled. He had his hand on his gun; there was only one solution, and he wouldn't hesitate, no matter what.
It wasn't far away, but with each passing second, something else could have happened. Someone else could be hurt, and from the way callers described the scene, their only goal was to prevent anything else from happening. Death was inevitable; they had to come to terms with that fact. But his hands were no longer steady, and slowly he began feeling the weight of everything pressing down on him. Wendy's hand trembled on the wheel; without a doubt, everyone was feeling the same way. Hesitation could lead to further tragedy; he steadied his nerves as Wendy's drove onto the field, leading toward the School.
At 9:37 AM, Allen and the rest of the police force entered the premises of Sunled School. No one could escape the piercing screams coming from inside, the kids' wailings becoming a conglomerate of despair that no one could distinguish where it came from. The only way to find out was to go inside.
With no orders on how the situation should be handled, everyone involved readied themselves and rushed inside, forgetting all precaution and drawing their guns. But before Allen stepped inside, he noticed a shattered window on the far left of the building, a horrid memory of the first day of school, Room 182.
"That's his classroom…"
Allen rushed inside ahead of the others and aimed his gun toward the end of the hallway. Trained at the thing in the middle of the path, which, for a moment, looked at them. In that split second, they lowered their guns and could only question if what they saw was reality. Gawking at the unknown, the unexplainable, who knew there would only be one response to it. To stop before it and to question its existence.
Foliage covered it from head to toe, with an assortment of sunflowers all in different stages of budding, but the most prominent being below his torso. Sharp ends protruded from random parts of his body, which held dripping blood and hanging skin, pooling at his feet. At one point, there was more, but over time, it began absorbing it as the flowers that brandished its lower half turned crimson red.
Giving them little chance to react, it changed its direction and bolted toward them.
With only a second to spare, Allen managed to step back as it charged past them into the wall, stumbling onto the ground. With little haste, it crawled back on its feet and charged at them with a silent pursuit. Fanning out from the building, the group of twenty in a united panic drew their guns and unloaded every round they had into it. For a moment, it remained still, caressing its body that was riddled with holes that passed from one end to the other. But it didn't fall.
"What the hell is going on!" one officer shouted, voicing the same thought everyone held at that moment.
They all stepped back as it took one step, one foot lit by the sun, then another, half of its body was shining, and then another, the holes in its body shot out scattered beams of light. Letting its arms drop to its side, it turned its head left toward an officer.
"Run!" Allen shouted as it charged with a weightless flow that, as its body filtered out the air passing through the holes, it rang a whistle, taking over all other thoughts. With no one coming to the man's aid, the two disappeared into the field of wheat. Allen came to his senses.
Gryce is fine; I know he is. I can't let this thing go.
"Evacuate the building now!" Bringing everyone back to reality, they rushed inside while he stayed, mustering the courage to take the first step.
Without acknowledgement, Wendy stepped with him, and they followed the screams of the man and the siren song that continued to play, until it didn't. As fast as the monster came, it went, and in its wake, an oak tree spawned from within the depths of the field. The officer was gone, and so was the monster.