Marty quickly untied all but one slip knot on the bunch of sandbags. 3-D and the others were just standing down there, watching as his other self played those last wild chords. And those chords were wild. My, Marty thought, he had gotten a little carried away there toward the end. hadn’t he?
He pulled the ropes.
The sandbags fell.
They wiped out all three of the hoods.
Marty grabbed one of the free ropes and swung down to the very back of the backstage. There was a set of stairs over here, that led to the same alcove he had come in through!
Marty pulled out his walkie-talkie as he took the steps, two at a time.
‘Success. Doc! Everything’s cool!’
‘Good!’ Doc’s voice replied after the usual burst of static. ‘I’ll be landing at the school roof in about one minute!’
Marty pushed the fire door open. He had to get back around the building to the outside fire stairs and the top of the gym.
‘I’ll be there, Doc!' He shut off the walkie-talkie and thrust it back in his pocket.
He glanced back in the window of the fire door. There, in the alcove he had just left, was Lorraine, talking to the other Marty!
‘I had a feeling about you two,’ the other Marty was saying.
‘I have a feeling, too,’ Lorraine replied with the sweetest smile.
Marty ducked down as he hurried past the window glad that everything had worked out, again. Just like they learned in English class: All’s well that ends well.
‘Hey,’ a voice yelled behind him, ‘butthead!’
Marty spun around. Biff stood next to the fire door, rubbing at a raw spot where he'd cut his lip. Biff grinned and waved for Marty to come closer.
‘C’mon, let’s have it out!’ he demanded. ‘You and me!’
Oh, no, Marty thought. Not when he was so close to being out of here. He grinned back at Biff.
‘No, thanks,’ he replied brightly as he turned to leave.
Biff took a step towards him.
‘What’s the matter?’ he called after the retreating Marty. ‘Chicken?’
Marty stopped dead.
‘Too chicken to take me on,’ Biff jeered, ‘one on one?’
Marty turned around, his hands clenched into fists.
There was only one thing he couldn’t stand.
Nobody calls me chicken,’ he replied.
Chapter Twenty
Marty knew this was stupid, but he couldn’t help himself. His mother always told him to count to ten - but, when it came to this, he was way beyond counting! Maybe he always felt he needed to do this because he was so short. Or maybe he needed to do this just because Biff was such an asshole.
Whatever it was - he didn’t let anybody call him chicken!
Biff and Marty stared at each other for a long moment. Marty felt as if all his senses had been heightened. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and could hear the crickets on the high school lawn, the cars passing on the distant street, and even the voice of the other Marty, who spoke to George and Lorraine on the other side of the fire door.