Disaster in the Shrunken City

Part 2

Finally, Louie gave in, "fine. I'll get you the dumb book."

"Great!" Heron said, dropping Louie onto the ground. Louie sat up just in time to catch the walkie she threw at him.

"Use this to tell me when you have it. Now hurry up and go." She ordered. Louie obeyed, standing up and heading out of the building.

"And remember," Heron began causing Louie to pause and look back, "I'll be able to see everything, so don't even think of trying anything."

Louie walked out of the building, Heron's threat echoing in his ears. He shoved the walkie into his hoodie's pocket and continued through the city. He frantically went from house to house, searching inside desks, shelves, drawers, and flipping through every book he saw. He had to find that book before Scrooge did, who knows what that villain would do if he didn't. He went from building to building, growing more desperate as he was constantly empty-handed. He paced through the streets toward an area of the city he hadn't been in yet when he suddenly bumped into something. He stumbled back as Dewey turned to him.

"Oh, there you are Louie." Dewey greeted.

"Dewey, um.. any luck yet?" Louie asked nervously. He wasn't even sure which answer would be worse.

"Nerp!" Dewey replied, "this city is so much bigger than I thought! Well, now it is anyway. Wanna help me look?"

"Sure..." Louie replied hesitantly, his mind racing. He could find it faster with help, but what if Dewey found it before him and took it to Scrooge? Either way, he couldn't look suspicious.

"Where should we look first?" Dewey asked, looking around him.

"I've already searched that entire area," Louie replied, motioning towards a section of the city near where they first arrived. "so we should probably go this way." Louie pointed ahead of him. Dewey nodded and headed in that direction, Louie close behind. For a moment Louie swore he could hear Heron above them, but when he looked all he could see was the city's sky. He walked faster, his skin tingling as he felt her eyes on him pressuring him to go faster. He and Dewey entered another house and Louie instantly went to work, nearly tearing the room apart in his search.

"Woah, Louie calm down, it's not a race." Dewey suddenly said as Louie quickly flipped through books and tossed them aside, breaking him out of his focus.

"I-I know, I just want to get this whole thing over with." Louie grumbled, trying to act as bored as possible. There was silence for a few moments before Dewey finally spoke.

"Well, thanks for coming along anyway. I know you didn't want to. I'm not really sure if you came for me or just for the chance of treasure, but I'm glad you came. I have to admit, even I knew this would get kinda old kinda quick, this nerd stuff isn't my thing either, so I thought if you came along we could both be less bored." Dewey smiled. For a moment Louie smiled, his brother's words warming him, but his smile quickly faded. He briefly wondered if he should tell Dewey the truth. Maybe they both could- no, It was a dumb idea. Every move was a massive risk he wasn't willing to take. Eventually, Dewey turned away when Louie didn't reply.

"What's taking you so long!?" Heron's voice suddenly yelled at him through the walky. Louie coughed and sputtered, partially due to the shock and partially to cover up the noise.

Dewey wiped around, "Louie, you ok?"

"Yeah, I just swallowed some dust." Louie lied, still fake coughing, "I'm going to get some air." Louie hurried out of the house, Dewey's confused stare following him out. Louie walked until he was sure he was out of Dewey's earshot and pulled the walky from his pocket.

"What was that!? You almost blew both our covers!" He hissed into it.

"I'm sorry, but you're taking so long!" Heron replied sarcastically. "We've been here all day!"

"Well, the city's a lot bigger when you're the size of an ant!" Louie retorted, "I'm looking as fast as I can and I've almost searched the whole city so just wait."

"Fine, but you better find it soon."

"I will. Just please don't do that again." Louie said, but he never got a response. He cursed her under his breath, jumping when the sound of Dewey's voice suddenly approached.

"Well, the book's not in that building. Where should we look now?" Dewey said as he approached. Louie quickly shoved the walky back into his pocket, hoping Dewey didn't notice.

"Um..." Louie mumbled as he tried to think of where he hadn't been yet. His thoughts were interrupted when he caught wind of Scrooge's voice up ahead.

"Oh hey! Maybe Scrooge found it!" Dewey said then ran up ahead toward the voice. Louie clenched his teeth. He followed Dewey praying that Scrooge hadn't found it.