Zack was just arriving at the hardware store with the ten guys he took with him, this included Tony. Now pretty much all the boys at the group home were thin--save for maybe Bob or Chuck--but Tony blew them all out of the water. He was two yards high, but only looked like he weighed a hundred pounds. Though despite this, the boy didn't look unhealthy, just really, really thin--most likely with zero muscle. He also had pure white hair.
Zack was no fashion expert, to any measure, but he was pretty sure one would say that Tony's hair clashed with his pure black hoodie and overly dark jeans. Or maybe it was a good style--It was impossible to keep up with those people. Either way though--regardless of Tony's fashion--Zack was glad he had brought the guy with.
Knowing that at least a few other kids would have had to catch onto the disappearance of the adults by now, the group quietly crept up to the hardware store's back door.
"Why are we here again?" a kid complained, as Tony monkeyed with the lock.
"Because we need weapons," another said before smacking the first, who then kindly smacked him back.
"Would you both shut up!" Tony shouted at the boys. Usually he never really said much, so whenever he did kids had a tendency of listening.
"Why?" asked another kid. What? I said they listened, I never said they cared. Zack debated if he should step in or not, but then decided against it. He wasn't their parent, nor was he technically the leader. Really he was just a guy that took charge when needed. Best to not overstep, giving himself more responsibility. That and if the guys never learned to work things out amongst themselves, Zack would never get a moment of peace.
"Because I need to focus!" With that Tony fidgeted with the picts for a few more seconds, and the door easily swung open, as if it never had been locked--releasing a loud screeching sound all the way.
"Did you hear that?" asked one of the younger boys, sounding rather frightened.
"Yeah," Zack finally said flatly--obviously not intervening didn't afford him much more peace. "It was the door opening." Perhaps he should have taken Bob and Derrick, for these kids seemed just as stupid and he couldn't even remember their names.
"No. It sounds like someone's in there."
"I hear it too," whispered another, not looking too thrilled.
"How about me and Tony go check it out while you guys keep watch?" Zack suggested. He did understand that he didn't need nine lookouts and that the only danger would be inside, he just wanted to build their confidence. Also having eleven guys storming around a store, raiding candy from checkout aisles and whatnot, wasn't really his idea of stealth.
The other boys eagerly agreed to this.
* * *
Inside, the building was pitch black, but luckily Zack had an old flashlight he had taken from the group home's junk drawer, and Tony had a smartphone most likely taken from the confiscation drawer. The duo entered through the back, but quickly got turned around, until Zack could only assume they were closer to the front.
"So why did you pick me to come in here?" Tony finally asked. Zack detected the slightest bit of fear in his voice, but he knew better than to mock the boy.
"Who would you have picked if you wanted a stealth partner?" he reasoned, occasionally shining his flashlight towards a nearby clothes rack, or checkout aisle, hoping to find a light switch--or at least not some sort of enemy lying in wait. "Although, Peter would have definitely been my second choice."
"Well, good to know you picked someone valuable to die with you," Tony joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood, before being interrupted by the same piercing cry they heard earlier. Of course it wasn't a RipJaw as their mating season wasn't till next month anyway, and even if it was, there was no way one could have got in--especially this early. Was there?
"Hey you don't think that's a RipJ--" Tony started asking before he was interrupted by an arrow whizzing by, barely two inches from his head, before striking the aisle behind them. Rude! Really, couldn't it wait two more seconds before trying to kill someone and failing? If it was going to interrupt someone it could at least have made it worth it.
Picking up on the new trend, five more rude arrows came at them from every direction, before the boys could even react to nearly dying at the hands--or more correctly point--of the first one.
"You know... This might sound dumb but I think this is when we run!" Zack shouted.
"Ya Think!" With that they were off running for their lives. Being how it was pitch black and they had to try really hard to even see two feet ahead, they tripped and smashed into a lot of things. And when I say a lot I mean A Lot. If Zack had time to think about it he probably would have wondered why there were so many things to trip on, but he didn't have time. He was too busy tripping on things.
"Hey if you could stop shooting at us we would really appreciate it. It's kinda putting a damper on my day?!" Zack shouted. Although, as if in response to his request, another arrow shot past his face giving him the finest little scrape on his cheek. Immediately he started to feel dizzy tripping over a fallen clothes rack, and smacking his head against the stone cold floor. Just as his eyes drifted shut he watched as Tony dodged a few more arrows, and faded from view as the darkness consumed him.
* * *
When Zack woke up he was laying on his stomach in some small room with blinding lights, but when he tried to get to his feet, he banged his head on... was that a dog kennel? What kind of messed up person would trap someone in a dog kennel, and based on the size it was only meant to hold a Lhasa-Apso or a very spoiled Chihuahua. This was very odd on multiple levels, as, aside from the fact that he was literally trapped in a lap dog's cage, people stopped using dog kennels when domestic dogs ceased to exist.
Also, why again was he in a small room with blinding lights? Oh yeah, someone--or something--shot him with a tranquilizer arrow and he smacked his head. Well, at least that explained the bad headache. Now you're probably wondering why he didn't just get out. True, dog kennels were made for dogs, most of which did not have opposable thumbs, meaning, for someone who did, getting out shouldn't have been a problem. Well, you see his captors tied his hands behind his back and tied the lock shut. What were these people's obsession with tying things?!
"HELP, ANYBODY!" Zack shouted. Of course this didn't work. Why would it anyway? It didn't matter, someone would come soon enough. A few minutes passed of Zack just staring at the old fashioned clock that was hanging on the wall. Then a few more. Zack wished he could at least twiddle his thumbs. As far as places to be trapped went, Zack had to admit this was one of the most boring he had ever seen. Even more boring than detention, and that tells you something. Aside from the clock and Zack's kennel, only a lonely looking chair sat at the other end of the room next to a sad desk.
While Zack waited he couldn't help but wonder what ever happened to Tony and the other boys, and then darker ideas came. What if the grownups didn't actually disappear. What if it was all just some sort of sick test and they failed. What if he failed everything and he was now back in the dreaded lab--what if, what if, what if. A panic swelled inside Zack's chest. He tried to escape. He desperately smashed himself against the tiny bars of his tiny prison. Thrashed his unbound legs. He shouted curses, and banged his head against the tiny door--Still no one came.
No one came to either confirm or deny Zack's fears. No one even came to say that they could neither confirm or deny Zack's fears.
He was alone again, and Zack hated being alone--sure he liked his space. Sure he liked to keep his distance from others. But he hated being alone. Trapped in a sparsely decorated white room. Trapped, not knowing when he would see another human being again. Not knowing if he would see anything again--Never see anything else but a cursed room, a room that would be his life, death, and every sad, painstaking, moment in between.
Zack may have cried to himself then. Cried shamefully. Cried like a little baby that didn't get his way. But no one else could understand. He was trapped, and he couldn't be trapped again, he couldn't live another day trapped in the room.
But this wasn't that room, that room he was trapped in when he was little more than a baby. That room was gone, and could only return in bad dreams.
It was gone. Gone! It couldn't come back, and he couldn't be back there. It was gone. A shadow of his past.
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. Frozen inside his own head--Wait no. No he was moving. He was desperately thrashing against in his claustrophobic prison, beating against the bars with his bound legs, and body, and head.
He didn't feel it. He didn't feel anything--Nothing but a fear, and a desperate need to get out. Out of the cage. Out of the prison in his head. Out of that lab. Out of it all.
He screamed, a gutteral primal scream.
He didn't scream anything in particular. Just noise. He screamed and thrashed until he couldn't scream anymore. It did nothing--it never did. He didn't know how much of it was in his own head. How much of what he was doing and how much of it was imaginary? What was real? What was the difference anymore anyways? He was trapped.
Finally Zack heard voices from outside the room, and he let out a sigh of relief--wishing he could wipe away his pitiful tears--they were getting closer. No matter who they were, whether they be adults, or Ralams, or even him, Zack knew he wouldn't be alone at least. And for now that was enough to calm him down.
Not knowing what else to do he pretended to be asleep just as the door opened, allowing two pairs of feet to walk in. Zack knew better than to even think about looking up at his captors, although a part of him really was curious what they looked like. After all, who would be cruel enough to lock a poor boy in a dog kennel. Perhaps they had giant heads or were minuscule glowing people... true this was a rather odd assumption but Zack did have a rather good imagination.... At least that's what the school counselor called it. Stupid counselor.
Zack was thinking this when one of them said in a rather high voice for a savage Ralam, "We're not dumb, we know you're awake."
Great! Now Zack couldn't even succeed at fake sleeping. Begrudgingly he cautiously opened his eyes to find two girls staring down at him wearing dark camouflage? Could the day get any weirder? True, two teenage girls were--probably--better than Ralams, regardless of what Tony would probably reason, but still.
Zack then realized that one was holding a crossbow a little bit too close to his face for his comfort and the other was holding more dreadful rope. Seriously what were these evil people's obsession with rope?
Zack, always having his priorities straight, could have asked; 'why did you attack us?' Or maybe why he was in a dog cage?! But instead he asked, "How did you know I was awake?" Perhaps he was wondering if the two girls were really evil psychics--which according to Tony was pretty much all girls anyway.
"Oh... We didn't, we just figured that an awake person would respond when we said that, and a sleeping person would do just that--Sleep," replied the rope holder.
"That and your cursing was very loud," offered crossbow holder. "And screaming....sobbing... rambling on about a lab... screaming some more--You screamed a lot actually...."
Zack probably reddened, though he didn't know why. Was it embarrassment, anger, some cruel mixture of the two? He didn't ask to be locked up in a cage--potentially left for dead. What right did these people have to judge him
"....It's called PTSD," he offered, not making eye contact. "...Post Traum--"
"Dude," The crossbow holder interrupted. "We're teenage girls in a world full of broken, f***ed up monsters, human and otherwise. We know what PTSD is."
"...Um... yea fair....So I suppose you figured out that the grownups are gone then?" he asked, eager to change the subject, hoping that they wouldn't say that the grownups returned or something else along those lines of awfulness. He didn't recognize these girls from his school. Perhaps they were homeschooled? Then again they could have just gone to the slightly nicer school uptown a little ways away. Not to mention that he tried to avoid girls in general--particularly due to Tony's suggestions.... Perhaps he should rethink his life strategy, as they obviously seemed to be more prepared than he was.
"Really! What a surprise? No we didn't, we just decided today would be a good day to run around and shoot people with crossbows," the other said laughing at him.... And now he remembered why he tried to avoid girls.
"Well, you know I figured that's what it was, but I just thought I would ask. Hey on a totally unrelated note, do you think I could come out now? You see, I'm kind of bored and cramped, but don't get me wrong I had tons of fun having a headache, being trapped in this cage for hours on end, and talking to people who carry crossbows." It was then when Zack realized that he didn't have his voltage rod any more. Well that was just great.
"So sorry that your princess-ness is not enjoying her day," mocked the crossbow holder. "But our Queen would like to see you, and by the way, you've only been in here for like ten minutes--twenty tops." By way of proving her point the girl pointed over at the clock. "It's way too fast."
"Oh." This time Zack knew he reddened. "Well, it felt like longer, you really shouldn't trap people like this, I could have had a panic attack!"
"Correction. You did have a panic attack, we heard it. Rather pathetic really, and you shouldn't go around breaking into buildings."
If the girls were trying to embarrass Zack they were doing a rather good job at it. Perhaps Tony was right about the evil nature of girls--or at least some girls. Guys didn't do this to each other. Usually if Zack had an issue with someone he came out and told them off, and if that didn't work he either waved the conflict off as unimportant, or he punched the guy--usually Bones. It seemed girls had this thing though were they tried to embarrass someone to a ridiculous point--and not in the good fun way--when they didn't like them, and when they did, but just felt threatened. Zack had seen it happen countless amounts of times, it was really awful. Perhaps he would have taken Ralams.
"Ah.... And who is your Queen?" Zack questioned. Best to not let them get under his skin. He also wanted to ask how come they were so put together but he decided against it, the girls had enough leverage without his praise.
"You'll find out soon enough." With that rope holder tied her rope around Zack's kennel and released the locks for the wheels that were conveniently stuck to the bottom.
"Hey wait!" Zack protested. "Aren't you going to let me out first!"
"Why would we," one of them scoffed--by now Zack didn't care who, they were equally awful.
Zack wanted to continue by saying 'so he could then proceed to run away,' and-or 'because it was cruel to keep someone trapped in a cage,' but he held his tongue. There was no point reasoning with people that were beyond reason.
Silently they dragged him off in the kennel, to meet their Queen. Leaving Zack to wonder why he couldn't have gone to that game store with Derrick.