Reid stared up at the two foot long and two foot wide barred square hole that was cut in the ceiling of the cavern. Deep brown eyes could see the pale sun and large cumulonimbus clouds that were so close to creating a storm drift by yards above him. It was simple for him to tell the time of day it was by the position of the sun. Not only this, but apparently he had a knack for keeping time in his head, because it seemed that when he counted the minutes that he was always correct. Right now it must be eleven a.m. because the sun is three hours away from being at its highest point in the sky.
The young man had given up struggling a few days ago. It was no use being barred onto this slab of wood. And Sasha had taken away his gun, so resistance was futile. This group of juvenile college students had been planning for the passed three days on how to cook Reid's white meat in comparison to his dark meat. Jack suggested that the group hog tie the doctor and roast him over a pit. So far, that was the cannibals' preferred choice. To ready their "dinner" the group had behaved kindly only to stuff Reid like a Thanksgiving turkey along with a few tenderizing sessions each day. The young doctor was now too bruise and bloated to even try escaping.
Lawrence walked in with Sasha, his bulky frame giving the appearance of someone who was ready to beat somebody. Of course, soon enough that time would come. Sasha practically skipped over to Reid's slab of wood and began unbolting the steel from the slab. Reid's two large brown eyes begged for mercy as he slowly sat up. As he did, he heard his stomach contents slosh around and suddenly he remembered the bathroom break he took while he was trapped, leaving a trail of pee down the side of his leg. Sasha grinned at him while Lawrence clutched Reid by the arm.
"We have such a nice surprise for you," Sasha grinned and clapped her hands twice.
Lawrence grinned as well. The large college student dragged Reid by a couple inches behind him while Sasha pulled aside a maroon curtain and led them inside. Lawrence pushed Reid into a wooden chair at the head of the table. A stack of pancakes, about fifteen pounds starch Reid estimated, sat in front of him. Jack succeeded in placing more food on the table, including a large pot of apple cobbler. The doctor stared at this in awe, scared of his well-being. However, after two days of eating like this, his appetite had widened. No matter how bloated he felt he knew he must eat or be killed and eaten before he was discovered. Plus, even though Reid hated to admit it, he was feeling slightly hungry.
"You're too skinny," Sasha giggled with a large smile penetrating her youthful freckled face. "You must eat! Oh, if only we had gotten that Special Agent Rossi… he's got more padding on him."
Reid stared at her with a terrified expression. She knew who his team was, which means… after Reid took a couple moments for his thought process to concur, he realized that she must have reported the discovered limbs to the FBI. That was a risky move, however brilliant.
Lawrence furrowed his brow and glared; snapping his fingers in Reid's face to rid him of his reverie, "Eat."
Reid took one look at Lawrence and gulped. Picking up his silverware, Reid began to shovel the pancakes in his mouth. It took twenty minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it was full. If Reid could eat most of this food before his brain realized how much he was consuming, then the man could eat a lot more and make his captors happy. The longer he kept them happy, the longer he could live. So down went the pancakes loaded with syrup, down went the numerous strips of bacon and links of sausage, down went the container of cobbler, along with breakfast steak, eggs, hash browns and a container of milk. Reid finished all in a record time of ten minutes. The hardest part would be holding it all down. He knew that if he vomited, the group would just feed him more. By the time Reid was finished, Lawrence sat back and relaxed. Jack, Sasha, and Lawrence wore grins on their faces to show the triumph over their hostage.
"This wasn't the surprise," Sasha replied indignantly. "But, I'll show you it if you come with me."
Reid tried to hold it down as he nodded, but he ended up belching loudly anyway. Sasha took his puffy hand and took him through the back of the cavern. The two passed an underground stream and then hit a large lightly lit area, filled with rows of cages. Sasha beamed, the corners of her mouth stretching from ear to ear. Only three cages were occupied, but Reid knew that he would soon be another human caged like an animal. These unlucky people no longer fit their clothes as their shirts were raised above their stomachs and their jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped. Sasha led Reid to a cage beside a brunette woman who was sleeping solemnly in a corner of her lodging. Reid's blond captor unlocked the cage and pushed him in, pointing to the chocolate cake that was in the corner of his cell. She smiled, locked the cage, and then went on her merry way.
The doctor knew he was supposed to eat the cake, but the thought of another bite of food floating somewhere in his stomach and turning into fat storages in his system for unusable energy irked him. The mere idea of being turned into a ham for roasting or baking terrified more than the other situations he had been in, including the time he became infected with a deadly strain of anthrax. He would slowly watch this happen to him, instead of their being either certain life or death. However, as he looked down at the cake, he knew he had to get this over with… and so he did. Five minutes later, he descended to his hands and knees, his stomach telling him that it was about to throw up. The only thing he could do was hold his breath and swallow, leaving no evidence of being sick. And then, his stomach told him to shut down and sleep.