Chapter 3-Thugs

So here is my second chapter that was written on the plane. I am going to take a nap since I got a grand total of 1 hour of sleep last night, but if I have time then I will write another chapter.

Now that I had come to my decision, I decided to head on out. To where? I had no idea. My goal was to go wherever my feet took me, and hope that wherever I ended up would hold the answer to my dilemma. What else could I really do? So I started walking, and you can probably guess where I ended up.

"Ah..." I sighed into the wind as it made wheat brush against my legs.

"Home. Dangerous, insane home of mine."

I started towards the door to the rusty shack, when I heard something amiss. In a wheat field, you hear pretty much what you would expect to hear in a wheat field. Wind, rustling, bugs and birds, maybe a squirrel or a deer...but definitely not what sounds suspiciously like a car going faster than it should have been, crushing innocent wheat stalks under it's big and powerful wheels.

I immediately ducked into the stalks, extremely happy that I had the small frame that I did. Because of that little blessing I was concealed as a giant truck-car thing drove up, causing the birds to fly away and the bugs to stop their chirping. The car rolled to a stop, and almost immediately a couple of intimidating looking people jumped out.

The first one was the driver. He looked like the perfect stereotype for a motorcyclist, with his black leather, whip, and a hey-I'm-all-tough-and-ride-a-motorcycle kind of look to him. Dark glasses, knee high boots, incredibly tall and bulky, bald, the whole nine yards. From the passengers side came a girl this time, but she didn't look like the kind of girl that you wanted as your friend, and definitely not as your enemy. Red wavy hair, smirk plastered to her face, a shrill laugh of someone who doesn't care whether you scream or cry, as long as she gets what she wants. She looked around, her amber eyes casting an evil glint, and I made sure to be as still as I could possibly be.

I don't think that I even breathed. I knew that if she saw me, I probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow. Nasty pair, those two were, in those freaking matching outfits. Out of the back came a few more thugs looking guys, but I didn't pay very much attention to them. They were obviously the lackeys, while the driver and passenger were definitely in charge, no question.

I watched as the pair started whispering to each other, giving the shack uneasy glances while the lackeys shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly as they waited to be told what to do. I just listened, trying to pick up what they were saying, but they stopped talking and looked at the lackeys before I caught anything. The girl addressed the thug that was closest to her.

"You, Bug. Get over here." Her voice was carrying superior, and very agitated tones.

'Bug' hurriedly stumbled over himself to get to her fast enough.

"Go and knock on the door to the shack. If nothing happens, then open the door, and tell us what's inside."

I waited with baited breath as Bug walked up to the door of the shack that I knew so well. He hesitantly knocked as fast as he could before withdrawing his hand, as though it had burned him. He inspected his hand and appeared relived that there was no harm done to it.

"Knock again, you moron. I don't have all day. And knock louder: we have no idea as to how many miles this place supposedly goes down for." He trembled as he looked up at her, and I was reminded so much of GLaDOS and Wheat- him that it was like a blow to the chest.

I kept quiet as Bug knocked again on the door, less frightened this time. There was no reply, and the girl started making impatient motions for him to open it. So that's exactly what he did, and to tell the truth I had no idea what to expect.

When he opened the door, I was somewhat scared to find that nothing happened. Shouldn't GLaDOS have heard him, and set up some kind of ambush?

"All that I see is what appears to be an old and obviously broken down elevator. Nothing else to tell about."

"Well then move over, you idiot!" She had stalked up to bug and shoved him out of the way as she got into the elevator. Nothing.

"Hmm." She was gripping her whip in her hand as she tapped her chin, Bug eyeing her apprehensively.

"Maybe that AI thing that supposedly runs this place doesn't know that we're here. Good. We just need to figure out how to get this elevator working... Last time we tried getting anywhere near this place, I remember pretty clearly that we weren't welcome. "

I watched her actually shiver as she recalled whatever GLaDOS had done to make them get away from the shack.

So of course my curiosity was peaked at this point. Were those the people that GLaDOS had been talking about? They had to be, since they had obviously tried to get in before.

But apparently nothing was happening now, so I was really worried as to why GLaDOS hadn't brutally murdered them yet for trying to break in...unless she was asleep.

That would explain the lack of that hum that I had gotten so used to. If the facility and GLaDOS were both asleep, then these thugs would be able to do as they pleased...until GLaDOS woke up, that is.

But who knows how long she will be asleep for? I didn't even have to think about it: These people were NOT going to get anywhere near anything. Ever. Not as long as I was alive to stop them, anyway.