Chapter 10: Too Late
Yakko walked head-high past the examination tables. He glanced once at the wooden floor stained with blood and tried so hard not to think about whose blood it was. It was a cluttered lab filled with the smell of cheap disinfectant and chemicals. Medical equipment lined one wall.
Then he saw her.
"Rita," Yakko gasped unable to take his eyes away. He hadn't seen her in full light, but he knew it was her lying there motionless. When did they take her? While they were sleeping?
The cat lied on the table her eyes slightly open as she stared at nothing. Two doctors were looked down at the cat with sad faces. Yakko's breath caught in his throat as one of the doctors draped a sheet over Rita's face.
Rita glared at Yakko and demanded, "What the hell are you thinking! You want someone to fight, huh? Take it out on me, tough guy! I don't have a scar on my chest!"
"I-I'm sorry, Rita," Yakko sniveled as he feel to his knees. He looked next to the table, on the floor, where she was and saw…Runt. Why was he there too? The dog lied so still with stitches lining his body and his muzzle tapped. There were tear stains below his closed eyes. Oh God…he was dead too!
"Get these two bodies out of here," one doctor said. Yakko felt his stomach turn and wrench. They were dead! They were dead…together.
"Get up, monster," the doctor behind him ordered.
Yakko gritted his teeth as he said, "You killed them, and you call me a monster?"
Standing with a new madding energy, Yakko glared at the doctor and began screaming, "They were more humane that you'll ever be!"
"Don't you ever say that again," Rita hissed her voice filled with vile. "Do you hear me? You can't give up! Once you've given up your as good as gone! Nothing will save you!"
"S-she…" Yakko hissed feeling the tears starting the fall. "She was going to be a star…"
"You should eat something," Rita said.
"Not hungry."
"Hey…everything's gonna…"
"Don't!" Yakko snapped before Rita finished, "Don't tell me that everything's going to be okay!" Rita's eyes widened a bit. Yakko was yelling, "How do you know, huh? Those assholes butchered my little siblings!" Yakko's voice cracked. "So don't tell me that everything will be fine…because I don't believe it anymore."
"Oh God…Rita…"
"I said move," the doctor ordered again.
Suddenly Yakko began to…laugh. The doctors all turned to Yakko who gripped his side. His unbridled laugh filled the lab. It wasn't his normal laugh but something strange and derange.
"You morons," Yakko gasped between laughs. "What else can you do? Kill me? Cut me open like a cow? Sorry, fellas, but the jokes on you!"
"Is that so Yakko Warner," asked a voice behind him.
Turning sharply, Yakko scoffed, "Sorry, bub, but I didn't expect much from medical school dropouts."
"You have quite a mouth," the doctor said. He was a tall human with a rough brown beard.
"You're the boss of this butcher shop?"
"You might say that. Name's Hanson."
Yakko smirked, "Nice outfit, Hanson. Does Sizzler know you're borrowing it or is that your day job?"
"You're not aware what position you're in."
Rolling his eyes, Yakko snapped, "Oh, I'm so scared of the big, overweight Nazi who likes to cut up defenseless toons."
"Why don't we talk in my office," Henson offered.
"No thanks, doc."
"I insist," Hanson unsheathed the gun and pointed it at Yakko.
"Oh a gun," Yakko yawned. "What a surprise."
"It's cliché but very effective. "
"On desperate creatures, I'm sure."
"Oh…and you're not desperate?" Hanson smirked. "Everyone has a weakness to the gun, Yakko. It's just a matter at whom you point it at. For some it's as simple as pointing at them. For others of a more…moral disposition, like yourself, you simply find their dear loved ones and they become amazingly cooperative." Yakko snarled, and Hanson laughed loudly, "There lies your weakness, Yakko. It's just behind the cell's door." Silence passed, and Hanson asked, "What wrong, boy? Cat's got your tongue?"
Yakko pivoted. He would not have that man have stratification to see his face crumble. Marching toward a door, Yakko took a deep breath.
John took another drag from the cigarette before smoldering it into the ashtray. He took another swig of beer and sighed. It was late, and his wife would worry. It was a ritual he and Greg performed after leaving work and before returning home. It was something to take the edge of their sins.
"We killed two today," Greg stated emotionlessly as if stating the latest news.
John sighed, "Stop doing that, Greg. You'll drive yourself crazy."
"Maybe I'm already crazy," Greg stated dryly. "Why else would men like us do what we do?"
"Let's just go home."
"How can we face them," Greg asked with more emotion. "What am I suppose to tell Ann when she asks me how was work today? What?" his voice was rising in the dark bar. He then mimicked, "Oh nothing, honey. I just killed an innocent cat and dog and I cut up three other toons for MY JOB!"
"Shh," John clasped his hand over Greg's mouth. "Are you crazy? You want to be arrested?"
After John let go of him, Greg trembled, "I-I just don't know how much I can take!"
"Just take one day at a time and leave work at work."
"We can walk away," Greg whispered. "We can move our families far from California maybe somewhere on the East coast."
John huffed, "Hanson has connections there too. We're in too deep, Greg. We both knew this when we took up the job."
"That doesn't matter anymore. What we're doing is wrong."
"Can we really leave? You know what he'll do to Ann and your kids when he finds you."
John stopped as his phone began to ring. He cursed, "What does our boss want now?" He then looked at the number on his cell phone and stopped. "Strange…it's Warner Bros. studio. Maybe they have a new shipment for us." He opened the phone and said, "This is John."
There was no answer on the other end. It clicked.
"That was strange."
"Thank you so much, Brain," Otto said. "You sure you got the location?"
Brain, the bigheaded lab mouse, smirked, "Yes! Thanks to my newest invention I can tell you what seat he was sitting in the bar, doctor."
"Narf, Brain! Very good show!" stated Brain's assistant Pinkey.
"I do hope, Dr. Scrachansniff, that you catch those barbarians," Brain said as he turned to the computer screen. "They're on the move." All watched as the dot at Vicky's Bar began moving down the streets of Burbank. "Take the communication device on the table, doctor. We'll be conveying their location to you while you and the lovely nurse drive in your car."
"Brilliant plan!" Pinkey shouted.
"You're sure you didn't have other plans tonight?" Otto asked.
Brain smirked, "We do the same thing every night."
"Thank you, Brain," Otto said before taking up the walky-talky.
"You're brave, Yakko." Hanson smiled. "A smartass but brave."
Yakko glared up at him as he was being tied to an old wooden chair. "Thanks for the compliment."
Sitting at the worn desk infront of Yakko, Hanson said, "There's no reason to be angry."
NO REASON! Yakko's mind screamed. This doctor was dumber than advertised. Despite his urges, Yakko sat silently as his anger festered.
"You'll be happy to know that I've planned on killing only one of your siblings."
The retrains tightened as Yakko instinctively struggled. Hanson's bushy eyebrow rose just slightly. His hands were clasped under his chin as he reclined slightly in the chair.
He continued with his cynical tone, "I don't need three of you, just two. I've taken a interest in you and your brother. So I'll kill the girl. What do you think?"
"You bastard," Yakko growled.
"I thought that since you're their guardian who'd be better to say who would die or live? So which one, Yakko…your brother or your sister?"
He said nothing. Sitting there, he breathed in and out in and out. His mind filled with different ways the monster could die by his hand.
Hanson smirked as he twirled the gun in his fingers.
He was going to die. Wakko knew it, but he didn't want to frighten his sister. He could feel his body trembling and the palpitations were growing worse. Damn his hypoglycemia. There was no more fruit in the bowl. His skin felt clammy as he began to sweat. It didn't help that the scar on his chest was aflame with pain. He could only breathe in raspy, short gulps of air.
"Wakko?" Dot yawned as she woke up. "Is Yakko back yet?"
He tried to talk but his mouth was so dry. A raspy "no" escaped his lips. Half of him wanted Dot to roll back to sleep so she wouldn't have to know. Another part wanted her to notice something, so that he had someone to say goodbye to.
"Wakko? What's wrong?" She had noticed.
"D-dot," There wasn't much time. It was too late. He felt her cold hand on his burning face. He couldn't see her, but he could sense her worry.
"I…It's your hypoglycemia…" He heard her dash to the empty bowl. She cursed as she kicked the metal bowl. It was helpless. She ran back to Wakko's side. She knew. She took his trembling hands in hers. Her voice was on the verge of tears as she said, "Just stay with me, Wakko! Please…don't leave me…Promise me!" She began to sob.
"Dot, e-everything's…going to be…"
She screamed his name as his eyes closed.