The Invasion: Again?
Smitten x Kitten
Chapter 10: The Yeerk Pool
So, there we were, Jake and I, in the heart of enemy territory. Now, any rational person would have taken Jake's advice. Any sane person would have run yammering back up those stairs with no intention of ever returning. Any person with any sense would probably not have come down here in the first place.
Logic decided to take a coffee break.
I knew I was being stupid. I knew that this probably wasn't the smartest thing I would ever do. But I wasn't missing class and risking a dean's call to my dad for nothing, gosh darn it, and I was determined to go through with.. well, whatever crack pot idea I could come up with.
Ignoring Jake to the best of my ability, I scanned the cave for anything of interest. The pool itself was disgusting and the cages made me ill, but other than that, there wasn't much to decorate the area. Though the space was immense, it appeared it was still relatively new. At the far wall were some discarded earth mover's, but closer to us were a few portable sheds.
Ohh. Sheds.
Sheds can hold fun things.
My gaze met Jake's slyly as I started creeping towards the nearest one. Anger touched his eyes and he grabbed my wrist.
"What are you, crazy?" He pulled hard on my arm, but I broke free.
"Aren't you?" I challenged. I glanced uneasily across the cave, wondering how long we'd have until a watchful controller noticed our misplaced presence. Even I couldn't believe my nerve or my gall, but I wanted to feel like I accomplished something while I was down here.
"We came here to see what we were up against. We saw, we leave. Now." He said firmly, though the fear that quivered in the last note of his voice filled me with resentment.
"We leave and I'll bet your sorry ass we won't have the nerve to make it down here again," I muttered. I didn't want to admit it, but I was glad Jake was there to save me from my own stupidity. The fact that I actually wanted to explore further almost frightened me more than this hell itself. Almost.
"We can figure that out later!" He snapped. "Now let's go befo-"
Instinct took over. I slapped my hand over Jake's mouth, prickly apprehension washing over me.
"Shut up! Listen!" I said in a hissed whisper, my skin raised in goose bumps with fear.
Muffled footfalls greeted my ears and echoed voices bounced down the stairs. Wide eyed, Jake and I scrambled across the distance to the nearest shed, cursing our luck. Our escape route was temporarily cut off. As the voices approached, I fumbled for a door, any opening into the shed, because while shadows could conceal us from distant eyes, we were meat to closer ones. My hands were shaking. Stupid stupid STUPID. What the hell were we thinking?!
A latch! I'd found a latch! My fingers felt arthritic as I tried to pry it open. But it wouldn't budge.
"I can't get it open! Jake, I can't get the damned latch open!" I whispered urgently as the voices sounded, closer and closer. He shouldered me out of the way, harder than he'd probably meant to in his fear, and lifted the blasted, bloody latch. We tumbled into the cramped space, knocking over files and heavy boxes as we went. I grasped the edge of the door frantically, and would have slammed it had my fingers not been in the way. The sharp metal bit into my fingers, adding yet another blemish to my healing hands. I bit my lip, whimpering softly in pain, using my body weight to close the door the rest of the way.
Never in my life have I regretted getting out of bed more than right then.
Jake and I held our breaths. We were in a shed surrounded by several stacks of papers and random boxes. A few had knocked over upon our panicked arrival and were filled with strange, sci-fi-esque outfit-ish things. Maybe something for a Hork Bajir to wear? I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. I'd been hoping for guns--big guns. Especially now with the enemy quickly approaching.
The sounds of two people talking drifted through the thin sheet metal, a man and a woman. I pressed my ear against the door, still cradling my throbbing fingers. I knew that if they decided to waltz over and open the door, we'd both be dead... or worse.
"... Visser...an..lites survived," the man said, his words growing clearer as he approached. The woman gave a very feminine snort, scoffing at the idea.
"Well I don't believe it," her voice resonated shrilly. They seemed to be right outside the shed, but who could tell? My heart was in my throat. "I watched the bridge burn. We made a game of frying the jettisoned escape vessels." Her laugh shot a bolt of anger directly into my soul. They were discussing murder... and joking about it.
It was disgusting. Despite the fact that I was cowering not five feet from where they probably stood, hoping to God they didn't have any business in this shed, I wanted to tear the woman's head open and rip that slug right from her brain. When I thought about Elfangor.. and all the valiant warriors who must have died with him.. a red haze blurred my vision. One look at Jake's face and I knew he felt the same.
"You're probably right. It must have been something, frying those Andalite scum. Whew, wish I coulda seen it!" His laughter joined hers in a twisted serenade. A few moments later, they sobered.
"All this added security is a pain my ass. The Visser has nothing to worry about. At least he'll be out of our hair for a few days or so after to...," her voice trailed off, leaving Jake and I alone with the screams of enslaved people ringing in our ears.
Slowly, we climbed to our feet, taking great care not to make an even bigger mess of things. As I glanced around, amazed I was still in one piece and with no slug in my brain, I glanced down at a piece of paper I had crushed. The logo looked familiar somehow.. it was a real-estate company of some sort.
But neither Jake nor I intended to hang out any longer than we needed to. I, for one, had enjoyed my fill of sci-fi for one lifetime. I lifted the latch to the door, which was much easier now that it wasn't absolutely essential it be opened, and glanced cautiously out the door. Noone near us.
Leaving the terrified screams of enslaved behind, we hauled ass out of that nightmarish hell.
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((A.N.--Sooo Fiery has a new job! One that allows her to.. gasp... write! Yay. Except now I'm stuck. Again. So do they go back down to the yeerk pool, or not? Sadly, my skill has decreased terribly. Sigh. I'm working on it, though. Expect lots more updates. W00t for being back!
Reviews would be appreciated. Especially since I'm struggling so hard with this. \))