It was like a tomb inside the MacGuffin Warehouse. There was hardly any noise, save for that of the children's footsteps and birds cawing, which was only heard because of the small holes in the windows. Nothing else. The floor was covered in broken glass and old machines that no longer worked. The entire interior of the warehouse glowed red due to the setting sun. It may have looked scary, but the kids knew they would have to take advantage of that while they could. There was no telling if they could see anything at all once the sun really did go down.
"This...looks rather shady for Arnold," Gerald said.
"For Arnold?" asked Rhonda, "Why would anybody hide here?"
"If there was something here no one wanted to be found," Ashley replied, "Something of value."
"Alright, alright, we get it," Helga interjected, "It's creepy and someone or something doesn't want to be found, but what's the game plan?"
"At this point," Gerald said, "It would be to split into groups."
"Well when you put it that way," Helga said sarcastically, "How could it possibly go wrong?"
"Do you have to do that all the time?" Gerald asked, "Unless you have a better idea..."
"Fine, we'll split up," Helga said, "But I'm not saving your butt if you cry wolf."
"We're the only ones here, Helga," Gerald said, "We'll be fine."
"Are we sure we are?" Curly asked, "It's a big building. Anyone could be here..."
A bit of uneasiness flowed over the children. They suddenly began reconsidering their plan. At least until Ashley spoke up.
"Fine," Ashley said, "If it makes you boys feel better, Lila and I will go with you."
"Me?" asked Lila.
"Even the groups," Ashley replied, "You and me with Gerald and Curly, and Helga, Rhonda, Phoebe and Nadine in the other."
"Hmmm...fair enough," Gerald said, "Two tough gals leading each group seems like a smart move in hindsight."
"Then let's quit wasting time and let's go!" Helga exclaimed.
Both groups took two separate paths, unsure what to expect...
"And you're sure of it?" asked Lana over the phone, "They're on their way?"
"I'm sure," replied Vic, who was on the other line, "Morrie and I had a few pulled out just for you. The rest are on their way to a designated holding spot."
"Oooh, care to tell me more about it?" Lana asked, leaning on the counter.
"Kroger thought you might ask that," Vic replied, "Which is why he told me to tell you that that wasn't part of the deal. Sorry lady, but that secret stays with him."
"Worth a shot," she said, "When can I expect them?"
"Tomorrow night at the latest," Vic replied, "Earlier if you're lucky."
"Fingers crossed," Lana said before hanging up.
Lana smiled to herself as she pulled out a wine glass. She was in the mood to celebrate.
Helga's group found a lot of nothing in their search. Lots of debris, even more broken glass, a few signs of damaged equipment. But no leads and no more clues.
"Well it looks like this was a waste of time," Helga said.
"This can't be the end," Rhonda said, "Not after all our progress!"
"What progress?" asked Helga, "Everything we've done so far has just been one dead end to another! We're getting nowhere letting Ashley lead the search!"
"That's not necessarily true, Helga," Phoebe said, "Just the possibility of her seeing Arnold when she first arrived led us in a pretty decent direction. We at least have an idea of where he's been."
"Do we?" asked Helga, "You really think he'd willingly go to a place like this?"
"Well," Nadine started, "Ashley did say there was a chance..."
"Jeez, Ashley this, Ashley that, do any of your dinguses shut up about her?" Helga whined.
"Alright, what's your problem with her?" asked Rhonda.
"My problem is that she's full of it," Helga replied, "Just one word about seeing someone with a football head and suddenly we're supposed to trust her?"
"She hasn't given us reason not to," Phoebe said.
"Really?" Helga asked back, "Nothing about her gives you bad vibes?"
"Why should she?" asked Rhonda, "She seems to know a lot about tracking people..."
"And you never thought to ask how she know that?" asked Helga.
"Why...well, I, uh..." Rhonda started to stammer.
"None of you thought to ask anything?" asked Helga, "We really don't know anything about her! We don't know where she's really from, or what she's like!"
"We do know she lives with her dad," Phoebe said.
"Yeah, that's it," Helga said, "I'm pretty sure none of us have ever met the guy though...how do we know what he's like?"
"Oh, come on, Helga," Rhonda said, "That's rather far-fetched. Besides, I'm sure once we find Arnold and this is all over, we'll get a chance to meet the man properly..."
Haggard could barely see a thing. He could barely remember anything, either. All he remembered at the moment was a loud bang. All he could see what blackness, with a short but sturdy and broad individual standing over him. Haggard couldn't see his entire form, but somehow, whether by instinct or by educated guess, he knew who it was.
"You...?"
"So do you really think they'll find anything in there?" asked Sid, not looking back at his friends, just staring out into the open space by the road.
"I hope so, Sid," Stinky replied, "On account'a us being closer to finding Arnold than ever before!"
"We have cojones, right?" Harold asked.
"Huh?" asked Stinky, "Of course we do...at least I think we do. Whatever they are."
"We're manly men, right?" Harold asked, "We gotta be! Why else would Ashley trust us with guarding the fort?"
"Hey yeah!" Stinky exclaimed, "We gotta be pretty darn special to be given such a task! That oughta make us the manliest men there were!"
Sid's girlish scream that subsequently followed didn't help their case.
"Quit it, Sid!" Harold exclaimed.
"But they're here!" Sid exclaimed.
"Who's here?" Stinky asked.
"Spade and his thugs!"
"What?" they both asked.
All three were now crouched behind the row of crates, watching the black Sedan pull up. Sure enough, Spade and a couple of his goons had gotten out of the car. And they brought "guests". Buckley was the first to be dragged out, followed by Beau and Big Bob.
"Isn't that Rhonda's dad?" Sid asked.
"Yeah, and that's Miss Lila's pop too!" Stinky replied.
"And Big Bob? They got Big Bob?!" Harold exclaimed.
Oh man, this is bad!" Sid said, gasping for breath.
"We gotta go tell the others!" Stinky exclaimed.
"Forget that!" Harold replied, "We gotta go get the cops!"
Before any of them could get up, an ominous shadow loomed over them, followed by the feeling of a gun barrel being pressed into the back of Sid's head. The man behind them spoke with a light German accent.
"I don't think you'll be doing that," Kroger said from behind, "Why not join the party, instead?"
Ashley and Lila led Gerald and Curly through a dark hallway, filled with a lot of blank walls and old machinery. Gerald and Curly discussed conspiracy theories among themselves as the girls walked onward.
"But what if monkeys really could fly?" Curly asked.
"I'd have a lot of questions for the guy who could make that happen," Gerald replied.
"No, I mean naturally fly on their own!" Curly exclaimed, "Sheesh, someone's never seen the Wizard of Oz!"
"Oh I've seen it," Gerald replied, "I just don't use fictional characters as intellectual speculation."
Ashley mentally groaned at the boys' endless droning. Who gave a shit if monkeys could fly?
"I wanted to ask you something, Ashley," Lila said, "I know you don't know Arnold the way we do, but that also means you can stay objective, so I have to know...do you really think Arnold could be here?"
"It's possible he was here," Lila replied, "But I doubt he is now. There's not a single soul anywhere else in this warehouse, and from what I can see, no more clues."
Lila looked to the side dejectedly. Ashley wasn't very good at comforting people, so her words came out a little awkward.
"We'll, uh...we'll find him, Lila," Ashley said, "We just gotta keep looking."
"I hope so, Ashley," Lila said, "I really hope so."
They both heard a door slam, followed by the sound of bickering. Easily the sound of other children.
"Sounds like we're just about caught up with the other half of our group," Gerald said.
"I could swear their voices sound a little older, though," Ashley said.
"In any case," Lila said, "I'm ever so certain they may have found something we didn't."
"I sure hope so," Gerald replied.
They reached the end of the hallway into a much larger storage space, spotting the rest of their group coming from a nearby door. From the looks of their faces, they didn't find anything else useful.
"Nothing?" asked Gerald.
"Nothing," Helga replied, looking bitterly at Ashley, "I hate to say it, but this may be a dead end."
"It can't be!" Lila exclaimed, "There has to be something else."
"That's what I was hoping for, too, Lila," Rhonda said, "But unless you guys found something else, we're coming up short."
Their conversation was going through deaf ears for Ashley. She walked into the middle of the much larger storage space as if in a trance. Though much of the area was covered in a deep saturation of scarlet red, what little natural light still shined through the broken windows revealed that unlike the walls or the rest of the MacGuffin Warehouse, the floors had no trace of dust. But there were certainly traces of footprints. Several identical footprints imprinted into the floor. Over 459 of them to be exact.
The exact number of missing vessels Ashley and Haggard were there to find.
"They...they were here..." Ashley said, "They were all here!"
"Huh?" Helga asked, "What are you yacking about!"
"They were here! In this warehouse!" Ashley exclaimed, talking to no one, "How did they get them out! Where...where are they now?"
Another door slammed from the balcony above. Ashley looked upwards seeing even more shadows coming from the corridor.
"I knew I heard other voices," she said.
The other kids gasped as they saw their three of their dads being pushed in by Spade and his thugs.
"Daddy?" Rhonda asked in horror.
"What the..." Helga said, shocked that someone got the jump on Big Bob.
"No..." Lila sighed.
"Spade again," Gerald growled.
"Guess we're not alone after all," Spade said, his Yorkshire accent echoing throughout the room, "Your kids and their friends seem to have a natural curiosity."
The three dads looked absolutely scared that their daughters were here with them in the face of danger. Their fears, however, were about to get worse as from nearby, on the same balcony, Harold, Sid, and Stinky were being directed forward, looking down at their confused friends. And then, last but not least, Vaas Kroger stepped in from behind, gun pointed at the three boys.
The children looking up at them, save for Rhonda, recognized the man from Elk Island. Ashley wasn't there either, but she definitely knew who that was. She would never forget him, even if she tried. He had caused too much harm to be casually erased from memory. Her blood ran cold and her fists were already clenched. Her eyes stared angrily at him as an evil grin marked his face, his cold eyes, completely lacking in empathy, stared her down.
"You..." she said.
"Ashley Cliffe..."