Word: Adventure
Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that there won't be any stories for 3-4 weeks. I'm going to visit my grandparents in the middle of nowhere, so I won't have wifi at all. Because of this, the story's going on hiatus. But I'll be writing in the meantime so I'll hopefully have a ton of stories coming back! Hope you enjoy this one, and I'm sorry if it doesn't seem as good, it was honestly pretty rushed and it didn't feel right writing it, but I wanted to get it out and let you all know regardless. I think I'll rewrite it while I'm gone. Thanks for reading!
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"Today's boring." Dakota remarked, glancing inside of the shop window of the bakery they were passing. It was decorated in pink, purple, and white frills, and lavish cupcakes and miniature deserts made up the display case. As much as he wanted one, he doubted Cavendish would be willing to stop on such a warm day.
"I don't think so- I think it's rather peaceful." Cavendish glanced back at him, waving his hand just slightly, like a mother would to a child. Without a word, Dakota cast one last, sad look at the bright blue cupcake, before running to catch up with his partner.
"Peaceful means boring."
"It does not!"
They paused as the street lights changed. Dakota pressed the walk button, leaning against the pole it was situated on. "You know these things don't actually work, right? They just lit up the little sticky man so that it shows that you can walk...it doesn't actually make the lights go faster for us to walk."
Cavendish glanced at the lights above them. "Well, of course. What in the world would make you think so?"
Dakota shrugged, pushing off the pole as the green light changed to orange, then red, and they were allowed to pass again. "Isn't that what they originally advertised for it? Or like crowd thinking or whatever it is. People think that by pushing it, they can cross faster, but it really just means they made a sticky man light up."
"A sticky man?"
"I dunno the name! And yes, peaceful does mean boring if we've had peaceful for the past few days!"
They walked closer together, practically touching arms as they stepped into a streetwalk that was much more crowded. Cavendish hummed, thinking over Dakota's words. "Well, I suppose you're right. But, what could we do? It's not quite like we can make an adventure."
"Wanna go to the museum?"
"Pardon?"
Dakota gave a lazy one shoulder shrug, eyes glued ahead even as Cavendish looked at him. "Well, we've gone to the park, the pier, the carnival- we haven't gone to the museum yet. Plus, didn't you want to go?" He spared a glance at Cavendish, who raised an eyebrow back teasingly.
"I thought you didn't like the museum?"
"I don't like the old stuff-ness of it, but I'll go with you if you want." He winked back, undeterred.
"How romantic." Cavendish dry mouthed, but smiled nonetheless. It might not be an adventure, but he would like to take Dakota to the museum. He doesn't think he's been in the Danville museum yet, and he was curious what it would look like, technically in the past.
They changed their course from aimlessly walking to heading towards the museum after a little bit of direction squabbling ("Goodness, Dakota, we'll look like a married couple at this rate!" "We aren't?" "Vinnie!").
And after a few blocks and Cavendish caving in for ice cream, they arrived at the museum. It stood up proudly against the warm sun, and the duo sighed happily at the shade it provided. Since they weren't allowed inside with the ice creams, they finished it off quickly, just in time to be approached by Milo, Melissa, and Zach.
"Hey guys! Whatcha doing out here?"
"Heya kids!" Dakota returned the greeting just as cheerfully, and Cavendish waved with a smile. "We're here for the museum- what about you guys?"
"Well, last time we came to the museum, Murphy's Law made it so that we found the underground city known as Subterranus, and had to escape before a cave in, and free the miners." Zach piped up.
"Well, except for Scott." Melissa pointed out.
"Yup! So we decided to come again because we were actually looking forward to the museum a bit, but missed it last time!" Milo piped up, ducking in time for a cat to jump over his head, followed by a bird. "Huh, funny, you usually see the cat chasing the bird...anyways, want to join us?"
"We'd love to, right Dakota?"
Said male looked at Cavendish in surprise. Usually, he'd want to stay away from Murphy's Law. "Heck yeah, we would!"
With the kids chattering about their school day and the adults butting in occasionally, they entered the museum, paying for their individual fees. The kids were quick to drag the former time travellers to the dinosaur exhibit, pointing out the old bones and marks encased in resin. Dakota and Cavendish entertained the kids by pointing out facts they'd learned from their own time in the Mesozoic Era. At some point, while they weren't looking, a bone broke free from the plesiosaur display, crashing down next to them. They yelped at the loud sound, but no one had time to do much as the display collapsed, and replicate bones rolled towards them, forcing them to jump atop of them and run.
By some miracle, the group managed to control the direction of the bone.
Until they hit the railing of the second floor that they were on and flew over it.
Thankfully, an ice cream stand with a big umbrella stood not far away, and Milo grabbed a yoyo he had on him to pull the wheels of the stand closer, letting them bounce on the umbrella safely.
"Woah! Thanks for that, Milo!"
"No problem! Just glad I managed to buy this yoyo today, it came in handy!"
"Tell me about it." Melissa responded, grabbing the yoyo and yoyoing it at Zach.
"Oo, I can show you guys some tricks with the yoyo if you want!" Just as Dakota moved to show off his skills, the person with the ice cream stand cried out. Pausing, the group looked over as they kneeled beside some ice cream that fell on the floor, trying desperately to grab it. Before they could though, it wiggled a little bit.
"Uh- did that thing just wiggle?" Zach pointed at the fallen ice cream, which was now vibrating. The ice cream vendor moved back, shaking their head.
"It did- and now we're all doomed!"
"Doomed...how?"
"My ice cream has a special formula that makes it grow when exposed to heat! We need to get out of here before the whole museum becomes ice cream!" Proving their point, the ice cream jumped up a little, landing back down on the hot ground bigger than it first was. It started to expand, growing bigger and bigger as the warm floor and museum air added to it's 'special formula'. At that point, parents tugged their children towards the doors, and security was yelling into their radios.
"Uhm, we might want to leave." Cavendish whispered, sidestepping the growing ice cream. The children and Dakota- yeah, no, the children, wasted no time in arguing, running towards the doors as the ice cream kept growing, now hitting the height of the second floor. Milo slipped a little on the sticky floor now soaked in ice cream, but Melissa and Zach helped him up as Dakota and Cavendish held open the doors, escaping into the warm outdoors.
"Wow. Did not expect that today." Zach huffed.
"What? Didn't expect Murphy's Law?" Melissa teased him. He rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out.
"No! Just didn't expect ice cream that grew in the heat!"
Dakota chimed in, hoping to stop the squabbling long enough. "Y'know, that's actually not a bad idea. As long as that," He pointed back at the museum, where strawberry ice cream was pressing against the glass windows "Doesn't happen, I think that's a great idea. Unlimited ice cream!"
Cavendish was about to answer, whether to scoff the idea or agree, they wouldn't know, because at that moment, ice cream burst through the windows. The group yelled, and Cavendish and Dakota quickly rushed to get the kids away from the broken glass, as strawberry ice cream oozed out of the windows
"Okay, maybe not."
A sudden scream turned their heads, and they watched as a man desperately tried to wipe off ice cream splatters from a rat cage. Making their way over cautiously, they watched as three rats eagerly ate up the ice cream.
"Shit, no!"
"Woah, buddy, watch the language!" Dakota stepped forward, cocking an eyebrow at the man. He glanced up, seemingly just noticing them.
"Uh, I'm sorry- uhm, d-do any of you perhaps h-h-ha-haa-have something to weh, uh, wipe the ice cream away?" The stuttering man looked at them hopefully.
"Uhm, sorry buddy, but it looks like the rats already ate it all."
"What-NO!" The man placed the cage down gently, and fell to his hands and knees, trying to find any hint of ice cream. From their position, the group could see that the cage was completely clean by now, the rats licking at their paws to clean off the once sticky ice cream. Slowly, Dakota nudged Cavendish and the kids back, the man's movements making him nervous.
"So, uh, what's the big deal? Ice cream isn't that bad for rats, right?"
The man shot up, throwing a blanket from somewhere over the cage and flipping open an old flip phone. As he waited for a call to answer, he turned to them, answering Dakota's question. "Yeah, for normal rats. Thuh-the-these are gheh, genetically modified. They can't eat an-anything excessively hot or cold-"
An animalistic screech unlike anything else interrupted the man, and the blanket began to sink into the cage.
"-Or they turn into zombie-like rats." He finished. Someone from the other side of the phone answered, and the man spoke in a strange language that they've never heard of. Before any of them could try to decipher what language it was, the blanket completely disappeared from over the top of the cage, and they finally figured out why.
The rats were eating the blanket.
"Uh, that's not normal, right?" Zach pointed.
The group shook their heads in unison as the rats began chewing away at the metal, which was bending underneath their teeth. No, not just their teeth. From...acid? Something green and acidic dripped from their long, sharp teeth, much longer and sharper than that of a normal rat, and their eyes glowed an unearthly red. The bars snapped underneath their chewing in no time.
"Yeah, no, I don't think so." Dakota and Cavendish stepped in front of the kids out of instinct, watching nervously as the rats chewed away fervorously now, excited by the prospect of freedom. If these rats could chew through cloth and metal, what else could they eat?!
The man waved them over as he snapped his phone shut. "W-w-we've got to g-g-ge, uh, get out of huh, here." His nerves worsened his stutter, but Dakota and Cavendish ushered the kids in his direction nonetheless. If anything, he was their best chance to stay clear of these creatures. They hoped.
"And where are we going, exactly?" Melissa asked, yelping as the rats hopped out of the cage, having chewed their way through. They sniffed at the air for a few seconds before their ruby red eyes zoned in on them- and started skimpering towards them. "WOAH!"
The man tugged on Dakota's wrist, and they followed as he ran down the street. Out of the corner of his eye, Dakota spotted as Milo took out a sandwich, and threw it to the creatures. They paused just long enough to devour the meal, but it gave them enough time to get ahead a little bit. They were shockingly fast for such little creatures. Probably an added bonus to the zombifying-ness.
"Going to dump- might g-ghet a food cho-coma!" The man wheezed out as they skidded around a corner, the rats running after them as fast as they could. Behind them, he heard one of the kids throwing a trash can to the ground, and what he assumed was the rats barreling through it. What the hell was in them?
They darted across the crosswalk, the stick man lighting up just in the nick of time. Dakota risked a glance behind them, and stepped to the side, pausing his step just long enough to be in the back of the group. He grabbed a broomstick from one of the homes they passed, yelling out a wheezed, "Sorry!" as the young lady yelled at him. Twisting awkwardly to do a weird side shuffling run, he poked at the rats.
For the first few pokes, the rats avoided the broom, slowing down to avoid being swatted. After the first few though, they got tired, and one hopped onto the broomstick. With a yell, Vinnie dropped the thing, and the rat jumped off, giving back into the chase.
Straightening out his run, Dakota spotted the dump site a few blocks away. The light in front of them turned red though, blocking their straight path...until Milo pulled out a small wooden airplane and threw it, letting it soar through the air until it hit the crosswalk button, shattering. The lights flickered for a few seconds before changing, allowing them to run across the crosswalk safely.
Huh, what do you know, guess those things aren't just for show after all…
"Everyone, on the fe-fence!"
Right as they crossed the barrier into the open city dump, they turned violently to jump onto the side of the gates. Dakota and Cavendish helped the kids cling onto the fence for safety, before joining them, the man following suit. The rats entered the dump a few seconds after them, glowing green acidic saliva dripping from their mouths, their eyes glowing impossibly brighter.
For a few seconds, they seemed to be heading in their direction- until they caught a whiff of something that made their heads turn, and they cautiously scrambled towards the dump.
Once the creatures were a safe distance away, the group let out a collective sigh, regaining their breath.
"Thank goodness. I thought we were going to feel that acid saliva first hand." A shiver ran through Cavendish as he mumbled the words, helping Zach down from his position on the fence.
"No kidding. But, aren't they going to get stronger from the stuff that's here? I thought you said they couldn't eat."
The man nodded, turning back from where he'd been typing something on his flip phone. "Correct. But, I have reh-reinforcements."
"What? What type of 'reinforcements'?" Milo tilted his head with the question, keeping his eyes on the rats, who were chewing their way through anything they could find. Just as the man was about to answer, the ground started shaking. The group wobbled, yelling out, and Dakota automatically reached for Cavendish, before a large...thing rose from behind the stacks of garbage.
"Is that…"
"A trash robot made of unused and dumped items? Yes." The man finished Milo's sentence, waving at the machine. Whoever was piloting waved back with one hand made of old monitors and electrical parts, before reaching with the other one, which was a wonderwork of wooden beams and metal crates, to place a glass tank extremely carefully atop the three feasting rats. Thankfully, while it seemed like they could chew through metal and aluminium, it didn't seem that they were capable of munching through glass.
"Huh. Why didn't you just put them in glass containers to begin with?" Melissa pointed out as they got closer to the now safely conciealed rats.
"Uh, w-well...hu...manity?"
"Uh-huh."
The man cleared his throat, clearly not having thought of it previously. "Right! W-well, wha-what do you say if we...ah, if we b-bring you back to yo-you-your destination? The least we could do for running with me as bait."
Dakota nudged Cavendish's side, whispering, "At least he's being honest."
Cavendish simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the man.
The kids, however, were jumping up and down in excitement. Literally. "That would be so cool!"
"We could ride a robot back home?"
"Imagine we did that to school-"
"Can we?" The three asked in unison, looking at their honorary uncles pleadingly.
Dakota glanced over at Cavendish, clearly amused with them. Cavendish bit the top of his lip, and frowned. Aw, c'mon Cav. Dakota raised both eyebrows in return, gesturing vaguely towards the three. Cavendish dipped his head a little, raised one hand in a I-don't-know motion. Dakota simply stuck out his tongue, which Cavendish rebuked with a roll of his eyes.
"So...is that a yes or a no?"
The two jumped, clearly surprised at being interrupted in their silent communications game. Dakota gave one last questioning look at Cavendish, who simply sighed, knowing he was going to be outvoted anyways. Dakota turned back with a grin. "Don't see why not. As long as it's safe getting you lot back home."
They cheered, leaving Dakota chuckling as the three adults followed to join the kids on the hand held together by electrical parts, the rats long since secured properly. The journey was surprisingly smooth going back, despite the clambering mess that the robot appeared to be. Aside from lava interrupting their path home, the journey was pretty calming. Especially when a helicopter picked them up once it was figured out that the lava wouldn't let the mechanical feat of robotics pass. At least the kids had fun, both on the mechanical hand and in the air, in the helicopter. And as they waved their goodbyes to head home, Dakota sighed.
"Wow. Now that was an adventure."
Cavendish chuckled, matching Dakota's pace as they headed towards their home. "Yes, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did say that today was rather boring, as were the previous few days, and that you'd like to spice it up a bit?"
Dakota grunted, not looking at Cavendish because, well, maybe he did say that.
"Am I wrong?"
He sighed, looking back at Cav with a small, tired smile. "No, guess you're not. I did say that." Cavendish tilted his head up in triumph. "But I can't say I was expecting that much excitement! I thought we were going to the museum, that's all."
"The museum's exciting!"
Dakota chuckled. "For you, maybe. Would make sense."
Ooo, he was getting the death glare for that one. "What would make sense? Dakota?"
"Nothing! Nothing.." He trailed off with a wink and a smile, laughing as Cavendish swatted him over the head playfully for the intended remark.
"One thing's for sure though."
Cavendish looked over. "What's that?"
"We are not going on anymore adventures for a while after this one!"
And there we go! My last short for a few weeks :,) Regardless, I do hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry if the story seemed off. I had a surprising amount of trouble while writing it, and I'm editing this literally two hours before we get on our flight, so my perfectionism self can't make it as good as I'd like lol. Again, thank you so much for reading! Reviews and constructive criticism is always loved, and I can't wait to see you all again after the hiatus! Hope you lot have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night and make sure you drink plenty of water and get a ton of rest! Love you all, take care!