One Failed Attempt Deserves Another
Rebecca's POV
"Here's the plan…" I began, but got cut off.
"I still wanna poison Snyder!" Shakes cried. She jumped away from Aqua, who was wiping her hand on her pants. Obviously Shakes had licked her to get her hand off her mouth, "Please? I hate that guy!"
"No, the plan is…" again, I got cut off.
"What if we just ask if Misery and Nova can leave?" Aqua asked with a shrug, reaching for Shakes.
"Yeah, that'll work," Becca laughed.
Dreamer finally spoke up, "Guys. What did Nova say? We have to work together. We can't fight about this or nothing will ever happen."
Aqua nodded, "You're right. We have to think or something to get those two out. And fast."
"I still say we poison Snyder."
"No!" Everyone said in unison.
"This is what we'll try…" I finally said, without interruption.
Emi's POV"This is the worst day of my life," Misery groaned. She was sitting on one of the bunks, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was sporting the famous Spot glare, "How are we gonna get outta here?"
"Dunno," I replied, trying not to get mad at Misery. She was so down all the time. I even remember times that I avoided walking too close to her in school because sometimes she actually scared me.
"I wish we were out of here," she went on. The next thing that she said surprised me, "What are the others going to do without you?" I gave her a blank stare and she looked up at me. I could see tears welling up in her eyes, "You're the one bringing everyone together."
"But you're the tough one," I replied, "If you hadn't jumped Oscar then we might all be in here."
Misery shook her head, "I guess. But we all need to be together to work on this. What are we gonna do?" She looked like she needed a hug, but it would have been way too strange for Blink to be hugging Spot.
"It'll be fine," I replied, "They'll think of something to get us outta here." I sat down next to Misery and we both sighed at the same time. She looked over at me and we smiled. This wasn't going to be too bad.
Flit's POV"Are you sure this is gonna work," I asked, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space. I looked over at Scribble…at least where I thought she was.
"We have to try," she replied. I shifted position in the small laundry basket. It wasn't exactly small, if one could hold all of us.
"Shakes, get your elbow out of my ear please," Aqua asked from beside me, trying her best to be polite. I heard the rustling of fabric as they attempted get some space between them.
"Nuns outfits," Shakes suddenly exclaimed, "We could use these…"
"We're not using that idea," Aqua cut her off sharply, "Now be quiet before someone out there hears you."
"Good luck guys," Dreamer commented from outside, right around the corner from us to stay out of sight. Since she was Crutchy now, no one wanted to put her in any danger. Still, she was there to give us support.
"Is anyone coming," I questioned, trying to hear any sounds from outside. I heard the faint sound of footsteps.
"Shh," Scribble suddenly quieted us. After a few seconds, I felt the cart moving. Everyone was absolutely silent as we waited for our plan to take action. It was a few minutes before the cart finally stopped. Little by little, sheets and other objects were taken off us. Okay, I didn't expect this, "Looks like we have to take this one step at a time."
"Forget the rules," I said, "We gotta get out of here!"
"Let's make a run for it," Aqua suggested. Almost immediately, everyone jumped up. Laundry went flying everywhere, startling the two men unloading it. Taking the chance, we all hurriedly looked around for an exit.
"What are you doing in there," one of the men asked finally. Instead of taking the time to answer, I pulled Scribble along behind me as I noticed an open door. The others were quick to follow.
"Hi, who are you," Shakes asked as she ran past.
"Now isn't the time," Aqua yelled out, pushing Shakes to keep her moving.
"Come back here," the other man yelled out. We took off as fast as we could, racing through the door. Aqua slammed it behind her and I had to laugh as two thuds collectively came from behind it.
"This way," Scribble pointed to a door that obviously led outside. Running out into the cool night air, we ran as fast as we could back towards the Refuge.
"We need a better plan," I called out, quickly seeing the two men chasing us disappear from sight.
Emi's POV
After a dismal lunch we all trudged back to our room. Misery grumbled the whole way. "I really wanna to get out of here," she muttered under her breath and we sat down on the hard beds.
"Out of here as in the refuge?" I asked, leaning back on my hands. "Or out of here as in..." I glanced down at myself and Misery shrugged.
"I''se not really a fan of being a boy," she answered in a low whisper. "But I meant the refuge." I nodded and Misery leaned back as well. "But I don't really wanna go home, if ya know what I mean." She looked at me with raised eyebrows.
I nodded, "I'se know what ya mean." I leaned towards Misery and whispered, "I don't wanna go home either." I could tell Misery was about to say something, her mouth opened but before any sound came out there was yelling coming from outside.
"Hey ya Spot, Blink," one of the littler kids called from the window. He turned and I saw that it was the kid everyone called Tips. Tips motioned for us to come to the window. "Look," he called.
Misery looked at me quickly before we rushed over to the window. Tips moved over and we peered out the dirty window to the street below. "What?" Misery asked, her eyes scanning the street.
"
That," I said, pointing at our friends running away from the laundry truck. "What are they doin'? That's no way to rescue us," I sighed and turned away from the window, leaning against the cold wall. "We're never gonna get outta here."
Aqua's POV
"I still don't know why I'm on bottom," I groaned from my standing position under the window several feet above me, "I may be in Mush's body, but that doesn't mean that I'm that strong."
"Hold still," Scribble called, "Shakes, get over here." When she received no answer, I glanced around for her. Shakes was nowhere in sight.
"Where'd she go," I asked, already growing frustrated with the hyper girl.
"We'll just have to do this without her," Flit commented from beside me.
"Yeah, who knows where she is by now," Dreamer agreed, "I know I can't do much, but you can use my crutch if you need."
"Thanks," Scribble told her and then turned to me, "Kneel down."
I sighed, but did as she asked. Scribble climbed onto my shoulders and I slowly stood up, "How far are we?"
"About ten feet," she called back and then climbed down, "Dreamer, it looks like we'll be needing your help." Dreamer brightened slightly, glad to finally be helping out in some way.
"What can I do," she asked.
"Get onto Flit's shoulders," Scribble told her, "You'll be on top. We'll need the extra height to reach the window." Flit kneeled down and I helped Dreamer onto her shoulders. I handed her the crutch, she had insisted that we might need it.
Scribble allowed Flit to climb atop of her own shoulders. I braced myself on the wall, as I kneeled down and Scribble's weight plus the other two was added. Slowly, I stood up, careful not to move too quickly. I tried not to grimace at the great weight on my shoulders.
"Can you reach it," Flit's voice reached down to my level.
"Almost," Dreamer answered faintly, my concentration on not collapsing blocking out most other senses besides standing up.
"Can you get any higher," Scribble's voice said. After a minute, I realized that she was talking to me. I stood up straighter without standing on tiptoe. Seconds later I heard a soft tapping from above me and figured that the crutch had been enough to reach the window.
"I got nun outfits," a loud voice nearly yelled from behind me. I turned around, almost too quickly.
"Stop moving," Scribble told me.
"Cheese it," a familiar voice called out, "Snyder's coming!" After that, everything seemed to blur together.
"Dreamer, get on my back," Flit commanded. Dreamer obeyed immediately and they quickly climbed down. Scribble jumped down from my shoulders.
"Over here," Scribble called, motioning everyone to a spot hidden from view of the window. After a second of getting used to normal gravity, I ran over and joined them, pulling Shakes behind me.
"What now," I asked.
"Let's sneak in and poison Snyder," Shakes suggested once more. I groaned, thinking that it was our only plan left.
Emi's POV
"I'll bet Cowboy's comin' to save ya two," Ten Pin said from his window seat. He looked out the window again and sighed. Somehow I knew his story. He was abandoned at a really young age and sent here. I don't think anyone even knows his real name. I blinked quickly, willing myself not to cry. Poor kid.
"Dunno 'bout that kid," Misery stated, pulling me away from my thoughts. "Cowboy's not actin' like himself these days." I pulled my knees to my chest and watched Misery. Spot was so...short in real life. Shorter than I had imagined. I know Misery had taken extra time in the bathroom this morning. And I knew what she had done. It was the same thing I had done earlier. I thought back to the moment I had finsihed washing my face in the dirty sink, looked up into the cracked mirror and stopped. Almost like I wasn't even breathing. I just looked.
It was like someone was mimicking my every move. I reached up to touch my face and the boy in the mirror did the same thing. I sighed and so did Blink. I blew away a strand of sandy blond hair and the boy did the same. I wondered what Blink was doing in my body at that very moment and felt connected to him, not just body, but him. I couldn't put it into words.
"Blink!" Misery shouted, snapping me back into the present. She was standing by the window, Ten Pin at her side. "Look!" I rushed to the wondow and looked out. There, about three feet below the window was a stack of our friends. Literally.
"What are they doing?" I asked, stifling a laugh as the tower wobbled a little. Suddenly there was shouting and they all climbed down and rushed away. I sighed again. "Failed attempt number two."
"Where was Skittery?" Misery asked. I paused, I hadn't seen him.
Shakes' POV
"Please, let's sneak in and poison Snyder," I asked, not bothering to hide the excitement out of my voice if we really did it.
"Why'se he not in jail," Flit asked suddenly."Aw he knew some big wig and got out," Dreamer said.
"What about my idea," I reminded them. I watched as the rest of the group talked quietly amongst themselves. Finally, they separated. Scribble was the first to speak.
"We'll give it a try," she told me, "But we'll just sneak in. We're not poisoning Snyder."
"Aw, why not," I asked, "He deserves it."
"I know he does," Scribble replied, "But that would be murder."
"Ok," I agreed reluctantly, but was still excited. Everyone grabbed a nun outfit and put them on.
"This doesn't look right," Aqua commented. I had to laugh at Mush in a nun outfit. You could see the muscles through the material.
"Use this," Dreamer told her, handing Aqua some fabric, "Stuff it into the outfits. It should be enough that Snyder will have no idea." Everyone followed the instructions, trying to looks as much like nuns as possible.
"I can't move," Flit remarked, "How do nuns walk around in these things?" I only laughed harder at the ridiculous costumes.
"Quiet," Aqua told me, "If this plan is gonna work, we don't want to attract any attention."
"How do I look," I asked, pulling one of the outfits on. Aqua quickly handed me some extra sheets.
"Like a newsie trying to pose as a nun and it's not working," she answered. I wasn't quite sure if she was trying to be funny or not. I decided to just ignore her. Everyone pulled the hoods down over their faces.
"Let's go," Scribble said and we all walked up to the front door of the Refuge. She knocked and I suddenly started laughing. Everyone shot me a glare, but returned their gazes to the door when it opened. When I saw Snyder standing there, I wanted to kick him, but was stopped by Aqua stepping in front of me.
"Ow," she exclaimed quietly as my foot slammed into her own. I didn't quite feel sorry for doing it though. Aqua sighed and shot me a quick glare.
"We're here to see the children," Scribble remarked in her version of a woman's voice. It sounded really funny since technically she was now a guy. Snyder looked at us in confusion, but didn't hesitate in letting us in. He thinks he can hide a secret from us. Believe me, we know all.
"Right up the stairs," Snyder told us, acting like he was the nicest person in the world. I could see the glare he shot us however as we headed up, only to smile again when we glanced back.
We walked up, the silence broken every once in a while by my giggling. Snyder didn't have a clue what was going on. The others told me to keep quiet, but I couldn't really help it.
When we reached the door to the room, Scribble reached for the knob. As she turned it, I heard shuffling sounds coming from inside the room.
"It's Snyder. Everyone to your places," someone called, sounding panicked. All noise stopped as the door swung open under Scribble's touch.
"That's not Snyder," a voice said. Everyone retreated from their spots by the beds, crowding around us, "What are nuns doing here?
"We're here to see two guys by the names of Blink and Spot," Flit answered, faking a nun like voice.
"Who wants to know," Misery asked, coming forward, Spot's smirk on her face.
"We do," Scribble said and motioned at the rest of us. We removed our hoods, revealing who we really were. Nova and Misery had looks of shock on their faces. I guess they never thought we'd break them out. Then they started laughing.
"We're here to break you out," Aqua told them, obviously not in the mood to have people laugh at her.
"But how," Nova asked, finally taking a breath.
"What did you think this was for," Flit asked, taking the stuffing out, "You can hide underneath."
"I think Snyder would notice a four legged nun," Misery pointed out.
"I think you would take the chance," Dreamer said, "Don't you wanna get outta here?"
"Yeah," Nova and Misery replied together.
"Let's go," Misery said, "And hope Snyder doesn't notice." The two girls got under Flit and Aqua's costumes. Aqua had to use the most because of Mush's obvious muscles, which didn't help in making her look like a nun.
The other girls crowded around them to hide Nova and Misery from view. Slowly, they walked towards the stairs. The other guys gathered around the door, wanting to see if our plan worked. Seeing Snyder watching downstairs, the others quickly retreated back to their bunkroom.
"We had a lovely visit," Scribble told Snyder as we reached the bottom, after what seemed like forever, changing her voice once again, "They're very nice boys." The tight group moved towards the door.
Snyder watched us closely as we walked away. I had to urge to laugh in his face. We had fooled him and he didn't suspect a thing. Once we reached the opposite side of the door and walked outside, the costumes were taken off quickly. Everyone was too glad to get rid of the boiling outfits.
"We did it," I yelled out, "I knew that my plan would work!" I was immediately shushed.
"We're not out of here yet," Scribble said.
We all turned as the front door to the Refuge opened again. Snyder was standing there once again, grinning at us really freakily.
"Run," Nova yelled. We immediately followed orders. I took a little longer actually. I ran…right after kicking Snyder in the shin. I laughed as I raced away.