Chapter 45

"I hope Static likes-" Zigzag paused a moment to look down and read the packaging on the food in his hand. "Milano cookies." He tossed the little bag up into the air and caught it again before opening the door to room 31.

"Hola chikas!" Magnet said as all the guys barged into the room full of rather disrupted looking D tent girls.

"Here ya' go Static," Zigzag said, tossing her the bag of cookies before he sat down in an armchair right behind her.

"Well don't stop the party just yet," Armpit said, lying back on one of the beds and looking around at the girl's aroused expressions. "We only just arrived!"

Zero and the others sat down as well, looking curiously about but never noticing anything out of the ordinary.

There was a minutes silence while all the girls waited patiently before Fidget asked, "Notice anything different?"

"Yeah, you all look-whoo!-bugged about something," Twitch replied, trying hard not to twitch so much.

"I was thinkin' the same thing," Armpit said, sitting up. "Are you all pissed off 'cause we didn't bring food for ya'll from downstairs? We told you that you could get lots and lots of stuff but all you got was wine and crap."

"NO!" Zippy cried, she was getting impatient. "That's not it!"

"Well then what is it?" Zigzag cried. "You're all acting as if Chase came back or something!"

There was a moments pause while Zigzag's eyes rested on Chase, still sitting silently between Zippy and Magnetic on one of the beds.

"Chase!" he cried, jumping to his feet, picking Chase up in his arms and spinning her around. "We all thought you were dead or something!"

"You did?" Chase asked, dizzily prying herself from Zigzag's grasp.

"We did?" Lei asked, furrowing her brow.

"Well, me and the guys did," Zigzag explained, stepping away from Chase.

"So as we all worried our heads off about her you guys had already given up on her?" Static asked, furrowing her brow as well.

Zigzag grinned sheepishly at her and shrugged his shoulders before he sat back down obediently.

"Hey Chase," Zero said, nudging her arm lightly with his fist as she sat back down. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Chase said, sighing with relief; she was back where she belonged at last.

"What are the chances we'd find you-ha!-here?" Twitch asked, grinning broadly.

"Hey wait a second," Xray said, looking around the room. "Where's Squid?"

"Yeah," Zigzag asked, his eyes growing really wide as he too looked around in a fervent fashion. "Don't tell me you just left him with the guy in that truck? Jesus hell, just think about all the things that could have happened in that truck by now!"

"You're disgusting!" Magnetic cried, throwing a pillow at Zigzag.

"No really," Xray said, turning to Chase. "Did you leave him on the side of the road?"

"No! He was here with her and they did it!" Zippy cried, not being able to resist.

"WHAT?" Armpit cried, his eyes bulging in his head. "Could you repeat what you just said please?"

"Ooh! Give us the details Chase!" Zigzag cried, his smile growing.

"You know," Static said, turning around to face him. "You really are a perverted freak today! What's gotten into you?" she asked, playfully slapping him on the knee.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Zero cried, shaking his head. "What happened?" he asked.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can we tell them Chase?" Fidget asked excitedly.

Chase bit her lower lip, hastily trying to think of a good excuse not to; the guys had heard too much already.

"Oh come on Chase," Zigzag said. "We're your friends! You can tell us anything! Besides, if you don't tell us now we'll get it out of Squid later! If you didn't leave him with that guy in the truck, that is."

"Oh God, this is stupid!" Magnetic cried. "They had sex okay? End of the story!"

"Oooooh! It's getting' hot in here!" Zigzag cried.

"Ey carumba chika!" Magnet laughed. "I didn't know you had it in you! Hey Magnetic, why won't you have sex with me?"

Magnetic flipped him off.

"You really did it?" Zero asked, staring wide-eyed at Chase. "In this very hotel?"

Chase blushed.

"Oh, don't be shy!" Armpit cried.

"But, I thought you hated Squid?" Twitch asked.

"Yeah," Zigzag said, frowning. "Wait one minute, did he rape you?"

"Oh shut up you guys!" Lei cried.

"Everyone knows Chase and Squid were in love the whole time!" Fidget squealed. "Secret love! That's what makes it so romantic!"

"So where the hell is the lucky bastard now?" Zigzag asked. "If I were him I'd be with Chase all the time if they're so in love!"

"Chase doesn't know where he is," Zippy said. "He left."

"Now why the hell would he do something like that?" Armpit asked.

"'Cause he and Chase got into a fight!" Fidget cried.

"Have sex with someone and then yell at them," Zigzag said shaking his head. "Yep, that sounds like typical Squid behavior to me! It's 'cause he's so into marine stuff."

Chase raised her eyebrows; what did that have to do with anything? Zigzag was one odd fellow.

"One of you guys should go look for him," Static said. "Before he hurts himself or something."

"I will!" Zigzag said, jumping to his feet and moving towards the door. "And you guys had better have all the juicy details when I come back," he said looking around at the D tent boys.

"Oh get out of here!" Magnetic cried, throwing another pillow at him.

The air was sticky and full of humidity as Zigzag stepped out into the bright sunshine. He wasn't sure where he was going or where to look for Squid but when he saw the little bar situated off in the distance his first instinct was to look there. But after a few seconds of walking toward the shabby little building Zigzag began to think. Sure Squid was eighteen and his mother was an alcoholic and everything but Zigzag didn't want to think Squid might be in there, getting drunk and angry. So, praying his instinct was wrong, Zigzag changed his direction and headed instead towards a small Shari's instead; hopefully, Squid had been hungry.

"May I help you?" an elderly waitress in an apron asked as Zigzag entered the small restaurant.

"Uh, yeah," he said, looking over the waitress's shoulder as he tried to catch a glimpse of Squid's dark mess of hair just above one of the barriers dividing the booths. "Did a young guy come in here earlier?"

The waitress looked puzzled as she glanced from the cooling coffee pot in her hand to Zigzag's eager face.

"Uh, a tall kid with really dark brown hair and dark brown eyes," Zigzag tried again. "He might have been wearing a du-rag?"

"I'm sorry," the waitress said, shaking her head. "But we haven't had much business this morning and I certainly don't recall seeing any young men."

"Oh," Zigzag said, his spirits dropping; he was surprised he'd even suspected himself to believe Squid would be in this restaurant. "Thanks," he said, turning to leave.

There was only one place Zigzag was going to look now, and even though he was really worried he knew he would find what he was looking for in that little pub.

Although the air in the bar was much cooler than that found outside, it was smoky and dank in here, and Zigzag couldn't help coughing unexpectedly. But his search wasn't in vain, as there, clearly in sight, was Squid, sitting at the bar with his head bent and an array of bottles before him.

"Squid," Zigzag called as he moved towards the bar. But Squid didn't look up, in fact he didn't move! He just sat there staring blankly at the marble- like surface of the bar.

Zigzag sat down on an empty stool beside Squid and stared silently at his friend for a few moments. Squid still didn't move and continued to stare ahead, a hazy look in his eyes. It took Zigzag a while to notice that while Squid sat there, his shoulders shook with each in take of breath. And, adding on to Zigzag's discomfort, Squid looked almost on the verge of tears.

"Squid?" Zigzag said slowly. "You okay?"

Squid turned his head to Zigzag and smiled in a dazed sort of way. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" he asked wearily.

Zigzag sighed. "Man, you're drunk, and I gotta get you back to the hotel. Come on, everyone's wondering where you are."

Squid's smile left his face and his mouth fell slightly open as he turned back to stare at the bar again. "Chase is at the hotel, isn't she?" he said solemnly.

"Yeah," Zigzag replied slowly. "But Squid she's really worried about y-"

"I'm not going back to her!" Squid cried, slamming his fist against the bar surface and arousing a hushed silence about the pub; even the music that had been playing in the background seemed to become softer.

Zigzag's eyes fell as he quickly formulated a plan to try and persuade Squid to go back to the hotel. But, when nothing applicable came to mind Zigzag did the only thing that had a chance of working-not to mention the only thing he could think of.

As quickly as he could, Zigzag grabbed Squid by the arm and yanked him off his stool. Before Squid realized what was happening he was being pushed out the door into the bright sunlight.

"What the hell are you doing?" Squid cried as he struggled against Zigzag's grip. But the ale he'd been drinking had made him weak and it was useless to try and escape Zigzag. Pretty soon, in Squid's pathetic attempt to return to the pub, he fell to the ground and found himself being dragged across the dusty road.

"This is for your own good, man," Zigzag said, tugging at the collar of Squid's shirt. Sure, digging holes everyday had made Zigzag very strong, but Squid was pretty heavy-especially when he was drunk. "You and Chase have to sit down and talk."

"I told you I'm not going back to her!" Squid cried to no prevail.

"Oh yes you are!" Zigzag replied. "You still love her and you have to get over your problems!"

"I don't love her," Squid said, folding his arms in a childish fashion and furrowing his brow. He glared at an elderly couple who'd just come out of Shari's and were now staring in horror as Zigzag continued to drag Squid across the ground.

To Zigzag's relief, they were finally nearing the hotel, as Zigzag thought his arm might soon snap off. He was just about to pry open the front door when he was suddenly jerked backwards as Squid had grabbed onto a lamp post.

"Squid! Let go, you moron!" Zigzag cried, grabbing Squid's arm and easily pulling it away from the pole.

Squid fell backwards and just lay there, motionless. For a second Zigzag thought Squid was just trying to make things more difficult for him but after a few seconds of poking Squid in the ribs, Zigzag found out that Squid had just fallen asleep.

"Oh God," Zigzag groaned. There was only one option for him now; he'd have to carry Squid.

Zigzag lifted Squid up and cringed at his dead weight; it wasn't going to be fun carrying Squid up the stairs to the hotel room. But never the less Zigzag stepped into the cool, air-condition hotel and began carrying Squid towards room 31.