I don't own any of this Loud House belongs to Nickelodeon.
Arturo slowly awoken inside his cell, upon awakening he is instantly reminded of the dire station he is in, thanks to the server stomach pains and the dryness in his mouth.
The long period of being trapped in this cell is taking its toll on him, he was starving and severely dehydrated. He is so weak that he couldn't even sit up, there was no denying now that his kidnappers were fully intending to kill him. But the way they were doing it was beyond cruel, to just have him die in such a slow way is much worse than a quick one like taking a bullet to the head, as at least it would be less painful.
Arturo tried everything to get out of this cell, from trying to bash the door through with his shoulder, to using the knife he had found to pick the locks. Both of those attempts were great failures and only served Arturo as a reminder that he is trapped like a rat.
As he grew weaker and weaker with each passing day, his mind is slowly beginning to break and give him hallucinations. The most common one he's suffering from is where he is back at his home in Great Lake City with his family.
It's in the middle of a bright, sunny day. Arturo along with his children; Bobby and Ronnie Anne sat around at his kitchen table listening to each others stories; Bobby tells about his job in the Bodega, Ronnie Anne tells about the cool new tricks she mastered with her skateboard, and Arturo told them about his doctor's work at Peru.
It was a very great time for them, just spending time together as a family like it always has when they were together. Although he and Maria are divorced, it didn't stop them from having a friendly relationship.
Speaking of Maria, she approached the table with a fresh tray of steaming, hot burritos. "Come and get it everyone." She spoke up as she placed the tray on the table.
The four reached forward for their burritos.
Arturo mumbled about burritos and his family in the real world. He had a small leak of drool coming out of his mouth as he laid in his cell floor, his eyes are halfway open looking rather blank. "Ronalda, be careful it's too hot."
Outside his cell; three figures came into the champer with guns held in their hands. The figures came to a stop at the door of the cell, silently watching Arturo with judgement. They see that he was more skinny than he was when they first brought him here, he was so skinny that through his lifted up shirt, they could see his ribs.
It was time.
One of the figures motions for the other two to go into the cell and get him. They nodded, one of them unlocks the cell, they then went into the cell, grabbed both of Arturo's arms and lifted him up effortlessly to his knees, then dragged him out of the cell to begin on what they do to any prisoner they collected.
As Arturo got dragged out of his cell, in the Michigan wilderness; a lone figure with a newly made spear walked through the barren wasteland. Out here with no people around, the only noise that came is from the wind that blew through the landscape like a ghost.
The figure stopped and kneeled slowly to the ground, looking over at some small, animal tracks on the ash covered ground, where the figure judged that the tracks belong to a squirrel.
The figure stood up and Lori judged that the tracks were fresh and that they lead forward. Slowly Lori walked forward as she kept her spear at ready as squirrels can be very tricky to catch. Lori fallows the tracks through the ash, they went passed rocks, fallen trees and stumps, the tracks lead to a bottom of a hill where they turned to the right at the curve.
Lori nodded with her eyes crossed as that squirrel must be very close by, the hunt will soon be over. She crept over to the hill, looking over the bend Lori didn't see her squirrel, but something much more awarding.
It was a male moose who's very skinny, and lying dead. Lori judged that he must've died of starvation a day ago as it didn't look that old. This was a great find for her as although the moose didn't have that much meat on him because of how skinny he was, it was still more meat than the meat of the squirrels she catches, besides with how cold it was becoming that fur will definitely help her.
Lori approached the body, she at first inspects it just in case the moose wasn't really dead, she poked his body with her spear two times and when it didn't move, it confirmed that he was dead. Satisfied, Lori took him by the antlers, it definitely wasn't easy as Lori had to use all her strength to even start moving it, even when the body did move, it was a slow process to pull it all the way back to her cave.
The cave Lori is currently living in didn't exactly have very much, with it only having a fire pit and spears, along with the leftovers of Lori's previous meals. Lori may not have much, but the cave provided her with the shelter she needed from the outside world, the cave also had a pool of fresh water which was much more safer to drink than the polluted water in the lake that washed Lori into this landscape.
Lori laid the body on to the cave floor, before she can do anything with it however, Lori first went over to the fire pit where after placing some dry wood on it, Lori started a nice fire. Ok, now with that done, Lori returned back to the body where after doing some precise cutting, removed some of the meat and placed it above the fire to cook.
For anyone who knew Lori for years, they would never have expected her to be living in a cave or perhaps more shocking to see her actually cut into a large animal with no problem. But like everyone else in this dark world, Lori had to adapt in order to survive, it wasn't easy as she couldn't plant anything and hunting is just as difficult, as large prey items from deer to this moose are very rare to come by these days since both of their species are on the brink of extinction.
Smaller prey, (which Lori usually hunted) are more harder to catch as they either hide in tree stumps or underground, didn't help that they were also very quick. But now that she has this moose, Lori didn't have to worry about looking for food in awhile.
Anyway the mission on getting back to Royal Woods had seem to have slipped from her mind. She was just too lost to even restart her journey, the result of this has caused a bit of a sanity slippage which resulted in fits of laughter and carving her family's faces on rocks that sat nearby the fire pit.
As the meat cooked, Lori went over to her rock family and sat, crossed legged in front of them. "Well guys, you literally wouldn't believe my day. So I was out hunting for squirrels, but instead of finding any squirrels. I literally found a moose, yeah I'm not kidding." Lori suddenly went silent while looking at the rocks.
Lori then let out a laugh. "Yes, it totally wasn't easy bringing it back here, but it's totally worth it as I'm going to be well fed. Plus with it starting to get cold, I can use its fur to warm me up." Lori looked over to rock Lana, listening to her closely.
"Yes, I know you don't like it Lana, but I need to keep warm." Lori listened again. "Well I'm not freezing my tushy off!"
Lori now stood back up, she went back over to the fire pit to check-up on the meat which wasn't done just yet. Alright while she waited for her food to be finished, she might as well begin work on her coat.
As Lori worked on her coat. The figures dragged Arturo into another champer, they dragged him over to a long table which they dumped him on it. One of the figures turned to a larger figure who had his back to him.
"Carne fresca." He addressed the larger figure who just grunted in response. The three didn't need to stick around, so they just left to rejoin the others near the entrance.
The larger figure stood by a counter completely silent. This was always a chore on dealing with the new item, but they needed to restock and someone needed to it. Grabbing a butcher knife, he approached the defenseless Arturo.
The burrito dinner was absolutely delicious. The Santiagos sat around the table with their bellies filled, Ronnie Anne looked over to her father after patting her satisfied belly. "So dad, you really found a pocket knife?"
"Sí, I was exploring in a cave, when I came across it on the floor." He pulls out the knife to show to his family, Ronnie Anne gawked at it. "That's so cool dad! Can I hold it?"
Maria looked very unsure of that. "It'll be fine Maria, as long as Ronnie Anne is careful." Arturo reassured.
Ronnie Anne took the knife from her dad's hand. "Yeah, super careful." Ronnie Anne sprung up the knife, she begins to move it around a bit, then lunged it upward.
The chef stood by Arturo's right side, his knife just hanging inches from his neck. He raised the knife up, ready to strike with force as it usually takes a lot of force to take off the head.
Arturo through his hallucination pulled out the pocket knife from his pocket. The chef only took a glance at the metal that spring up, he just registered it when Arturo raised his arm up and stabbed him in the front of the neck.
The chef immediately sputter in surprise, blood leaked out from his neck greatly, he drops the butcher knife onto the floor with a clang. He stumbles backwards until he banged against the wall, he then slowly fell to the ground at first on his bottom then to his side where the blood flowed freely forward.
Back on the table; Arturo rolled over to the left and fell off. Arturo was brought out of his hallucinated state after crashing on to the floor, once out of his wonderful world he was instantly reminded of the real world he was in. It was horrible! That life with his family was taken away from him, he wanted to go back there so much, he wanted to weep, but he didn't have any more moisture to produce any tears.
After laying there for awhile, Arturo eventually got himself up which was a long process as he was just too weak. When he did eventually got up, Arturo took a good look around, he is surprised that he wasn't in the cell anymore, instead it seemed like that he was in a kitchen of some sorts.
The kitchen had counters, a sink, and a cupboard. It wasn't an impressive kitchen, but Arturo supposed that it is doable for his captives. Arturo then slowly made his way to the sink, he weakly lifted his arm and griped the handle, he turns the handle and sweet, sweet water came out. Arturo quickly moved his head and began to drink the water like a dog.
The water felt so good as it came into his mouth, then go down his throat after he swallowed it. Arturo must've been drinking for about five minutes, when he was finally done Arturo shuts off the sink and stood up straight, he was still weak from hunger and his dehydration didn't instantly go away after his drink, but he felt a little better.
He needed some food right now. Looking over to the counter he spots a slab of meat, that'll do. Shuffling over he happily ate the meat until it was all gone, now with some strength regain. Arturo walked over to the other side of the table where he caught site of the dead chef, he jumped back in shock as had he done that? Had he accidentally killed a man?
My god, he was a killer. Sure it was unintentional, but still it felt very wrong. Arturo began to quickly think about what to do, his captives were definitely going to kill him now. He scanned the body some more until at last he laid his eyes on the butcher knife that's on the floor. Looking at the sharp utensil, Arturo's brain now began to think about why he is in this kitchen in the first place?
He changed his gazed to the table he was on, wondering why was he laid on the table? A horrible realization began to come to him, but no, it couldn't be true. He stepped back a bit and ran into a fabric, turning around he saw a green sheet blocking a hole, he must've not notice it when he was looking around the kitchen earlier.
Hesitantly he reached over and pulled away the sheet. What was on the other side of the sheet is a small room filled with bloody clothes, this is very alarming! But what he saw next made him feel a big chill go down his spine. Probed up against the north wall is a corpse of a large man with both his arm and legs missing, along with a big chunk missing in his belly area.
Oh my god! His captives weren't just kidnapping people, they were also eating them! If they were cannibals, then that means that the meat he just ate was!
Arturo's face turned green, he felt nauseous as he swayed around the room, he fell upon the sink where he felt like that he was going to barf any minute. Nothing came out however, Arturo just stood there for awhile until his face color returned to normal, now feeling better Arturo moved away from the sink with one thought in mind. He needed to get out of here right now and get as far away from these people as much as possible.
Arturo first went over to the body of the chef, (who he definitely didn't feel sorry for killing now) and pulled out the blood stain pocket knife along with the butcher knife. Now with weapons at ready for defense, Arturo slowly moved to the kitchen's entrance where once there he slowly peeked out into the corridor.
The coast is clear, Arturo slowly stepped out into the corridor. Now standing in the middle of the corridor, Arturo looked from left to right trying to decide which way should he go? He took a guess and went right, he stumbled a bit not only from feeling nausea for eating human meat, but also because he was still weak from days without food or water, how he hoped that he wasn't going to pass out somewhere along the line.
Arturo slowly moved through the corridor, as he stuck close to the wall. This is very tense for him, going through the corridors that belong to cannibals that could appear at any moment and easily overpower him.
He ducks to the other side of the wall, taking a few quick peeks both behind and in front of him. He moves onward to a corner where he slowly peeked out, Arturo saw no one, just that the corridor is continuing with a room opening.
Quickly, but slowly Arturo made his way to the opening where he clung near the side. Arturo peeked in to discover that it was a weapons room that has racks of guns. Ok, this may be useful as he needed something else to protect himself with.
Going in Arturo approached the rack, he inspects the guns carefully, although really they were all the same as they were all assault rifles. Scratching his chin, Arturo finally reached over and picked up one that is laying in the middle.
It is a bit of a struggle as he had never held a gun before, especially a large one, in fact he nearly dropped it. Arturo soon gets the hang of the weapon and now with this in his hands, he can defend himself even easier.
Back in Lori's cave; the moose meat has finally finished cooking.
Lori who had been busy making her coat is now sitting in the middle of her cave with the slab of meat held in her hands. With no utensils available, Lori just tears into it with her mouth, she would've offered some to her family, but they told her that they weren't hungry, so more for her then.
Lori was very stuffed when she was finished with the slab of meat. Lori patted her stomach as she leaned against a rock, a loud burp escapes her which was fallowed by a loud sigh. Today had been very successful in her eyes: she has found an animal that will feed her for days, a warm coat for the cold is being made, and best of all she has her family with her to join her on this great day.
A long yawn soon escapes her, she stretches her arms before laying them back down. The day along with the meat has made her exhausted, so Lori settles herself on her right side and fell into a good sleep.
Arturo pinned himself against the wall as just around the corner is a guy who had his back towards him. This was it, the first living person he came across and now that he has seen one, Arturo wondered if he had the ability to kill a person. The difference between the chef and this guy was that he killed that chef on complete accident.
This was a very big deal for him, he was supposed to help people, not kill them. After all to take away a life, something that is so precious to everyone, can he really take it away?
Sure he knew that they will kill him with no regret adding with the fact that they would eat him. Arturo also knew that it was the rule in this dark world; to kill or be killed. It was a horrible thing to realise on how that was the common rule now, he didn't wanna believe it as he was sure that somewhere out in the world, a group of people have managed to keep their humanity and formed a great community that will outlive this disaster.
But until he came across that community, it looked like that he will have to obey this primal rule. He couldn't use the gun as that would make too much noise, so it looked like he will have to use one of the knifes.
Picking the butcher knife, Arturo slowly crept his way to the guy. The guy turned around only to have the butcher knife strike him in the neck, he couldn't scream in pain as much of his own blood is spraying out. The knife struck again bringing him down completely.
Arturo stood above the body horrified over what he had to do, blood is stained on his hand, as well as little splatters on his shirt and pants. Quickly he moved passed the body, cringing as he stepped on the sticky blood, he couldn't believe that he actually killed a person. He wasn't sure if he could do it again, it was just so horrible, the way the blood came out and the life draining away from his eyes.
Walking through more of the corridors with those troubled thoughts, Arturo finally reached the front entrance where from Arturo is standing he had a clear view of the bunch of people roaming around.
Oh man, how was he supposed to get through here? There was just too many people milling around the area, what really concerned him are the ones on the catwalk, those ones were going to be the most difficult to avoid being spotted from.
How was he supposed to get pass these people? The exit was just right there! It was so frustrating, as there was no way of going through here without being spotted! Even if he entered with his gun blazing, he'll most likely get mowed down after taking one or maybe three out.
If only he had a disguise, then he can just walk right on through. Arturo's eyes then widen as an idea came to him, quickly Arturo heads back the way he came.
After stealing the dead guy's uniform and then splattering it with dirt to cover up the bloodstains, Arturo felt nervous as he stood at the spot leading into the entrance area, not only from the uncomfortable feeling of wearing a deadman's clothes, but mainly because he didn't know if this is going to work.
He just found it lucky that everyone didn't have their clothes cleaned. Breathing in deeply, Arturo stepped into the large room, no one paid any attention to him as he slowly walked passed, which was good in Arturo's eyes as with less people paying attention to him the less problems he'll have.
What Arturo is targeting is a Jeep that's parked nearby. Getting that Jeep will be a great way for him to make a quick getaway. Now hopefully the keys would be in there.
Coming up to the Jeep, he checks through the drivers window where to his relief the keys were in fact inside. Relieved and believing his luck is beginning to turn, Arturo quickly opened the door and jumped in.
Inside Arturo turned the key which revs up the Jeep's engines, the Jeep starts up loudly in the area, alerting everyone who now looked over to the Jeep. It was strange as no one was supposed to be out patrolling right now, especially in that Jeep as it was put in the bunker to have it protected from the falling ash.
A group went straight to the Jeep with one of the men who dragged Arturo into his cell and eventually into the kitchen leading them. He peers in and is completely shocked that it's their prisoner/dinner who's in the driver's seat. "Escapar! Escapar!"
It's official now, his cover has been blown! Arturo slammed on the gas just as they raised their weapons, while the man who spotted him reached for the door handle.
The tires spin on the rocky ground for a second, then moved off bumping anyone in front out of the way or ran them down, while some jumped away. The man fell on to the floor hard from the sudden speed the Jeep went.
The Jeep sped forward before Arturo swerved it around towards the entrance of the bunker. Above on the catwalks; the people who were walking around there began firing their weapons, the bullets ricocheted off the roof with some piercing through just missing Arturo by inches, this made Arturo flinch as one of those bullets just gazed passed his left arm by one inch, he could actually feel the wind from it, that's how close it was.
Outside; the guards were very surprised to have a Jeep burst out of the bunker, they'll jumped out of the way as it sped past them and then busted through the gate like if it was made out of paper.
People came out from the bunker and fired at the retreating Jeep, until it went out of range of their guns.
Arturo breathed out in relief as he drove away from the place that held him captive. Now that he was out and had escaped from being eaten by cannibals, Arturo can now returned to his mission on getting home as well as getting a large amount of food and water for himself.
It was going to be a challenge for both of those tasks; as for traveling it was hard to get a sense of direction what with no sun around, no familiar landmarks, or a compass which Arturo really needed to get sometime later.
The food or water is another question, he would have to find a large assortment soon as he's really going to need them, and when he does, he really hoped that the taste of human meat would leave his mouth. He still couldn't believe that he actually ate something that came from a human.
Arturo shudders as to think if that freak accident with the pocket night hadn't happened, he would've joined that poor fellow in that storage room, though to be fair he doubted that his skinny body would provide enough food for them. Anywho it was a good thing that he was away from there and once he gets a sense of direction, he'll be back in the USA in no time, that is if the falling ash doesn't stop his vehicle first.
But unknown to Arturo, his escape wasn't going to be that easy as right behind him four Jeeps were quickly catching up with him. They came in a tight, plus formation, and upon getting close enough the lead one speeds up and bumps the back of Arturo's Jeep.
Arturo jerked forward from the bump, his chest bumps against the steering wheel causing the Jeep to serve left and right. Arturo quickly regain control, in panic he looked up at the rearview mirror getting a clear view of the pursuing vehicles.
"Oh casa." Arturo quickly pushed down on the gas, his Jeep speeds up, but the pursuing Jeeps kept up the pace with no problem.
This was extremely bad! If they manage to catch him, they'll mostly likely do something horrible to him, possibly worse than killing and eating him. Arturo just had to shake these guys, he takes a quick look to his right and spotted a canyon. He might be able to loose them in there, he just needs to be careful on his driving.
Arturo does a sharp turn, this action surprises the drivers of the other Jeeps. They drift their vehicles in the dirt, creating a dust cloud before speeding off after Arturo who drove closer to the canyon and also in the direction of Ceboruco; one of the many volcanoes in Mexico. It wasn't in the canyon, just nearby enough where it can effect the canyon.
The Jeeps came into the canyon, it was tight so the Jeeps pursuing Arturo are forced to go in a line as they kept up with him.
Arturo kept his eyes on both the rearview mirror and the path in front of him as he didn't need to crash head first into a rock or the walls of the canyon during this chase. One of the advantages of being in the lead though, is that you get to see what's coming, like an upcoming fork in the path.
Arturo quickly makes it look like he was about to make a left turn, but when the Jeep got to the fork he drifts sharply to the right which divided his pursuers by two. It wasn't all of them, but at least they were two Jeeps short.
The driver in the Jeep behind him accelerated, bumping the back of Arturo's Jeep. He brakes back to prepare for another ram, while the other Jeep behind them brakes to avoid a collision, beside him his conrad tells him to move forward.
He speeds up the Jeep again, but suddenly their meal's Jeep broke right and now in front of them is a very steep drop off. Slamming on the breaks, the Jeep skidded and then flew off the edge where it falls all the way to the bottom.
The other Jeep made the turn and continues on with the chase on the ledge where it leads straight towards a cave.
Upon entering the cave; they both turned on their headlights and had to dodge pillars that came upon them. It was hard for Arturo as the pillars just seemed to pop out from the darkness.
Behind him the other Jeep moved near his right side. The driver smiled as all she needed to do is hit his rear end and make him speed out of control, she pulls in closer, her front bumper is just inches from his dented back bumper.
"CRASH!"
She and the crew felt themselves flew forward as their Jeep crashed head first into a rocky pillar.
From within his Jeep, Arturo smiled as he lost two of his pursuers, it was a bad way to loose them, but so be it. Now if he doesn't run into the other two, Arturo may finally make his get away. He exited the cave and all around him the canyon walls had expanded into a bowl shape with a steep slope at the end.
Alright the end was insight, but before he could celebrate his Jeep suddenly went sideways as one of the two other Jeeps had rammed into him.
Arturo's Jeep spun out of control, inside Arturo gripped the steering wheel and slammed on the breaks, it was all he can do as he tried to regain control. Arturo eventually does regain control of the Jeep, he quickly turns towards the slopes and makes a dash for them with the two remaining Jeeps on his heels.
Nearby Ceboruco rumbles as fresh lava erupts out from its top while smoke and ash bellow into the sky.
The constant eruptions makes the side of the volcano weak, another mighty rumble makes the rocks loosen until an avalanche of rocks comes tumbling down into a river that creates a wave that surges all the way towards the end, where much of the river has been blocked off by a damn made out of rocks, that was made during the global earthquake.
The sudden force and energy of the wave makes the rocks loose, loosen enough for leaks to come through that eventually leads the damn to break and allow a great amount of dirty water that's carrying sticks, trees, and some rocks to surge into an area of the canyon.
Arturo was almost at the slopes, he just needs to keep it up a few more minutes. Behind him the two Jeeps had spread out, almost sandwiching him. The one on the right opens up its passenger side window, a woman pulls out her gun, aims at the back tire and fired two rounds.
The tire blows making the rear of the Jeep to skid back and forth. Once again Arturo had to struggle for control which wasn't going so good, especially when the other Jeep fired a round from the backseat window.
The rubber of both tires come off, leaving only the rims which didn't do so well on the soft soil, the result makes the Jeep come to a slow stop in just one foot away from the slopes, he was so close that he can just get out of the Jeep and climb it, although right now as the two Jeeps parked side by side to each other and both crew members came out with their weapons drawn, Arturo felt that it wasn't such a good idea at the moment.
"Salir del vehículo!" One of them orders. Arturo looked out fearfully as it looks like that this was it, he then glances over to the gun he had placed on the passenger seat. He sighed regretfully, if he was going to be taken out, he might as well go out in style.
Grabbing the gun, Arturo kicked open the door which hurt his weak leg, but none of the less surprised the group, two were taken out as Arturo open fire on them before ducking for cover behind the front bumper.
The other members ducked for cover behind their own Jeeps, a firefight soon ensures between Arturo and the group. Arturo fires a few rounds, but was ultimately pinned down by the group, there is no doubt that soon one or most likely dozens of bullets will bring him down.
It really looks like that this is the end for him. He will never see his family again and worse he's going to become food. Arturo looked to his right for perhaps he could sneak around to get a better angle of them, but he froze as he spotted a flash flood of dirty water with all sorts of debris coming right at him with tsunami like force.
Without thinking by going into survival mode, Arturo dashed for the slope. It was a slippery climb and the bullets that fired all around him didn't help, yet he manages to make it to the top and jumped away to get out of range of the guns.
Meanwhile back down below, the group weren't giving up just yet as their prey is on the final ropes. They rushed forward and just got passed Arturo's Jeep when the water slammed into them and carried them along with the Jeeps away.
Arturo safely watched from the top of the slope, he watched as the Jeeps were rolled around like toys, he also watched as one of his attackers bursted up from the water only to immediately get hit by a tree.
Alright that was quite the experience he had, a daring escape that's complete with a car chase that was ended by his pursuers. It was just dumb luck that he managed to get away at the end, to make this better the other captives at that place he was in, has no idea where he ended up. So in all technicality he had successfully escaped.
Feeling grateful to be alive for the time being, all Arturo can do now is lay down and rest as all that excitement has emptied out his remaining energy.
Arturo stared up at the sky for a brief moment, then goes back into dreamland where his family was waiting for him.