Hey, dudes and dudettes. Here's another chapter of JOTN. This time, we get Bucky's entry in the journal, and a flashback from his perspective, taking place almost after Harold's flashback. Plus we'll see a bit of Rudy at the beginning of the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Food

Rudy just stared out the window of his hospital room, looking out the view of the city. It was the very early morning, at the crack of dawn he had to guess, but he honestly didn't get a good sleep at all that night...

... And every time he did, he would only wake up from a nightmare of... those people.

The man and woman who kidnapped him and his friends, and spent a week and a half subjecting them all to tortures of all kind. It was a complete sucky time, but most of it was nothing compared to what happened to him...

Once they got rescued, Rudy wanted nothing more than to just hide away from the world forever... to the point where he attempted to do himself in by trying to swallow pills in one gulp. But the doctors stopped him and placed him under a stupid suicide watch... and he hated it.

And they were most likely doing to do the same thing today.

Rudy groaned as he lied back down, hoping to get some more sleep, and prayed quickly for no more nightmares... but as soon as he closed his eyes...

"No... no... please... get away from me! Don't hurt me! Leave me alone! Please, I'm too young! I won't... let you! Somebody! Help! HELP! NOOOOOOOO!"

The teen's eyes shot back open as he began to breathe heavily. He couldn't even rest without gaining visions of the pain that the couple put him through. He sat back up and put his face in his hands, brushing against the cast on his nose, and began sobbing softly. Those nightmares just wouldn't go away...

He could only hope that his friends were doing better than he was...

Speaking of which...

Bucky stared at the journal on his lap. He asked Albert if he could leave it with him, for he now felt like he has something to write in it. The only problem... he had no idea how to word it as of now. He actually read Harold's entry for some inspiration, but that didn't help much either...

The preteen then started to think of what happened after that strap beating they received. He remembered... the food that they served. Perhaps that's what he could write about. Grabbing a pencil, Bucky opened the book, on the second page after Harold's entry, and began writing.

"Dear Journal... at first I didn't know what to write about, but now, I have to talk about the food those bad people gave us..."

Bucky spent most of his time on his stomach, as to not irritate his back, which at the moment, was filled with open wounds from the beating he and his friends took from Gabe and Bella. The pain didn't want to subside in the slightest, even though it's only been fifty minutes since...He could hear his friends groaning, moaning, and sobbing from the agony, and he didn't blame them one bit. That mean couple had left the basement, promising food for the boys when they got back.

"Y-Y-Y'know... I'll be glad when we get food... I-I-I'm hungry..." Donald stuttered."

Meb toob..." Mush added.

Rudy groaned, "As if I want to eat ANYTHING those people serve for us. Don't expect a gourmet meal, dudes. They'll probably give us some type of slop or another."

"Well, whatever they do give us, we better be grateful they're feeding us at all..." Bill told him, "They could let us starve, but they're not..."

"I don't wanna be grateful for ANYTHING they feed us!" Russell huffed, "Not after what they just did to us! Those are bad people! We gotta get outta here!"

"I know, Rus. But maybe if we just optimistic and do what they ask us, they'll go easy on us and if we're lucky, they'll let us go..."

Rudy glared at Bill, "You sound just like Fat Albert. We all know he would say something like that if he were here..."

"He's lucky he isn't here..." Harold spoke up, "He doesn't have to endure what's happening to us. I sure hope he's doing okay without us. He has to know that we're gone... he might even know what to do..."

The other boys couldn't agree with that. For all the flack they give Albert for being a 'killjoy' most of the time, they did appreciate him, and this was one of those times where they could use his words of wisdom.

Bucky then looked at everyone's shirts that were just in the corner, before he shivered a little, "Um, guys. Should we put our shirts back on? I'm getting cold with being shirtless..."

The dudes looked at one another, before Bill spoke, "I guess so. It is a little chilly. But we should clean up our backs first."

"Good. Cause I don't wanna get any blood on my fashionable sweater and vest..." Rudy replied.

Bucky looked around before he saw some clothes near a table. Standing up slowly, he walked towards it, although how far he could get to it was limited due to the chain around his ankle. But, he was able to reach the table and grab the clothes, which were wet thankfully, before going back to his friends. With that, they all took turns wiping each other's backs of the blood, until the wounds were clean enough not to bleed out any more.

That's when they put their shirts back on, even though their backs still stung when the fabric brushed against them. Well, at least they didn't feel cold anymore. By that time, twenty more minutes have passed, and before the boys could even try to sleep...

"Dinner is served, my little pumpkins!"

The door swung open, and down the stairs came Gabe and Bella, both holding plates and bowls respectively. The kids looked on until the couple placed the bowl and plate on the floor in front of them. What they saw nearly made them gag...In the bowl was what looked like dirt with water poured into it. And on the plate was cut up pieces of meat that didn't even look cooked. The boys look back at the couple, who smiled back.

"Enjoy your meal, boys..." Gabe said, "And you better eat it all. Because if we could back and that bowl and plate aren't empty... then it's punishment time..."

With that, he and Bella left, the latter blowing a kiss as they walked back up the stairs and closed the door. As soon as they were gone...

"See? What did I tell ya?" Rudy asked as he gestured towards the 'food', "I knew they weren't gonna give us something good. I'm not eating this crap!"

"Me neither!" Russell agreed, pouting.

Bill frowned, "But we got to..."

"Yeah..." Bucky added, "You heard what the man said. If we don't eat, we'll get punished again..."

"I don't care!" Russell shot back, "I'd rather get whipped again than eat whatever this stuff is..."

Donald took a closer look at what was in the bowl, "Maybe it's not bad. We haven't even tried it yet. It might be better than it looks." He suggested, "And if it's not good, we can just pretend it is..."

The boys didn't know what to think of this. Bucky just continued to stare at the bowl. Perhaps Donald had a point. He noticed that there were seven spoons for it... so he grabbed one, scooped up some of the... stuff, and after taking a deep breath, put it in his mouth and swallowed.

"Bucky! What are you doing?" Rudy asked in shock.

After a few seconds, Bucky looked at his friends. To him... the stuff wasn't all that bad, "It's a little salty... but it's not awful..." He said, "Think of it like oatmeal. Go on, try it..."

The others were still hesitant on this, but Bill soon followed suit and scooped up some of the food, tasting it, "Mmm... hey, you're right. This stuff ain't half bad..."

Harold soon did the same, "It is like salty oatmeal."

Donald looked over at the meat and picked up a small piece. He took a bite off of it, and chewed slowly, "The meat is kinda raw... but it kinda tastes like chicken..." He chuckled a little.

"Please tell me you guys are joking..." Rudy rolled his eyes, "There is no way this stuff is good."

"It's really not all that bad..." Bill told him, "Try it..."

Against his better judgment, the rich boy caved and grabbed a spoon. Slowly, he tastes the stuff in the bowl, "Mmm... okay... it's... not disgusting... but... that doesn't mean it's good..." Was his final verdict.

With that, the boys began to eat the food that they once feared would be bad... everyone, except Russell that is. When Bill noticed that his little brother was not eating, he offered him another spoon, "Hey, Rus. You should really try this. It's not bad at all."

"I don't want any!" The little boy refused, "I don't care if it tastes okay. I'm not eating anything those people give us! "

"But you have to at least eat something. You don't wanna starve, do you? C'mon. At least try it."

"No!"

Bill sighed. He didn't want to force Russell to eat the food, but he wanted his brother to at least has something in his stomach, "Well.. okay. But if you change your mind, I'll leave you something..."

"Don't count on it..." Russell scowled, turning away.

Bucky couldn't blame Russell for not wanting to eat the food. For one thing, while it may taste okay, it sure didn't look appetizing at first glance. And another, it seemed like that couple was trying to win them over, despite how badly they were treating them. And Russell wasn't going to try and kiss their feet.

The kid has tough guts, that's for sure.

And everyone else seemed to have tougher stomach's as well...

"Once we felt like we were full, we finished. But Russell still didn't eat. That's when the man and woman came back and... I'll leave it here. I'll be back next time with Part 2 because that's when things started to become scarier than before. From, Bucky."

The preteen finished his entry and closed the book. He sighed, remembering what happened after they finished eating. That was something he didn't want to even think about, and he was sure Russell didn't want to think about it again either...

Later on, he rejoined his friends in the children's room yet again (sans Rudy), as Albert presented more food for lunch. This time, he brought sandwiches that ranged from peanut butter to grilled cheese.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's another day." Albert said, "I hope you like it. I made them all myself..."

The boys gladly took the sandwich of their liking and began eating, "Thanks, Fat Albert." Harold said, "This is delicious..."

"Much better than the food those bad people gave us..." Russell nodded.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Donald spoke up, "That meat tasted like chicken, remember?"

"No. I don't. Cause I didn't eat it."

At the mention of food, Bucky brought out the journal, "Oh yeah, that reminds me. I wrote down something, Fat Albert." He then gave the green book to the large boy, who opened it and began to silently read the preteen's entry.

'Dear Journal...At first, I didn't know what to write about, but now, I have to talk about the food those bad people gave us. This was after they whipped the skin off our backs. We cleaned each other up, and they came back with some food later. Or at least, I hoped it was food. There was a bowl that was filled with what looked like sand and dirt were mixed together. It looked nasty. And there was a plate full of meat. It didn't even look like it was fully prepared.

The man told us that we had better eat it all or else we'll get punished again. But some of us weren't so sure if it was even edible. Rudy and Russell sure weren't keen on eating it. But Donald suggested that it might not taste bad since we haven't tried it yet. I figured he had a point, so I swallowed any nervousness I had and tried it. It... wasn't that bad. A little salty, but it was like oatmeal. I was able to persuade the other dudes to try it. Donald even tasted the meat and said it was like chicken. And he was right.

The only one who didn't eat anything was Russell, even though Bill tried to get him to, even promising to save something. He refused to try any food those people gave us. I think it was because that man and woman were trying to get us to respect them, and Russell wasn't trying to fall for it. Can't say I blame him.

Once we felt like we were full, we finished. But Russell still didn't eat. That's when the man and woman came back and... I'll leave it here. I'll be back next time with Part 2, because that's when things started to become scarier than before. From, Bucky'

Albert smiled a little. At least his friends didn't seem to suffer for a while based on this entry. But judging by that last part Bucky wrote down... it sure seemed like things were about to start happening again.

"Nice entry, Bucky. You and Harold both..." He said, "Anybody else wants to write anything...?"

Russell shook her head, "No... still not ready..."

"Meb neither..." Mush said, "Ib stillb don'tb knowb whatb tob writeb..."

"Neither do I..." Donald shrugged, "What do I write about anyway?"

"You can write about your feelings based on what happened with you dudes." Albert explained, "If you're not ready to talk about it, you can write about it for now."

"Oh..."

Albert then looked at Russell, "So, any updates on Bill's condition?" He asked.

The small child sighed, "They said that he responded slightly by moving a little... but he still hasn't woken up..."

"Hey, hey, hey. That's a good sign. At least he's responding to things. Maybe he'll wake up sooner than we think."

"I sure hope so..."

Suddenly, a shrill scream was heard from outside the room. It started the boys enough to make them curious as to what was going on. They all ran to the door (Harold wheeled there) and peeked outside.

What they saw was Rudy struggling as hard as he could, as some doctors were trying to restrain him. His parents watched this all unfold as his mother was sobbing in fear. The boys could also see Barbara, as she noticed them.

"What's wrong with Rudy?" Albert asked her.

"We were escorting him to see you, boys when we felt that he was ready. But all of a sudden, he started freaking out and nearly attacked his mother. We believe he's suffering a mental breakdown and we're gonna see if we can calm him..." She explained.

The boys frowned. Albert didn't know this, but the others had a pretty good idea on why Rudy was breaking down like this... and it wasn't a particularly nice idea either...

So Bucky tells the tale of the food the gang was served, and Rudy is suffering mentally. Next chapter, we'll see Rudy interact with his friends again, and probably get another entry. Possibly from Donald this time. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you guys later, and don't forget to review, please. Thank you!