Emerging Compassions
Chapter 5: A Trap Door
(Carl's POV)
"Okay, Neutron, how are we gonna know what's edible and what's not?" Cindy snapped, arms folded as we ventured ever deeper into the island jungle.
Jimmy simply pulled something out of his hypercube and responded calmly, "With this! When I aim it at something, it'll display on its screen whether what it's aimed at is edible or not! It can also show who likes what! In order to do that, I'll need a DNA sample from each of you. I've already added mine to the database, so I just need the rest of you to cooperate with me and give me a strand of your hair, please."
Libby, Sheen, and I readily gave him a sample for him to put into that gadget of his, but Cindy wasn't so willing, it seemed, because when he leaned over to her to get a sample, she slapped his hand away and ran a few feet away from him.
"Nerd-tron, you are NOT touching a hair on my head! Just get away from me with that thing, Freak Brain!" she protested.
"Vortex, this is the only way you'll find food easily! I just need your DNA in order to do so! Fine. If you want to do it the hard way, then be my guest!" he told her matter-of-factly. With that, he led us away further into the jungle, Cindy lagging behind a short distance away, dragging her feet ever so slowly.
Suddenly, we heard a snap of a twig being broken behind us, as if it was stepped on, then the sound of a leaf covering giving way and Cindy screaming as she fell into a hole.
We ran over to where she fell and looked into the hole. We saw that it was made of dirt for about 20 feet, then turned into a metal tunnel that led to who knows where. We could still hear her screaming, but it got fainter as she got deeper into the tunnel until we couldn't hear her anymore. Jimmy seemed the most concerned, because he stepped all the way to the edge and stooped over to get a better look into it. He was apparently too close to the edge, because his foot slipped on the loose vegetation on the jungle floor and fell in feet-first on his back, screaming the whole time as well. Then the ground crumbled beneath the rest of us and Libby, Sheen, Goddard, and I fell in, too, screaming at the top of our lungs the whole time.
We slid down the tunnel for about 20 seconds, then exited it and landed on a heavily-padded floor, which was covered in pillows. Cindy landed first, soon to be followed by Jimmy, who landed right on top of her, which I'm pretty sure she hated with a passion. Then the rest of us fell out and landed in random places all over the pillow-covered floor, thankful we weren't hurt or anything by our fall. But, there was one problem: we couldn't see anything. It was darker than a dark cellar at midnight with someone putting black wool gloves over one's eyes and their eyes being shut. But we did hear a deep voice calling out to us from who knows where, saying, "Agent Neutron, I've been expecting you..."
"I know that voice!" I heard Jimmy exclaim. Then, right behind us, a howling noise followed by 2 lit-up eyes came up behind us. It was Goddard! He landed from out of the tunnel right next to his master and licked him 'till he pushed him down gently. Then he added, "I'd recognize that voice anywhere! It's...!"