CAGED ANIMALS
Story Recap
Last time, Mark witnessed Kent being used as a plaything by several of the Grunts. It gave him insight into why Kent looked so bad every night when he returned to the cage. Showing concern for Kent, Mark tried to connect with him as a friend. Kent responded by accusing Mark of trying to steal Shay away from him.
A PLAN FORMS . . . . Chapter 27
At the end of the workday, Mark was once again returned to the big cage, and was relieved to see all the others had returned too. Mark’s ribs felt bruised and he still had a headache from being pounded in the head earlier in the day.
He sat next to Ernest and scanned the cage to see how everyone else had fared. Louis was nursing a black eye and a bloody nose. Kidra was trying to help him, reaching out with a finger to touch the purple skin around his darkened eye. He swatted her away, telling her he didn’t need her help. Ziggy’s back had been knocked out of whack. He made the mistake of lying down on the floor of the cage and was unable to get up. Mindy sat next to him, laughing at him.
Shay walked slowly across the cage, looking at everyone but not seeming to see anyone. Her face looked sad and far away. Mark watched as she sat down next to Kent who had been looking at the floor, deep in thought. Kent forced a smile when she sat down. Her face remained blank and Kent reached out to pick up her hand. She pulled it away and stood, then walked away to sit by Kidra. Kent’s smile turned to a frown and he lay back down slowly, wincing in pain.
Next, Mark noticed Vivian was back in her usual spot, lying on her side, looking at nothing. Moving closer to her, Mark asked, “Did the cardboard help, Vivian?”
She took a few seconds before responding, but finally, her eyes shifted up to Mark and she said, “Yes, I like the cardboard.”
Seeing that she would not talk any further, Mark smiled and went back to where he’d been sitting. Abby met him there and sat down next to him and Ernest. The three of them spoke together about their day with their alien and soon the conversation turned to finding a way off the planet and going back to Earth. They all noticed across the cage, that Shay, Louis, Kent, Kidra, Ziggy, and Mindy had also gravitated toward each other and were deep in discussion. They talked quietly, making it hard for Mark and his group to hear much of what their group was saying. They could tell by the BOOM sound that Louis was making with his mouth every few minutes that they were talking about blowing up the aliens.
Tyrone sat alone, his back against the bars of the cage, chewing on a Baby Ruth candy bar. He was having trouble peeling the wrapper back due to an apparent injury on his upper arm. Tyrone gave up trying to use his arm and resorted to using his teeth instead, pulling the paper off with a jerk of his head.
Mark still had no ideas on how to get on Tyrone’s good side so he turned his attention back to his small group. He asked Ernest if he’d seen anything new on the spaceship. Ernest replied, “Well, I saw something today that might be good. But, I don’t really know yet.”
“What?” asked Mark. He and Abby gave Ernest their full attention.
“I saw a 3D picture of Earth on this one long monitor over Sandy’s control panel.”
“Really?” Mark said. “Are you pretty sure it was Earth?”
“Yes, it has blue water and brownish-green land and the swirling white clouds. I took a picture of it to show you.” Ernest picked up his phone and brought up a picture.
The bottom half of the photo showed the back of Sandy, sitting in his captain’s chair. Above Sandy’s head, the picture showed a long horizontal video screen that showed nine planets in a horizontal line. Starting from the left, the planet in the number five position looked exactly like all the photos of Earth Mark had ever seen.
Mark pointed at part of the photo and said, “That little bit of land there, between the clouds, even looks like North America. I think you’re right, Ernest. That’s Earth. I wonder what if it means anything?”
Abby said sharply, “It’s our home. Of course, it means something.”
Mark felt verbally attacked by Abby but he decided to let it go and keep his focus on what really mattered. To Ernest, he said, “Can you keep a close eye on the screen tomorrow?”
“I’m on it,” Ernest nodded his head. “I’ll watch and see if Earth is still up there.”
“Right. And while you’re at it, watch Sandy too. See how he flies the ship.”
Ernest’s tone shifted to unsure, “I’ll try, but it’s kind of hard to see what he’s doing from where I’m kept.”
Abby snapped, “Then get up and move.”
“But, he doesn’t like it when I move out of my spot,” Ernest said, looking uncomfortable with the conversation.
Abby continued, “So? Do you like being stuck on this stupid planet? I don’t.“ She was visibly angry, leaning toward Ernest who was shrinking back from her.
Mark placed his hand on Abby’s shoulder and said, “Hey, Abby. No need to get so upset. Ernest is the bringer of good news. I’m sure he’ll do the best he can tomorrow.”
Abby looked down, suddenly ashamed. She leaned back and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Ernest.”
Ernest said, “It’s okay. We’re all under a lot of stress.”
Abby nodded her agreement and then glanced at the other group who were still huddled together whispering. “Those guys have really got me on edge with their crazy plan.”
Mark said, “I know what you mean. But between you and me, I don’t think they’ll do it. I mean, killing yourself is kind of extreme if you ask me.”
“I hope you’re right.”
The three of them sat in silence for a minute, all three looking down, deep in thought. Abby broke the silence, “Can we pray?”
Mark said, “Sure. Ernest, will you pray?”
Ernest nodded, then bowed his head and began a quiet prayer.
When the prayer was over the three of them sat quietly for a while, munching on snacks and drinking water. Conversation came and went among the group, talking mostly about memories of home.
A little while later, the other meeting broke up and the others began to settle in for the night. Seeing that no one was talking, Mark decided to make one final announcement for the night. He raised his voice and told everyone about the cardboard shield Ernest made for Vivian. Several of them seemed receptive to the idea and soon they were creating their own shields from cardboard boxes.
Kent was one of the ones who ignored Mark’s idea. When Shay questioned him about it, he replied, “I don’t need it. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not!” She said standing over him. “You have cuts and bruises all over you.”
“I’ll be fine,” He said again. Then he showed her the two purple pods in his right hand. “As soon as I take one of these little beauties.”
“Kent, no!” Shay sounded disappointed.
He lifted his hand toward her, “Here, I got the other one for you.”
“I thought we went over this last night? You can’t keep taking those things. It will ruin you.”
He lowered his hand and dropped one of the pods back into the box, then said, “Ha, like I’m not already ruined.” He prepared to put the other pod into his mouth.
“Don’t you dare!”
He shoved it in, then lay back on the floor of the cage, closing his eyes.
Shay sighed loudly in frustration then turned away from Kent to face the others. “Guys, we need to stay away from these pods unless someone is really sick or injured.”
Ziggy was still lying on his back on the floor. He said, “What’s it matter? Aren’t we gonna blow this place sky high in a few days?”
Shay hesitated, seeming to realize he had a good point. Then she said, “We think we’re going to blow this place. But, we’re still not ready.” She paced as she talked, looking troubled. “We still don’t have one of those tube weapons yet. It might be days, or even weeks before we’re ready. I mean, what if we get caught by the Grunts and they torture us or feed us to those hairy things? We need to be sharp so we can carry out our plan without messing it up. We won’t be sharp with those pods in our system.”
Mark watched her speak and noticed she looked horrified at what she was saying.
Ziggy had a baggy of something in one hand and he held it up for all to see, “Whatever Dude. I’ve got my own stuff anyway. I don’t need those purple things.”
Mindy scolded him, “Ziggy! They don’t need to know about those. They’re gonna think we’re a couple of druggies.”
“But we are! Ha ha … oww.” Mindy punched his arm.
“What are those?” Kidra asked, referring to the baggie of round white pills.
“They’re Quaaludes,” Mindy said, her face turning red. “We haven’t been sleeping well, so we thought we’d each take half of a pill tonight to help.”
Shay said, “Do whatever you want. I’m not here to judge you. But, I hope you’ll be able to wake up okay in the morning.”
Ziggy said, “That’s why we’re only taking a half pill. Mindy won’t let me take any more.”
A little while later, as Mark prepared his spot on the floor to go to sleep for the night, he watched Ziggy and Mindy break one of the Quaaludes and each put their half in their mouth. They lay down next to each other and closed their eyes.
Mark had trouble sleeping again. He closed his eyes but remained fully awake for a while. Lying on his back with a folded piece of cardboard beneath his head for a pillow, he heard the sound of someone messing with their personal belongings in the direction where Ziggy and Mindy were lying. The sound was coming from behind Mark so he couldn’t see what they were doing. After a minute or so, the rustling sounds stopped and the cage was quiet again. Mark wondered what was going on behind him, but he decided he really didn’t need to know and forgot about it.
Later, he was still wide awake and heard the buzzing sound coming from outside the window. It gave him the chills. When the noise finally died down, he had one more thought before falling asleep, “God … if you can hear me … please get us out of this place.”
Mark slept for several hours.
Next Week, Chapter 28 … THE LONG SLEEP
Fantastical Worlds is free to my subscribers. However, if you are interested in helping me fulfill my dream of writing full-time, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
