"Yeah, I'm fine now. Are you okay? How about Mike? And Peter?" he asked. I remembered that Micky didn't know much, since he was stuck in this claustrophobic room.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Peter should be okay. If not, he can get a doctor. I got him out, Mick. I think, anyway. I don't know if he made it home. And last I saw, Mike was okay except for egg in his hair."
"Egg in his hair? You got Peter out? Wow. Who would have thought throwing eggs at Mike would be the key to opening the cage?" he asked, grinning.
I laughed. "No, silly," I said. " Nobody threw eggs at Mike. They just landed on his head by accident." I explained what had happened; how Mike had gotten eggs on his head and how I'd gotten Peter out. He was rather bewildered at this.
"You mean you didn't follow Peter home because you wanted to rescue me?" he asked. "Wow."
"Not really, Micky," I said. " We weren't sure if you were even alive. I had to at least find out if you were dead."
"Gee, Davy, I didn't think you'd do all that for me," he said.
"Course we would, Mick," I said, wondering why he was being so modest. It wasn't like him.
Back at the pad, Peter was getting worried. It was nearly nighttime, and I hadn't returned. Neither had Micky, obviously. Mike attempted to hide it, but Peter knew that he was worried, too. After Mike had washed the egg out of his hair (which took a full half-hour), he busied himself in other menial, unimportant tasks. He washed the dishes, although they weren't dirty. He swept the floor and vacuumed the rugs, though they didn't need it, and dusted everything, though nothing was dusty. Peter sat down on the couch and watched Mike, amused. Mike dusted every little trinket, instrument, and knick-knack in the house and then dusted it again. Peter just watched as Mike went over the entire place. Once, there was a knock at the door. Mike jumped up and looked extremely nervous. It was amusing because he was trying not to show that he was nervous, although he was, and this made him more nervous. He was obviously disturbed when he discovered that it was only the mailman.
Finally, they ate dinner, and afterwards, Peter went to Mike.
"Mike, I don't think they'll make it," he said, sadly.
"Yeah, Pete, I guess you're right," he said. "I guess we know what this means." He sighed. "I hope they're alright."
"They should be," Peter said. "The way I see it, they probably won't be hurt. I was never hurt. Then again, they could be really mad at Davy for getting me out and take it out on him physically. "
"Thanks, Pete," Mike said. "That really gives me hope." He smiled, sadly. "Well, I'm not doing anything useful around here. Might as well go to bed. 'Night Pete." Mike headed up the stairs to bed. Peter looked at his watch. It was only 8:30. He sighed.
"'Night Mike," he said.
Thankfully, Peter was right the first time. They didn't do anything to hurt us. Or me, anyway. From what I could tell, Micky hadn't been hurt, either, except for the fact that he'd been given quite a few experimental drugs. They didn't really do anything to him, except give him more nightmares and insomnia. We were given food only once a day, the same mush that they'd fed Peter. It didn't have much of a taste, something of a combination between sand and mud. We ate it because there was nothing else, and we weren't about to starve to death. After the initial shock of being shoved in a dark and dirty room, boredom arrived. It was dark in there, since there were no windows. The hours seemed to be a day each, each minute an hour, each day a year. When I learned later I'd only been there a day, it was a shock to me. It'd seemed more like at least a week, though there was no way to tell time. To pass the hours of boredom, I drew on the dirt floor. Pictures of trees, bushes, stick figures, whatever came to mind. It was a way to pass the time. Once, I suggested, half-heartedly, that Micky and I play Hangman or something, but he declined.
When nighttime came, he graciously allowed me to sleep on the cot, and I did, resting somewhat comfortably. Micky said that he didn't feel really tired, anyway. And so, the day ended uneventfully.
Until I was awakened later that night by an earth-shattering roar of a large animal.....
Wanna read more? Well... Go on to part sixteen
