“They all just disappeared,” Mia said to Murphy. “But how?”
Murphy motioned to leave and move at his high speed.
“No, stay. I’m scared, Murphy. Don’t leave me. What if I disappear too?” she asked.
He nodded and moved beside her.
“Let’s go to the bar. It’s where Mike was last.”
~
Mike coughed, trying to clear the tightness in his chest. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find he was in total darkness. He was hanging over a beam of some kind. He moved his hand along his body and was satisfied he was not being restrained by anything. He moved his body off the beam until his feet connected with a hard surface. He heard breathing near him. “Hello?”
“Mike, is that you?” Burt asked in the darkness.
“Yes, where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Burt answered. “Where are the others?”
“I’ve been conscious for a while now, and you are the first that I’ve heard. I’m going to move towards you,” Mike said.
“Wait!” Ted’s voice called out from the darkness.
A blinding flash assaulted their eyes as Ted lit a light disc and dropped it to the ground in front of Mike.
Once the blue dots settled down, Mike found that he had been a half inch from falling to his death. He was on a stone ledge, and before him was a deep pit. Behind him was a shallow alcove. Burt was lying in the corner. Ted was suspended above them on another rock outcropping. Cid was unconscious, with Audrey lying on top of him, ten feet from Mike.
“I think, when the floor fell away, he managed to shield Audrey from the fall with his body,” Burt said.
Mike moved to the couple and gently tapped Audrey’s face until she opened her eyes. “Can you move your hands and feet for me, Audrey?” Mike asked.
“What? Why? Yes. I’m alright. What happened?”
“We fell through the floor,” Burt explained.
“Like in the Rosemount hotel?”
“No, there wasn’t a slide, just air,” he said.
Audrey lifted the limp hand off her stomach and turned. “Oh my god, is that Cid?” she asked, getting up. Audrey knelt down and examined her human shield. “He’s breathing, but there’s a gurgling coming from his chest.”
Mike helped her to move him onto his left side. “Stay with him.”
Mike walked over and took in Burt’s condition. It didn’t take a genius to see he had broken his leg. Mike looked around him for something to use as a splint. Aside from rocks and dirt, the shelf they had landed on was bare. Mike took off his jeans and doubled them up and positioned them beside the injured leg. He then helped Burt off with his shirt which he ripped into strips. Once he had knotted enough together, he repositioned Burt’s leg and used the denim as a soft cast and secured the injury.
“I wouldn’t try to get up, but maybe this will keep it from getting worse,” Mike said. He looked up. “Ted, mind telling me how you are doing up there?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got rebar through my thigh.”
“Are you bleeding?”
“Yes, but the rebar missed the main artery. As long as I don’t move, I think I can hold my own for a while.”
“He’s used to holding his own,” Cid rasped from the floor.
Mike put his hand on his mouth to stop the laughter. Audrey wasn’t as successful. Burt, even through his pain, laughed.
“Ted, I hate to put you on the spot, but would you mind inventorying your pockets before you pass out?”
“Three light discs, one energon cube, some wire, an extra cell phone battery, my cell - and no, it has no bars - six rubbers, breath mints…”
“Wait, you have six rubbers in your pockets?” Mike asked.
“Um, Mia has been a bit randy lately. Dude, she wants it all the time. I’m just being prepared.”
“Oh gross,” Audrey said. “TMI, Ted.”
“Lucky guy,” Mike said. “Go on, what else have you got?”
“I have a small first aid kit and two small saltshakers.”
“Okay. How long will the light discs last?”
“Six hours.”
“Really? Good. Keep one with you, and toss down the other two.”
Mike caught the discs and set them aside. “I think you’re going to need most of that first aid kit up there, but if you could toss some pain relievers down... We’ve got to keep Burt’s leg from swelling too badly.”
“Okay, everybody, empty your pockets. I’ll be around to collect what we have.”
“I’m sending down the kit. I’ve kept the tourniquet, antibiotic cream and some gauze pads. You can have the rest,” Ted said. “Anybody seen Mia?”
“She’s not down here,” Mike said.
“I told her to stay in her room and sent Murphy to be with her when the doors started slamming,” Ted reported. “Thank God she listened to me for once.”
“Why is this happening?” Audrey asked.
Mike activated the ice pack and handed it to Cid to hold to the back of his head. “When we caught that Nowicki guy outside, he threatened Mia. Said the Nowickis were going to rise up and kill us all.”
“Hey, a heads-up would have been nice,” Cid groaned from the floor.
“I was waiting until Mia came back so we could have a mini meeting.” Mike picked up the disc and held it over his head before he looked up. “Anybody have any idea how far we fell?”
“The blackness is eating up the light,” Ted reported.
“Cover your heads, guys. I’m going to toss some pebbles up to see if I can hit the top of this thing,” Mike warned. He chose his projectiles carefully They had to be heavy enough not to throw his shoulder out and small enough not to hurt anyone as they landed. “Here goes.” Mike took a few steps, angled his body and sent the rock
