Part 320: Nice Kidnappers

Eddie slowly opened his eyes. The pain on his back let him know he was alive. He quickly rubbed his eyes, trying to make them focus. A small drop of water was dripping down on his forehead from above. Was he outside? No, the fake lights coming from the flickering halogen lamps above meant he was inside but another bunker. He knew this wasn’t the Shark Tank. Eddie grunted as he slowly leaned up off the cold concrete floor. The labored breathing to his right reminded him of his situation. “Sebastian!” he quickly turned.

The three year old boy was leaned up against the wall; his skin a pale gray and trying his best to breathe. Eddie quickly stumbled over to him. He didn’t know what to do considering that the only thing that could help him was somewhere else. “Sebastian, how long have you been without your medicine?” Eddie asked him.

The boy looked at his friend with sad eyes. He then slowly raised up four fingers.

“Four hours?” Eddie then tried his best to stay calm, “Do you know what kidnapped us?”

He shook his head NO.

“It’s got to be a Jaeger Unit,” the boy looked around, “That’s the only thing it could be. But why did it-“

Eddie then blinked. He saw the door to their concrete prison and realized it had more light coming from it than normal. The boy then slowly got up and walked toward it. Once he reached the door, he gently touched it with his fingertips and pushed. The door wasn’t locked. Eddie then remembered something that Tony once told him; if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Why would they put them in a room but not lock it? Eddie walked back over to Sebastian and kneeled in front of him. “Sebastian, our room is unlocked, “ the boy whispered, “I am going to go and check out.”

The boy looked a little afraid but understood why Eddie needed to check it out. It was foremost on his mind; the way out. Eddie then turned and walked toward the door, pushing it open. It opened up into another hallway with access rooms in various open spaces; similar to the Shark Tank. The boy began to creep down through the hallway quietly. As he past one door, he saw the Dharma symbol again, except it was different. It didn’t have a shark on it, like it did back in Broadway. It had the symbol of a wolf amid it’s letters. Eddie then blinked when heard voices.

Girls voices.

He turned around and went to walk into the other room. Eddie stopped when he saw two girls on a couch, laughing at a magazine. One was blonde haired and the other was a black girl. They looked like they were roughly his own age. They continued to browse through the magazine, making Eddie take a closer look at it’s cover. It was a picture of a man with slightly long hair and the cover read Tiger Beat. Eddie admitted to himself he never heard of it. The two girls then stopped when they realized he was standing over near a recliner. The black girl looked a little bit alarmed but the blonde girl produced a slight smile. “Hey,” she grinned.

“Hey,” he replied back.

“We were worried you weren’t gonna wake up,” she giggled.

“Well . . .I did . . .,” Eddie replied, still confused, “Uh . ..where am I?”

“Lone Wolf Station.” She said, as if it was obvious.

“And . . .that thing that brought me here?”

“Goodwin calls it Fleshmonger. He found it on the beach about a year ago.”

“Should you really be telling him all that stuff?” the black girl scoffed.

“Why not? It’s not like he can do anything.” The blonde girl giggled.

“I didn’t catch your name.” Eddie pointed out.

“Me? My name is Dana. This is Carly Beth.” The blonde said, then smiled, “What is your name?”

“Eddie.”

“Welcome to Lone Wolf Station, Eddie.” A boy said behind him.

Eddie turned around and found another boy looking at him. He was a little bit muscular than a normal kid. He might have been nine or ten; Eddie couldn’t tell. He then extended his hand as if he wanted to shake his hand. “Abraham.” He introduced himself.

Eddie shook his hand and then Abraham began to squeeze it. Eddie grunted, feeling his hand being crushed. He realized what the kids was doing; a playground test of strength. The young boy then started to squeeze back. Abraham then smiled as he felt a slight bit of pain. “Good,” he smiled, finally letting go, “I respect a boy with no fear.”

“Good for you,” Eddie said, shaking his hand.

“You hungry?” the other kid slapped him on the arm.

“You in charge, Abraham?” Eddie asked, following him.

“I guess,” the boy looked at him, “Or are you talking about Goodwin?”

“Goodwin,” Eddie massaged his wrist, “He controls that monster?”

“yeah, he does. We stay away from it. Creeps me out, daddy-o.” Abraham reached up and pulled down a bag of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

Eddie looked around in the kitchen. It was practically like the kitchen at the Shark Tank. Abraham walked past the massive table in the middle and pulled out a jar of Jelly from the fridge. He then began to place it on the table and started to make one. “You think the other kid might one want one?” Abraham asked.

“Look, Abraham,” Eddie said, “I need to get him out of here. He requires medicine every one hundred and eight minutes. He might stop breathing if I don’t-“

“Chill out, bro,” the taller kid flopped the PB&J down in front of him, “He’s got four days.”

“Wha . .four days for what?”

“Four days before the inflammation in his lungs dies down,” Abraham pulled out some kool-aid, “ then he’ll be fine.”

Eddie was confused. If he was going to fine in four days, then why did Desmond and Isabella want to give him the medicine all the time? The little boy then shook his head, trying to maintain focus and keep with his goal. “Wait, “ Eddie said, “How do you know he’ll be fine in four days?”

“Because I went through the same thing,” the taller kid admitted, “ We all did. Do you want lemonade or fruit punch?”

Eddie stared at the boy in complete awestruck. He was technically his jailer but he was treating him as if he had come over to spend the night. Abraham held the two jugs aloft; waiting for an answer. “Fruit punch,” Eddie finally admitted.

Abraham then began to pour him a glass of the slightly red liquid. Eddie stared at the sandwich and wanted to consume it. But he then moved to his right and grabbed the fixings to make Sebastian one. “You think the other kid wants fruit punch too?” Abraham asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Eddie said, as he made him a sandwich.

“Don’t be such a spaz, Eddie,” Abraham put the jug away, “Goodwin is gonna let you go soon anyway.”

Eddie slid Sebastian’s glass of punch toward himself. “Why would he want me to go?” the little boy asked.

“Cause he doesn’t want you, dude. He wants the others. The Ruler of the Army and the High Mountain.”

Eddie blinked, wondering what language the kid spoke of. “What . ..what are you talking about?” Eddie asked.

“His name is Walt, isn’t it?” a red head girl walked in, “Short for Walter?”

Eddie stared at the girl with her perfect red hair. She had freckles across her cheeks and gave him a funny look. “Yeah, Walt is his name.” Eddie admitted, “What does this have to do with him?”

“His name is Walter and it means the ruler of the army,” the young girl grinned, “Like Aaron. It means, High Mountain.”

“Really.” Eddie whispered.

“What is your name, ace?” she cooed.

“Eddie.”

“Eddie. Short for Edward, meaning the Rich Guard.”

“Bunny knows all the name meaning.” Abraham said with a mouth full of a sandwich.

“What is the other kid’s name?”

“Sebastian.” He told her.

“Ohhh. Sebastian.” Bunny giggled, “From the Roman name Sebastianus which meant "from Sebaste" in Latin. Let me guess. His mother is Spanish?”

“Yeah,” he had to admit he was a little impressed.

“That explains it. But you might want to watch him.”

“Why is that?”

“Saint Sebastian was a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred by arrows after it was discovered he was a Christian.” Bunny smirked, “Maybe . . .the same thing might happened to him.”

“Shut yo’mouth, Bunny,” Abraham said, chugging down his kool-aid, “No body likes a know-it-all.”

“Your mama.” Bunny snapped back at his insult.

“Okay, I am Audi 5000,” the taller kid replied, “We are going to go do some ping pong in the game room. You wanna come, Eddie?”

“Uh . .no, I am going to take this food to Sebastian.”

“Okay, I’ll catch you on the flipside.” Abraham began to walk away.

Eddie then picked up a tray and placed the two sandwiches plus the two glasses of fruit punch. He then picked it up and proceeded to walk back toward the hallway. He slowly looked over his shoulder and realized Bunny was following him. He continued to walk hearing her footsteps behind him. “Is there some reason why you are following me?” Eddie asked her.

“I’m just curious, Eddie,” she giggled, “where you come from?”

“America.” He said, blankly.

“Is it as bad as Goodwin says?”

Eddie then paused for a second. “Why?” he coughed, “What has he told you?”

“He said that America is plagued by wars.” She said in all seriousness, “That mutates roam the streets, especially in the Northern cities. People like you must hide in sewers and underground bunkers then come up in the daytime to get food cause the mutates hate the sunlight.”

“That sounds like a bad horror film,” the kid giggled, “No, America is not like that.”

“But . .but Goodwin said-“

“Goodwin is a liar.”

“DON’T CALL HIM THAT!” she screamed, “He’s a good man, who saved us from our evil parents.”

“Somehow, Bunny, “ Eddie said, “I don’t think your parents were evil.”

Eddie continued to walk toward the door and then felt alarmed when he saw the door opened more than he pushed it. He then pushed his way into the room, only to see a taller kid in there with Sebastian. What made it even more strange and disturbing is that the new kid had forced the child into a corner and was literally poking him with a stick. “It needs to shut up,” the kid said.

Sebastian covered his eyes and whined, as the stick poked him in the arm. Eddie put the food down and walked over to the taller kid. “Get away from him,” Eddie ordered.

“It minds it’s own business,” the kid turned to face him.

“Eddie, you don’t want to mess with Woogie.” Bunny informed him.

“Woogie?” Eddie laughed,” Why wouldn’t I want to defend my friend from a bully with a stupid name?”

Woogie approached him with an evil demeanor. “Did it just insult me?” the kid said.

Then before Eddie could say anything, Woogie grabbed him by his shirt and tucked him under his arm in a headlock. Bunny then gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Woogie, let go of him!” she begged.

“It needs to be taught a lesson,” he grunted, “It needs to know that I run this show. Goodwin has appointed me in charge of ---YAHHHH! YAHHHH!!”

Bunny blinked from the taller kids yelling. Then it donned on her that the reason he screamed was because Eddie rammed his forearm into Woogie’s crotch twice. The taller kid took a deep breath as he gasped for air and grabbed his privates; falling onto the floor. “Piss ant!” the older kid grunted.

Eddie straightened his shirt and coughed. Then he picked up the stick the crazy kid had in his hands. The young boy walked over toward him and proceeded to poke him in the ribs with it; promoting a giggling sound from Sebastian. “Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Eddie asked him.

Woogie just tried to shove the stick away.

“Get out.” Eddie ordered him.

“It . .will pay.” The kid then began to crawl toward the door.

Bunny stared in awestruck as Woogie crawled on his hands and knees to exit the small room. Eddie scooted the tray over toward his younger friend. Sebastian was still working in his labored breathing but he managed to reach up to the sandwich and proceed to eat it. Eddie then turned to look at Bunny but was confused by the shocked look she was giving him. “What?” he finally asked.

“No one . . .has ever stood up to Woogie.” She whispered.

“He’s a dillweed.” The young boy replied, sitting down next to Sebastian.

“Dillweed?” Bunny smiled, “That’s an insult, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I like it.” She giggled, “Can I use it?”

Eddie felt annoyed and even more confused than he was four minutes ago. These kids were talking strange and this cute girl was asking his permission to use an insult? The young boy rubbed his face. If anything Tony taught him, it was that you get all the facts before knowing how to handle any situation. “You guys . . .are holding us hostage so you can exchange us for Walt and Aaron?” Eddie repeated.

“That’s right,” Bunny agreed.

“Their parents . . .are not going to let them go.”

“Sure they will.” She giggled again.

“No, Bunny, THEY WON’T.” the young boy hissed, “Now what I need to know . . .is what happens to me and Sebastian when they don’t? Is Goodwin gonna hurt us?”

“Why would he do that?” she said, turning around, “You worry too much, Eddie. They’ll let Walter and Aaron come live with us and you two can go home. You’ll see.”

Eddie watched her leave the room with a slight skip in her step. He then looked to Sebastian who looked back at him, munching on his sandwich amid random coughs. “She’s nice but she’s stupid.” He commented.

Sebastian nodded his head in agreement.

“Something tells me Goodwin is not going to be making us sandwiches and letting us play ping pong when your four days is up, Sebastian,” Eddie whispered, “I only hope Jack and the others can get us out of here before that happens.”

Sebastian nodded his head again.

Eddie then took his sandwich and proceeded to eat it. He was going to need his strength cause at the moment, he didn’t plan on sleeping. Not with that freak Woogie right out the door. The little boy sipped on his punch and hoped that he would be seeing his mother soon.