Hell on Earth

Chapter Forty Seven - Friends Forever

Cynthia didn't know why she was feeling the effect of the drugs more than her friends, but she didn't like it. Her head was light and fuzzy and awful. She was having a bad trip on whatever was put into that syringe. God, she hoped it wasn't going to kill her.

"Honestly, I don't really feel anything," Steve said. "Do you guys?"

"I mean, I, I feel fine," Robin said. "I feel normal."

Cynthia felt her head spin. She bit her lip to keep her from saying anything, but it didn't work, "I feel awful."

"Yeah, I feel, I feel fine," Steve said. He sounded a bit more loopy. "I kind of feel good."

"Wanna know a secret?" Robin asked.

Cynthia started to zone out. Her ears were ringing and her cheeks felt warm. She blinked hard to try and center her vision. The lights were too bright and everything was too loud. Whatever the Russians gave her had put her into complete sensory overload. Cynthia was acutely aware of the rope digging at her wrists and the tag on the back of her shirt. Suddenly, the loose hair on the back of her neck felt like tiny, cutting razor. She wanted to jump out of her body. All she wanted was for this to be over.

The lead Russian's voice centered her. There was something constant about the harshness. "Let's try this again, yes? Who do you work for?"

"Scoops," Robin said.

"Scoops Ahoy," Steve said.

"At the ice cream place," Cynthia said. She closed her eyes to try and ground herself.

"How did you find us?" the man asked.

"Totally by accident," Steve said.

"More lies," someone said.

"What is that shiny little toy?" Robin asked.

"Where you going with that, doc?" Steve asked.

Cynthia opened her eyes and saw the doctor was coming for her. She tried to back up, but she couldn't move. All the hairs on the back of her arms were standing straight up.

"That's the truth!" she panicked.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, hey," Robin shouted.

"Wait! No! Wait! Wait!" Steve got their attention. "Whoa! There was a code! We heard a code!"

"Code?" the Russian asked. "What code?"

Robin recited the message, "'The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west.' Blah, blah, blah. You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here."

"Who knows we are here, little bitch?" the Russian man asked.

"People," Cynthia said. "Really, really smart people."

"Uh, well, Dustin knows," Steve said.

Cynthia tried to look over her shoulder at him, "We don't talk about Dustin, remember?"

"Hey, Steve?" Robin said.

"Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows," Steve sounded more confident.

"Steve!" Robin said.

"Dustin Henderson," the Russian man contemplated. "It is your small, curly-haired friend?"

"If you touch him, I kill you," Cynthia said through the blood racing to her head.