Tourist Trap

Chapter 14

Max grabbed Sarah and pulled her behind an overturned vendor's stall. She tried to run to Zeke when she saw the badgers capture him, but Max restrained her. 

"What are you doing?" she cried. "We can't just let them take Zeke away!" 

"Do you want them to capture you, too?" Max asked. "Just stay down!" 

As quickly as the raid had begun, it was over. The barbarians had grabbed whatever items they could find off the various merchant stalls and then disappeared back into the jungle, taking Zeke captive along with them. 

Sarah stood up with a determined look on her face. "We have to go after him!" 

"Are you crazy, woman?" Max asked. "That would be suicide! Nobody survives the Black Jungle! Zeke's as good as dead. Just let him go." 

"What do you mean nobody survives the jungle? Those barbarians obviously do!" 

"Yeah, but they're creatures of the jungle. They've lived there their whole lives. They know the ins and outs of it and are aware of all the perils. We don't know the first thing about it. It'd be like walking into a minefield without a map! Besides, don't you want to find your uncle? That's a mighty big jungle. If you walk in there you won't emerge for days, if you come out alive at all, which is highly unlikely." 

Sarah continued to stare in frustration through the hole in the wall into the thick growth of trees beyond. She clenched her fists a couple times and then dropped her shoulders and let out a sigh. "I suppose you're right. Zeke will just have to fend for himself." 

"Poor guy," Max sniffed. "He was a good kid. It's a shame he had to perish so young. Well, anyway, it's getting dark and I'm getting sleepy. Let's go catch the Roto-Bus back to the hotel." 

"Ugh," Sarah groaned. "Not me. Those things make me queasy. I'd like to just find Bobby again and take the rickshaw." 

"It's going to take a long time to get back to the hotel by rickshaw," Max complained. "Come on, you'll get used to the Roto-Bus. It's really not that big of a deal." 

"No thank you," Sarah replied. "You can take it if you want to, but I think I'll go with Bobby. Besides, I'm not really tired yet. I might want to check out another lead. Do you know where this cloud factory is that Skip mentioned?" 

"No, not really," Max scratched his head. "Truthfully I've never heard of the place. It might be far away. Maybe we should ask around in the morning." 

"I'm going to see what I can find out tonight," she said stubbornly as she walked down the path towards where they had left Bobby and Timmy waiting, ignoring the sales pitches of the various street-side fortunetellers that called out to her as she passed. 

"Damn it," Max cursed. "I really am sleepy. But all right." He hopped along after her. 

They found Bobby and Timmy sitting down by their rickshaws, playing cards and engaged in an argument. 

"What do you mean you like fish better than horsemeat?" Timmy bellowed. 

"I'm just saying that given the choice, I prefer the taste of fish," Bobby explained. "That's all." 

"See, this is why I can't eat out with you," Timmy shook his head in disgust. "You have no taste whatsoever!" 

"Hey guys," Sarah called out. 

"Oh hello." They stood up and attempted to straighten out their shirts. 

"I guess we're ready to go now," she said. 

"Hey, what happened to that other guy?" Timmy asked. "Zack or whatever his name was?" 

"Oh you mean Zeke?" Max replied. "He's dead. The barbarians got him." 

"We don't really know that he's dead," Sarah snapped. "They just dragged him off into the jungle." 

Timmy and Bobby exchanged glances with each other. "Yep, he's dead." 

"How can you guys say that?" Sarah protested. "There's always a chance he might make it out alive." 

"I'll take that bet," Timmy chuckled. 

"Fine," Sarah looked downcast. "Well, I for one choose to believe he's alive and well and doing just fine. I don't care what you guys say. In the meantime, have you ever heard of a place called the cloud factory?" 

"Isn't that the new titty bar they just opened up in the Southeastern Quadrant?" Timmy asked. 

"Yeah, I think it is," Bobby replied. "Why, you need to go there?" 

"Why, yes we do," Max perked up. "Got a hot lead we need to check out! See? Didn't I tell you that every investigation worth its salt eventually goes through a strip club?" 

"Now hold on a minute here," Sarah sputtered. "I don't think my uncle would hang around in a place like that!" 

"Why not?" Max asked. "He's a man. He's got urges. Seems like a fine place to go into hiding to me. At least there'd be some nice scenery to look at." 

"Maybe you were right," Sarah said. "Maybe we should sleep on this. Ask around in the morning." 

"What?" Max asked incredulously. "Nonsense! All the hot chicks work at night! And besides, don't you think we stand a better chance of finding your uncle during the night hours when there's more action? Look, you can do whatever you want, but as for me, I never rest when an investigation is in full swing!" 

"All right, all right," Sarah sighed. "Let's go to the strip club. But I thought you said you were tired." 

"Tired of standing around and not making any forward progress on the investigation!" Max said cheerfully. "By the way, we may need to spring for a few lap dances. Those strippers need a little coaxing sometimes." 

"I can give you guys a ride if you want," Bobby offered. "It's not too far from here." 

"Aw, no fair!" Timmy growled. "I wanna go to the strip club!" 

"Shouldn't you go see a doctor or something?" Sarah asked. "You look like your nose might be broken." 

"It's nothing that can't be fixed by rubbing against a couple of oversized fake mammary glands," Timmy stated. "I don't care, you can ride with Bobby if you want, but I'm coming along too." 

"Fine with me," Max said. "Now let's go ogle some hot strippers! Oh yeah, and try to find your uncle too, of course," he added as an afterthought. 

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't know about this. But fine, let's go."