Mythlands: THE HEIST

Melt Away

Chee-Chee stumbled along, his hands bound behind his back. His head was covered with a black bag.

'Yip yiiiiiip. Chee-Chee, I'ma sceered!!'

'Jip? That you?' he cried out.

'No talking,' one of the men growled, shoving him in the back.

Chee-Chee stumbled and fell to his knees. Moments later he felt arms lifting him on both sides and he was dragged along, down flights of stairs, then an elevator ride and out into cooler air.

'Must be the basement, or I ain't Doc Doolittle's fav'rit monkey, no sir!!' he muttered.

'You were told no talking.' the guttural voice admonished him and something that felt like the butt of a pistol slammed into his jaw. Everything went black for a second and then his senses only recorded flashes.

Being thrown into the van. Jip's panicked barking, mumbled voices and some static sound that reminded him of ... yes, these ol boys were talkin inta walkie talkies jus like ol Chee-Chee his own self used in his job ... former job. 'Reckon i'm fired,' he muttered. 'On accounta breachin security. Now why'd I go n do a thing like that, goldurn it!'

Another voice and the crackle of a hand held. 'Earth2 to Water1. Packages en route to off site facility. ETA ...'

Chee-Chee passed out and woke again as they hauled him out of the van. He'd been able to chew a bit at the bag and it had shifted so he could see through a tiny hole. Harsh glaring light almost blinded him but he could see concrete below his feet. They were passing through a yard. Door up ahead guarded by two para military looking types with machine guns - one was human and the other was an upright reindeer.

A code was fed into the door and the soldiers stepped aside, allowing the men in black to drag their two prisoners inside, down some steps, through a corridor and into a huge warehouse space, where they were secured to chairs.

Finally their hoods were removed. Three of the Zodiac including Cancer himself, stood in front of them and he could sense more of the black suited security firm behind them.

Jip was howling and his fur stunk of piss.

'Quiet!' A Zodiac ... looked like Aries, struck the poor hound in the head with a pistol.

'Gentleman, I want to assure you of the seriousness of your position,' Cancer addressed them. They gave him their full attention.

'Zodiac have been authorised to use any and all measures to extract your cooperation. To that end you have been taken to what we call a black box facility. Your legal statuses have been rendered null and void. In short gentlemen, you have no rights, you don't exist and we can detain you here indefinitely.'

'Dh dh ...'

'What's that Mr Chee-Chee?'

'Dh ... Doc'll come fer us. Doc Doolittle's a comin.' But even as he said the words, Chee-Chee knew nobody was coming. He felt his spirit and will to resist melt away ...