Man on the Inside

Man on the Inside - Part 3

Louis woke up with half his body in a puddle of something akin to water, but it was too slimy and hot. His left shoulder ached like a bitch, as if someone had tried to pull his arm out of its socket, and it was dark. Where was he? How long had he been out? It was wet everywhere, but soft in a strange sort of way, like he was lying on a waterlogged foam mattress. And the smell, it reminded him of the nurse's office back in high school.

Then he remembered. The compound, he and William had been separated. He had been yelling a storm, cursing Retten out as the bloated creep leered at him and ordered his cronies to take away his weapons. Then he had been shoved into a room lined with wires, mirrors, and sparking machinery where he was sprayed with something, and a light shined on him that was nearly blinding. Maybe he was blind? That would explain the darkness.

After the light all he could remember was a tight, wet chute that crushed the life out of him.

Louis's wet body started to shiver. It had been like being buried alive...

His chest was heaving, his breath a heavy pant. Earthen walls caving in on him, choking and being crushed by stone, water, and dirt.

I'm hyperventilating. I need to calm down or I'll pass out again... but I don't want to be here! He clawed at the ground around him.

"No, no, no, no, no..." he muttered to himself. He would die here, he had to get out. Where was William? What happened to him? William could find him; he always did somehow, that damned geek-boy sonar of his. Where was he? Did Retten put that slob in here too?

The ground beneath him bucked and growled, splaying him on the other side of what seemed to be a chamber, not a coffin. But that wasn't reassuring. The walls and ground beneath him had an iambic pulse, like he was seated in the base of someone's car stereo. It was so powerful that it vibrated through his body. Louis put his hands over his ears, hitting one of the ear buds. He was trapped in a place that moved with the intent to kill him. Only one thing came to mind.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

---

The scream in William's SkySprecht made him jump off the pavement outside the partially abandoned apartment complex on Thompson and 38th. It curdled his blood and made his aching stomach turn flip flops. It took less than a second to realize who the scream belonged to. He got out his cell and turned into an alleyway so anyone looking on would think he was having a very animated phone call instead of talking to his ear com.

"Louis?" he said loudly. "Can you hear me?"

Please tell me it's him, and please tell me he's not yelling from pain.

There was panting on the com and a loud throbbing in the background, then a voice called out weekly.

"Will?"

"Thank God." He slumped against a brick wall stained with faded graffiti. "Yeah, Louis, it's me."

"Get me out of here," Louis whimpered.

"It is okay, Louis. I got your signal now." William punched the base number into the phone. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

The com crackled with a sniffling sound. "I... not really. But I don't like it here."

"Where are you?"

"It's dark. I think they buried me."

William's eyes widened. One of the few things he knew privately about Louis was that the agent was claustrophobic, though he would probably never admit it to general company.

"Just take deep breaths, I'm not going anywhere."

His cell phone got Cezt's headset. "What's up, Will? I told you to get some rest."