Fools of us All - Chapter 57

Caz

“Are you going to kill us?” whined the man Spin was tying up. The other man was still sprawled on the floor, dried blood on his head and face. His chest continued to rise and fall rhythmically, so I knew he was alive.

The room we were in had a bank of screens on the wall in front of a large control board. Spin had moved the chair away from the computer monitor he had shot as it was sparking dangerously. He finished tying the man’s legs and then shoved him into the chair.

“Shut up,” hissed the woman. I had tied her hands behind her and then tied her to a chair. She was the only one of the three who would be any trouble if she got free.

“But they might be one of the aliens, here to infiltrate us and kill everyone.” The panic in his voice made his words nearly unintelligible.

“Oh for heaven’s sake.” I turned to the woman. “Do you have to put up with this all the time?”

She turned her look of scorn from him to me. “He is an idiot, but at least I can trust him. Plus, he raises a good point.”

“So you really think,” I said, “that there are aliens attacking the space mines and on their way here?”

“That’s what is being said,” she replied.

I rolled my eyes. “There are no aliens. It’s a cover-up and you completely bought it.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said defiantly.

I shrugged. “Fine. Spin, would you turn on the vids?” I tried to maintain a cold stare at the woman, but after too long without any sound, I faced him. “Is there a problem?”

He was concentrating intensely on the console, reaching a finger forward every few seconds before pulling it back. “That’s…a lot of buttons,” he said.

“Help him,” I growled at the conscious man.

He slowly hopped over to console and stared down at it as well. “Try the blue button,” he finally muttered. Spin hit it, but nothing happened. “Huh,” said the captive. “Maybe it’s the yellow button, and then turn the dial beside it halfway.” Again nothing.

“When I worked the sound board at school, I would sometimes hit the big red button a few times to get things going.” He reached out and hit the biggest red button he could find. The lights in the room flicked on and off a few times.

“I wondered how the lights worked here,” said the captive. “Maybe those two green buttons at the same time?”

I couldn’t believe it. “What are you trying to pull?” I yelled. “Just get the vids running!”

He cowered against the console. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually run this board. I’m the audio com guy.”

“So who does run it?”

He looked at the unconscious man, and then back at me. I resisted the urge to rip off his eyebrows.

“What now?” asked Spin. He faced me and crossed his arms, leaning against the board. The video displays behind him sprang to life, emitting a cacophony of noise. The captive emitted a squeak and fell forward, hitting the ground with a thud. Spin spun around and stared at the board for a moment, finally turning a single knob which quieted the din. A few seconds later, he threw a series of switches before turning the knob again. This time there was only a single voice, matching with the picture in the top left hand corner.

“All he has to do is spin the wheel to a seven or a banana and he is through to the bonus lightning round, which today features actual lightning…” Spin flicked a switch, cutting the woman’s voice of.

“Wrong channel,” he said. Glancing at the bank of monitors again, he flipped another switch, pointing at the screen nearest him.

“…disturbing new evidence about the alleged alien invasion as recently described by President Nairu. It appears that a massive hoax has been perpetrated, leading everyone to believe that a danger existed where there was none…”

He switched to another screen. “The president was unavailable for comment when we contacted his office, but a statement was released, stating ‘We will be looking into these allegations.’ Understandably, people were not comforted by this lack of response…”

He continued to switch between stations, all of which said something similar, until I told him to cut them off

“What do you think now?” I asked.

The woman had lost her bravado. “Why would they do this?” She seemed to have withdrawn, almost asking herself and not us.

“Power,” I replied. “It is easier to control a scared populace than a curious and comfortable one. No one asks questions when they are scared. They just follow whatever they are told will make them safe.”

Sobbing came from the floor where the audio com man was laying. The woman was nearly catatonic from shock. We had done enough damage here. “Let’s go,” I said to Spin.

As we neared the main doors, they were ripped apart by a massive explosion. I was thrown back several feet, smashing against a wall with enough force to rattle my teeth. The last thing I saw before I was buried under the wall Spin laying near the room door, blood pouring from his head.

And then there was darkness.

Thunderfunk the Superchicken

Hidden Credits Scene

Thunderfunk the Superchicken looked around. Cornelius J Breadbuuter lay a few feet away, not moving. It was hard to say if he was dead or simply unconscious. It was hard to focus on any details in his surroundings. His gaze finally rested on his leg where a very determined cat had latched on, his jaws closed like vise grips.

Thunder sighed heavily. “I hate you.”

Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 55

Epilogue

Straw stayed where he had seen Thunder disappear for a long time, unsure of what to do. Nothing happened for quite some time. The device rolled to a stop and sat, silent and foreboding. Mrs. Henderson wandered by, oblivious to the carnage around her, merely asking him if he had seen Mr Penticton. He got a funny look on his face then and merely shook his head. As she started to leave, Tom began to wake up. Thinking quickly, Straw asked her to take care of Tom until he was all better. She smiled and agreed, taking a confused Tom by the arm and leading him away. That was the last time Tom was ever seen, though Straw was sure he lived his days out very pampered.

“When you see Thunderfunk,” she said as she walked away, “tell him that I have a fresh batch of cookies waiting for him.”

Straw nodded absently and watched her walk past the device without a second glance. He reached into his pocket and hit a button on the small controller he was carrying. A compartment opened and spit out a vacuum. “Oh there it is,” he heard her say. She grabbed the vacuum and put it into Tom’s arms. “That nice neighbour of mine borrowed this ages ago. I suppose he finished using it.”

Wiping a single tear from his eye, Straw walked away. He didn’t know what he was going to do now, but he knew one thing. The world would never see anyone like Thunderfunk the Superchicken again.

Fools of us All - Chapter 56

Spin

I have watched many movies, and they never talk about the pain of having a gun pressed against the face. It hurts! I could feel the cold metal digging into my cheek, possibly cutting the skin. I was not particularly pleased with this arrangement.

“Come out of the room, slowly,” said the woman who was holding me hostage. She was the same one who had told us which room to use. I don’t know why she had suddenly attacked us, and I wasn’t sure that it mattered at this point. I just hoped she wasn’t prone to spasms, especially of the hands.

Caz scowled at me as she walked past, into the hallway. All I could do was shrug almost imperceptibly. I had been distracted by taking off my helmet and hadn’t noticed the woman sneaking up on me until she had the gun pressed against my face. I knew it was my fault.

We started walking down the hallway, heading back to the first room. She was now behind both of us, the gun pressed squarely against my back. Maybe she was afraid that she would miss if she kept it any further away.

“What are you going to do with us?” asked Caz, casually.

“Shut up,” replied the woman. For good measure, she jabbed me in the kidney.

“Okay,” said Caz with a shrug. I studied the back of her head intensely, wondering what she was thinking. And then it disappeared. The next thing I knew, I was sprawled out on the ground, my knee throbbing from where I had banged it on the floor, my ears ringing from the sound of the shot that had just missed my ear.

I glanced up at the woman and understanding hit me like a pie in the face. Caz had fallen, making it look like she tripped, causing me to stumble, and had used that distraction to attack the woman. Now they were struggling for control of the weapon.

Wanting to help, I started to rise, only to be distracted by a shout from the doorway of the only room with a light. A guy stepped out, his weapon already drawn. He was focussed on the ladies fighting and didn’t notice me at first. I used those brief seconds to decide that I was just close enough. With a yell I darted forward, hitting him squarely in the gut. His breath exited his body with a whoosh, and our momentum carried us into bank of computers. Sparks flew as he sank to the floor.

There was another man sitting at a computer terminal. I grabbed the downed man’s gun and fired a blast into the computer, leaving it a smoking crater. “You try anything, I may have to shoot you,” I said, trying to sound intimidating. It must have worked because he nodded and pushed his chair back.

I looked out into the hall and was happy to see Caz standing triumphantly over her foe. We had managed to turn the tables quite handily. Now if only there were a way to get out here.