Riddle Middle

Chapter 18: Arrival

Everyone (3rd person)

Zack soon arrived in a white room with a strip of glass ahead of him. Three of the humanoids sat behind the glass, observing the room. Zack snapped out of his paralysis and looked around at his surroundings. He looked up at the humanoids. "What happened?" he asked. The humanoids didn't respond. Zack looked behind him to see a small gap in the wall. It looked big enough for him to climb through. He heard a faint sound through the gap. He listened and decided that it must be an echo. The sound got louder and louder until he could make out that it was yelling. Zack realized that the sound wasn't just getting louder, it was getting closer. Suddenly, a large object barreled towards him. Zack tried to back away, but the object rammed into his back and knocked him over. The object was a large bag, and it was moving. It rolled off of Zack and onto the floor next to him. Zack backed up as another slightly larger bag rolled out of the gap. Another two came out. Zack opened the first bag, which looked slightly different from the others. "Zack? Zack, is that you?" Phred asked from within the bag. "Phred? What happened?" Zack asked. "I woke up in a bag," he responded. Zack opened another bag to find Phil inside. "Zack? Phred? What's going on?" he asked. "I don't know," Zack replied. Zack opened another to find Pico. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around him. "I can't say, but I think we've been kidnapped," Zack replied. The last bag wasn't moving. Zack lifted it a bit and found that there was something splashing inside. "I'm not opening that," he said, backing up slightly. Phil approached it.

"It's probably Smiley," Phil said. He untied it and looked inside. Phil yelled and dropped the bag, quickly backing away from it. "What? What's inside?" Phred asked. Phil didn't respond, he just huddled in the corner of the room. Pico stood and went over to the bag to examine it. Without looking inside first, he gently pushed over the bag. Blood spilled out of it and onto the floor. The bright red stood out against the white floor. Pico tried to stay calm as he pulled the bag towards him. Pico's heart dropped as he looked at Smiley on the floor.

Her skin was pale, almost white. Her clothes were drenched, and she was still. Everyone looked, but no one talked. Pico turned Smiley over to see her face. "Oh no..." he said as he saw that her eyes were open, and she wasn't blinking.  Phred walked up next to Pico and looked over Smiley. Phred reached out and touched Smiley's side. He reached his hand back and touched the blood on the floor. "I think she's still bleeding," Phred said. "Or at least she was recently...The blood is warm," he said. "I-Is she alive?" Zack asked. Phred grabbed Smiley's wrist to check her pulse. "I... She's... Her heartbeats really fast..." he said. "What does that mean?" Zack asked. "I could be wrong... I hope I'm wrong...But I think she's dying..." Phred said.

Pico looked over to the strip of glass where the humanoids were. One of the humanoids nodded towards the gap in the wall. Pico ran over to the wall and looked in the gap. There was a small pill in the gap that Pico grabbed. Phil was still huddled in the corner. Pico went back to Phred and handed him the pill. "What's this?" he asked. "I don't know, but they gave it to us," Pico said, looking up at the humanoids. Phred shrugged and put the pill in Smiley's mouth. She still wasn't moving, and she didn't seem to be breathing either. Another large bag barreled down the chute and out of the gap. "What's that?" Zack asked. Pico went over to the bag, which was moving, and opened it. Smiley was inside, and she was breathing heavily. "Pico? What's going on? Where am I?" she asked. She looked slightly pale, but nothing like the other one. "Smiley? Wait, are you Smiley? Or are they Smiley?" Pico asked, looking over to the dead one. "They?" Smiley asked. "Yeah, over here," Pico said, leading the way over to the dead Smiley. "Guys, I don't think this one's real," Phred said, looking down at the dead one. He then easily lifted its limp body, showing its surprising lightness. One of the humanoids made an announcement over a loudspeaker.

"Correct, that's a clone. It was an experiment to test your intelligence." they said. Pico went back over to examine the bag that Smiley was in. He dumped the rest of the bag out, revealing that this too had blood in it. There was a lot, and it was a darker color. It also had a metallic scent, and Pico tried not to gag. Smiley went over to Phil and touched his back. Phil slowly raised his head and looked at Smiley. "Smiley!" Phil exclaimed, using his sleeve to wipe his somewhat watery eyes. He got up and threw his arms around Smiley. Smiley pulled out of Phil's hug and backed away from him. "What? D-Did I do something?" Phil asked. "Oh, no... No, I just don't want you to be covered in blood," Smiley said. "Blood? I..." Phil looked down at himself to see that his jacket had been stained red. "Oh... Are you ok?" Phil asked, looking at Smiley with concern. "Yes? I'm not sure... I think I'm hurt, but I can't feel it," she said. "Can you feel anything?" he asked. "I don't know," Smiley replied. "Can I touch you? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable," Phil said. "Go ahead, I'd like to know if I can feel anything," Smiley replied. Phil gently brushed Smileys side with his hand. "Can you feel that?" he asked. "No," Smiley said. Phil clenched Smileys side and squeezed gently. "How about now?" he asked. "No, I still can't," she said. "What about now?" Phil asked, squeezing Smileys side much harder. "No," she said.

"Zack!" Phil called. Zack went over to Phil and looked at him questioningly. "I'm trying to see if Smiley's numb. Can you help me test the temperature part?" he asked. Zack sighed and kneeled near Smiley's abdomen. He leaned forward until the flames on his head were touching Smiley. Smiley pulled up her shirt a bit so it didn't ignite. Smileys yellow skin began to glow red. The red soon began to get black. "Okay Zack, that's enough," Phil said. Zack stood and backed away. "Are you okay?" Phil asked. "Yeah," Smiley responded. Smiley's skin had begun to flake, and it looked raw. "I guess she really can't feel anything. At least on her side," Zack said.