Atomic | Eddie Munson

6

"How did you find this place?" A Russian guard asked Katherine. This had been going on for at least 45 minutes. She was tied with her hands behind her back in a room, blood was trickling from her nose. Apparently for Commies, hitting women is socially acceptable.

"We work at the mall. At Scoops Ahoy. It's an ice cream shop. Our delivery didn't come so we went to look for it. The storage room turned into an elevator and now we're here. How many times do I have to tell you this," Katherine lied. Another guard slapped her across the face, clearly not satisfied. She spit out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

"Who do you work for?" The main guard asked for the fourth time.

"I told you already. We work for Scoops Ahoy. We're teenagers in high school. We just work in the mall!" Katherine screamed.

The other guard hit her once more, causing her to fall off of the bench she sat on. He stomped on her ribs and kicked her once in the stomach. That was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out. She didn't know that her best friends were a few rooms over on the floor after trying to escape their binding, but she would soon.

Katherine groaned as she woke up. Robin, Steve, and Katherine were now tied to chairs back-to-back. They were both laughing.

"Stupid Commie fucks and their truth serum bullshit," Robin muttered with a giggle. Katherine looked around, confused, but a small pain in her neck and a large needle on a table gave her a sneaking suspicion that she was drugged.

"Let's try this again, yes? Who do you work for?" A Russian guard asked.

Steve let out a little laugh before replying.

"Scoops. Scoops Ahoy," he said. He and Robin continued giggling while Katherine sat there, trying not to scratch at the burning sensation that was currently spreading across her skin. Then again, scratching wouldn't do anything. It was all in her head.

"How did you find us?" The main Russian asked again. Katherine opened her mouth to speak, but Steve was faster.

"Totally by accident."

She had experienced bad drug trips before, but nothing like this. Whatever the Russians had injecting them with was reacting with her negatively.

The creepy Russian doctor that Katherine was sitting in front of picked up a tool off of his tray and walked over to Steve.

"What is that shiny little toy?" Steve asked.

"Where are you going with that, doc?" Robin asked at the same time.

"Steve, please just shut up," Katherine pleaded.

Steve started yelling as the doctor took the tool and started pulling at Steve's fingernail, about to rip it off.

"There was a code! We heard a code!" Robin shouted. Katherine kicked Robin's leg, trying to get her to shut up. This caught the Russian's attention.

"Code? What code?"

"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. Blah, blah, blah. You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here." Robin said, the drugs making her extra talkative.

"Who knows we are here?" the guard inquired.

"Uh, well Dustin knows," Steve chimed in.