Max and Gnome 4: The Facility

Chapter 5

Things were heating up inside the shipping container.

"So we're stuck on here for who knows how long, we can't escape, Bot is toast, and there's nothing to do?" said Soldier, very annoyed.

"Yep!" smiled Gnome.

"You're all useless!" scolded the soldier. "We're going to get locked up and never seen again!" He pounded his fist on a nearby pallet.

"I wish I didn't let them capture me! I'm supposed to be a soldier! It was my mission, stay in the house... like I said, none of us are useful. I know Strongman hasn't done anything good, but you, Gnome..." Soldier let out a very frustrated type sound. "You, Gnome, you are NOISY. You are ANNOYING. You TALK a LOT. Worst of all," he concluded, waving his hands around frantically, "you have VERY LITTLE INTELLIGENCE, and you have NO BRUTE FORCE!!"

"WHATTTT" bellowed Gnome. Without an ounce of hesitation, he launched above top speed at Soldier. Soldier's wartime reflexes and hypervigilance allowed him to just barely avoid Gnome's wrath, so Gnome punched right through the wall of the container like a lead cannonball.

Bright sunlight peered through the big hole.

"I'll GET YOU SOLDIER," threatened Gnome, pulling the metal apart more with his bare hands. Soldier ran away from Gnome, and by the time Gnome got to him he wasn't mad anymore.
"Gnome, you're brilliant, we can escape now!" said Soldier.
"What?" said Gnome, looking at it. He smiled.
"Oh... I guess, yeah."

They crawled out of the container into the blinding light. There was a guard ahead but the toys weren't spotted.
"The other way, form up and follow me!" commanded Soldier, taking the lead. They did as he said and kept on going. Strongman still looked sad.
"Well it's nice to be out, but I just don't feel right about everything. Bot is injured and we can't do anything about it... and how are we going to get off the ship? and what if one of the guards sees us... and what is even the point of getting out of the container in the first place... none of this makes any sense, and I wish I was just at home drinking some Irish Breakfast tea and eating some warm, steamy porridge..." Strongman kept talking until Gnome was fed up.

"Stop complaining!" complained Gnome, alerting the nearest security guard, who started heading towards them.
It was quiet and there was an awkward feeling in the air.
Gnome was sure he heard a familiar voice.
"Hmmm?" he mumbled to himself.
They all finally heard the voice booming throughout the area.
"MAX! YES! WE'RE SAVED!" bellowed Gnome elatedly. They ran in the direction of the voice but couldn't see Max because of the slope of the ship. Max heard the others.
"Yes, Gnome! I hear you! You gotta get off the ship! Grab the rope!"
After a few tries, Gnome saw the rope appear and wrap around the edge of the deck. It started slipping back and was a second away from falling when Gnome dove at it and caught it. He stared into the canal waters hundreds of feet below, at the edge of the deck. It was dizzyingly high. There were a bunch of little white wave caps in the water.
"This is fun," said Gnome. He tied the rope to the railing. Soldier walked up to it.
"This knot isn't good enough; we won't be safe. There's a certain method to tying knots, I learned it in the army special training. Let me try." Soldier untied then retied and improved the knot, trying to keep them all safe. Behind them, the security guard was getting closer. Gnome quickly rappelled down the rope.
"Cowabunga!" he screamed, twisting through the air like a strange ballerina. Soldier followed him. It was scary and they couldn't even brace against the ship wall for support. They slid down the rope, about a hundred feet, and it took them about ten seconds to reunite with Max, who was very happy to see Gnome and kind of happy to see Gnome's new friend.
"My back! Oww!" Max complained. "My knees!"
"Who is this guy?" asked Max.
"Soldier," said Gnome. "He's interesting."
"Thanks," laughed Soldier.
Things were not going very well on top of the ship. Strongman was very stressed out and the security guard was approaching.
"I can't!" said Strongman.
"It's too far! I... can't..." The boat guard was heading towards him. He looked behind, terrified in every direction.
"I only have a moment... but it's too far a drop! But Bot!" said Strongman. He looked down at the rope and looked back at the approaching guard.
"What's going to happen to Bot? I gotta get Bot!" he declared, running back towards the container. Once he got through the hole Gnome had made, he grabbed the pieces of Bot, arranging them carefully, put them through the hole, picked them up again and jogged back towards the rope. The guard was becoming closer still. Strongman looked at the rope and over his shoulder again.
"How do I even do this?" he thought. "It's such a gigantic challenge... I got three pieces of Bot. I could put two on my shoulders and hold the other one in my hand but then I'd just have one hand for the rope. I'm not strong enough for this stuff! Or I could keep two in my hands and use my legs to get down the rope? Or I could hold the chassis with my legs and the other parts in my hands, then... how would I get down the rope?" He was thoroughly confused. Nearby, the security guard was getting closer, forcing him to rush more.
"Or I could bite all the parts and jump down?" he thought.
Soldier told Max about Strongman and his cowardice, in spite of his name.
"Come on, Strongman! We need you! Don't worry about Bot!" said Max. "The others are down here safely! Just come down the rope!"
Strongman was frozen for a moment and didn't know what to say. He took a peek at the water and was terrified at how far away it was. A breeze blew on his face and made him feel dizzy. He was in a foreign country and another time zone, and it was all such a new and terrifying experience for Strongman.
"I'm afraid of heights!" he yelled.
"Don't worry about being high up, just go around the rope and slide down! It will be fine!" yelled Max. The security guard was getting even closer.
"I don't think I can do it!" said Strongman. "It's too scary, it requires too much strength and bravery!"
"Just take the risk! You'll be fine!" said Max. "You have a lot of strength and bravery!"
Strongman grabbed the rope but couldn't bring himself to slide down it yet. Something about how it was windy and the thinness of the rope and how it would spin around made him super nervous. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the security guard was even closer!
"Umm..." said Strongman. "Maybe I'll try, I have to think about it." He thought about it for a few moments.
"Uhh... I don't really know what I want to do!" said Strongman.
"Just get down here!" bellowed Gnome. "Or I'll launch and pull you down! And that will be a horrible phenomenon!"
Max was amazed by his vocabulary. Strongman was panting from the stress. He thought again about going around the rope and sliding down, and was getting pretty close to doing it, when the security guard got even closer, pulled out a net, and threw it at him. Strongman struggled weakly but was hopelessly ensnared. The guard carried him and the pieces of Bot away.

Meanwhile, Max, Gnome, Doll and Soldier were still halfway up the boat.
"I haven't heard Strongman in a while," said Max.
"Gosh, I hope-" said Doll.
"He's OK," interrupted Gnome confidently.

After a very uncomfortable minute of silence, they became even more worried.
"I'm going up and snatching him!" yelled Gnome.
"Careful!" warned Max.
Gnome was climbing up the rope in the blink of an eye. Before long, he peered onto the top of the ship as sneakily as he could.

He couldn't see Strongman.

There was a guard way off in the distance but he didn't notice Gnome yet.
"Drats!" said Gnome. He thought about whether to give up or not. Either Strongman was hiding somewhere safe or captured again.
"They probably put him back in the old container," thought Gnome. He sprinted towards it. When Gnome reached it, his foot hit the container, causing a ring to reverberate. He looked inside.
"Strongman?"
No response.
"Drats," said Gnome. He started walking back but saw a guard headed for him close by. Gnome froze for a second and the guard threw a net with prodigious strength. Gnome was wrapped!
"NOO!" screamed Gnome, loud enough for Max to hear.
Gnome launched straight out of the net, breaking it, and sprinted to the rope, pursued by the guard. He flew down the rope but the guard cut the top of it when he was halfway to Max.

Gnome freefell for a good distance, yelling even more in fear and excitement. He was headed into the side of the ship since the other half of the rope was still attached and the rope was now pointed down and inwards. Gnome used his feet to soften the blow of hitting the ship. The others started descending the rope.
"What's going on, Gnome?" wondered Max.
"Crazy times!" said Gnome, "Strongman and Bot are gone. I got chased and almost captured."
"Strongman is probably captured too... Oh no," said Max.
"Not enough BRAVERY," complained Gnome, swinging his arms around.
Soldier was in too serious a mood to talk. After Gnome had explained the situation, they decided to swim back to the nearby boat which Max had sneaked onto earlier.
They climbed up a ladder on the side of the boat and stayed on the upper rungs to avoid being seen. Five minutes later, the boat started heading back toward the docks. They held on tight as the ride got bumpy. Ocean mist blew in their faces as the sun streamed down brightly.
Gnome let out too noisy of a whoop on a big wave.
"Shh!" said Max.
A few minutes later, the boat slowly docked against a long pier. They climbed to the top of the ladder and jumped onto the pier. Doll barely made it and Max and Gnome had to pull her up.
"Mmph, get up here," strained Gnome. His face filled with fear as the door to the captain's cabin opened.

"I knew it!" the sailor muttered, "Cursed toys, again!" He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a net!
The toys started running down the pier as the sailor jumped across the gap and pursued them. They were terrified, and just as they were close to getting to land, three mysterious-looking people in white lab coats surrounded them from the start of the pier. They were about to be caught.
Doll jumped to the side, into the water. Max and Gnome froze. Soldier shot a little at them, but it didn't do much, and a few seconds later the pursuers caught the entrapped toys with a pile of nets. Doll swam away.
"Ahh!" yelled Gnome, but in addition to being caught in the net, one of the lab workers tackled him to make sure he didn't escape.
"There's another one!" said one of the scientists, chasing after Doll.