Two and Three

Criminal Logic and Analysis

Double update! Don't forget to read the previous chapter, Unbelievable.

[3][2][3]

"Okay, so let's go over the facts," Michael sat up straighter with a new look of determination that polluted the air like acid rain. For once they were glad for the pollution, it was a sign of global advancement, and they would figure out the problems with it later. The five of them put all their focus into paying attention to him. "We are trapped in a stone cell. We don't know where we are. We might be underground, but we might not be. Assuming that the guy didn't drive in circles to throw us off the scent, we're somewhere within twenty to thirty minutes of South Hampton. And he stole our shoes, so supposedly, there is a way up of here."

"Explain," Abbie whispered through barely parted lips. Her already pale countenance was starting to turn from pale and tired to gaunt and frail. It was obvious that she was forcing herself to stay awake, and that each second was a struggle for consciousness that killed her from the inside. Abbie was never the strongest of them, mentally at least, but Lisha was finally coming to realize that her best friend was a fighter, not just a survivor. Each new moment made muscles quivered and jerk, and she shuddered to keep a sparing warmth against Mike's chest, yet still she forced herself to stay aware to help work on the plan. Nobody told her to get any rest, fore they were all terrified of what would happen the moment she closed her eyes.

"If crime shows are anything to go by," Mike smiled weakly. "They take your shoes to decrease your chances of running....or if you do run away, then you won't make it very far... Theoretically, he's afraid that we'll run away. That points at two things; he's either aware that his prison has flaws in it, or people have escaped before and he wants to make sure that we can't, even if we do manage to get out of here."

"There actually might be a third reason," Ian mused. "Heat escapes the fastest through your hands, head, and feet. If you haven't noticed, he hasn't cranked up the thermostat in a while. Along with the no food and water thing, he might be trying to freeze us into submission. I for one, know that I can barely feel anything below my shoulders."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense...so he knows we won't kill each other off willingly, but then he cripples three of us --" he glanced around. "No offense guys."

Tony raised and dropped his arm. "No taken. I mean, if he didn't shoot me, he probably knows I would gone all Mexican-American ninja on him and I'd be all like. Yahyahyah! And he'd be down like the economy."

Ian snorted. "Hells yeah!" The trumpet player leaned over Michael, Abbie, and Lisha to slap Tony a high five.

"Anyway," Mike rolled his eyes. "He made sure that three of us couldn't fight back if the chance came around. He also seems to know personal facts about our lives, which means he has probably been stalking us." He paused to let that sink in. The thought made Lisha sick. Not only was he stalking them, up even until the most ungodly hours of the morning, but he could get access to their personal files. It was like nothing was safe, not even their thoughts.

"Pleasant ideas you have there, Mikey," Lisha glared.

"Just stating the facts," he replied cooly. "Let me get to my point. If he's been stalking us, he knows how high risk we are. We're good kids, and we're expected to show up for school every day. If we disappear, people will be looking all over for us. Now, our kidnapper, he may be confident that they won't find us here, but I think he's not very confident with his skills as a person. He took us on when we were each alone, and he knocked us out with a two-by-four to the face. That leads me to think that he might be weak, or small, or maybe crippled somehow."

"When me and Abbie came along, and Ian jumped out at him," Tony mused with a slight nod. "I almost escaped." His frown deepen. "His shot is pretty good. I was almost home free when he got me...and when...when he shot Abbie, it was almost pitch black in there, he could have easy killed her by accident, but he didn't."

Abbie shuddered. "I didn't need to know that."

Michael glanced down at the top of her head. "We need to know everything we can to get out of here. Sorry."

She sighed. "Yeah...I know, but still..."

The drum major appeared to take that as a sign to continue. "Anyway, that backs up my theory. He obviously wants us alive until we make the decision to kill each other, but he also probably doesn't have the physical capably to subdue us by force. He uses a gun when we're awake. There's only one of him and he can't take us on without it."

"And what good does that information do us?" Lisha asked apprehensively. "He still had a gun and we're still locked down here."

"Well," Michael leaned forward and lowered his voice to try and dope any cameras that might be listening. "Hypothetically, if we could get him to open that door and disarm him of his gun, we could probably take him out and make a break for it."

"And when did you take Crime Logic and Analysis?" Tony raised his eyebrows wearily. Like Abbie, he looked dead tired, with more of an emphasis on dead than tired. He stifled a cough, but every time he spoke, he sounded like a chain smoker. But still he tried to keep the mood light, and he deserved brownie points for that.

Michael smiled slightly, just a raise of his lips so small that one would have missed it if you didn't know how to look. "Every Wednesday at nine. It's a really interesting show, at least, it was before... I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch it after this."

"I second that," Ian added.

"Here here," Lisha agreed.

"Okay, okay," Abbie said. "So how are we going to use this information to our advantages?"

Everyone looked at each other with blank looks.

"Do we have any volunteers for tributes?"

A/n

So yeah. Double update, yeah.

#SnakeyOracle

Until next time.