Toy Soldiers

Chapter Two

Not even five seconds passed before the door swung open, revealing a very smily Snuffy standing on the other side.

"Come in," he said, gesturing toward the room.

I smiled and walked in as he shut the door behind me. I heard a whistle from the corner of the room, just as a tall, darker skinned boy stood up, eyebrows raised.

"Who's this?" he asked.

I looked at Snuffy, then back to the boy, "I'm Valerie."

"Valerie," he repeated, a smile on his face.

"That's Hank," said Snuffy, an annoyed look on his face.

"We ready?" interrupted the third boy in the room.

"Yeah, send the signal," replied Snuffy.

The third boy picked up a stick and started banging it against a vent, and I looked at him confused, and a little shocked. A couple seconds later there was a faint banging in the distance, coming from one of the other rooms.

"Let's go!" beamed Hank, as the three boys headed for the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly, following them, "I thought we were just hanging out."

"We are, just not here. Come on."

Snuffy lead me out the door and into the hallway, putting a finger to his lips. The four of us quietly scurried through the hallways, turning left and right, until we reached the cafeteria. Quietly, one by one we snuck into the kitchen.

"This way," said Hank as he slipped into one of the rooms.

There was a trap door in the middle of the floor, with rolling shelves loved beside it, out of the way. Hank bent down and grabbed the latch, pulling the heavy door open.

"Ladies first," he smirked.

I hesitantly looked down into the ground, there was a dark staircase leading down into what must've been the basement. I urged closer, then started down the stairs, the boys following. Once I reached the bottom I was lead through a broken hole in a wall, and into a much larger room.

"Ah, this must be our special guest," smirked another boy who was already in the room as we walked in.

He came out into the light so I could see him a little better. He was tall, and thin. Wearing a black and white striped shirt, and a cap on his head, backwards.

"I'm Joey," he said, "and you are?

"Valerie," I replied as he shook my hand.

"Well Valerie, I hope you're here for a good time, because I assure you, it will be nothing less than that."

I laughed and looked down at the ground, then back up to Joey, "I assume you're the welcoming committee?" I smiled.

"Something like that," said Joey calmly.

We stared at each other for what felt like forever until a figure came out from behind a couple of boxes,

"You ready boys?"

The three boys I had come with started talking all at once, and Joey went over to where the voice came from.