Oompa Loompa Takeover

Chapter 7

VII

"Where are we going?" Miles asked Gerald as they ran.

"To his secret lair?" Gerald projected hopefully, swiping a hand up his face to get the hair out of his eyes. Miles wanted to ask the big man, but he was too far ahead of them, and try as they might, Gerald and him just didn't have long enough legs to catch up with him.

They were running along the bank of the chocolate river, except now it was flowing through a tunnel and the grass underfoot had changed to a thin strip of concrete that ran parallel against the tunnel wall.

Gerald was running in front of Miles, seemingly okay despite the beating he had taken from the O.L. Miles just prayed that this stranger they were following knew where he was going.

Door after door they passed. On their side, on the opposite, there were even a few on the ceiling. Each one had a label on it, saying what room it was or what it held. Try as he might though, Miles couldn't make much sense of them.

LICKABLE WALLPAPER FOR NURSURIES

COWS THAT GIVE CHOCOLATE MILK

FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS

ALL THE VINES: RED VINES, HONEYSUCKLE VINES, "THE VINES", AND DEVINES

MAGIC HAND-FUDGE—WHEN YOU HOLD IT IN YOUR HAND, YOU TASTE IT IN YOUR MOUTH

RAINBOW DROPS—SUCK THEM AND YOU CAN SPIT IN SIX DIFFERENT COLORS

"Geez, they sure like to label stuff," Gerald said over his shoulder to Miles. Miles nodded uncomfortably as he tried to keep up his pace, this place was definitely weird.

"Hey! He's stopped! He's waving us into one of the rooms." Gerald said, quickening his stride and leaving Miles in the dust.

A moment or two later, Miles finally arrived. The door to "HOT ICE CREAM FOR COLD DAYS" was open, and completely out of breath, Miles managed to stumble into the room.

As soon as he stepped in, goose bumps erupted across his skin. It was very, very cold inside. There were metal pipes and vats and tubes all over the place, but none of them looked to be filled with anything except for dust.

"Come on, he went through here!" Gerald beckoned, holding open the door to one of the upright freezers, except where there should have been the back, or at least the wall of the room, there was nothing but a dark and gaping hole.

Miles ran through and barely managed to stop himself from tumbling face first down the flight of stairs that was suddenly beneath his feet. He peered into the semi-darkness and was unable to distinguish where the stairs ended, or where the big man was. There was however, a loud clanging sound that was receding away from them.

"Come on, before we lose him!" Gerald said, joining him at the top.

So together, jumping two steps at a time, they made their way down. The stairs seemed to go down for an eternity, even though they were running down them as fast as they could. Miles could only imagine how long it would take a person to make their way back up them.

Finally they made it to a landing and ran through a small passageway, passing a large, flat metal tin that had been left on the ground. Miles suspected it was the culprit of the clanging, and that perhaps the big man had simply rode down the stairs on it. They came to an open steel door that had an open padlock hanging from it dejectedly.

Miles ran through the doorway and found himself standing in a small enclosed space, surrounded by solid concrete. In front of him rebar had been punched into the wall to make a ladder of sorts. Far, far above him Miles could hear the scrape of the man making his way up. Miles hopped a foot up on it, and was just able to reach the next step with his other foot. The interval between steps was very close to being too far apart, but Miles, with a little stretching, was able to manage. Anyone shorter than him, Oompa Loompa sized, would not have been able to make it.