Or So You Thought

Ready Or Not, Here We Are

Ari POV

As we pulled into the alley, I can tell the boys are a bit confused. The car stops and I turn to them "We are here" I state. Now they look plain old scared. "We don't pull up to it. That's suicide" I tell them. Their faces don't change but they nod in understanding. I get out of the car and the boys follow my lead. I quickly but quietly ran over to the ladder on the fire escape, right above the dumpster. I hopped on and when I was close enough, jumped into the dumpster. I expected the boys to follow suit... They didn't. "What are you waiting on? Let's go" I asked. It's only noon but we really don't have any time to waste. In my dad's world, noon is primetime. Everything always seems to happen around noon here. Adam is first to speak up. "That's uh.. That's a dumpster" he says. Are they serious? "Yeah. So?" I replied. I didn't get it. Boys like getting dirty. I mean, it could be a lot worse. At least this one is empty. "So it's a dumpster. Mold, dirt, grease, and all kind of diseases and what have you are in there" Brian says. "Yeah. Food couldn't get me in that thing... There's no food though, right?" Riley adds. Well I see there is only one way of doing this. "If you don't get in here, I'll text a single word to my dad that could have you killed right where you stand" I tell them. As if their legs moved themselves, the boys came running, jumping each other really. It was only half true what I said. The code word is only for deadly emergencies only. I don't think my excuse for using the secret code at an injustifiable time should be because my friends didn't jump into the passageway with me. Besides, my dad is already going to freak because the 'friends' I told him about are all boys. He 'warned' me before he left the room. This will be interesting, to say the least.

Riley POV

I know this may come as a bit of a surprise but... I have a fear of germs. It has always been a problem of mine. The only people who know is my dad, my grandmother, Brian, Seth, and Adam. My mom would know, had she stuck around to find out. Left when I was 8. Just packed her shit and left. No letter, no goodbye, nothing. My grandmother is a neat freak and I spent most of my time with her, which is probably where I got it from. I remember one time when I was 10, I came into the house covered in mud and smelled like sewer water, literally. My mom told me not to go there once when I was younger but she left. Why would I listen to anything she had to say to me at that point? I was catching frogs over by the lake which was right next to the sewage plant. Let's just say the sewage plant, looks really cool to a bunch of 10 year old boys. I don't know why but my grandmother went into this fit of rage and beat my tail. She told me I was being disobedient, acting just like my mom. I didn't know what that meant but I knew never to go to the sewage plant again. Don't get me wrong, my mother wasn't a terrible person. I guess she just didn't know how to be a mom.

Brian's POV

Once we were all in the... Dumpster (that's still disgusting to me), Ari places her hand over the bricks in the wall. What is she doing? We don't have time for this. I turn to Riley & he looks as if he may faint. Then, randomly, a little camera opens up... Out of a brick! It scans Ari & turns to us. It goes back to Ari & she nods her head. The camera goes back into its place & we are just standing. "Um..." Riley states but Ari interrupts him from asking his question. "Wait for it" she says. Then, the dumpster starts shaking from all sides. Then it starts to move down into the ground. The dumpster is an elevator! The boys & I are fumbling, trying to avoid touching any part of the dumpster for stability. I look at Ari, standing perfectly still, clearly been through this more times than not. She looks around the rest of the boys & smiling at their struggle. It's blatant she's refusing to look at me & that's fine. Her smile is enough.

Ari POV

On the way to the basement, I explain some the rules to the boys. "First things first, what you are about to witness is classified. No one can ever know what you saw here. No one can ever know you were here. If you tell anyone anything about this place, what you will see, what we are asking them to do, anything at all... They will find out. And when they do, we are all dead. So, mouths closed. Got it?" I say. They ask shake their heads, not saying a word. They are petrified, that's a good & bad thing. "Second, I'd fix your faces. They respond rashly to fear" Immediate face change. "Now, the rules: Don't walk slow, move with purpose; don't speak unless spoken to; if you are spoken to, keep your answers short & give nothing away; don't tell anyone why you're here, everyone who needs to know, knows; don't touch anything, don't stare, & for your safety & mine, don't ask any questions unless they are to my father. He's the nicest of the very mean" Whew that's a lot. I almost forgot some of them. "So pretty much, stay with you & act like we don't exist?" Adam asked. "If that's what you need to think to make through here, yeah" I say. The front of the dumpster elevator falls & we in front of the metal doors to the building. These are dangerous waters we are about to head into. I turn to look at the boys & they all nod their heads. I take a deep breath & open the doors. God, I hope they're ready...