“Q”
Chapter 85: I remained in that cast iron clamshell
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I remained in that cast iron clamshell
.....for a good while. Nothing happened for a long time...weeks perhaps? Then my cocoon was banged around. There were bumps, clangs, and the sensation of motion as my chrysalis was pushed, shoved, bumped, rolled and repeatedly dropped. I didn’t pay it no nevermind. I was still in basic training.
Finally the tub came to rest.
Eventually the situation began to get serious. I was out of whisky. The dog food, energy bars and other nutrients were long gone. All that remained was one partial bottle of MoonShine.
“Hmmm.” Kitty told me. I think you’re about done now, and there is a ‘hot mess’ for you to attend to.”
And she was gone.
Jenny materialized.
“Welcome back. Did you have a nice rest? I hope so. The polarity of your pleasure center will be reversing soon Sir.” She said "You may experience some momentary discomfort. Please fasten your seat belt.”
That was a joke. Jenny was getting much better. Did I mention that I have a very high tolerance for pain?
I needed it.
Yup..that hurt.
“Now what?” I gasped after I stopped screaming.
“What do you mean sir?” she said, playing coy.
“Well unless my senses deceive me, I have multiple tubes stuck into every orifice. I’m enclosed in a cast iron cocoon, I’m out of dog-food . I’m out of whisky and all I have left is ONE bottle of MoonShine! Tasteless stuff and not much of it left either. Did I mention that there is just ONE bottle left?” I told her.
“Oh..that. Yes. You are in a bit of a spot. I suppose we should do something about it?” she said.
“Yes...Please.” I said. "I’m hungry.”
“That’s completely understandable Sir” She said "You have been through quite the ordeal.”
“Any ideas? I want a steak so bad I can smell it. In fact I CAN smell it. New senses you know?”
I replied. While we had been chatting the tubes had been removed. THAT had been a treat. The pain center was NOT reversed. I got to ‘appreciate it’ the old fashion way. The water had drained. I noticed that the wasps had cleaned up the mess. There was nothing left other than me, the Q’s and that MoonShine bottle. I could smell something cooking and it was driving me insane. My mouth was watering so much that I was drooling like a baby.
“In a manner of speaking it is a steak Sir.” Jenny replied. Steak is a cut of meat. It doesn’t indicate what animal it was cut FROM.”
“At this point I don’t care if it’s rat!” I said "I’m hongry!”
“That’s exactly what it is” Jenny acted surprised, (I knew better). "How perceptive of you.”
“Like I said...I don’t care. Gimme!” I growled.
And she did.
Not one but many. After a while my ravenous hunger subsided. I began to think of less important things. I didn’t have any whisky, no cigars...and NO COFFEE!
“That’s much better.” I told her. "Um...do you know where we are? "
“Yes Sir.” She said..
“Grrrrrrrrr” I growled at her. She grinned.
“We’re inside two cast iron bathtubs, that are melded together with Q.” she said.
“Keep going.” I urged her.
“...which is in a scrapyard, which in turn is near a swamp.” she finished. "The same swamp that your apartment was near but we’re on the other side.
“Swamp rat?” I asked.
“Yes sir.” she said.
Apparently Jenny felt that I had been teased enough. She went on to explain that no one knew that I was here, obviously. In fact no one really knew what the bathtubs were. The Q had disguised them remarkably well.
Jenny, however had sensors that could perceive what was going on outside of the shell. (I have no idea how she provided me with cooked rat...but she did) She had watched when the fire had been put out, when the ‘first responders’ had come and gone, when the rubble had cooled and when a demolition crew had arrived. They had razed what remained of the building and dug out the basement. The rubble was hauled away. The metal bits, that would be me, went to a scrap yard.
“And here we are sir.” Jenny said.
“I suppose there are worse things” I replied.
“Yessir” she agreed "You could be dead.”
“There’s that”. I agreed. "Have you any idea how to get me out of here?”
“Yessir” she said.
“Enough of that!” I said "Funny once. After a while it’s annoying.”
“Yessir.” She said with downcast eyes. She wasn’t fooling me one bit.
“Quintessence is marvelous stuff.” she said
“Yes it is.” I agreed...”And?”
“I can release the melding in an instant. The two halves are already separated enough to allow the Q-Wasps to come and go. They’ve surveyed the immediate vicinity then went looking for food. When they found some I sent some Q to bring it back. Then I cooked it and fed you.“
I was stunned. She had been a busy girl. I started to apologize for the way I had spoken.“I’m sorry I had no idea....”
She cut me off. "That’s quite alright Sir. It’s been a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I can imagine why you might be somewhat tense.”
‘Tense’. She said. "Well yeah but...”
“Oh...one thing you might consider. We were dumped here Friday night. It is now Sunday afternoon. We are currently sitting on the conveyor belt that feeds the scrap shredder. When the help arrives I imagine that they’ll start the machinery and we’ll be rendered into small fragments.”
“Oh...that’s bad.” I said.
“No...that’s good.” she said " All evidence will be completely eliminated. No one will know what happened to you.”
“But I’ll be dead!” I said.
“Yes...that would be rather bad. We should avoid that outcome. As I was saying Sir. I suggest haste. " she agreed. "On second thought...perhaps we should wait until dark.”
Why is that?” I asked.
“Well for one thing you haven’t any clothing on.” she said "and for another thing your skin is now green”.
(January 1918 – December 1920) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people across the world,including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million (three to five percent of the world's population), making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history, on par with the western hemispheric pandemic that killed all those pre-columbian Indians.
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I'm
@everittdmickey
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I write
SPECULATIVE FICTION
I have other books on Amazon.
Sometimes I also comment on the news
Sometimes it's hard to tell fiction from the news.
Green? Does that mean that he can now photosynthesize? Does he have chlorophyll instead of blood? Oh, the intriguing questions you bring to mind.
Keep up the good work, Mike.
Perhaps he just has a serious case of envy?
Maybe. I knew that I followed you for a reason. You're a great writer and you've got a great sense of humor, and like me, you find the dip in steem disturbing.
Maybe it's just the Texas in both of us.
don't mess with Texas..(or texans) or our Steem
'Q' was the only thing I missed on my 'day off' ! lol
judgin' by time to upvote and post - things are still crappy...?