One Person’s Garbage is Another’s Hiding Spot

It was the voices they heard first, coming from the other room that alerted the trio the females had returned sending them into a bit of a panic.

“Dude, there is like nowhere else,” Carver mumbled, eyes back on the painted faux paneled door.

“Can you squeeze through?” Josh asked Julian, looking at the narrow space around the step shaped like a semicircular half-moon.

Getting low, Julian was able to snake through the very restrictive opening and into the space beneath the plastic bucket inset into the metal sleeve of the can itself. “Tight,” he said, eyes wide.

“Carver,” Josh called. When the man didn’t move, he called again.

Turning, the thicker man hustled over.

“Try, see if you can make it,” Josh urged.

Carver looked from the space to Josh and shook his head, “I’m too husky,” he said, shaking his head in negation.

“Get your fat ass down here and at least give it a goddamn try,” barked Julian, extending a beckoning hand back through the gap.

Looking speculatively at the opening, Carver dropped down, slipping one arm and then his head through. “Nope, it’s no use, I’m stuck,” he said.

Julian took hold of his arm and started pulling, trying to help. Josh tried to see if he could apply some pressure on the pedal to create more room.

“It’s cutting into me,” Carver said, squirming, feeling deep scratches carving into his skin.

“It’s like trying to cram ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag,” gritted Julian, still pulling on Carver’s arm.

Twisting slightly to the right, the more heavyset man popped through, a couple of deep looking furrows cut into his skin around his chest and midsection drawing blood.

He chuckled nervously, “Didn’t think I was going to make it,” he said, eyes very round in the shrouded gloom under the can.

“That makes two of us,” Julian snickered, releasing Carver’s arm.

“It smells horrible under here,” Carver commented, wrinkling up his nose at the pungent odor under the can.

“Hmm, maybe because we squeezed the shit out of you or we’re hiding under a garbage can full of who knows what? Bloody tampons or maxi-pads too big to flush? Maybe Depends adult undergarments? Who knows, maybe she has an incontinence problem. You saw the condition of her panties, maybe a little leaky vagina syndrome,” Julian postulated.

Josh got his upper body through the opening, twisting to his side to pull his legs through. “Man, it reeks in here,” he commented, turning so he could peek out from between the pedal and the frame of the metal sleeve.

“The human marshmallow and I were just having that selfsame particular discussion not a moment ago and were speculating on the contents of the receptacle directly above our heads,” Julian supplied.

“What if it’s the others who were in the box before us? You know, the ones she took who never came back?” Carver asked, looking toward Julian.

Julian shook his head, “No, you didn’t see the way she slurped down Ham, that wasn’t her first time doing that. If she didn’t dispose of them that way, she would have used the toilet,” he answered.

Carver shivered, “I hope she doesn’t find us,” he murmured.

“Relax dumpling, we should be good for the time being. They think this room is clear. Once we think they’re out of the other room, we can go reconnoiter the area and find another spot to hide, right Josh?” Julian queried, looking at the youth.

Turning his head away from the opening, Josh nodded, “He’s right. If we can keep continually moving, changing hidings spots in areas where they’ve already searched, I think we’ll be okay. As for right now, we know for sure they are out there and it is obviously best we aren’t,” he offered.

Carver nodded. “So what do we do now then?”

“Patience meatball, we stay put,” Julian said, “that’s our only play here.”

“Lay off the name calling Julian, right now we’re all in this together,” Josh said, craning his head forward through the opening, trying to listen to whatever it was the girl on the other side of the door was saying. “The girl, the one called Faith is talking,” he said, “ooh she said she has something special planned for you,” he added, looking back at the slender man. “Must have found your little girt on her pillow,” he surmised.

“What did you do to her pillow?” Carver asked.

“Sprinkled it with a little homemade lemonade,” he boasted, snickering.

“Do you think it was wise to antagonize her?” Carver asked.

“Antagonize her? Fucktard, she ate Ham. Just ate him. In her mouth and gone. Not ‘you’ve been naughty and I have to punish you’, no, just slurp gone. So what’s the worst that she can do to me? Really? What’s worse than dissolving me in her stomach acid?” Julian asked snickering. “Besides, she needs to catch me first and when I get out here, and I know at least I will, I’ll have the satisfaction of having pissed on her pillow.”

“I’m starting to feel claustrophobic under here,” Carver said, agitation in his voice.

“Just calm down, breathe normal,” encouraged Josh, trying to soothe the uptight man.

“I’m sweating like crazy,” Carver said, measuring his breaths to prevent from hyperventilating.

“Sugar withdrawal,” chuckled Julian.

“Makes my scratches sting,” he added.

“I’m not sure what they’re doing out there,” Josh said, “I think I should go check.”

“Bad idea,” Carver said.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with our chunky friend here,” Julian added.

Josh shook his head, “I’ll cross over to the other side of the floor and make my way to the door, hinge side, listen in if they’re still talking,” he suggested.

Shaking his head, “Dude, you said it yourself, we need to stay here. Going out there is a suicide play man,” he said.

“Two minutes, tops,” Josh said.

“Don’t do it,” urged Carver.

“When she catches you and just before she scoffs you down, tell her we snuck downstairs,” Julian said.

Squirming out through the space around the garbage can pedal, Josh sprinted across the floor to the opposite wall when the banging happened, thunderous, almost deafening. “Hello, anyone in there?” he heard Faith’s voice. If the door was opened, there was absolutely no way he could make it back to the garbage can in time. Propelled by fear, he ran toward the corner near the door frame, sliding under the spring stopper as the door suddenly opened.