GENETITECH/BIOENG. confidential file
SUBJECT: --GOLDMAN, David
A.U. No.: --NC 654 55 D
S.C.I.D. No: --7474HHD
SUPERVISING DOCTOR: --Dr. Terrence LYNCH
ITEM: --Transcript of recorded testimony regarding subject's current condition. File for ASSESSMENT/INFO
[cont.]
You know, we never did get that picnic.
Carolyn lay on her side, snoring loudly. Drool dripped from her open mouth to puddle thickly on the wooden floor. Raymond slowly approached her gigantic face, shaking his head sadly as he regarded his daughter.
"We need to go, Raymond," Julie said. She took him gently by the arm. "No idea how long she's going to be out."
From this point on, our plan was rather tenuous. We knew we needed to get downstairs and get to the phone in the kitchen. It was sitting in its cradle on the kitchen counter--I had seen it earlier when Carolyn was putting up the groceries.
If the phone didn't pan out, Julie had come up with a Plan B that involved luring Carolyn into the lab and zapping her with Eddie's machine. Just thinking about the logistics involved in *that* was enough to make me lose all hope.
They were all looking to me for leadership, even Mr. Nichols. I think we all knew how desperate our situation was, but it sure wouldn't help things if I said so out loud. So I put on my brave face and did my best to sound like I knew what the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] I was doing.
"First things first," I told them. "The phone's in the kitchen, so we need to find a way down those stairs. We're going to need as much rope as we can get our hands on."
"All our rope is, like, in mad scientist dude's pickup," Denny said. Unfortunately, when Carolyn had unpacked the other cars, she had left Eddie's truck in the box. It was now sitting on a shelf in the closet, well out of reach.
"Then we'll need to find something else," I said. "Twine, cables, knotted bed sheets. Anything."
"I've... I've got some jumper cables in my trunk," Raymond said. His voice was weak and his hands were shaking, making him appear even older. "Fifteen foot long, I think."
"I have some jumper cables as well," Mr. Nichols said.
"That'll have to do," I said. "Should be enough to get us down the stairs."
"And what about climbing up that [EXPLETIVE DELETED] cabinet, dude?" Denny asked. "No way we're, like, getting up there with jumper cables. Any other ideas?"
I sighed. "We can burn that bridge when we come to it."
The six of us made our way around Carolyn to reach the cars that were parked near the bed. I jumped behind the wheel of the Town Car as the others piled clumsily into the back. The key was still in the ignition from when Carolyn had shrunk the car, so I started it up.
Mr. Nichols lumbered over to his Honda and popped the hatchback. As he was rummaging around for his jumper cables, Carolyn murmured something in her sleep. Mr. Nichols froze and stared at her.
"Hurry!" I shouted. His cheeks flushed, Mr. Nichols finally fished the jumper cables out of his car and ran over to us. He slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door. I mashed the pedal to the floor.
We sped away from the bed, past Carolyn's unconscious form. The tires squealed on the wooden floor as we rounded her enormous foot and steered past the discarded sandal. Then it was a straight shot to the open door and into the hallway beyond.
The car bounced wildly when we drove up onto the carpet, jarring us as we headed down the hallway. We were laughing nervously, and Chad let loose with a Dukes of Hazard "Yeehaw" as we raced towards the stairs. We all felt it, a weird mixture of elation and terror. We knew the stakes, and we were keenly aware of the danger.
If Carolyn caught us this time, she would probably kill us. It was as simple as that.
I stopped the car at the edge of the stairs and killed the engine as everybody piled out. I popped the trunk and grabbed Raymond's jumper cables. I also took his tire iron, hoping it might come in handy as a grappling hook. I wasn't thrilled with our equipment, but I supposed it was better than nothing. I had Denny tie the two sets of cables together while Chad tied one end in a tight knot around the iron. When they were done, I wrapped the whole mess into some large loops and slung it over my shoulder.
Julie, Raymond, and Mr. Nichols were standing at the edge of the stairs, peering down. The steps were a series of oaken cliffs, cascading downwards into the living room. Each step was roughly 20 feet high, from our perspective, and the smooth wood provided precious little in the way of handholds or footholds.
"This is going to suck," I muttered.
"Perhaps not," Mr. Nichols said, tapping me on the shoulder and pointing. On one side, the stairs were flush against the wall. But on the other side, they were open to the living room below. An ornate oak banister ran along the open side, its posts mounted on the baserail to which Mr. Nichols was eagerly pointing. Basically, the baserail was a narrow ramp--just an inch or two wide--running the length of the staircase.
I grabbed the edge of the baserail and pulled myself up. The angle was about 40 degrees, with the posts spaced about six inches apart. It was the posts that would prove problematic, as there was very little room to maneuver around them.
I climbed to my feet and tried walking down, but it felt awkward and I was afraid I'd lose control and tumble off the edge to the living room floor below. So I sat and slid down the smooth wooden surface to the first pole. Once there, I stood and carefully worked my way around it. There was a tiny lip of wood, barely big enough for a foothold as I slipped past the post. But it was certainly doable.
"It's easy," I called to the others. "Just try not to look down."
Denny and Chad helped Mr. Nichols up next. He laid on his stomach and slid down feet first until he reached the first baluster. He climbed heavily to his feet and, with his eyes screwed closed, cautiously made his way around.
"Easy does it," I called to him, hoping I didn't sound nearly as nervous as I felt. I kept watching the top of the stairs nervously, expecting Carolyn to put in an appearance at any moment.
Mr. Nichols' foot slipped and he shrieked as he fell off the baserail. He landed on the step above me hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Denny scrambled up onto the baserail, slid down, and dropped down onto the step next to Mr. Nichols.
"Is he okay?" I called.
"I'm fine," Mr. Nichols said. "Just a tad... OW!"
I craned my neck, trying to see what was going on.
"Dude hurt his ankle," Denny called down to me. "Think it might, like, be broken."
"Damn," Mr. Nichols said. "I knew something like this was likely to happen. You should have left me upstairs."
"You only made it down one step," Chad said angrily. "Like, you are still upstairs."
"Dude, shut up," Denny said to his friend. He came to peer over the edge of the step down at me. "What now?"
We had no idea how long Carolyn would be out. If she found Mr. Nichols trapped on the stairs, she would kill him. But if she caught the rest of us while we were trying to help Mr. Nichols down, she'd kill all of us.
Well, maybe not *all* of us, I reasoned.
"Okay," I called up to the others. "Here's the plan."
***
I tossed the tire iron and cable up to Denny, who caught it on the third try. Meanwhile, Chad, Julie, and Raymond made their way down the baserail and onto the step next to Denny and Mr. Nichols.
Chad and Denny tied the cables securely around Mr. Nichols chest, pulling them tight under his arms. Mr. Nichols sat on the edge of the step and nervously let himself fall. The cable pulled tight and Denny and Chad gently lowered him down to my step. Once he was safely down, the four of them climbed onto the baserail and came down to join us.
"Julie, Denny, and Chad," I said with as much authority as I could muster. "The three of you go on down as fast as you can and head for the kitchen. Try to find a way up to the phone so you guys can call in the cavalry."
Julie shook her head. "What about you three?"
"Raymond and I are going to help Mr. Nichols down the stairs," I said. "Once we're down, we'll come find you."
"It'll go faster with more people helping," Julie said. "Denny and Chad can go for the phone. I'll stay here."
"No, you need to go with them," I said. "Once they get to the phone, they're going to need your help to call GenetiTech."
"I can give them the number," Julie said. "I'm sure they can memorize it."
I raised my hands in frustration. "Dammit, would you [EXPLETIVE DELETED] listen to me? If Carolyn comes down those stairs and catches any of you guys, she's going to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] squash you!"
"And what about you guys?" Julie shouted back.
I took a deep breath. "Raymond is her father," I said as calmly as I could. "And I'm... well, hell, I'm her special little guy, right? If anyone's going to survive Carolyn's wrath, it's going to be the two of us."
Julie stood with her arms crossed, saying nothing.
"You know I'm right," I told her. "It's got to be you three."
"Fine," she finally said. "You're right. But I still think it sucks."
"Me too, dude," Denny said. He held out his hand and shook mine. "Be careful, Dave. We'll see y'all in the kitchen."
Julie gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, then brushed her fingers where her lips had been. "Try not to get killed or anything," she whispered to me with a sad smile.
Then she, Denny, and Chad scrambled onto the baserail and began making their way down.
***
I don't know how much time had passed. It had been at least an hour or two since the others had reached the bottom of the stairs and called out to let us know.
Since then, we had painstakingly made our way down the steps one at a time. Raymond and I would lower Mr. Nichols down, and then climb onto the baserail and carefully slide down to join him. Despite his age, Raymond was surprisingly spry and strong, and had little trouble keeping up with me.
And so it went, until we were two steps from the bottom. Mr. Nichols was sitting on the step below us, heaving with exertion. Raymond and I had just scrambled onto the baserail when we heard Carolyn moan from upstairs.
We exchanged one fast, panicked look, and then slid on down to the post. We scooted around it with much less care than usual, and dropped down onto the final step.
"Maybe she'll just roll over and go back to sleep," I said as Raymond and I helped Mr. Nichols to his feet. He draped his chubby arms over our shoulders and we helped him to the edge of the step.
"What the [EXPLETIVE DELETED]!" Carolyn screamed from the bedroom, her voice hoarse and ragged. We could hear her thumping around as she climbed drowsily to her feet.
Mr. Nichols was whimpering as Raymond and I lowered him to the floor. We actually dropped him the last couple of inches, and he cried out as he landed on his ankle. Raymond and I tossed the cables over the edge and ran to the baserail.
Carolyn's footsteps were thudding around upstairs. "Where are you?" she shouted. "Where the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] are you, you little..."
The baserail extended all the way to the floor. Raymond and I slid down the rest of the way and landed on the carpet at the bottom. We ran over to Mr. Nichols, slid his arms around our necks again, and slowly headed for the safety of the entertainment center. It was massive cabinet that housed the television and Eddie's outdated stereo system. There was just enough room between it and the wall for us to squeeze in. And once there, Carolyn wouldn't be able to reach us without moving the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] thing.
We'd barely made it a foot from the stairs when we heard Carolyn let out a guttural cry of rage. There was an enormous crash as the dollhouse was swept to the floor and all of our belongings scattered across the wooden floor.
"Son of a bitch!" Carolyn screamed. "Son of a mother [EXPLETIVE DELETED] bitch!" We heard her angry footsteps as she stormed out of the guestroom and into the upstairs hallway.
"Leave me," Mr. Nichols said, tears of panic streaming down his fat cheeks. "You two can still save yourselves."
Neither Raymond nor I responded. We pressed onward, with Mr. Nichols limping desperately between us. We could hear Carolyn on the staircase, her sandals slapping angrily with each step.
"I'm serious," Mr. Nichols shouted. "Just leave me!"
"Shut the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] up!" I snapped at him.
Carolyn spotted us as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Stop right there, you little [EXPLETIVE DELETED]," she yelled as she came towards us.
Mr. Nichols suddenly wretched free from us and let himself collapse to his knees. As he fell forward, he gave me and Raymond a shove. "Go!"
Carolyn's shadow fell over us. I was too frightened to look back, knowing if I saw her towering over us, I'd lose my nerve altogether. Mr. Nichols kept screaming for us to go, and I was suddenly aware of Raymond yanking on my sleeve.
We bolted and ran, leaving Mr. Nichols behind. Not that it mattered, in the end.
"I said, stop!" Carolyn growled. Her foot slammed down in front of us, her sandal striking the carpet with such force that the wind blew me and Raymond backwards. I found myself staring up into Carolyn's angry eyes, watching in horror as she leaned down. Her monstrous hand was over us, swooping down like a leathery bird to snatch us up. Raymond and I both cried out as Carolyn lifted us into the air.
She held me and Raymond up and grinned wickedly as she watched us struggle in her fist. "I ought to kill the two of you right here and now," she said, her voice low and mean. She gave us a squeeze. Raymond grunted, but I yelped in pain.
Carolyn glanced down at her feet, and her grin grew even crueler. She chuckled at the sight of Mr. Nichols crawling helplessly on the carpet. Carolyn slid her foot from her sandal and nudged Mr. Nichols with her big toe.
"What's the matter, Tubby?" she asked, pinning him beneath her bare foot. "You hurt yourself?"
Mr. Nichols response from beneath her foot was weak and mewling. Carolyn wiggled her toes excitedly as she toyed with the poor man.
"All right," Carolyn called out to the living room. "The rest of y'all got to the count of three to come out, or I'll start killing hostages."
I glanced madly around the living room, wondering where the others were hiding. Were they behind the entertainment center, or under the couch? Or had they made it as far as the kitchen?
"One," Carolyn said, watching the floor for any sign of movement.
"Carolyn, stop it," Raymond shouted. "This isn't how we raised you."
Carolyn ignored her father's command. "Two."
"Let him go, Carolyn," Raymond said. "I'm not playing with you, girl. Let that man go now."
"Three!" Carolyn said. She waited expectantly, but the others remained hidden. With a shrug, Carolyn lifted her foot and set it down next to Mr. Nichols, who was still sobbing with terror.
"Well, what do you know, Tubby?" Carolyn said. "I guess they don't like you as much as I thought they did."
Then she lifted her foot again and slammed it down, crushing Mr. Nichols like an insect. He didn't even have time to scream.
"Carolyn!" Raymond cried.
Carolyn glared at her tiny father. "Shut the [EXPLETVE DELETED] up, Dad, or you're next!"
For several seconds, nobody said a word. Then Carolyn looked down at the remains of Mr. Nichols. She wiped her foot across the carpet to get the blood and gore off of it.
"I've been wanting to do that ever since that little [EXPLETIVE DELETED] got here," she said. Then she giggled.
***
Jesus, poor Mr. Nichols. Even after everything that happened, I still can't bring myself to call him Charles.
***
"All right, you [EXPLETIVE DELETED] little bugs," Carolyn said as she slipped her shoe back on. "If that's the way you want it, then fine."
Still clutching me and Raymond in her fist, she strode through the living room and the kitchen, and out to the garage. She mashed the button, and the garage door rose slowly.
"Should have killed the rest of those [EXPLETIVE DELETED] when I had the chance," Carolyn muttered as we went out to her car. "None of this would have happened if I'd just kept you to myself, Davey."
I wondered what she had in mind. Was she planning on driving somewhere?
It was a hot night, and the crickets in the surrounding woods were chirping their asses off. The light outside the garage came on when it detected Carolyn's movement, bathing us in fluorescent white. In a matter of seconds, there were a dozen huge bugs flying around the light, banging into it noisily.
Carolyn went, not the driver's side, but the passenger's, and opened the door. With her free hand, she reached in and opened the glove compartment. She rooted around inside until she found what she was looking for.
Her revolver.
***
When we got back in the house, Carolyn checked the door to make sure it was securely closed and locked. Then she went to check on the front door and the sliding glass door in back.
"I know they're still here," Carolyn said to me and Raymond. "I can't imagine little Miss Julie running off and leaving you guys behind." She lifted her fist to look at me. "Especially you, Dave."
In her right hand, she clutched the pistol--a black, snub-nosed .38 Special. She walked from room to room, poking her foot under the edge of the furniture as she called the others by name. She said their names sweetly, occasionally whistling or making a kissing sound afterwards, as if summoning a puppy.
When we got back to the kitchen, Carolyn peered under the table. Glancing behind her, I noticed Julie, Denny, and Chad crouched in the shadows underneath the cabinet, near the dishwasher. I held my breath and watched in terror, praying that Carolyn wouldn't spot them.
"Ooh, what do we have here?" Carolyn suddenly said, and my heart jumped up into my throat. Terrified, I craned my neck up to look into her face.
But she wasn't looking in their direction. She was looking at the portable phone in its cradle.
"Is that what you little [EXPLETIVE DELETED] are planning to do?" she asked, once again lifting me to her face. "You gonna call for help?"
I shook my head, and Carolyn sighed. "I don't expect you would tell me, even if you were."
She tucked me and Raymond into her cleavage, positioning us so that her breasts pressed us together from either side. The smell of her damp flesh, stale and sweaty, was overwhelming. Fortunately, I was able to turn my head to the side so only my cheek was pressed against her.
She reached over to take the phone from its cradle, then slipped it into her shorts pocket. And as tightly pressed together as Raymond and I were, I could feel his shoulders slump with defeat.
Oblivious to the presence of the others, left the kitchen to continue her hunt. She left the light on behind her, no doubt to give them fewer shadows to hide in.
Back into the living room, and down the hall. Carolyn turned on the lights, bathing the hallway in light. She kept her eyes on the floor as she walked the length of the hall. When she got to the guest bathroom, she snapped on the light and went in to spot-check it. She peered behind the toilet and poked her sandaled foot under the counter. Then she went off, leaving the bathroom light on as well.
Next was Eddie's laboratory, at the end of the hall. Carolyn punched in the numeric code, and the heavy steel door unlocked with a metallic snick. Carolyn gave the door a push, and it swung open, easily clearing the carpet.
Carolyn flicked the light switch on the wall as she stepped into the lab. Metal shelves flanked the workbench where Eddie's machine sat. Carolyn had carried it back in from the garage after using it to shrink her parents' car. It was an outdated network server bulging with circuit boards and messy wires. A modified, misshapen camera sat in its docking station, held together with electrical tape and tethered to the machine by a thick cable. The machine, which tended to run noisily, was shut off at the moment.
Spread out on the floor was one of the border circuits, a plastic sheet emblazoned with the GenetiTech logo. In the harsh light of the overhead bulbs, I could see the tiny, thin wires crisscrossing in intricate patterns through the sheet. These wires generated a signal that basically told the machine when to stop scanning, so you wouldn't accidentally shrink a chunk of wall or piece of floor along with your target. At Eddie's request, I had programmed the failsafe. If the machine didn't detect a border circuit during its scan, then it would shut down without shrinking anything.
Carolyn walked into the lab, her sandaled foot coming to rest on the border circuit as she called Julie's name. She suddenly stopped and looked down, then over at the machine.
"Well now, this could be a bit dangerous," Carolyn said, once again pleased with herself for second-guessing us. She set the gun down on the work table. Then she knelt and gently rolled up the border circuit. She looked around the lab for a few seconds, then finally set the rolled sheet of plastic on one of the high metal shelves.
"There we go," Carolyn said, stroking my head with her fingertip. "Now we don't have to worry about anybody getting zapped."
She picked up the revolver and exited the lab, letting the door lock behind her.
***
So just a few hours into our escape, and Carolyn had already managed to kill one of us and scuttle our two plans.
No doubt about it. The Great Escape was not going so well.
***
Carolyn fished me out from between her breasts and held me between her thumb and finger, letting me dangle helplessly before her enormous face.
"I wonder if Julie would bother to save you, Davey," Carolyn said. "You think if I put you on the floor and threatened to squish you, she'd show herself?"
I shook my head no.
"You really think she'd let me kill you?" Carolyn chuckled. "I thought you two were closer than that."
"She doesn't think you will kill me," I told Carolyn. "But she knows that you'll kill her if you catch her."
Carolyn gave me a hard pinch, and I cried out in pain. She held me close to her mouth.
"Right now, I could bite your little [EXPLETIVE DELETED] head off for what you've put me through."
Her lips were monstrous, peeling away from her teeth to reveal her cavernous mouth. Her warm breath, stale with wine and cigarettes, washed over me. For a second, I was terrified that she might follow through with her threat.
But instead, her mouth formed into a smug, tight-lipped smile. Once again, Carolyn felt she had one-upped us.
"You're useless as a hostage, then," she said. "But I can still use you as bait. As long as those others think they can still rescue you, they ain't going nowhere."
She plucked her father from her cleavage and placed him in her palm next to me. Then she closed her fist around the two of us and carried us upstairs.
Raymond's Lincoln was still parked at the top of the stairs where we had left it. Carolyn stomped angrily on the tiny car, crushing it beneath her shoe. She walked on, leaving flattened metal, broken glass, and burst tires in a coalescing puddle of gas, oil, and other myriad fluids.
She carried us into the guestroom. The dollhouse, as I had guessed, now lay on its side on the floor, its plastic front cracked wide open. Everything that had been inside was scattered all over the wooden floor. She walked carelessly, trampling the gaudy plastic furniture underfoot.
She knelt and set us down amidst the wreckage, then stood back up to tower over us. The gun was tucked into the waistband of her shorts, and the phone was still in her pocket.
"Okay, here's the deal," she said. "Find the handcuffs and bring them to me. If you don't..."
She raised her foot over me and brought it down, pinning me beneath her sandal. I squirmed against the hard leather sole as I peered over its edge, beyond her wiggling toes, up into her smirking face.
"...you and little Miss Julie will find out the hard way that I'm through [EXPLETIVE DELETED] bluffing. Got me?"
Raymond approached Carolyn's foot and touched her toe with his hand. "Carolyn," he called up to her. "Pookie, please."
"Dad, shut the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] up!" Carolyn shouted. She nudged her father angrily, sending him sprawling roughly into the overturned plastic furniture. "You took their side against me when you ran off, so stop trying to tell me what to do!"
She stomped her foot, crushing the orange dining table and a couple of chairs beneath her sandal.
"Now get to looking," Carolyn ordered.
I climbed to my feet and went over to help Raymond up. He was limping slightly, and he had a gash on his forehead. I picked up a discarded shirt and handed it to him, and he pressed it to his forehead to stop the bleeding.
A shadow fell over us as Carolyn lifted her foot again. "I'm not going to tell you little [EXPLETIVE DELETED] again."
I knew the cuffs had been in the living room, so I looked for the familiar green plastic sofa. I finally spotted it near the broken remains of the shot glass that had held our water supply. Denny's cards were strewn all over the wooden floor, next to the overturned coffee table. As I dug through the mess, I finally spotted the ridiculous fur-lined handcuffs beneath the plastic ottoman. They were unlatched, and the key was still in them.
I shifted the ottoman aside and reached down to snatch the key out of the cuffs. It was jammed in place, and I had to wiggle it to get it loose.
"Did you find them?" Carolyn asked.
I palmed the key and held the cuffs up for her to see. Carolyn knelt and reached down, taking the cuffs from me with her finger and thumb. She held them up to her eye.
"Where's the key?" she asked.
"I haven't found it yet," I told her. "I can keep looking if you want."
Carolyn nodded, so Raymond and I continued to dig through the wreckage. After fifteen minutes or so, Carolyn yawned and I slipped the key into my pocket.
"That's enough," she said, kneeling down once again. She grabbed us roughly in her hand and lifted us. She handed the cuffs to me and ordered me to bind myself to Raymond. He offered his left hand without argument. I slapped the cuff around his wrist, then around my own.
Carolyn extended an index finger, hooking it between our cuffed wrists and lifting us out of her palm. Raymond and I hung helplessly, suspended by the cuffs as she regarded us. Satisfied, she set us back in her palm and carried us down the hall to her bedroom.
She found her gold chain on the dresser and hooked the clasp to the handcuffs. Then she wrapped the chain around her wrist a couple of times before finally fastening the clasp to the eyelet. When she was done, Raymond and I were dangling helplessly, our wrists bound to hers.
***
With the pistol drawn, Carolyn wandered between the rooms downstairs, extending her arm to display me and Raymond.
"All right, you little [EXPLETIVE DELETED]," she called. "I've got Davey and my dad right here. I know you think I won't kill them. Hell, you may even be right. But if you don't give yourselves up, I'm gonna take a pair of scissors to them."
Carolyn nudged us playfully with the barrel of her gun, sending us swinging back and forth.
"I bet the little bastards won't be so eager to run away once I cut their [EXPLETIVE DELETED] legs off."
Carolyn had been making threats like that since she had first shrunk me, but for the first time it seemed a very real possibility. Raymond moaned with terror, and I had to bite my lip to keep from doing so.
For another hour or so, Carolyn walked back and forth between the lab, the living room, and the kitchen, stopping each time to repeat her announcement. I could hear the weariness in her voice, which was starting to grow raspy and tired. Her sandals were dragging with each step, and she was starting to yawn more and more frequently. The last time she held us aloft to display us, I could feel her arm trembling with exhaustion.
She trudged into the living room and plopped down in the recliner, yelping grumpily as she sat on the phone. She fished it out of her pocket and set it on the end table, next to the lamp.
She held the pistol in her right hand, letting it rest on her lap. She lifted her left hand, and us, into the air and looked at us wearily.
"I'm not [EXPLETIVE DELETED] around this time," she called out to the others. "If I don't see you little [EXPLETIVE DELETED] before sunup, I'm gonna do some surgery on Davey here."
She lowered her arm, cradling me and Raymond just below her breasts. As I came to rest gratefully upon the soft fabric of her blouse, I lowered my arm as much as I could. The numbness subsided, to be replaced by excruciating needles as the feeling returned. From the gasps I heard from Raymond, he was experiencing the same thing.
The weight of her forearm was on top of us, pinning us helplessly. Even if I could manage to get the key and unlock the cuffs, Raymond and I would still be held in place.
Carolyn shifted uncomfortably a couple of times. Once she started, jerking upright and pointing the gun at nothing in particular. Raymond and I were yanked painfully into the air as Carolyn glanced around anxiously.
"I know y'all are out there," Carolyn said. "The longer y'all wait, the harder I'm gonna make it on you when I catch you."
She checked to make sure we were still securely bound, then lowered her arm again. This time it was beside us instead of on top of us. Raymond and I sat patiently against her wrist and waited.
Carolyn's head nodded, bobbed up, then nodded again. Her breathing became deep and regular. A few minutes more, and she was snoring.
Raymond watched with anticipation as I fished the key out of my pocket. I uncuffed his arm, and then my own. With great caution, we climbed up Carolyn's wrist and made our way to the leather armrest. We slid down the edge of the armrest and landed, with little difficulty, on the end table.
The phone lay there, within easy reach. My heart was pounding as I realized how close we were to actually escaping.
Raymond tugged at my arm. I turned and looked down to where he was pointing. Julie, Denny, and Chad were all standing just underneath the couch, looking up at us.
Julie stepped forward so I could see her better, and began making a series of hand gestures. After she repeated the sequence a couple of times, I realized she was flashing me the number for GenetiTech. One more time through, and I waved to let her know that I had it. I ran the number through my head again and again, desperate to keep it in my memory. Raymond was whispering the digits over and over in an effort to do the same thing.
The portable phone was lying on its back, with its buttons facing up. I climbed on top of the phone and found the TALK button. I knelt and pressed it with both hands, and felt it give. The buttons beneath me lit up with a blue light, and I could hear a faint dial tone coming from the earpiece.
I pressed the 4 button until I heard it beep. Then the 3, and then the 2.
That was as far as I got before Carolyn woke up.
***
Giantess World
Summer Job by Cayce