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“I think it went that way!” Brad said.
Judy nodded. “That’s right! I saw it go into that old factory!”
“I’m not sure an abandoned factory is the safest place to be, daddy-o,” Ricky said nervously. He looked to Cassidy and Professor Pericles for backup.
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “We have to catch that slime monster, Ricky. We can’t just let it keep terrorizing the drive-in.”
“Can’t we? It’s not like we go there that often.”
“I’m sure we will be fine,” Professor Pericles assured him.
Ricky reluctantly followed the rest of the gang into the abandoned factory. The floor made horrible sounds under their feet. Cassidy cleared her throat. “Guys? This building seems pretty unstable…”
“Well then, we'd better trap that thing quickly and get out,” Brad said.
The rest of the gang nodded. A strange noise caused Ricky to jump and grab Cassidy’s arm. Professor Pericles scowled. “I think I see something suspicious up there.” He flew up to the rafters and pulled a rope. A wooden beam swung down from the ceiling and nearly hit Cassidy in the head. She ducked just in time.
“Hey! Watch it, bird!”
“My apologies. I thought that rope was a snake.”
The gang heard an awful creaking sound. “What do you think that was, Brad?” Judy asked.
“I’m not sure, Judy.” The building creaked again. The floor cracked under Brad’s left foot. “Ow! I’m stuck! Can I get a little help here?” While Judy tried to free Brad’s foot from the splintered floor, more awful noises would be heard from all sides. Part of the roof caved in, pulling a lever that activated an old assembly line. The movement just made the building more unstable. A steel beam fell from the ceiling and pinned Cassidy to the floor. Several windows shattered, pelting the kids with broken glass. An old shelving unit collapsed. The hole Brad had gotten stuck in widened. His legs were now dangling into the basement. He held onto the floor for dear life. More of the roof caved in.
Professor Pericles flew back down to the kids. “We need to get out of here. Schnell! Schnell!”
Cassidy tried to move the beam off of her, but it wouldn’t budge. “I can’t move!”
“Me either!” Brad said.
“Ricky, Judy, we’ll have to leave them,” Pericles insisted.
“What?! Are you insane?!” Judy replied.
“Cassidy is under a solid steel beam! There’s no way any of us can lift it,” Pericles countered.
Brad thinks of a plan. “What if Judy and Ricky get me unstuck, and then we all go help Cassidy move the beam?”
“You’ll have to hurry,” Cassidy said, “This entire building could come down any second!”
Ricky and Judy help pull Brad out of the hole in the floor. The four of them together manage to move the beam off of Cassidy. Ricky and Judy help Cassidy and Brad out of the building, as neither one can walk very well. The minute they’re outside, the entire building collapses.
“That… was close,” Ricky said, breathlessly.
“Is everyone okay?!” Judy asked.
“My legs hurt, but I should be fine,” Brad said.
“I’m okay, too,” Cassidy said, “I got really lucky. I didn’t get hit by the full force of the beam falling. It landed on some crates on its way down.”
Ricky saw that Cassidy was clutching her abdomen. “ Why are you holding your side like that? Are you bleeding?”
“Just a little. The edge of that beam was really sharp.”
“My legs are bleeding, too,” Brad said, “And I think I broke my ankle.”
“I restocked the first aid kit in The Enigma Engine yesterday,” Cassidy said.
Judy went to go grab it. Ricky looked between his two injured friends. “Both of you need to sit down.” Brad sat down on a nearby rock. Cassidy leaned against a tree.
Judy returned with the first aid kit. “Brad, you need to take your shoe off. Cassidy, move your hand.”
Cassidy moved her hand. Ricky felt like he was going to pass out. He did not like the sight of blood. “Shouldn’t we call someone who knows what they’re doing?”
“I don’t know how long we can wait… Cassidy’s cut is pretty deep. We’d need to find a payphone, which could take a while. She might bleed out before someone can get here.”
“I’ll go for help,” Professor Pericles offered.
“I’m also hurt,” Brad pointed out, “Don’t forget about me!”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Fine. Why don’t you guys get Brad’s ankle bandaged up and give him a few Band-Aids for his scraped-up knees first, while I sit here using my hand to keep my spleen on the inside?!”
“Now isn’t the time for sarcasm, Cassidy!” Brad snapped.
Judy handed Ricky some gauze and a roll of bandages. “I can handle Brad’s ankle. Do you think you can help Cassidy without passing out?”
“I can try…”
“I can do it myself,” Cassidy mumbled, “Just give me the bandages.”
“You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Ricky said, “Can you even see clearly right now?”
“Kind of… I guess…”
“Here, let me help you.” Ricky took several deep breaths. He managed to bandage Cassidy up. He shakily sat down beside her.
“Feeling a bit woozy?” Cassidy teased.
“You know how I am around blood.”
“You really should be more used to it by now. We get hurt a lot,” Cassidy said.
“That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it when we do,” Ricky countered.
Meanwhile, Judy managed to wrap Brad’s ankle. It took a while for Pericles to get back with help. “I can’t believe we almost died and we didn’t even catch the monster,” Brad grumbled.
“Well,” Judy said, “We can always try again tomorrow.”
“Or maybe next week,” Cassidy said.
Brad nodded. “I don’t see either of us chasing down any monsters anytime soon.”