Chef’s Kitchen
“The Pizza delivery guy is in the Pit Trap! I am going to kill the goon who forget to fill out the Special instructions on the delivery. Damn it guys, Dominos is the last pizza place that hasn’t banned our address, someone go get him out and tip him well enough to not complain. Before we have to pay more to order everything through Grub Hub!
Catrix to her minions.
The boys both drew their guns, Emilia looking under the table with sword in hand. She shook her head and glanced behind the dry bar to the side. "I don't see the critter. How bad is the damage to what we brought?"
Lisa had begun picking up Tupperware and bits of wrapping, “Well the crab salad I packed is gone, and so is the meatloaf. My capris salad looks intact, the macaroni salad was opened and apparently wildly enjoyed, but the potato salad looks good. Eggs for breakfast are gone, bread is squished but edible. Hamburger is gone too, but weirdly we still have hot dogs. I am really glad I made the tomato bisque for lunch. That would have been a mess.” Her voice was a bit brittle, but she was using repacking the cooler as a centering activity.
"So, we have a couple of meals still in there. Could be worse." Emilia said.
“Wonder what the lizard or whatever has against kosher hotdogs though.”
"I’m more worried that there is something that came in here and ate stuff at all." Ryan picked up a chunk of plastic with teeth marks. "Something with teeth, but I can't tell how big for sure. For the teeth, or the size of the critter itself."
“Relatively big I would guess.” Lisa said as she and Carl stacked the cooler on the counter. “The latches on my cooler aren’t lightweight. Either way, it’s looking like hot dogs and capris salad for dinner. And if we are still stuck here till tomorrow toast for breakfast and potato salad for lunch.”
"I've had worse." Carl admitted.
"Carl, I've seen you eat fruit loops for three days straight. You're not precisely a gourmand."
"Fuck you, Ryan. Fruit Loops are fantastic."
“We’ll be glad the stove down here works so I can heat things up. My camp stove is wrecked.” Lisa tossed it in the kitchen garbage, suddenly thankful the can had been emptied in the long past. “I think the fridge was cold, so if someone makes space, I can put the rest of our food in there. It might be safer.”
"It is," Emilia said checking the fridge, and starting to load the remaining food.
"I wonder why it went after the cooler? Though on the plus side it’s probably not hungry right now. Splicer beast or not, it’s an animal and they tend to leave you alone when they are full."
“Makes sense. Wonder where it went after it ate.”
“No idea,” Lisa said, turning on the electric range to heat the hot dogs. The lights began to dim. The room going twilight dark, with only just enough light to see. “Oh, what now!” She yelled.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"It's not a brown out. What is it? " Ryan asked, even as he glanced at his own watch. "Looks like we're coming up on sundown."
Carl patted Lisa on the back, then reached past her to flip a switch. Lighting kicked on inside the kitchen itself. “Mister Lizard is recreating a day night cycle for the forest. Makes sense.”
“What are we going to do? We can’t just wander around in the dark, looking for light switches. Not with whatever that thing is running around!”
"We're going to rest. We'll take our dinner and go to the living room, sweep it to be sure it’s still empty, and block the door so we can rest.” Ryan said calmly. “We know there is a critter, but it hasn't come to find us, and I have to consider that a good thing."
She served up the hotdogs, with her salad tossing the mini mozzarella balls with tomatoes, basil and balsamic. “Well, let’s go so we can dig in. The hot tog toppings are in this bag.” She said, draining the pot and putting the dogs on a plate. Emilia grabbed the slightly crushed bread, and they moved to the ‘living room’.
“Be careful, while it is padded no one needs to break an arm in the Conversation Pit.” Lisa said.
After quickly shoving bar stools and some larger bar items into position as barricades, they sat in the conversation pit and ate quietly, with Carl absently going through the video they'd gotten so far, Emilia scanning the room, and Ryan looking up through the canopy at the lake. It was already dark, the sun having if not set, long ago reaching that point where it wasn’t pointed directly down at them, leaving the depths without light. "Days like this, I wonder how many lairs are lying around, just unnoticed."
Lisa nodded. “I mean, it’s been almost a century since the original hero’s came up. There are probably hundreds of lairs left by heroes and villains both.” She laid on the couch, having finished her food. “I am really hoping the other two exits are not blocked.”
"Not much to block the submarine unless, of course, it’s just not there." Ryan mused. "And we know the lizards were getting up to the garage from the car lift, so that's a good sign that the way for the car is clear. Worst case, there's got to be an airlock around here. I'm surprised we haven't found any dive gear to be honest."
“It’s probably where the sub is, that’s what I’d…” Carl yelped as, having stepped out of the conversational area to film the darkened area, he tumbled back into the pit, a bit of dust puffing up from the pillows he landed on
"And that's why these fell out of favor." Lisa commented dryly.
"Carl, she literally warned us to watch out for that." Emilia groaned, helping him up from his nearly upside-down position.
Lisa giggled. “I think that’s why people put so many cushions in them, so they wouldn’t hurt themselves when they were drunk. I’ll have to either cover it or put safety rails around it.”
"Safety rails. I don't want to think about what you'd have to do to rip it out in this place. Domes, and jungle, and everything considered."
“Yeah, they are hell to reno at the best of times, and this isn’t that.” She laughed as a small lizard ran over her foot. “Depending on what’s under the pit, it might be possible to do a big fish tank. It would kind of fit the general vibe.” She sighed looking over at Ryan and Emily. “So where does this rank in your lair dives?”
"Honestly, pretty tame in regard to impending doom, ignoring a possible xenomorph." Ryan admitted.
"He's understating it. We've never had an underwater lair. I mean, the closest to something like this I remember is that former riverboat casino that a gambling themed villain used."
“Tame isn’t bad.” Lisa said. “I am happy with tame.”
“If there are going be traps it’s going to be on the other leg, the lab and such.” Carl said. There was the sound of frogs and night bugs all around them, fireflies dancing though the trees outside the dome.
"Yeah. that's where they love to put the red, candy like self-destruct buttons." Ryan agreed.
"I still don't know why they all do that. It's like a compulsion."
"I think it's pushing them; People can’t seem to avoid pushing red shiny buttons, and it’s just fun to put them in.” Lisa said, yawning. She went stiff as a weird croaking sound came from under some nearby cushions next to her.
“Shit! Please don’t eat me!”