He had no idea how long it took.

All Thomas knew was that his small, dark, cramped world began shaking seconds after entering it. The shaking stopped for a while as he heard a humming sound, probably that of a bus, before starting again.

But soon, the shaking came to a halt. He heard something above him unzip, and light was once again shining down on him. He looked up, and saw a large hand reaching down to him. Its fingers wrapped around him, and pulled him out of the dark prison.

The hand set him down on a hard surface, and pulled away from him. He stood up, and looked in front of him, towards the owner of that hand. Towards Sayuko.

Thomas stared at the young Japanese woman who stood before him. She was looking back down on him, with a look of concern on her face.

"Thomas..." Sayuko said. "I can't believe it... I can't believe she did this to you..."

"Yeah..." Thomas replied. "Even after all of this time, I can't either."

Sayuko pulled out a chair in front of Thomas, and sat down in it. Thomas looked around him. He seemed to be standing on a desk near a wall window. He also seemed to be in a bedroom; her bedroom.

"Thomas..." she said. "She... she has my brother..."

"I know," Thomas said. "The others told me."

"There's more of you? I mean... wait... How did you get out?"

"Well, there was a whole community of us up until recently. We lived in Melissa's walls. But then, nearly everyone else disappeared, so a friend and I came up with a plan to escape."

"Really? Where's your friend?"

"...Safe, hopefully." Thomas sighed.

"...Is something wrong?"

"I just can't believe that I'm out of that hellhole."

"Oh..."

"Anyway, where you going to say something about your brother?"

"Huh? ...Oh. Oh, yes... She took my brother, and I've been lonely ever since. He was my world... the only person in the world I could really trust. And she took him away from me..." Sayuko then dropped her face in her open palms, and weeped.

"Sayuko..." Thomas considered walking to her, and trying to comfort her somehow.

After a few seconds, Sayuko's head rose, and she wiped her face with her hands.

"Thomas," she said. "Do you want me to call your family for you? They must be worried sick..."

Thomas thought about her suggestion for a few seconds, before answering. "No. I know that they're wondering where I am right now, but I'd rather them not see me like this."

"Then... I'll take care of you." Sayuko forced a smile. "I don't know what it was like to live in fear for all of that time, but you don't have to worry about Melissa anymore."

Thomas smiled. "Thank you, Sayuko."

Sayuko nodded, and stood from her chair. "Do you want anything to eat? I'd have to break it up so you could eat it, but..."

"Not right now, but I could use something to drink. The walk downstairs was exhausting..."

"Okay." With that, Sayuko walked out of the room.

Thomas walked to the edge of the desk he was standing on, and looked around the room some more. Across from the desk he was standing on was a bed, with pink sheets and pillows. To his left was a television, turned off, and to his right, in the corner of the room, was a computer desk, with the computer as well. The desk he was standing on had two large textbooks on it, as well as a lamp and a framed photograph.

Thomas walked closer to the photo, and looked upon it. It was a picture of a smiling Sayuko, and another man, also smiling, with his arms wrapped around her. The two looked alike, so Thomas assumed that the man must be her brother.

It was a bit odd. He had never seen Sayuko as happy as she was in that photograph.

~~~

Melissa sat in a chair that was pulled in front of her opened cabinet. Inside was the hamster cage, containing Taro, who was feasting on a shrunken down turkey sandwich.

"...And she took off, just like that," Melissa said. "I don't know why she suddenly didn't want to see you this week. For all she know, I could have killed you and lied."

Taro was silent, opting to instead take a bite from his sandwich rather than to respond.

Melissa laughed. "Maybe she didn't want you to see what I made her do. Maybe the evidence was still on her teeth."

Taro looked up at the giant woman's face. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing to concern yourself with."

"...She's my sister."

Melissa shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not telling you. You just sit there and enjoy your sandwich."

"I swear," Taro stood from his seated position, leaving the sandwich on the mulch at his feet, "if you ever harm Sayuko-"

The cage violently vibrated, knocking Taro down on his bottom. Startled, he looked at Melissa, and saw that her sly expression had changed to a slightly irritated one.

"Funny," she said. "And what do you think you could do to me? I've been very merciful with you, but if you piss me off, make no mistake, I WILL kill you too. Then I'll kill Sayuko, and that'll be it for your lousy family. Do you understand me?"

Taro did not respond. He tried to stand up, but the cage was rattled again as Melissa thrust her hand into it. He was knocked back down to his bottom.

"Do-You-Under-Stand-Me?" Melissa repeated.

Defeated, Taro responded. "...Yes."

Melissa smiled. "Good. I knew you weren't that stupid." She stood from the chair. "I have something else to take care of. You finish your meal, okay?"

Taro watched as Melissa's smiled disappeared behind the closing doors of the cabinet.

He let out a sigh. Sure, he told Sayuko to stop coming over to Melissa's house, but he had expected her to once again not listen to him. He at least wanted to see her cute but worn face.

...Perhaps he was a bit hasty when he told her to forget about him. With no other family to turn to, Sayuko would be all alone, and he was not sure if she would be able to handle it. Hell, he would not even put it past her to...

He quickly shook the thought out of his head.

He wished that he could, if even for a second, hold her in his arms, against his chest, and ease all of her anxieties.

~~~

Jenna sat against the glass wall, her knees arched up and her hands wrapped around them. She was watching Dawson off in the distance, trying his luck with one of the few other women in the glass prison. She could not help but shake her head in disgust and disappointment.

She looked past her legs, towards her feet. They hadn't been properly washed in months, though she could say the same for her body as a whole. But her feet... she wished that she could hide them from everyone else. Her sneakers were left behind in her tent, but they were practically unwearable anyway. Even those tathered shoes would have done her some good.

They were hideous. She had no idea what that man saw in her feet, and feet in general. How could anyone be that aroused by what was probably one of the most diseased parts of the human body? And to think that there were many more people like him in the world? Freaks come in all shapes and sizes, apparently.

"Watching your stalker?"

Jenna looked to her left, and saw Shawn standing beside her.

"Unfortunately, yes," she answered.

Shawn sat down beside her. "As good as TV, huh? I bet you're loving seeing him not get the other girls in on his little fun."

"'Fun'? For who?"

"Him, obviously. Everyone has their own kinks, you know?"

"Then why couldn't it be something normal? Like boobs? I'd be more than happy to entertain him with mine."

"You have nice boobs?"

"Well, they're better than my... feet."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

Shawn glanced towards her peds. "I think you're just being insecure. Your feet aren't as bad as you make them out to be. I'm sure that they'd be just fine and pretty if they were clean."

"What?!" Jenna was bewildered. "Oh, not you, too!"

Shawn laughed. "No. Just calling it like it is. Besides, if anything, I'd be more interested in guys' feet."

"Oh, right..."

The two were silent for a moment.

"Hey, Shawn," Jenna suddenly said.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"You think we'll ever get out of here? I want to go home and take a nice, long bath."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure of anything anymore."

Jenna sighed. "My family is worried about me, no doubt about it. Especially my overprotective dad."

There was a short pause, before Shawn spoke. "At least you have a family to be worried about you."

Jenna turned towards Shawn.

"My parents disowned me as soon as I told them I was gay."

Jenna could not believe what she heard. "Shawn, I-"

Shawn forced a smile. "Don't worry about me. I've managed just fine without them so far. I don't need them in my life. I'd rather have no parents than to have bigoted ones."

"Oh. Okay, then."

The two looked back towards Dawson, who had, of course, been rejected by the women he was going after.

~~~

With both hands, Thomas picked up the small bowl that was set in front of him. It was made of plastic, so it must have belonged to a dollhouse of some sort. He tipped the bowl towards his open mouth, and let the liquid flow inside, though some spilled down his face and onto the desk. It tasted like tea.

"It isn't much," Sayuko said as she watched him drink, "and I wish I had a cup, but that's all I could find."

Thomas pulled the bowl away from his face. "It's okay. As long as I can grab it, I don't mind."

Sayuko smiled, and then walked to her bed. Thomas watched as she picked up a television remote, and pressed a button. He heard the sound of the television fade in.

"...is no way Barack Obama can win this election," said a male voice on the television. "He has nowhere near the experience needed to run the country. He and his liberal Democrats are going to make this country even worse than it is now. That's why-"

Sayuko changed the channel. "I had an assignment in another class," she said.

"...sunny skies all this week," said a female. "It's almost like we're in a dry spell, as we haven't had a decent downpour in months. But at least you have plenty of time to go to the bea-"

Another switch.

"YE-EAH!!! Shake dat ass, gurl!! Shake it, bitch!!" A rap song.

Sayuko placed the remote back on her bed, and turned to Thomas. "I'll be back soon. I want to make you as comfortable as I can." She smiled, and then walked out of the room.

"Uh, Sayuko?" Thomas called as she was leaving, but she apparently did not hear him.

He turned towards the television. Several Black men dressed in thuggish clothing were rapping to the song, while surrounded by several more Black women in very skimpy clothing who were shaking their bottoms very provocatively.

"Ah, dammit." Thomas moaned as he covered his ears with both of his hands.

At his size, the sounds easily penetrated through his skin.

~~~

Melissa approached the dollhouse that was sitting in the basement. Earlier that day, just when she had given up hope on ever finding them, she had found one of the tiny people she was missing... and decapitated her. Now, there was only one more "Bugman" she was missing.

She tapped her foot against the plastic wall. "Hey, Bruce. Get out here. I need to talk to you."

She waited a few seconds, before the plastic front door opened, and Bruce walking out of the house.

Melissa knelt down closer to the floor. "So, I have a few questions for you."

Bruce crossed his arms. "Shoot."

"You called yourself the leader of that group you had, right?"

"Yeah."

"You're lucky I found that out when I did. If I didn't recatch the others when my little birdy told me about you, I would have come after you."

"So, what's the question?" Bruce asked.

"Do you know of someone named Thomas Kirkland?"

"Yes. I've seen him a few times when I was up there."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"No, I don't. ...Why are you so concerned about him, all of a sudden?"

"Well... I found that little Mexican bitch earlier today, and I'm feeling a little lucky."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "'Mexican bitch'? You mean Gloria?"

"Whatever. She's dead now, so it doesn't matter what her name was."

She saw Bruce's jaw drop in disbelief.

"Anyway, Thomas is the only one of my toys that I'm missing, and I WILL find him. I can't let him leave this house. If he were to get out, that could mean serious trouble for me if someone finds him."

"What are you going to do to stop him? For all you know, he could be long gone."

Melissa pounded the floor with her fist. "I swear, he better still be in this house. When I find him, I'm not going kill him... But I'll make him hurt. Bad."

She stood upright. "Well, that's all I have to talk to you about right now. I'll see you, and the others, tomorrow." She turned around, and walked towards the stairs, climbing them and then leaving the basement, closing the door behind her.

~~~

Bruce walked back inside of the dollhouse. He closed the front door, and then slid down on the floor against the door. He then let out a deep sigh.

"Bruce..." Claudia walked in from the living room. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he answered.

"Good... But I heard your conversation..." She shook her head in grief. "It's horrible what she did to Gloria... I hope Thomas is safe and well."

"...What I want to know is why Gloria was killed in the first place. Why wasn't that idiot there to protect her?"

"Bruce, please."

"If he ran away and left her behind, there's going to be hell to pay." Bruce clinged his right fist.

"I'm sure Thomas must have had his reasons. He seemed like a nice young man. I don't think he'd abandon her like that."

"...The kid ran from a centipede. Of course he's going to run from a fuckin' big giant woman!"

"Bruce..."

"...You're so naive." Bruce stood up. "So old, and yet, so naive..." He walked past Claudia, and started to make his way up the stairs. "I'm going to check the campsite tomorrow. If I find him, I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

After reaching the top of the staircase, he walked towards the master bedroom. He walked inside, and then dropped himself onto the bed.

~~~

Sheryl stood facing the clear glass wall facing towards the Refugees. She could not see much through the dim light, but she knew, and all of the Homeless in her cage knew, that they outnumbered the Refugees 3-to-1. Yet, while they had sheer numbers in their favor, the Refugees have youth and overall more strength. Many of the Homeless have been on the streets for years prior to this change of events. The Refugees had a house, a meal 2 or 3 times a day, and a warm bed.

"Marcus," Sheryl called to the dark-skinned man that stood behind her.

"What is it?" Marcus answered.

"As my new confidant, I want you to tell me your honest opinion about them." She pointed towards the Refugees.

"Them, huh? Well... I can't say I really like them. In fact, I think they're arrogant and cocky, and think too highly of themselves."

"Ah..."

"That said, I don't hate them. I think that if we were to work together, maybe, JUST maybe... we could all get out of here."

Sheryl turned towards Marcus. "I see... That's what I thought."

"Is that so? ...Anyway, there are some here who think that, aside from the girl, it's pretty fine in here. We're safe from the elements, and the immature vandals who harass us out there. Plus, we're fed every day. It may just be bread, but it's more than we had out there."

"Hm."

"But I think that we should work with the Refugees, as they call themselves. I'd rather not want us to face that Bruce guy."

"Good point." Sheryl turned back towards the wall. "I may be a woman, but as the leader, everyone will expect me to fight him should it ever come down to it." She chuckled a little. "I'd get my ass kicked."

Sheryl felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder.

"I'll fight him for you," Marcus said. "A woman shouldn't ever have to fight a man's battle."

"...So chivarous." She grabbed his hand, and pulled it off of her shoulder. "Thanks for the offer, but as the leader, it should, and would, be more appropriate for me to face him."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She heard a sigh. "I can't say that I agree with you, but I can't stop you if that's what you want to do."

"Thank you for understanding. That said, I still would prefer not to have to fight him, and the rest of them."

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"...Let me think for a while. I'll let you all know soon."

"Alright."

Sheryl heard Marcus walk away from her.

She watched the Refugees through the darkness for several seconds, before closing her eyes, and going over her decision in her mind.

~~~

Thomas was laying face-up on the desk. He has since stopped trying to cover his ears from the constant stream of rap music that was playing on the television, and was now simply trying to tune it out. Needless to say, he hated rap music. He believed that no good had ever come from the genre in general; just uneducated mongrols singing about sex, money, drugs, and killing. He could not fathom why it was so popular.

With his dislike of rap, as well as his rather poor athletic skills, and his geekish personality, it was no wonder why most of the Black students at his school, as well as his Black acquaintances, considered him to be an "Oreo." Though he didn't mind having that title; in fact, he had kind of embraced it.

He had no idea how long it had been since Sayuko last left, but it felt like hours. There was an alarm clock near Sayuko's bed, but it was turned away from his sight.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. He sat up, and looked towards the doorway. Sure enough, Sayuko walked back into the room, carrying what looked like a small shoebox.

"I'm back," Sayuko greeted. "Did you enjoy the music?"

"...Do you want me to be honest?" Thomas asked.

The little peppiness that Sayuko had suddenly vanished. "Oh no... You didn't, did you?"

"No. I hate rap music."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Did you assume that I DID like it?"

Sayuko dropped her head. "I'm sorry... Are you mad at me...?"

Thomas let out a sigh. "No. Just don't make any more assumptions like that."

Sayuko's head rose. "I won't."

Thomas smiled. "So, what's in the box?"

Sayuko walked closer to the desk, and placed it on top of it, against the wall. Thomas saw that the box had one of its long sides cut out, and inside was a small box. He walked closer to the giant box, and as he approached it, he saw that the smaller box had what looked like fabric on top of it. There was also a stack of more cloths... Cloths that almost looked like clothing.

"I spent the last few hours making this for you," Sayuko said. "I'm not good for much, but I can sew pretty well. I found a small box in my brother's room, and got some cotton and fabric, and made a bed for you."

Thomas turned to Sayuko. "Really?!"

Sayuko nodded. "Yes. I've also sewed some clothes for you. The ones you're wearing now must be filthy..."

Thomas was stunned. To think that she would do all of this for him. "Sayuko... I can't thank you enough."

Sayuko smiled. "I said that I would make you as comfortable as I can, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Thomas laughed a little.

Sayuko walked away from the desk, and picked up the remote. She then pressed a button on it, changing the television channel.

"...when it comes to extreme survivors, the water bear really is... THE MOST EXTREME!"

"Aww... Looks like "Most Extreme ended," Sayuko said. "It's one of my favorites on this channel."

Thomas looked at the TV screen, and then back to her. "You watch Animal Planet a lot?"

"Yes. I love animals. Especially cats. I wish I had one of my own, but Taro is allergic..."

"I see... I'm fond of squirrels myself."

"Squirrels? Why?"

"I don't know... They just have some kind of bizarre charm."

"Oh. I just don't like it when they get run over."

"I didn't say they were smart." Thomas laughed.

Sayuko smiled, though Thomas swore that he say her fight off a laugh, if even a small chuckle.

"Oh," Sayuko said, "if you don't mind, I could wash your clothes for you."

"Well, these are my favorites... So, sure. Why not?" Thomas pulled off his red and black T-shirt, and then the white undershirt underneath, which had since become yellowish from perspiration. He pulled off his black sneakers, and also dirty white socks. After placing them aside, he walked to the stack of clothing, and pulled out a T-shirt, made from a soft green fabric. Or rather, what looked like a T-shirt. He pulled it over his head, and onto his upper torso. It fit pretty well.

Next was his pants. He looked at towards Sayuko, who was still watching him. She must have known what was next, as she gasped a little and turned away. Now that Sayuko's eyes were off of him, he pulled out his black leather belt from his grey jeans. Next, he reached into his pockets, and pulled out his wallet and the crucifix necklace that Gloria gave him; and then pulled his jeans off. Afterwards, he pulled off his filthy boxer shorts. Not confortable with his lower body being naked, he rushed to the clothing stack and pulled out a pair of red pants. He then put both of his legs through them, and pulled them up to this waist. They seemed tight around his waist, but at least that way, they would not fall down.

Green shirt and red pants... Seemed very tacky, but he was just glad to be out of his filthy clothing.

"Okay, Sayuko," Thomas called. "You can look now."

Sayuko turned back towards him. "Good. What do you think?"

Thomas smiled. "I think you did a great job. Thank you."

Sayuko returned a smile of her own. "You're welcome, Thomas. It's the least I can do." She reached into the box, and collected the dirty clothing in her hand. "I'll make sure you get these clothes back, as clean as I can get them." With that, Sayuko was out of the room again.

Thomas walked towards his "bed," and sat down on it. It was almost as big as his bed at home. The cotton underneath the fabric made it much more comfortable than those cots back at the campsite. Placing his wallet beside the bed on the cardboard floor, he laid down on his bed.

He lifted the crucifix necklace above him, and started to examine it.

Gloria... He would not have been able to come this far without her. Sure, they had a rough patch, but he considered her his first real ally at the campsite. He hoped that she was safe, inside with the other Refugees, or even back at the campsite if she wasn't able get Melissa's attention. Though he wondered, if the latter was the case, what she would do now. Would she leave the house on her own, wandering the streets and running the risk of getting stepped on by a pedesterian? Or would she find a way to get in the closet with the rest? Or would she even go as far as to wait at the campsite, all by herself, until help arrived? Would she-

Suddenly, Thomas had a thought.

"Oh, crap."

He hoped that he didn't get her pregnant.