A Pet Squishy- Chapter 3

A Pet Squishy
Chapter 3: "Bad Luck to Worse"

The enclosure shook and a loud bang startled Lana awake. Tumbling out of her hammock the young woman cursed and slapped the transparent floor as her one leg became entangled in the material. Stupid hammock! Stupid hard floor! Stupid giant robots!

Quite suddenly she caught sight of something outside her enclosure that made her jaw drop. There sitting on the work table were a pair of semi trailers with the big blue letters WALMART boldly plastered on their sides.

"No…he didn't just…" Lana's brain refused to process the trailers sitting there.
She was so stunned she didn't even register Thundercracker reaching in and lifting her out until she was on the counter next to the trailers.

"Well?" Thundercracker asked expectantly gesturing to the white metal rectangles.

Lana just stood there like she'd been struck dumb and mute.

Reaching over her, Thundercracker opened the large back door of the back trailer and pulled out the ramp.

Then he gently nudged her toward it, "Go on and see what's in there."

Slowly, Lana trudged up the ramp and peered inside. Her heart sank. Toilet paper, clothes, shampoos, hair care products, laundry soap, womanly products, toothpaste, towels…nearly everything she'd listed last night all contained in this one trailer.

Damn you to HELL Wal-Mart!

"I believe the other one has what you call clothes and bedding." he mentioned. "So, is that about everything?" Thundercracker asked with a tone indicating he knew full well that he'd gotten all the things she's listed the day before.

Lana turned, her arms limp at her sides, "How…where did you get all this?"

The Decepticon sat down, still seeming smug, "Your roadways are covered with these things traveling back and forth. All I had to do was access the purchase orders for this particular company and locate the truck with the correct tracking code."

"You mean you stole this?" she gestured to the trailer.

"Lifted it right off the road while the truck was still rolling." he announced almost proudly.

Lana could see the massive dents in the trailers' sides where Thundercracker's huge hands had gripped them.

"You…you didn't kill anyone for these did you?"

The big mech shrugged, "Maybe. I didn't notice." He leaned back smirking, "So, did your Master do well?"

Lana sadly closed her eyes and said in a non-excited voice, "Yes…thanks."

"Thanks what?" Thundercracker eyed her expectantly.

She ground her teeth and all but vomited the word, "Thanks…Master."

The tip of his finger patted her head gently, "That's a good little Lana."

For an instant Lana wanted to swat at his finger and cuss him out but decided not to push her luck. He could very easily deprive her of these much needed items. It was a relief to receive all of these essential supplies, but she felt the price of obtaining them was far too high.

Thundercracker then nudged her back toward the trailers saying, "You get everything you need out of those and I'll put it in your cage. The rest I'll stash away until you need it."

Not thinking of anything else better to do, Lana complied.

….

A few days later…

Lana had lost all sense of time in her enclosure. No windows and no clocks rendered her helpless to the uncharted whims of time. Had she been imprisoned for days or weeks? Was it night or day?

The young woman covered her red eyes with the back of her arm as she lay in her hammock; crying had been a constant activity. Her mind was the only thing her captor couldn't watch and she retreated into it whenever she could. Although lately, her mind was treating her much more cruelly than the Decepticon had.

"Well Lana, you just can't get away from being objectified can you? First the boyfriends, then your job, and now…you truly ARE an object." her mind bitterly ranted.

Thundercracker was gone again on his daily "duties", whatever they were. Though the solitude was desolate, Lana was glad he was gone. Most her herself hated the big blue mech, leaving only the tiniest scrap of gratitude for him. In truth, his care of her wasn't too bad; she was well-fed, clean, and had more supplies than she'd need in a lifetime. But the mere fact that she wasn't free and she was forced into this situation barred her from accepting him and his "kindness".

Since Thundercracker was gone, Lana decided to take her daily bath. The pool her "master" had provided was perfect to bathe in and somehow the water never seemed to dirty-probably some kind of sophisticated filtration system. He'd even given her a small stack of transparent cubes as stairs to get in the six-foot-tall tank of water. Thanks to the damned Walmart trailer, Lana now had scads of hygiene products as well as towels. She grabbed everything she needed, placed them on the highest step next to the pool, threw off her clothes, and made a small hop into the water. It wasn't "bath water" warm but it wasn't cold either. She swam down to the bottom for moment, letting the hollow silence of the water envelop her. Despite how rotten she felt inside, the water made her feel relaxed. Unhurried, she swam the length of the pool underwater and finally surfaced on the other side. Before she knew it she was swimming laps for no apparent reason, forgetting all about her bath.

Suddenly a loud bang and the sound of shaking footsteps made her stop and there standing over her enclosure was that purple and black robot who'd scared her the day she arrived. He was peering in at her while Thundercracker seemed to be searching for something in his quarters. Lana immediately stopped swimming and closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. Slowly she paddled toward the edge where she'd left her clothes. Unlike most young women who would immediately scream and cover themselves when discovered naked, Lana was numb to the experience. Her former job, after all, required it.

The purple and black robot laughed deeply, "Hey! I didn't know they could do that!"

"What? Swim?" Thundercracker asked as he searched.

Before Lana could grab her clothes, Skywarp lifted off the roof and pinched the articles between his fingers, "No. Shed their outer skin!"

Thundercracker shook his head, "Skywarp you dim spark! That's not her skin, those are clothes."

Skywarp squinted with confusion, "Clothes? What are they for?"

The blue Seeker shrugged, "Warmth I guess. She doesn't have much fur."

Irritated, Lana reached up a demanding hand for her clothes.

Skywarp raised a brow plate and smirked, lowering the clothes closer to her. Just as Lana's hand reached for them the big mech lifted them out of her reach. He snickered.

"Aww. So close," he teased lowering the clothes again and shaking them for effect, "Come on squishy, you can get them. See?"

Lana scowled up at him but tried one more time to seize her clothes. Predictably, Skywarp yanked the articles out of her reach again with a laugh. The young woman hissed with vehemence and climbed out of the pool, not even caring about her bare state. She couldn't win this game and she wasn't going to play it. Trying to ignore the mech, she reached for her towel.

With a narrow-eyed smirk, Skywarp suddenly jarred her enclosure with his hand. The tremor shook Lana so hard she stumbled back and fell into the pool again.

The purple Seeker burst into a raucous fit of laughter, "Ha! Ha! Did you see that TC? I got her good!"

Thundercracker rolled his optics, "Knock it off Warp."

"I just DID!" he snickered.

Lana was cursing through grit teeth as she gripped the edge of the pool. She could already see the expectation gleaming in Skywarp's red optics. The moment she climbed out he'd knock her in again.

Thundercracker walked past Skywarp's bent form and grabbed one of the high-set panels of his shoulder, dragging him away from the enclosure, "Leave my human alone Warp. We have to go out on patrols."

"Aww come on! It's fun." the Seeker protested.

Ignoring his wingman's objection, Thundercracker hauled him out. Lana dropped her forehead on the rim of the pool and sighed.

"An object of amusement…that's what you are." her mind spat.

Little did she know how much "amusement" she'd be used for.
….

Perhaps a day later…

It was dark in Thundercracker's quarters except for the low lights inside Lana's enclosure. The young woman had settled down for a nap in her hammock when she heard a funny reverberating whoosh sound. Lana rolled over and automatically looked around for the source of the strange noise. She groaned and rolled her eyes, remembering she couldn't see anything beyond the "closet" her cage was stashed inside. It was probably just Thundercracker. Lana decided then and there to ignore her "master" and pretend she was asleep if he opened the door of the "closet". On cue she heard the door hiss open and she buried her head deeper into her new sheets.

Suddenly, without warning her whole enclosure jumped jarring her straight out of her hammock onto the floor in a heap.

"OW! HEY!" she screamed angrily, trying to unravel herself from the mass of cloth.

Her blue eyes burned intensely but quickly widened. It wasn't Thundercracker…it was Skywarp.

The purple and black Seeker bent down and smirked impishly at her, "Hey squishy! Wake up!"

Lana growled with hatred and kicked away the cloth entangling her leg. She stood up and forcefully threw one of her pillows at the devious mech's face, but the soft projectile hit the transparent wall harmlessly.

"Leave me alone!" she snapped with all the venom she could inject.

"Aww. Little squishy is grumpy." Skywarp crooned derisively.

As the redhead stared daggers at the Seeker, a sudden realization made her stomach churn-Thundercracker wasn't with him. It was just her and Skywarp. She wasn't sure why, but a ball of fear was swelling behind her throat.

"Poor squishy, all caged up." he continued his over-exaggerated concern as he slowly removed the lid to her room, "Wanna go for a nice little walk with Skywarp?"

Lana gasped and made a break for her second room but she wasn't quick enough.

"Gotcha!" Skywarp exclaimed clamping his hand around her body and lifting her out.

"LET ME GO!" the young woman demanded.

Skywarp mouth plates lifted and his optics flashed, "If you insist."

Lana let loose a shrill scream of terror when the Seeker's hand suddenly opened, sending her plummeting toward the unforgiving floor. But, Skywarp's other hand swooped in and caught her by the leg. He laughed as he held her up to his face.

"What's the matter squishy? Don't like heights?" he chuckled.

Filling her lungs at an almost unsafe rate, Lana clasped her hands pleading, "PLEASE…please don't drop me!"

"But I thought you wanted to be let go." the purple jet Con sneered.

She shook her head hard and Skywarp grasped her torso in his other fist, returning her to an upright position again.

"Ok then."

Lana trembled uncontrollably. Her near death encounter almost made her want to throw up. However, she swallowed the bitterness welling in the back of her throat to prevent a nasty repercussion from her captor. If she spewed on him he might just squish her.

"What do you want?" she whimpered.

"I told you. You're going for a little 'walk' with me." the mech replied.

She didn't know why but she asked, "Where's Thundercracker?"

Skywarp flicked his other hand, "Oh, he's up guarding the com station. He won't be back for awhile so I thought I'd have some fun."

"Then HAVE your fun, just leave ME out of it!" the human girl implored.

She didn't like the expression the mech took on, "But YOU are the key to this fun." He took a step toward the door and stopped, "You might feel a little jolt."

Before Lana could ask anything the whole world seemed to blur into horrid streams of incoherent color and light. She screamed but her sound never made it to her ears. A high-pitched ringing and more light invaded her senses until suddenly everything stopped like a roller coaster coming to a halt. Lana's stomach lurched as her head lolled back. She instantaneously heard her own scream coupled with Skywarp's cruel laughter.

"Ha! Teleportation, squishy! Fun ain't it?" he snickered.

Lana covered her mouth but couldn't hold it back. She forcefully leaned over Skywarp's fingers and threw up.

"OH! SLAG! That's GROSS!" he groaned, loosening his grip ever so slightly and holding her away from him.

Head spinning with delirium, Lana wiped her mouth and whimpered. Oddly she felt better.

Skywarp turned her over to examine his hand for any collateral damage, "You're LUCKY you didn't get any of that nasty bio fluid on me."

"Don't do that again." she moaned.

"YOU'D better not do THAT again or I'll snap one of your legs off!" he growled, eyes deadly serious.

Carefully avoiding the small mess on the floor below, Skywarp briskly marched down the long purple corridor. It was stark, empty, and made completely of metal which made every one of Skywarp's footsteps twice as loud. Lana allowed her eyes to wander around. She'd never seen any other part of this building or wherever she was being held captive. It honestly looked all the same to her aside from the strange alien markings on the walls -probably some kind of hall map. Lana wasn't sure where they were since Skywarp obviously had the power to teleport, but she tried to memorize the strange symbols. Maybe it would help if she ever escaped?

"Where are you taking me?" she inquired. "What are you doing?"

He gave an evil smile, "You'll see, squishy. You'll see."

After a few minutes Skywarp repositioned his hand so Lana was completely hidden inside it. She cringed but when she realized he wasn't going to smash her she peered through the tiny spaces between his fingers. All around she could hear the deep rumbling mechanical sounds of other robots "talking" and she even caught a glimpse of a few different shades of armor flashing by. Through the tiny crevices Lana saw a big robot with the same body design as Thundercracker and Skywarp except he was white, red, and blue with a black helmet and face. The new jet robot appeared to be reading some kind of huge hand-held computer tablet, totally oblivious to Skywarp's presence.

Without any warning the horrible flashing of color made Lana close her eyes.

Damn teleportation.

When she dared to open her eyes again she gasped, realizing Skywarp was now only a few feet from the red, white, and blue jet Con. His hand slowly opened. Delicately he gripped her chest between his fingers and very gingerly extended her toward the other robot.

Lana's heart banged hard against her ribs. She wanted to fight, wanted to keep away from this new robot but instead she froze. The young woman turned to Skywarp, shaking her head and mouthing "NO". But the purple Seeker's face was plastered with a devious grin. With all the delicacy of a bomb technician, Skywarp placed Lana on the white boxy shoulder of the unsuspecting Seeker.

Frozen in a crouched position, Lana held her breath. Her eyes darted back to Skywarp but he had already disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room to watch. The jet robot didn't seem aware Lana was even on him as he continued to read. Then, it happened. He leaned just slightly, causing Lana to lose her balance and bump into the tall red vent next to her. The mech's head perked and slowly his great head turned, red optics fixed on her.

"YAAAAAGH!"

Lana's hands flew to her ears as the Seeker unleashed the loudest, ear-splitting shriek she'd ever heard. He leaped to his feet, spinning so fast he sent Lana tumbling off of his shoulder and down his side, until she managed to catch the panel that formed the mech's knee cap and held on for dear life. The mech's hands banged his shoulder violently, trying in vain to swat her like a bug. Luckily, she wasn't there to swat.

She squeaked in terror as her fingers slipped off the slick blue metal. The mech spun around, swinging his long legs to find her. It was a senseless effort to hang on so Lana let go. It was only about a twelve foot drop from the mech's knee to the ground but she managed to bang against his hard blue foot before rolling painfully on the metal floor. A numb, throbbing pain pulsed through most of her injured body as the redhead pushed herself up. Adrenaline was the only thing that urged her to run…that and the giant metal feet trying to stomp the life out of her.