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Description
It was a normal day outside. Josh had stayed home from school today due to being sick. The cold had seemed to come on out of nowhere. No warning signs, no slow onset of symptoms…He didn’t even feel that bad, he just had a runny nose. A VERY runny nose. Josh had woken up that morning with most of his body covered in slimy mucus. While it hadn’t been too hard to get off, it kept coming back. Josh had gone through two full boxes of tissues already, and he was nearing the end of his third one. With a sigh, he paused the video game he had been playing as he pulled out a few more to wipe his hands and face off again, as well as the video game controller.

It was getting a bit ridiculous, how many tissues he was going through. There were several more boxes waiting for him, just in case, but he would rather not use up every tissue in the house just trying to keep things clean. It was a wonder how the mucus even got all over him in the first place; every time he checked, he just found it there, covering just about every body part he had. Having cleaned himself up, Josh tossed the tissues onto the growing pile poking out of the nearby trash can, where they rolled off and onto the smaller pile on the floor.

Hoping it would be longer before he would have to clean up again this time, Josh returned to the video game. He had only been playing for a few seconds when the doorbell rang. With a groan, Josh paused again and got up to answer the door. After making sure that his hands were still clean, he opened the door to reveal a delivery man with a package. “Special delivery!” He seemed oddly happy for a delivery man…perhaps it was his first day on his dream job, Josh wondered. The man’s eyes were stern, however, and cold. They seemed to be searching for something.

Josh, being Josh, was oblivious to this. “Uhh, just a moment,” he muttered, searching his pockets for more tissues. His hands had become mucusy again. Questioning why he had left the tissue boxes in the previous room, he moved on to the closet. There were none in there, either. Josh continued searching the room, laving mucus everywhere he went, for a full minute before the delivery man waved to get his attention. Looking over, he saw that the man had taken a tissue out of his own pocket and was offering it to him.

“Thanks a lot,” Josh said, quickly taking it to wipe off one hand; it wasn’t large enough to clean both. Holding the messy tissue in the other hand, he grabbed the package with his clean arm and placed it down on the floor inside. “Do I have to sign for it?” he asked, looking back at the delivery man.

He simply nodded and held out a clipboard. Not knowing how long it would be until his hand was covered in mucus again, Josh scribbled a sloppy signature onto the paper before handing the pen back. Surprisingly, the man took the dirty tissue, too. “I’ll take that,” he said before quickly turning around and walking away from the door.

“Wha-but…” Josh trailed off, unsure how to respond. There was a trash can in plain sight of the door, yet the man decided to take the tissue with him? Curious, Josh closed the door, but watched the man through the window. He had just gotten into a featureless white van, but the van wasn’t going anywhere. It didn’t even seem to be on. Josh watched for almost a minute before heading back to the video games…and the tissues.

He had just finished cleaning himself off when the doorbell rang again. Groaning again, Josh headed back to the door, turning back for a moment to take a box of tissues with him this time. Opening it revealed the delivery man again. “Hey, I’m gonna need that package back,” he said, no longer seeming happy as he had before.

“Why?” Josh asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Nonetheless, he turned around to pick up the box and hand it back to the man. “Is there something wrong?” Josh might not bee good in social situations, but he was a bit paranoid, and this situation was a very strange one.

“Yes, there is,” the man said, reaching into his pocket. “You see…you’re one of them.” Quick as a flash, he pulled out a small canister and aimed it at Josh’s face, spraying a purple gas out of it. Josh, being paranoid, was ready and began holding his breath. Immediately, he began to feel faint. Josh figured he had accidentally inhaled a small amount of the gas and moved to close the door, but the delivery man was faster. Before Josh could push the door closed all the way, the man had stuck his foot in the doorway.

With a grunt, he kicked the door open, sending Josh flying halfway across the room. Josh struggled to get up, but the man had already reached him, and had a foot on his chest, keeping him down. “Gotta say, you’re one of the most disgusting of these freaks we’ve bagged yet, but I’m not complaining. The more of you we keep off the streets, the better.”

“What are you talking about?!” Josh demanded, struggling to throw the man off.

The delivery man simply smiled as he sprayed a steady stream of the gas into Josh’s face; too long of a stream for him to hold his breath through. “Nighty night…”

Some time later, Josh opened his eyes. It didn’t take them long to adjust to the darkness of the room he was in. Surrounding him were various tools just laying around, looking as though they had been tossed in there haphazardly. He tried to get up to get a better look, but found that his arms and legs had been tied. With a sigh, Josh looked around again, coping with just being tied up on the floor. The room he was in was small…three walls, one set of doors. It all seemed to be shaking, as though the place was moving. No sooner did Josh notice this than did he suddenly slide to the opposite wall, along with the tools that had been laying around.

It was as though he were in a car of some sort…or a van, rather, considering the space…but why would he be? He had been playing video games back at his house, hadn’t he? Slowly, the memories came back to him. The man. The gas. The package of tissues…no, wait, he never got to see the inside of the package. Josh shook his head, clearly still groggy from whatever that gas had been. With a lurch, the van stopped, sending tools flying. Honking could be heard outside. Before long, the van started moving again, sending Josh sliding to the back.

Given all of his mucus, he was slipping and sliding around quite easily. A large portion of the floor was damp as a result. Given the driving ability of the person behind the wheel, Josh was surprised he hadn’t been injured by any of the tools. Some of them appeared quite sharp. No sooner had this thought passed through his head than did a saw come straight at him, teeth pointed his way.

With a grunt, Josh managed to roll out of the way just in time. The saw slid into the door with a dull thunk and remained there. For the time being, it seemed that the turns and sudden accelerations and decelerations were over, and that the van was going at a steady pace. Where it was going, however, was a mystery to him. Sighing, Josh wiggled around, trying to push all of the tools into a pile in the corner. He didn’t want to risk getting hurt by on of them. Another horn honked outside…Josh couldn’t help but wonder just what was going on out there. He wouldn’t have minded a window, so that he could at least see outside.

The ride went on for quite some time, with Josh feeling rather bored. As it turned out, avoiding the tools was the highlight of it. He even made a game out of it. Each tool had a set number of points, and it was up to him to avoid them when they came his way. If he got to 100 points, he got a powerup, and could get hit by any tool without injury.

Of course, Josh didn’t think this would work so well in practice…he hoped he wouldn’t get the chance to try that powerup in action. He had just reached level three when the van came to another stop, as did the game. This time, it didn’t start moving again. Josh felt the engine turn off and rolled over with a groan. The drivers could have at LEAST let him reach the bonus stage!

The doors behind him opened, revealing two men, one of which was the one who had sprayed him with the gas. Josh didn’t have much time to take in the other man, as he reached in immediately and grabbed Josh by the wrist, dragging him out. “Euch! He’s disgusting! You carry him!”

“No way, you carry him!” the delivery man snapped back.

“Um…I CAN walk, you know,” Josh interrupted. For kidnappers, they were actually behaving rather ridiculous.

With a grunt, the man who still had a grip on Josh’s wrist started dragging him along, the delivery man following behind. “So…where are we going?” Josh asked, more curious than upset, though he would have preferred that the man had a looser grip.

“Nowhere you’ll be leaving any time soon,” came the curt reply. He didn’t seem too pleased about it, either. Josh didn’t have much social sense, but he could tell that this man didn’t want to bee talked to at the moment. Instead, he looked around the space they were in.

It appeared to be a large parking garage of some sort…probably underground, since there wasn’t any sign of a sky. All over the place were white vans, exactly like the one he had just been pulled out of. The three of them seemed to be the only ones around at the moment, though. The vans were parked all over the place, apparently as though each driver was just looking for a place to stop. It was a wonder the place was so easy navigable, given the clutter.

They were approaching a large door of some kind. It looked like one of those ‘emergency, this area is off limits’ doors…heavy, made of steel, and a big metal cross spanning across the entire door for whatever reason. It creaked open as they approached and Josh was thrown in. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the two men out there.

The other side was rather different. Rather than a large room, this one was rather thin and rectangular. There were seats spanning across both of the long walls, all filled with people who were now staring at him. If Josh were better at social situations, he would have noticed the contempt and disgust in their eyes.

“Um…hi?” Nobody answered. With a sigh, Josh sat down against the wall next to one of the seats. The woman sitting in it seemed to ignore him. It wasn’t long before he fell back asleep again, feeling drained and tired as his energy left him.

Description
It was a normal day outside. Josh had stayed home from school today due to being sick. The cold had seemed to come on out of nowhere. No warning signs, no slow onset of symptoms…He didn’t even feel that bad, he just had a runny nose. A VERY runny nose. Josh had woken up that morning with most of his body covered in slimy mucus. While it hadn’t been too hard to get off, it kept coming back. Josh had gone through two full boxes of tissues already, and he was nearing the end of his third one. With a sigh, he paused the video game he had been playing as he pulled out a few more to wipe his hands and face off again, as well as the video game controller.

It was getting a bit ridiculous, how many tissues he was going through. There were several more boxes waiting for him, just in case, but he would rather not use up every tissue in the house just trying to keep things clean. It was a wonder how the mucus even got all over him in the first place; every time he checked, he just found it there, covering just about every body part he had. Having cleaned himself up, Josh tossed the tissues onto the growing pile poking out of the nearby trash can, where they rolled off and onto the smaller pile on the floor.

Hoping it would be longer before he would have to clean up again this time, Josh returned to the video game. He had only been playing for a few seconds when the doorbell rang. With a groan, Josh paused again and got up to answer the door. After making sure that his hands were still clean, he opened the door to reveal a delivery man with a package. “Special delivery!” He seemed oddly happy for a delivery man…perhaps it was his first day on his dream job, Josh wondered. The man’s eyes were stern, however, and cold. They seemed to be searching for something.

Josh, being Josh, was oblivious to this. “Uhh, just a moment,” he muttered, searching his pockets for more tissues. His hands had become mucusy again. Questioning why he had left the tissue boxes in the previous room, he moved on to the closet. There were none in there, either. Josh continued searching the room, laving mucus everywhere he went, for a full minute before the delivery man waved to get his attention. Looking over, he saw that the man had taken a tissue out of his own pocket and was offering it to him.

“Thanks a lot,” Josh said, quickly taking it to wipe off one hand; it wasn’t large enough to clean both. Holding the messy tissue in the other hand, he grabbed the package with his clean arm and placed it down on the floor inside. “Do I have to sign for it?” he asked, looking back at the delivery man.

He simply nodded and held out a clipboard. Not knowing how long it would be until his hand was covered in mucus again, Josh scribbled a sloppy signature onto the paper before handing the pen back. Surprisingly, the man took the dirty tissue, too. “I’ll take that,” he said before quickly turning around and walking away from the door.

“Wha-but…” Josh trailed off, unsure how to respond. There was a trash can in plain sight of the door, yet the man decided to take the tissue with him? Curious, Josh closed the door, but watched the man through the window. He had just gotten into a featureless white van, but the van wasn’t going anywhere. It didn’t even seem to be on. Josh watched for almost a minute before heading back to the video games…and the tissues.

He had just finished cleaning himself off when the doorbell rang again. Groaning again, Josh headed back to the door, turning back for a moment to take a box of tissues with him this time. Opening it revealed the delivery man again. “Hey, I’m gonna need that package back,” he said, no longer seeming happy as he had before.

“Why?” Josh asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Nonetheless, he turned around to pick up the box and hand it back to the man. “Is there something wrong?” Josh might not bee good in social situations, but he was a bit paranoid, and this situation was a very strange one.

“Yes, there is,” the man said, reaching into his pocket. “You see…you’re one of them.” Quick as a flash, he pulled out a small canister and aimed it at Josh’s face, spraying a purple gas out of it. Josh, being paranoid, was ready and began holding his breath. Immediately, he began to feel faint. Josh figured he had accidentally inhaled a small amount of the gas and moved to close the door, but the delivery man was faster. Before Josh could push the door closed all the way, the man had stuck his foot in the doorway.

With a grunt, he kicked the door open, sending Josh flying halfway across the room. Josh struggled to get up, but the man had already reached him, and had a foot on his chest, keeping him down. “Gotta say, you’re one of the most disgusting of these freaks we’ve bagged yet, but I’m not complaining. The more of you we keep off the streets, the better.”

“What are you talking about?!” Josh demanded, struggling to throw the man off.

The delivery man simply smiled as he sprayed a steady stream of the gas into Josh’s face; too long of a stream for him to hold his breath through. “Nighty night…”

Some time later, Josh opened his eyes. It didn’t take them long to adjust to the darkness of the room he was in. Surrounding him were various tools just laying around, looking as though they had been tossed in there haphazardly. He tried to get up to get a better look, but found that his arms and legs had been tied. With a sigh, Josh looked around again, coping with just being tied up on the floor. The room he was in was small…three walls, one set of doors. It all seemed to be shaking, as though the place was moving. No sooner did Josh notice this than did he suddenly slide to the opposite wall, along with the tools that had been laying around.

It was as though he were in a car of some sort…or a van, rather, considering the space…but why would he be? He had been playing video games back at his house, hadn’t he? Slowly, the memories came back to him. The man. The gas. The package of tissues…no, wait, he never got to see the inside of the package. Josh shook his head, clearly still groggy from whatever that gas had been. With a lurch, the van stopped, sending tools flying. Honking could be heard outside. Before long, the van started moving again, sending Josh sliding to the back.

Given all of his mucus, he was slipping and sliding around quite easily. A large portion of the floor was damp as a result. Given the driving ability of the person behind the wheel, Josh was surprised he hadn’t been injured by any of the tools. Some of them appeared quite sharp. No sooner had this thought passed through his head than did a saw come straight at him, teeth pointed his way.

With a grunt, Josh managed to roll out of the way just in time. The saw slid into the door with a dull thunk and remained there. For the time being, it seemed that the turns and sudden accelerations and decelerations were over, and that the van was going at a steady pace. Where it was going, however, was a mystery to him. Sighing, Josh wiggled around, trying to push all of the tools into a pile in the corner. He didn’t want to risk getting hurt by on of them. Another horn honked outside…Josh couldn’t help but wonder just what was going on out there. He wouldn’t have minded a window, so that he could at least see outside.

The ride went on for quite some time, with Josh feeling rather bored. As it turned out, avoiding the tools was the highlight of it. He even made a game out of it. Each tool had a set number of points, and it was up to him to avoid them when they came his way. If he got to 100 points, he got a powerup, and could get hit by any tool without injury.

Of course, Josh didn’t think this would work so well in practice…he hoped he wouldn’t get the chance to try that powerup in action. He had just reached level three when the van came to another stop, as did the game. This time, it didn’t start moving again. Josh felt the engine turn off and rolled over with a groan. The drivers could have at LEAST let him reach the bonus stage!

The doors behind him opened, revealing two men, one of which was the one who had sprayed him with the gas. Josh didn’t have much time to take in the other man, as he reached in immediately and grabbed Josh by the wrist, dragging him out. “Euch! He’s disgusting! You carry him!”

“No way, you carry him!” the delivery man snapped back.

“Um…I CAN walk, you know,” Josh interrupted. For kidnappers, they were actually behaving rather ridiculous.

With a grunt, the man who still had a grip on Josh’s wrist started dragging him along, the delivery man following behind. “So…where are we going?” Josh asked, more curious than upset, though he would have preferred that the man had a looser grip.

“Nowhere you’ll be leaving any time soon,” came the curt reply. He didn’t seem too pleased about it, either. Josh didn’t have much social sense, but he could tell that this man didn’t want to bee talked to at the moment. Instead, he looked around the space they were in.

It appeared to be a large parking garage of some sort…probably underground, since there wasn’t any sign of a sky. All over the place were white vans, exactly like the one he had just been pulled out of. The three of them seemed to be the only ones around at the moment, though. The vans were parked all over the place, apparently as though each driver was just looking for a place to stop. It was a wonder the place was so easy navigable, given the clutter.

They were approaching a large door of some kind. It looked like one of those ‘emergency, this area is off limits’ doors…heavy, made of steel, and a big metal cross spanning across the entire door for whatever reason. It creaked open as they approached and Josh was thrown in. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the two men out there.

The other side was rather different. Rather than a large room, this one was rather thin and rectangular. There were seats spanning across both of the long walls, all filled with people who were now staring at him. If Josh were better at social situations, he would have noticed the contempt and disgust in their eyes.

“Um…hi?” Nobody answered. With a sigh, Josh sat down against the wall next to one of the seats. The woman sitting in it seemed to ignore him. It wasn’t long before he fell back asleep again, feeling drained and tired as his energy left him.