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. Malcolm Muggeridge "Daphy, wake up." Benny was shaking me. "What happened?" I said, sitting up slowly. My head hurt, and wherever we were, it was completely without light and felt like the inside of a freezer. I opened my eyes but saw no better than when they were shut. Blindness enveloped me and anxiety crept in with the biting cold. Even bats can't see in absolute darkness. "Somebody came up behind us and hit us with something. They must have put us in here. I think we're in the back of a tractor trailer," Benny said. I couldn't see her, but I could hear her breathing and feel the warmth of her hand on my shoulder. "It must be the truck by the susto lab," I said. "Shit, my head hurts. Are you okay?" "I've got a bump the size of a goose egg behind my ear, and I don't remember nothing about getting put in here. But you know what, I'm fine. My big hair protected my little old head better than a crash helmet," she said. "How about you? Are you bleeding?" I felt my hair with my hands. "No blood. I just have a headache as big as Texas," I said, rubbing a sore spot on the back of my skull and standing up on wobbly legs. "Have you searched around in here yet?" "I felt my way around some," she answered. "It's just a big old tractor trailer and it's awful cold. I sure would like to get out." "Me too. There should be a row of cartons toward the front of the trailer. Did you find them?" I asked. "Yeah. There are boxes stacked up to the ceiling, I think. And I stumbled over a hand truck," she said. "I whacked my shin pretty bad on it. And I tried to lift up the back door. It wouldn't budge. Maybe they padlocked it. Do you have any ideas about how we can out of here?" "I think we're going to have to push out the side of the truck or the roof. It's only sheet metal between the ribs. You find anything we can use besides the hand truck?" I asked. "There's a crowbar. That should help," she said. "You know, if we make a lot of noise getting out of here, somebody's going to come to see what's going on," I said. "I don't know of any quiet way of ripping through metal," Benny said. "Shit, I just thought of something. We never called J. Do you still have your cell phone?" "No. It's probably back in the cemetery in the Smart car with my backpack. Once we get out, we'll have to go back there and get it. Do you know what time it is?" I asked. "No clue, but I don't think we were unconscious very long. I hope not, or we're going to have a problem getting back to the city before dawn," she said nervously. "What do you think we should do? Transform? Go ahead and bust out?" "No, not yet. Maybe as a last resort. First let's try to do it quietly. We'll blow everything if anybody spots a couple of giant bats flying out of here. I bet they'd pack up that lab and head for the border faster than we could get anybody arrested. Let's see what the story is with the walls. Grab my hand, and let's stay together." We made our way to the side of the truck. The metal didn't seem too rigid. It had some give to it, but I didn't think it could be bent enough if we started prying from the floor. I told Benny I thought we should try the roof. "You know, Daphy," she said, "I've seen these trucks when they try to go through an underpass without enough clearance. Sometimes the top of the roof smashes down, but other times it just peels away like the top of a sardine can. Let's try to pry apart that front top corner. We can use those cartons to stand on." "Good thinking, Benny. They might not notice the hole up there right away, and it will buy us some time. Can you find that crowbar?" I felt my way over the boxes and pulled a few down to create makeshift steps. I crawled up onto them. It reminded me of being in a barn long ago and climbing up on the bales of hay. The boxes were wobbly, and I didn't know if I could get any leverage. "I got the crowbar. Can you reach the top seam?" she called up to me from down below. "Yeah. Hand me the crowbar. Ouch. That was my knee you hit!" I squealed. "Sorry, but it's as dark as the inside of a well in here," she apologized. "Now, you know, Benny, my Japanese sensei once said, 'Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it's dark.'" "Daphy, don't go all deep and intellectual on me. All we got to do is bash a piece of iron through a piece of steel, and that takes brute force, not brains. I'm about ready to say the hell with this, turn into a bat, and claw the shee it out of the side of the trailer," she said testily. "I was just trying to make a joke. I think I feel a spot where the roof is rusted." I poked the end of the crowbar into the rusty place. It took a few jabs, but it went through. It made a banging noise, but nothing much louder than a tablespoon hitting a fifty five gallon drum. "Got it!" I said. A tiny square of moonlight peeked into the absolute blackness of the trailer's interior. "I'm right proud of you, but we're going to need something a tad bit bigger than two or three inches," Benny said. I pried the bar around as much as I could until I actually had a line of light about two inches wide and a foot long where I bent and bashed through the metal. But it was too little, and it was getting too late. "Benny, it's not going to work," I said, disappointed. I put the crowbar down. Then I had an idea. I slipped off my red silk panties from under my skirt and fastened them as best I could around the jagged metal of the opening I had made, letting them dangle outside the trailer. I had a fleeting notion that they'd be a fast way to identify the trailer if it started rolling toward Manhattan before the lab was destroyed. It was just a thought. I didn't know if it would work, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Then I carefully climbed off the boxes. "Benny, I don't like the idea of busting out of here but I think we're out of options," I said. "Maybe we can claw through the front of the trailer near the cab and cover it up with the boxes." "We can try. All I know is that we've got to get out of here, Daphy. We've got to call J or this whole night's been for nothing," Benny said. "Well, I guess we'd better strip down. I'm sure going to hate losing these fancy clothes," she said sadly. "Hold up on that& I think I hear somebody coming," I whispered. The sound of footsteps got louder as someone approached the trailer, then metal hit metal. Somebody was definitely unlatching the trailer door. I reached up and grabbed the crowbar. From what I could hear, I figured out Benny had the hand truck. We stood unmoving, waiting, ready to fight our way out. The door opened a few feet and some dim light filtered in. A dark figure stood there. "Daphne? Are you okay?" Fitz's voice whispered. "Yes," I answered, and put down the crowbar. "Keep your voice low," he whispered. "Don't make any noise. I'm going to try to get you and your girlfriend out of here. Is she conscious?" "Yes," I called back softly. "Okay, come on
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