Chapter 23
Meanwhile, all throughout the downtown–and possibly into the neighborhoods–everyone else had also heard the distant scream, and now they were facing the same direction, towards the park, knowing right away there had been a disturbance.
Then they see Comrade 42 rushing by, still carrying Luke in his hands, and the citizens knew right away there was definitely some trouble in the area.
Meanwhile, having reached Axiom Blvd., there was the comrade, having placed Luke gently down, banging on the door and crying out rather desperately:
“Help! Open up! Inside there! Leader! Let me in! Quickly!”
Then the door opens, and as Comrade 42 steps into the house, Luke jumps off, and proceeds to his spot. Of course, the bed and scratching post were still there. His food and water dishes had been refilled, his litter box was cleaned, and Luke found himself not only a bit sleepy, but also rather hungry.
So while Luke was eating from his cat bowl, he could actually hear the conversation between the comrade and his leader, who is also Luke’s rescuer:
“They did what?!”
“There were six guys who just, suddenly, jumped right out from the bushes. And one of them, who I think is their leader, said ‘Get that kitten!’. And then they all fell to the ground after I screamed from what was said.”
“Are you sure there were traps in the park?”
“Yes. I saw those early this morning.”
“And there were critters trapped in there?”
“Uh…yes.”
“Did you let them out?”
“Well, of course I let them out.”
“With what?”
“The laser.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“I almost forgot about that.”
“Hmm…”
“So then what happened?”
“I ran, and none of them saw me, 'cause they were unconscious.”
“The gang?”
“Yeah.”
By this time, Luke had finished his meal, and was already climbing up back into his bed, only to find a cockroach staring right at him:
“What are you looking at?”
There is a slight pause in the conversation, as Luke is already curling up in his cat bed, ready to fall asleep.
“I’d better head back to the landfill and alert the others at once.”
“Well, good luck with that. I better call my friends and have them notify our neighbors of the situation. Just want to make sure everyone in town should be aware of this.”
“Do you have to do that?”
“I’ve got no other choice. There could be animal abusers in this area, from what you told me.”
“Exactly. And we don’t want those guys in our town. I tell you, if that gang tries to steal our kitten–and I’m pretty sure they’re also involved with traps, which I already destroyed–they’ll have no other choice but to find themselves arrested immediately.”
“But what are we to do if they don’t comply?”
“Guess we’d have to wait and find out, I presume?”
“I think you better go now.”
“Okay.”
Now the comrade had left, and Luke was still asleep, but the young tabby’s rescuer (also the comrade’s leader) was somehow eager to get to the phone and let everyone in town know they need to be on alert. He’d try not to wake the kitten up. And it didn’t. So it worked out just fine.
Later on, when Luke had finally awakened, it was just him and the cockroach. But it wasn’t the cockroach that Luke was concerned about. He was more concerned about something else.
Well, there was no one home, but he wasn’t really concerned about that either.
There seemed to be a faint noise coming from somewhere in the area, but it was too far away for Luke to hear. With the cockroach following along, Luke peeked his head out through the flap door, and could actually hear the noise a bit better. He then came out as fast as he could, and ran straight to the next house on his right.
Having peeked inside through one of the windows, he began scratching at the door. No answer. He scratched again, this time a bit faster. Still no response. Then he began to meow.
From inside the house, WALL-E and EVE could hear the kitten’s scratching and meowing outside the door, and from that very sound of those desperate cries, now they both began to sense that something was wrong.
By this time, Luke was really starting to yowl, and the two ran out as fast as they could. Then they could hear what appeared to be intrusion alarms going off in the distance. If this wasn’t enough for Luke to handle, one by one, everyone was starting to run right out of their houses and heading to the gate as fast as they could.
This included just about everyone else in the neighborhood that Luke was in right now.
Now BURN-E had just received a phone call from another citizen stating there was really something wrong going on in the area, from which EVE is trying to inquire the situation:
“What’s going on?”
“Someone broke into the rescue center!”
Having heard this, WALL-E hurried to get Luke back into the house and take care of the kitten’s basic needs (and get his cockroach pet, Hal, fed of course). He was pretty sure that EVE would be waiting for him while he did that, which she did.
And as everyone disappeared quickly out of the neighborhood, Luke looked toward that direction, where in the distance he could hear the last footsteps (alongside scampering paws and whirring sounds plus some other noises coming from other subjects, of course) fading toward the gate and out.
And Luke could hear no more of that. All he could hear was the sound of his own breathing–and his purring, of course. For now, it was just him and the cockroach once again.
Yet everything else in the house seemed so still, so quiet.
And only then does Luke really start playing with all the cat toys that had just been laid out for him.
(To be continued…)
*I think it’s time once again for…bonus clips! (Yes!)
Sample Scene #1
Oak Bushytail, one of LuxoVille Park’s resident squirrels, has just finished storing the last of his daily nuts within his hollow tree. Dug comes into the park to visit his friend, who is resting on a branch alongside a cluster of bushes.
Dug: Hello, squirrel. I mean, Oak Bushytail. How are you? Wanna play?
Oak Bushytail: Not at this moment, we can’t. Go find someone else to play with, if you could do just that. I just finished up a long busy day and I need some rest, thank you very much.
Dug: Oh, sorry about that. Don’t tell me…
Oak Bushytail: Yes, Dug. I was storing my nuts all through the day again. Why don’t you go and play with Archie the Scare Pig? He might be able to go somewhere and do something with you. Besides, you seem to hang out with him a lot these days.
Dug: Are you saying we can’t be friends anymore?
Oak Bushytail: Look, Dug. It’s not like I’m gonna be moving on anytime soon. Of course we can still be friends. It’s just you should’ve been here earlier when I wasn’t this tired, if you know what I mean.
Dug: Oh, right then. I got it now.
Sample Scene #2
Mustafa: Would you please get off the phone?! I got a very important phone call to make!
Russell: (is still talking on phone) Hold on for one moment there, please. (turns toward Mustafa) Mustafa, I was here first. You need to wait until I finish. Okay? (continues phone conversation) Sorry about that. Mustafa’s in the phone booth and getting really impatient.
WALL-E: (on other end of the phone line) I really hope that guy isn’t getting impatient about some important phone call of his just so he can try and waste everyone’s minutes by asking them for salt and pepper shakers.
(While Russell bursts into laughter, Mustafa gets really frustrated, and starts stomping around the phone booth.)
Mustafa: Ooh, darn that wilderness explorer in the phone booth! Darn that robot on the other end of that line! Darn you cooks and chefs in the kitchen! Darn that family of supers and green-eyed monster in his comedy routine and buck-toothed tow truck driving backwards! Darn that Mini Buzz always wanting to be played with! How dare you try to mess with me! How dare you reveal my secret like that! Oh my gosh! This is so not happening to me!
Just Like The Good Old Days
Carl Fredricksen is sitting at a table with Geri, both of them unable to decide whether to play chess or not and just staring down at the game boards plus all the pieces and the box from which it came out of.
Geri: Would you rather have us do something else today? I don’t feel like playing chess right now.
(They both stare.)
Carl Fredricksen: (to himself) Gosh darn it.
EDIT: Decided to eliminate part of a segment due to plot errors.