Chapter 4

The Interrogation
By Dann and Twinchy


Sam and Kindle sat in silence for some time, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. Sam had thought of running, so much so that it had likely become obvious by his body language, prompting Kindle to tighten her posture and widen her eyes.

‘There’s a man in my house, a tiny man…in my house. Under my sink to be exact, there is a tiny man in my house under my sink.’ Kindle thought to herself, struggling to make sense of what she was looking at.

Sam took a step to the side, when Kindle didn’t react, he broke into a sudden sprint, not quite sure where he was running to, just sure that wherever it was, it wouldn’t be here.

“No!” Kindle yelped, and leaned forward on her knees, attempting to block the little intruder’s path with her hand, though as he drew close, Kindle instinctively pulled back, unsure exactly why the idea of physical contact with this total stranger made her so uneasy.

Sam stopped short of running into the wall of flesh, but picked his pace back up when it was pulled away. There was a small gap between the floor and the PVC pipe leading from the sink to the pipes below, if he could make it there, it was possible he could squeeze himself through and avoid capture.

“Stop!” Kindle ordered shakily. When it was clear he wasn’t going to listen, Kindle bit her lower lip nervously and reached for a bottle of dish soap that was next to some other house hold cleaners, and quickly set it down in the small man’s path.

Sam pivoted to the right to avoid the obstacle, only mildly inconvenienced by the intrusion, he was almost half way there, if he could keep her off guard a little longer, he might just make it.

“I said stop!” Kindle was growing more frustrated now, her voice a fair bit more confident.

‘Not likely.’ Sam thought to himself in reply.

Kindle straightened her posture, and narrowed her glance. There was no way she was letting this creepy little home wrecker go so easily. Leaning forward, she swept her arm across the arrangement of spray bottles and sealed containers of soap, chemicals and cleaners, creating a cascade of cleaner bottles tumbling all around him, blocking his path from every angle.

“Freeze already!”

Sam stumbled back as a terrifying avalanche of building sized bottles tumbled about, one nearly crushing him under it. He crab walked backwards a bit, straight into the shadow of his pursuer.

“Stop, ok…I give…just don’t crush me.” Sam turned to meet her gaze. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Satisfied she had gotten her point across, Kindle backed away, resting on her haunches. She had succeeded in scaring the poor man, without stopping to think whether or not it was a good idea. Had she let him go, she could have been done with the whole thing; maybe he would have never come back? Now however, she had to deal with the situation. How did one confront a tiny living under their sink? Was this normal? Did Tinies like to live under sinks? How long had he been there? Had he been watching her this whole time? As she ate, drank, slept, showered?

The more thought Kindle put into it, the angrier she was. A person, it didn’t matter how small, was creeping around her apartment, watching her. He could have seen her naked, seen her shower, seen her walking around in her underwear?

Kindle shivered.

Her silence wasn’t exactly reassuring. Sam had expected some amount of yelling, maybe violence, but silence was much worse, far more tense.

“I…”

“How long have you been watching me?” Kindle asked through gritted teeth.

Sam blinked, that was a difficult question to answer, he wasn’t exactly sure to be honest. Calendars were a luxury not afforded to him. “I wasn’t….”

“How long?” She asked once more, contemptuously.

“I don’t know, a while?” Sam answered; he could work out details when, and if she calmed down a bit.

“How long is a while!?” Kindle’s eyes squeezed shut as she shouted, her fists balled up. This felt so wrong, she wanted to cry.

“I don’t know….” Sam’s tone quickened, her voice was thunderous, he wanted to back up, but he knew that would only make her even angrier.

Kindle’s eyes shot open and she snapped them his way, how didn’t he know? How could you not know how long you were stalking somebody?

“Look, I don’t, I don’t have any way of keeping track of time…I don’t have a watch or anything ok? I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching you…ok…” Sam answered quickly, he was starting to shake form the adrenaline. This was his first face to face interaction with another person in years, he wasn’t used to dealing with people, let alone angry people.

Kindle could smell the fear; the tiny man was literally shaking where he stood. She softened a bit, he looked so vulnerable and afraid. It was unlikely he could pose her any harm, such an abrasive front was likely not needed. Kindle took a slow breath before speaking again.

“Then what were you doing?”

“Looking for food and water…and shelter.” Sam answered as quickly as she allowed him to. “That’s all, I swear.”

“Why here? Why my place?” Kindle adjusted her posture, shifting her weight a bit. “Why me?”

“Because…you don’t have any pets, you’re clean and you leave food out that’s easy to reach….that’s all...seriously…it wasn’t about you at all. I….”

Why was he even here? He didn’t seem too keen on answering that, Kindle was sure there were shelters for homeless infected. Didn’t he have a family to live with, friends? Why was he wandering around people’s apartments? None of what he said made anything any clearer, nor did it do anything to make her feel better.

“I’m sorry…I’ll go…ok? Just let me go, and you won’t see me again.” Sam could feel his heart beating slower now, her voice was a bit lower, which helped.

Kindle laughed a cynical breathy laugh. “Does that mean you’ll just do a better job at hiding?” He didn’t exactly say he wouldn’t come back?

“I….”

Kindle shook her head and sat back on her ankles. “None of this…god this is so creepy. You’re in my house? You know how strange that is? How do I even handle this?” Kindle sighed, giving her head a shake. “You know this is creepy, right? People don’t just…creep around other people’s homes uninvited!”

“I was just trying to survive.” Sam argued.

Kindle shook her head. “No, nuh-uh. I know there are places you can go, shelters that take care of infected. You don’t HAVE to be here. Not in my house, not in this building?” Kindle sat up.

Sam sank a bit. It didn’t matter how he explained things to her, they never understood. They never understood what it was like to be ‘taken care of’, to have all your anonymity taken away, all your self-determination taken away. To be gathered up like cattle and placed somewhere, out of sight, out of mind.

They were free to go where they pleased, as they pleased, whenever they wanted. Normies couldn’t understand what it was like to have everything taken away.

“What are you going to do then?” Sam asked flatly.

“I don’t know.” Kindle answered honestly. “Call the police?”

Sam stiffened up. Laws were in fact laws, regardless of your size.

“Do they have prisons for infected? What would that even be like?” Kindle talked over to herself, though loud enough for the intruder to hear her.

He didn’t answer.

“I should.” Kindle nodded, it made sense, and it was the right thing to do. He was breaking the law, and besides, he would be safer if somebody was taking care of him, not creeping around people’s homes.

Sam closed his eyes, this was the last thing he wanted, it represented the last strings of his humanity, his freedom his self-determination. The last little bit of control he had left, ebbing away.

“It’s probably safer anyhow…” Kindle went on, convincing herself further that this was the right path to follow.

Sam grinned, perhaps there was a way out of this after all?

“Look, if you want to have me arrested because you feel violated, fine. But don’t pretend it’s for my own good, because it really isn’t.” Sam spoke while looking at his feet.

Kindle furrowed her brow. Now that the initial shock of their encounter had passed, she was starting to think more clearly. The intruder before her was small, very small, the smallest tiny she had ever seen. The fact that he had survived any amount of time at all on his own blew her mind. But that he chose to defend his lifestyle, over what was clearly a safer alternative, intrigued her. “Why would you say that?”

Sam looked up, he had mustered every fiber of emotion he had laying around, to put on as convincing a face as he could muster, he had to look sad, but also afraid, and a little bit determined, if his tale was to be believed. “Because it’s true?”

Kindle sat back, his answer was amusing, but he said it with such conviction, and while it was hard to tell form such a distance, it almost looked like he was, crying. “Explain.” Kindle was not willing to let him off the hook so easily, she was still incredibly creeped out at the prospect of somebody sneaking around without her knowledge. Now her curiosity was starting to win over, and since she was clearly in no danger, she saw no harm in poking into the situation a little further.

“For starters, imagine prison, but you’re the size of a bug. All the fun you’ve heard on tv magnified a hundred times over.” Sam shivered, for good measure. The truth was, he had no idea what Prison would be like for somebody his size, he imagined it was a lot like prison for a normal person. But she didn’t have to know that.

Kindle appeared to at least be considering his words, but would clearly need further convincing.

“Infected are not treated very well, the larger ones can fit in, but people like me…well…use your imagination.” Sam shivered.

“I don’t….”

“We fit in…plenty of places…in a verity of situations.” Sam stared at her flatly, waiting to see if it would sink in yet.

Kindle took a moment, unsure what he was getting at, until it clicked in, and her eyes went wide. “Oh…that’s just terrible…I don’t believe it.” He couldn’t be telling the truth. Could he? Kindle thought about it for a moment longer, but only a moment, as now things were starting to go down a path she had no intention of imagining.

“You’re small, and you’re in jail. They don’t exactly have special facilities built, with teeny, tiny prison guards. This isn’t the comics. Some prisons keep us in hamster cages, some fish tanks, some Tupperware containers, look it doesn’t matter. You made your mind up, just get it over with.” Sam looked away, now that his face was out of sight, he cringed a little…he was likely overselling it, but he was never a very good actor.

Kindle was quiet for a while, when she did speak up, it was with a level voice, void of sentiment or bias. “On one hand, you broke into my house, stole from me, and crept around watching me without my consent.”

“I…”

“Shush.” Kindle’s eyes widened.

“Sorry.” Sam sunk.

“However, “ Kindle shifted her weight and sat up. “You’re harmless, and I don’t think you did so with bad intentions.”

Sam perked up a little.

“That doesn’t make it better.” Kindle frowned. “Or any less creepy.”

Sam sank.

“You seem genuinely opposed to the idea of being brought to a shelter, which has me wonder what they must be like, for you to choose this life over a shelter.” Kindle scrunched her lips to the side in thought.

“I…”

“No, shh.” Kindle’s look shot daggers through Sam, so quickly obeyed.

Sam felt butterflies in his stomach, she was deliberating over his fate, and he had no say in it what so ever. He wanted to argue his point, but she wanted none of it. He understood she felt violated, and while she had a point, so did he. Sam never asked to get sick, he never asked to be taken care of, all he wanted to do was be free to make his own decisions.

“Can I just….”

“One more word and I’ll take you down town myself!” Kindle snapped, clearly fed up. This man had made her uncomfortable for weeks, he was responsible for all those awkward feelings she had, all those times she felt eyes on her, all those times she felt watched. She was angry, but also very much in control of the situation, and he was going to know it.

Sam took a deep breath in and let it out quickly. This wasn’t fair!

Kindle mulled over things for a few more moments, before leaning forward and cautiously reaching out for the small man.

Sam backed away as her hand encroached on his personal space. But his ill feelings clearly didn’t seem to deter her, as he soon found his torso pinched between a thumb and finger and his feet lost contact with the ground below. “Woah, hey what are you doing!” Sam yelped in panic.

Kindle rocked forward, using her own momentum to hop up to her feet, and pointedly made her way to the kitchen counter, where she stood, leaning on her free arm, allowing her occupied hand to dangle in front of her face so she could get a better look at the man with in.

“I don’t like this, put me down!” Sam demanded, kicking his legs wildly and wiggling his shoulders.

“Does it make you uncomfortable, a little uneasy?” Kindle asked, cleverly. “Not very nice when somebody else violates your personal space, without your permission, hmmm?”

Sam’s voice grew more desperate, as his struggles increased. “No, I’m sorry…put me down.”

Kindle rolled her eyes, she wasn’t hurting him, and she was hardly applying any pressure at all. But she had only wanted to make a point, not terrify the little creep. “Fine fine, calm down.” Kindle laughed, as she set Sam down.

Sam collapsed, hugging the ground, and took a moment to catch his breath, he hated heights!

“What’s your name?” Kindle asked, suppressing her amusement.

Sam took a moment to catch his breath, before speaking into the ground “Mud.”

Kindle furrowed her brow, after all this, was he really still trying to be funny?

Sam sat up, but wished he hadn’t the moment he caught her gaze, she was not impressed.

“In our communities, we tend to rename one another, there is who you were before you got sick, and there’s who you are now. My name, the one they gave me, is Mud.” Sam looked at his own lap.

Kindle shook her head, as terrible as that sounded; she had heard something like it before. “Mud, I’m going to make you a deal, ok?”

Sam looked up, she had his attention now.

“I’ll look the other way, let you go. Pretend none of this ever happened.” Kindle paused, to gauge his reaction.

“And?”

“And, you stay away from my apartment.” Kindle crossed her arms, stiffly.

Sam nodded, enthusiastically. “Done!” He wanted to smile, but knew better.

“I mean it.” Kindle warned. “I’m not keen on uninvited company, nor am I impressed with your explanation on why you feel it’s necessary to break into other people’s homes. Frankly, I don’t want to know. I don’t ever want to see you sneaking around here again, clear?”

“Crystal clear!” Sam nodded.

Kindle set her hand down in front of Sam, palm up and waited.

Sam watched her for a moment, unsure what she wanted him to do.

“Well?” Kindle motioned to her palm.

“Oh…um…why?” Sam asked, nervously.

“You don’t think I’m just going to trust you to leave on your own, do you?” Kindle frowned.

Sam sighed, she was far more clever than he gave her credit for.

“Get on, unless you prefer we do it forcefully.” Kindle said, plainly.

Sam nodded, and quickly climbed into the waiting palm. It was hard to move about, bumpy and uneven, but warm. He felt awkward crawling on his hands and knees to the center of her hand, then sitting down cross legged, as standing seemed like a bad idea.

Kindle tried not to flinch; it felt so strange having a real person crawling around her hand like this. Infected…Tinies were not generally small enough to crawl about her hand like a hamster. It tickled a little, but she refused to laugh, she was being serious! He had to know she was serious!

The trip to the stairwell was quiet, Sam looked down at her palm, and Kindle kept her eyes focused ahead, taking careful steps as not to lose her balance and send her passenger falling to his death. He was a bit of a creep but he didn’t deserve to die.

“You’re sure you’d not rather go someplace safe, there’s a shelter not far.” Kindle asked as she rounded the corner on the third set of stairs.

“Positive.” Sam insisted.

Kindle said nothing, until she approached the last set of steps to the back door, which led to the garbage bins and the side entrance to the building. He really looked ready to let her do this? He didn’t seem the least bit nervous. Out that door were cats, rats, birds, bugs and a whole world of death and pain. It made her feel uncomfortable to walk around at night and she wasn’t finger sized.

“Remember, I’m not to find you in my apartment again.” Kindle reminded Sam of their deal.

Sam nodded. “I remember.”

Kindle pushed against the stairwell door, and crouched down. “Ok…here you go.” She set her hand on the cool cement floor, and watched Sam eagerly step off her palm.

“Thank you.” Sam smiled, watching as Kindle remained where she was, crouched over him, watching him carefully.

How would he survive, where would he go? Was this the right choice, what if he just went and broke into someone else’s place? Was she doing the right thing? He looked so small and helpless, it felt like she was just condemning him to die. Part of her wanted to take him back, pick him up and just take him to somebody who could look after him. It felt like the right thing to do, but she had already made a deal, she couldn’t go back on it now? Could she?

“Well, bye.” Sam nodded, and then took off in the direction of the dumpster.

“W…oh…yea bye.” Kindle watched him leave until he was out of sight. She wasn’t sure if she had made the right decision, but it was too late now, he was gone.