<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0173</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0174.txt">Next (Page 174)</A><BR> I was thinking of throwing the last one away and trying to fall backwards onto the escalator. But I'm not sure I can do it."<P><P>"I'll help you. Hell, I'd follow you if I could, but I'm all food."<P><P>"You don't know how much this means to me. If I do succeed, I will find some way to repay you. I promise."<P><P>"It's okay," Hot Dog Bit Friend said, getting up with some difficulty. "I know I have no future. But if I have the hope that somehow you made it--that you escaped--that I helped you--I will be able to meet my death with a smile."<P><P>The two walked the remaining distance to the Exit Escalator. It was an escalator in an entrance cut into the side of a cliff face. There was a big "EXIT" sign above it, and below the big sign was a smaller sign which read "NO FOOD ON ESCALATOR". The view down the escalator was obscured by fog about 20 or 30 feet down.<P><P>"Well, this is it," Fry Friend said, grabbing a fry from himself and tossing it away. <P><P>Instantly, he felt a wave of fatigue and disorientation.<P><P>As he threw the next one away, he blacked out momentarily and found himself on his knees, no longer able to support his weight."<P><P>"God damn it, how did Onion Ring Friend do it?"<P><P>"I'll help you my Friend," Hot Dog Bit Friend said, and he began taking fries out of Fry Friend.<P><P>That was the last thing Fry Friend saw, the benevolent visage of Hot Dog Bit Friend taking fry after fry out of him. Five... four... three... two...<P><P>He blacked out.<P><P>Then, he slowly began to regain consciousness.<P><P>At first, all that Fry Friend was aware of was the humming. A deep, mystical, overwhelming hum. Then a blurry sight--gray blobs and landscapes scrolling by. Then pain, wracking his cardboard body.<P><P>He let out a moan and rubbed his eyes. What was this, a terrible dream? A dream... no...<P><P>He focused on the gray shapes and saw that they were weird patterns in a rock tunnel... a tunnel slanting downward...<P><P>The Escalator! He was on the Exit Escalator! And he was alive!<P><P>He tried to sit up, but lost his balance and went tumbling down the steps of the Escalator, awful pain ringing through his body with every jolt. <P><P>But finally he managed to stop himself and sit with stability on one of the stairs.<P><P>"I made it..." he said softly, his voice echoing weirdly.<P><P>The Escalator had eerie bluish lights every couple of yards, lighting up the tunnel in a bizarre way.<P><P>He could see nothing but Escalator both up and down. He sighed and stretched out on the stair, trying to relax and find a position where it wouldn't hurt so bad.<P><P>He smiled and felt around inside himself--no french fries at all. So Monarch Friendly Times was a liar. No fries, and still alive...<P><P>Wondering how long he'd been unconscious, Fry propped himself up on his side and stared down the neverending shaft. Does it ever end? If not, then Ring was somewhere down there--maybe thousands of miles down. Could I ever reach him, Fry thought, if that was the case?<P><P>He considered yelling out Ring's name, but he decided against it. No use. It would just be too far. Too far...<P><P>He lied back down and stared at the pattern of the tunnel wall--somewhat reminiscent of the marble floor in Monarch Friendly Time's throne room, but much sharper and more severe. Severity--now there was something Fry could get into. Everything back in the Kingdom--everything was just so gentle. At least, up till recently, with everyone dying...<P><P>He wondered whether or not Shake Friend or Pop Friend or Coffee Friend or Juice Friend could make it--they were primarily cups, after all. But no--they didn't have any rebellion in them. And their contents--beverages--lasted a lot longer without replenishment than either his fries or Ring's onion rings.<P><P>But I'm free, he thought. Free of Monarch Friendly Times and Friendly Times Kingdom. I always knew there was more to my life...<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0174.txt">Next (Page 174)</A>