CHRONICLES OF MERTH - MER'S DAY OUT CHAPTER THIRTEEN

We went on our way. I hoped that we were going to be out of the city of Pizza quite soon. I really wanted to get out of here, and not be used for some stupid pizza. I didn't have a clue where we were going, I just followed Huttie and Sarafina everywhere, neatly dodging other Small Beings we came across. Huttie had told us not all Small Beings were on the side of Anfina and her father, but that you can't be too careful. I'd asked him how you could decided if someone was on our side, but he said you never know, not until it's too late.
It was nighttime now, and all three of us decided to stop for the night, as we were all quite tired. We found a small cave and slipped inside it to sleep. Just before we found the cave, the sky had come over inky-black and thunder rumbled overhead. So it was quite lucky we'd found a cave to sleep in. I didn't fancy sleeping outside in a storm.
It was a really small cave, there wasn't even enough room to swing a cat, so we all had to squish up together. Several times during the night, I woke up with pins and needles in my feet.
One time, I woke up, needing to go to the toilet. I risked going outside to relieve myself. I lay there for ages wondering if I should, but in the end, I thought 'screw it, I'm going.'
As soon as I stepped outside, I knew it was a bad idea. I don't know why, but I felt a tingling sensation going down my spine, like something bad was going to happen to me. Or possibly all of us.
I relieved myself, and was just about to turn to go back to the cave, when I heard a rustling coming from where I'd stood. I was surprised when I saw Anfina spring out from nowhere at me.
"Ah ha! So here's the real Mer! I've found him! So where are your friends, then?"
"I don't know," I lied, protecting Huttie and Sarafina.
"Don't lie to me, I know they'e with you. You'll never guess what I trapped in my net earlier." She reached out behind her and wheeled around two figures. One looked a lot like a teddy bear; with fish scales instead of fur, and the other figure was...
"Juniper!" I yelled out, surprised. "What the Hell are you doing here?"
"I heard you were in danger, and I came looking for you," he replied.
"How?"
Our parents' CT."
"Oh."
I realized that the only time I'd contacted my family through a CT was when I left to live with Rubean, but I couldn't be bothered to argue, I just felt so pleased to see someone I hadn't seen for a while.
"Stop with the cosy family reunion!" Anfina snarled. "I caught your dear brother and his Boblar companion, thinking it was you and your Choc-lin friend in disguise! But when I tried to start concocting the perfect pizza, they wouldn't boil!"
Anfina glared at my brother and his friend as if it was their fault, and carried on: "I tortured them to find out who they really were, and then I forced them to help me look for you!"
By this time, Huttie and Sarafina had woken up, and came outside to see what all the commotion was about.
"What's going on?" Sarafina asked.
Anfina glanced at her. She pulled out a gun and fired at her. Sarafina tried to defend herself by pulling out her Matshi gun, but Anfina was too quick for her. A net shot out of Anfina's gun, and landed over Sarafina. She fell with a thud, unconscious. I saw Anfina pointing her gun at me. I tried to run out of the way, but I was too slow as well. I felt something hard land on me, and then everything went black...

I woke up some time later, everything was hazy, so at first, I couldn't make out where I was. I tried wriggling my hands, but they felt numb. I looked down and realized my hands weren't numb; I was tied up. I saw Mer on one side of me, Mer's brother, Juniper on the other. They were still asleep. Huttie and Juniper's Boblar friend were on the other side of the room, across from us. They, too, were still asleep.
A silver door opened, and Anfina and her father, Angora, entered.
"I found them Father."
"Well done, daughter. But who are all these spares?"
"They were friends of the ingrediants, helping them to escape."
I watched Angora lift up Huttie's face. "Is that our cook?"
"Yes. He betrayed us, and helped them instead."
"Kill him. And kill the spares as well."
"No!" I yelled out.
They hadn't realized I was awake. They both turned and looked at me.
"Ah, that one is awake," said Angora. "Take him to the lab."
"Yes, Father."
She came over to me. I spat in her face.
"Dear, dear, you've got a lot of fire in your belly," Anfina said, in a patronizing tone. "We'll soon take care of that."
"What are you going to do?" Inside, I felt frightened, but I tried not to sound it.
"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head, my darling Sarafina. We won't do anything that bad to you. All we're going to do is use you and Mer for our perfect pizza."
"You won't get away with this!" I yelled at her. She smiled and gagged me with a piece of cloth. I raged at her through it.
She smiled her Siren smile. "Nobody can hear you, Sarafina. You may as well give up." She slapped me, and I drifted into an unconscious state...

Mitha stared at his wife in horror. Karina put a hand over her mouth, to try and stop herself from blurting out anymore blasphemy.
"W-What are you talking about, you don't want to clone?" He asked. "I thought you was missing Mer as much as I was."
"I...I am. But I don't think we can afford it. Plus, there's all this scare about cloning being dangerous."
"Oh, Kar, that is a load of twoddle. How can cloning be dangerous? And I know it's not the money situation you're worried about! So, what is the real reason you don't want to clone?"
Karina spooned some more of her dinner into her mouth. "Oh, don't take any notice of me, I was just joking."
"No, you weren't. I can tell when you're messing about. And just then, you was being serious!"
Karina bit her lip. She had finally stood up to her husband about something she didn't believe in, but now she didn't know how to back it up. She picked up her dinner and ran into the kitchen.
"That's right, run away from your trouble, like you always do." He yelled from the other room.
Karina stood at the sink, and sighed a deep, long sigh. Then she thought about it. She went back into the living-room.
"Mitha," she started. "Mitha, the reason why I don't want to clone is because I'm scared it won't be anything like the real Mer..."

Reubean, Felps and Dibs flew above the atmosphere of Merth for ages and ages. They were just about to give up, when Rubean picked a random place and landed.
"Why'd you land here?" Dibs asked. "This doesn't look like the City of Pizza."
"Have you ever seen the City of Pizza?"
"No, but..."
"No, so shut up."
They landed in a barren land. No plant or wildlife was to be found anywhere. They all stepped out the ship, and was struck by how hot it was outside. There was no wind, making them all feel even more hot and stifled.
They knew what their mission was. It was to look for Mer. So that is what they set out to do...

Find out what happens next in Chapter Fourteen...