“Get in there, you!”

 “Mmmppphhh!!!” From her emphatic, if muffled, grunting, the girl most definitely did not want to go into the cage. It was of steel bars all round and only just big enough to fit the 18-year old...provided she was curled up in a tight ball the whole time. The plaintive sobs and whimpers from the other girls in their own cages told how uncomfortable they were and gave the last teen extra incentive to squirm and struggle for all she was worth.

 Still, her hands and feet were bound tightly with rope, at the wrists, elbows, ankles and knees, to say nothing of the jaw-crushing ballgag strapped deep in her mouth. Struggle she could, but eventually, into the cage she went. The door slammed shut behind her with a clang and the padlock closed with a clink of finality.

 Greg stepped back, brushing his hands with some satisfaction at a job well done as he surveyed the long line of cages, each holding a bound and gagged teen dressed in the green and white uniform of the Middle Valley cheer leading squad. “Okay boys! Get them to Cell block C!” He said, chuckling, “C for Cheerleader, in this case.” One of his boys came forward with a forklift and slid the tines under the first cage. He soon had three stacked one atop the other and drove off with the whole lot, as the frightened occupants squirmed and sobbed inside.

 No sooner had Greg checked off the Middleton Cheerleaders job off the docket for the day when a clatter behind him announced the arrival of a large moving truck. It backed into the garage and parked. As soon as it had come to a halt, a trio of men in fashionable tuxedos and somewhat less fashionable, if color coordinated balaclavas hopped out and got to work unlocking and opening the back of the truck. A loud chorus of “Mmmmppphhh’s” spilled out from the unhappy occupants inside.

 “What lot is this?” Greg called to one of the dapper captors as the other two disappeared into the truck.

 “North-side casino job.” The man replied. Sure enough, one of his buddies came down the loading ramp a second later, a squirming girl dressed as one of the card dealers slung over his shoulder. His buddy followed, carrying another lovely lady dressed as a cocktail waitress. Both of the girls had their arms and legs tapped and, to tell from their frantic grunting, more of the stuff plastered over their mouths.

 “We were expecting you here hours ago man!” Greg said, huffily. The other man merely shrugged and disappeared up into the truck himself, coming out a second later dragging another tied up captive who, judging from the elegant, if a bit disheveled evening dress she wore, had been a gambler at the casino that night.

 “Alright, just get them stored away in...um…” Greg paused, racking his brain. “Holding Cell 4. Should be enough room to squeeze them all...in...” He was distracted by the sound of the garage door opening again. This time, it was a big touring bus with a graphic across the side which read: “Greater Midwest Regional Beauty Pageant.” It parked and a minute later the beauties began spilling out. They’d obviously been going to...or coming from, the bathing suit portion of the pageant, as the confused, blushing ladies had nothing on but their bikinis...plus the shackles and gags of course.

 “There you are!” Greg shouted to the kidnappers struggling to corral the girls coming off the bus. “Finally. Alright, these lovely ladies are going straight to the auction block…” He checked his clipboard, ignoring the frightened whimpers and moans the words “auction block” brought from the assembled captives. “Ah...the Ruby Auditorium.”

 “Uh sir…” One of Greg’s assistants piped up behind him. “The Ruby Auditorium’s not available yet…” He was ignored for the moment as Greg spun back to the casino team who were still busy unloading their cargo of kidnapped gamblers, dealers and waitresses. “Hey! Keep those girls in line!’ The crowd of bound and gagged girls was started to spill over to intermix with the bathing beauties snatched from the pageant. “Casino girls to the right! Beauties to the left! No! My left! What!?!” This last was directed back to the assistant who’d managed to get his attention again.

 “I said, the Ruby Auditorium’s not available yet.”

 “What! Why!?!” Greg demanded. “I’ve got two dozen beauty pageant contestants waiting to go on…” He groaned as the garage doors clanked open again letting in another bus, painted school yellow this time.

 “The current auction’s dragging on a little long…” His assistant stammered.

 “Well, go tell them to hurry up! Um...get the auctioneer to speak faster, I don’t know. Meantime, we’ve got to get this…” He gestured to the two mobs of captive women, many of whom were doing their level best to thwart the attempts by their abductors to herd them back into any sort of order. “Off the floor and make some space for everything else coming in…” Sure enough, the second bus was now disgorging a mob of girls in soccer uniforms, enhanced by ropes and gags, into the growing chaotic mess. “okay okay! Put the beauties in the level 3 dungeon...soccer girls...take them to storeroom. Yes, I’m sure they’ll all fit, you’ll just need to push…”  

 Greg’s phone rang. “Just a heads up…” The voice on the other end said. “A couple more shipments have been rerouted to your spot.”

 “What!?!” Greg shouted. “They can’t do that! I’m up to my ears in girls right now. We haven’t got the room for any more at the moment.”

 “Sorry pal, but they’re coming, whether you like it or not. First one should be here in ten minutes.”

 “Look, on top of the casino girls coming in three hours late and the beauty pageant auction getting delayed, I’m scheduled to get the whole Beta Lambda sorority, the secretaries from Worldwide Investment and the nursing staff from St. Bertholds, all within the next hour. I tell you, we’re just swamped!”