Welcome Home!

Part 55: Finale

Hello. I have an announcement.

I will not be continuing Welcome Home!. I apologize for the sudden end, but some things have come up and I am no longer able to enjoy writing chapters for this story. I understand this can be disappointing, so I ask of your forgiveness.

As stated previously, I will explain what the endings would have been and other details now.

1. Freedom
This ending is exactly how it sounds. In this ending, Wally manages to run far enough into the forest to find a thin canvas wall with painted trees. He tears it down, but time is limited for escape. Wires had been set up to run through the thin walls of vinyl and canvas.
Despite the company canceling the show, they did not want their precious, dear actors and actresses to leave. Ever. To ensure capture, they rigged the set without the knowledge of the puppets.

Because of Wally tearing into the canvas and vinyl using a boxcutter he stole from Howdy, the wires had been set off, alerting the company. Wally has limited time to save someone--anyone. He leaves the decision up to you, for he'd rather see his friends get out than himself. The only available time to leave is night.
Sub-endings
A. You picked Wally. You both managed to escape before the company sent its private personnel to.. Dispatch the others. You two manage to leave, but the guilt of leaving the others behind haunts you both. Still, you're alive and well. You must both navigate through the world again, now no longer living in a setup.

B. You picked Howdy. You and Howdy made a run for it during the night, which was a dangerous move thanks to Mama Beagle* (the reason will be explained) and Sally.
Just like sub-ending A, you both go out into the real world, keeping low profiles so your whereabouts are never told to the evil company.

C. You picked Sally. This is quite possibly one of the worst endings because it ends in death. Despite Mama Beagle reminding you of Sally's one major flaw, you picked her anyway. This doesn't mean she went feral right off the bat. No. Instead, Sally did her absolute starshining best to overcome it, but Sally was never the strongest mentally. In the end, she loses the fight against herself and chases you from the outside back into The Neighborhood. The chase lasts for just a minute before the walls collapse inwards and crushes the houses and trees, leaving most if not all your neighbors suffocating.
The slight lapse in time caused by Sally's outburst was just enough for the personnel to shut the project down and cull you all.
You all die in silence, as the feeling of having the stuffing (or lungs in Eddie's case) compressed inside of you is a terribly silencing, slow death.

D. You picked Julie. This ending is certainly one of the stranger ones. You two managed to escape, but the guilt Julie feels is too much. Survivor's guilt absolutely demolished her, though it wasn't true survivor's guilt, as everyone else had the option to be a survivor as well.
The guilt eventually drives her to the end of her threads and she cuts contact with you, isolating herself in an exact replica of The Neighborhood, albeit the bright colors did nothing to fill the silence she found herself in. This is one of the loneliest endings.

E. You picked Eddie and Frank. There are no separate variants to this ending, as Eddie and Frank refused to leave each other's side. Having to save two people plus yourself was a difficult task, but you managed. Unfortunately, Eddie was much too slow. You and Frank had to stop to help him get through the shredded canvas and vinyl littering the false grass, but it was useless. Eddie was stuck. In the end, they beg you to leave them behind and move forward. You listen, running as you heard the sounds of helicopters and heavy footsteps of personnel destroying the houses.

F. You picked Barnaby. As soon as you two escaped, he apologized to you profusely before dipping. Yes, Barnaby just abandons you. As much as he wanted to live with you in peace, Barnaby had his down set of problems he had disillusioned himself into believing only he could solve them. Just as with the Julie ending, you end up alone once more, not knowing how he's doing.