Trapped Within

{Chapter 18}

POV Dannie:

"No nono nonononono, she can't be dead, she can't be!-", opening up the security footage, I searched the hallways, I even checked every single floor, hoping that they were just hiding in some cell or something, but I couldn't find anything, "Mi-...mikey didn't hurt them...right?", I mumbled quietly as I continued to search, moving the cameras around, only to stop as I stared at the footage. Bile almost reached my throat as I continued to stare at the static, their body was shoved into the far side of the corner, torn right down the middle, and discarded in the hallway with no sign of any help in moving the husk.

D A N N I E     I T S     M E

'Shit-', shutting off the computer, I walked towards the door, but I didn't open it, staring down at the ground, I began to fidget with my hands, taking a deep breath I stared down at the ground as the slammed door open. I was tired, and wanted so badly for this all to be fake, for all of this to be some messed up dream, but of course, I was never really lucky in that way. Mikey raced passed me and stopped, turning around, I finally looked up at Mikey, my eyes stung as I continued to mourn, pulling out the dog tag.

W H E R E     A R E     T H E Y

"I-", my breath was shaky, and my voice stuttered as I tried to speak, I hated this, it hurt so much, "I took everyone into the nursery, but Mikey-wait!", Mikey never gave me a chance to explain, I raced after him as he shoved through the door, and as I entered I fell to pieces. Crying was the only thing I could do as Mikey stared down at 003, his hands shaking as he reached for the blanket. "I-I'm so sorry Mikey. I swear I tried but she lost too much blood and was too far underdeveloped to survive-", I continued to speak, but my stuttered words turned to jumbled words as I stood by his side, holding the dog tag in front of his view, "I wish I could have save 003-"

I    T O L D    Y O U    T O    S A V E    H E R

I stopped speaking as I turned to look up at Mikey, his once blank expression just stared down at me, glaring down at me, "I-", I backed away from him, Mikey never moved as he held the lifeless fetus, yanking the dog tag from my hold, I kept my distance, standing right by the door.  Mikey looked down at the dog tag and held it close to his chest, wrapping the long chain around his neck leaving only six inches of space. "Mikey-", A sharp hiss sheathed passed his beak as he turned back towards me, glaring, so I stepped back and Mikey made sure of it, "I-... was able to save...Specimen 005...", Mikey placed 003 back inside the NICU bed, looked at the small turtle, I know I couldn't see his face, but I knew his expression was a mixture of hate, angry, and sadness.

"...I was able to save Specimen 005, however, because of the shot, she-...", I couldn't say it, it hurt, I protected and in a way raised these eggs, and now here I was standing on the far side of the room, scorned for doing something out of my control. Regardless, I listened to the parent and stared down at the ground as the image of the turtle flowed through my mind, one harmed and the other killed right in front of me. Mikey lifted the blanket that covered the specimen's arm, her right was fine, but the other...part of her limb was missing, wrapped carefully to collect any blood that might leak. "And as for Specimen 002 and 004-", I stared down at the ground, flinching as I heard Mikey walk towards me, only to sit down in his nest, I noticed that he was cradling Uno and Speicmen 005, I wanted to tell him, to leave 005 in the NICU bed, but angering him in this state could get me hurt, so I said nothing, "-I moved them into the nursery incubator, and adjusted the temperature...", I stood there, waiting for Mikey's response, his reaction to everything, but he said nothing, "For now, until 005-...has enough strength, she will have to stay in the NICU bed until further notice, right now I need to figure out meals for those two since we're on our own in that field...".

W H Y     D I D     T H E Y     T A K E     C E N T I

There it was, another issue, "I was...", I cleared my throat as I walked towards the nest Mikey sat inside, but back away as Mikey warned me, so I did, staring at the hatchlings resting comfortably in the bed. "I was informed that with the transportation the droids found out that Centi was found at the end of a hallway dead and torn down their spine, I thought that it was a lie, until I saw their body neglected at the end of the hallway on the security cameras...", Mikey's breath hitched as I turned towards him, his back facing me.