The Coder

Chapter 4 - Remember the lost

Hey guys, I know that I promised that I would post a long chapter for you guys but my power went out recently because of the super snow storm we got up here in the PA.(18 inch of snow and power outages.) With the little time I have before i go to bed I wrote something down quickly for you guys, so sorry if there are any mistakes.

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System start up. Extracting files.

    Waylon was laying on an old tattered couch both he and Eddie had pulled into their turf. He slowly began to recall all his memories he had been keeping locked away for a long time now and repeated every moment back to Eddie who was sitting next to him listening closely. From the most useless as college moments with friends to the most important thing like his age, birthday, and personality traits. He listed off everything that came to mind with such detail it seemed as though he had only just witnessed it.

    Eddie was happy to help Waylon out with remembering all his memories because at the rate they were going, it seemed to Eddie that Waylon was falling apart. Slowly Deteriorating into a wondering risk that could harm anyone who dared to interfere with his beliefs. It hurt him to think that Waylon could completely disappear if he didn't get real help, so Eddie did the best he could to help. Even if that included "storing his files."

    He listened intensely as Waylon was recollecting a conversation he had once and the voices changed with each person talking. He found it interesting how he could talk about each memory like it was a recording playing back through his mouth. He sat there looking into Waylon's strained face and smiled. Waylon was telling him a story about when he was a child and how he fell trying to learn how to ice skate. Each memory was told line by line until they were all out for Eddie to remember. He promised himself that he would hold on to these memories until Waylon felt that he was mentally capable to remember all these things on his own.

    They sat there for a moment in the silence, waiting for someone to speak first. "thank you for helping me Eddie. I don't know what I would have done if I lost everything I had ever known." Waylon sighed heavily before turning to look at Eddie. He stared into Eddie's ice blue eyes hoping that he would say something, anything at all. He was just hoping that Eddie would not leave after hearing about his boring past or about the horrors he faced while he worked here at Murkoff.

    "That's what friends are for after all, right?" Eddie was unsure of how he felt around Waylon anymore. Sometimes he would completely forget that Waylon was a grown man and not a scared child, and other times his stomach twisted at the thought of Waylon being next to him. He was so tiny compared to Eddie and seemed fairly weak until you saw the sparks in his eyes. At night when they would sleep next to each other on the mattress his heart would race and his mind would wander. He had never felt like this before. He had never had experience with these kinds of feelings before and it was starting to scare him.

    Waylon started to experience these same feelings and was unsure of how to handle them. He had no idea what these feelings were but they felt strangely familiar. He thought that perhaps it was from a memory long forgotten when he was put through the machines. He gave Eddie a weak smile before he felt the electricity in his body begin to vibrate and course unnaturally. This would happen occasionally whenever Eddie was a bit too close or his mind would wander to these new feelings. He sat up quickly and looked over to a large box in the corner of the room. Their food supply had begun to get low and they were in dire need of food.

    "Why don't we go to the kitchen and see if we can scavenge for any food." the last time they had looked for food was about 3 weeks before. (They would only eat once a day and conserve as much as possible.) They knew that the asylum would run out eventually, but was hoping that there would be enough to last a while.

    Eddie pulled himself off the floor and looked over to where he had been looking. He nodded solemnly and picked up his old rusted knife he liked to carry with him in case of emergency. The pitter-patter of their feet echoed throughout the halls with a soothing little tap tap tap that made Waylon smile to himself. He loved the simplest little sounds and things, and to Eddie this reminded him of a child. He could see how broken and lost Waylon truly was. He saw how Waylon was wandering through his own mind lost in the darkness hoping to see a light to lead him out, but found nothing. Eddie wanted to be that light Waylon searched for.

    "Waylon, how can you do it?" Both Eddie and Waylon were surprised that he had asked. Waylon gave him a faint, confused look for a moment before looking back down the hall they were wandering through.

    "How can you stay so calm and strong when you can feel everything you know slipping away?" Eddie's voice was nearly a whisper. He found himself saddened by that thought. What would he have done if it was him that was losing everything?

    "Eddie, there is a saying that I remember every time I feel like I'm losing the fight. It goes like this; You never know how strong you are until it is the only choice you have." Waylon had stopped to look Eddie in the eyes before clearing his throat. "I believe that if I stop trying now, than it would have been all for nothing." They walked on in silence from then on. They had brought back food from the kitchen and let the rest of their day carry on in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence nor was it a depressing silence, but one full of comfort and understanding.