Audacia Plains: Uprising

What We Fight For

 7

Christmas, 11 years ago. Completely snowed in, my mum made me some hot chocolate as we opened up our presents together... This is really cosy. Now we're watching The Snowman on TV, probably one of my favourite movies this time of year. My Gran phoned, she's wishing us a merry Christmas from the home. She's always calling my mum for a chat about something, I wish I could talk to her more. Doesn't matter, I guess... I can go visit her once the snow goes down a little. I'm just going to snuggle up in my duvet and take a little nap in front of the tv...

...Mum? Where's she gone? I thought she would've stayed down here with me... I guess she's in bed. I don't think Dad's in yet, he'll still be out at the pub alone. It's only half 11. Maybe I'll make a sandwich, since I'm up.

I could see the younger me, pottering into the kitchen with his little Christmas snowflake pyjamas on, opening the cupboards looking for the bread... There's Patrick. I walked into the kitchen after him, seeing the young me groan as my dad staggered in, blind-drunk. "Wher's yer mom, wee man? Off shaggin' wan of yer mate's da's? Nae respect, the load of ya." t Now crying, the younger version of myself tried to push him away, but Patrick resisted and held him firmly in place. "Caaaaroliiine! Come get yer cunt of a son and tell 'im how much of a slapper his mummy is!"

"STOP!!" I raged, throwing whatever I could find on the kitchen worktop at him trying to knock him off the younger me. Almost instantly, his head turned right around, facing me directly with horrible bloody eyes. I could hear the Doc's voice break through. "Now now, none of that is ever going to hurt me. I'm all around you, and you'll never break free. Everyone you love, everyone who loves you, they're all going to die, because you could never sit the fuck down and shut the hell up." Grabbing my wrists and throwing me against the wall, his face and skin started to peel off, revealing blood mixed with pus and hints of green rot. "Why even fight against us? Your daddy sure didn't, he killed hundreds upon hundreds in this place. It's in your blood, OUR BLOOD. Be free down here, with me, and kill anyone who gets in your way. Kill them... Kill them all..."

I screamed as I sprang up in a cold sweat. Checking around me, there was no sign of him... It was all a dream, although the nightmare hadn't ended. I was up on top of the plains, which startled me, until I realised the hatch was open and Teddy was perched on the ladders, not wanting to come fully up. I remembered being down on Level 1, making my way to the stairs, but Ruz tried to stop me, and then I ended up falling... and now here. Why? I wondered as I looked around the grassy field, surrounded by the cliffs which dropped a good 60ft into a pile of the dead.

It was grey and cloudy, as usual. I never actually looked at the detail up here until now - this was the first time I've been up here, and felt safe at the same time. Taking it all in, feeling the fresh wind cleanse the stagnant cave air off my body, it was hard to picture this scene along with the place where all those people died, along with Henry. The place where people are forced to come and experience limited freedom, and dragged back into the depths of hell to make them abandon their willpower. The way I see it, this place can create either break or make you - stay in the dark and breed violence, or feel the sunshine and fight for more. I stood up and grabbed Teddy's hand, pulling him out onto the plains. He shuffled backwards, trying to grasp at the ladders again. He's been here his whole life... He must resent this place more than anybody.

"Just sit here... for a moment." Taking his little brown bear and hugging it for additional support, he fell onto the grass where he started shaking. "It's ok... Listen, I don't know what's going to happen once Katie hears about all that... She'll probably start fighting right away, she's got a whole faction under her belt. If we do make it out of here, me and you, Jill and her... This is what it'll be like. The four of us, out here. Try to imagine what's over that gap, across the water. I've been there, I'm from there... There's whole cities, millions of people, tons of food and so much to see and do. Tall buildings and endless landscapes, frozen mountains and sandy beaches, communities full of kind, caring samaritans. I promise you, Teddy... I'm going to show you it someday, along with Jill and Katie. Freedom should never hurt like it does here... no one out there could ever hurt you as much as this place. That's why we have to fight."

Standing up, I could feel Teddy's resolve as he stared across the ocean, looking right past his entire world from that moment since he was born in this place. I was so happy to focus on what I was fighting for, I almost didn't notice what Teddy was holding along with his bear. It was a yellow piece of paper - all scratchy handwriting, like it was written in a hurry.

"W-Where did this come from?" I asked, confused. Reading it carefully, I wasn't sure whether to laugh hysterically or think about what was going to happen in the next couple of days. All I was sure of, was that Jill was right. People were watching over me, and I've been too blind to see it. Even though it felt like I had more enemies than friends, some of those enemies appeared to want The Facility gone too. 

The letter read, "Brad, Teddy. It's K here. Level 4's can come up on the plains any time, y'know. We'll use this to our advantage, we can't communicate in the Base anymore. Throw this away once you read it. R told me all about what happened, he was my contact. Also, he knows about the Base from before, said you'd want to see this room he found. We're being careful about what we say here, and we're now ready to mobilize any time in case you pull another damn stunt like that. We're ready to investigate when you are. Try not to piss anyone else off, idiot."

Good old Katie. If I had to guess though, if she now knew about my father, she'd suspect me of being a traitor since I was hiding it from her - but I was fine with that, for now. Someone down here knew the truth, and I intended to find it. Me and Teddy sat for a good 10 minutes, smiling like the idiots we were, a future of clarity and peace now within reach.