Cruel & Blue (Eyeless Jack story)

Chapter 72

I groaned and muttered, "No, I need to be with her again...make sure she's alright..."

"Jack? Buddy?"

"I was going to...stay with her and..."

I felt him lightly slap my face. "Hey, Jack? Dude, don't pass out on me. At least wait until...Jack...? Shit--Jack! Please, don't..."

But his voice was nothing but a whisper by the time he could finish his sentence. My body was cold. I could feel nothing else. I fell unconscious.

...

Ao's POV

I managed to find an emergency exit in west wing that my father must have taken. Sadly, I never ran into him, though maybe that was for the best. I can't afford to waste time on things that don't matter now. I needed to find Elizabeth, subdue her, find Jack and make sure he's okay, then do whatever else I have to do. Today must be the day I finally battle Zalgo, but I'd like to avoid doing such a thing as much as I can. I have too much to lose.

The emergency exit was a long, narrow, rounded and dark tunnel lead around and up. It reeked of mildew, telling me that this tunnel has been here for quite a long time, and hasn't been used very often. I wondered just how long ago my father started working for SCP; how long has he been lying to me? It frustrated me to think about it so I stopped and kept my eyes ahead of me.

When there was no more tunnel to run through, I was left with a ladder and a hatch leading up. I didn't hesitate to climb my way up the rungs to get to the exit. Just as I placed my hand on the valve, Sam spoke up.

Be careful. There might be enemies waiting for you outside.

This time I started turning the valve with more caution than before. Once I inched it open, bright light started seeping in. Carefully, I lifted myself up and peeked around me. So far, nothing was out of the ordinary. The hatch seemed to be hidden by bushes. Swiftly, I opened up the hatch more and crawled out onto the surface. Fresh air filled my lungs once again and I took a moment to catch a proper breath. I shut the hatch quietly and closed it up again with the outside valve. Before leaving the cover of the bushes, I checked my other surroundings in case if Sam was right. Nothing was out of the ordinary so I placed my sights on the TIRACorp building that was a mile away from where I was now. I can only guess that my father and those other scientists are far away from me now. They should be lucky to be so fortunate.

"What should we do now?," I asked Sam in a whisper.

We need to track down Elizabeth before she gets hurt or gets others hurt. The latter is more probable.

"How am I going to know--?"

A loud bang erupted from the direction of the TIRACorp building and I could see the small flash of an explosion from the giant sign. "Nevermind...," I finished.

Go, now.

With one last check of the area, I ran out of the bushes and into the open. It was nerve racking to race back to the building, exposed. Even when I had decent cover, the anxiety kept rattling me.

Finally, when I got to the gates, I was surprised to see just how much damage had been done since I entered the SCP facility. Where there were supposed to be the glass lobby doors was a gaping hole 8-feet wide in width and length. Emergency alarms were still blaring in some places and they were easier to hear from broken windows that were scattered across the sides of the building.

It seems like mostly everyone evacuated.

"Ellie might have scared them away, too," I murmured. "Where is she? She wasn't here too long ago..."