Audacia Plains: Uprising

Broken Promise

16

Not too long after Buny had managed to bust open the iron cage was I pushing her back against the wall, making sure she couldn't escape. "You... aren't going anywhere until you tell me what the hell you're playing at." Ruz stepped in front of me, forcefully pushing me away from Buny who had a confused look spread across her powdered, doll-like face. "Woah, what do you think you're doing?! She just helped you escape, show a little gratitude! She saved Sammy too, isn't that right Bun?" She stepped forward, smiling as though she hadn't just been threatened. "Righty-o, Ruzzy - Freak's waiting for us with those nursey-twins on Level 3, we can swing by right now!"

"JUST... STOP!" I yelled at the top of my voice, resonating throughout the Base. I probably should have been quieter, more stealthy considering I had just been broken out of my jail cell, but I wasn't in the mood to be collected. "..Are you just going to pretend you DIDN'T have Teddy's bear, huh? You KNOW where he is, don't you?!" Buny patted Ruz on the shoulder - he hesitated, but let her step forward to confront me. "Chicken, I was going to tell you before - I didn't want you to get upset though. While you were helping all of those terrible prisoners out of their cells, and hiding with that lil' Freak, I found half of a bear lying in one of the opened cells, y'see? When the kid wouldn't calm down after Doc came, I gave it to him to soothe him, that's all. I had noooo idea it belonged to your friend, I'm soooo sorry!" I couldn't tell whether she was faking or not... Everything she says makes me want to stop listening anyway. 

After the three of us talked it out, Ruz decided to take control. "Look, either way we still don't have Teddy. He must have been in that cell at some point, so there's a good chance he's alive. Brad, it's obvious you don't get along with Bun, but focus on the objective here. Let's go get Sammy, find your friends and get out of here. Ok?" I gave in, and nodded. As we moved through the Base towards the hidden entrance to Level 3, I found the bloody head of the bear which Spine must have dropped shortly before the resistance began. I picked it up and slid it into my back pocket as we began charging through the small corridor. I kept my eyes on Buny at all times, humming to herself behind Ruz. Like I would dare let her out of my sight for even a second.

Bursting through several doors, before I even realised it we were facing Matti and Patti, the aged twins who were in the same position as always - sitting opposite each other in their infirmary, not once have I seen them anywhere else. Matti, who I overheard referring to herself as the elder twin during one of my many visits after the Hunt, looked listlessly at her new guests.

 "Oh... Oh my... We hardly ever have so many guests... Do we, Pat?" Her sister wasn't even looking at us, but at a spot on the opposite wall. "...Mmm. Do they want any treatment? There's quite a lot of ruckus going on around here... I wish they would respect their neighbours. Ask if they would like any tea, Mat... I was just about to stick the kettle on." I stepped forward slowly, carefully analyzing their current state. "...You're kidding, right? You guys... There is absolute HELL going on outside your door, and you're asking if we want tea? What kind of nurses are yo-" My eyes drifted over to Matti, who was taking a long sip out of a cup... but something was off about it. She lowered the cup, and I had to resist the urge to back out of the room. The cup was empty... and I couldn't see any means of making tea anywhere in their compartment.

Ruz put his hand on my shoulder, as I shook my head and slowly walked over to the wall. I wasn't used to this - The Facility certainly had its fair share of broken residents, but this was on another level. I glanced up at Buny, who was smirking at my reaction to the nurses. "...No thanks, girls. We're good. You remember me and Ruz? I believe you're looking after someone for us." Patti, obviously the less polite sister, grumbled something under her breath as she lifted back the curtain to reveal Sammy, safe and sound - asleep with the lower half of Teddy's bear wrapped around his arms.

 I had to admit, I was surprised that there was SOME credibility to what Buny had said. "I really appreciate this, Bun. Thanks for looking out for him." Ruz sighed in relief. He unravelled the blanket around Sammy and lifted him up into his arms - waving me over to take the other half of the bear from his hands, which like the stained fur, the skin on Sammy's hands was now a dark shade of blood-red. I put it in my pocket beside the other half - at least now Teddy had both pieces now to come back to... if at all.

"...Time to change the bandages on that girl, Mat." Patti spat. Her twin took her last sip of imaginary tea and got to work, lifting the curtain beside us as she got to work on untangling the roll of white cloth. Stirring, the girl woke up and looked over at us in a daze, as all four of us stared back open-mouthed. Jill suddenly sprung up, totally abandoning her nurse and throwing her arms around me. "Oh, Brad!!" She cried as her tears started flowing. "You promised... You were gone for days... I... I thought you were..." 

I smiled and assured her, "What, you thought I was going somewhere? I meant what I said... We're all getting out of here. I'm just glad you're OK..." I grabbed her hand, just like before in the study. I didn't know how I felt, but I was over-the-moon to find Jill unharmed. Squeezing her hand, she winced with pain and withdrew. Looking down at her hands, she tried to hide it but I grabbed her arm and twisted it back round so I could see... Under the bandages, three straight lines right across her wrist oozed with blood. These weren't injuries she got from just anywhere.

"Brad... I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't think you were... coming back..."

"...Shut up." I snapped coldly. My eyes were welling up, and I couldn't look at Jill any longer. Turning around to face Ruz, Sammy and Buny, I said aloud "We're leaving, now. We're going to find Katie, and see if she's found out anything about Teddy. Got it?" Everyone looked at each other, and nodded. One by one, we left the infirmary, with me and Jill last. As she walked up to me, I turned my head to the wall. "Go. Now." With that, our escape was closer than ever. Unfortunately it was going to take a lot more for me to escape the raging nightmare blistering its way through my heart.