Business Partners • Nygmobblepot

Ed Dead Redemption

They rush back into the corridor and Ed locks the door behind him as quickly as he can, his hands shaking violently. Oswald doesn't even have the time or energy to respond with a sarcastic "yeah, that'll stop him."

Zsasz starts to shoot at the door and they both know that nobody outside is going to stop him. He could have shot Oswald dead right in front of everyone's eyes and they'd only complain about the mess.

"What's the plan?" Ed asks.

"The what?"

"The plan. Your plan. You do have one, right? ... Please tell me you have a plan."

"I- I don't know. No. No, I don't."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

Oswald raises his eyebrows and stands still for a moment. "We?"

"Well, yeah," Ed replies, coming to a halt as well for a split second.

"Well, no," he says back, as they turn a corner. "You can go. He's not coming for you, none of this is even about you. You can escape out back."

"Well, you come too then!"

"I can't. He'll catch me, easily."

"And he won't if you stay inside," Ed says sarcastically. "Leave. Outside. I'll go in front."

"But-"

"No, no buts. C'mon, let's go."

They hear a final, piercing gunshot, and then the door opening. These noises are closely followed hurried footsteps, and some frustrated mumbling.

"Let's go faster," Ed says, hurrying over to the door and holding it open for the two of them. He can't lock it, so he just closes it as tightly as he can and quickly scans the area.

There are lots of cars, but none of them belong to either of them - of all the days he could have decided to walk to work, it had to be today. He could probably find something to break one of the windows to get inside, but then he'd have to hotwire it, and he doesn't know how to do that.

"Do you know how to hotwire a car?" he asks Oswald.

"No."

"Okay," he replies, gulping. "Great."

Neither of them talk for what seems like hours, but was probably only a few seconds in reality. It's like they're only just realising how sticky of a situation they're in.

Oswald breaks the silence after what he would consider as some calculated thinking. When he begins talking, it snaps Ed out of a confused daydream.

"Right, so, we..." Oswald begins, having another quick think. He shakes his head, as if to clear it, then starts his sentence again. "Right, so, we can't get out without being spotted, and we can't hide for too long. Nobody's willing to help us, and you won't leave, so..."

"So... what?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Our options are fight back or let him take me."

"You're not gonna let him take you, are you?"

"Is that even a question? Find something you can use as a weapon... or... something." Even from a quick glance, he knows it'll be hard to get hold of something to defend himself with. He wonders if this would have been a good time to have permission to handle one of the tools in the M.E lab.

Behind them, they hear the door open, and it makes them jump and turn around in unison.

He's already found them.