Ray's POV
"The kids under 5 aren't here." I say.
"We're leaving them here." Emma says and I gasp.
"I though about what you said to me before...1 more time." Emma says.
Flashback
"Everything's going smoothly for now. Everyone down to age 5 is on our side." Don says.
"They were surprised, but I think everything will be okay." Gilda says.
"Our next training is underway too." Don says.
"Thanks you guys." Emma says.
"So, what do we do next? Should we tell them? The kids 4 and under." Don asks.
"Would they believe us?" Emma asks.
"And afterward, can they hide what they know?" Don asks.
"Not only that...I wonder if we can really take them." Gilda says.
"Huh?" Don says.
"It's not like I don't believe in Y/n's and Norman's plan. But it's a cliff, it's winter, and they are not here. Even after we get out there'll be unpredictable situations. I know it's a little late to say this, but maybe Ray's thinking is also correct." Gilda says.
"So you mean..." Don says and Gilda nods.
"We can't let them get killed because we took them with us." Gilda says.
"But if we leave them here, they'll get shipped out." Don says.
"I know! I know that, but..." Gilda says.
"Still, I can't leave them. Ray's right. Gilda's right, too. But...I don't want anyone to get shipped out anymore." Emma says.
"Same here." Don says.
"I want to take my whole family. Let's escape with everyone." Emma says.
"Yeah, but..." Gilda says.
"What's wrong?" Don asks.
"We'll...um...what about the kids in the other plants?" Gilda asks and Emma gasped.
"Is it fine for only us to escape. We've never seen them, but...not knowing anything, just like us. A family living happily..." Gilda says and then gasps.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Gilda says, moving her hands around in the air.
"What should we do, Emma?" Don asks.
"That's right. After all..." Emma says as she looked at the pen Y/n had given them a while back.
"Can you get Phil?" She asks.
A few minutes later
"Yes, Emma?" Phil asks.
"We have something to tell you. About the House and Mama." Emma says.
After explaining
"I knew it. So it's just like I thought." Phil says.
"Huh?" Emma lets out, clearly confused.
"I was thinking about it for a while. When we were playing tag, I was wondering what Sister meant by harvest." Phil admits.
"She was looking through Ray's and Y/n's drawers, oh and Norman's too, and Emma, when Y/n and Norman left, you were really scared of Mama. I always thought it was weird. So then...Norman and Y/n got harvested, huh? And Conny...and everyone...that's why you..." Phil says but gets himself cut off by his own sobbing.
"Phil." Emma says as she hugs him.
End of Flashback
"I won't take them now. Only Phil knows the truth. The others don't know about the House or the fire. So I'm leaving that to Phil." Emma says, I was still a bit shocked about all the info I was just given.
Flashback
"Phil, I need you to listen carefully. We're hesitating between 2 choices right now. Should we take everyone, including the babies?" Emma asks before continuing.
"Or should we leave the kids who're under 5 years old?" Emma asks, to which make Don and Gilda gasp.
"We only get harvested when we turn 6 years old. Even Marnya, who has the earliest birthday. She will have at least a year and a half. And 16 of the older kids will be gone. If this House focuses on quality over quantity, then the pace of harvesting should go down." Emma says.
"In order to raise high-quality kids again, they can't kill the younger 1's who have potential. On that point, the 6 kids who are 4 years old, including you, have good scores. At worst, I estimate that we have 2 years of time." Emma says, Don and Gilda gasped again.
"Emma, do you mean-" Don says but gets cut off by Phil.
"I can wait, promise. So just leave us behind." Phil says.
End of flashback
"But I haven't given up. I'll definitely return within 2 years. That's when I will take Phil and the others, as well as all the kids in the other 4 plants." Emma says as everyone was then on the wall, and we all then started running.
After a while an alarm was then sounded, which caused us to stop.
"It went off earlier than expected." Don says, I then went over to Emma.
"What do we do? We're still far from the bridge." I say as Emma then points at the cliff.
"We'll cross from here." She says and I gasp.
"Seriously, Cross? But at that time, Y/n said...crossing the bridge is the only way to escape." I say.
Flashback
"That's what anyone would think. There's no escape from the cliff. That's precisely why you won't go to the bridge. We'll escape from the cliff. I checked the distance to the other side as well as the geographical features. It's dangerous, but there's a spot where you can cross. And you have 2 months. You have time, good luck." Y/n says.
End of flashback
"It'll be okay. We trained so much." Gilda says.
"Trained?" I ask as Don then tossed a rope, hoping it would go on the other side. It did and Don tied it around the tree branch, and it was sturdy enough.
"Nat!" Don calls out.
"Yeah!" Nat says as he had tied it to another tree on our side and all the kids cheered.
"Emma, are we really..." I say.
"It's okay. As long as the 1st person can cross..." Emma says.
"What!?" I say as Don put a hanger on the rope and went down it, like a zip-line. I gasped at how so far it was working.
We then heard some bushes rustle and Don stood up, showing he was fine.
"Yeah!"
"Yay!"
"Wo-hoo!"
"Okay, we're up next!" Lannion says.
"Huh?" I say as Lannion and Thoma get out plastic water bottles with water and rope on the bottom.
"Ready...Go!" They both say as the ropes were blasted to the other side.
"We did it!" Thoma and Lannion say as Don tied the other 2 rope on other trees.
"All right, come on!" Don says as Nat went down.
"See you later, Ray!" Nat says and he was then on the other side. The other kids then got out their hangers.
"You guys...when did you...train for this?" I ask as I then heard footsteps. I turned around and saw...
Y/n.
"Well, Ray?" Y/n says as my eyes widen. She had a smug look on her face.
"What a smug face. How annoying." I say.
"Just admit it. We completely fooled you, didn't we?" Y/n says.
"You'll show me something cool, so shut up and follow, huh?" I ask.
"And I kept my word. Isn't it cool? Look. It's scenery we never thought we would see." Y/n says.
"Yeah. I thought it would never be possible to take everyone. I thought they would be a hindrance." I say.
"I hesitated too. But in the end, I made a decision, and it's thanks to Emma. Everyone joined with full faith because it's her. Emma's reckless and unreasonable, but she's honest, and manages to say we're taking everyone everyone without a single thought." Y/n says as I then turn around to see her and she turns to me as well.
"You don't have to give up, Ray. Do it for me?" Y/n asks. I wanted to hug her and stay like that forever. But I didn't, because she then disappeared.
"Just 6 more!" Don says.
"Emma, what should I do? My hands...I'm sorry! When I think that there's a cliff below..." Jemima says.
Lannion and Thoma then looked down below, and it was a long way down.
"I start to think...what if I fall?" Jemima says and the 2 gasp.
"Falling?" Lannion asks and I then came up to her.
"It's okay, Jemima. Let's cross together." I say, picking her up.
"Ray..." Emma says.
"Emma. You still have the rope we used to pull everyone up, right?" I ask.
"Y-Yeah!" Emma says.
"Can you tie Jemima to me with that?" I ask.
"Do you know how to slide down?" Emma asks.
"I saw what everyone did. It seems easy enough." I say as I then turn to Lannion and Thoma.
"How about you guys? Don't tell me you can't do this." I say and they look at each other.
"W-We'll be fine!" Lannion says.
"Y-Yeah, super easy!" Thoma says, and I smirked.
'And those 2 were 2 of Y/n's favorite kids? Heh. Even Olivia didn't complain and went down the zip-line.' I say.
"Well said. Let's go, Jemima." I say as I put my hanger on the zip-line, and I then went down. Don and Nat then caught me and Jemima.
"See? We're here, Jemima." I say and I pull her close for a comforting hug.
"I lose, Y/n. You got me, congrats." I say in a whisper, so no one but me could hear.
Thoma and Lannion then went down. We got them, and it was only now Emma.
"Okay, you're the last 1! Let's go, Emma!" Don says and she put her hanger on the zip-line.
We all then gasped as Mama was then next to Emma, a foot and a few inches away. She was panting heavily, she was tired. Emma then looked back at the House, it was still burning.
"Goodbye, House. Goodbye, our home that we loved so much. And of course, goodbye...Mama." Emma says.
"Don't go, Emma. My dear children..." Mama says sadly and gasps as Emma then went down the zip-line.
We took away the zip-line from our side, so she couldn't chase after us. She then turned around to see all of us, on the other side. We all then ran forward, not looking back.
Isabella's POV
I was then remembering...When I tried escaping as well...
"Hey!" I say and Leslie screamed in surprise but he then saw me.
"Isabella!" He says and then sighs in relief, as I went down the tree.
"You scared me." Leslie says.
"I'm sorry. I was climbing the tree and I heard a beautiful song playing, so...did you compose it, Leslie?" I ask.
"Yeah." Leslie says.
"It's a lovely melody. What's the name of the song?" I ask.
"Actually, it doesn't have a name." Leslie says, a bit of blush on his face.
"It's amazing. Let me hear more of it!" I ask happily.
"Fine, but it's embarrassing, so don't tell everyone else." Leslie whispers and I nod causing him to smile.
He then started playing again, while he was playing, he was smiling. I then saw some butterflies fly around, they looked beautiful.
'They look beautiful, just like you Leslie!' I say and look at Leslie with a smile.
Time skip
Leslie was getting shipped out and I had tears in my eyes, I didn't want him to be eaten by demons.
But he flashed me a smile which made me cry. At night I cried, I didn't want him to die by the demons and be their food. So then I ran towards the wall, I know Mama said not to, but I did.
Their was a cliff I then turned around and saw Mama there. She was holding her hand out to me. When I finally reached 12, I was met by a demon. I then saw a lady and she held her hand out to me.
Saying either to die here, or train to become a Mom, meaning I could live longer...
And I accepted, I did it...
For Leslie...
And as I grew up, I did everything they asked for, training, tests, and...even have a kid of my own.
I hummed to it every single time, even though I didn't think it would hear me.
Later
"I'm going to put you in charge of Plant 3 starting next year, Isabella." Grandma says.
"Yes, understood." I say.
At the Grace field house
I heard humming, and it was the same humming that I hummed when I thought about Leslie, no one but me knew about it...
Years later
As I got closer I saw 2 kids under the tree close to the gate and they were reading. Once I got a bit more closer, the 2 kids turned around, to be Ray and Y/n.
But it was Ray who was humming it, while they were reading.
"Ray. How do you know...that song?" I ask as I put my hands on my stomach.
'Is he...my kid? The one they took away?' I ask.
Ray had then smiled, causing me to grit my teeth in fear.
'Why is he here!?' I ask.
"Hey, Mama? Why did you give birth to me?" Ray asks and I took a deep breath.
"Ray, don't say that!" Y/n says as she hits his arm.
"Sorry-" Ray says, holding onto his arm.
"Well, Ray...it was for survival. Longer than anyone." I say.
End of flashback
I sighed.
"But I guess I've had enough. It looks like I've lost." I say as I walk over to the tree with the zip-line, I then smiled.
"Run children. And please be careful. And I pray that you will find true happiness and light." I say.
Back at Grace field
"Mama." Phil calls out.
"Don't worry, Phil. They escaped safely." I say and he gasps.
Emma's POV
We were all still running. From now on, out here. We have to be careful.
'We did it. We did it, Y/n!' I say while wiping away a few tears.
"It's the outside! We made it out!" I say.
'I'll definitely come back to get everyone else. Today is our 1st step forward.' I say as we were all then met with sunlight.
"It's our 1st morning." I say.
'And only if you could have seen this, Y/n...We all miss you, Ray especially. But I just wish you could have seen me...me growing up to a person you could depend on. You will always be my best friend.' I say as a small tear came down my face.
Ray's POV
'We finally did it, we're outside. Y/n, we did it...
I just wish you could have been here with us, with me. I just wished you were still alive, and witness our success. And if you were still alive...I would have said...' I say and I smile.
'I love you, and we will always be 2 traitors in love.' I say and many tears came down my face.
Re-edited: March 5, 2023