The WoodShop files

The Garden

My name is Amanda Holt, and this is the story of how I came to know Dr. Herb.

In my eleven years of being in this camp, I had never once heard of the 'Garden'. That was until I was transferred there for a weeklong study. This 'Garden' place was very similar to the 'WoodShop', which meant it was big, dark, and most likely to be a madhouse. My first day there was like the other places I had been sent, a simple tour of the grounds, then being shown where the room where I would be locked in for most of my stay.

The second day however, proved to be much more eventful. At around seven in the morning, the door to my room was opened by a tall woman whom I had never seen before. The nameplate on her shirt read 'The Scarecrow' so I will address her as that. She told me to follow her to the greenhouse, and I complied. Unlike a traditional greenhouse, this one didn't house plants. Instead, it had rows upon rows of beds, some of which were occupied and some were not. Scarecrow led me to one of the beds and had me lie down.

"Good morning 7235." A short man greeted me, using my registration number. He wore plain white overalls and polka-dot boots. "My name is Herb, I'm the gardener here. The 'H' is silent you know." He smiled. Scarecrow had seemed to cringe as he spoke. Herb, who I would soon find out was the head doctor, went to grab a needle from one of the metal side tables. The experiments went on as usual; he took some blood, injected me with some sedatives, then led me back to my room.

This went on for the next two days. On the fifth day however, they didn't take me back to my room. Dr. Herb took me to a large room filled with other people.

"Be sure to get acquainted." Herb-with-the-silent-H said as he left, Scarecrow following him out. A young girl with long brown hair tied back in a braid ran up to me.

"Hello! I'm Bunny." She introduced herself cheerfully. Her voice was giddy and bubbly, complementing her cutesy appearance. I stared at her, unable to speak for a second. She waved a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my trance.

"7235. Or Amanda. Whichever you prefer." I say with a monotone. I began to wonder if she was aware of what happens at these camps, or was blissfully ignorant. She introduced me to a few other people, the most notable being Cabbage, Rose, Daisy, Clover, and Chrysanthemum. I noticed that most people avoided Chrysanthemum, claiming he was 'crazy'. Of course he wasn't, well, not really anyway. He was simply aware of the Garden. A loud bang interrupted my thoughts, making me turn towards the sound. What I saw made my blood run cold.

"W-what is that..?" Bunny stammered. The sounds of many screams hindered my racing thoughts as my brain attempted to process what was in front of my eyes. A machine loomed over us, standing at maybe twenty feet? I couldn't tell. I was shoved to the side as Rose ran past me. A door at the top of the machine opened, and a tall, heavily tattooed man climbed out.

"Where's the old man?" He shouted. Chrysanthemum had bolted to the other side of the room, shaking uncontrollably. The man jumped down and walked towards us slowly. "Any of ya going to answer or no?" He growled. Bunny was shivering next to me, small tears visible on her face. More tattooed people climbed out of the machine.

"The doctor ran off again, didn't he?" A young red headed woman asked spitefully. She had a vine tattoo that ran from her right shoulder to her wrist. Clover stepped forward, still shaking.

"He's in the other room.." He mumbled as he pointed to the door. The red head ran over and kicked the door open.

"He ran off..." Cabbage whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. The lab had been cleared out, Dr. Herb and Scarecrow were long gone.

"That coward." A tall blond man smiled, throwing his head back in cruel laughter. I tug on my shirt made me look down, and I was met with the sight of Bunny clinging onto me. Sobs racked her body, and I put my hand on her head, hoping to comfort her even a little. I watched as the redhead, whom I'll refer to as Red, advanced on Clover, delivering a swift punch to his jaw.