You Don't Want Help, Do You?

Chapter Eleven: Salvation, Destruction

Gregory jolted upon hearing the hard thumping of footsteps. He sat up and started to speak but cut himself off. He turned on his flashlight and got to his feet.

The thumping stopped.

"Hey?" The heavy grunt was muffled behind the rotten barricade.

Gregory perked up. "Hey! Monty! It's me, Gregory!"

"Wha-at ar-r-re ya d-doin' in the-ere?"

"I found your arm!" Gregory answered. "But, uh, I'm stuck, now. I broke the glass. But I can't get past this wall."

"St-a-a-and ba-ack, li-little gu-uy-uy."

Gregory got to his feet and ran to the other end of the room. He snatched the elbow of the arm and brought it with him.

Thhrrrud! Crraaaaackkk!

He flinched and stood back as the wooden barrier shuddered and splintered. The wooden planks bent inward. The wood stopped moving for a moment before another crash caused it to bow further. A set of metal claws poked through the wood and tore down like a knife through a cloth. After the third attack, the alligator broke through. He stumbled and landed flat on his face amongst a halo of shattered glass and broken wood. The alligator shoved himself to his feet and shook off the glass and wood that jabbed through his remaining plastic casing.

He stared down at his disembodied arm and then looked at Gregory. "It wa-a-as in he-re-re the whole-le ti-time. Th-th-thank ya little-le gu-uy. Cli-imb on-n my ba-ack. I-I'll g-get ya t-to Pa-a-arts an' Ser-er-ervices."

The alligator animatronic knelt. Glass crunched under his knee.

Gregory edged around the stray shard of glass close to Monty's side and climbed onto his back. Monty took his own arm to allow Gregory to find a better grip on his back.

With that, Monty turned around and climbed out of his room and out into the hall.

Gregory said, "I think Roxy's elevator's working now that the power is on."

"Huh? Yo-you sure k-kid?"

"Mhm! It worked last time."

Monty stopped beside Roxy's green room. "...O-okay." With that, the animatronic walked through Roxy's door and into the back room. The elevator responded with a quiet ding and opened for him.

Gregory decided not to climb off as Monty stepped in and pressed a button. Monty shuffled around so he barely fit inside with his long, broken tail in the claustrophobic space. The elevator jerked and then whirred as it went down. Eventually, it stopped and slowly opened.

Monty shook his head as he left and strode down the small landing and stairs. He stopped in front of the cylinder and knelt. "A-alright, ri-ide's over, li-ittle guy-y."

Gregory climbed down and ran to the computer terminal. He gave Monty the thumbs up and waited until he was inside and lying on the bed, his other arm on his chest.

The computer bot said, "Welcome to Parts and Service. Please select your desired procedure." Gregory pressed the down arrow and it flipped to the next screen. The computer announced, "Preparing for repair procedure." A pause. "You may now enter the protective cylinder."

Gregory ducked inside. From the angle in which he stood short and near Monty's feet, all he saw of the alligator's head was his toothy, patchy upper jaw and endoskeleton skull.

The computer bot said, "To reattach Monty's arm, we must first weld the broken ends together. Please replace Monty's arm."

Gregory walked around to the alligator animatronic's other side and pulled his arm off his chest and next to the stub of his broken arm. He moved it so the pieces were close together.