Crimson

Chapter 9

I awoke to the sound of intense giggling. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself curled up into Ozz. I looked up and saw Nick practically laughing and Sherri trying and failing to contain her laughter.

"Are we *giggle* interrupting something?" Nick almost breathed out the words.

I groggily rolled over, mumbling a sharp "no." Ozz sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and glared at Nick. Standing up, I ruffled my wings out and stretched.

"Iago *yawn* can you grab me the laptop, please?" I ignored the two knuckleheads and focused my attention on Iago. He nodded and crawled through the tunnel, returning with the laptop.

The battery was at 40%. It wouldn't last an entire month which was worrisome. I opened the CRIMSON home page and checked for replies.

"I found your facility. This will be harder than I thought, kiddo' try and hang on."

The top comment was from the same person as before. They went under the username "Not_Fully_Alive87,"

I replied, "Sorry, anything we can do to help, 87?"

I waited for a response, not expecting to get one. I was not predicting a guard to burst through the door. The door slammed open. I closed the laptop. Sherri immediately began talking to the guard, trying to make any distractions. I shoved the computer behind me, holding it with my wings. It was hard since My wings weren't supposed to compress against my back this tight. Ozz leaned against my back to try and help.

"Shut up, golden eyes!" The guard yelled. "We have reports of a heinous smell coming from over here."

I tensed. The guard was talking about the smell of Alice's decaying body.

"We're doing a room sweep, so get up!" I stood up and shoved the laptop down my shirt. The guard explored the room and found nothing.

"I know the smell is coming from here, and I know what it is. I'm not oblivious to the smell of rotting corpses. You have 2 hours to get rid of the smell, or else you," He pointed at Mika. "will be the first to go."

I held my breath and watched as he left, closing the door behind him. I grabbed the laptop and typed up a new reply.

"How do you get rid of a body in 2 hours?"

Waiting impatiently for a response, I almost jumped out of my skin when the computer made a slight ding sound.

"Uh, put it somewhere else, I guess. I don't know. Try to frame someone."

Ideas swarmed in my head until I finally decided on one.

"Ozz! Come help me move a body."

He looked at me, fire practically in his eyes.

"You're startin' to speak my language, red-head!"

I rolled my eyes and crawled through the small space. The stench was horrid. My hands instinctively went to my nose. Ozz gagged as we walked toward Alice's corpse. I grabbed her arms while Ozz held her legs, and we lifted the corpse and shoved it through the tunnel. Sherri knocked twice on the door to find the previous guard from before.

"Here!" Ozz and I dropped the body at his feet. The guard stumbled back, searching his body for a walkie-talkie. I flapped my wings, raising myself. I landed on his shoulder like a parrot.

"Drop the talking thingy!" I snarled. The guard just chuckled.

"You mean the walkie-talkie.* snort* you've been here so long that you don't understand modern technology!"