Infection- Book 2

Chapter 6- Factory

Pony stood next to me as the rest of the group rushed out of the factory with Giraffy.
Willow continued staring us down from the opposite end of the room, twirling her gun around a finger. The sewer cap in our cell rumbled softly before sliding out of place, causing the noise
from below to grow louder.

“Sounds like something is coming up from there. Doesn’t sound too friendly to me.” Willow nodded towards the cap. Well, no shit. Pony shifted uncomfortably as Willow steadied her grip on the gun. “On top of that, I’ve got a weapon. Not too fair, not very fun. I’ll give you a head start.” She raised her arm above her head and aimed at the lamp above us, pulling the trigger. “Your time starts now,” her voice echoed as the room went dark.

As soon as the lights were cut, the whispersstarted again. I grunted, covering my ears to shut them out. Not everything was complete gibberish this time, but they still drove me crazy. Out of all the things being spoken at once, all I could make out was “he” and “not responsible.” What did that even mean? Willow began lightly tapping her foot before Pony grabbed my arm, yanking me out of the jail.

Willow whistled to herself as Pony continued dragging me through the factory. A couple
rooms aligned the walls along with piles of empty boxes and trays across the floor. A faint
scraping noise came from behind us, but we shook it off after seeing nobody. After swinging a
left, we entered into the actual factory portion of the entire building. Giant conveyor belts lined
the walls, and supply crates were stacked to the ceiling.

“Do you hear that?” Pony turned to me. He released my arm and walked over to the corner, where a light pounding was coming from inside a locker. “Hello?” he murmured, tapping the locker. A high mumbling came from inside, but it wasn’t clear enough to be understood. “Hang on, we’ll get you out of there!”

He searched around the factory before holding up a small screwdriver, twisting it into the screws across the locker door. When they broke free, it was pushed away by the trapped TSP member. “Oh, thank you,” the member said, setting his hands on his knees. “I don’t know how I got myself locked in there.”

“Not a problem,” I replied, looking around. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to get out of this hell-hole, would you?” You idiot, I thought. They’re the ones trying to get you.

To my suprise, he pointed to a separate door out of the factory room. “Out this door, down the stairs, and out the opposite door on the end. Be careful of Willow, I don’t want to know what happens if she finds you two.” He shuddered as Pony started towards the door. I nodded towards the guard before following him.

With barely any light to guide us out, Pony and I stumbled through the ramps in the room. “The door’s over there,” Pony whispered, pointing to the light peeking from underneath a closed door. We’d almost reached it before we heard another guard crying out for help underneath us. I paused, turning in the direction of the noise.

“You get out of here and make sure the others are okay. I’m gonna check for any more guards.” Pony nodded, heading back in the direction of the door. I slid down the rail next to the stairs to see another guard trapped in a corner with planks boarding off his way to escape. I picked up a nearby axe on the ground, bringing it down in the middle of the wood. They split open with one blow, so I pulled them away and helped the guard out.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, rubbing his arms.

“Look, Willow’s lost her mind. I need your help getting everyone else out of the building before she finds me,” I warned, checking behind me. “If she keeps taking out her anger on everyone else, I don’t know what’ll happen to you guys. You may have been the ones hunting us in the first place, but she’s taken this way too far.” The guard nodded, climbing up the opposite stairs. “Meet everyone outside!” I shouted as he disappeared.