The Playground Wars

Chapter Five

I hear the cogs open each crate one by one. I try to be as quiet as possible. I can't tell how many cogs are checking the crates. If I attempt to escape my crate now, they will no doubt kill me when they see me. Then it'll be my fault that we get caught.

I manage to survive this much and I'm not even close to rescuing Squad 13. If I do nothing, we will all be caught. It all ends the same whether I break free out of my crate or not: we die. I should at least attempt to escape instead of being vulnerable in a crate. I force the crate open with the extra dip gun in my backpack, and managed to make the walls budge. I try once more and find success in breaking through. It appears that the cogs were about to go look in Crackers' crate when they stare at me, eyes open.

"There's the little nuisance!" a Legal Eagle shouts out. Then, the conveyor belts start moving again. One cog loses his balance and falls off the conveyor belt to his death. I shudder at the fact that the cog is still alive, screaming, even after the impact with the lava. He is going to have a slow death, and I might end up like him if I fall off as well.

The Legal Eagle and 2 other cashbots walk towards me, pushing the crates off the conveyor belt, and into the lava. My heart sinks. Crackers, Chloe, Drake, and Gary are in the crates! My assumption is confirmed when I hear Chloe's loud scream, and Crackers' cry.

"Help!" Crackers yells. With nothing to lose, I run to the cogs, avoiding the crates, and I push one of the cashbots off the belt. The Legal eagle grabs my arm. It hurts every minute he's squeezing it. I try to squirm my arm away from him, but no use. He holds me tightly over the lava pit, all while the conveyor belt keep moving.

"So long, sucker," he snickers. He lets go of my arm and I fall, heading towards the burning lava. The heat grows bigger as I get closer. I feel as if this was the end of me, but I'm relieved once my body hits another conveyor belt. The cogs stare at me, and the Legal Eagle groans.

"Get him!" He scolds so loud, it echoes throughout the room. I manage to walk on the conveyor belt without falling. I look around for the exit, which lies at the bottom side of the room. Footsteps on the conveyor belt above me begin to get closer.

My heart thumps faster and faster every second I'm standing still, not knowing how to get to the exit. I make the craziest decision of my life: I jump off the conveyor belt and into the lava. The impact hurts, but not as much as the burning on my skin.

It's probably time I die now. And again, I think about Cuddles and Wacky Dog. Maybe they are not the only ones in trouble. I look around the lava, and I see the crates sinking to the bottom of the lava pit. Now it's my fault that Chloe, Gary, Drake, and Crackers are possibly dead.

"He's probably suffering like a little doodle in them lava. Let him die. Our mission is complete anyways," the Legal Eagle taunts. It's true. I haven't come out of the lava for a long time. I start blinking slowly. General Linda once told me that this was a sign of slow death. The alarm in the room unexpectedly comes to a stop.

I remember the old days when toons used to go to Coin Mints, and had to pass over a room of lava. When you touched it, you'd obviously get hurt. Then, I realize something. The exit was at the bottom of the room and look where I am now: the bottom of the room. I breathe slowly, but I'm still alive. Luckily I get to land on time. I start to worry at the thought of Crackers, Gary, and the others dead. If I made it out, shouldn't they have made it out as well?

The exit I'm heading to leads to the back entrance of Toonbot HQ. I walk around the back court-yard. I need to find a way to get out of this place, and fast. I look above to see that the smoke of the factory has covered my view of the night sky. I use the city's glow from below the mountain as my flashlight. My hopes of escape are lowered once I see the searchlight in the sky above. To make matters worse, helicopters are flying around with spotlights attached. But why the high security? I'm already dead, according to them.