The Playground Wars

Chapter Twenty One

We walk down the hallway, with Crackers seeming to know his way around.

"How aren't you lost?" I ask in curiosity.

He laughs, "I had a chance to memorize the map on the control panel screen before they dropped me off. Oh, Drake's outside if we need anything, he's keeping lookout." Crackers turns on the walkie again, "Drake, do you copy?"

"Are you alright?" Drake replies, in a softer voice than he uses with me.

"Yeah, how's everything outside?"

"Dead. Hardly any cogs walking around."

Everything is calm, alas, until I hear the rushing footsteps of metal. Crackers and I hurry down hall, with me following Crackers' turns. He finally stops in front of a door and nods at me to shoot the button panel. The door opens slightly, possibly shooting it open wasn't a good idea.

"HELP!" I hear Felix call from inside the room.

"We're coming!" Crackers responds to his aid. We nudge the door open so that we have to slide it. We're inside.

The room is exactly like the one I was just in, full of mirrors. Felix is tied to a chair in rope.

"OVER HERE!" He begs. I run to him. "Oswald, my god is that you? Help me out of- BEHIND YOU!" I was about to untie him when cogs flood into the room through the broken door. I see Crackers preparing for the battle with an axe he carried on his back.

Sparks are flying. Amidst all of the chaos, Felix still remains tied to the chair. I'm shooting every cog on sight. Oil splatters the mirrors around us. The mirrors begin to crack and shatter. I use some of the mirrors to my advantage. I see a cog in the mirror, he's behind me ready to slice me open but I turn around in time to shoot his head off. 

There's a pause. The cogs' bodies remain dead on the floor, some of them twitching. Sparks and cut circuits fill the room.

"Crackers, untie Felix. I'll close the door." As I'm dragging the door to close, a cog hand pops through. It scratches me, but I close the door on its hand. What a weak attempt to make the door stuck.

I turn my attention to Felix, now untied.

The air is cold and frosty. Crackers is on the floor, sitting and looking at a cut on his leg.

"I'll take care of that," I assure him. He smiles at me. I look through my backpack for anything that can Crackers' cut, Felix's shadow passing behind me. I look up and Felix is standing at the door. He shuts it completely close so that the cog's hand snaps and finally falls. My heart drops as he pulls out a squirt gun. When the trigger is pulled, the bang pierces my ears. I close my eyes for a few seconds before opening them. The dip gun is on the floor now, out of the grasp of his hand. 

I look all around my arms and torso for a hint of blood or dip. My body relaxes, until i turn to Crackers. I look at him in awe as the dip drains the life out of him. Blood spills all over his yellow shirt. His cold and bloody hands ouch mine, and then reach my face. He breathes his last bit of air, and within moments, his eyes close without another word, his soul forever leaving the world.

His icy hands stops grasping me, and I let them fall to the pool of blood. It's just a dream, I tell myself. The mirrors around the room say otherwise. Reflections don't lie. Even as I'm looking at the floor, itself a mirror, I could see my face covered in oil and blood. My heart pounds faster as I see Crackers on the floor.

"Crackers?" I mumble. No response. I'm too afraid to admit it... I can't say it. Anyways, he's going to wake up any second now. I- I might as well tell him a joke or two.

"What do you call a-" I choke and I start sobbing. I can't finish the sentence. I could only look at Crackers, an innocent friend. Suddenly, Felix taps my shoulder. I turn around, feeling the fire in my eyes rest on his.