Save Us

Chapter 10

The sound of gears whirling and metallic joint creaking brought me back to the waking world. I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep or how much had been real but... I felt at least somewhat better for the moment. It was strange though, looking around was a room I'd never seen before. It was so dark and there was the smell of death and decay about it.

"Mike...?" My voice barely carried. "H-hey, Mikey, where am I?"

No answer. I tried not to panic as I stared around at the room; it seemed to just be storage. Wait, was this the room I'd seen the other day? I shakily stood up and continued trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness.

"Wait a second... I shouldn't be able to see at all without a light source so where is it..." A robotic snarl came from behind me; it rasped and glitched from years of disuse but I didn't doubt it could still do damage physically.

I slowly turned my head towards the corner the animatronic was slumped in. Glowing eyes that had once been a shade of green stared back. I stumbled further away from it, fear growing in me that more might be in here. "Where's the door?"

Frantically I continued edging away. Several shelved creaked as I ran into them and I heard boxes crash to the ground. Metal scraped on the hard floor behind me and was followed by another hissing sound.

"Ssss-sss-st-sssto-p." The robot finally made a-barely- coherent word.

I shuddered and glanced back to see a reptilian looking animatronic suit standing in the place I'd woken up in. Its jaw was open and slack at the moment almost as if it was broken. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be a lizard or dinosaur with the sharp claws and teeth but I wasn't concerned with that.

Silence fell between us. My breathing settled slightly, as I faintly considered that it was perhaps too broken to come after me. But then the jaws snapped shut with a harsh clack and it lunged. "K-kkk-ill...er!"

I shouted and fell back into the shelf again. Furry mascot parts and metallic bits rained down on me. I called out once more for Mike before a heavy form rammed me; knocking the air from my lungs. I groaned and dropped to the ground. My shoulder was bleeding again and I began crawling away from the torn up animatronic. It watched with almost human intelligence but didn't attack right away like the others.

"What was it waiting for?"

Faint light filtered in as the door opened to my left. A small faintly glowing child stepped in and stared down at me. Was this real? A moment later he walked past and inspected the room before staring up at the animatronic.

I raised my hand weakly. "K-kid... get back..."

The boy ignored me and instead seemed to be on the verge of crying. "It's my fault... Isn't it? You'd be alive... they'd all be alive."

The monster stared down at the child but any hint of violence was gone.

"What is going on here? This can't be real."

"Brother... I'm sorry... D-do you remember me?" The kid seemed to be close to tears as the robot looked at him with those expressionless eyes. "C-Chris...? I-it's me... please..."

I shifted towards the door, still unsure about the whole situation, but the reptilian monstrosity whipped its head back to stare at me. A sound ripped from the broken voice box before it purposefully moved around the child and attacked me again. I hurled myself towards the door, hoping and praying that something would save me. The cold, dark hallway blurred and came to a jerking halt. The fabric ripped where the animatronic had caught the back of my shirt and I hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of me. More clanking. More pleading from that strange kid. More rusted screeching as the robot shoved more of its body through the partly open door behind me.

"No, no, no, no, no..." I inched further away until my back was against the wall on the opposite side of the hall. "I need to get out...!"

"Mur-murd-d-d-d-de...urderer!" The animatronic's cry echoed out into the pizzeria as it squirmed and shoved its way out further in a rage.

"...run!" The child's voice was barely heard over the metal scrapping against the floor.

I turned towards the main room but froze when I saw Freddy standing on the stage with his glowing eyes staring down the hallway. It was odd he wasn't attacking- like he could hear what was happening but his programming was blind to this location- but once I was out of the hallway it would be a mad dash to the front doors. Would I make it?

"I have to try... Maybe then someone will see me and help..."

I nearly reached the end of the hallway when strong jaws and barely fur covered arms yanked me backwards. A second later two things happened; Bonnie came into sight as if he'd been ready to ambush me the moment I stepped into the main room, and the reptilian based animatronic's teeth snapped the bone in my upper arm. I knew if it squeezed harder the metal endoskeleton arms would cause my ribs to follow suit and tried to use my good arm to help pry myself from its grip.

The hand I had on its once green and yellow chest barely made a difference as it began dragging me back towards the room. I was losing air, as the pressure place around my chest increased, until my hand slipped and tore into a thinned area of the fabric. Something inside the animatronic made a cracking noise similar to my arm and I swore I could feel something mushy as well. The animatronic gave an almost humanly inhuman scream and threw me to the ground. I dared look at my hand to see what looked like some sort of rotting chunks stuck to it.

"O-oh... g-go-" I convulsed and felt what little had been in my stomach from the previous day come up before I could finish my shocked revelation.

Another attack didn't come. I could barely think through the mind numbing, world spinning shock flooding through my brain. However, I was faintly aware I was suddenly alone in the hall and a chime was coming from somewhere.

"Night shift... Mike... he'll... he'll help..." I stayed shivering on the floor.

Finally, a shadow passed over me. I couldn't look up. I couldn't speak in fear I'd puke again if I opened my mouth. Then as the voice spoke I became aware the person was not Mike.

"Looks like someone didn't like their play date and tried to get out. Shh..." They covered my mouth with their hand. "Don't want to worry Mikey now do you?"

My cry of agony was muffled as they hoisted me up but the tears from the torture I'd endured fell freely. The man dragged me back to the storage room and shoved me through the door. I yelped as the bone in my arm shifted further from where it should've been along with the pain from my face hitting the ground. I could smell the blood and taste it in my mouth as blood ran down my nose.

The man stood in the doorway, his eyes showing no sign of remorse at my damaged state. "Play nicely now I don't want you to die before your sister sees you like this..."

"N-no..." I went cold with fear. "...n-no... please... s-stay away... f-rom h-h...he-r."

My only response was a cruel chuckle and the door shutting, the lock clicking loudly into place. I panted on the floor of the room; for once trying to force myself not to fall asleep. However, the dark room was growing ever darker and a few minutes later I felt consciousness fall away.