Fritz Smith
As soon as he stepped foot into the pizzeria, Fritz felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. Not even a year had passed since he’d last entered the building, and yet it felt like nearly a lifetime ago. He had fond memories of visiting when he was younger, and he felt some of his joy be rekindled now that he was free to take in the atmosphere once again without the constant threat of being mauled by the animatronics. He chuckled – now he knew what it was like from both perspectives. Fritz shook his head – there were much more pressing matters at hand, and he could reminisce later.
He tried to be stealthy as he slowly approached the night guard’s office, but despite his best efforts, his mechanical body’s lumbering footsteps broke the eerie quiet of the pizzeria. As he moved through the building, he couldn’t help but notice the disturbing lack of animatronics. He checked the party room to his right, and after a quick inspection, moved on to the one on his left. Before he could look it over, he was interrupted by his Walkie-Talkie crackling to life.
“Fritz? What the hell are you doing in there? This wasn’t part of the plan!”
He quickly moved the Walkie-Talkie to his mouth and let out a sharp whisper in response. “Quiet! They’ll hear me if you make too much noise.”
With that problem (hopefully) resolved, he returned to the task at hand, giving the room a quick sweep. Halfway through his search, he was interrupted once again.
“Hello!? Is someone the- AAAHHGG” A voice cried out, ending in a panicked scream.
Fritz tensed upon hearing this, trying to pinpoint the location of who he assumed was the night guard. Before he could act, he heard a series of thuds emanating from inside the party room, and after a few seconds a vent cover in the far corner of the room violently burst open, revealing a clearly-frenzied night guard. The person in front of him was panting, and after taking a few seconds to catch their breath, stood up and pointed their flashlight towards the room’s exit… and froze in shock at the sight of the equally-surprised animatronic blocking the doorway.
“Oh no. No no no no NO! Please no.” The man pleaded, the beginnings of tears glinting in what little light was available as his expression quickly became one of pure terror.
The man’s response brought Fritz back to that horrible night – he could still vividly recall the way the world seemed to crumble as he realized that was the night he would die, and that he was utterly powerless to stop it. But this time was different – he wasn’t facing the cold execution of a mindless machine’s programming, or even the wrath of a vengeful spirit. He was facing Fritz, and painful as it was that his mere presence could cause someone such distress, he had no intentions of harming the night guard.
Slowly, he took a lumbering step towards the sobbing night guard, who was now hiding under one of the party tables. Fritz would have found the contrast between the cheery designs amusing if the situation weren’t so serious. Slowly, he kneeled down until he was eye-level with the guard, who promptly scurried away until his back was against the wall.
“P-please go away. You don’t have to- I mean, if you reall- why do you want…” The night guard began babbling incoherently, thoughts moving like wildfire through his panicked mind.
Fritz didn’t want to scare the guard any further, but he didn’t know how to do it without saying something, and he wasn’t entirely sure whether talking would hurt or help the situation. In the end, he decided to bite the bullet. “What happened?” Fritz asked.
“I think maybe- what?” The night guard stood still, still processing what Fritz had said (or rather, that Fritz had said something at all).
Maybe humor would work better? At the very least, it shouldn’t make things worse, and jokes always helped him cope with difficult situations. With a fox-like grin, Fritz tried his best to calm the guard down. “The last night’s always the worst, hah. Or so I’ve been told – I only made it to Thursday. So, what happened? It’s only been a short while, but something’s already gone wrong.”
The night guard in front of him blinked in confusion, then, to Fritz’s delight, let out a small chuckle. “I’m going insane. Haha, my mind’s finally snapped! Either I get eaten here, or they lock me up in a rubber room for the rest of my life.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Ah. Well that was no good, although he’d rather that to the man cowering at the sight of him. He waited a few moments, then prodded the man once again. “Are you coming out?” Fritz asked, gesturing to the empty party room around him.
The guard looked up at him, slightly puzzled, before bursting into a fit of slightly-choked laughter, much to Fritz’s confusion. After taking a moment to calm down, he gave his reply. “I think I’m okay, thanks.”
“Suit yourself, but this table isn’t stopping anything.” He pushed the table upwards to demonstrate, eliciting a panicked squeal from the night guard underneath it. “In any case, you still haven’t answered my question: what happened?”
The night guard opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by thundering footsteps that seemed to only get louder as time went on. The pair stared in abject horror as the bulky frame of a yellow-coated animatronic came into view. Slowly, through a series of jerky movements, Chica rotated her upper body to face towards them, letting out an unnerving squeak of metal-against-metal in the process. In one swift movement her eyes turned to meet Fritz’s, the empty stare boring into him and transporting him back to that fateful night. All at once, the adrenaline from rushing into the pizzeria seemed to drain out, and Fritz bolted under the table, much to the night guard’s displeasure.
In that moment, Fritz felt like he had been split in two; like there were two people inside his head, and only one of them was afraid. The “other him” so desperately wanted to close its eyes and crawl into a tiny ball, and as time moved on, began to feel more and more like it had been thrown into a washing machine, or had taken a ride on the world’s most dangerous roller coaster. To Fritz, it was as though time itself had disintegrated, and that concepts like the “past” and “future” were tossed out in favor of the ever-changing present. He had no plan of action, and felt more like an animal of instinct thrust into the mind of a person than an actual human being. So, he acted on instinct.
“Hold on tight!” He warned the night guard beside him, before quickly grabbing hold of him in one arm and rushing toward the exit. In one swift motion, he pushed the chicken over with all his might (which, apparently, was quite a lot) and ran out the door and back towards the smashed window, ignoring the guard’s shouts of protest along the way. Carefully, he moved him and his passenger through the window, wary of the jagged glass making sure to keep damage to a minimum. Once they were safely out of the building, he set the night guard down, who immediately bolted towards the other car in the parking lot.
Unfortunately for the guard, and much to Fritz’s amusement, he was unable to open the car, even after a thorough check of all of his pockets. He shot a quick, worried glance back towards Fritz, then continued to search for a possible way into the vehicle.
“Did you forget your keys inside?” Fritz asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.
The night guard looked back at him, and, after an exasperated sigh, nodded his head. “Yup.”
“I doubt either of us want to go back in there,” Fritz chuckled. “You can probably spend the night with us. Well, if it’s okay with Jeremy – which is probably is.” He added, with a nervous chuckle.
“Us?” The night guard asked, at the same moment that Fritz walked over to Jeremy’s truck and knocked on the window. The mechanic peered around before opening the door and stepping onto the ground, giving Fritz a puzzled look at the sight of a night guard desperately trying to break into his own car.
“God damn it Fritz, what’d you manage this time? We were meant to scope the place out, not do… this.” He said, gesturing towards the guard and looking far more intrigued than his speech would suggest.
“I found him being attacked by the animatronics, so I brought him out here.” Fritz said, raising his hands in mock-innocence. “Also, he left his keys inside.”
“Of course he did. I’d like to leave as soon as possible if those things are on the loose, but we really shouldn’t leave him here.”
Jeremy paused for a moment, before shouting out to the night guard. “Hey, what’s your name?”
The guard looked back, slightly puzzled, but replied after a moment of deliberation. “My name is Ben Br-. It’s Ben.”
“Alright Ben, we’re trying to learn more about Freddy’s and all the crazy bullshit surrounding it.” He paused, eyeing Fritz. “If you can help, I’d be happy to drive you home or let you spend the night. Sound good?”
Ben pondered the offer, sparing a few glances between Fritz and the pizzeria. “Why do you have a… foxy with you?”
Jeremy chuckled. “Let’s put a pin in that for now – save the ghost stories and whatnot for the ride over.”
Ben tried the door handle one last time, before sighing. “Alright. That’d be great, actually. Thank you.”
“Any time.” Jeremy replied, motioning for Ben to enter the passenger side of the car. Once Ben was seated, Jeremy helped Fritz into his usual place in the bed of the truck, wrapping the tarp over top of him. Once everyone was settled in, he poked his snout through the back window, meeting the gaze of an incredulous Ben and a slightly-amused Jeremy.
“So,” Jeremy said, clearing his through. “How long have you been working at Freddy’s for?”
……
Notes
Well, I kinda shit the bed on this one. Two months is the same thing as tomorrow, right? Sorry for the extended cliffhanger. Long story short, I sort of forgot about this story, re-read it, got annoyed that there wasn’t more to read, realized that there was only one way to fix that, and so here we are.
No promises on the timelines, but I do want to complete this story, and I’m feeling good about finishing another chapter tomorrow (or in a few months :P). I think we’re about 1/3 way through the second part of the story, but if you’re reading in the future you probably know better than me.