- Before -

Tommy and I decided to look ahead, making sure this new place we found ourselves in was safe for the rest of the group. We wandered down the large hallways until we came to a corner that opened to a wider space. the area was empty, save for a large, fan-like structure on the roof, blowing a steady stream of air down onto us, and a large cube in the middle. The cube stood several meters tall and, unlike the rest of the facility, had a small crack down the side. Tommy cautiously approached it because I was too scared to advance myself. He peeked into the crack and gasped audibly, "Danny, come here," he told me. I took a step forward, worried about what he might have found, but my curiosity was quickly checked. The crack grew larger and we heard a small rumbling inside, before a long, slim robotic arm slithered out. It grabbed Tommy by the throat and lifted him into the air as we both started screaming. I felt cowardly as he reached for me, pleading for me to save him. The hand at the end of the arm gripped him tighter and I fell to the floor, scrambling backwards on my ass. Another groan emanated from the cube as the crack grew larger still and some dark black ooze began to pop out. As I stared in horror, another arm burst through the concrete, grabbing Tommy's leg, and began pulling. The knife-like fingers dug into his flesh and pulled down, tearing his right leg from his body and he screamed in pain. Blood poured out of his stump and tears rolled down his eyes as he begged to be saved, but I just couldn't get up. The arm slammed him onto the floor and he went quiet and limp. More cracks emerged as more of the goop flowed out of the, now large, hole in the side of the square face of the cement. Inside I could see the formation of ooze pull itself together and stand up, a full 12 feet above me as it stepped out of the perverse egg it seemingly hatched from. It left behind a void sphere in the cube and stepped towards me. It's entire bubbling body made of this tar-like substance, It stepped towards me, standing on two large mechanical legs, before I finally got my strength to jump up and run back the way we came. I made it back to the group, screaming and crying for help and Harrison grabbed me and shook me before I could finally tell them what I had witnessed. Most of the group didn't believe me, but Harry and Max could tell there'd be no way I could lie or joke about this, and shuffled everyone out, back up the stairs we'd come down. I couldn't stop starring at the entrance, I could feel it making it's way toward us, but it never did. As it grew more and more evident that I wasn't making up a story, proved by Tommy never making his way back up, we all mourned the loss of our friend and I couldn't go to sleep until my tears finally finished falling.

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- Now -

The mark of sunrise is only made evident by the small stream of light that can make it's way through a few holes in the overlapping cement miles high in the sky above us. I rubbed my eyes groggily, wiping sleep away, as the rest of the group began to wake up and commence their morning routines. Jace started his workout, Max cooked for us, a small helping of the few remaining eggs we could find up here, and Sammy dressed Lizzie before siting down with her to eat their breakfasts. Harrison took Gwen and Haley to the bathrooms across the park, keeping watch for anyone that might show up. We haven't met anyone since everything happened but you can never be too sure. The sting of our new routines hung above our heads, no one saying a thing to one another, until Justin broke the silence. "Hey Sammy, you wanna... get out of here for a little bit? Maybe go for a walk or something?" I looked quickly to Max, knowing how he felt about Justin, and especially about Sammy. He had a strange look on his face, like he was seeing a stranger after all this time. Sammy's response finally made him react. "No, Justin, I really don't want to go for a walk or anything, I'd rather stay here with Liz." Her words turned his face into a screwed disappointment at the rejection. As Harry came back with the other girls he cleared his throat. "Now that we've found a temporary source of water, we're gonna need a couple people to go down and fill up as many containers as they can. The rest of us are going to stay up here so if there's a shift we can go down and find you guys. Any volunteers?" I couldn't take the strange air around the camp so I raised my hand slowly. "Okay, there's one, anyone else?" He responded. Justin stepped forward at the same time as Jace, both trying to volunteer as well. "Great," Harrison chimed, "Danny will guide you guys there, and Jace can carry extra containers."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

After being handed jugs and buckets and canteens, the three of us made our way down the steps. The light grew more and more dim as the sunlight stayed behind us, until the artificial light of porches and windows that led nowhere became brighter. We reached the stoop at the bottom and I stepped quickly forward, not wanting to be alone with the two biggest bullies in the group for too long. Justin grabbed my collar before I could get too far. "Ah ah ah, not so fast, dipshit,' He growled. "You know you can't go too far ahead without us, you might get hurt." "Yeah, hurt." Jace agreed as he slammed his fist into my stomach. The stress of this place had gotten to each of us but they decided I was a great therapist when it came to getting their frustrations out, and with Haley breaking up with Jace and Sammy rejecting Justin, they each had a lot of anger to let out. They took turns, shoving me into walls, and slamming me onto the floor as the shoved their feet into my abdomen and their fists into my chest. I was gasping and could barely stand by the end of it. I was on my knees, watching blood trickle down to the floor. I let myself go, knowing they weren't going to touch me if I was unconscious. I could hear them chuckling and walking away as my eyes grew heavy and the blackness surrounded me.

I finally opened my eyes as I could feel a cold fabric being pressed to my head. Gwen stood above me, wiping my blood away with a damp hand towel, and stood my up, leaning against the wall while I sat on my ass. "You can't let them do this anymore." She said, pouting. "Not like..." I wheezed out a cough that felt like it delivered it's own blows into my stomach. "Not like I can do much to stop them." "Still..." She responded, but her voice trailed off. She grabbed my hand and lifted me up, putting y arm around herself to keep me steady as she hobbled me back up the stairs. We had to stop and sit about halfway though, and I felt a little stronger by then so I sat myself down on the stairs. I tried my hardest not to let myself get too upset at what just happened but I couldn't stop myself. I felt the wells of tear form in my eyes and my sight got blurry as they collapsed and rolled down my face. I sat there and cried for what felt like hours while Gwen just draped her arms over me and tried to console me.