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Chapter 11: Run Kitty, Run!

Chapter 11: Run Kitty, Run!

I stood there, frozen, unable to tear my eyes away from Leo's lifeless body. My brother was gone. And it was because of me. If I had just listened. If I had run when he told me to...

Milo's cries snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to see him struggling to his feet, his face contorted with grief and rage. Quinn and Rover watched us, their expressions unreadable.

"Newt, go!" Milo yelled, his voice cracking.

I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Milo was not going to die because of me. But what did that mean? If I stayed I would probably get Milo killed as well. But if I left, he wouldn't stand a chance.

"You have to go," the girl's voice echoed in my head. "Your health is so low! If you stay, you'll die too!"

I looked at Milo, seeing the desperation in his eyes as he looked back at me.

I turned and stumbled for the hole. My health was so low it had affected all my abilities, including my speed, I moved as fast as I could, heading for the hole. I looked back to see Quinn watching me with curiosity, giving Milo a chance to run at her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Milo then headed straight for Rover as he looked over at me.

"Go!" he shouted.

I looked back towards the hole, climbing up and through it. I stumbled into the control room, my mind racing trying to decide if I was doing the right thing or was I just being a coward.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I had to focus. The control room was filled with so many computers and screens, most of them displayed various angles of the obstacle course. I limped over to the nearest console.

"You completed the escape the big room challenge," said the girl.

900xp appeared in my vision as the bar filled up, fairly close to leveling up. The XP bar faded as the mission complete screen appeared: 'Mission Complete: Escape the big room challenge' appeared at the top followed by the stats under it. I managed to dismiss the screen just by thinking about getting rid of it, which I didn't realize I could even do until now.

I scanned the array of buttons, switches, and screens. But it was all gibberish to me. I was a good thief, a decent fighter, but crap with technology. I slammed my fist on the console in frustration, causing sparks to fly. "Dammit! Come on, Newt, think!"

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make sense of any of it. The screens showed multiple angles of Milo dodging and weaving Rover, trying to keep him at a safe distance.

I realized Quinn was missing. I searched the screens in front of me, finally finding her, she was running away from Rover and Milo. She was heading towards the control room, towards me.

I needed to get out of there quickly, there was no way I could take her in a fight. I stumbled through the doorway as my heart pounded in my chest. The corridor stretched out before me, dimly lit and eerily quiet. I had no idea where I was going, but I kept moving.

I eventually got to a fork in the corridor, I hesitated, unsure of which way to go. I noticed the glint of metal on the ground, I looked down to see the broken pieces of what must have once been a drone. The corridor to the left was littered with bits of drones. The idiots had left me a trail that would take me directly out of this place.

I stopped, did I want to get out? There was a chance there might be more health stims somewhere in the facility. Surely Dr. Purkins hadn't only made three of them. If there were more health stims, I could go back and help Milo.

"Do you know if there's any other medicines in the facility?" I asked the girl.

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"And the only other way for me to heal up is to sleep?" I asked.

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"Yes, but the chances of you finding a medicine before Quinn finds you…"

"I know," I said cutting her off. "But even if there is a small chance. I have to try, I'm not letting Milo die."

I headed down the right corridor, the corridor without the drone shrapnel. I hoped that Quinn would rely on me trying to escape, so she would hopefully continue down the corridors that would lead to the way out.

If there were health stims in this facility, there'd be in a lab or medical area somewhere. I just had to find it.

I moved through the hallways, and past rooms, keeping an eye out for Quinn. The building that we had entered didn't look anywhere near as big as this from the outside. We must have been underground.

I froze as I turned a corner, nearly jumping out of my robotic body. Ahead of me, partially hidden in the shadows of one of the rooms, was the motionless form of a robotic cat. Its eyes were dark, and its body was riddled with gashes and dents. I approached cautiously, half-expecting it to spring to life and attack. But it remained motionless, I looked down to the ground noticing bits of drone shrapnel. Shit! I must have made my way back to the path that led to the exit.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. Footsteps quickly approached. It had to be Quinn. I hurried as fast as I could, forcing myself to move faster. My muscles screamed in protest, but I pushed through the pain.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," her voice traveled down the corridor, sing-songy and mocking.

I turned into one of the rooms with a door that was already opened. I looked around the large dimly lit room filled with lab equipment and what looked like medical supplies.

"You have got to be kidding!" I said quietly as the footsteps behind me became louder.

I scanned the room, looking for a place to hide. There were cabinets and shelves lining the walls but they were to small too fit into, and they were already filled with equipment. I dove under one of the lab tables that sat next to a wall, crouching down I leaned up against the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible. I held my breath and listened as footsteps entered the room.

I could hear Quinn's breathing, the soft whir of her robotic body. "I know you're in here," she said, "I heard you run in here little kitty."

My fans began to hum louder as I started to freak out. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to stay calm. Once my fans started slowing I opened my eyes again, Quinn searched the opposite side of the room.

I noticed a white glow from a small mini bar fridge with a glass door a few feet away. Inside, I could see the glint of glass vials. My heart leaped. Could those be the health stims?

But I couldn't risk moving, not with Quinn so close. I watched as her shadow moved across the floor, inching closer to my hiding spot.

"You can't hide from me forever," she said.

I didn't want to hide, everything in me wanted to jump out and take her down. To make both of them pay for what they did. But I knew I wouldn't win. I had to stay hidden, for now at least.

I held my breath as her footsteps got closer. The soft whir of her robotic limbs filled my ears. I pressed up hard against the wall, trying to become invisible. Her shadow loomed over me, for a moment I was sure that I had been found out. My body tensed as she leaned down, facing the opposite direction. She had found the mini-fridge.

The soft glow from the fridge illuminated her face as she opened the door and pulled out one of the health stims, pulling it in closer to her face to inspect it. If she decided to turn around right now I was done for.

"You need to run now!" said the girl.

I knew she was right, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the vial in Quinn's hand. Those health stims held the only chance I had of saving Milo. If I ran I was accepting defeat and there was no way I was going to do that. So I stayed and watched as she walked over to grab a couple of large zipped lock bags that sat on top of one of the tables, she then walked back over to the fridge, stuffing the stims into the bags.

Quinn stopped filling the bag, her head snapped up suddenly. I held my breath as she cursed under her breath, hearing something that I couldn't. She quickly zipped up the bags and rushed out of the room.

The room fell silent.

I strained my ears, trying to hear where she was. But there was nothing. No footsteps, no taunting voice. Just an eerie, unnatural quiet.

I risked a peek out from under the table, looking around the room. It looked empty but I knew better than to trust that. Quinn was still here somewhere, it was all just an elaborate trap, she was just waiting for me to come out.

I noticed that she had left the door to the fridge open and their were still some vials left, if I could quickly make it over to the fridge and grab one of the health stims I would at least stand a chance of getting out of here.

I took a deep breath, accepting whatever fate was about to come. I made a break for the fridge, running as fast as I could, which was now closer to a slow jog than it was a full out run, but I made it too the fridge.

I reached in, scrambling to grab one of the stims, but as I pulled it out of the fridge it managed to slip out of my fingers and fell to the ground, smashing too a million little pieces.

I didn't have any time to mourn the fallen stim, I quickly reached in again, this time holding tightly as I pulled it towards me. I pressed the top of the vial into the indent under my ribs and twisted. The effect was immediate. A rush of energy surged through my body, the pain of my injuries fading away. I watched as my health bar rapidly refilled, all the way back to the top.