18

We stood at crossroads, Katie and the memory of Henry between us and our freedom.  I wasn't sure how I could even begin to make things up to Katie, but I had better start by talking. "I know you think we're... not pure enough to escape back into the real world... but that's not true, Katie. This place, this Facility... It does something to people, makes them feel hopeless. Just like the plains, the only reason people think they have to stay here is that they feel they don't belong anywhere else, like they DESERVE this place... but no one does."

I barely caught a breath as I tried relentlessly to talk her out of her rage. "You don't have to 'purify' them by killing inmates just because they made some mistakes, if that's what you're trying to do - all we have to do is leave. You're better than this - be the change you want to see in everyone else. Get the police, get anyone... Shut it down from the outside, and let them be judged properly. We can't decide what their punishment should be, like they do for us every single day just for being alive."

She lowered her pole, and I could tell she was thinking. Jill patted me on the shoulder, and we switched places. "Katie... Look behind you." She turned to see the carnage she had created, all the beating, stabbing, killing... "I didn't know Henry that well... but would he really approve of all... this?" Katie didn't move. As Jill walked around her, I could hear what sounded like muffled crying, and Katie almost dropped to the floor.

Jill supported her, and lifted her by the arm as they both turned to face me. "Brad... I know it's not fair... I can't forgive you for not saving him during the Hunt... but what I can do is let you go, instead of holding on to this... hatred. Henry would like that, I'd think..." She said quietly to herself. "...Let's go then."

Ruz clapped his hands together, and yelled "All right! Now we need to find where Bun went, and get Teddy... then we're off!" Together, as a unit we pushed and fought our way through the crowd, all the way around the Inner Cavern - but there was still no sign of Buny anywhere. Before we left, Katie announced to all the FF that the fighting was to cease, and that everyone was to follow our little platoon.

Suddenly, we all heard a familiar screeching. "Bun?!" Ruz yelled. Off in the distance, we heard a "WOOOO!" in response, so it was a fair bet it was her. Leading the charge off in the direction of the noise, Ruz gasped. "She's at the secret exit... But that's impossible!" Jill tapped on Ruz's arm and asked, "Why didn't you tell us the secret exit was here the whole time?" Ruz flicked his head back at Sammy riding on his shoulders. 

"Gotta think of the lil' one - who's to say if I told you where it was, you wouldn't just leave without us? Nah, we needed protection... and insurance, depending on who might be acting up." Ruz lowered his eyes at Katie, who responded with the same look. Looks like there's still some tension between them. Fortunately, before they could start bickering again, Buny ran out and started screaming. "It's him, it's him! Ted, or whatever - erm, it's hiiiim!!"

Me, Jill, Katie, Ruz, Sammy, Buny and the army behind us burst into the room, and I laughed heartily. "This is a joke...Haha!!" Looking back at me was the jail cell Spine had kept me in, my very first moment in The Facility, except for one missing detail - the wall of my cell was gone, and in its place a hidden passageway. On the floor, two hidden panels on the opposite sides of the room were lifted, revealing two switches.

"Looks like no one's on guard - just our luck! Teddy!! We're coming!" Ruz shouted into the dark hallway in front of us. Everyone behind us was cheering, and pushing to be the first ones to escape. This was actually happening - we were all here, and escaping the Facility. I was so happy, it was all I could do to stop the tears from streaming down my face.

Running upwards at a slope, the smell suddenly hit us. "The sewer... We're getting close!" I said. Looking ahead of me for Teddy, Buny was sprinting ahead yelling his name in different and weird tones. Unfortunately, that's when things started to go bad. Somewhere, maybe half of the way down behind the group of Freedom Fighters, fighting had broken out. Stopping, I looked back down and recognised some of them from when I was drowning in the lake - these were Doc's friends. "You guys, go ahead - Ruz, help me stop this." Slinging Sammy onto Katie's shoulders, me and Ruz fired our way downwards into the crowd, and the girls continued the ascent. I wasn't letting any of these Facility psychos stop the Freedom Fighters now. Not after everything my father worked for.

Pushing and punching, Ruz and I freed up most of the space between the two groups and with the aid of some Freedom FIghters we ended up chasing them a good distance down the slope. "Ok... ready to bolt?" Ruz breathed heavily. "On three... one... two..." We never got to three. I was already off as I saw the scene unfolding from the very top of the hill we were climbing. The sewer pipe which lead to our freedom had collapsed - about 5 or 6 FF members went down with it. It was too late - the pipe was gone. "Great, what now..." I sighed as I arrived too late to do anything. Ruz patted me on the back. "...We count to three."

 I didn't understand, but as I slowly realised Ruz was already pulling me towards the edge, running and jumping across. I knew I wasn't going to make it, but then I noticed Ruz hanging on to my arm as he reached for the edge of the pipe which had been snapped off. Just as I was expecting to fall, we both hung in the air for a few seconds, and only then I realised Ruz was pulling himself up slowly. Looking down into the abyss, I could almost make out something - it was water! It lead off into nowhere... I'd bet this was the top of the waterfall from the Base! I laughed, which sort of alarmed Ruz, but it seemed ironic to me that freedom had literally been hanging over the Freedom Fighter's heads all this time.

As Ruz got closer to the surface of the pipe, he exceeded his strength as he lifted me up with his only free arm, and allowed me to grab on and climb up myself - Jill and Katie were already here, but something was wrong.  "Katie..." I huffed. I barely had any breath left after that leap of faith.

Ruz peered over the edge of the bottom of the pipe, and I tried to lend him my hand but Katie pushed me backwards into the darkness. "...You... I'm sorry, but you had to know this was coming. You should never have told me... those things you did down here, Ruz. What was it all for, just to gain more intelligence? To climb the ranks, all for the FF? Don't make me laugh. No, you'll stay down here until the police arrive. The kid will be just fine, without a souless monster like you to teach him your sick ways." With that, before anyone could stop her Katie brought her foot down right onto Ruz's hands, and he almost let go.

 "K-Katie, don't do this!" Jill screamed. She threw herself onto Katie to try and stop her, but in a reflex Katie tossed Jill onto the ground forcefully, and the pipe gave way. "Ruz, quick!" I yelled hoarsely. He clambered his way up onto the pipe, as Katie tried to stop him from going any further I pushed them both aside. "Jill? Jill!" She lay in a trance on the floor, half unconscious. "B-Brad..." She stirred. The floor of the pipe moved, and I stopped. One wrong move...

Running right past us, Buny appeared form the shadows behind and stomped right on Jill's stomach as she vaulted herself right across the chasm, landing perfectly on the other side making the entire place shake uncontrollably. "B-Bun! What the fucking..." Ruz began. In that instant, Jill's fate was sealed. The pipe collapsed underneath her, and with her eyes closed she was sent spiraling down into the waters below.

"JIIIIILL!!" I screamed hysterically. There was no time for it, the entire pipe was going down. With one last look back, Ruz kept shoving me and Katie forwards, and he yelled at Buny "Bun, how could you... I don't understand... The locking mechanism, to even open this exit... you need two people. Don't tell me you..." I didn't understand what Ruz was saying at the time, I was in another world - one not unlike the one I visited when Henry died up on those plains. 

I looked backwards to try and find some sign that Jill was still alive, but Katie kept pushing me to move faster. I saw Ruz yelling something unintelligible at Buny, absolutely furious. I could see the light of freedom, coming through... but I could only stare backwards into that other world.

Time seemed to stop, and everything in that tunnel twisted and stretched, contracted and expanded, and I found myself unable to take my eyes off of the area we had just jumped from on the other side. Past Sammy crying in the dark, past Katie marching forwards completely speechless, past Ruz running up to us, past the chasm Buny has created and past the psycho herself... into the unassuming, kind eyes of Teddy. Hidden behind Buny, clutching her hand as she smiled at him, and he smiled back. Even while the entire place as crumbling apart around us, the distance between Teddy and I was the worst thing. She waved us goodbye and they both walked back down, hand-in-hand, into hell itself.

Time is passing by the second. Every single tick, it means more death. More life. Who can tell what's the difference, I've seen far too much of the one to even know what the other is like.

Katie and Ruz are pulling me along, trying to get me to say something... All I can think of is how pretty the painted blue sky looks when you're free. Hah, 'free'... It sure doesn't feel like it.

"GET UP."

Katie's pissed. Apparently lots of Facility supporters managed to get out along with the Freedom Fighters... Everyone's fighting in the woods right now. I wonder if they'll die too.

"Brad, you have to go faster! NOW!!"

Oh, all right, I'm going. Just don't ask me to open my eyes... I don't want to see anyone else getting hurt. How did I even get here... Let me think.

I guess it's all been leading up to here, huh. I'm finally out of The Facility...

...I don't even care. I broke my promise, and that's something I can never do.

Patrick, Henry, Jill... Teddy.

I'm sorry you guys, this war isn't over yet.

I'm going back.