Return To The Machine

Chapter 5

The two of them made their way across the long bridge that led them somewhere different from the spot they were in. "Wait, what's your name?" Parker asked her. "My name's Rosa. I've been here for a while now. What got you down in this mess?" she asked him. "Oh uh... I was exploring the outside then, I don't know. I sorta just walked inside. Some huge ink thing started chasing so I started running." Parker explained. Rosa stopped and turned around. "Wait you actually walked in willingly? Why the hell would you do that?"

"Look I know there were warning signs outside but I got curious!"

"You have no idea what you've gotten into..." Rosa sighed and kept moving forward. Parker quickly chased after her. "Isn't there a way out of here?! There's gotta be an exit!" he asked. "Just shush and come with me, unless you want to be caught by any of these other monsters..." she told him. Having no other choice he continued to follow her.

Eventually, at the end of the bridge, they reached the end of what looked like a heavy door. Using her strength, she pushed it open and held it long enough for Parker to walk inside. "Where are you taking me?" he asked. "To somewhere away from all those psychos. Don't worry, they won't actually do anything to us. However, to every other horrible thing that's around here, it's not gonna pretty. So c'mon, they're gonna be wanting to see us." Rosa explained. Parker was still confused but still followed her to the place.

Rosa approached a door and knocked on it twice. Someone opened the door and looked Rosa over. "You're late for coming back. Who's the stranger..?" they asked. Parker looked over Rosa's shoulder and to his horror saw an ink person. He recoiled and barely backed away. "He's from the outside. Made the mistake of coming in the studios." she replied. The ink person nodded and allowed them entry. "Careful, the drop is long!" the ink person shouted before jumping down into another hole that was on the other side of the door.

Walking towards it casually, Rosa jumped into the hole. Parker stood there and rolled his eyes while cursing under his breath. "This is the worst mistake of my life." he said to himself. Looking down he realized it wasn't that much of a drop. He sighed and jumped in not wasting any more time. Once he made it Rosa and the other ink person worked together to put blockage back on the hole someone else couldn't enter.

"This way!" the ink person told them and they walked on. They went down a little tunnel and into another area. At last, they reached an area where other people were gathered around socializing or doing chores. Slowly their attention turned to those who had just entered the area. Many of them were skeptical about a stranger coming into the area. Some shrunk away into the darkness and went into a different place.

No one approached the trio that made their way through. Ultimately, someone did approach all three of them. The one who approached them looked like a gruff dog with somewhat round yet pointed ears and a metal arm. They stopped them in their path. "Tinker, leave us." they said and the ink person walked away from the situation. Rosa stood there boldly and stared him down. "Rosa... We talk about this. You have to stop bringing people in here where they don't belong! We barely can manage to feed and house everyone we have so far! One more isn't going to help out the situation!" they snapped.

Parker shrunk trying to avoid the confrontation. But considering there wasn't much he could do about it, he stood there solemnly watching them. "I'm sorry Tom. But the Butcher gang had him cornered! What was I supposed to do, leave him there to get hewed to death? I couldn't! You know the situation as well as I do. If we leave more souls for him to collect, it's going to be worse for us! Don't worry. I knew what I was doing. Yeah, we have more mouths to feed. That's just how it is! But we need all the help we can get!" Rosa said angrily.

The one known as Tom sighed and shook himself out. "You're lucky Allison is the one and charge and not me. Otherwise, I would've thrown him back out there to fend for himself." he replied and walked away. Everyone else around them looked at Rosa and then to Parker before going back to minding their own business. "Come with me, you can get some food." Rosa told him and led him to the back.

Others were gathered around in the back area. As they looked at the duo, Parker realized that not everyone was an ink person. These guys looked like other little cartoon characters, similar to the other background characters he had seen before in the past. They flashed Rosa a look of annoyance. "Ugh... Rat brought in another rat. Sad indeed." one of them said and the whole group began to walk out.

One of them bumped into Rosa intentionally. The two were left alone in the room. "So... I'm guessing no one here really likes me?" Parker asked her. Rosa was silent for a second and began sifting through the supply pantry looking for something. "No one likes other humans. Mainly because we look nothing like them and we don't act like them. But I've been so used to the taunts and jabs so it doesn't mean anything to me anymore." Rosa explained.

"I see. So where are we exactly? What is going on exactly?" he asked her. After putting soup on a stove, Rosa sat up on the counter.

"Where we are, is Joey Drew Studios. It was shut down over 30 years ago. I don't know much about what went down inside these walls but it wasn't good. People went missing soon after it shut down. Unfortunately, people never learned to leave this place alone. We still get people to walk in here not knowing what they signed up for. Like you. You're lucky Bendy and the others didn't get to sacrifice you when they had you." she explained to him.

Parker nodded and sat in the chair behind him. What have I done? Sure there's a way out of here. "Here, eat." Rosa told him handing him a bowl. Parker took the bowl and used the spoon to fish the food into his mouth. But the minute he put the food into his mouth, he began gagging and spitting it out. "Woah, you okay?" Rosa asked. "W-What is in that?" he asked. "It's bacon soup... Why?"

"Well... I'm vegetarian!"

"What's a vegetarian?"