Red Road

Chapter two

Thursday, April 9, **18

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    Forget being subtle. This is getting out of hand. You’re dying, 10-02. You’re draining your energy needlessly. The Facility won’t let me let you die, it can’t be done. Not quite yet. You’re useful to them. Hold onto your life, 10-02. 

Because mine depends on it.

    Ugh… another dead mouse. There’s too many of these things. I’ve given up on trying to clean them all up… it’s too much. I’ve been thinking about leaving this shabby old place behind and finding a new abandoned building to take shelter in, but… I think I've grown attached to this little motel, smells and all. It is disgusting, but it has a charm to it that I’ve not seen in ages. The floral wallpaper, the broken gas lamps, the creepy humanoid shadows…

   

    Hold up-

    I do a double take. The figure is gone. That's…

A small shuffling sound came from down the hall where I had seen the figure.

Okay… maybe I should leave. The stench of decay must be messing with me… 

    I gather up my, admittedly minimal, belongings and start to say my final goodbyes to this disgusting building that I had taken refuge in. I still didn't dare touch the walls if it could be helped. No telling what’s happened to them… 

    Stepping out, I take in a long, deep breath of the cool night air. There was a faint breeze that whipped my hair around a bit, but I didn't mind. Back to walking, I suppose… I sigh, setting off. It’s been so long since I’ve been outside freely like this.

    I start humming, the beat matching my, slightly too fast, step. I start singing a little, the stupid nursery rhyme getting stuck in my head.

    Little bunny foo foo hoppin’ through the forest…       

    My memories seem faint, as if they were an entirely different world. I wondered about Amy’s death and that landmine that had killed that dad and his daughter… I wondered more about the identity of whoever set those traps. Who was the one behind the slaughter? I’m not a fan of those old true crime podcasts that everyone had discovered and gotten addicted to, but this intrigued me. Something was happening, and it may still very well be happening now. I cursed whoever had done it. I couldn't stand the thought of someone mindlessly killing innocent people.

Scooping up the field mice and boppin’ em on the head!

 My world’s been torn apart by a cruel symphony of chaos. What could I have done to become the prey of this horrid predator called life? Hell if I knew. The air became slightly chillier. I hadn't thought this through, had I… 

Down came the fairy godmother, and she said…

    I didn't really care. If I died, then I died. I remember sleeping earlier, in the middle of the sweet sunny afternoon. The feeling of being hunted down like a helpless creature had faded, back there… But it was back and stronger than ever now. I felt tied at the legs, metaphorically speaking. Free to roam, but trapped by the ones pursuing me. I had thought that hiding was my best bet, but I don't even know what I’m hiding from. 

    Or running.

    “Little bunny foo foo, I don't wanna see you picking up the field mice and boppin’ em on the head!”

    I start to question my sanity. Sure, someone had blown up a drive through window, and sure, my coworker had been brutally murdered outside of my workplace. Did that mean any of what I had worried it did…?  It felt hopeless. Even if it was nothing, that feeling of dread still filled me. That aching knowledge of something unknown. It was worse than what had called me to stay in the office, worse than anything I had ever before felt. I couldn't push the thoughts down. I was running away from something, even if I didn't know what.