Little Nightmares of the Pizza Plex

Ch. 2: There's a Breach in the Circus

It took a few seconds to process what was going on.

Well, it felt like only a few seconds, but she could have been lying there for minutes or hours for all she knew.

Once Six had started coming to, she slowly noticed the loud noises that filled the air. She hadn't picked up on it at first because of the previous loud rumblings of the Signal Tower, and the screaming of the static in the television. This noise was at about the same volume, but the noises were different as well. There was the sound of screaming, of laughter. Footsteps and vibrations on the floor. Thumpings above them, and voices around them.

Six opened her eyes, only to realize that she was still hugging Mono from behind, her face pressed against his shoulder blades. His breathing and warmth was so comforting to her, and she squeezed him just a little tighter.

'And I actually had the nerve to think about...'

The two were laying on their sides, Mono on top of one of Six's arms, pinning her down unintentionally. By the way he was breathing, he seemed to be asleep. Six, not wanting to disturb him just yet, then glanced around the room they were currently in. It looked to be... actually she had no idea what it could be. It was a small enclosure of some kind, with walls of wood, and uneven padded flooring. Around them were shirts piled up, plastic wrappings—they'd have to be careful not to step on those and risk being heard— and what looked to be a broken television, the screen having shattered onto the floor in front of it.

Six tensed as she heard thumpings on the ceiling above them. It was like there were a lot of people stomping intentionally loud.

'It must be adults. No child is stupid enough to be that loud,' Six rationalized.

That was worrying. That meant adults could be all around them, ready to grab them at any time. At least they had this little hidey hole for now.

Six gently shook Mono by his shoulder, and whispered to him. "Mono, get up."

The boy awoke almost immediately, flinching slightly as he did. His eyes flickered back and forth, going through the same motions she had, then sat himself up and turned towards her. Six sat up as well, now that her arm wasn't pinned under him.

"Where are we?" Mono whispered, rubbing his head of brown hair. "What's all that noise?"

Six shrugged, unsure and uneasy. "Dunno. We came out of the television. It broke though." She pointed to the broken screen.

Mono looked the glass over, seeming a bit relieved at first, then tensed a little after that. "Can't go back that way..."

Six shook her head. "Either stay in here, or sneak past..." She motioned to the only hole in the wall, just large enough for a child to fit through, and separating them from whatever it was stomping over and around them.

Mono narrowed his eyes in determination and turned back towards the hole, and Six knew what he wanted to do immediately. The two crawled over to the opening as quietly as they could, keeping their bodies low as they looked outside.

To their surprise, they saw... children, running back and forth, laughing and screaming and talking and shouting. Some looked to be older than them, others around their age, and some even younger. They tended to wear bright colors as well, with bright orange, hot pink, or lime green. It almost hurt their eyes with how bright some of the colors could get.

Six glanced down at her yellow raincoat.

Despite knowing how dangerous it was to wear bright colors, she found that she really liked this raincoat, both for the functionality, and for its looks. She felt special, wearing something that no other child would. She would be the only one who could. But now... she felt a little less special, with other children wearing colors even more brilliant than her yellow.