Stranded In Salem

Night Six

Luca's POV:

A couple minutes had passed since the encounter with Grunkle & Crinkle. Luca shoved their gun back into their pocket, sighing. She spotted an analog clock up on the wall & took a closer look.

"8:27 PM." they said. "It's nighttime now."
"Does that mean we should go to sleep?" Mateo asked, yawning. "I am exhausted after what we just had to go through."
"Me too, but there might be more of those guys out to get us." Norma pointed out. "If we're asleep, we can't defend ourselves."
"We could have someone be on watch duty," Luca said. "& every couple of hours, we'll switch out."

The group seemed to agree with her. Now, it's just a matter of who gets to be on watch first.

"So, uh.." Mateo said. "Who's gonna be on watch?"
"I don't know." Norma shrugged. "We're all equally exhausted."
"Yea.. what do you think, Ollie?"

Ollie thought about it for a minute, & then pointed toward Luca.

"Me?"
"You're the Veteran, aren't you?" Ollie asked.
"Yeah..? What does that have to do with anything?"
"The Veteran's night ability is to go on alert & shoot anyone that approaches." they explained, sitting down against the wall. "Being on watch is literally your role's whole purpose."

In the end, everyone (including Luca) decided it was best if they kept watch for the first couple of hours.

"Goodnight, Luca." Norma yawned, slumping against the wall.
"Goodnight, Norma." Luca replied, leaning against the opposite wall, standing up. The others fell asleep very quickly. All Luca had to do was stand guard for about 2 hours, & everything would be fine.

-

About an hour had passed. Luca didn't have much to do, so they had started thinking about the past 6 days. The last memory Luca had of home was her fixing up her beanie, & then passing out. They'd been here for almost a week now. The news stations must be talking about the situation, right?

More importantly, though, what was Luca going to do once they got out of here? What about Norma, or Mateo, or even Ollie?! Even when they all eventually escape, they'd have no idea where they are, & without any phones or anything, it'd be hard for them to find a way back to their house.

"What'cha thinkin' about?"

Luca looked down. Ollie had woken up, & was sitting up against the wall.

"Oh, just.. even if we do get out of here, what are we supposed to do? None of us have any idea where we are right now, & I'm just worried."

Ollie hummed, thinking of a response. "I've never been outside of this area before. He wouldn't allow it." they said. "I think if we all get out of here alive, we can use his technology to find your way home. He's got lots of it."

Luca nodded. "Who is he, anyway? If you're comfortable sharing, that is."

Ollie pulled their legs up to their chest. "The Grunch. He's The Grunch." they murmured.
"The Grunch?" Luca asked.

Before anyone could say anything else, a voice unknown to Luca echoed through the hallway they were in.

"YOU! Stop right there!"
"Oh, shit- Ollie, wake up the others!" Luca said, whipping out her gun.

As Ollie shook Norma & Mateo up, a figure wearing a yellow cloak approached them.

"You may have killed Grunkle & Crinkle, but you won't be getting past me."
"& who the hell are you supposed to be?" Luca asked.

The figure took off their hood, pulling out a laser gun.

"Sponkle. The Grunch's right-hand goon." they said, cocking their gun. "Since Grunkle & Crinkle are dead, I'm the one in charge of stopping you all! Isn't that fun?"
"Not really, gonna be honest.." Norma mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, well too bad." Sponkle shrugged, aiming their gun at Ollie. "Although, I'm always up for a good compromise."

Luca aimed their gun at Sponkle. "Whatever deal you have, we don't want it." she said.
"Just hear me out. The boss & I will let you all live, as long as Test Subject 0LL13 - or as you know them, Ollie - comes with us." they demanded.
"Why do you want Ollie anyway?" Mateo asked, aiming his gun at Sponkle as well.
"I'm certain you've realized by now Ollie plays a huge part in this.. experiment of sorts." Sponkle said. "A test subject made by The Grunch himself, Ollie participated in many experiments hosted by The Grunch. This is only the latest, & unfortunately required a memory wipe. However, it seems this experiment is coming to a close. We will be needing Ollie back now, though, so-"

BANG!

Mateo shot his gun at Sponkle. They stood in shock for a second.

"..you missed." Sponkle grinned, changing their aim to Mateo. They shot at him 3 times, all hitting him in the chest.

He fell to the ground, clutching his chest.

"Mateo!"

Luca, Norma, & Ollie rushed over to Mateo. All he did was laugh, coughing up a little blood. "Heh.. I'm a shitty Mafioso, aren't I? I can't aim to save my life..."

Mateo coughed up a little more blood. "Good luck, you three." Mateo smiled. "Kick this guy's ass."

He collapsed onto the floor, blood pouring out from his chest. Mateo was dead.

"Now that that's taken care of," Sponkle grinned. "I do truly hope you all will consider the deal I've offered you."

Luca pretended to think about it. She knew she wasn't gonna just give Ollie up to this guy. That would be fucked up!

"Alright," Luca said, raising their gun up at Sponkle. "I've thought it through."

A gunshot. Sponkle fell down to the ground, liquid spilling out of their head.

"We won't take your deal."

The Grunch's POV:

The Grunch stared at his security cameras, watching the fight with Sponkle unravel in real time. He saw Sponkle get shot by Luca. He grimaced as Sponkle's corpse fell on the floor.

"This isn't good.." The Grunch groaned. "All of my goons are dead."

He sighed, getting up from his chair. "Oh, well. Guess I have to do things myself."