Gravity's Push

Dirty Work

It was early in the morning when the door opened. All of the children were exhausted from their injections yesterday, except one little navy haired girl. Taya woke up and turned to the guard in the doorway.

"Perfect," he said, his voice low. "You're up first, #3."

Taya nodded, somehow keeping a grin off her face. She quietly climbed off the mattress and walked out of the dark room to the guard's side. They started walking in silence. Taya's heart started beating faster with every step.

Ok... There are 10 doors after our room, a little bit of wall, then to the split! They always make us go first, so I should slip by his right as we're in the hallway's entrance. Flawless plan!

Taya and the guard passed the last door and they could see the five way split. Taya kept a straight face the whole time. She glanced towards the hallways. She didn't see any guards that could possibly be there. A little smirk made way to her lips for a split second before she regained her composure. Her heart was beating even faster than before and she had to clench her fists to stay at a normal pace. She couldn't alert the guard of her plan, unlike the heroes in the movies. She missed movies.

The guard kept his turquoise eyes forward. He knew the routine. Get the requested child(ren), walk them to the lab, wait until Boss was done, then bring them back. Simple. It was boring, but that was a good thing for Boss, and himself. But today proved to be interesting. As him and #3 were entering the hallway to the lab, the test subject started running towards the neighboring hallway. The guard's eyes widened and he started running after the test subject, fear itched into every muscle of his body.

HA! I knew that he would be zoned out! Taya thought in triumph, running down the unfamiliar hallway. So far, no doors. This seems to be an empty hallway... Did I... Did I run down the wrong hallway?!

Taya turned her head to see that the  guard was gaining on her.

... He looks... scared...?

Taya shook the thought away and ran faster. She didn't know anything about this hallway, but it was kind of fun 'exploring' it! At least, in her opinion. Taya stumbled, but didn't fall. She giggled to herself and stared at the floor.

I could do this FOREVER! COME AT ME GUARD! YOU'RE PATHETIC!

She laughed, loud, throwing her head back with her eyes closed. She was just enjoying her time in freedom before she would be caught by the guard. A part of her wanted to just escape now, but she couldn't leave her friends. She never would.

Taya opened her eyes and stumbled to a stop, her eyes wide.

In front of her were hundreds of men with beak shaped masks.

She was breathing heavy, seeing all of those men.

What... What is this place...?!

"GOTCHA!"

Taya jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding being caught by the guard. She looked to him and then to the crowd of beaked men. They had spotted her. Her eyes widened even more before she started running back down the hallway.

"THAT'S TEST SUBJECT #3!"

"GET HER!"

"BOSS WILL HAVE US KILLED!"

Taya could hear the hundreds of footsteps after her. That only made things worse. Knowing that an army of beaked men were after her made her heart beat faster than she thought was possible. Her legs were stiff, but they kept on going. Her lungs burned and she was coughing. Her pace was steadily decreasing.

NO! I'm so close to the end! I just need to get to the entrance!

Taya squeezed her eyes shut and, with pure willpower, started gaining speed. She didn't dare open her eyes. She didn't want to see how close the guard and the beaked men were.

"OOF!"

THUD!

Taya rubbed the back of her head and lifted herself head up. She blinked a few times to get her vision back. And she saw...

... fancy white shoes?

She looked up to the face of the owner of these shoes only to see an all too familiar man with a beaked mask. He slowly looked down to her, his dull yellow eyes suddenly glowing. It was quiet. It seems that the guard and the beaked men stopped chasing her after they saw their boss.

"Guard?" Overhaul called, his eyes still trained on the little girl. There was murmuring before someone pushed the guard towards their feared boss.

"Y-... Y-yes, boss...?"

The guard stood up straight, his eyes trained to the floor.

It's coming... he thought, his breathing getting heavier.

Click!

Click!

He's coming! the guard panicked, swallowing.

Click!

Click!

Click!

"Why was Test Subject #3 running off without you?" Overhaul asked, his face looking calm. The guard was trembling.

"I-..."

"Yes...?" Overhaul urged, taking another loud step towards the guard.

"I-..." the guard took a deep breath. "SHE SLIPPED OUT OF MY REACH, BOSS!"

This is it... the guard thought, closing his eyes. My life has led me here. Hopefully, this terrible man won't get to my family at least...

"Oh, well," Overhaul mumbled, taping the tip of his beak mask, "this was clearly just a simple mistake!"

Everyone looked on in shock. Their merciless boss had just given mercy!

"You're-... You're letting me off the hook, boss?!" the guard exclaimed, his eyes wide and filled with tears. "But I let-"

"I know that your family would want you home for dinner, right?" Overhaul replied, putting a hand on the guard's shoulder and slowly opening his eyes. The guard's eyes widened even more and a single tear ran down his right cheek. The guard looked at the bare hand on his shoulder, then to the glowing yellow eyes staring into his own tear filled turquoise eyes.

"WAI-"

The guard exploded. Blood flew everywhere. It covered the beaked men in the first and second row and even some in the third. It covered the navy haired girl who was still on the floor. She had a hand covering her mouth and her eyes were wide and filled with tears.

He- He killed him! HE KILLED HIM! I-...

Taya looked down at her trembling hands to see the guard's blood dripping off her fingers and knuckles. The tears in her eyes spilled out. You could see her tears cleaning off the blood on her cheeks in a thin stream. Then, she felt a few fingers on her head. She looked up into glowing yellow eyes.

"I hate doing the dirty work..."

That was... fun...? Idk :/ Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!