Evil Is Pink (bxb)

Chapter 14

Midnight.

It was finally time to go home.

The guard yawned, and briefly thought of the juicy steak waiting for him back at home, when suddenly something incredibly hard and cold smacked across his face. He blinked, and then realized he had fallen over and hit the ground face first. His nose might've been broken. It might've been bleeding. He tried to pick himself up, but ended up snoring instead.

The last thing his senses picked up before he was whisked away into a blissful sleep, was the sound of rubber soles on concrete...

As they approached their last exit, Tendril gave Sticks the signal. Gulping, Sticks pushed forward ahead of the others.

This was it, the very last stage of their escape plan. So far everything had gone smoothly. More than smooth, it was practically warm butter. Beyond this upcoming blast door was the underground parking lot the guards used. And beyond that...was freedom.

Thanks to Pimickie, all of their collars had been disabled. Using a method which required the death of several of her 'children,' one roach per collar. When they met again during breakfast, she had prepared a eulogy for each of her soon to be fallen warriors, crying great big globs of tears that seemed jarring on her otherwise unemotive, static face. Despite her sadness, her voice did not waver. The roaches marched along, curling themselves underneath Tendril, Ballsy, and Rackus's collars. Sticks watched as they shivered as the bug crawled and disappeared into the crevice between their skin and the metal. Pimickie had explained that inside each collar, there was a small opening that allowed the bug to enter its circuitry.

"Uu...Charlotte...Megami...Danny..." Pimickie had whispered, closing her eyes shut, "I will never forgive myself...you were so young and so much braver than I could ever have been...Thank you...please rest easy..."

Rackus, who had the most visceral reaction to the bug crawling under his skin, gave her a disgusted look. "Get a grip—they're just freakin' bugs."

When Pimickie opened her eyes then, Sticks remembered recoiling at the look of sheer, absolute venom glistening behind her black eyes. It was enough to make Rackus avoid her gaze for the rest of that day.

Once the collars were broken, Tendril's complex plan became much simpler. With their unlocked xenoses, much of the prep work needed for their escape had been simplified. Tendril had planned their route, and had already made the necessary arrangements to disable security footage and disable any locks that might impede them during the day of the escape. The guards set to patrol their route had been bribed, coerced or straight up blackmailed to look the other way for that particular night. And for any of the guards that remained, Ballsemecia had prepared Sleepy-Cuff, a smuggled weapon that knocked out anyone it punched. As long as they did not run into Gorgo, it seemed like escape was more than achievable.

As Sticks pried the door to the basement parking lot open, a cold rush of air pecked his cheek. The wind was so frosty and fresh, it almost tasted like mint. Though they were still within the confines of the complex, the underground parking lot had a chill that gave the illusion of stepping out into the outdoors.

"Yikes, it's FREEZING!" As Ballsy spoke, a thin wisp of fog misted out of her mouth. "Why is it so dang COLD?!"

Pimickie, who was hugging herself, nudged Tendril with her shoulder. "Something's not right..."

Sticks looked around the dimly lit, underground cave of cement. It was an exceptionally large lot, stretching about as far as the eye could see. About half of the parking space was taken up by vehicles, while the other half remained full of empty squares.

"Who cares. The garage gate is just up ahead. Let's get outta here." Rackus said.

They made their way up to the gate. Tendril took out his spare guard key. He waved it. It wasn't working. Suddenly something rumbled. An earthquake.

The gate opened.

When they got outside they froze.

Gorgo.