The Backrooms: Descent into Madness (REWRITE IN PROGRESS)

Chapter XXII - Everything Changes, Even Here.

Me and Morgan were currently sitting at either side of the table. I had given her Almond Water from the Water Dispenser which seemed to improve her sanity, but she was still having a rough time understanding everything that had happened. She was conscious during it all, but she couldn't do anything. She said it was "Like getting the steering wheel jerked away." We sat contemplating our next move for hours. I didn't explain what happened while she was unconscious, that's my reaper, not hers. She didn't ask anything, but it was obvious she knew I was hiding something. "We could head back to base?" She suggested, half asking. I had been contemplating taking her back to camp for her safety, but I wasn't going to tell her what to do. I wasn't going to stay. "If that's what you want. I'll be sure to visit." I said plainly. "Visit? You wouldn't be staying too?" She asked. Memories of Judy flashed through my mind. I smiled through my torn-open cheek at Morgan. "Nah, I belong out here."

She looked at me with concerned eyes. "You always act nonchalant when you're stressed the most, Logan." My smile dropped and I sighed. "You always gotta see through me." She smiled lightly but her eyes remained serious. "Why do you have to stay out here? Why can't we just stay at base until someone comes across an exit, or maybe we even die of old age? We have a perfect opportunity to live a life without a horrific end in this hellhole and you seem to despise it as an option." I looked away from her over my shoulder, leaving the blackened side of my face facing her. "Morgan, do you think everyone is so accepting of what I've become?" I asked turning back to look her in the eyes. She seemed to contemplate that for a moment, before answering "Everyone at camp knows you as the savior, the person who got them away from the badlands and into the settlement. Why would anyone not be accepting of you there?" She asked. I lifted my shirt and showed her the bullet scars across my torso. "Because not everyone was saved." I seethed through clenched teeth. "Some people are angry that I didn't arrive sooner, some are angry that everyone praises a half Smiler creature that's been twisted beyond human. Beneath Human." Smiler Matter began to envelop me and the lights began to flicker. Morgan showed no readable expression. "Some people are so hurt by Smilers that they generalize, and then they lay blame, and then..." My face erupted in a red glow that illuminated the entire room, the lights above exploded as if under immense pressure. "THEY SHOOT YOU SIX TIMES AND LEAVE YOU TO DIE ON THE MOLDY CARPET OF HELL!" I yelled, my voice was laden with radio static. My face resumed its pale white color and decreased in intensity. The dim light of the lights that did work weakly flickered on, and I laid my face in my hands. "And now I'm going to be hunted by that red-faced fuck."

Morgan seemed unphased, but her expression was determined. "Logan. You are not going to die. You've saved me three times total now, counting that time in Texas, so there's no way in hell I'm letting you give up like this." My Smiler form receded and I met her eyes with my gaze. "This is more than you can handle, Morgan. It's more than I can." She remained unswayed. "We'll figure this out together, just like we always do right?" She said with energy. I chuckled. "I guess so." She smiled. "Hell yeah!" She said pumping her arm. At the exact moment she pumped her arm, four yellow tentacles extended from around her and aimed at me, each one ending in a toothy, leech-like mouth. "Holy Shit!" I exclaimed. She seemed confused before looking over her shoulders. "Holy Shit!" She yelled. "W-What do I do?!" She asked. "I- Uh. It should be instinctual," I said half asking. "That doesn't help!" She said crossing her arms. She then proceeded to use the four tentacles to lift herself off of the ground while she was grumbling at me. My jaw dropped. "Uh, you did it." I said flabbergasted. She looked at me confused before looking at the ground and realizing she was about three feet above it. "WAAH!" She exclaimed. The tentacles flailed and she fell onto the carpet floor. I stared in shock. "This shouldn't be happening... no this can't be happening," I mumbled. Morgan looked at me with a strangely happy smile.

"Logan, don't you get it? We're the same now!" She exclaimed. I looked at her confused, until I realized. She was a chimera too. Like it or not this just boosted her survival chances a lot. "And you're ok with that?" I asked accusingly. "Yeah! I mean you made it seem like it was terrible but this doesn't seem so bad." She said, poking one of her tentacles. "Well did you have to lose your arm?" I asked jestingly. She laughed at that. "Well, we do ironically need to go back to camp." I said, "I need to talk with the Second and let him know everything is fine now. Not to mention Deacon." She nodded briskly. "So, are you gonna do that freaky teleporting thing?" She said. I laughed at her which caused her to raise an eyebrow. "What're you laughing about?" I took a deep breath and gave her an evil grin. "Actually, you're gonna be teleporting us out of here." She looked at me with wide eyes. "But how? I have no clue how that works! Are you sure I can even do it?" She asked. "The Partygoers can, and in case you forgot, I only neutralized the mental effects of the Smiler Venom by killing the Pygmy Phobic Centipede. You should still be, by all accounts, a Partygoer." She looked at her hands and back at me. "Can I get a hint?" she asked pleadingly. I chuckled, "I was kidding, I'm going to teach you that much later." She breathed a sigh of relief. I put my hand on her head and we instantly warped into the entrance to Camp.