Lassoing the Cresent Moon

42. Toy Graveyard

As soon as the doors creaked open slightly I scrunched my nose and had to look away.

"God..." the smell. Rot, death, and mold on plastic. I covered my nose at the stench before Kitty squirmed against my chest. They seemed excited, or perhaps unsettled.

"Keep close, Angel."

I looked up as Terry waited for me at the entrance.

My joints locked.

A mountain further than i could see.

More than one mountain.

My head raised as I stepped closer.

Toys..

But all these toys were dead.

Which meant-

"How many?"

Terry put a hand behind my back as he continued forward.

"How many kids did they do this to?" I exclaimed. My eyes grew hot as my legs froze. I couldnt keep going.

Kitty squirmed again before coming lose from my jacket. It scurried down and ran toward one of the piles to pull a bloodied toy from it.

What was happening?

This was too much.

"N-No. Don't-" that was a person. It was a kid. And it-

I had known.

I had already known, but seeing it was different.

"Welcome to the toy graveyard." Terry picked up a note off the ground before coming toward me. "For your collection." He offered it to me but i couldn't focus.

No. This wasn't right. I saw the notes. I saw the notes! Experiment 800 something was a rat. And I hadnt seen anything past 1500. There had to be thousands of toys here.

"Angel..."

It didn't make sense. There was no possible way these could all be-

Terry wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me close to his chest. His chin rested on my shoulder. "What are you thinking?" He asked softly.

My lips parted to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn't look away. There was barely a path, just bodies everywhere.

"Its okay." He squeezed. "We'll get past this room. Its fine."

"Why are there so many?" I whimpered.

"Playtime Co had many experiments that they deemed as failures, or experiments made only to be used as conditioning help for other experiments. They didn't make it into documentation and after they were used they were thrown down here."

He glanced at the piles and sighed. "Also after the hour. As the years went by, Resistance to the prototype grew more powerful. Many fought, many starved to death, many were tortured for being heretics...and they ended up here. Where the smaller critters would come and Scavenge for scraps."

I looked over at Kitty who had indeed been chewing on old bloodied fabric.

"B-but its old. Its wrong. Its-"

"Kitty was a baby when it turned. It can hardly communicate. Most of whats left is just instinct. Growing up here, right and wrong doesn't mean as much as survival." He gestured toward him.

I stared at Kitty. I bent toward it and approached.

So it was true. "Still....it doesnt feel right to call it an it."

Could I say that? Maybe dogday was right.

"They? Most of the littlest lost their records. We dont know who they were, especially for children this young. Hate to say it but your "kitty" is mostly survival instinct at this point.

My chest tightened. I slowly picked Kitty up. It growled to be taken from its meal.

"Is there anything left?" I glanced at Terry.

He looked away.

I felt another weight on my hand. I heard Kitty whimper. I had only looked away for a second and now there was a black sheep plush attacking Kitty.

"No!" I grabbed the plush and pulled it off of Kitty. "He's mine! He's still human!"

Kitty let out a screaming gurgle. The Baba Chops had bit too hard-- and I had yanked it off.

Now there was cotton and blood oozing out of Kitty.

"No- No!" Fabric was peeling off. He was losing his form.

My eyes watered as I held him tighter, trying to keep him together.

"He was in my hands- You're fine. Baby you're fine."

Kitty screamed louder. The blood wasn't stopping. It was spreading over my hands- i couldn't make it stop.

Dogday grabbed the back of my shirt and squeezed. "Angel!" His voice was shaky.

He was rigid as he looked around us.

Mini huggies with their teeth bared littered the floor like spiders. Nightmare critters hissed and giggled behind them.

I stood up quickly ready to run to the exit, but a bright light flashed.

I couldnt see-

I flinched just for a second.

There was a siren.

"The doors are closing!" Terry tried to pull me forward. He ran faster than I had ever seen him but the door closed too quick.

I looked back at where we came from. The mini plushies were closer now. "We're surrounded!"

"No! There has to be another way." Dogday growled but it felt weak. I knew what this reminded him of. He ran to one of the piles of toys. "Up here."

I hurried but glanced back at Terry. Dragging his stump as he ran on his hands was one thing- but he couldnt climb like that could he?

"I'll be right behind you. Safe haven isn't far!"

I gulped but followed the order. Holding Kitty with one hand I had to use the other to help me climb up. The toys felt unnaturally squishy under my fingers. I flinched when I heard a whimper.

"They're already dead." I whispered. It was in my head. I needed to move forward. I glanced back down at Terry.

I heard a whine come from his throat. His hands struggled as he tried to jump onto the toy mountain. They were closing around him.

Too close.

"Terry!" I shrieked.

My voice hardly made it past the siren.

A few toys tumbled down beside me. I looked down to see a massive shadow looking down at us. It let out a growl before pouncing in front of the critters with its shoulders held high.

I blinked hard against the alarm light. My heart pounded against my chest as I tried to slide down the mountain.

I didnt know what was doing.

I didn't know what had just found us.

I couldnt leave Terry.

The critters and small huggies backed away and froze in the presence of the apex predator.

"We're okay. We're okay." I whispered. I held Terry close.

He was shivering. His fur was damp with horror. Another whimper came from him as he could hold himself no further and wrapped his arms around me.

I closed my eyes tight as something splattered against my back. I could hear claws against rock. A loud screech as I heard the pitters of small huggies running away.

"We're fine. Everything is fine" I repeated.

Kitty stopped squirming in my arms. I could feel hot tears pool in my eyes and slide onto Terry's fur. My throat felt clogged.

"We'll be okay." I croaked.