9: Inside the Ruins

An Explanation

1 then walked out of the room. 8 held his knife and jerked his head to his right, which was the way 1 went, and wanted them to go. 5 silently walked out, not making eye contact with 8. When 9 walked out, he looked straight into 8's eyes. 8 always had an angry expression. He then growled at 9, and scared him a little. 9 jumped from the scare, then went into a destroyed church, interested in what the place looked like. "It didn't kill them?" 5 asked 9. "Quiet." 8 said to the two of them. They then headed toward a bucket tied to a rope, their form on an elevator. When 8 came in, he pushed 9 into the bucket. "Hey!" 5 said. The big rag doll let out a grim chuckle, as he went to the crank. 5 grabbed on to the side of the bucket, "Hold on." He told 9. As the bucket went up, 9 almost fell, and grabbed on the the side. The bucket moved up and up, and 9 looked at 1. He had a very sly grin on his face.
They finally reached their destination, the top floor, which looked like an abandoned cathedral. 1 walked out first, then 5, 8, and 9. 1 and 9 walked side by side, and 9 looked around his surroundings. 1 put his hand on 9's shoulder and showed him a broken pane glass window. "When we woke in this world.. It was chaos. Man and machine.. Attacked each other with fire and metal."
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The sky was covered with dark clouds, screaming and yelling by thousands of people can be heard. The stitchpunks were hiding in an army helmet, as a another female stitchpunk is outside the helmet. 8 lifted the front of the helmet up. "I found others." She said as three stitchpunks entered in; two that looked identical, and 5, except he had two eyes instead of one. He stayed with 2, terrified. 2 tried to reassure 5 by staying next to him. The helmet moved around, then got hit by a small explosion, and 5 fell out. Scared for his life, 5 tried to run to the helmet, and stepped on a piece of wood. The wood got hit by a bullet, and 5 tripped, and his whole right eye came out. Green gas sprayed everything and everywhere. But 2 couldn't leave 5 behind. Her tried his best to get to his injured friend and helped him up, only to see his right eye missing, and replaced by wires. Worried, 2 heard a very loud THUMP!
It was a machine, it was close behind them. 2 put all his might into trying to get 5 to safety. The female saw the machine and the two stitchpunks, and jumped onto them, pushing them out of the way of a bloodthirsty machine.
Later, 2 and the female stitchpunk got 5 back to the helmet; the female shook her head at 1, disapprovingly. 8 and 1 let the three in the helmet as they moved to try and find a safer place.
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"The gas killed everything." 1 then lit up a match. "I led us here.. To sanctuary." 1 said, holding the match. "The only thing that remains now.." He put the match close to a monochrome painting of the beast 9, 2, and 14 encountered. "...is the beast." 1 added. "So, we stay hidden, and we wait for it, too..." 1 put out the match, "...to sleep." "But, where did it come from? Why is it hunting us?" 9 asked. 1 replied, "Questions like that are pointless. We need to protect ourselves, keep ourselves out of danger. Too many of us.. Have already been lost." 1 then crossed out the numbers '2' and '14' on a torn calendar. "But, they aren't lost." 9 replied, softly. All 1 did was scoff, and walk away. "Why aren't you listening to me?!" 9 stated an an angry tone, but 1 replied with, "2 AND 14 CHOSE THEIR OWN PATHS!" 9 backed up a little. 1 added, "I suggest you avoid making the same mistake." 5 then pulled 9 back gently. "Go to the watch tower. And, take our guest with you." was all 1 said, as 5 and 9 left to go to the watch tower, just like 1 had ordered. Singing was heard from a striped stitchpunk, drawing a picture of something he has drawn countless times.