Recovery: A prologue to Fazbear & Co

Chapter 6

Time seemed to slow to a halt as Freddy shrieked at Bonnie. The female appeared to be frozen to her spot, red eyes morbidly focused on the vehicle. Tyres spun closer. Striking yellow beams caught the rabbit in their gaze.

Freddy jolted out of his situation-mulling and bolted to push her out of the way.
He neared the curb.
Shoes on the concrete, the bear prepared for the leap into the truck's path when it sped by him with a roar. For a moment he was blinded in his own confusion and terror, frantically looking from side to side in his rush to locate Bonnie. All of a sudden he spotted her, curled up in the middle of the road.

By instinct, Freddy pelted over to the rabbit's side, shaking her. She responded with a pained moan, glancing up at him.
"Bonnie!" The brown bear yelped, a hint of urgency in his voice. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," she groaned. "Just... go after them! I will get over to the pavement..." With that, Bonnie ambled over to the curb.

He turned to track down the thieves – and felt a rush of adrenaline. Freddy's veins seemed to pulsate with anger; Bonnie's near-miss was to be blamed on them, and them only. The bear braced himself, and charged off in their direction. Soon after, one of them was in his sight. His brows creased and all of his resentment towards them boiled over.
"Hey! Get over here!"
The gang member did not reply. Unfortunately for him, however, Freddy merely took this as an invitation to charge straight forward. At their contact, the animal let out a cry of pain. The bear reared up, and pulled back for a strong punch to the jaw. He brought his fist down with all the new-found strength in his body, feeling a wave of satisfaction when it found its target. Freddy caught sight of a tooth whisked by his vision before he readied his arm for another blow.
"Oi!"
The shout startled him, and he looked up. Knowing he was temporarily distracted, Freddy's victim heaved himself out of reach and sped for safety.

The brown bear tried to fathom where the shout had arisen from.
Abruptly he locked eyes with a much larger, taller bear, with a shared glare of anger. The other thief began to advance, fists clenched as if he were looking for a brawl.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" the taller bear roared. "You don't touch a single hair on his body, not on my watch."
The bear reared up, and Freddy darted to the right. His attacker soared through the air and landed just a little way away from him. As the other bear came into contact with the tarmac, he huffed and swept his vision around until he engaged with Freddy. The assailant lumbered towards him again, thick arms flailing and jaws parted in a cry of rage.

Freddy, being swifter and smaller than him, ducked and managed to head butt the darker bear in the stomach. At the contact, the bear was winded and gasped for air, collapsing to the ground once more. He mustn't be very fit, Freddy thought before diverting to the grassy verge on the side of the path. There was another tree there, with a wide trunk and plentiful canopy. Upon sight, the brown bear had an idea. If he could just scale the trunk and climb into the treetop branches, he would be able to leap down from above and hopefully land the finishing blow.

Before the other male could recover from his punt, Freddy gripped the tree's rough bark with his somewhat sweaty paws, and began to edge his body up. As he neared the top, the bear tried to calculate which branch was the broadest; the most able to hold his weight. He spotted a large candidate overhanging the pathway. Despite not being an experienced climber, Freddy shuffled onto it and peered down at his enemy, who was now on his feet.
"Come out! You can't hide!" The taller bear stumbled across Freddy's line of vision, obviously trying to seek him out.

While he was distracted, Freddy leapt from the tree. He aimed for the older bear's head; in a matter of seconds his feet collided with his opponent's skull. There was an audible crack and the bear let out a cry of pain as he was caught off-balance. Yet another smack sounded as he collided with the floor. Freddy towered over him, teeth bared.
"You lose. Now, give me back the food."
The older male groaned and attempted to prise himself away from the pavement. Alas, he did not succeed, and instead resorted to calling over one of his companions; somewhat regretfully. The latter retrieved the foodstuffs from his own bag, and reluctantly handed them each to the brown bear, who took them back gratefully.

***

When the thieving trio had departed (not long after a stern scolding from Freddy), the bear settled with the task of finding Bonnie. A short while afterwards, he spotted her leaning against a clump of bushes, rubbing her left leg. Freddy briskly strode over to her side, and sat down next to her. After a long silence, he got the courage to ask her if she was well.
Bonnie continued to stare at the ground as if she were in a daze, before answering. "I wasn't injured too badly." Freddy noticed that the rabbit sounded more placid than usual, but kept listening. "My leg aches, but I'll sort that myself."
"Are you sure? I can go back home and get medical products..."
"Don't bother yourself with tending to me."
The bear observed her for a while, and then offered the food that was rightfully hers. He retrieved the items from his satchel, and gestured to her.

Bonnie looked up from her trance, noticing the food. "Thank you...but not now." The rabbit's spirit really did appear to be dampened. Freddy decided to try and comfort her, and reached out a paw. He placed it on her shoulder.
"Hey...what's wrong?"
Bonnie abruptly jumped back, obviously startled by the bear's touch. "Don't touch me!" The purple doe held up her paws in defence and shuffled backwards into the bush. The bear was surprised. Why didn't she want to be touched? He peered into the bush, only to find two eyes staring out at him.

"Bonnie," Freddy started, but the rabbit crawled out with a sigh before he could continue. She kept her eyes to the ground and huffed. "Forget it..."
Freddy was concerned. He was constantly wondering why she was detached from the streets and animals of Texas; by the looks of it, there was a deeper reason.

Later, they had made their way back to the old oak. The sun was beginning to set over the rooftops, and Bonnie hadn't spoken for what seemed like years. Every time Freddy turned to look at her, she was staring off into the distance as if she were contemplating every crack in the brickwork. He'd tried to get her attention many times: attempting to start a conversation or lightly tapping the ground. Neither had seemed to work, though, as the rabbit remained facing away from him.
At last, as the sun's orange glow lit the tops of the buildings, Bonnie spoke up.
"Sorry," she muttered.
Freddy didn't quite catch that. "What?"
"I said, I'm sorry," the rabbit grunted. "I'm just...not used to contact." She turned to look at him. "Anyway...thank you for today, I guess."

Freddy smiled. It was the first time she had said thank you to him, without the disdainful attitude. "No problem," he beamed, dipping his brown head to her. "I like to help out any way that I can."
As if they shared the same feeling, the edges of Bonnie's lips formed into a small smile. "I am going to eat the food now."
Freddy looked down to where she her face was angled. The foodstuffs lay on the ground by her feet. One by one, she ate them until only the block of cheese was left. Knowing this, Bonnie shifted so she was able to look at the brown bear again.

"Do you want to...share?" The purple female delivered the last word as if it were something she had recently learnt how to pronounce. He looked at the cheese, and then back up at her.
"Of course," he answered, and the two stayed by the tree until it was time for Freddy to leave.