Ruby (Now Completed!)

[Chapter 11]

Teto awoke with blurry vision the next morning. As if on impulse, she turned to the right to check on Piko, then with a pang, she remembered he was gone. She fought back her tears. Today wasn't a day to cry. Today, she was escaping.

Careful not to wake Len, she crawled out of bed and crossed the room. She noticed she was still wearing her disguise from yesterday. She took off the lab coat, remembering to take the antidote out of the pocket, and looked over herself for the first time. The shorts and tank top she had on were very dirty and sweaty now. She made a mental note to get new clothes from her house as soon as she escaped.

She pulled the mask off from under her chin and took off the reading glasses and gloves. She didn't undo her hairstyle, though, since it seemed like the only thing she had left from Piko.

She was wondering what to do next when her stomach growled. She looked around for leftover food, but there was none. She decided to wake up Len so he could get them some more.

She padded quietly over to where he was sleeping, then prodded his shoulder with her big toe. She decided not to bring up her impulsive action last night.

"Len, wake up. I'm hungry." She said, lacking a ton of emotion.

Len rolled over, mumbling and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning already..." He groaned.

Teto folded her arms.

"Yeah, come on. I'm starving." She demanded.

Len chuckled a little, but she wasn't amused.

"Okay, okay, give me five seconds, will ya?" He said, stretching. He rolled out of bed and walked with Teto back to the wall, where he knocked on it.

"How does that even work?" She asked as they waited.

"I have a cousin who built their house above here. He agreed to drop me stuff if I need it." He answered, sitting down on the blanket.

Not too much later, there was a thud that came from inside the wall. Len got up and opened a small hatch, and pulled out a plate of french toast. It was hot, and it smelled delicious.

Len placed it on the blanket, and they both sat down and ate.

"We should thank your cousin when we get up there," Teto said as she shoved another piece of the toast in her mouth, "this stuff is good."

Len nodded.

"His mom's a good cook. My guess is these were the leftovers from breakfast."

He laughed, and Teto smiled a little just to humor him.

As soon as they finished eating, Teto helped Len clean the safe haven up a bit.

"As weird as this sounds, I'm gonna miss this place a little." Teto said, folding her blankets and setting them on top of her pillows.

Len chuckled.

"Well, at least it'll be useful to someone else, hopefully."

Teto nodded.

As soon as the safe haven was relatively clean, Teto and Len set out for Mat's lair. They had to dodge a lot more cameras this time, since the latest incident had made Teto and Len the two most wanted people of late. Eventually, though, they made it to the upper level, and Teto led Len to Mat's lair.

When they first arrived, Teto thought Mat was gone. The place was dark, and she couldn't see him.

"Mat?" She called out, looking around.

"O-over h-here," She heard him reply, from the far corner.

She still couldn't see him, but as she came closer, her vision adjusted. She was startled by what she saw.