~The Sweet Sound of Music, 4
I radioed him. "Your door is sealed, I take it?" He nodded after one more useless tug on the door. "Locked, sealed, I have no clue." He said clearly, without this radio, and I could hear him.
I looked down to the floor. The assembly line was huge, almost ten feet wide, with bits and pieces of the instruments stacked high, where the machines could assemble them. I noticed the ones on top of all the piles were super sized. However, the floor was quiet. Too quiet.
"Do you think a bullet would shatter the plastic? There isn't any other way out, and we have no idea what's at the end of the walkway." I called to Mac, and he thought about it, scanning the assembly line with a furrowed brow. He opened his mouth to answer, when there was a loud bang, and shuffled footsteps. They sounded strained, like they were carrying something.
Instantly, I raised my gun and moved to see at a better angle, turning my radio off. I didn't dare look away from the shadow that was too familiar, but there was something different about it…
Croup shuffled around the corner, Amelia over his shoulder. I could tell instantly it was her, the spiky hair was a dead giveaway. She wasn't moving. Croup moved to the start of the line. Sitting ready for assembly, was the first piece of a bass, the huge plated back.
This back was different, however. It was big, like the other first assembly pieces. Big enough to put someone inside. "Mr. Croup! Put her down and move away!" Mac shouted, training his gun on his head.
Mr. Croup ignored us, but a huge grin was spreading on his face as he plopped her down on the back, and shuffled to a pile of large bows. He cut the hair out of 4 of them, and then came back, straightened her out, and started to tie her down.
When he moved her out, the large cut under bangs became apparent. He must have bashed her head on the door. "Croup! Stop!" Mac ordered, but he just laughed, and finished what he was doing. Then he straightened and bowed to each of us mockingly.
"Gentlemen. Fear not for dear Amelia yet, and listen. The assembly takes 10 minutes to put a bass together. All the doors in the walkway are open except the exits. The finished bass' are taken to a hangar for drying. Oh yes, they are taken there because the glue releases toxic fumes as it dries. This doesn't make things look good for Amelia, does it? You can't save her, but you can watch." He roared with laughter, and stepped back, and up to the control panel.
"Stop!" I yelled, but it was too late. He punched a button with glee, and the machine's cranked slowly to life. Mr. Croup got on a segway and started to follow the line as it slowly chugged along. The sick bastard was going to watch.
I darted down to the door at the end of the current section of the walkway. I could hear Mac on his radio, but if the factory was sealed, they would never make it. I kicked open the door and went into the next room as the line started to pick up speed.
Amelia stirred as the machines got louder. "Amelia!" I yelled at her, and she slowly looked my way, obviously confused. Then Mr. Croup caught up, and blocked her view, and she looked horrified as she realized who he was.
"Bass assembly is quite fascinating…you wanted to see it dear, now have a first hand account." He snarled. She started to fight, and gasped in shock when the bow hair cut her skin. The hair started to turn red.
"Stop the line!" Mac shouted, distracting her. I looked farther on, like he had, and paled. Bass supports would be put inside to keep it from collapsing. They would be drilled down, right where she was spread out.
She squirmed as sealant was placed, and she started coughing. "Look out!" I bellowed as the first machine came down. She shrieked and moved as far as she could to one side as one of the posts came down and was screwed in, covering her in a shower of sawdust.
Huge brushes beat it out of the way, and the second one came down. She shrieked again as it pinned her shirt, barely missing her side, but keeping her still, locked in place. More brushes beat the dust away, and the sealant was applied again. Mac and I were running down the walkway as the sides were started to be placed.
"Oh god, someone help me!" She cried, ducking as two more were placed by her head. She tilted her head up to look farther down the line, then quickly glanced at Mac and I, freaking out. I looked ahead again and saw why.
"Mr. Croup, please! Stop!" I shouted, barreling through another door. He ignored us, nodding as all four sides were placed on the bass, blocking her from view. More of the deadly sealant was applied. I quickly ran to the very end, and fired two shots into the plastic. It cracked, and made a small hole the size of my 9 mm.
I looked quickly around for something I could throw through the now weakened plastic, and found nothing, so I fired four more shots. Cracks spiderwebbed quickly through the plastic.
I kicked at it once, twice, three times, and it suddenly shattered, distracting Croup. He pulled a gun and I dropped and rolled forward, and slid down a pipe leading to the floor. I reloaded as Mac started to break his plastic. The machines roared.
"You will not ruin this. Come out!" Croup roared over the machines, drowning out Amelia's shouts. I silently moved to another pipe behind him and shot him in the knee. He howled and fell off the segway. I kicked his gun far away, and then ran for the assembly line. She was almost at the end.
"Amelia?!" I shouted, but got no answer. The bass was lifted by claw hands, and started its journey to the hangar. Wasting no time, I vaulted onto the line, and when the claws came down, I jumped and wrapped my arms around it as I saw Mac jump down.
Then I turned a corner and went into a dividing room. Luckily, I was divided towards the same room as Amelia, and I jumped off before I could be stained. I ran pell-mell after her bass and skidded to a halt in the huge hangar. Rows and rows of racks held bases as they dried. Each rack had about 20 bases on it.
Suddenly, they all looked very much the same, and I lost track of Amelia's bass. The machine was placing them randomly, she could be anywhere.