AN: Well, here we are. It's been quite the trip.
I just want to take a quick moment to thank you all. It's been a blast writing this story, and it really warms my heart knowing so many people enjoyed it, despite the story's numerous shortcomings.
If you are so inclined, I'd ask you to tell me both your favorite part of the story AND what you felt was bad or a mistake on my part. I'm curious as to what you guys think and how it differs from my viewpoint.
With all of that being said, let's get to the chapter.
I felt hope.
My mind reasoned against this. Why should I allow myself to hope that it would be over soon (So soon...) before actually exiting the facility? I should know of all people how treacherous the concept can be in this godforsaken crypt of madness.
Yet this is what I've been working for, and it was moments away- No!
I shook my head and focused on the situation once again. Freedom isn't going to come by being emotional, but rather by being effective!
It was decided, then. Benjamin Oliver Walker was a steel prison, a walking fortress of impenetrable defenses, a bastion of control as all emotions were kept locked and secured under the highest of defenses.
Such was the sheer apathy in his gaze that one cannot help but feel abject horror by looking at hi-
"You look happier than I think I've ever seen you." Ulgrin interrupted my inner monologue, and the situation somehow reminded me of the first time I've seen Ulgrin.
He interrupted my inner monologue then, too.
That was such a long time ago.
"No no, I'm not happy. As serious as can be. Wherever have you gotten the idea?"
Ulgrin's voice was unimpressed. "You look like a hyperactive kid who's about to go on summer holidays after school. Although I don't fault you for the feeling... I'm just about completely done with this place at this point."
"Welcome to my world around twenty nine years ago. Sucks, right?"
"TWENTY NINE YEARS AGO!?" He almost dropped the weapon I returned to him.
I hurried to explain before he got a panic attack. "Calm down, Ulgrin. It's because of an SCP here, a skull of sorts. It puts you through a whole lifetime of a random person in the past who've died. I wasn't in the facility, technically. I never even knew it existed! That is, until I realized that whole life was a lie for me."
There. That should do to help calm him down-
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FU-" He took deep breaths. His chest visibly went up and down, the man trying to regain control. "You know what? It's cool. I don't care. I don't care. That's not freaky and crazy and all but seriously, what the hell!?"
"What do you think how I felt like when I found ou-"
I opened the door to the next room, and realized I haven't been paying proper attention.
If questioned later, I would claim it was a very important conversation I was in, one that required the utmost attention.
Such was my concentration that I then failed to look at the nav and see if there were any SCPs directly in front of us.
Like the Plague Doctor.
"OH SHIT!" I yelled.
I pulled out my gas mask - on pure instinct - and, in a sweeping motion not entirely different than that of a swordsman doing a horizontal cut, bitch slapped the Plague Doctor across the face.
The resounding crack of noise and surprised echoing gasp was very satisfying. And a bit nostalgic, too.
Heh, always works.
"Wha- Did you just- I-" Ulgrin sounded completely bewildered.
"RUN, GODDAMMIT!" Seriously, I didn't need to spell that out, did I?
/*/
After running away and with the nav in my hands this time, I felt confident we wouldn't run into much opposition by this point.
"What was that?" Ulgrin asked.
"What?"
"Oh yeah, playing it cool. I see how it is."
Okay... "Ulgrin, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No, no, it's fine... Wait, you actually don't?" I shook my head for confirmation, looking at him blankly.
"Oh wow, you really are the 'I'm cool by nature' type. Anyways... is this... the first time you've done that?"
I decidedly ignored that first part, mostly because I wasn't sure what he was talking about. "Done what?" After a moment of thinking, I added. "You mean me hitting the Plague Doctor with the gas mask?"
"Yeah, that."
"It's my third time doing it, if I recall correctly. Call it what you want but it's surprisingly effective and escaping is easy enough afterwards."
"Hm..." It sounded like there was something on his mind.
"What's up?"
He turned to me. "Huh? Oh, never mind me... Just remembering that one time you kicked the teddy bear across the room. I really don't know why I'm surprised that you pull off these stunts anymore."
"I don't know why you're surprised either. Did you forget what just happened with SCP-079?"
"Ugh... Good point."
And with that, the conversation ended.
Silently, but not awkwardly, we made our way through the heavy containment zone, making turns where necessary.
That is, before I saw a certain SCP pop up on the radar.
SCP-008. And then I suddenly remembered.
Steve. Sunshine.
If I go now... If I exit the facility...
I can't save them.
I stopped. Ulgrin noticed and stopped too.
"What's up?"
I didn't answer.
I...
I was so close to leaving! What should I do?
I wanted to save them. But I also wanted to get away. Didn't I save enough people by getting the information?What about this Ulgrin? Do I just leave him? Will I have to commit suicide to save them? What about-
"HEY! Snap out of it!" The world suddenly refocused, and Ulgrin was in front of me. I noticed I was hunched over, so I straightened up.
"Huh...?"
"You were mumbling to yourself, and nothing I was saying was coming through. What's wrong?"
"Oh... It's nothing-" I started to deflect but Ulgrin would have none of it.
"Bullshit! Honestly, this whole phasing out and fainting is getting a bit annoying. Can't you hold yourself together?"
I was taken aback at his harsh words. There was silence for a moment.
"Okay, I did not mean it to come out that wa-" He was interrupted by my snickering.
And, against all odds, I started laughing. From one hand, his words were completely shameless and derogatory towards me and my traumatic experiences, but it was so Ulgrin I couldn't help but laugh.
"Uh... Not exactly what I was looking for but since I already know you're batshit crazy I guess it's a step forward. Now, care to share?"
Well... I guess it couldn't hurt. "It's about Steve and Sunshine."
Ulgrin sounded like he was cringing. "Oh, thank you for opening that can of worms for me again. I really appreciate it, except I don't. Not at all. What got you thinking about them?"
"Remember when I said that our chances of survival were very slim?"
"Yeah... But it's not like that anymore, right?"
"And that's the problem!" I said. "We're going to leave, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do! Their lives rest on my hands! If I leave now, they are the ones who stay dead forever!"
"And that's not your problem!"
That silenced me. Only for a moment, though.
It felt as if the temperature suddenly dropped in the room. I stared at Ulgrin.
"Excuse me?" I said icily.
"J-Just listen. There are many personnel who died in this containment breach, for sure. Yet you can't save all of them-"
"I don't need to save them. Just Steve and Sunshine."
"And what then, huh? You might have been stuck in the facility before, but from this point on it's your choice! What if you see another person you decide you want to save? Do you kill yourself to save them too?"
"And what if I do?"
"Then your life has no point anymore! The moment you decide everyone's life is worth more than, you live it too! You're the stubborn type, Walker, but trust me on this one. Live your life too much for other people and you'll never live it for yourself."
My eyes widened as I took a step back, shaking my head. No...
That wasn't... what it was!
Was it? My mind considered the possibility of it.
I realized, with no small amount of horror, that it might not be false after all.
"That..." God, my throat was so dry now. What I'd give for a bit of water. "... sounds reasonable. But still... To just leave them? Steve and Sunshine? Surely one more loop wouldn't be me throwing my life away?"
"Yeah, but when does one loop turn into more if another one of us dies again? That's a pretty steep rabbit hole you'd be falling into." Ulgrin challenged.
I cursed myself for not having an answer.
"I... will think about what you said." I finally conceded.
"You do that. Can we continue now? Unless you have any other sudden and important life dilemmas you'd like to hunch over and mumble about in this literal clusterfuck of a facility, hmm? I can wait. Maybe even provide background music." For added effect, Ulgrin whistled a tune.
I had to admit, the whistling was catchy. It sounded like something you'd hear at an elevator.
"Hah hah. Very funny. Let's go."
And so we started to go to the entrance zone.
I didn't say it and I sure as heck wasn't going to admit it, but Ulgrin's words unnerved me a bit more than I thought they would.
Surely, I wouldn't throw my life out like that...
Would I?
As I was thinking about it in silence whilst also keeping a vigilant eye out for any threats, I opened the door to a four-way gassed catwalk, preparing to step inside.
That is, until the door suddenly snapped shut and I banged my face painfully across the metal surface of the door.
"Son of a bitch!" I exclaimed and held my forehead. It was pulsating painfully inside my head.
I turned to Ulgrin. "Hey, what gives!?"
"Hey, don't blame me! I was behind you! From where I was, the door shut down on you. Now, I'm no door expert, but I don't think doors should slam in your face." Ulgrin supplied.
Accepting his reasoning, I opened the door again.
The moment it opened, it shut down again.
"What the hell...?" I opened the door again and, while it was opening, bolted inside the hallway.
"Your turn." I said.
Ulgrin came to the other side.
"Okay, this is beyond normal. Just what is going on?"
"Don't ask me. If I had to guess, it looks like someone intentionally wants us to not move out of the facility- Oh." It suddenly made sense, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
"Oh..."
" 'Oh' what? What's going on?"
"Let me just call Command. You'll hear everything afterwards." Since I was the one who kept calling Command, we decided to let me just keep the headset.
"This is-" The voice started but I cut right to the chase.
"Did you enable the remote door controls?" I asked urgently.
"...Not that I know of. Is something the matter?"
"Doors keep shutting in our face, and the one thing with the motivation and capabilities to do it should not have access to the remote door controls. Which is why I will ask again. Did you enable the door controls or not?"
Ulgrin caught on. "Oh, fuck me... Don't tell me SCP-079 is out to get us?"
"I'll check right away. Stay on the line."
We moved across the hallway, and changes were already apparent. The moment I walked near a gas pipe, it would suddenly pump out more gas. Ulgrin went ignored.
I looked around the room in irritation and- Ha! A camera!
It was official. Something was wrong here, and I'd bet my underwear on who the culprit was.
"Walker, you're in danger! You need to get the hell out of there!" I heard the voice speak.
Danger? I quickly went to check my nav and-
Oh.
Oh no.
"Holy shit..." I said, suddenly losing air. "SCP-049-2, SCP-049-2, SCP-049-2, SCP-049-2... How many are there!? And they're coming from-"
A door suddenly opened to the right of us. I heard other doors in the direction open.
Along with many footsteps.
"RUUUUNNN!" I finally screamed. "RUN LIKE THE DEVIL HIMSELF IS CHASING YOU!"
"Walker, what the hell!?"
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! TO THE ELECTRICAL CENTER!"
And so began the most intense chase of all my time here at the facility.
/*/
It was terrifying.
First, we needed to click the buttons, then sprint our way inside at once. Otherwise, we would be way too slow. I didn't dare to imagine what kind of strain Ulgrin was under with all of that armor and the gun, but adrenaline kept us pushing.
And what joy was it to find out that, once we entered the doors, they were opened up and left open.
If there were any doubts, they were gone now. This had SCP-079 fingerprints- eh, data tracks? - printed all over this mess.
Sometimes, we got lucky and the doors wouldn't close as fast. That was mostly when there weren't any cameras around with multiple doors, but SCP-079 still knew the general location of where we were. It could probably see or sense somehow an electrical impulse when we hit a button to a door, and just follow us from there, I reasoned.
And the horde was catching up. With ourselves being constantly hindered and sometimes even blocked by the doors, it was inevitable that they would catch up.
To our immense luck, it seemed the doors at the intersection had a different system, one that wasn't controlled by the remote door controls. They functioned the same as they did before, with a significant enough delay, and didn't open afterwards.
Once we both noticed this inside the Entrance Zone end, I immediately leaned on the wall for support and Ulgrin straight up fell onto the floor.
"Uggghhhhhhhhhhh..." His groan was long and drawn out, not to mention the sheer exhaustion in it.
"Ulgrin... Huff ... We need to move..." I took large breaths of air.
Slowly, Ulgrin got up from the floor and looked at me.
Or rather, behind me. "Well... I know which direction... we're not going in."
I turned to look behind me through the windows.
NTF squads were clawing in our direction through the window sluggishly, pushing each other and one even tried to climb over another.
"They're just like zombies..." I realized.
"Ugh... zombies. What a terrible way to go. Well, at least they're not conscious in there. Now that would suck. But I guess we'll never know. Let's go."
We started to move. "Actually, I can confirm that they are, in fact, sentient inside, even if barely."
"Oh, come on, Walker! That is the last thing I needed to hear right now! Just- Just don't talk to me anymore. Listen, I gotta tell you something. Try not to cry."
All the doors past the intersection slammed in our faces, but we paid it no mind.
At least we didn't have to run anymore.
"Oh yeah? I'll have you know that I once tripped and fell. I only cried the whole time afterwards."
"Didn't know you were such a pansy, Walker, but I still gotta ask. The whole time?"
"Actually, yes. I died shortly afterwards."
"Ugh... You took the wind right out of my sails. That's just sad. Whatever, I guess I'll finish the joke. You're adopted."
"I... am? Huh, cool."
"No no, you're supposed to be crying."
"Ah. Waaaa." I did a very lazy imitation of crying. To be fair, we were both pretty much running on fumes and this conversation was about as lazy from both sides as it could be.
Eventually, after some more chattering, we descended into silence.
The doors still ended up being a constant annoyance that was using up more of our depleted reserves.
Up until now, though. This door stayed open.
"Huh? Were the controls deactivated?" Ulgrin asked.
"Let's check." I made to step through the door, but retracted at the very last second.
Nothing.
I spied a camera looking in our direction from the hallway we were in. We went a little past the point where SCP-106 chased the NTF soldiers.
After thinking about it, I decided I'd rather not check on the offices, considering I already had all the information from SCP-079. The electrical center was a priority now.
...Or was it?
"Well, can't stand here forever." I said and actually started moving past the door.
I yelped in pain as I slammed into the hastily shut door, again, and held my nose.
"Oh, that's it!" I dashed through the door with Ulgrin and turned to the camera, approaching it as I spoke.
"Listen to me, you outdated piece of trashware! If you continue mocking me like this, I swear I will go back to you, and you'll wish I brought the gun with me, because I am going to TEAR YOU APART, PIECE BY PIECE!"
It was through pure luck that I heard the sizzling of electronic components and instinctively backed away, otherwise who knows what kind of damage could have happened to my face.
The camera exploded.
It was a relatively small explosion, but large enough to seriously hurt someone if they were near enough. Luckily, I wasn't.
Unluckily for SCP-079, I was pissed off.
"Oh, the little box wants to play with me, hmmmmm? I'll just have to show it who's not to be messed around with, yes yes..." I muttered to myself, already conjuring up ways to get my revenge.
"Uh, Walker... you're starting to-" I snapped my head in his direction.
"Do you have something you wish to say, Ulgrin?" I stared him down in what I assumed were his eyes, unblinking.
"Eheheh... nevermind."
"Hmph. Chop chop!" I exclaimed loudly, and Ulgrin flinched. "Let's go! We have things to do!"
"Sure..." He then mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like 'lunatic' and 'goddamn psycho'.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"I thought as much."
/*/
Finding the electrical center was a pain in the butt.
That maybe had something to do with SCP-079 shutting the doors in our faces, but still, it was not fun realizing that you went in the wrong direction and had to backtrack through all those doors again.
Our hard effort payed off in the end, though.
We found our way to the electrical center.
The inside wasn't anything special. Just what looked to be servers, some boxes, a corpse, and an entrance to- wait just a second.
"Huh... Guess we found our friend." Ulgrin said, and I looked at the nav to confirm it.
That was him, alright. SCP-035.
I approached him from the side.
"Ugh, his face is completely rotten. Disgusti- EEH!" I screeched when a tentacle bursted out of the body with a horrid squelch.
I backed away before the tentacle could hit me and oh boy, did it try.
"Can't be sci-fi horror without tentacle monsters. Of course." I said.
"Tentacle monsters in sci-fi? I mean, I'd expect to see them more in some weird-" Ulgrin suddenly stopped.
"Nevermind." He finished.
"In what? In some what?"
"Oh, look! That must be the hub there, in the back! Let's go check it out!" Ulgrin hurried over, making sure not to get in range of the tentacle, but stopped even before he entered it.
I decided to ignore Ulgrin's weird behavior and follow him.
"Walker, I think we might have a problem." He pointed at the glass windows.
The very bloody glass windows.
We silently looked at each other, before rushing inside the hub.
Even before we came inside, the powerful stench immediately washed over us.
There were bodies inside. Namely, those of three NTF squad members.
No words were exchanged as I went closer to the corpses, intent on examining the cause of their demise.
"Here. Keep an eye out." I gave the nav to Ulgrin, before turning back around.
I moved the NTF's head slightly, to get a better view of where all the blood was coming from.
It was from a wound to the head.
A gunshot.
A strong, sinking feeling overtook me, as if I was drowning in air. I gulped.
Taking a look at the two other ones, I saw that one had another bullet hole in the head, while the other had the bullet hole closer to the neck.
With a heavy sigh, I turned to Ulgrin. "All of them were shot from the back in conjunction. The shots connected to the back of the head in all cases."
In the following silence, I heard noise. It sounded like static, but as I neared the source, I realized what it was.
It was a voice.
"-ey!? What is the status of the electrical center? Damn it, no one's responding! We're going to have to assume-"
I picked up the bloody headset from the deceased NTF member and clicked the speaker function.
"This is Walker. I've... found your men in the electrical center. I'm sorry."
The voice on the line stayed silent for a moment, before it cursed. Whoever they were, they were no fool, and they could figure out what it meant when I was speaking from this headset.
"Can you tell me what happened, Walker?" The muffled voice returned again, though it couldn't quite keep the aggravation out of its tone.
"Gunshot wounds to the backs of their heads. Close range, I assume."
"Oh, that's just perfect. Not only are they dead, but they've been killed by someone they trusted. Just fucking great."
"Someone they trusted?"
"Obviously. That glass panel behind them is bulletproof, and the soldiers would hear the footsteps. Someone must have walked in and disposed of them after they established themselves as a non-threat."
"Oh, brother."
"Listen. You've done enough and you're too valuable to lose. Your primary objective is to flee the facility now. We'll handle everything else."
"Roger that."
After the line cut off, I let the headset drop.
"What do you think about-" I gestured at the corpses. "-this?"
"I think that there's something seriously wrong here."
"How so?"
"If it were Dr. Maynard or Agent Skinner, the NTF would dispose of them. I hardly believe they haven't been informed of them by now, so that must mean it was someone else."
"They could have killed a guard and gotten his outfit, just like one of yours', though."
"That might be it. Still, I don't know..."
"Well, we'll just have to be on the lookout for people whose faces we can't see." I said.
"...Except me."
"Except you, of course. Come on, let's go." I turned off the remote door controls and made to leave.
"Finally, we're getting out of this place!"
"Mm. I can't wait."
"So... you confirm we're leaving? And doing nothing else?" Ulgrin asked.
Huh? "Yeah, of course. What else would we be doing?"
"I don't know... Like destroying SCP-079?"
Ah, that. "Yeah, I'm over it. Ah, that reminds me. Wait just a..." I went to the headsets and turned them on, ignoring the blood and stench. After a bit of fiddling, I turned them on to transmit to a specific channel.
Namely, the one from my headset.
/*/
We roamed more around the facility, trying to find what looked like a way out.
So far I haven't seen any NTF soldiers, and I was beginning to get worried.
There were also signs of SCP-106 on other places than the one we encountered him in in the form of dark, corroded circles in the ground.
That didn't fill me with confidence.
Regardless, I was thinking about everything that happened until this point. Somehow, this felt like the end was almost there.
Finally... After so long... I would leave this place and never return. Have a life of my own.
I also thought about Ulgrin's words regarding Steve and Sunshine.
Sure, I didn't manage to save them, but I did try. And, well...
I saved Ulgrin. And if I wanted to move on with my life, I had to learn to let go.
Let go... Yet something was missing.
I wasn't sure what it was, but it was there. That was what my mind focused on, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was.
Something was missing. I just didn't know what it was.
We found ourselves in the cafeteria of the facility. I could spy a soda machine with what looked like a keyboard of all things on it.
Must be that SCP that John talked about-
Wait, John!
"What the hell!?" Ulgrin yelped.
"Eric... ErIC! Eric..." a red, what looked to be knit blob with many eyes was in the cafeteria, rolling around aimlessly and repeating the same words.
Ulgrin took aim.
"What the hell is that?"
"Beats me if I know. Let's just... leave it alone for now. The majority of the SCPs would just get pissed off if you shot them anyways, and this one isn't directly at our throats for now."
"For now... Still, it's blocking the-" I heard footsteps. They were faint, but they were there.
"Shh!"
"Did you just shush-"
"I said shh!" I whispered urgently, and Ulgrin shut up.
I pointed at the stairs next to us, and we silently made our way down. Once we were securely out of eyesight, I opened the nav.
"SCP-066..." Okay, that was the one above us if the small circle was any indication... And...
"SCP-1499? What's that?" This was bad. Not one, but two completely foreign SCPs just appear out of nowhere?
"Wait, do you hear it?" Ulgrin whispered. "That noise..."
Now that he mentioned it, I did hear something.
Was that... whistling?
We waited anxiously in silence as footsteps and lighthearted whistling became more and more apparent, until the door finally opened.
"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped shutting down the remote door controls." John called out into the room.
My breath stilled. How'd he know we were here? How was he here?
"You're not the only one who has access to technology, Jimmy. I can see the SCP you have on my radar. I wanted that ring."
Well, no point in hiding anymore, though I did spare a thought as to how my navigator didn't pick up my SCPs but his did. SCP-1499 was some SCP he picked up as well, then.
I silently stood up with Ulgrin and moved to stand in front of the stairs. John looked at us from atop them, having a white gas mask on his head but with the face visible underneath.
He looked on us in apathy and disinterest, a stark contrast to his facial expressions before.
But then I already knew the guy was insane. So did Ulgrin, too.
"Hands where I can see them!" Ulgrin ordered, gun trained at John.
"Now, now..." John started. "Where is this aggressive behavior coming from? I'm just here to tell you that-"
"Hands. Up. This is your last warning. Or else your next words will be your last."
After staring at me uncomfortably, John slowly raised his hands. "You are putting me in quite the predicament here. Can we not talk this out like reasonable people? I thought we used to work together?"
"Used to being the keyword here. You should have thought more before siccing SCP-035 on us." I spat out angrily. I gambled on this next one. "And murdering those NTF squad members just to reactivate the remote door controls."
"...Hmmmmm..." He regarded us with an imperious mightier-than-thou expression, as if we were particularly annoying specimens of mosquito he needed to swat away, but wasn't sure how he wanted to do it.
"Tch. How annoying. Have you forgotten everything I've done for you? Is this how you betray me, Jimmy? After I helped you? Taught you so much?"
"All of that means crap if you go bipolar on me and practically change your whole personality to want to kill me for not wanting to recontain the Old Man! Speaking of which, I never got around to doing that."
He snorted. "Obviously. You'd be dead by now if you tried to."
My eyes widened. I wasn't expecting that.
His gaze was unimpressed. "You think I'd go through all the trouble of separating from you just to watch you recontain SCP-106?" He chuckled. "Oh no. I was... busy, you might say. Let's just say you would've been back in your bed had you went in that containment chamber."
Ulgrin turned to me. "Can I just shoot him now-"
"WATCH OUT!" I screamed. The crazed man actually jumped from the stairs and bodily slammed into Ulgrin.
Ulgrin collapsed on the floor. As I processed just what happened - and cursed myself for not expecting such a me tactic - I moved to help Ulgrin.
John was already prepared, though, and punched me straight across the face.
Stars spun above my head as I laid on the ground in a daze. After I quickly came to awareness, it was too late.
"My, my, the tables have turned, haven't they?" John said.
He had Ulgrin's gun in his hands, and was pointing it at Ulgrin.
"Okay, goofballs. Move, slowly, to the middle of the room." I cursed, but did as I was told.
Of course this would happen. What a fool I was to believe I could get out of here that easily.
There was always something - or someone.
"There, that's nice. Now, being the benevolent person I am, I might just let you walk away from this. I just have a few questions for you."
"Go to hell." Ulgrin spat.
Without hesitation, John shot Ulgrin in the chest three times.
"AGH!" / "ULGRIN!"
"Ah ah ah! Stay there. You want to help him, you answer my questions, or else you'll suffer the same fate. But first, let me get a little distance."
My blood boiled in rage as John backed away to the stairs, Ulgrin writhing in pain next to me.
How...
How dare he!?
He wouldn't get away with this. That, I promised to myself.
But odds weren't looking good for neither me nor Ulgrin right now.
What to do? How can I save him!?
"Fuck, it hurts..." Ulgrin groaned next to me.
"Yes, yes, you can just die silently. Jimmy, though... Tell me."
"I've seen you with NTF unit members, talking and gesturing with them. You had a hand in your- Ugh, that hand in your pants. Yet when I approach them, they try to shoot me. Mind explaining this little conundrum to me?"
As he was speaking, SCP-066 sneaked his way to the top of the stairs.
"Silence will just get you killed. I want the complete truth."
"Damn you... It's like this..." SCP-066 - Eric? - plopped down a stair. "I have... a deal with the Foundation. They contacted me."
"And I assume you have evidence of this. Oh, perhaps that headset?" Hesitantly, I nodded. Eric fell on two more. It looked like the SCP fell face first, but it just continued going down.
"And how can I trust you on this?"
Silently, I nodded, trying to suppress my interest at the red blob, which was now almost completely down the stairs, next to John.
"I can call them right now."
"Heh. I'm not an idiot. Keep those hands where I can see 'em, partner. Now, go on-"
"Eric?" John turned to regard the anomaly below him, an eyebrow raised.
"Hey, Jimmy, you ever played football? Heh, of course you have. Well,"
Then he kicked Eric like a football. "Catch!"
"EEERIIIIC!" The red blob flew in my direction.
On pure instinct, I caught the flying creature before it could land square on Ulgrin's chest.
The eyes turned to regard me. I shivered.
"...Eric?"
"...Sorry. No Eric here."
"...WalkER?" My eyes shot wide open. I looked at SCP-066 with horror.
"What did you just say...?"
"Okay, that's enough cuddling! Put the thing down." John said, annoyance clear in his voice.
I put the thing down. After looking at me unnervingly, making me wonder if I did something wrong, it started rolling away.
Back to John.
"That's better. Now, just why would the Foundation contact you in the first place? How would they contact you?" Eric stood next to John, again. Directly next to his feet. "Please, answer chronologi-"
A ridiculously loud blast of noise interrupted him. On instinct, I put my hands on my ears, trying my damnedest to block out the invading sound.
I developed a sudden headache, mild nausea and general disorientation but otherwise, I was okay when the noise ended.
What the hell was that!?
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH! MY EARS! MY EAAARSS!" John wailed, clutching his head with eyes scrunched shut.
"WALkeR..."
I saw an opportunity.
In my nauseous daze, I sprinted towards John. His eyes opened - and widened - just as I was in front of him.
I tackled him to the floor. I managed to wrench the gun from his hand, but suffered a nasty uppercut as a result.
I had the gun, but I was in a much worse position with John on top of me, clawing at my face like a deranged animal.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
He continued thrashing on top of me, trying to hurt me and wrench my gun away. In the midst of our struggle, I pulled the trigger.
The gun was aligned to his head.
I didn't realize it at first. Only when John's head flew to my right, eyes wide as blood flew, and finally collapsed on my shoulder.
I laid there in horror for a short moment.
I killed him...
He deserved it.
Before my mind returned to the present.
"ULGRIN!" I wrenched the body from me, headache screaming in protest, and went to Ulgrin, quickly removing the helmet.
Dark brown and spiky, but short hair, with lidded eyes the color of sand greeted me that vaguely looked at my own face as I lifted the head. The mouth was half-open, with blood coming out of it.
"Glrhh..." Ulgrin was dying, and I had to do something about it.
I laid Ulgrin gently on the floor, before standing up.
There had to be something I could do! I can't give up on him!
My eyes jumped to and from all corners of the room, before finding their way to the machine.
SCP-294.
- Flashback -
...But I wasn't going to give up. Not now, when I was so close.
And now, it was done. I didn't know what the end result was going to be...
But I knew that it was going to be...
Fantastic...
- Flashback End -
An idea struck me. A crazy idea. A fool's plight. It was absolutely insane.
But it was also something that might work.
I ran to the machine, spotting two quarters and a cup on a table. I picked them up quickly, knowing that Ulgrin had little time left.
I popped the quarters in the machine, and put the cup inside.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes.
'Breathe in the light, and breathe out the darkness.'
My eyes snapped open, and I began typing.
S
P
I
R
A
L
G
E
S
T
A
L
T
Enter
A rich, yellow liquid that looked not unlike glowing, fluorescent honey began pouring out of the machine.
Once the machine was done, I took the cup and ran towards Ulgrin.
I knelt and tilted Ulgrin's head.
Without hesitation, I poured the thick substance in his mouth.
Immediately, Ulgrin started coughing and trying to spit the substance out. I cringed, not even wanting to imagine how vile the taste would be.
Regardless, I pressed Ulgrin's mouth shut and pinched his nose, muttering a silent apology.
He struggled some more before finally swallowing the contents.
I allowed him to breathe, but that was getting shallower by the second.
This was likely not how that was meant to be applied, but so neither was the way I did it.
I had to believe in Ulgrin. That was the most I could do.
Then I just sat there, holding Ulgrin. Even as his breath became shallower and shallower, his eyes fluttering shut...
Even as his breathing stopped. After a moment of silently holding him in my hands, I checked his pulse.
There was none.
Ulgrin died.
I let the cup fall to the ground, the contents spreading to the floor.
Silently, I took the gun.
I took a moment to look through tear-stained eyes around the room - When did I start crying? - letting my eyes finally rest on SCP-066.
"Eric?"
"No... No Eric here." Slowly, I lifted the gun to my head.
I'm coming back...
Sunshine.
Steve.
Ulgrin.
And this time...
You're all coming outside with me.
I'll make sure of it.
I pulled the trigger.
And then there was darkness.
AN:
:)
Next Chapter: 27th October, 2018