Chapter 12: Expiration Date

"You heard me." Fawkes stepped closer till he was standing right in front of Fred looking down at him as the pupil of his eye seemed to glow in the dark. "Is there a way for Animatronics to live longer than the normal six-year lifespan?"

"I'm afraid what you're asking for is impossible," Fred said shaking his head. "You may look, feel, and act like a human, but you're still a machine and machines aren't built to last by nature."

"So are humans," Fawkes replied, leaning down till he was only a few inches from Fred's face. "They die all the time, but they get to experience so many things in life with the people they love and us Animatronics get none of that."

"Because your job is to serve humans, not be a human."

"Then why did you design us to act and look like humans?"

"The animal designs that you were originally based on from the Freddy Fazbear's restaurants were too dangerous to handle because of the sharp teeth and loose spring-locks that came with them. So the human designs were much safer by comparison, and they helped people forget about the terrible rumors that ruined the reputation of Freddy Fazbear's to begin with."

"But we're not safe," Fawkes said and held up his hooked hand which still had blood on it. "I killed your chauffeur on the way up here and Mangle bit the frontal lobe off the Repairman you originally hired to 'dismantle' us."

"True, but perhaps if you hadn't brainwashed the Toy Models with this 'Purple Guy' nonsense you wouldn't be on the run right now."

"Nonsense? I thought you said you knew where the Purple Guy is."

"I do, but there's something I need in return."

"Which is?"

"Toy Chica."

Vixen looked at Fred with a confused look.

"Where is she?" Fawkes asked, grabbing Fred by the collar of his robe.

"She was here, but has been gone for several hours," Fred answered. "My guess is that she was worried about the new Repairman I hired and went to find him."

"What's his name?" Fawkes growled.

"Max Schmidt," replied Fred. "He killed Toy Bonnie and The Puppet."

"Balloon Boy too?"

"No, he was 'dismantled' by another Repairman named Franz Smith."

"I see, so what do you want me to do?"

"Find Toy Chica, and bring her back here. If you do that, I'll give you the location of the Purple Guy and enough money for a plane ticket out of the country."

"But you can't expand my life."

"No, I cannot."

Fawkes sighed. "Very well, then."

Fred made a slight smile and patted Fawkes on the head.

"But I'm not your dog," Fawkes said, and bared his canine teeth.

Peter immediately looked away as Fawkes bit into Fred's throat and tore it out piece by piece with his teeth. Fred screamed in agony and tried calling for help, but all that came out of his mouth were choking sounds and blood. Vixen paid no attention to the screams and instead focused on the paintings located along the walls. When Fawkes was done, he turned away from the dying man licking the sides of his mouth with a happy grin on his face.

"I'm going to see if the information he has on the Purple Guy is legitimate," Fawkes said casually as he walked to a desktop computer near the fireplace. "You take care of the other human, Vixen."

Peter's eyes widened as he looked at Vixen who seemed distraught.

"Fawkes," Vixen said quietly. "He hasn't—

"Now!" Fawkes barked.

Peter attempted to run for the front-door, but Vixen got there first and blocked him.

"Forgive me, Peter," Vixen said as she tackled Peter to the floor. "But I just want to let you that…you were the nicest human I ever met."

Peter held back his tears and closed his eyes as Vixen's lower-jaw started to unhinge itself.

###

"What a sorry old man," Fawkes said driving the limo away from the house with Vixen in the passenger's seat. "He lied about the information to get us to do his dirty work for him."

"Where are we going?" Vixen asked absentmindedly.

"To the train-station," Fawkes replied. "I've got a score to settle with this 'Max Schmidt' guy."

"Can't we just leave town?"

Fawkes gave Vixen an angry look.

"I'm serious," Vixen said firmly. "We're out in the countryside. We can go anywhere."

"Yes, but what's the point of running away when the lives of your brethren have been unavenged?"

Vixen said nothing.

"Don't you want to kill the man who murdered our friends?" Fawkes asked as a grey light came over the eastern sky. "Do they mean anything to you?"

"They do, but if we go back he'll kill us for sure," Vixen said gripping her shoulders tightly. "I'd rather hide than take my chances at confronting him."

"Then get out," Fawkes said, stopping the limo abruptly. "You're free to leave."

For a moment, Vixen put her hand on the car-door but wound up holding Fawkes' arm instead. "I can't live without you, Foxy. You're the only family I have now."

"So banish any thoughts of leaving now out of your head," Fawkes said and continued driving. "We'll shoot this hunting dog down, rescue Toy Chica, and get the hell out of this town."

"All right," Vixen said as she let go of Fawkes' arm.

They didn't speak the rest of the way until they got to the train-station. Fawkes then quickly changed out of the dark gray chauffeur uniform and back into his black hood and tight maroon-colored pants. Like earlier, there weren't a lot of people and the ticket-master was sleeping at the desk. Fawkes and Vixen paid no attention to him and waited by the platform for the train to come. The eastern sky became brighter, turning dark blue, then light blue, yellow, and finally orange as the first rays of sun appeared.

"Oh, my," Vixen said under her breath. "Is this what's called a 'sunrise'?"

"Yep," Fawkes replied. "I read all about them between work hours."

"It's so beautiful." Vixen's ears twitched as they picked up the sound of a train-horn. "Did you hear that, Foxy?"

"I did," Fawkes responded and stood up. "When the train arrives, wait for the people to start boarding it and then we'll merge with them. Hopefully, no one will pester us about tickets."

Vixen nodded and heard the train-horn again. "I want you to promise me something, Foxy."

"What is it?" Fawkes turned his head to the left as the train appeared several meters down the track.

"If the Repairman kills me, crush his skull and tear his throat out."

"Sure thing, Mangle," Fawkes said and briefly kissed Vixen as the train arrived at the station.

To be continued…