5 and 7 ran over to his body. 20 and I stayed back, knowing very well what had happened. After all we went through, with my hopes as high as they were, we still couldn't save him.
"Dammit..." I mumbled. Nothing could really expressed how I felt, besides the killing something, or someone.
Everyones attention was dragged away from the lifeless body and the ground began to shake as something rose from the ground. We all ran leaving 2's body behind. 20 and I ran away from the others heading in another direction, even though he had no way of knowing where the exit was.
The room came to life as machines slowly turned on. I heard the loud, heavy clank of metal on the conveyor belt as it rolled on parts for Walkers.
We both turned around to just then realize we had slit away from the group. I saw 5 and 9 fall to the floor, as a giant machine was about to get 7. 9 switched on his light, dragging the Machine's attention to him, providing a distraction for 7 to get away. When the Machine realized she was gone, small sparks fizzled off it's head in a frustrated manner. It turned back to 9 and 5, who were now running for their lives to get away.
"13!" 20 grabbed my arm and pulled. "We need to run, now!"
At hearing the voice of 20, the Machine turned towards us. It quickly went back to pursuing 9 and 5. I turned away and began to run as the Machine slammed it's arms into the ground, smashing some rocks, creating a smoke screen. After it cleared, it went looking for them, ignoring us, which was good for us but bad for 9 and 5.
Our running wasn't very quiet, but it was drowned out by the Machine's zaps and crackles as it tried to search for 9 and 5. Just as the Machine was about to reach for a gear, and as 20 and I found cover of our own, a clanking sound pulled it's attention away from it. As it's attention was draw away, I noticed the rest of the group running towards a large metal pipe that seemed to lead up to the surface.
"We need to move," I said, pulling 20's arm and started running towards the other. We were quite a distance away, but I was willing to take the chance rather than hide here with the killer machine.
We ran as fast as we could, but even then we only made it half-way before the Machine finally returned it's attention to us fleeing stitchpunks. It once again was faced with the decision of who to go after. With the choice being so obvious, it went after me and 20.
It was sadly too quick for us, or just me, to react and change directions. It was immediately above us, claws stretched to grab. As one came down, aimed for me, who was frozen with fear, 20 reacted immediately and pushed me out of the way. She was taken instead, facing death with no hope.
My vision had gone black for a second before I heard the screams of 20.
"Run, 13! Get out of here! RUN, DAMMIT! RUN!" she continued yelling at me, until I got up and started running to the other. When I was almost in the tunnel, I heard 20 scream bloody murder before seeing something black flying into the tunnel in front of me. Ignoring it, I continued running until I turned back to see 20 getting her soul sucked out of her body. The others had ran out earlier, not wasting anytime. I looked to the ground, only to find 20's arm. I just stared sadly at it. Nothing I could do about it now. An arm was arm and it was nothing compared to 20 losing her life.
By the time I noticed the Machine, it was already at the end of the tunnel, with it's claw reaching for me.
"Oh SHIT!" I jumped and ran as it tried tearing the metal tunnel apart just to get to me. It failed.
In no time, I was outside and running for what looked like rusty wheelbarrow. Turned out 7, 5, and 9 were also hiding there for a short. I noticed 7 jump when I came out of no where and landed next to her.
"13!" 5 nearly jumped at me for whatever reason, but was quick enough to stop. He looked back through the hole in the rusty looking metal as if he were looking for someone else. He turned back to me with a worried look in his eyes. "Where's 20?"
I did a side glance, looking at 9 before returning my gaze to the trouble face of 5. Before I could get a response out, a deep bellowing sound erupted from the factory, as smoke escaped from the chimneys.
"What is it going to do?" 5 asked, turning to 7.
"I know where we can find answers," 7 gave her quick response, pulling her helmet over her face and running off.
5 looked at 9 then to me. "Are you coming with us, 13?"
I shook my head. "No, but I'll find you later. Now, both of you need to catch up."
5 ran off, leaving only 9 with me. "I'm sorry about-"
"Don't apologize," I interrupted him. "It was all for curiosities sake, right?" I gave him a sad smile before he ran off to catch up with the others. I sat there for a while long, knowing it wasn't safe to stay this close to where the Machine was. I put my head in my hands and rested my elbows on my legs. "What the hell am I going to tell them?"
The walk back home was quiet, as usual, and an uneasy feeling was slowly settling itself into my mind as I found myself alone and defenceless. As for the fact it was still the middle of day, I didn't mind much.
What am I going to tell them? Worse, what will I tell 21? She was his sister after all. I really don't want him to hate me, like 20 did for that short time. Kinda funny how she has sudden mood changes towards certain people who sentence their loved ones to death. Yeah, not so funny.
My mind went back to when 20 pushed me out of the way of the machines claw. The short black out, it was a message for me. Well, for me to share with the others, but was given to me none-the-less.
It wasn't long before I made it back home. When got to the second floor from the stairs, I was almost immediately greeted by my friends.
Everyone was talking all at once, so it was hard to tell who said what. The main subject was whether I found 2, why I didn't have my spear, and the most dreaded of all...
"Where's 20?" 21 seemed to be the only one of the group that had asked that. Actually, he was the only who even paid attention to the fact 20 was missing. "She was with you, right? She went with you to find 2, right?"
I gave him a sad look before turning to the others to see if they could help. They weren't there, they won't know what happened, I scolded myself. I looked back to 21, "I- I'm sorry, 21. She... 20's..." I struggled to find the right words, but even without my help, he seemed to understand the point. He denied it, though.
"No, n-no," 21 gave a very sad and weak smile. "This is a joke, right? You're just messing with me. It has to be. It can't be real. You come out now, 20! You're just trying to scare me! Gotta tell ya, it's a poorly put together! Come on! Show yourself!" He looked around, keeping the sad grin on his face. The laughs that escaped him sounded more like sobs than anything else. He went on like that for a while longer before walking over to me. "13, where is she? You can tell her to come out, now. I'm getting tired of this sick joke."
"21, she's gone," I grabbed his shoulders before he could walk off again. "I'm really sorry, but she's gone. The Machine... It's awake again. It took her soul and 2's. It-"
He pulled one of his arms back, out of my grip, just to punch me across the face. The contact from it sent me to the ground.
"21!" 16 stepped in between us. "There was no call for-"
"It's alright," I got back to my feet and walked to 21. "She says she's sorry for leaving you but she had to."
"How do I know she even said that?" he yelled at me. "All we have for proof is that you were there. We don't know if you're even telling the truth."
I paused for a moment. "Come here, 21."
"No, no, you're lying," He fell to his knees and put his head in his hands. "She can't be dead. She wouldn't be dead."
I made it over to him and kneeled beside him. I placed both of my hands on his shoulder and tried to show him, let him here his sister voice one last time.
"I'm sorry brother, but I knew this coming. You know it's hard to deny fate. Like when I knew 2 was going to I die, I knew I was, too. I knew that if I followed 13, it would be to my death. You don't need to beat yourself up over my death, I chose it. Now, you must choose to move on. Never lose the smile and don't give up. I'm gonna miss you, 21."
21 picked his head up out of his hands and gave me a sad look. "The Machine... You said earlier... That's what killed her?"
I only nodded.
He shakily stood from where he was and walked away, stumbling now and then. "I need to be alone for a little while."
16 nodded and waited till he was out of sight. "13, tell us exactly what happened back there."
I don't know why, but this reminded me of the last episode of the fourth season of Doctor Who, when (spoiler) the Doctor had to erase all Donna's memories of him and all the adventures they had. That was sad, she was my favorite. She was stay with him forever, as best-friends of course. So sad.
I did most of the typing for this yesterday, seeing the other days I was doing many other things where I wasn't really even near a computer. Damn the summer and all the not so fun plans. And before I go, sorry if some of it sounded stupid or whatever, I was typing from the top of my head, typing what I thought sounded good. Please review, anyway.
I do not own 9 or, just to be safe, Doctor Who. If I did, I would find that to be the high point of my life right now.
Oh, and before I go, I must jumping up in the air and click my heels. YAY! I FINALLY KILLED HER! After all that planning on who I was going to kill, I finally got it! YEAAAAAAHH! Now I get to go kill other people! YEAYYEAYEAY! Not so excited about killing 5 or 6 though.