CHAPTER 28: ONWARD
Deep down in the dark underground caverns of France,Ed was lying face down on the ground with loads of rocks and rubble from the ceiling piled on top of him,he was covered from head to toe with bruises along with his clothes being absolutely filthy and torn up,he had also lost his eye patch and his hat earlier in the fire which resulted in his hair being even more messy than before. The boy continued to motionlessly lay there for about another minute until he slowly started to open his sunken eyes to be immediately greeted by an immense and throbbing pain all over his body as he grunted and moaned while he slowly began to lift himself up off the ground before he started to look around the nearly destroyed cave,it didn't take him too long to notice some holes in the ceiling that showed nothing but a starry night sky on the verge of turning into dawn outside,along with him seeing that the way out that he saw earlier was way up high now compared to before,he was gonna need to climb up a wall in order to get out.
"Oh man,how long have I been out?" Ed grunted and asked himself in an extremely pained and tired tone of voice before he suddenly remembered that Herman willingly let go of his hands and fell down into the abyss as he gasped at the realization and frantically called out "Herman! Where are you?!" only for him to receive no response of any kind aside from the echoing of his voice off the cave walls which resulted in the boy beginning to walk around the cave in the hopes of finding his friend. Ed continued to call and call again and again for his friend only for dead silence to follow suit each and every time,but it was when he peeked his head behind a corner and saw something up ahead that he stopped dead in his tracks and silenced himself for all the wrong reasons due to what he saw in front of him.
Ed saw what looked like to be a large black lump in the darkness up ahead,he couldn't make out a lot of the details due to how dark it was in the cave,but he still had an extremely unsettled look on his face due to what he assumed it was,and those fears of his would sadly be confirmed to be true when the slowly descending moon's light illuminated the shapeless blob. Herman's body was lying on its side and was surrounded and covered to the brim with smashed rock pieces,and his fur was mangled and dirty,he also appeared to be completely motionless and silent as he faced away from Ed's shocked and horrified demeanor. Ed couldn't believe what he was looking at,and he was so shocked by the sight in front of him,that he couldn't even bring himself to form a single word or expression on his face while tears slowly began to well up in his eyes before he fell to his knees and started to quietly weep to himself.
Many thoughts soon started to fill up into Ed's mind and they were all ones of grief and dread,his best friend that had stuck with him through thick and thin for most of his life was now dead before his very eyes,and judging by how long he was knocked out,he could only assume that the rest of his friends had already fallen suit by Mrs Hampton's own hands as the intensity of his weeping started to increase. Ed continued to weep and weep for what felt like an eternity before he eventually managed to control himself a little as he sat back against a nearby wall before he slowly looked up at the exit.
Ed:
I've seen dark before,but not like this.
This is cold,this is empty,this is numb.
The life I knew is over,the lights are out.
Hello darkness,I'm ready to succumb.
I follow you around,I always have.
But you've gone to a place I cannot find.
This grief,has a gravity,it pulls me down.
But a tiny voice,whispers in my mind.
You are lost.
Hope is gone.
But you must...go on.
And do the next right thing.
Can there be a day beyond this night?
I don't know anymore what is true.
I can't find my direction I'm all alone.
The only star that guided me was you.
It was at this point that Ed could feel himself slowly beginning to stand up and make his way to the wall up ahead that led to the exit before he proceeded to slowly climb up.
How to rise from the floor,when it's not you I'm rising for.
Just do the next right thing.
Take a step.
Step again.
It is all that I can to do the next right thing.
I won't look too far ahead.
It's too much for me to take.
But break it down to this next breath.
This next step.
This next choice is one that I can make.
After Ed had managed to climb his way up to the cliff side where the exit was,he started to feel himself become more determined as he slowly walked towards the exit to find himself on another cliff outside where the sun was beginning to rise.
So I'll walk through this night.
Stumbling blindly toward the light.
And do the next right thing.
And with the dawn.
What comes then,when it's clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I'll make the choice.
To hear that voice.
And do the next right thing.
As Ed could feel the warmth and light of the morning sun being shine on himself,he looked off into the forest down below while he firmly told himself in determination "Don't worry everyone,I will stop her no matter what." before he proceeded to make his way down the cliffside with one destination in mind,the abandoned trainyard.
Meanwhile back at the hotel,Tyrone had since made it there and managed to wake everyone else that was tranquizled by Mrs Hampton's henchmen,and in return the workers allowed him to take a look at the security cameras,or more specifically the one that showed the kids being knocked out and taken away by Mrs Hampton and her men,and it was when he came across the footage where the lady stated that they would be taking the kids to the trainyard,he knew exactly where he needed to go next.
NEXT CHAPTER: INFLITRATION
"The Next Right Thing." Written By Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
©️Walt Disney Music Company.
Author's Note:
Like with "Show Yourself" this is a song that I knew I had to include and where to put it after I first heard it. Also the next set of chapters is where things get very action packed.