Greeting: Run for your lives! A new chapter is coming to get you.
(I meant Rachel and friends should run for their lives, not you, readers.) You should just sit back, relax and enjoy!
Hopefully you do!

( Rachel and friends. By the door of Rachel and Doug's)

Rachel glanced at Doug as they got close to the door. Doug's face was shivering and he was too afraid to even breathe properly.
Rachel felt a tiny set of arms hugging her leg for security.
She decided to look down so she wouldn't see the outside anymore. She let out a tiny sigh of relief, the kids still had their eyes closed.
It barely helped since the noises were horrible.

Rachel was too small to defend the children from the darkness around them. Rachel was a stuffed animal, protecting the children from the monster, under their bed.
How on earth could a tiny bunny protect them from a monster whose head was touching the ceiling?
She imagined it! It was tall and its claws were as long as Rachel herself.
Right then, she knew how a stuffed animal felt in bed.
The real monster would be too enormous for her and she couldn't give enough comfort to banish it.
Rachel's feet were walking towards the door as all the mental pictures invaded her fragile mind.
Doug and Bane told the kids to go after Rachel. She was the first one to go outside and step into hell.

Doug and Bane stopped the kids from bumping into the door. The group flattened like an amoeba.
The kids went through the door and Rachel protected them from the front. The animatronics were like a wall around the group.
There was still a lot to be covered but there was only three of them around the kids.
Rachel wished the adults would protect them from the monsters. She could feel the eyes get fixed on them.
The animatronics had brought forward the main course. The adults had been a tasteful starter, merely a soup at the beginning of the meal.
It had had a rather rough but refreshing taste.
Children, on the other hand, had young flesh and frail bones, easily broken. The bones didn't slow the eating down as much.
Kids were a delicately flavored meal.

Rachel looked around and petted the children beside her. An adult came to her, a cook.
" Hurry up. We haven't gotten all night. Sooner you're out of here, the better", she gestured her to follow.
Some others went around them to defend them.
" Ray's up ahead! Let's go. The flames will protect you", the cook assured Rachel.
The monsters seemed very eager to sink their teeth into the children. Rachel could see their teeth, glinting on the other side of the wall of flames.
" You will never have our children, monsters", she mouthed to the faces.
The monsters didn't either see or care, probably both.

Doug and Bane informed the children of corpses that were on the way.
" Careful now. There's a bump on our right. We need to dodge it", Doug said in a normal tone.
The shivering in his voice gave the truth away. The adults remained behind as the flames, around them, would go out first by the start.
It was by the pizzeria, where the fuel was the most depleted. Bane focused on Doug's face right then.
If he had tried to look around more, he might have prevented what happened next.

A monster suddenly rushed in through the flames and attacked Doug. The children, next to him, opened their eyes and shrieked.
Bane rushed through and used his horns to knock the monster back. It flew back into the flames and burnt.
Doug had sustained damage, his head was bleeding. Oil was dripping to the ground.
" I don't want more. Please", Doug had been jumpscared badly.
Bane grabbed him by the armpits and pulled him up.
" Stop whining. We must get there. Don't give up on the children now", insisted Bane.
The kids closed their eyes as Doug returned to his spot. Bane went back as well.
Doug had to hug the kids to calm them down. He was in tears after the jumpscare. That monster had rushed through the flames.
" They are getting desperate or used to the heat. Crap", realized Bane.

They had to go faster. Rachel had a problem as well.
" Are we there yet?", a girl petted her leg to know that it was still her and not some furry thing.
Rachel bent down quickly.
" Not yet. Let's go", she kissed the girl on the head.
They started almost business but so was going outside in the first place.

They were almost in the middle of their scary journey when the woman on the front raised her arm.
Rachel stopped immediately and the kids bumped into her.
" Can we open our eyes now?", the kids asked and opened their eyes naturally.
" No! Close them right away", Rachel sounded angry.
The kids closed their eyes immediately. Tears shot out of their eyes as they did it.
" There's something ahead", Rachel said in a softer tone which calmed the kids down.
The woman glanced at the bunny and put her finger over her mouth. Then the woman took a few steps forward.
It was more than a few as a matter of fact. The amount of steps, taken, did not remain in Rachel's memory, she was too terrified.
Then an animatronic shot out of the flames on the woman's left.
" No!", Rachel exclaimed.
The pig animatronic bit the woman's arm off and threw her away. Then it ate her arm and hand.
Some other adults, ahead, attacked it but it was too fast. It already had spears stuck in it.
Its other arm was gone and there was a human arm in its place. Pete's feet were gone and replaced by two shoes.
It literally looked like someone wearing Pete as a Halloween costume.
Its eyes were deep inside its head and its claws were sticking through the skin on Pete's fingers.
Rachel's eyes widened even more.
" Get back!", she commanded the kids.
Doug and Bane backed away even though it was hard to see what was going on.

Rachel was filled with terrible and desperate panic. She wanted to flee like a rabbit, back into her burrow.
She wanted back to her warren but she had no warren.
She was an animatronic!
The pig, in front of her, was a crime against Pete's kindness and tender heart.

Its hands and fingers were moving weirdly like those of an undead. The thing, inside, had not mastered controlling the body yet.
A loud snarl came out of its mouth as it turned to face Rachel for the first time.
She was terrified and backed away as fast as she could.
" No! No! You couldn't have done it. No! You didn't do that to Pete. You didn't", Rachel couldn't believe her own eyes.
" He screamed when I skinned him", came out of the animatronic's mouth.
The teeth, inside its mouth, were smiling wickedly. Rachel was too scared to even check if the children still had their eyes closed.
They could hear Pete's voice and it wasn't a voice, the source of which they desired to see.
Rachel was in tears.
" You savages. You did all that to my friend?", she sounded angry.
The pig just laughed at her.
" It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you", the pig monster got closer.
It was going to kill her and then slaughter the children.
" What do I do? This can't be happening. I'm finished", thought Rachel.
Then suddenly she glanced to her right and saw a corpse on the ground. It had a pitchfork.
" I have never fought before. Why can't I be brave like the humans? Why, oh why, am I a sweet animatronic?", Rachel was breathing heavily.
" I could fight but I can't as it feels so bad. I'm a terrible rabbit", Rachel added in her head.
She had only killed once, it was still in her head.

" This won't take long, my friend. Soon, you will be beautiful just like us", she heard her own voice echoing from her memories.

Rachel was shivering. People were getting killed, they were no match for the pig.
" No!", she realized and her expression became braver.
" My past shouldn't affect me. I might be an animatronic, a coward, a worthless mess of scrap.
But I'm a coward the kids trust with their lives right now", she told herself.
Rachel's arm extended towards the pitchfork as she bent down.
" What are you doing?", some boy asked her.
" Assuring your safety, darling", she answered him.

She grabbed the pitchfork and extended it forward.
" Don't take another step. These are my children, not your next meal. They're not food, monster", Rachel told the pig.
The monster stopped and smiled.
" Look at you. A sweet bunny is trying to protect the tiny brats. Are you willing to get slaughtered for them?", the monster was mockingly sweet sounding.
Rachel had an answer ready.
" If you take me out, then I'll impale you with this before that. Defending your kids to the bitter end is what being an animatronic is about", she responded.
The pig went into a fighting stance.
" It's on then. Have it your way, filthy critter", the pig grinned.

It charged at Rachel who covered the children, behind her. The pig spiraled with its claws extended to its sides.
Rachel knew in her heart that the pig would break her defence. Rachel ducked quickly and threw the pitchfork at the pig.
It went underneath the arms and the horrible, sharpened spikes sank into the pig's waist.
The pig stopped in place, Rachel pulled the pitchfork out.
She then went for its chest and the spikes impaled it. Blood burst out of the animatronic.
She had acted on instinct, a hidden animatronic instinct.
Rachel pulled the pitchfork out once again.

After that, she was shocked by her reflexes.
" What was that?", she asked herself.
The pig smiled at her.
" Oh. The huggable bunny does have claws after all. How nice? Let's put them to a test, shall we?", the monster nodded, smiling.
Then it spiraled again and swooshed through the flames on Rachel's left. She lost her sight of it.
" Good to have flames, isn't it? It makes the darkness darker", the pig said to her.

" Can you smell me, Rachel?", the pig asked on her right.
Rachel backed off until she felt the kids behind her.
" No? Too bad. I smell you", the voice came from above.
Rachel glanced up but saw nothing. There were too few humans there to defend them.
They were almost on their own.

Ray came from the front, he ran at them.
" Rachel!", he shouted to her.
" Ray? Stay back! Take the girl to the bus and get it open. I've got this", she assured the raccoon and extended her arm forward.
Ray wasn't with the girl.
" She's with those people in there. I came here to save you", Ray told her.
For a second, Rachel felt relieved but then another wave of shock hit her.
" And here you are", said the monster.
" All animatronics in the same place. Say goodbye to your girl, raccoon", it added.
Rachel looked at Ray.
" Go defend her! This is what they want! Protect her, Ray", Rachel hurried him.
" What about you and the other kids?", Ray was worried about her.
" I'm coming. Don't worry", Rachel assured him.
Ray heard a scream emanate across the corridor of flames. He had no time to nod to Rachel.

Ray took off and Rachel glanced to her sides.
" Where are you?", she asked the monster.
Then Rachel's ears were filled with a scream as one boy was picked up.
" Over here", the pig said on her left.
She barely had the time to turn around. The pig vanished into darkness with the boy.
The boy was screaming but it ended quickly. It was followed by a loud cracking noise.
" No!", Rachel reached out.
The other kids were freaked out. Bane and Doug started looking around too.
" No fare", Doug said when he was thinking about the boy.
" That's right. You're not so stupid after all", the evil laughter came from the right side.
The monster was messing with them. It was easy to mistake the pig for other monsters that were still out there.
Normal fighting was so boring to it.
" I smell your fear. This is so much more fun. Thank you for not being a pain in the ass like those Fazbear freaks", the monster was enjoying itself.
" Defend the sides. Don't let anyone else get taken", Rachel sounded like Nick.
They started slowly moving towards the bus. The children felt as if they could die any second, which was probably true.

" Rachel! On the left!", Doug exclaimed as the flames moved aside.
Rachel blocked her left side and stopped the claws.
" No you don't", Rachel kicked the pig and pushed it back into the flames with the pitchfork.
She saw through the flames how the pig stumbled up after falling down. It jumped up and Rachel's eyes followed it.
She could faintly see it as it jumped over the corridor with a flip.
" It can jump? That's how it switches sides", Rachel realized.
" Look up as well. You can see when it changes sides", she told her friends.

" Can we please open our eyes now?", one child begged.
She was ducking and crying. Rachel knew she shouldn't have been distracted but she couldn't help it.
" It's okay, sweetie. I'm still here", Rachel bent down to hug her.
" Rachel!", Bane and Doug shouted at the same time.
The pig landed right on top of Rachel. Her pitchfork flew towards the flames. It was just out of her reach.
" Hello, child! It's me. Pete", the pig smiled at the girl.
She had opened her eyes and Pete had gotten her by surprise. She screamed like a thousand piglets, having their throats slit open.

The pig was about to grab her but Rachel headbutted it and broke its jaw.
" Get lost!", she shouted to the monster.
The girl fell on top of the others as she backed away. Rachel stopped the monster's metallic hand as it reached for the children.
" You will pay for what you did to that boy. These are not your children", Rachel punched the monster.
She turned around using her feet and headbutted the pig again.
It hurt very much. Rachel had to hold her head.
The pig got up suddenly without using its hands. It made the animatronics open their mouths wide open.
" What do you even care? You've got so many children. You can't love them all. Trust me, you're a killer. He told me so", the pig kicked her.
Rachel's core stopped. Pete had told the monster about her past.
She shook her head in anger.
" Stop that!", she exclaimed and punched.
The pig grabbed the hand easily as Rachel was going out of control.
" I will never stop. I wish I could make you watch as I eat their flesh. Too bad only your friends will see it.
I bet you would love it too if you weren't so dead", the pig growled.

Rachel was being pushed against the ground but no one helped her. The kids had closed their eyes in fear.
Rachel's eyes were fixed on the monster's.
" I'm not a bad bunny. I didn't know he was a human. It was so dark", Rachel told the monster.
The pig laughed.
" Liar! You can't escape it. Your past gets you eventually. In our world, it always does. You can deny it only by dying. Believe me, you're not up to this task.
Just let me take your pain away. Your delicious core. Your sweet soul", the monster's long tongue licked Rachel's face.

Rachel couldn't move. The monster got closer to bite her. It would kill all the children.
Rachel wasn't afraid to die, she just didn't want the kids to get hurt.
" I can't let the kids go. I love them with everything I have", Rachel said to the monster.
" You'll have to. It's time to die, darling", the monster opened its mouth.

Then suddenly its head rose like that of a meerkat when it notices a predator.
The pitchfork impaled the pig's neck and the spikes came out from the other side. It had come from behind Rachel.
" Good work, Bane", she thought.
She backed away and the kids shrieked when she touched them.
" It's just me, sweeties", Rachel looked at them and forgot the monster.

She looked up, expecting Doug to be there comforting the children as well. Instead, she saw Bane and nothing else.
Rachel looked back at the monster immediately.
Doug was there, holding the pitchfork, and pushing the monster to the ground. Rachel couldn't believe it.
" You don't ever touch my friends or eat my kids", Doug said with blood on his face.

The pig animatronic's neck was like a fountain of blood.
" You are not brave enough. You're a coward so let me go. I'm your friend. You would never kill your friend", the monster demanded.
It had sounded more like Pete right then but Doug was determined.
" Never. But I'll kill you", Doug placed his foot onto the pitchfork and pushed it downwards.
The monster got decapitated and its hands stopped moving.

Doug put the pitchfork aside and went to help Rachel.
" Doug. How did you do that? Did you just kill that monster?", Rachel was shocked.
" Anything for the children. Anything at all. I couldn't let him", Doug answered joylessly.
Ray was coming back to them.
" What are you still doing here? Come on", the raccoon shouted.
" Let's go", Rachel told everyone and they started running.

The kids' eyes were fully open by then and they followed Rachel. Some adults were running the other way.
The flames were starting to go out by the pizzeria.
The bus door was open and the animatronics started leading the kids inside. The technician had already started the engine and all they needed anymore was a driver.
" Nick! Where's Nick?", Ray asked the others as they came.
Doug realized that Nick was still inside, helping the other adults keep the doors closed. Doug was about to say something but the technician spoke first.
" He's inside. I'll go get him. Can't risk one of you getting killed", he told the animatronics.

Ray and Bane started to get worried. The flames were going out and the doors, closing off the main room of the pizzeria, were failing.
They would not hold if Nick wasn't there to help the others.
" Hurry up, little ones. You've done so well", Bane told them.
The kids were more or less safe. Rachel allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief.
" We couldn't have done this without you, dear adults", she thought of their sacrifice.

In the pizzeria, the technician arrived.
" Go, Nick! Your animatronics are waiting. We'll hold this long enough for you to get there and leave", he said.
Nick nodded to him and ran for the bus. The pizzeria's front doors were closed behind him and Nick ran like a champion.

" Come on, Nick. Run for your life!", Rachel was shouting from the bus.
Nick was running for his life.
As his legs had almost reached their goal, something grabbed his right shin.
" You're not going anywhere", a grim voice told him.
Nick turned around and saw blood on his right leg. A headless pig animatronic had grabbed it.
Its claws had sunk into his shin.
" Help!", Nick shouted to his animatronics.
" Oh no. Does it ever die?", Rachel saw the pig.

She was about to go but Bane put his hand in front of her.
" No. I'll go this time. Get ready", he told Rachel and left.
Nick was forced to sit down due to the pain.
" I've got you, human", the monster said with its headless body.
Then Bane came.
" I've got him too", he said to the monster and kicked it away.
" I've got you more than him", Bane said as he picked Nick up.
" Just take me to the damn bus. I can't walk", Nick moaned in pain.

Bane glanced at the pizzeria and saw the doors fail. The adults were dying based on the screams.
It was their end.
A few people were outside but they wouldn't be an obstacle for the monsters. The flames were going out and the corridor was no longer safe.
" Run", Nick whispered into Bane's ear.
The bull took off and fled to the bus.

" Ray! Take him. Get him to the driver seat", Bane told Ray when he came.
Rachel got out of the way as Bane got to the bus door. He stopped and handed Nick over to Ray.
The raccoon put Nick to the driver seat quickly. Rachel was so proud of Bane who was exhausted.

" Get in. We need to go", Rachel told him.
Bane stepped to the first step. He was already in when Rachel screamed.
Bane's chest opened up as an animatronic arm impaled him. He knew what to do but it required a sacrifice.
He had no time to get the monster off him.
" Go! Now!", Bane shouted and fell backwards.
He couldn't get in since the pig was attached to him.
Nick pressed a button and the door closed. Rachel tried to get to the door to break it down but Ray grabbed her from behind.
" Hit it!", Ray told Nick.

The bus roared as it took off. Bane looked at his friends as they escaped with the children.
He was on the ground and the monster was raging underneath him. Bane knew that the other monsters were coming.
The last people were on the corridor of flames which broke down. The walls of flame weren't unified anymore, gaps started appearing into them.
The monsters jumped on the people and killed them all.
Bane could feel his own core. He knew that the monsters would torture him if they caught him alive.
He shoved his hand into himself and grabbed his core. Bane had rage in his voice.
The monsters were rushing at him down the corridor of flames.

Bane spoke to them. He showed the monsters his middle finger.
" We did it! Boom! In your face, filthy beasts!", he shouted full of pride as he tore his own core out.
" Good luck, my friends!", were his last words.
Without his core, Bane died instantly.
After that, his dead eyes were still fixed on the bus where the last survivors of Rachel and Doug's resided.

Farewell: Only three animatronics left. They have escaped but death could still await them somewhere along the line.
We'll stay with them in the next chapter as well. THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO WRITE.