Greeting: Hi again, guys and gals. We'll go back to exactly where we left off. Rachel and Ray heard that they had stepped into a trap. And then...
( Rachel and Ray. At the dining room of the Popgoes pizzeria)
The words echoed in Rachel's head as they seemed to be jumping between her and Ray.
Those words were in perfect, horrifying balance. They resonated with the cracking sounds that came from above.
Rachel was staring at the stony eyes of the badger who had warned them. Her body paralysed completely due to the shock hitting her.
They had been led there.
All the answers hit her like a million rocks. All those white-eyed people had been there to led them into thinking that there was something going on.
They had never been incapable of going further, it was a trick. Rachel had fallen into it like a fool.
She had no idea of how the monsters knew they were coming but it was a secondary question.
" How do we get out of here?", Rachel asked without any answers.
Ray, in the other hand, was able to move and he definitely did.
" Watch out!", Ray shouted and grabbed Rachel by the neck.
He wrapped his entire arm around her neck and yanked her out of the way of the falling debris.
Rachel would have been crushed if Ray hadn't pulled her back. Blake's corpse was gone for good as it got crushed.
Rachel's wide eyes were staring at it, she saw its hand sticking out. Ray launched up from the floor and pulled Rachel up with him.
" Run!", he exclaimed in panic.
A red-eyed monster jumped down through the ceiling and it was angry.
" Stupid badger, ruining the perfect plan", it grinned angrily.
Right then, Rachel's mind woke up. Pictures of innocent children, getting massacred, popped in there.
That monster was the same one that had tried to get into the bus when they had left Rachel and Doug's.
That voice and that bloody tone were what woke her up. Rachel's legs started working and not a second too soon either.
The back wall of the main stage broke and monsters launched out of it. Popgoes and the squirrels were torn to bits in the process.
The oil flew so far that it hit the escaping Rachel. It was impressive since she and Ray were almost out of the room already.
Ray was holding Rachel's hand as they ran for their lives.
Luckily, Rachel didn't glance back at the room. The floor was full of monsters too, they were everywhere.
Rachel knew that her adorable kids were in grave danger. The monsters, outside, were all the white-eyed people.
She felt that they were coming now that the trap had failed.
She had to get to her children.
Doug was there, defenceless and frail. He would not stand a chance against the monsters.
Rachel didn't want another martyr into her head to haunt her. She took a left and pulled Ray with her.
" Shoot them. I'll direct us", Rachel told the raccoon.
Ray pulled out his revolver and took aim.
" Please work again", he begged in his mind.
The trigger was pulled all the way down and the gun clicked. Ray was filled with fear, it didn't work.
Rachel reached her friends who were on their way too. Nick glanced at her and Ray.
" Run!", he shouted when he saw what was after the two animatronics.
The girl grabbed the boy's hand and started running immediately. Lena was a different story.
" I'm tired, Nicholas. Just let me rest", she told the man.
Nick shook his head and started running.
" No can do", he told the old woman.
Rachel reached them quickly. Nick adjusted his running speed to Rachel's.
They were fairly quick but the monsters were gaining. The kids were slower than the huge animatronics or Nick.
" Ray! Shoot them!", Rachel insisted again.
" I can't, it doesn't work", the raccoon whimpered.
Ray didn't know what to do. The monsters would gain them before they'd reach the front door.
It was close but the monsters were fast.
" Why doesn't it work this time? I need a miracle now. We need that miracle to happen again", Ray thought and whimpered.
" A miracle?", Ray heard a voice.
It was not a normal voice, it was a feeling. Like something was awakening inside his soul.
" Miracles don't drop from the sky like water. Don't expect transcendent beings to come help you.
Many religions believe godhood to be something that every entity has within them. Divinity can't help you", the voice told him.
" What can help me then?", Ray asked it.
" A miracle happens when someone gives a random person a gift. It happens when an animatronic or someone, in an animal costume, hugs a crying child.
They don't want anything in return. Miracles, all of them, don't come from the sky, they come from within", Ray felt in his heart.
" It comes from within. I will be the miracle. I will save my friends. I don't kill with a bullet, I kill with my heart", Ray thought by himself.
He aimed the gun. It didn't shoot bullets but he didn't need any bullets. He used the gun to kill with his heart.
Ray took aim at a monster that was coming at the kids. He pulled the trigger and the monster dropped to the ground.
Ray smiled, it worked.
It just took him time to realize what he had done wrong. He had the feeling again.
He had had it the first time he had killed a monster with his heart. He was ready to sacrifice his own heart for the kids.
Ray started shooting and the monsters were dropping.
" Sorcery!", the red-eyed monster, at the front, said.
It had no idea of what was going on. Nothing was suppose to do something like that. The raccoon was no witch.
Someone was helping him. That something was laughing in the face of the Apocalypse witch, which made the monsters angry.
" Kill them!", the red-eyed monster shouted in hatred.
Ray shot all the monsters that went for the kids. Both the girl and the boy were scared and the boy was crying.
One monster got close but it had no time to attack the kids properly, it got shot. The girl lost some of her long hair that was failing behind her head.
The long claw had cut it like a laser.
Ray understood how sharp those claws were.
They were at the door and it was a relief for Ray. The gun had some issues with the mechanisms.
If he used it too much, it would stop clicking. Ray believed he didn't have much ammunition in his gun.
His instinct hit him in the face as he knew how to stop the monsters. Ray was unaware of his animatronic instincts.
Fighting to save children was in their souls. Ray knew that the gun would not work against objects.
He would have needed real bullets for that.
Instead, he decided to use the monsters to his advantage. The beast witch was enraged since the animatronics were almost out.
It jumped at Ray and got ready to detach his arm from his shoulder. Ray hoped his instinct was right about what would happen.
He shot the beast in the face and the human body was launched upwards by the spiritual impact.
Ceiling was hit by the body and it broke. The monsters had dug too many tunnels into the pizzeria's walls and ceiling.
The whole ceiling collapsed on them and blocked the door with the debris.
It took no more than a second.
Everyone stopped in shock when Ray displayed so much intelligence.
" That should hold them", Ray chuckled at his friends.
The kids and Rachel were astonished. As usual, Nick didn't have time to adore his animatronic's work.
" Not for long though. Those walking things must be near by now. We need to move like a lightning", he told the others.
Nick had suspected the same thing as Rachel. It was also proved by a weird sound that was coming around the corner.
They all looked in the direction of the sound and jumped almost immediately.
" Oh shit", Nick cursed.
" He said a bad word", the boy pointed out.
Surprising that the boy actually paid attention to that. At first, the street, in front of the pizzeria, had been empty.
There was a house at the left end of the road.
For some reason, the sound had seemed to be coming from there.
Everyone had noticed that the sound had been coming from behind it as the ´walking people´ came.
That noise was the horrifying sound of at least a thousand pairs of feet running their way. Those people ran around the house and faced the pizzeria.
The bus was right there by the parking lot, all by itself.
It must have looked like a dinner table to the monsters. Those people were not so calm and quiet anymore.
Before, those people had been empty, they hadn't had ghosts in them.
If Rachel had been more educated on possession, she would have known that from the very start.
The white eyes were a clear sign of the people being empty ghouls. That was in the past, now those people were possessed again and very angry.
They were not left unnoticed by anyone.
" Hey, Doug. I think we may have a problem", some older kid shouted from the back of the bus.
Doug had been singing lullabies to bored children. He had been holding them on his lap, he was so comforting and calming.
" What is it, Rick? It's just darkness, no need to be afraid", Doug said in a calm tone.
That boy at the back was everything but calm.
" If that's darkness, then I must say that the darkness is quite loud and fast", he told Doug.
Some other kids shrieked as they looked outside. Doug shot up and almost dropped the child he was holding.
He ran to the back and saw the army of everything they did not like. It was clear that Rachel's crew had done something very bad.
Somewhere along the line a mistake had been made.
At first, Doug was scared, he didn't want to leave without his friends and the Popgoes crew.
" Doug! Let us in!", Rachel's faint voice shouted through the door of the bus.
The dog glanced at her and saw that she was terrified. Doug had no time to waste, he launched to the door like a rocket.
" I'll open the door!", he exclaimed to Rachel and the other friends.
Doug pushed a button and the wipers turned on.
" No! It wasn't that", Doug realized that he had messed up.
In his state of panic, he had forgotten which button to press.
" Hurry! They're getting closer", Rachel was screaming at that point.
Doug was pushing all the buttons like a lunatic. Lights were turning on and off, the turn indicators were doing the same.
Rachel was hitting the door.
" Let me through", Nick pushed Rachel aside violently.
The rabbit almost fell down to the ground.
" Doug! Push the yellow button!", Nick exclaimed through the door.
Doug heard him and looked for a yellow button but found none.
" Help me!", Doug was holding his head in agony.
Nick tried to think.
" Was it yellow or not? Was it a red one?", Nick had forgotten it too.
The girl, behind him, screamed with the boy as the monsters started growling in hatred.
The street wasn't all that long, the monsters were too close for comfort.
Ray shot a few shots to the crowd to slow them down. It did nothing!
" The red button! Push the small, red button!", Nick shouted through the door and looked at Doug.
The black and white dog jumped up from his ducking position and saw the button immediately.
He slammed his palm onto it and the door opened.
Nick, Rachel, Lena, Ray and the two children charged in and faceplanted to the floor.
The stairs were uncomfortable but they couldn't go further due to the shock. Nick launched up and almost dove onto the driver seat.
Doug was surprised how fast Nick could be if he really wanted. The door closed and the key turned.
Naturally, it didn't start immediately. Nick had always thought that to be the case in all the horror movies.
Turned out it had some facts behind it. That was destiny messing with them.
It took Nick three tries to start the engine.
The throttle was smacked into the floor of the bus as the clutch was gently lifted.
It was necessary to do it gently but Nick had never found it as hard as then.
The bus charged forward with little force at first. Nick switched to the second gear and the bus sped up.
There were monsters coming from the front as well but the army was behind. The front row could almost hit the back of the bus as Nick took off.
The monsters had been so close, it wasn't even funny.
Nick sped up and drove over the monsters, in front of the bus. He could almost hear bones break and blood burst out of the bodies.
Most importantly, he could literally hear the angry growls of the monsters.
" No!", a beast witch flipped out.
" These things are getting on our nerves. Why won't they just die?", it growled.
Two more beasts joined it and shook their heads.
" They must never reach the Fazbear's pizza. Whoever is working with them must find out what happens to those that cross us!", they raged.
Once again, the beasts were forced to watch as the bus and their meal got away.
The monsters were growling in an agreeing manner.
Something was messing with the monsters and they were not liking it one little bit. Two crews of animatronics had fled from their grasp.
Rachel's crew was heading for the Fazbears, which was not good. If they ever got to the same pizzeria, it would be disastrous.
Rachel and her friends didn't know how important it would be for them to get to the Fazbears.
Lucky for them; it would have given them pressure.
Inside the bus, Rachel was staring out the back window and showing her tongue to the monsters.
" That's what you get. We won't die that easily", she thought.
At the front, Nick was relieved to get out of that place. The crucified corpses of the animatronics would haunt him for a long time.
Lena had lost more than her animatronics, she had lost her only family.
Ray was helping Lena get up from the floor.
" Thank you, Mr. Raccoon", she thanked him politely.
" Just call me Ray. Are you alright now?", the raccoon asked her.
Lena tapped her own head as to check out if her head was still there.
" I'm getting there. What was all that about?", she asked, looking at Nick for answers.
Lena's shock had not done good things for her memory.
" We rescued you. I'm sorry about your animatronics", Ray told her.
Lena nodded sadly, it was a clear memory that would not fade any time soon.
" They put up such a fight. You should have seen Sara, my baby squirrel. She assured the parents that we were not in danger", Lena told Ray.
She was proud and sorrowful at the same time.
" They did it to her anyway. The things parents do for their children", the old woman looked down.
Sadness was ageing her face by decades. Rachel had come to the front and listened to it with Doug.
" Wait. The monsters didn't do it? The crucifying was done by the parents?", Rachel was more than horrified.
She hoped that she had heard or understood it wrong. To her horror, Lena nodded with a pale face.
" The monsters were outside. A voice told us to do that to the animatronics. It was horrid. That voice was coming from beyond the grave, I felt it.
If we did as we were told, it promised to set us free. The parents did it without hesitation. I and Popgoes knew that the voice was lying", Lena described.
" First we quarrelled but then two parents grabbed me. They said that I'd die if the animatronics didn't surrender", she added.
It was shocking to everyone, especially the kids. Doug's girl hugged the boy who had come from the pizzeria.
No wonder he was scared. His parents had killed the animatronics.
His father had decapitated Stone the crow and his mother had torn Sara's eyes out.
That boy had a lot to take in.
Doug began to ask how the trip went and Rachel told him the whole story.
That brought them to the topic of what was going on. Lena was shocked to hear how much time had passed.
To her, it was like the monsters had come the day before. Rachel spoke with the boy to make sure he was fine.
The tears had left long marks on his cheeks. Rachel had no doubts that the boy had been crying for days.
That little guy deserved an endless amount of hugs and kisses.
Rachel added that to her to-do list.
At the same time, Nick asked Ray what had happened in the dining room.
" Blake said that they let Lena and the boy live. If I got it right, they were a lure for us.
Blake was meant to survive as well but he heard their plan", Ray explained it to the rest.
Rachel agreed with him.
" He looked like he had crawled out of a vent. I recall there being a vent beside him in the restroom.
The floor was covered in oil so there were no tracks. But I could bet money that he came out of it", she told everyone.
" Jesus", Nick shook his head in sorrow.
Blake had been taken somewhere and he had crawled back to warn Rachel and her friends.
The journey out of the ventilation system must have taken days.
The suffering, Blake had gone through, must have been unimaginable.
" Well, he's in a better place now with Pete, Bane and his friends", Doug patted Lena on the back.
He trusted that she believed in Heaven, she had a cross on her chest. Lena nodded and showed him a smile.
Then Nick spoke up.
" I still don't get how those monsters knew we were coming. We came up with the idea only a few hours ago", he said to the others.
" Magic", was Ray's short answer.
It was just as good as any other idea.
" I still can't believe we fell for that. The kid in the window and the welcoming lights. It was all illusion, made to comfort us and make us lower our guard.
We were such fools", Nick continued.
" You saved me and him. There was a reason for you to come to me. It couldn't have ended in any other way. You made it", Lena sounded positive.
" Lena. I know you are into destiny and God's big plan but I'm not interested right now. We could have gotten ourselves killed.
We may not be as lucky next time around", Nick told her.
Lena shrugged and let it be.
" Suit yourself. I think there was a reason for it. Popgoes always told me that there was a reason for everything and anything", she told Nick.
The man snapped at her.
" Well, Popgoes is gone! Was there a reason for it or did he simply leave your life for no reason? I think his death was for nothing", he asked her.
Lena had been about to go but then she stopped in place. Her face got covered in tears.
Nick realized it suddenly.
" I'm sorry, Lena. I just got scared there. I wouldn't have beared losing my animatronics. I love them just like you love yours", Nick corrected it silently.
Rachel held Lena a bit and glanced at Nick angrily.
" Nicely done", her gaze was telling Nick sarcastically.
Nick looked forward and focused on driving. His emotions had gotten the better of him.
He decided to shut up before he'd do any more harm.
" Your animatronics sounded friendly and I would have loved them. They didn't go for nothing, I promise", Rachel assured Lena who pushed her away.
" It's okay. I just need to sit down", she grabbed a bar on her right.
Two little boys got closer to each other to give Lena somewhere to sit. The old woman thanked them and sat down.
Rachel went to check on the other children.
Doug remained with Nick.
" So what now? Freddy Fazbear's?", he asked Nick.
" Definitely! Not New york, not Nevada, Freddy Fazbear's pizza", Nick answered him.
" No stops?", Doug was hopeful.
Nick glanced at him with determination in his eyes.
" No stops, other than fuel and food. Not in a million years", he said with a very serious expression on his face.
That bus was going for the Fazbears and nothing else would interrupt their journey anymore.
Farewell: Lena and one new kid have been saved. It's not much but every living being is good.
We have yet to discover why fate chose to save these animatronics. It will come soon.
We'll stick with Rachel for now. THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO WRITE.
