Their footsteps echoed down the eerily quiet hallway. There wasn't a soul in sight. It was pretty creepy, Tori thought.
Not least of all, of course, because Shelly hadn't said a word since they got separated from the group. She knew the girl was quiet, but this was getting ridiculous.
"So!" she said after a while. Shelly turned toward her.
"Um… what's up?" Tori asked. Shelly arched one eyebrow in response.
"Oh, come on," she continued. "It's creeping me out how quiet is in here. Talk to me. Please."
"About?" came the reply, finally.
"Anything. Anything to break this silence."
Shelly went silent again, and Tori thought she was gonna keep ignoring her when she spoke once more. "The boys."
Tori blinked. "What about them?"
Another pause. "What do you think they're doing?"
"Arguing," Tori replied at once. "Or… maybe they're trying not to because Pip is there. If she wasn't there, someone probably would've spotted them by now."
Shelly smirked at that. "They're loud."
"A lot more than you, at least," Tori replied.
"It has its perks."
More silence. "So how do you know Michael?" Tori asked.
"Met him a year and a half ago. He joined our squad and we found out he was Agent 3. We got to a spot kinda like this with some other friends. His sister got taken by the Octarians and we rescued her." Pause. "That's about it, I think."
Tori nodded along through the whole story. "Good job, then. Where was the spot?"
"It was called the Presidio."
"I've heard of it. Never been."
"It fell into a chasm."
"Sounds about right."
More silence for a bit. "Who were the other people you went with?" Tori asked.
"My squadmates, Randy and Angela. An Octoling named Junko. The Squid Sisters."
"You guys know the Squid Sisters?" Tori asked, surprised.
"Michael introduced us," Shelly explained.
Another pause. "He seems like a decent guy," Tori said. "You two are close, then."
"I guess."
"How close?"
Shelly thought about how best to answer that. "Good friends."
"And nothing more?"
"Nope."
Tori shook her head. "I don't believe a word of that."
Shelly raised one eyebrow quizzically.
"You like him."
"He's my friend."
Tori shook her head again. "You know what I mean. I'm not blind. I saw a little spark between you two."
A very faint blush coloured Shelly's cheeks. "We're just friends."
"Admit it," Tori prodded. "You'll feel better."
The blush grew a little. "Don't tell him. Please."
Tori grinned. "I think he might feel the same, you know. He seemed to get a lot happier when you walked into that room."
Shelly shook her head. "I helped him."
"I doubt that's the only reason."
The blush deepened a little more.
"Alright, I'm done," Tori declared. "You can tell him when you're ready."
Shelly looked grateful.
The walk continued in silence again. After a while, Shelly held up one hand and stopped. Tori followed suit. Shelly started to charge her weapon and aimed it down the hallway in front of her. After a moment, she shot a pointed look at Tori.
"Oh, right," she said. Tori projected her voice down the hall. "Whoever you are, show yourself!"
Footsteps started to sound, getting louder and louder every second. A figure started to come into view, hands raised to shoulder height.
"Wait," Tori said. "I think I know who it is."
Shelly gave her a sideways glance, but didn't lower her weapon.
"Lilac?" Tori called. "Lilac, is that you?"
Indeed, the figure turned out to be Lilac. She kept her hands raised. "I'm not gonna hurt you," she began.
"Why are you here?" Tori asked.
"I changed my mind. I want to come with you."
Shelly scoffed quietly. Tori shot her a look. "What changed your mind?"
"The lieutenant," she said bitterly. "Everyone got interrogated, like they didn't trust any of us. It's been like that for a while and I'm finally fed up."
There was silence for a moment.
"Can I put my arms down now? They're getting tired."
"Do you have a weapon?" Shelly asked.
Lilac pulled out an Octoshot. Shelly held out one hand and beckoned her. Lilac obliged, and placed the weapon into her outstretched hand.
"There," Shelly said. "But you're staying where I can see you."
Lilac narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
With that, they continued their walk.
"What'd they say?" Tori asked.
"I don't know," Lilac said. "I ran out before anyone got to me. But I saw what happened to everyone else. Some of them got hurt."
Tori didn't know what to say to that.
"Turn left here," Lilac said suddenly.
They stopped. Tori looked at her. "Why here?"
"We're trying to get out, right? The exit is that way."
Tori's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, how can you even tell that? Every single fork in the road here looks the same to me."
"I've been here a while," Lilac replied simply.
Shelly's eyes narrowed. "I don't buy it."
"Who's been stuck here with nothing to do for months?" Lilac shot back. "When you've walked down the same halls a couple hundred times, you remember these things."
Tori gave Shelly a pleading look, and they turned left.
The walk continued once again, with no more excitement for a while. Eventually, however, they came across a wall that had splotches of blue ink on them.
"Do you think the others went this way?" Tori asked. Shelly shrugged in response. She took a step in the direction the ink was facing and would've fallen over if Tori hadn't run over to catch her.
"Shelly?! Are you alright?!" Tori asked her, alarmed.
Shelly's eyes were closing. It looked like it was taking a serious effort to keep them open. Her E-Liter dropped to the floor with a thump.
"We've been walking for hours," Tori said to herself. "And she's been carrying this big weapon…"
"We should probably rest," Lilac said.
Tori nodded. "We shouldn't be out in the open, though. C'mon." With Lilac's help, she carried Shelly into a nearby empty room, and laid the E-Liter next to her.
"Keep… moving…" Shelly mumbled, half-asleep.
"You need to rest," Tori whispered. "I'll keep watch, okay? We'll keep moving again in a few hours."
Shelly nodded, and soon drifted off. Lilac sat next to her. "I'm getting pretty tired too…" she said.
Tori nodded. "Go ahead. I can keep watch by myself. I'll wake you guys up if someone's coming."
Lilac nodded sleepily, and closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, Tori picked up Shelly's E-Liter. It was even heavier than she expected. She had no idea how a small girl like Shelly could carry the thing.
She quickly figured out the charging mechanism, and sat down, keeping her eyes on the door.
Nothing to it but to wait.
[A/N] Long wait for a short chapter. Go figure.
Next one is gonna focus on Jake, Michael, and Pip. It'll happen at the same time as this chapter, and will probably end the same way.
