TTWI: Okay, so, I took the time to try to map this chapter out. At least the first part. (You can tell I've like, never done this before) Ha, that's why all ma writing turns out shit…And I actually had this done like 2 days after posting chapter 3. That's proly why it turned out shit.
In general, I'm glad to see people are seein' this. I tried to keep writing soon after so that I wouldn't lose my mojo or whatever. AND y'all are following and favoriting, wow! My favorite doubles besides "R&R". Psh. No, but seriously, y'all are makin' me legit smile. Thank you like, so, so much. Having a reason to write this other than "finish what you started" is making this so much more fun.
I wonder if I'm goin' too slow. In terms of like, moving on with the story.
KIND OF IMPORTANT MAYBE: the triple dots around the "middle" of THIS chapter aren't like, breaks in time. They're mostly there not because the topics of the paragraphs around them have changed completely, but mainly 'cause the transition would seem kind of sudden and random, sorry if it's confusing.
...Disclaimer: I'm just writing this because my dumb brain won't let me just LET THIS GO so yeah.
Okay, she might have been exaggerating.
Actually no, no she wasn't.
Samantha did hate them both. For different reasons, sure, but she was angry at them all the same. Lockdown, well… Lockdown was just plain despicable. Optimus, on the other hand…
She sighed internally as the car swerved left and right to avoid running into their pursuers. Her vision was still smeared, the driver's seat nothing more than a black blob to her. Luckily, her brief time in the car spent "resting" was ebbing away at her disorientation and fatigue.
Still, everything sounded slowed down, and the mixed signals from her eyes and ears were making her nauseous.
Lucas poked his injured head out of the window before sheltering himself once more. "The scary cars are back..!"
Shane steered them deeper into the cluster of empty lots and warehouses, narrowly missing a car that appeared from around the corner. Tessa turned in her seat, eyes wide as she stared out the back window. "Lose them at the factory, Shane!"
The car took a sharp left, driving under an overpass. Above them, Optimus was busy evading Lockdown's attacks. His shots only ended up damaging the roof they were on as Optimus leapt to the neighboring building, causing gravel and charred wood to rain down on the vehicles below.
"I thought you knew how to drive this thing!" Cade yelled, looking back at the approaching cars frantically. "Go!"
Shanes smashed through a fence with the "scary cars" on their tail. Lucas sounded far too calm given the situation. "I don't think we're gonna get that money. Doesn't seem like it."
From her seat, Sam's sensitive hearing caught the grunts of the two Transformers brawling somewhere above them. She pondered howthey had all ended up in the same place. Sam's eyebrows furrowed. She didn't remember anyone making a call. She rolled her eyes at herself. Like she'd actuallyremember anyone making a call.
Optimus leaned out from over the roof as Shane drove by. He seemed to have taken care of Lockdown for the moment. "Cade!"
Sam reached up to scratch the bony tip of her nose in annoyance.
She'd heard of Optimus' seemingly endless "loyalty" and whatnot in her time at KSI. Witnessing it in person was making her sick to her withered stomach. Just how long had he known the humans?
The Cemetery Wind team was dangerously close, and gained a lot of ground on them as Shane turned a corner.
Sam was surprised they weren't shooting, as it seemed that was all they knew how to do.
Out of nowhere, a large shadow befell them, and in an instant, their pursuers were crushed by Optimus' body. In all the darkness and smoke, only the bright blue lights of his eyes stood out.
Tessa reached forward to gently slap her boyfriend's shoulder. "Take 'em upstairs!"
The screeching of tires was amplified by the enclosed vastness of the parking garage. The roaring of engines behind them sounded louder than ever, putting the passengers of the Chevy Sonic even more on edge.
"We're losin' 'em on the fifth floor," Shane replied, weaving between the pillars that supported each level of the building.
They reached the fifth floor soon enough, and Shane, though driving straight toward a wall, was speeding up. Tessa seemed to be in on what was going on, though. "Do that thing, Shane!" she told him breathlessly, smacking Shane's seat a little.
"You know it," was all he said in return, not giving any indication as to what he planned to do.
Cade looked between them impatiently. "What do you mean?" he asked quickly. He glanced back at his daughter. "What thing?"
Shane's reply offered no hint as to what that thing was. "What we're about to do is gonna be… kinda scary." He promptly switched gears, and finally started to outspeed the others.
Bullets began to rain on them, and Sam felt like she had jinxed something. Internally shrugging, she slid down in her seat, wincing when bullets struck the windows. More glass shattered, sprinkling down on them like rain.
If rain hurt like a bitch.
Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, grunting. "They're shooting at us!"
"...No shit," Sam was quick to mumble, resisting the instinct to brace herself. It'd be nice to voice her opinion without being punished for it, if only she weren't so paranoid.
Shane's voice sounded amidst all the chaos. "Tessa, grab my stick! Grab my stick!"
Cade's gaze snapped to Shane's lap. "What!?"
Tessa leaned forward from her seat to grab the shift knob. Shane threw a glance at Cade. "She's got the best hands in the business." Another round of bullets hit the car. "Ready, Tess? Pull!" After a series of harsh jerks, the car swerved to the right, bringing them face to face with a ramp.
Cade's arm shot out to stop Shane once he realized they were going to drive off of it. "No! No! No!-"
Lucas' eyes blew wide. "No f-ing way!"
For once, Samantha's vision and hearing matched up as time seemed to slow. But though it looked like they were slowly drifting down towards the awaiting ramp, she could still feel the rush of falling in her stomach. If she hadn't known she couldn't die in that fall, and if she'd had anything to drink the whole year, she probably would've pissed herself.
Her mind briefly wandered to question whether any of the people around her had…
The harsh thud of their landing snapped her out of it, cutting off that train of thought. But her mind, being the disorganized mess that it could often be, chose to wonder about something else. Tessa had known that Shane was going to pull this stunt. How in the world was Tessa even alive if she'd done this before?
Lucas cheered at their success, and Sam realized the other car had been too slow, and missed the ramp. It lay in pieces on the asphalt behind them.
"Tessa, you are so grounded!" Cade roared over the commotion. Hilariously, Tessa didn't seem fazed when Sam glanced at her.
The Sonic came to a stop, surprising Samantha. Shane provided her with a reason.
"Shit! The rim's cracked!" He slammed the steering wheel in frustration. Sam's eyes widened as dread filled her chest. Her fast breathing only quickened. If they were caught now, she'd surely be placed under the strictest supervision she'd even endured. Perhaps they'd put her in complete isolation again, in a cage, or in her old dissection room, or-
The honking of a horn put a stop to her panicking. Cade whipped around, panting. "Optimus!" He was already opening his door. "C'mon! Move! Move!" He opened Tessa's door the rest of the way, helping her pull out Sam by the waist.
Samantha felt like fainting again. To just drop dead on the asphalt. Until she heard it.
Footsteps.
Lockdown.
Gasping, she managed to support herself. (All fifty pounds). The last thing she wanted to do now was slow Tessa and her father down when Lockdown was surely looming above them.
The group of four stood together, until Sam noticed something.
One of them was missing.
Sure enough: "My foot's stuck! Wait, Cade!"
Samantha heard it again. And felt them stop.
Tessa turned back. "Lucas!"
Lucas freed his leg, and began running toward them. "Wait! Wait!"
Sam frowned. That simply was not something they could do. Not Cade, not Tessa, not any of the humans.
Grunting, she tried to push them along. She didn't care if they had to let her go, she was tired of seeing that murderer in her mind. He wasn't killing out of any necessity to protect his planet, or people of importance as she once had. He killed for sport, for funsies. She could consider the fact that it was his job, but she wasn't feeling particularly generous.
She didn't care much for humans, but she would feel like absolute shit if she didn't at least warn those that had helped her. That would just be sick.
"Guys, you gotta…" Her head hung low as she panted. "Run…! He's...He's…" She gasped a second time as she heard thumping. She clawed desperately at the air, trying to get her message across. Behind her glasses, her eyes were bugging out of her head. Her heart pounded unevenly in her chest, and she felt like she wasn't getting any air into her shriveled lungs.
Cade worriedly turned back as well, and when he looked up, saw the thing Sam was talking about. "Lucas! Lucas, above you!" He remembered it was what had been fighting Optimus, and saw it throw what resembled a grenade down at them. He mimicked Sam as he tugged both the stranger and his daughter along with him.
"Run!"
Samantha knew that without the adrenaline coursing through her, she would have passed out quite a while ago. And even though she was far from heavy, she knew she'd be slowing down the people lifting her. "Dammit." Tearing her arms from their grasps, she gave them a shove to get them to keep moving.
She tried her hardest to not look on the verge of passing out when they turned back to her. "...RUN."
The grenade had landed. And the explosion was immediate. The problem with Lockdown's grenade was that it didn't just explode and then it was over. It coated the asphalt in a metal unknown to the humans, explosions erupting from every square foot that it covered.
It lasted no more than ten seconds.
There was a scream.
Then it was over.
As the smoke cleared, Samantha grew more and more nervous. Not far from her was whatever was left of Lucas. If she were to spot three more statues up ahead, she was screwed.
"HEY!"
Samantha jerked as she heard Tessa call out. Suddenly, Tessa was sprinting across the dried metal, and pulling Sam the rest of the way.
Even with sunglasses, she could see the tears in the girl's eyes.
"Tessa!"
They emerged from the fading smoke to see Cade hopping down from the driver's seat to bring Tessa toward him. "Tess, what were you thinking!?" he cried, holding Tessa's head. She broke free to help a reluctant Samantha into the truck. "That crap could've-!"
"Don't waste your time over-thinking things," Tessa snapped, easing Sam down on the floor behind the seats of the truck. Cade climbed in and shut the door, and Optimus sped away. "...It's too late for that."
Sam spent most of the ride alone, thankfully. Tessa had taken a seat between her father and boyfriend, wanting the comfort of their presence. Every now and then she'd look at Sam, but never approached. Sam, huddled in a corner, seemed to want to be on her own.
. . .
Early on, Samantha had been shivering. She was sensitive to cold for obvious reasons, but no one had anything but the clothes on their backs to offer. She almost wanted to laugh. As if her shaking wasn't already bad on its own. And to make it worse, it wasn't even cold. The sun was still out, the wind that came into the truck was a little warm, almost none of her skin was exposed, and they were in the middle of the fucking desert.
Still, she shivered.
When Tessa quietly pointed it out, Shane had awkwardly offered to close his window, only to realize there were no windows aside from the windshield. However, the huff he'd summoned from the darkly-clad stranger had eased him.
Sam had stuffed her hands in her pockets, and curled in on herself. She'd suppressed a full body shudder when she felt something being draped across her, but her flinch had been apparent. Her teeth chattered from time to time, but there was no helping it.
Until she felt the truck warm up considerably. So warm, actually, that she could rest her cheek on the metal of the walls and floor without flinching and pulling away. She quietly peeked over her shoulder, seeking any sign of discomfort from the humans. She kept an eye on the three for a while, but they seemed unperturbed. It must have been only her spot that had changed.
If that was the case, then it must have been a conscious effort on Optimus' part. She suddenly felt guilty for harboring anger toward him, but she believed she'd had a good reason. A lot of her torture was carried out due to her inability to answer questions about the people she had supposedly known before she forgot them. And that included Optimus.
Even so, as she curled up again, she let herself smile, just a little.
Maybe having known him wasn't such a bad thing.
Despite her newfound comfort, Samantha couldn't sleep. Not yet. She was too paranoid to sleep, thinking that any second, she'd regain consciousness, and that her escape and the help and the warmth were all just hallucinations she had been forced to experience by the researchers at KSI. Every time she thought about it, she'd tense up again, so she gave that up for the time being.
Too soon, though, the trip was over, and they were all dropped off at an old gas station. Sam took a few steps back after clambering out, away from everyone else, and resisted the urge to pull her hood on tighter. Now that they weren't running for their lives, (or in her case, freedom), they'd all have to come to terms with what had transpired a few hours ago.
Sam had shrugged off what she realized was Cade's jacket well before arriving, hoping Tessa would take the hint and retrieve it. She had. That was one thing she had to appreciate about most humans. They could communicate in so many ways other than speaking, and it amazed her.
Optimus transformed, his enormous fist slamming down on the ground to support himself. He then leaned back on one knee, looking down at them with empathy. "My deepest sympathies, for the loss of your friend," he spoke, voice soft despite its volume. His eyes came to rest on the young woman behind the three humans, whose hands were shoved in her pockets. "Though, it appears you have a new companion…"
Cade spoke up first. "Oh, uh, this is-" He paused, and looked to Tessa for an answer. She only shrugged her shoulders.
Not wanting them to approach to ask for her name, she took several steps forward until she was near Optimus. Her gloved left hand clenched and unclenched in her pocket before she drew it out. Shakily, she held it out to the extraterrestrial before her, and cleared her abused throat.
"...S...Sa-Sam," she mumbled, before looking up through her sunglasses. "M' name's Sam," she clarified, louder this time. Before she registered how absurd it was to hold out her hand, she found herself shaking a metal index finger as best as she could. She couldn't help the huff that escaped her. "Oh man, this is the weirdest handshake ever," she whispered with a small smile as she glanced down at the finger again, narrowly missing the Autobot's change in expression.
But it was gone as quickly as it came.
"My name, is Optimus Prime," he returned in his usual introduction.
The handshake ended, with Sam's hand quickly returning to her pocket, and Optimus' somber attitude returned as the day's events caught up with him. "Stay here, all of you, 'till I am sure we weren't followed," he told them, leaving no room for argument. "We are all targets now…"
In the next moment, he was driving away. Anxiety settled in her gut, and Sam sighed.
Where would she go from there? She was there for a reason, after all. Aliens obviously didn't end up on foreign planets without one.
She knew for sure what her "mission" was. She was to scope out the planet for a few decades, and report her findings. Simple. But she'd already lost fifteen years. She could go out on her own, and leave this all behind; start fresh.
But she was curious. Only two of the five Autobots she'd met all that time ago remained, and she couldn't help but wonder... She sighed again as she watched the setting sun.
Research could wait.
"Sam, huh?"
She flinched. She whipped around to find Cade slowly approaching.
"H-hey, calm down," he spoke softly, raising his hands placatingly. "I… I know that what you did, back at my place, was, uh…" He shrugged. "Involuntary? At least I hope so."
Samantha was quiet for a while before giving a single nod.
Cade's shoulders sloped, and Tessa stepped up beside him. "Right," he muttered, holding out his right hand. "Cade Yeager," was all he said, and waited for Sam to take his hand. She hesitated at first, but her own right hand found his in greeting. He shook it firmly, eliciting a sharp inhale from the her. "Shit-! You alright?"
Pain shot up her arm, and Sam retracted it at lightning speed, massaging it with her left. It was an accident, of course. He didn't know how frail she was. (She was still pissed, though.) She nodded. Tessa chose to simply give her a small wave. "I-I'm Tessa…"
Sam tilted her head forward in a small bow.
Shane was last, stepping out from behind the others. "Shane Dyson," he offered, holding out his hand before pulling it back. Sam nodded twice, huffing. He gave her a look. "Don't talk much, do ya-?"
Tessa gently slapped his shoulder. "Shane!" she butted in, furrowing her eyebrows at him. She stopped when she heard Sam huff in amusement.
'...Strange…,' she thought, trying and failing at making a joke of her last name. She usually couldn't shut up.
Before anyone could try to coax any words from her, she began walking toward the small room they were dropped off at.
She heard Cade grumbling to Shane about something, and shook her head. She tried to open the door of the room, to find it locked. And there was no way she was breaking it down. 'Ugh, I HATE this.'
She'd always thought she'd be able to transform after a break from the electrocutions, but she had realized that she'd need more energy to do so. How ironic. And that energy would have to come from food, or sleep.
"You okay?"
Sam blinked, an realized she'd been standing in front of the door doing nothing. Taking a step back, she tilted her head toward the door. "Locked," she whispered.
Cade nodded, understanding. If Sam couldn't take a handshake, there was no way in hell she could force open the door. He positioned himself beside the door, holding the doorknob. He gave it a test bump, to see how tough it'd be. It felt like it would easily give, so he didn't put too much pressure when he pushed it open.
The old door gave some initial resistance, but once it was dislodged from the door frame, it swung freely. He walked in, with everyone trailing behind. The room hadn't been open for a while, it seemed. The room was okay at first, but as soon as they moved a few things around, the air filled with dust. It was made even more obvious by the beams of light shining through the old windows.
Sam saw a string of something snaking across the walls. She was surprised to find she didn't know what they were. She knew of common and conventional things. She still had all the knowledge she'd gained in the first few months she'd been on Earth, after all, but the "Service Station" they were in was filled with all kinds of trinkets and knickknacks and junk that she hadn't downloaded information on upon arriving. (She'd mainly stuck to speech and types of life forms).
Tessa took a seat near a pile of the strings before Sam got the chance to inspect them closely. The curious teen moved on to a strange pair of shoes tied to the edge of a table. They were faded, and had a lot of bumps on the soles. No one at the labs had ever worn such shoes, not that Sam knew of. They were rather small. She figured perhaps only kids wore them.
Sam crossed the room to a shelf in a corner. It was mostly bare or caged off, so she didn't bother with it. After a while, she found herself digging through some things in the far end of the room when she noticed it had gotten really quiet. She sifted through things more slowly. Nothing else filled the silence aside from the occasional squawking of birds outside, and the lone cricket chirp.
She flinched when Tessa spoke suddenly. "Well, bright side, y' guys met."
Sam almost jumped back when a row of red dots lit up around her. 'Are those flies back!?' She shuddered at the vague memory.
"Where's he from?" Cade asked coolly, giving a pointed glance at Tessa.
"I told you, he's a driver from Texas."
Sam didn't stop sifting, but looked over her shoulder and realized, with bewilderment, that Cade was sitting on his seat backwards.
"Texas?" Cade nearly scoffed back, unaware of the scrutiny he was undergoing. "Where, Dublin, Texas? Shamrock, Texas? Then why's he sound like a leprechaun?"
Samantha went through all the geography she had stored in her "files". She didn't have many cities, but Dublin was a big one. She knew Texas was the state they were in, given what she'd heard on the way. But the only Dublin she had on record was in-
"You'd get your ass kicked in Ireland for sayin' that" Shane muttered back. His expression was neutral, but frustration pooled in his blue eyes.
'So that's why his voice sounded weird? Huh. Still sounds distorted…'
"Well we're not in Ireland, Lucky Charms. We're in Texas."
Sam was fed up, and she rubbed at her forehead with her index finger. There were so many questions cluttering her already muddled brain, but she didn't want to blurt any of them out during this "clearly" important conversation.
Standing up, she kept her gaze straight on the door as she walked across the room. She could feel their eyes on her, but she ignored the feeling until she was back out in the open. The girl immediately felt like slapping herself across the face.
Why had she spent this entire time sulking, hunched over, and wary? She was free. She could go where she pleased, spend the afternoon outside, watching the sunset. She scoffed as her mind started running wild. "As if."
Still.
She could squat down beside a bush and watch lizards skitter away, or pick up some small stones and fling them at perched birds, if only to see them fly. She could foolishly go poking into holes in the ground, waiting to see what would jump out at her.
As she walked around to the side of the small building, where she knew she wouldn't be seen, she inhaled as deeply as she could, feeling lighter than she ever had while flying.
There was one thing that kept bugging her, though.
Her hand reached up to just inches away from her neck, where it froze. Why was she worrying? The cable, the battery, the button… they were gone. Still, she couldn't bring herself to even brush the fabric of her gloves on it:
The collar.
TTWI: So. That was cheesy as ever. I was considering throwing in how she felt about that thing, but I figured I could try to fit it in the next chapter.
SUPER IMPORTANT A LITTLE: I know, it seems like there's a huge plot hole kinda thing throughout the second half of this chapter, but trust me, it won't go unquestioned. If ya have no idea wth I'm talkin' about, uh... Nope, no plot hole here, folks!
I'm not one to be offended if someone comes along and tells me, like, in a literal list, typos or crap I should change/fix (even though them typos are NOT accidental), so, b/c I didn't say so in the last chapter, uh, yeah, anything I should correct please PLEASE tell me I hate having to come back and edit over and over again..
If y'all haven't noticed, I'm using the video "Everything Wrong With: Transformers Age Of Extinction" for help with Sam's habit of pondering things at the most… off moments. I obviously would be too dumb to catch all the plot holes myself. (Well, no, not pondering, 'cause that requires an actual attention span, and Sam's has been 'temporarily' impaired so…)
I'm sure there's a ton o' shit I'm forgetting, but I have to keep from rambling somehow… I'm glad you're reading, really. I know my crap writing is hard to get through, so ya know. But when one o' y'all favorites ME I'm just-?! ME? Why ME?! (Thank you though, it's nice to see when I check ma emails)
If there's a point of confusion somewhere ('cause lord knows I can't just be clear) you can PM me. I'd tell y'all to drop your questions in the reviews, but then I'd be contradicting myself. I like reviews, but not so that I can have a big fat number on the story stats. I'd just like ta talk with y'all! Hear what ya have to say, opinions, critiques, whatever pops into your head when you get through this...disaster I've created. (seriously, I realize it's terrible but I'm tryin')
Oops. I rambled. XD
Did I mention I have a tumblr? It's a side-blog, and as of now, none of my writing is posted on there, but it's there. I'm under the name synth-io. If you like that website better :D Since you can be "anonymous" and whatnot, if you don't really want your name anywhere. I get it. I wouldn't want my fingerprints on any of my shit, either, but, uh… that obviously can't be helped.