Mable: Quick note here, but if you look at the 'cover' for the fic you'll see a new picture. This is Vesper Ryce drawn by emipelloworld! ^_^ I meant to show it off last time, but I was in such a rush to post the chapter that I totally forgot. Better late than never!
Within Reach
Chapter 15: Run for it!
Warn of the danger, unwrap the tape, and run for his life.
What if the Slig didn't listen? He had no reason to believe him.
Then he did the best he could. That was all he could do.
What if he tried to shoot him?
Right. Take the gun first, get it away from the Slig, warn, unwrap, run for dear life.
The plan sounded so simple in theory, but in practice Abe knew that any little thing could cause it to unravel. He managed to make it to the lift undetected, the first step in this plan, but that didn't mean that the Slig soldiers weren't going to find out soon enough, and it wasn't possible to get their guns away from them. It didn't help that by time he made it to the next floor he could hear Sligs up there too, meaning they were already on his heels.
But he couldn't expose himself, so he took every opportunity to move quietly and sneak his way through. If he could keep this up then he could slip right back out just like he planned, but he wasn't counting on the Slig to stay quiet. He would need another plan. Maybe climb to the upper walkways, cross over above the exit, find a way down, sneak out without them spotting; that might work.
Abe was really glad he chugged that Expresso now as he was wired as he hustled down the final hallway towards the break room. The Slig was right where he left him, laying on the floor defeated, waiting for someone to come find him. His head lifted almost excitedly when he heard someone coming, only to spot a familiar blue Mudokon sprinting towards him and started thrashing and giving muffled cries.
Abe slid to a stop alongside him and quickly looked him over before finding his gun half tucked under his side. He tossed it further down the hall before reaching for the Slig, hesitating momentarily, and then grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to sit still and look back at him.
"Hey, you gotta listen to me, okay? I know you don't want to. You're probably really scared right now, but you've gotta listen," Abe whispered. He tried to be firm, but it was undercut by the anxiety surfacing in his voice. The Slig meanwhile looked a little offended. "There's soldiers downstairs and they're shooting Sligs who say they saw me. Have you heard 'em shooting and yelling 'accidental discharge'? That's them killing them and trying to cover it up!"
The Slig was staring at him. It was hard to read expressions with the mask and tentacles, but he got a confused, disbelieving feeling from how he pulled back and slightly cocked his head.
"I know you don't believe me, but it's true, and they're going to kill you too if they find out you're a witness. I already saw 'em do it with my own eyes…" Abe's gaze dropped with guilt before he looked back down the hall with paranoia. He was running out of time, he had to finish this. Swallowing thickly, mouth still strong with the bitter taste of Expresso, he turned back to the Slig and began to cautiously peel off the tape.
"So… So, I'm gonna let you go and then I'm gonna make a run for it. If you know what's good for you, you will too," Abe finished.
With a firm yank, he managed to pull aside a large tangle of tape and freed up the Slig's right hand. It instantly began to swat at him. Abe jumped to his feet, seeing his job was done, and made a run down the hall past him. The Slig craned his head back enough to see Abe snatch up his gun and carry it off with him. He groaned and reached down to peel the tape off his other arm with a muffled whine.
After a painstaking process of peeling off the tape from his body, the Slig ripped the last piece off his tenacles with a yelp. He cringed both at the pain and the hideous noise, then threw down the tape with a frustrated grunt.
"That stitched lipped psycho!" the Slig yelled. Though his anger was short lived and quickly switched to dread as he turned back down the hall, making sure the Mudokon hadn't heard him and was coming back. He wasn't, and he grumbled as he pushed himself off the unforgiving floor. "Blue skinned feathered freakshow- stole my gun. If he thinks he's gonna use that with those clodhopping paws of his, he's got another thing coming."
The Slig started to hustle down the hallway after him, only to suddenly realize what he was doing- "The hell am I doing?" -and turn and run back towards his office. Only to stop again before he got even a few steps down and turning back. That Abe guy had said something about soldiers and while he didn't believe him for a second on anything else, he did believe there were soldiers nearby. He could hear their voices if he listened really closely.
He could go out onto the walkway and call for help, but that would mean following the blue Mudokon's footsteps. If that Abe guy came back- "I ain't going to cower from some scrawny little skin bag! If he comes back then I'll show him I don't need a gun to knock him on his ass!" he proclaimed, then cautiously began to creep along the wall down the hallway. It turned out it wasn't necessary because Abe wasn't coming back.
The Slig carefully stepped out onto the walkway and peered down over the railing at the production floor. It was a far cry from what he had last seen of it. All of the working Mudokons were gone and the only Sligs he could see walking around were wearing much thicker gear than any security working in a place like this. One was passing close by, and he flailed his arms to catch their attention.
"Hey! Up here! Hello!" he called. The soldier turned its head to look at him and in return he pointed both hands down the walkway. "That Abe guy?! That blue Mudokon with freaky powers?! Yeah, he just went that way and he's got my gun!"
"Are you sure?" the soldier asked. The question sounded so weirdly nonchalant, like maybe he didn't believe him.
"What- Whaddya mean 'am I sure'?! The guy just ran by! I just spent the last five minutes peeling duct tape off my face!" the Slig cried, punctuating it by pointing at a piece of blue still stuck to his arm. He began peeling it off with his nail as the soldier's gaze followed down the walkway before he slowly raised his communicator towards his mouth.
"Target may still be on site. Witness spotted target on the walkways heading westward," he muttered into it.
"Heading towards Lift B. Got any visual?"
"Negative."
"Got it. Contain witness and keep yer gear on."
"Yeah. Got it." The soldier lowered his communicator and turned his attention back to the Slig witness, beckoning him. "Get on down here and we'll hear ya out."
"You want me to come down there? Aren't you comin' up here? That Abe guy could be makin' a run for the blimp!"
"We got men already on it, so stop being all drama and getcha ass down here."
The Slig couldn't say he was thrilled with how apathetic the soldier was about a crazy Mudokon being on the loose, but he wasn't about to talk himself into a court martial, so he began to make his way back into and down the hallway. He dragged himself into the lift and grumbled as he began to manually lower himself down towards the first floor. Today was really starting to suck; maybe he should've just holed up in the security office and waited for them to find him.
At least he was alive. He had heard horror stories about that Abe guy, but apparently, they were wrong. He was just some weird colored Mud with a bunch of tape. Maybe that was why the newspaper was saying he wasn't real, because he was just a lucky shmuck with a good arm on him. Kind of smart though, smart enough to try and play mind games with him before taking off with his only weapon.
The lift stopped at the bottom of the shaft, and he stepped out. He could hear voices nearby and looked down the hall to see a couple of Sligs further down. One was a soldier and the other was a guy he knew but couldn't remember the name of. That guy that always bought two pickled sausages and ate them at the same time, one in each hand. He did it out of spite after someone else said they hated the smell of it; he was a real cool guy.
So, he started over towards them, especially once he heard that his coworker was talking about the ordeal. Apparently, he saw Abe and a slew of Mudokon workers tearing out of the production floor- "It was like some kinda fever dream!"
"Yeah, uh huh," the soldier said. His back was facing towards the Slig coming down the hall, so he didn't notice him, instead having his full attention on the witness in front of him. He pointed into the doorway of the employee's restroom. "Mind steppin' in here fer a second?"
Why he would want to stand in a hot, smelly room was anyone's guess. Maybe he had to use it, the Slig didn't know and didn't really care, instead just dragging himself down the hall as the two disappeared into the restroom. He could still hear his coworker's voice as he ranted about the whole ordeal, just like he had ranted the first time someone told him to stop eating so many pickled sausages.
Until it was suddenly cut off by a gunshot.
The Slig stopped in place and straightened from his slouch.
"The hell…?" he muttered. That came directly from the bathroom. No warning or nothing, no cry to look out before firing at an unknown assailant, no sign of struggle. Just a gunshot and silence, and him standing there dumbstruck. He took a cautious step closer. "What the hell was-?"
"Accidental discharge!"
The Slig flinched back from the yell that came from the bathroom. Both from the suddenness of it and because that sounded suspiciously like what that Abe guy was saying earlier. Now, he wasn't some kind of idiot who was going to believe a little criminal after they attacked him, but that seemed awfully coincidental. Especially since the other Slig had gone completely silent.
That gunshot didn't exactly sound like it ricocheted or anything. In a bathroom like that it should've dinged around the metal and tile. Instead, it sounded a little too juicy. A thought that made some kind of awful dread rise in his throat.
"There's no way. This's gotta be some kinda mix up," the Slig thought. Though that didn't stop him from taking the quietest step he could backwards. Because maybe that Abe guy was playing with his mind, but maybe he wasn't.
Not that it mattered much. He didn't even get a full step back before he heard the pants of another, and the soldier stepped out of the restroom alone. Any hope that he could skirt by was dashed as the soldier instantly noticed him and turned in his direction, giving him a nice view of the gun he was toting.
"What are you doin' back here?" The soldier's tone was brisk and full of suspicion. It didn't take a genius to assume that he might've heard or see something, and the soldier was making no attempts to excuse what he could've heard.
Unlike him though, this Slig worked at Evenwurst Wieners and spent most of his time napping on the job and stalling in the breakroom, so he was very used to making excuses on the fly.
"What am I doin'?! What are you doin'?!" the Slig snapped, barely managing to fake an irritated tone to cover his growing panic. "Here I am trying to figure out where I'm supposed ta go and there's guns goin' off all over the place!"
"You see anything?" the soldier asked. The question was so direct and sudden that it made him think he might've been found out. He struggled to keep his composure.
"Nah, me? I didn't see nothin'. I was just, err…" He paused for a long second before tossing his hands in the air. "Okay, ya wanna know the truth? I was taking a nap up in the breakroom, just a real quick nap, and the next thing I know there's guns going off and all these Sliggies walking around armed to the tentacles! Including you, which ain't givin' me much confidence."
"Uh huh," the soldier said. He seemed to be studying the Slig, who crossing his arms with fake impatience. He finally bought the act. "It's these guns we got. They lubed them all up and things keep slippin'. So, unless you wanna get friendly fired, you get yer tail on up to the heeliopad. We got an airship up there picking up staff. You ain't on it when we take off, we ain't comin' back for you."
"I read ya loud and clear," the Slig said. It sounded like he was wriggling off the hook, so he wasn't about to risk sticking around long enough to slip up and slide back on. He turned to head back towards the lift only to be stopped.
"Hey wait! Before ya go," the soldier said. "Whaddya think went down here?"
There was something cryptic in the way he said that and by now the Slig was too paranoid for honesty. Forget that Abe guy, he didn't want to be involved with any of this anymore. "Dunno, but since there's no Muds runnin' around, I'm guessing it was one of those re-volts they keep talkin' about in the Daily Deception."
"That's what it's lookin' like. Don't go believin' any rumors."
With that, he was finally let go. He could feel the soldier's eyes on his back, so he kept his cool and got back into the lift before raising it back up.
All of that had seemed to line up with what that Abe guy had said. They were killing witnesses, they were shooting down Sligs, then covering it up with the same term that soldier had yelled. Yet as the Slig made his way back into the higher floors, he began to grow doubtful again.
"What if what that guy said was right and the guns are all whacked out? Stuff like that happens all the time. Could be a lot of accidental shootings if their trigger's all slippery… Did sound like he shot someone though… But wait, yeah! Maybe he accidentally shot 'em. Explains why he got all weird afterwards, and it ain't like he's gonna go around telling people he did it, or cry over some nobody. If he was really off'n witnesses, he would've put me down with my back turned."
So, by time he made it back to where he was, the Slig had talked himself back out of panic and suspicion and back into business as usual. Well, the whole situation was awful, but at least he was getting out of here. Evenwurst Wieners was an easy job, but it wasn't anything worth bragging about, and the whole place reeked like boiling meat and pickling.
"Kinda wishing I woulda got that pickled sausage guy's name. He seemed alright…"
He snapped himself out of any moping as the lift jerked to a stop and he stepped out. He was going back right the way he came, crossing through the walkways, and hitting the other stairwell where he could make his way up to the heeliopad. It wasn't a short walk, but it was better than trekking around through any of the crowded lower floors. He passed the door to his former office and the break room before heading out onto the walkway and down towards-
"Hey!"
The Slig stopped at the call and looked down over the edge to see the same soldier he had seen earlier, the one he had spoken with that sent him down the lift in the first place. He hadn't moved from the spot.
"You're that guy from earlier, yeah?" the soldier asked. He knew instantly to deny it but fumbled too long, answering the question for him. "What are you still doin' up there? I told you to get down here, not quit screwing around and move."
"Hey, hey, I was comin' down there, but then I ran into another guy dressed just like you who told me to head up to the heeliopad!" the Slig defended.
"He was wrong. Get down here."
"But he told me to go get on some blimp!"
"Not you. Get down here."
Exasperation was suddenly replaced by fleeting confusion, which was quickly replaced by suspicion, and then the slightest touch of unease. The Slig felt a tenseness growing in his spine as the soldier's tone took a familiar harshness. It was the sound of a superior talking down to him, yes, but there was also something a little coarser about it. It made those alarm bells start to pick back up.
"Not you." That was it. That was the red flag. Why not him?
He stared at the soldier a moment too long before muttering out a rather unconvincing, "Err, uh, how's about- tell ya what- how's about you come up here?" He leaned against the railing trying to feign casualness. Maybe, just maybe, he could unhook himself in a different way. Maybe he could sneak off and get on the blimp, blend into the crowd, get out of whatever the hell this was.
He knew that wasn't going to happen when the soldier grumbled and lifted the receiver up to his face.
"We got a witness on the upper floor who ain't cooperating."
…He said witness.
The floor could've collapsed underneath him, and he wouldn't have dropped harder than he did with the realization of what that one word meant. Denial very quickly switched to panic as he realized that he was in serious trouble.
Slowly, rigidly, he stepped back from the railing. The motion was betrayed by the squeak in his pants, causing the soldier to cock his head and leer at him with a ruby eye.
"What? Are ya comin' down now?" he asked with irritation.
The smartest idea would've been to say 'yes' and then to go missing on the way down, but unfortunately the Slig was not thinking with his brain right now. Once again, his legs answered for him. He bolted down the walkway.
"Hey- HEY! You get back here!" the soldier yelled after him. He continued to yell, swearing up a storm and pursuing underneath the walkway- but unable to keep up because of the layout of the production floor.
The Slig took a sharp turn off into an additional hallway towards the back stairwell. "Get to the blimp! Get to the blimp!" ringing through his head. His mouth spilling forth a slurred gibberish of, "Hell no, screw that, I'm outta here!"
He ran right up on the open stairwell and almost threw himself inside before barely catching himself at the glimpse of a couple of soldiers coming up from the lower landing. One even looked up and spotted him with a, "What?" before he was able to turn and make a run back the way he came. By time he was back out on the walkway he could hear them running behind him, and it sounded like they were picking up speed.
With their better-quality pants and numbers, he didn't have the chance to make a wrong move, so he plowed on straight and frantically tried to think of what he was going to do. People were yelling orders all over and dozens of voices from below were closing in, all holding the thick graininess that came from talking through the swat-grade masks.
"This ain't goin' nowhere! I'm takin' him out!"
That was the only warning he got before bullets began crashing into the walkway and whizzing by his legs. It looked like they were aiming for his pants, which a few did clatter on the edges of the metal, but one got so close that he swore he smelled the bone powder. The gunfire hesitated momentarily, and he got a quick look back to see that the shooting had worked in his favor, causing his pursuers to briefly fall back as to keep from getting shot.
Here he had survived the Mudokon terrorist only to get offed by a bunch of upper management lackies. Maybe this was why the boss didn't work on-site.
The Slig turned back ahead in time to notice a vent sitting wide open just up ahead, the cover propped against the wall behind it. He didn't have more than a second to consider his options, but the kneejerk reaction was that a barrage of bullets just breezed past him, and he wasn't getting lucky twice. He barely slid to a stop and threw himself inside. His legs kept trying to go and he had to yank his upper half inside.
He got as far as tail in when he realized that some sacrifices were going to have to be made, and with the soldiers catching up it was an easy decision to ditch the pants and crawl inside. The soldier who got there first shoved the pants out of the way with his leg and hunched down before firing into the vent shaft just as he was going around the corner. One of the bullets ricocheted off the wall and sliced through the skin on his spine.
"Gack!" he choked. It only stung a moderate amount, but he knew how close he just got to being utterly screwed. He clamored the last amount of the chute, hands slapping on the slick metal and barely sticking enough to drag him along.
He crawled right out onto the cold, dirty tiles that made up the floor of the storage room. A room that he now noticed was almost barren before his eyes fell on the corner and suddenly the state of the room and the soldiers were miles away.
Because there was that Abe guy standing in the corner. Pressed up into it beside the door, looking at him wide eyed like he was the one that had reason to be freaked out. He was the last thing the Slig would've ever wanted to see.
"What're you-?!" The Slig stifled his own yell halfway through, just in time to hear the soldiers straight outside the door.
"He's in there alright. How do we get this door open?"
"I don't know. Looks like it's got some kinda lock on in. It'll be quicker if one of us crawls in."
"Well, good luck with that, 'cause I ain't doin' it."
The door wasn't going to save him, the Slig knew that much. There was an override in the security office and as soon as they figured that out, he was cornered. Though his panic was cut through by the Mudokon's panicked whisper.
"You led them here?!"
"I didn't lead 'em anywhere! They chased me here- 'cause of you!" the Slig snapped. Abe blinked at him wide-eyed, almost in disbelief of the situation.
"But- But I told you they were going to kill you!"
"Why should I believe you?! Ya just had me all wrapped up in a ball of tape!" the Slig hissed back. He snapped his head over at the familiar noise of something fooling around with the control pad. It was only a matter of time now, and he turned back to Abe desperately. "Quick, give me my gun!"
Abe looked startled and held out his hands with a quick shake of his head; he didn't have it.
"What?! Where is it?!"
"I threw it in a meat vat," Abe said, pointing back.
"Oh, for the love of Mama!" the Slig cried, slapping a hand over his mask.
But Abe was just as aware of the situation as he was. His plan to hide out here and slip out when the heat died down just wasn't going to happen. He was going to have to move, or he was going to get caught and shot. So, he started looking around for a way out and it didn't take him long to notice the lift in the back of the room. Not a normal employee lift, but one specifically made to carry product up to the heeliopad high above.
That was going to have to work. Abe rushed over and began to look for the controls, eventually finding lift controller dangling off the wall by a bunch of grimy wires. The Slig watched him warily, still not trusting the Mudokon to not pull something. Once he saw his interest in the controller, he knew exactly what he was thinking, and then he began to panic again. Because if that lift went up without him on it, he was as good as ground Scrab slaw.
Now, he could just run over and hop on, but then he would have to contend with the Mudokon Terrorist himself, who was just as dangerous as any of those Sligs out there if the rumors were true. He didn't look like much, but he singlehandedly took him down. That had to mean something. The last thing he wanted to do was get on his bad side.
…But he would be an excellent patsy to get on his side. It was a crazy thought, pure and unadulterated treason against his own kind, but maybe if he attached himself to this Abe shmuck- and didn't get seen doing it- he could get out of here without any more bullet wounds. This guy was a master of squeezing himself out from under the thumb of authority, and better still he didn't seem to have that much of a backbone. Just some meek little mud who blindsided him with tape.
This could've been the Slig's desperation talking, but it was looking like a pretty good deal when compared to having his brains splattered across the floor. Seeing the Mudokon about to press the button for the lift, he acted.
"Hey, hey, hold up!" he exclaimed in a hushed way. He crawled over so quickly that when Abe looked back and saw him coming, he tried to step back away, only for the Slig to stop right over his feet. He looked down at the crawling Slig with brows raised and his teeth tight. "Lemme- Lemme tell ya, if ya wanna get out of here, you're gonna need me. Got it? And, uh, like it or not I'm gonna need you, so let's just… ya know, do that."
"Do what, team up?" Abe asked.
"Yeah, that! Look, Stitches, I don't like you and you don't like me, but we sure as hell don't like dying more. We're all we got!" the Slig bartered. His desperation was becoming more apparent the further he got into his ramble. "I mean, you didn't just warn me to let me die right after, did ya? What's the point in that? And besides, yer gonna need my help. I know this place backwards and forwards. I know how to keep ya from becoming ground meat."
This was incredibly strange. Abe had encountered numerous Sligs during his ordeal, from common poppers to the advanced swat currently making their way through the building, but never had one asked him for help. He had heard calls for help or backup, but his appearance would trigger them to sober up fast and let loose with whatever they had. The Slig had to be desperate to even consider it- especially since it could probably use him as a distraction and get away.
He had a bad feeling that he was toeing the line on another questionable decision, but at this point he was pretty much deep in it no matter what he did.
Besides, not all Sligs were bad. He knew that from experience. That was what finally convinced him to cave.
"Uh, okay… Get on?" He pointed back at the lift and the Slig speedily crawled onto it.
"Ya ain't gonna regret this," the Slig said, more to keep up this ruse of cooperation than out of any promise. He did swear one thing though, pointing directly at the blue Mudokon as he did so. "But if you cross me, I'm gonna squeal so loud that the whole factory's gonna hear it. If I go, I'm takin' ya with me."
"…That's fair," Abe quietly agreed. He was already regretting his new follower, but he wasn't going back on his word unless he was given reason to. He pressed the button to send the lift up, triggering a warning beep and a deep groan in the hydraulics, and stepped onto the platform right as it started to rise.
Unfortunately, the whole process was a lot louder than either of them wanted. The last thing they heard before lifting up into the shaft was the sound of the soldiers outside the door.
"Sounds like he's got something turned on in there… Hey, see if we got any security left down here to get this door open, and figure out if there's some kinda mechanism in there."
"Hope it's a meat grinder, then maybe we'll get outta here faster."
The voices became muffled as they lifted fully into the shaft. It was just as chilled as in the storage room but smelled less like stagnating sausages and more like damp, old machinery. Abe looked up at the hatch high above, knowing it would probably open once they got close enough to it- not that they were going to. He adjusted his bag and started to look over the walls for another way out.
"So, uh… What's your name?" he asked cautiously.
The Slig gave him a suspicious sidelong glance. "Who wants ta know?"
"…I do?"
"Oh…" This led to a painfully tight pause. The Slig didn't answer him, it was Abe who broke the silence.
"Up there," he said, pointing towards a ladder against the wall a little higher up that led to a narrow hatch. It was probably a maintenance hatch from what he guessed, though he doubted anyone had come through it anytime recently.
"What?" the Slig asked. He scrunched his tentacles in confusion. "This lift leads right on up to the heeliopad, ya know. That's just gonna take us right back into all that."
"I heard 'em come in on an airship, so there's probably going be more of 'em waiting up there… and once they see you with me." Abe made a cutthroat motion with his thumb. "…But I got a plan."
"…Somethin' 'bout that don't make me feel real confident," the Slig thought. Though only came out with, "Yeah, whatever ya say."
"Follow me," Abe instructed. He walked up to meet the lowering ladder and began to climb up it, slowing down slightly to look back down. "You can climb, right?"
"I've got arms, don't I?" the Slig hissed. He then challenged the other's comment by climbing the ladder right beneath him, moving even faster than he was. "Get a move on. I ain't gettin' crushed down here."
Abe turned ahead and climbed to the hatch that he was able to force open with only a moderate amount of pushing, partially falling in before climbing in the rest of the way. The Slig crawled in after him and they were left in a tight, dark corridor. It was hard to see, so Abe followed the walls with his hands until he reached the end where he was met by another stuck door. This time he had to ram through with his shoulder.
He staggered momentarily before stopping himself outside the door, finding him out on the highest walkway, the one he, Alf, and Toby walked on earlier to reach the blimp. He cautiously leaned forward and peered down through the holes in the grating. He could see more soldier Sligs on the lower floors, and it looked like from this angle that they had gotten into the storage room, which meant they knew they weren't still there.
"Oh, we are so boned now! Those slime suckers dropped the vampwalk!" the Slig swore in a panicked whisper. Abe looked to him before looking around and finally realizing what he meant.
The sections of walkway that led from one side of the room to the other had been released from their tethers holding them up and were now in a lowered position without any clear way to lift them again. It wasn't just that the tethers had been lowered, they were completely detached, with the remains of them hanging from the ceiling while their other halves dangled off the ends of the lowered walkways.
There were a few portions of the walkways still remaining, including the outer path along both walls, but the gaps between them were much too far to jump across. Even if he did manage to get ahold of the lowered walkway, he would surely be heard and shot on sight. The only other option was going up to the heeliopad and he didn't really count that as an option.
"Odd, and now the lift's gonna be blockin' this door. We shoulda just rode the thing up!" the Slig complained. He looked to the blue Mudokon, preparing to challenge him, only to notice him eyeing the tethers hanging between some of the walkways. "You got a plan 'er somethin'? 'Cause those ain't gonna just pop back up. They're a real bastitch to reel in."
Abe was studying those tethering cables though. They were made up of thick wire and ended in some sort of latch to secure the bottom half. What caught his interest though was that the latch seemed to be covered in some kind of hard plastic cover. Maybe it was to cut back on the steam corroding the metal- not that it would work, but RuptureFarms had tried just as pointless safety measures to claim they were doing the best they could without paying much.
Those plastic covers didn't look like they would be too hard to grip. Maybe a little slick, but not if he really squeezed hard. Then it would be just like hopping bar to bar underneath a train, save that instead of grabbing onto something horizontal and secure, he would be grabbing something vertical and dangling. He would have to swing through quickly and hope he didn't fall, because like the train comparison, falling down into the machinery below was a death sentence.
"I've got a plan… I think."
"Ya think?"
"Yeah," Abe said. He turned back to the Slig, then looked to the tethers again, realizing he wouldn't even be able to attempt this risky move, and made an equally reckless decision as he knelt down. "Get on my back and hold onto my bag."
"…Why?" the Slig asked suspiciously. He looked over at the walkways and back to the Mudokon. "…Look, Pal- and I say this for my sake more than yours- but if you try to jump that, you ain't gonna make it."
"I know, that's why I'm not going to. See those tethers? I can grab 'em and climb across- or swing across. Something like that. I'll know once I'm up there."
This sounded like an impossibly stupid idea for the legless Slig. Though it did have its perks.
"That would be a real great distraction," he considered. "…But that don't mean they ain't still gonna put me down. You sure you're gonna be able to do that?"
"Do it or die trying," instantly popped into Abe's head. He inwardly winced and instead preferred to reply, "I'm sure."
"Huh. Guess it beats dying up here," the Slig mumbled warily and without any conviction. Abe turned his back towards him, looking over his shoulder and gesturing with his thumb for the Slig to grab on. It awkwardly moved its hands across the pack, trying to figure how he was going to hold on. "But we're playin' by the same rules. You try droppin' me and I'm squealin'… Hey, wait!"
He jumped back, as much as he could being reliant on his arms. His face barely scrunched in emotion, but Abe could feel the suspicion. "That's what yer plannin' on doin', innit? Yer gonna get halfway across and dump me off!"
As offended and angry as he sounded, Abe could detect the smallest threat of vulnerability. He had to say something, but he knew the Slig wasn't going to believe him. This was a "trust me" and go situation and there was no way this guy was going along with that. It wasn't like he could even spell out his reasons for coming back when he didn't even understand them himself.
But then it just suddenly clicked.
"But if I drop you, aren't they just gonna look up and see me, and shoot me?"
The two sat there for a moment.
"…You got a point there." Abe thrusted his thumb back and the Slig raised a hand in defense. "Okay, okay! But don't even think of tryin' anything. You screw me over; I screw you back."
Abe found it better to not respond to that. Instead, he crouched there as the Slig crawled up onto his bag, pulling tight at the straps and wobbling on his grip before giving in and hooking an arm over the Mudokon's shoulder for a better grip. As much as Abe didn't like his arm being that close to his neck, he preferred that over his bag tearing halfway across and resulting in disaster.
It wasn't until he stood that he realized how much weight the Slig added, but not too much to work with. He adjusted his slanted back and snuck down the walkway, trying to keep his own weight from making it creak.
He stepped out onto the remaining portion of walkway and up to the edge where it dropped off. He took a moment to look down at the production floor and could see more Slig security grouped around that door, along with a few patrolling down below, but none of them had the sense to look this high up. So far, he was still undetected, but he couldn't get too comfortable.
He looked up at the cables, how far they were apart, and tried to brace himself. This was going to be a very hard jump. He took another moment to ready himself, swallowing thickly and biting the inside of his stitches. He only had one chance to pull this off.
"Come on, come on," the Slig hissed behind his head. This was all he needed and while said Slig was still looking down at the soldiers, Abe took a quick two steps and leapt forward.
The moment plastic touched his palms he slammed his grip tight and caught himself at the end of the tethers. His body swung forward- he held his breath- and then swung back without his grip slipping. First jump made, so far so good. If not for the metallic squeak and the slight rumbling of the chains above it would've been completely silent. He jumped his legs to get himself swinging and jumped forward again, catching the next tethers. Only two more.
Down on the walkways below, a group of soldiers had congregated outside of the storage room door as one non-witness security Slig worked on getting it open. As soon as he did, a couple of the soldiers went in to find their target while the rest stayed outside to make sure he didn't sneak back out.
One of the soldiers was leaning against the railing looking as disinterested as could be. Arms crossed and gun dangling from one of his hands. He was just there for backup so there wasn't much reason to do much else, considering that there were plenty of other soldiers standing around locked and loaded. He watched the others scour the storage room with disinterest when he noticed a funny noise.
It was the squeak of metal, but not the familiar one of pants. Rhythmic with a dull creak that sounded like something almost swinging. It could've been some kind of mechanism, but it looked like everything was shut down. Then came a dull thunk followed by a rusty squeak and a dull swing. Now he started to look around and only then cocked his head enough to detect that the noise sounded like it was coming from above.
He leaned back and craned his neck back, and immediately he spotted the source of the noise up on the highest walkway. It was a Mudokon swinging on a couple of walkway cables.
"Huh?" He narrowed his eyes and focused in closer. It looked like it was carrying a Slig's body on its back and maybe it was the shadowy lighting, but it had a weird color to it. Almost like it had some kind of weird tan.
Or it was blue.
The soldier snapped to attention as he realized what he was looking at, pushing off the railing and snapping up his gun.
"Code 1-2-5! I got visual- he's on the ceiling!"
Abe knew what was coming even before the bullets started to fly. In the process of swinging forward, he leapt off the cables and grabbed onto the next ones, hearing the sound of bullets whizzing by as he fell under fire. If it had been a sniper, he would've been dead already, and he had spotted some of the soldiers carrying rifles, so he knew he had to get moving fast.
He couldn't wait, he hopped to the next cables quickly as more soldiers came out and more barked orders were exchanged. With the Slig on his back digging his fingers into his skin, and a long drop right into heavy machinery underneath. Abe had no choice but to immediately jump again on the next swing onto what was the last set of cables, only to have his flimsy luck run out.
The plastic cover on the right cable came straight off and with it slipped his hand. Abe frantically grabbed for the left with both hands, suddenly swung off to the side and released only to hit the railing of the walkway dead on and tumble over the other side. He barely caught on with his hands and then barely pulled his dangling legs up to keep from getting shot. The bullets cracked against the bottom of the walkway and the railing, one even breezing past his feathers.
As soon as there was a pause, Abe hoisted himself over the railing and sprinted down the walkway, keeping himself bowed over to avoid a headshot. He barely made it across and into the doorway waiting on the other side.
Still on the production room floor, the commanding officer of the clean-up crew had witnessed the entire ordeal from an unfortunate vantage point. Firing from his angle would've been no good, so he had to rely on his Sliggies to secure the threat- which worked about as well as he expected. That didn't matter now though. They had actual visual on the Mudokon Terrorist himself; it they played their cards right; they could end it right here.
He raised his communicator to his face. "Pursue at all costs and don't spare any ammunition. 1-2-5 will not be walkin' out of here."
Abe's head was spinning, and his heart was pounding. His vision narrowed in as everything blurred around the margins, focusing in on the path directly in front of him. He could only barely feel the ache of the harsh landing on his chest, but other than that he was numb, only focusing on fleeing. He knew this feeling well, but it had been a while since things had gotten so literally out of hand. It wasn't even the gunfire that shook him up so badly, it was that near fall.
It didn't help that the Slig on his back was currently yelling directly beside his ear.
"We are so screwed, we are so screwed, we are SO SCREWED! More screwed than a couple of bolts! Deader than a coupla- than that guy down there in that bathroom!"
He wasn't helping matters, but Abe was able to work around that. No different than having his followers getting riled up about a close encounter. At least he didn't have to worry about losing this one. He sprinted to the lift that he had ridden up with Alf and Toby and found it down at the lower level. Stilling himself, he reached out and grabbed ahold of one of the ropes, then stepped of the ledge.
"Wait, wha- WHAT THE HELL?!" the Slig cried as they plummeted.
Abe held tightly onto the rope as he dropped down, and his weight brought the lift up to meet him. He landed on his feet with a heavy thump but managed to keep his balance. He exhaled in relief and began to continue lowering them down.
"Wha-whaddya tryin' to do? Break yer own legs?" the Slig asked. Abe didn't answer, he didn't think he needed to. "…Y'know, this is just me, but I don't think this is such a good idea. They're gonna swarm us at the bottom."
He was right and Abe did know this, just was going through the motions because of the adrenaline rush. That snapped him out enough to stop the lift in place, just above the next floor, and think up a plan.
"…If I turn around, can you reach the ropes and lower the lift?" Abe suddenly asked, looking over his shoulder. The Slig seemed a little surprised by the request.
"Err, sure. I mean, I guess. I got arms. Whoa-!" The Mudokon spun around quickly and the Slig found himself up against the ropes. He blinked for a moment before reaching to take the rope and starting to manually move the lift. "You got some kinda plan? A better plan than whatever happened back there?"
"Working on it," Abe said. Then he proceeded to jostle the Slig as he started grabbing stuff out of his bag. He got out two bottles of brew, a half-dried wipe, a pouch of detergent, and was in the process of fishing for a lighter when he heard the sound of a group of soldiers racing down a distant corridor. Considering where they were, it had to be the same Sligs who were hanging out outside the storage room.
"You better figure something out, 'cause they're on their way!" the Slig warned.
"Keep taking us down. I'll- I'll figure something out," Abe said. His plan was already very fragile, considering that he was having to juggle ingredients in his hand and stand his ground so the Slig could lower the lift.
He finished up the smoke screen and instantly threw it to the floor in front of his feet. Immediately a cloud of fumes rose from the fluid and surrounded the two. Now working blind, Abe reached back to get another brew and detergent. Then, after some consideration, grabbed a pouch of bone powder too. He didn't even have time to put it, or a decent plan, together before he heard the soldiers above.
"Keep going," he whispered hoarsely. Only to be forced to drop down into a crouch when a barrage of wild shots reigned down. The Slig dropped as well, dragging the rope with him, and inadvertently yanking the lift down just enough to avoid the scattershot from above getting too close to Abe.
"I don't know what that gas is, but he's gotta be in there!" barked one of the soldiers as he paused to reload. Another leaned over in his place and was promptly hit dead-on with a piece of knock-out candy, promptly knocking him back and out cold. "We're taking fire up here! What the hell was that?!"
Abe reached up through the smoke to grab the rope and started to wheel them down again, almost halfway to the bottom. The Slig tried to stop him with, "I wouldn't do that-!"
Only to be interrupted by the ear shattering crack of a shotgun blast from below. Abe dropped just in time to avoid the shrapnel and looked over the edge to see that there was a group gathered at the bottom of the lift. The red pointers from some of the guns aimed directly on but not piercing the cloud. A cloud which was dissipating fast. He could already hear the sound of sizzling dying down.
"What's the plan?! What's the plan?!" the Slig whispered with panic.
The plan was rapidly falling apart right before Abe's eyes. Or it seemed that way until he realized that he was almost far enough down that he could jump down from the lift. A painful landing, but the adrenaline would catch him and then he could just keep going, and all he had to do was set up a distraction beforehand.
"Grab on quick!" Abe whispered. The Slig didn't have to be told twice and grabbed on.
Suddenly Abe sprung up and grabbed the rope to yank down one full pull, causing the lift to drop far enough that it was almost out of the range of the upper Sligs and now significantly closer to the ground. The soldiers below immediately released a barrage of gunfire upon the bottom of the lift, so much that the metal floor of it seemed to rattle underneath.
The instant he was given somewhat of an opening- a partial ceasefire to reload- Abe made his move. He threw down the bottle containing both detergent and bone powder and bathed the group of a thick cloud of smoke. Then he leapt forward, just dodging bullets now coming from above, and cleared the group to land heavily on the hard floor. He sprung up into a turn and threw down the second bottle on the floor between them, where a wall of fire instantly erupted.
Cries of "Fire!", "Whoa, too close!", and "Hot, hot, hot!" rung out from the other side of the flames. Abe didn't stop and continued turning to break into a sprint down the hallway. Bullets followed blindly, but they missed as he darted into the hall of lockers. He ran right past the Slig he saw got shot earlier, just managing to dodge slipping on the blood, feeling the hands holding onto his shoulders tightening as he saw it too.
They were almost back at the boiler room. Abe ran out from the hallway and made a run for the door, almost getting cut off by a soldier coming in from the right. The Slig saw him coming and just barely had enough time to plunge his hand into the backpack beneath him and grab the first heavy thing he got his fingers on before throwing it at the soldier's head.
Turned out it was just a normal bottle of brew which exploded in a splash of sticky liquid. Not enough to do anything significant, but the blow stunned the soldier just enough for Abe to skirt through the doorway and slam the door behind him. He barely got away from it before he could hear the bullets rattling on the metal. The world was narrowed in again as he made his way back to the hatch.
He found it fast and yanked it open, releasing a gust of odorous, significantly cooler air out of it.
Abe jumped down through the open hatch and landed in the slimy water with a splash, hatch dropping loosely closed behind him. Abe began to hastily wade through the water, his feet slipping out underneath him and him barely keeping footing, but he managed to climb out of the trench on the other side. The moment he was out of the water he sprinted towards the fence and the safety of the overgrown grass.
The Slig's grip slipped from his shoulders to his bag and the straps were pulled tight to his shoulders. The weight distribution was awkward, it felt like it was slowing him down. He sent a wary look towards the watchout posts only to find that pressure start to deflate when he noticed the Sligs were missing. They must've gone inside- he doubted they would've come down to wander in the grass. Either way, he made sure he made a good amount of distance before slowing down.
The Slig, however, had had enough. "That's it, I'm done. Let me down. Let me down."
Abe came to a hesitant stop and the Slig dropped off of his bag, unable to catch himself with his arms and instead landing flat on his belly. He mumbled and pushed himself up, raising his head to look at the Mudokon staring down at him.
He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Mudokons weren't the more intimidating of species, but in this circumstance- towering over him while they were standing out in the wildness, him without a gun or even pants- he was pretty terrifying. Or no, the bag was pretty terrifying, and the amount of explosive stuff he had packed in it.
"Whaddya waitin' for? Aren't ya gonna run off or somethin'?" the Slig asked.
Abe looked up at the factory warily, noticing that he still couldn't hear any alarms. Even when he had been spotted, they didn't want to draw that much attention. They would probably find the hatch soon and be out here combing the grass in no time. He looked back down at the, reasonably helpless, Slig staring back.
"What about you?" he asked.
"Huh?" The Slig was surprised. "What about me?"
"I just… I mean… You know."
"Look, the deal was that you and me work together til we get outta there, and we did. Now you scurry off to wherever yer gonna hit next and I'm gonna sit here until they leave and then go in and get my stuff."
"But if they find you, they're still going to kill you!" Abe pointed out. He wasn't sure what he was leading towards, but after all this he didn't feel okay with just leaving the Slig here. He would probably get sniped the second he walked off.
"I know that! Believe me, they ain't going to. These shmucks ain't gonna hang out long and once they're gone, I'm off the hook for good. You just worry about you, yeah? Just 'cause we got out together don't mean I need yer help," the Slig adamantly declined. "Now just go on… I ain't gonna tell anyone, so you don't gotta keep lookin' at me like that."
It didn't cross Abe's mind until that very moment that maybe the Slig was afraid of him. After all they just went through, he had to have proven that he wasn't out to hurt him, but he noticed how the Slig had hunched a little more since they started talking. Like he was bracing himself for a fight, and since he wasn't looking around for other Sligs it had to be directed at himself.
Abe didn't like it, but he tightened his lips and nodded. He took a few steps back and then, without anything else to say, turned to walk off in the direction of the blimp.
He did what he had set out to do. He rescued all of the slaves from here, he had gotten a plentiful amount of food and tools for the village, he had gotten some supplies for his next endeavor, and he even worked with and saved a Slig.
He should've been happy with that.
…But he wasn't.