45. Ben didn't drown
Robert stood up and ran towards the monitor, he started ripping the post-it notes from the wall and reading through them fast. Zelda crouched down to touch the water and started weeping. The water felt like it would start to freeze over any second. She didn't allow herself to continue crying, that wasn't helpful at all, Link just dived in there, and THAT has to be because he thought they could still be alive. She stood up and ran towards Lee to see if she could be of help in any way.
Lee was typing commands on the old keyboard; he was following the instructions on the post-it notes to safely open the drains without flooding the whole building. Everything was moving fast and according to plan, until the system demanded a code to finally drain out the water, a code he could not find in the notes. He stared pulling at his hair and hitting on the table.
ZELDA POV
"What is wrong? What can I do?" Zelda asks fearing she may be too incompetent to help.
"I need a code, I don't want to start guessing on it, it could take hours or lock itself down due to many failed attempts" Lee says in anger
A code, that is like a password, right?
She looked down to the folder she had and opened it, on the inside of the folder there was a sticker with a serial number on it, she showed it to Lee.
"Try that" she says in a demanding tone.
Lee looked at it and cursed while typing it, then pressed enter. They waited for a few seconds, the image on the monitor appeared to have frozen, Zelda was about to start screaming when they heard a heavy clank, and then the sound of running water. They both looked at each other and ran towards the trap door, the water was actually draining fast, but not fast enough for both of them.
Good, its draining, I have to look for towels or something in case is needed.
Zelda started running around again searching for towels, Lee was slowly breathing to calm himself as he looked at the folder's content, it had photos and information on the kids, the ages were between 5 and 11 years old, and MOST of them were bought from their families, they only kidnaped 5 of them. Lee closed the folder and was about to rip it in anger but stopped himself from doing so.
"I found one, but it's a gym one… its small but better than noting" Zelda announces, but Robert didn't even reacted. Zelda approaches placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"
"Most of them were bought, their families sold them, people who bow to protect and care for them… how much were they sold for? I hope those families PAY for this, may their soul eternally bur-"
"STOP IT, LEE. You don't know, maybe they had no other option, maybe the rest of their family was in danger, maybe the weight of this decision will end up making them suicidal, YOU DON'T KNOW" Zelda yells at him.
"Hehe, suicidal... I SURE HOPE SO. I find it stupid to still have hope for humanity, ANY ANIMAL is more capable of empathy than us... So far, I have only seen and experienced the worst of the naked ape" Lee answers
"So… even I AM the worst humanity has to offer?" Zelda asks in a challenging tone
"WHAT? NO, meeting the both of you was…" Robert sighs in defeat "I get it"
"Good, just do yourself a favor and stop generalizing, it's a mistake to assume the worse FROM EVERYONE, ALL THE TIME" Zelda tells him softly
The Princess moves to stare at the trapdoor again, the water was almost drained, the railing stairs to go down were now visible.
"We should go down there, see if we can help" Zelda suggests
"Let me go first… and be prepared, you may not like what you see, if there is anyone still alive, they can't see you crying, they need to see you strong to feel safe, got it?" Lee warns her
Zelda nods at him. and watches his slow descend, after a while Lee scream for her to come down now, and to do it slowly since everything is still wet; she could slip and fall. Zelda begins her descend slowly, her hands sticking to the steps of the ladder, due to the clashing temperature between her hands and the iron.
Dear goddesses, how cold was the water? Why where the kidnappers using almost freezing water. I should ask Lee… but I am not sure I want to know the answer.
The Princess was thinking as she reached the bottom of the ladder. Lee was kind of preventing her from turning from the ladder.
"What is wrong?" The Princess asks
"Deep breaths, remember you MUST be strong" Lee says before turning himself heading towards a sobbing sound
Did I hear sobs? They are alive? WE DID IT!
Zelda starts running, but as soon as she approached Lee, she began to see children laying on the floor, some of them blue, some with their mouths and eyes wide open, all of them chained to the floor and pretty death. Zelda's eyes began to tear a little but then she hears the sobs again. Looking ahead she saw Link carrying a boy in his arms, he was trying to warm up the child by rubbing him. there was also a preteen girl latched on his back, hugging him with her legs and arms, she was trembling.
LINK POV
*Was It fair to ask THAT of him? you should have stayed and done it yourself
NO, no time, he IS ME, he works well under pressure, and he will understand what to do better than me, he is a rail engineer after all, even if he doesn't remember.
He was thinking as he dived into the freezing water, soon he began to see the children´s bodies semi floating, most of them had died with their mouth and eyes open, they appeared to be chained by their feet to the floor, preventing them from even trying to float for air.
Damn, I was TOO FUCKING LATE
Link was about to head back when he heard a scream, he started looking for the source and there, on the celling in a corner of the room were a pair of legs pedaling the water. He immediately swam there, glad to have unplugged that cable before, apparently that prevented the room from completely filling with water.
"I am here, grab on to me" Link said as he emerged from the water
"BEN IS DROWNING!" the girl screamed looking to her right. a boy no older than 6 was slowly slipping under the water
Link immediately dived to retrieve the boy, he hadn't sunk that far, grabbing and pulling him back to the surface was not complicated, the concern was checking if he can still breathe. Once Link reached the surface carrying Ben, he rested a leg on the top of a tall shelf under them, this to use his leg as a surface to sit Ben on and check on his vitals, also supervise his breathing and prevent him from sleeping do to the cold.
"Your name?" Link asks the girl as he continues to rub and slap Ben's back, to stimulate circulation and keep him awake.
"Millie" answers the girl shivering
"Get here and hug my back Millie, we need to stay warm" Link orders her
Millie slowly tried to swim towards Link, he helped her by grabbing her hand once she was close enough and pulled her in. She hugged him and immediately placed her legs around his torso too. It was cold but he oddly felt a little warm. She started to verbalize several times but never really finished even a word.
*Dude, help her here, answer any question she may have to appease her.
"Ben is fine, just very sleepy, I can't allow him sleep for safety reasons. I… no, WE are here to help, my friends are out there trying to drain the water down here, it shouldn't take them that long, we just have to wait a few mi-" A metal cranking sound is heard, Link laughs a little in amusement and relief.
Well, that was FAST engineer.
"It appears that we are getting drained NOW" Link smiles as they start to hear the water draining out. After a few minutes the water level had lowered a lot, but Link stayed standing on top of the tall shelf he had used for support previously.
"If you need to… you can put us down, we must be heavy" Millie tells him, she doesn't want to bother him in any way. He appears to be helping so the least she can do is to NOT be an inconvenience.
"NO, you both must stay away from the cold water, we are staying here on the shelf until it completely drains, I won't let you down so don't even try it, got it?"
Millie's eyes started to tear up, [I won't let you down] the wording he chose… he could mean that he won't allow her to climb off, or that everything is ok because he will help. She really wished he meant both things, Ben deserved that… she didn't deserve shit. It was her fault the rest of them drowned, she managed to free two others but one of them drowned immediately since he couldn't swim, and the other soon went down under like Ben was about to do.
Once the water appeared to have drained completely, Link carefully jumped down from the shelf, mid fall he realized he could not roll the fall since Millie was latched there. He still managed to pull a hero landing that kind of focused the strain of the fall on his left knee and right arm, his left was holding Ben close. As he raised, he heard Lee and Zelda running towards him.
"Hand me the boy to dry him" Zelda says extending a small towel
Ben buried his face on Link's t-shirt, Zelda looked up to the celling and started blinking to prevent the tears, but soon recovered smiled.
"Dear, I get it… but you are wet and so is him, let me help you dry yourself, and let him take that wet shirt off so you both can warm up, ok?"
Link opens his eyes wide looking at Zelda, but she is being completely serious.
I… am NOT a pleasant sight, Millie could probably stomach it, but Ben is too small, I don't want to traumatize him in any way.
*I am with the Princess here, Ben has been in hell already, I don't think ANYTHING could scare him now, not even you. Besides, it's not pretty but it doesn't look disgusting either, we are just scared.
Breathing in deeply "the pretty lady talking is my friend, you can trust her, lets dry up a little so we don't get sick, just do me a favor… close your eyes until I tell you" Link asks, his intention was not to hide his scars from Ben, it was to hide the corpses laying around from Ben.
Ben closes his eyes as Link detaches him from his torso, he also lowers Millie so she can stand on her own. Link then proceeds to remove his t-shirt. Lee stares at Link's torso in shock and looks at Zelda, she gives him half a smile and mouths ¨later¨ holding her palm up to signal Lee to stop his thought rail. Millie also stares perplexed, Link notices the eyes on him. He raises his glance to meet Millies's.
She doesn't look scared or disgusted, that is good, but she looks broken and remorseful.
"You had nothing to do with what happened here, you did what you could… and if it is the sight of me what disturbs you, know that it's an old wound, not your fault at all either" Link adds winking at her, he was trying to bring a smile to her face, to erase that look of guilt.
Millie heard him and smiled a little, her mind believed everything he said, but her heart still tormented her, she failed them all. She glanced at all the corpses laying around and truly felt that she would be better off dead with them.
Link reaches for Ben and carries him to the ladder, Ben had his eyes closed as he promised, but Link still shielded his eyes with his hand… the boy doesn't need to see the fate of the rest of the children. Once they climbed out of the basement and down to the first floor, Link hands Ben to Zelda.
"They both need sun; I need to take care of a few things here" Link informs the Princess
"Got it" Zelda says as she carries Ben and grabs Millie's hand to pull her out to the sun too.
Once they headed out Lee gathers enough courage to ask "What do you need?" he knew they weren't done yet, but after the basement he could not focus, he depended on Link's direction to still be considered an asset.
"I will call SWORD to notify what happened, and ask what I should do with Ben and Millie, would you find me some dry clothes to put on? An something for the kids too if possible" Link asks
Lee nods and begins his search, he found a relatively clean t-shirt with Iron Man, so he took that one from a guy who was wearing it, He thought Ben will definitely love it. He continued to search but could not find anything else that was not blood stained, so he took his own shirt off for Millie and stripped a few diseased for clothes that could fit Link and himself.
"I told you it was a good idea; he has shooting skills that would put to shame half of the department"
"Are you telling me you allowed an UNDERAGE to use a gun?" the General asks trying to keep his calm
"I saved 2 of the kids, and to do so I did what I had to do, isn't that SWORD's creed?" Link answers justifying his decision.
"You DISOBEYED direct orders, you are not getting paid for this, in short we will let you know the location of the hotel you are heading to."
"Fair, but I actually NEED money, do send some to rent movies and videogames, and maybe grab some pick up food?" Link asks crossing his fingers
"FUCK YOU KID, the organization is not paying for your entertainment"
"Did I say it was for me? I may be complete human failure, but even I am not that selfish, everything I have done so far is for the kids, and that will continue to be my commission for as long as they remain under my care. I will be waiting for the hotel's direction and for the deposit" the General groans "don't complain, do it for the kids" Link hangs laughing.
Lee is standing in front of Link, he is wearing a t-shirt with bullet holes and blood stains, the brunet proceeds to throws some stained jeans and a torn shirt at him.
"These clothes are from the diseased right?" Link asks closing an eye
"They are, is there a problem with that?" Robert asks lifting an eyebrow
"No, it's perfect, thanks" Link starts to change
"Do you need anything else? Maybe the folder with the info about the children…"
"That exist? I want… Leave everything, SWORD's cleaners are coming in shortly, they will take care of EVERYTHING, we must go to a hotel, there we wait for the social workers to retrieve and return Ben and Millie."
After that exchange both of them exited the building, Link walked up to Ben and started changing him into the Iron Man t-shirt, it fitted him like a pajama, but it brought a smile to his face. Lee approached Millie and offered his shirt, then turned around to give her privacy. It was a big fit, it reached her knees the arms where a little long, but Zelda thought it was perfect, if was long enough to fit her like a dress.
With that in mind, the Princess ran inside and came back with a belt, she used it on Millie's waist and opened the last button by her knees, all to make it look even more like an intended dress.
"Ready ladies? Lest go for the bikes" Link stated
Zelda stretched her had to hold Link "Link… I think I should ride with Lee, so both kids ride with you" Zelda says letting go of Millie's hand and turning to stare at Link pleading. with her eyes.
Link glares at her with a little doubt and exasperation
Females need to stop thinking we can read their minds
Link decides to check on the Millie, maybe the princess was trying to tell him something was wrong with her, so he approaches the girl only to notice she was completely out of it, his eyes widen as he grabs on her hand, then uses his other hand to grab on Ben's too.
I get it Princess, they ride with me, they need to regain temperature
Link nods at the Princess as his cell beeps with a message, he confirms it's a message from SWORD with the hotel's direction, he starts explaining to the children where they are headed now and what is to happen. Lee looks at Zelda with questioning eyes.
"Both kids are riding with Link since he is hot" Zelda plainly says
"Of course he is, he looks like me" Lee states rising an eyebrow
"OH MY… I did not mean it that way, but I am NOT saying that you are unattractive or anything" Zelda says distressed
Lee scoffs at her "HEHE, I know what you meant, I have touched him"
Zelda sighs "that said… I will be gracing you with my presence during the ride" Zelda playfully states
"PERFECT PRINCESS, because I have questions" Robert says deeply glaring at her.
Zelda stares at Lee in panic, not sure if he is playing with her or if he KNOWS, and if he does know did Link told him? she tries to find Link for reassurance but he is already walking away with the kids, he heard the exchange so he gives her a side glance, then raises both his shoulders to let her know she is on her own before turning away.