PITCH PERFECT SPOOKFEST 2023 - DAY 7 - DYSTOPIAN HORROR
Summary: Artificial Intelligence has been left unchecked, and humans are becoming a thing of the past as machines take over. This is the story of one lone survivor.
THE ONLY ONE LEFT?
"Dammit," Beca muttered as she scurried around a corner and crouched behind a dumpster.
She peeked out and watched as two security robots started to walk past her hiding place. She ducked back as they stopped at the corner and started scanning the area. She held her breath until they began moving again.
She took a chance to peek around to make sure they were gone before letting out the breath she had been holding. She flipped the switch on her laser rifle and stood, quietly walking to the corner to peer around to see where the two robots had gone. They were still walking away, and she quickly scanned the area before stepping around the corner, holding the rifle at the ready.
"Hey, dumbfucks!" she called out.
The two robots turned, and Beca fired, disabling both. Beca looked around to ensure nothing was about. She quickly went to the 'bodies' and relieved them of their hand blasters.
"Thank you so much for your contribution to my survival," Beca said as she placed the blasters in her backpack.
Beca knew she was being watched and looked up to see a security camera aimed at her. She flipped off the camera and took another quick look around, knowing that she wouldn't be alone for long. She secured her backpack and began her trek back to her "home base," easily avoiding the cameras she knew would be tracking her.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 7~~
Later that night, Beca stood in front of the freezer section of her hideout, staring through the glass at all the meal options available to her.
"Hmm, mac and cheese," Beca said. "Or maybe the meatball hot pocket. Decisions, decisions."
A sound came from behind Beca, and she put a hand on the guns stuck in her waistband and looked at the glass to see if she could see anything moving about behind her. Seeing nothing, she slowly turned to her right, pretending to be still interested in the goodies behind the glass. A low growl made her stop in her tracks.
"What the fuck?" Beca muttered under her breath.
She heard it again and turned to see a dog sitting not five feet from her, watching her.
"Hey, there, big fella," Beca said, not moving from where she stood. "Where did you come from?"
She received another deep growl in response.
"He won't hurt you."
"What the fuck?" Beca said again, pulling her gun and looking around for the person who spoke.
"Why am I hearing someone speak?" Beca thought to herself. "I thought I was the only one left."
The dog growled again, startling Beca again.
"Easy, Max, she won't hurt us," the unseen but familiar voice said.
Beca furrowed her brows as she continued trying to locate where the voice was coming from. She then thought she heard someone giggling and whispered voices. Beca still saw nothing and no one save the dog that was still looking at her from about five feet away.
"I must be hallucinating," Beca muttered, lowering her gun.
She then heard, "Hey, Beca."
"Chloe?" Beca said, afraid she was hearing someone who wasn't there. "Is it really you?"
"I told you it was her," Chloe squealed as she came running from a side aisle, rushing toward Beca.
"Chloe, wait!" another voice called out before Beca saw eight others run out behind Chloe.
"Oh, my God!" Beca cried out when all the Bellas were standing around her and Chloe.
Chloe threw herself into Beca's arm, squealing, "I can't believe it's you."
Beca pushed Chloe away slightly and looked her up and down, ensuring herself it wasn't a dream.
"God, I missed you," Beca said. "How are you here?" She then looked toward the area Chloe and the girls had come from. "How did you guys get in here?"
Beca suddenly became nervous, wondering if the machines followed Chloe and the girls.
"We were looking for food, and Max found a way in, so we followed him," Chloe said.
"Did anything follow you in here?" Beca asked, feeling anxious.
"No," Chloe said. "We made sure of that, I swear."
"So typical," Stacie said. "Chloe shows up, and Beca forgets all about us."
"I know what you mean," Aubrey said, looking over at Beca and Chloe with a small smile.
"Come here, Max," Chloe said. "Come meet Beca. She's one of my best friends."
Max slowly walked over to Chloe, keeping an eye on Beca the whole time. Chloe reached down, and Max nuzzled his head against Chloe's hand.
"Good boy," Chloe said, kneeling to hug Max.
"Is he hungry?" Beca asked. "Are you hungry? I could fix us something to eat."
"Do you have enough for us, too?" Amy asked, chuckling. "Is that offer just for Red and Max?"
"Look around, Amy," Beca said, spreading her arms out to show the entire store. "I think there's more than enough for all of you."
Beca froze as she looked at each of her old friends as if trying to memorize their faces. She came to Chloe and was suddenly overcome with emotions. She had been alone for so long that she didn't think she'd ever see another living soul again. And now she was looking at her best friends, her sisters, her family. And Chloe, the woman who had stolen her heart and didn't even know it.
Tears slid down Beca's cheeks as she leaned back against the freezer section door and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
"Are you crying, Mitchell?" Aubrey asked, looking down at her. "I didn't think you knew how to cry."
Beca laughed. She hadn't laughed in so long that it sounded foreign to her own ears.
"I couldn't help it," Beca said, wiping her eyes as she looked up at Aubrey. "You are all a sight for sore eyes."
"So, I heard mention of food," Amy said. "What are we having, and when do we eat?"
Beca chuckled as she waved her arm around the store, saying, "Take your pick. There's a kitchen in the back, so I can cook whatever you want."
"Um, maybe one of us should cook something," Jessica said. "No offense, Beca, but you aren't that great in the kitchen."
"No offense taken," Beca said. "But I will have you know I keep myself fed fairly well. You'd be surprised at what I can do with a microwave."
Stacie laughed. "Let's decide what we want for dinner, and then we can catch up, okay?"
"I'd steal clear of the fresh stuff," Beca said. "The refrigerated section still works, but the meats and things like that have been there awhile. I'd stick to the frozen section."
"Ooo, Hot Pockets," Amy said, rushing past Beca to open the freezer door.
"Could you grab me a Meatball Sub Hot Pocket while you're in there?" Beca asked.
"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Amy said with a two-finger salute.
Chloe wrapped her hands around Beca's arm. "Almost seems like old times, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Beca said. "If you ignore the killing machines that are wiping out every human within hundreds of miles of us."
"That reminds me," Chloe said. "We really need to talk; we have so much to tell you."
"Yeah?" Beca said; Chloe nodded. "Okay. Is everyone ready to settle down so we can eat?"
Everyone said yes and gathered around Chloe and Beca.
"Follow me," Beca said. "I'll show you the kitchen."
"Come on, Max," Chloe said.
Max stood from where he had been lying and watching everyone and slowly followed the girls to the back.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 7~~
The girls sat around, eating and catching up. Beca heard about how they had all managed to find each other after the big battle against the machines. Beca's story was much the same; only she ended up alone.
"How have you managed it being by yourself?" Stacie asked.
"I was always a loner," Beca said.
"That's true," Aubrey said, nodding her head.
"And I usually didn't mind my own company," Beca said. "But this kind of alone is not something I ever wanted to become used to."
"And now you have us," Chloe said, hugging Beca.
"Yeah, short stack," Amy said. "The Bellas are back together again. We can do a reunion tour and call it the Fat Amy and the Bellas Reunion Tour."
Beca laughed, and it felt good. Maybe she'd make it through this after all.
"Hey, Beca," Jessica siad. "We heard about a jail where the machines were building a larger robot army. It's not that far from here. We've been searching for it and were wondering if you've run across it in your wanderings."
"Yeah, Beca," Stacie said. "We want to destroy it so they can't keep making more robots."
"I don't think so," Beca said. "There are a lot of large abandoned buildings, but I haven't seen any that looked like they were being used as robot-making facilities."
"Do you think we can use this as a home base and send a small group to look around?" Chloe asked. "If we find it, we can destroy it."
Beca agreed to help them and even provided weapons from the stockpile she had gathered over the last few months.
A week after the girls showed up, Beca was leading the team to a building that appeared to be creating more machines to help take over the world.
Beca looked down from the roof of the building where they were hiding. They watched as robot after robot came out the doors. Beca kept track of the time that the number of robots leaving the building became zero and a new batch left the building.
"Get ready," Beca said. "That's the last one for at least twenty minutes. We'll have to work fast."
"What's our next step, Beca?" Aubrey asked.
"We need to set the bombs to create the most destruction possible," Beca told the ragtag group. "And the building needs to be totally destroyed so they can't use it to make anymore."
Beca looked at Chloe, who was smiling lovingly at her. "Um, Chloe, you're with me. We'll take out the front. Aubrey, you and Stacie take out the back. Cynthia, you and Lily take this side; Jessica, you and Ashley have the other side."
"What about me?" Amy asked. "What do I get to do?"
"You stay up here and be our eyes," Beca said. "Alert us if any other machines show up."
"You got it, Cap'n," Amy said, squinting her eyes as she started looking about. "It's all clear now."
"Let's go," Beca said, standing and running toward the fire escape ladder to their right.
Later that night, the girls were celebrating their victory. Amy, Cynthia, and Lily had raided a nearby liquor store, and Jessica and Ashley prepared them a hero's feast.
Beca held her beer up and said, "Here's to never being alone again!"
"Hear! Hear!" the others cheered as they tapped bottles and glasses.
"I think we should call it a night," Aubrey said. "We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."
The girls agreed, and everyone helped clean up from dinner. Once everything had been put away, they headed for the "bedroom" they had all been sharing and got comfortable.
Chloe grabbed Beca and pulled her down onto their makeshift bed. Beca wrapped her arms around her and sighed.
"I've missed this," Beca mumbled.
"Don't worry, Beca," Chloe said. "You'll never be alone again."
Beca snuggled into Chloe and whispered, "I love you."
"I know," Chloe whispered back. "I love you, too."
Beca had never felt so safe and loved as she did at that moment. She sighed again and closed her eyes, content in the knowledge that she was with Chloe again.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 7~~
Beca slowly opened her eyes. The cold seemed to penetrate every bone in her body. The eerie silence that surrounded her was deafening. She reached over to pull Chloe to her for extra warmth. And just like every other time, Chloe wasn't there, and Beca was alone in the darkness again with nothing but memories.
