I'm hoping these chapters are coming out properly. As of the last two updates I've experienced an odd glitch where the app refused to acknowledge the new chapters existence and I had to fight it for a few days. Everything seems to have calmed down and I hope that the issues have been fixed. Either way, thank you for sticking around and reading on. As always, your thoughts, criticisms and otherwise interest is greatly appreciated. I hope to get to the rest of the gang soon and really flesh out some of the ideas. I also have plans for an actual night shift section further down the line, so look forward to that! It probably won't happen in the near future but it's in the works. Anywho, thank you and peace for now.
Freddy watched the light dissappear up the stairs, fighting down an irrational anger that had flared up while watching the crazed man work. He took long 'breaths' to calm the quietly studdering music box in his chest- something that he couldn't control from his original programming- and looked down at what was left of Foxy. The music box flared in intensity for a moment before dieing all together. "I'm sssorrry. I hope yooou knew thatttt I had thhhhe best offf intentionsss." Freddy rumbled softly before turning to get to work.
He didn't trust the man whom claimed to be (and his programming told him, regretfully) the new owner of the restaurant. Despite his efforts against it, the safeguards around not killing the owners of any Fazbear restaurants was the only thing saving Grey from being throttled when he carelessly put his hands on his family. Though that didn't mean he couldn't indirectly harm the man, it'd just take a bit more effort and a good circumstance. Freddy set the flashlight back far enough on the floor so it illuminated most of the section he was working on despite not needing much light to see. Then he got to work sorting through the boxes, setting aside a few boxes with semi important contents and tossing the rest off into a far corner. He wouldn't admit it, but his begrudging respect for the young man had begun to grow ever so slightly once he explained why he was so persistent on digging through Freddy's life and trying to uproot everything he had ever known.
Freddy stopped for a moment and looked back towards where the rest of his family lay dead, sighing internally. He hated the thought of things changing, of the only home he could clearly remember being torn down by a stranger promising salvation, but he had nothing more to lose. 'Fuck it. This place holds nothing but rotten memories and dark regrets. I can't bring my family back nor could I save them sny other time. If nothing changes, I'll join them soon if nothing changes and everything really will be lost... though that might be for the best...' Freddy thought, turning back to his work of clearing the door. He nodded slightly to himself, now more sure of what he had to do.
...
Grey stopped at the stage, leaning against it for support as he tried to get his breathing under control. 'Run! Nightmares! The monster is back and is going to kill you too! Just get out! Why would you go back?! You touched it and even tried to save it!' His mind screamed in a panic. Memories that had been long suppressed had flooded to the surface when he saw it sitting there in the dark. A part of him had even rejoiced at the fact of his favorite childhood character still around after all those years. And then he had remembered why he hadn't visited the pizzeria since he was a kid, the trauma having been pushed down so far that even the nightmares were rare and forgetful. It had all come back to haunt him when he saw the bare endo laying sprawled on the floor looking more dead then ever. He stood there for a long time, his heart finally slowing as he worked through the pain. With great effort he pushed what he couldn't rationalize down with the rest of his ever growing pile of impossibilities to unpack at a later date. 'I'm gonna need a therapist again soon if this keeps up. Probably one that doesn't mind if I'm crazy considering I'm dealing with sentient kids robots and a lot of childhood trauma I only just started to dig back up...' He let out an involuntary chuckle at the pure absurdity of it all. Now calm enough to function and think somewhat clearly, he sighed and walked outside.
"Sun is setting. Guess I've been here longer than I thought." Grey mumbled to himself as his stomach growled in response. "And I haven't eaten since breakfast. Great." He chuckled, climbing into the cab of the rented moving truck. He turned the key and put the truck in drive, avoiding the worst of the many pothole craters as he drove around to the back of the building. It made sense that there was a loading dock built into the building, but it was weird that it was down in the basement instead. As he drove around the corner, he found out why; the building had been constructed on the edge of a gentle hill to where the back of the basement wall was flat with the ground. A loading dock sat along the nearest corner, half full of dirt from years of abandonment which actually worked better for him since the moving truck sat a lot lower than an actual semi. With some careful maneuvering he backed the truck up until it nearly touched the still closed door, putting it in park and shutting the truck off. He gave two short honks to notify Freddy that he was there and waiting before hopping out. "Well shit." He grumbled as his feet hit the fairly soft dirt. Hopefully they could get out easy enough with the extra weight in the back. Grey was broken out of his thoughts as the door clunked and screeched in protest as it was forced open for the first time likely in decades.
Freddy stood under the door doing an amazing impression of a heavyweight power lifter doing a warm-up deadlift. Once the door was over his head, he held it for a moment to make sure it wouldn't fall. After a moment he seemed satisfied and let go completely, looking over at Grey with an unimpressed look. "What? Nnnever watched aaa bear outttt lift youuu?" Grey just chuckled and climbed up onto the bumper of the truck, opening the door and stepping inside. He grabbed the provided loading ramp and bridged the gap between truck and building, giving said bear a wide grin. "So you can joke? Shit Big Bear, I didn't know you had it in you." Grey teased and walked across into the dingy basement, looking at the neat row of stacked boxes on the far wall. "What's that about? I get wanting to keep somewhat organized, but that's a bit much."
Freddy made a grunting noise and walked over to the stacks and opened one of the top boxes, tilting it so the contents were more easily visible in the fading light. "I kept these asiiide forrr parts. Didddn't know iff you wanteddd them." He said and closed the box of metal and wires. Grey nodded, surprised and frankly a bit ashamed. Of course there would be spare parts somewhere.
"I'll help you load them. We'll have to go through the rest of these boxes and find everything salvageable at a later date. Good thinking there, Fred." Grey smiled and gave the bear a light tap on the arm before turning back to the truck to grab the hand truck strapped to the wall. Freddy looked down at his arm in frustrated bewilderment then up at the retreating man. A couple notes of his music box leaked out, cut off by a sigh of static as Freddy grabbed an entire stack of boxes to load into the truck.
...
Grey looked at his phone and let out a soft whistle. "It's late. Just about-"
"9 pm. Yes, I'm aware." Freddy cut him off as he looked into the truck from the slightly emptier basement. Around sixty boxes of various contents lined the front of the box truck with three lifeless bodies leaning against the final row near the back. Grey shot him an equally annoyed and impressed look as he pocketed the strange device.
"Rrright. Not sure how I forgot you were a robot." Grey sighed and scratched his jaw where a short beard was growing. With a grunt, he hopped down to ground level and motioned for the bear to get into the truck. "Well, despite not knowing how we'll get you back to my apartment unnoticed, we might as well try. I don't really have anywhere else to take you." He felt like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders though it was likely just the eventful day and lack of food hitting him hard.
Freddy shook his head slowly and pointed towards the front of the truck. "I'mm riding up fronttt. It's nottt that I don't tttrust you, but I don't trust yyyyou." He rumbled defiantly and Grey sighed.
"Fine, fine. It's getting dark enough that people won't be able to see in the truck. Worst case scenario people think you're a furry or a cosplay suit." Grey didn't have the energy to argue and waved at the stairs off to the side of the dock. He loaded the ramp back into the truck, faintly noting the truck was lower than when he had backed up. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he closed the truck door and walked around to the side of the truck. With a groan of annoyance he kicked the tire that had sunk nearly halfway into the soft dirt. Freddy limped over to him and followed his tired gaze down to the stuck tires. Grey rubbed his brow in annoyance as one more thing went tits up. "I know you don't know much about the outside world, but that's not good."
Freddy grunted. "I gatherrred that. Would a pusssh help?"
Grey scoffed. "This truck is way two heavy for us to push. We'd need a truck to pull us out." He sighed and looked over, stunned for a moment as Freddy lifted the rear of the truck slightly. "Right. Overly strong robot. I'll put it in gear and get the tires moving. Push on the bumper and try to pull up if you can. Please don't break yourself."
Grey jogged to the front and hopped in, starting the truck and giving it a little gas. The tires kicked up loose dirt and tried to bury themselves further as Freddy gave his all. Inch by inch the truck moved forward while Freddy's body strained. He couldn't feel the exertion of course, but his system lit up with warnings of over pressure and ancient motors failing. Just as he got the rear tires within a foot of concrete he fell hard to his right. At the last moment he put his arm out to absorb the blow, metal snapping and bending as hundreds of pounds hit the dirt. The truck stopped almost instantly and Grey jumped out, running around to crouch down by the bear.
"Damn it Freddy, I told you to not break." He scolded, sounding worried rather than upset. He gently rolled Freddy onto his back and looked him over. The right arm was mostly intact though bent slightly at the bicep and forearm, his leg fine but limp. Grey sighed in relief. "Good news. You're not dead and I'm nearly unstuck. Let's get you in the truck."
Freddy cleared the fault messages from his vision and stared up at the sky for a long moment. "You're a dddonky." He rumbled, glancing at the now shocked man leaning over him. Suddenly Grey burst out laughing so hard he began to shed tears. Freddy hadn't expected him to laugh at the rude comment but couldn't stop the smile from creeping across his face. After a few minutes of shared amusement, Grey finally calmed enough to wipe the tears away.
"Did you just call me an ass? That's the funniest shit I've heard all week!" Grey coughed, genuinely caught off guard. With a wide grin, he helped the heavy bear to his feet and supported the weakened leg. They hobbled over to the front of the truck and spent a few minutes getting the hefty cripple into the seat. After getting him set inside and secured (the seat was all the way back and he had to slouch far to clear the roof) Grey walked around and got into the drivers seat. He put it in gear and floored it, the tires digging nearly half a food down until they hit pavement, lunching the truck forward the last foot onto clean ground. Grey gave the bear a light smack on the arm with a whoop of joy. "That's what I call teamwork, Big Bear!" He exclaimed as he drove around toward the front of the building. Freddy had to admit that the eccentric and strange man was growing on him.