Status: Redo of my old story

Silence Falls

Chapter 33: Take Me Instead

Days have passed, and no trace of Bert and Otep after Dr. McCarter's perplexing visit in the cafeteria. Everyone had no choice but to go on with their lives down in the underground mental facility in the secluded town of Silence Falls. As much as Bam wanted to take the chance and escape on his own out of his own impatientness, he knew deep down that there was no way he'd even get past his bedroom door alive without Bert's leadership. Speaking of Bert, where was he? And why has he been gone for so long? Could he be busy examining the newly upgraded facility all over again like he had before Bam came along? Who knows? Cris seemed to conclude that's exactly what Bert was doing in his absence. But what if he wasn't? What if he just gave up instead? Oh god, he better not have, Bam thought to himself from where he sat on his bed in silence with his back leaning against the cold concrete wall. The large metal door to his room was left open by the staff for the patients to trudge around during their 'free time' but Bam didn't feel like having any 'free time'. Door opened or closed, he'd still felt incarcerated at the end of the day and so he refused to leave the private sanctuary of his room. Cris must have felt the same way, for instead of seeing the girls, he lingered in the room with Bam, slowly trekking around the room in a dead silence, lost in his own meandering thoughts. Needing some explanations and not seeing the person he wished to interrogate, Bam went to the third best thing. Lifting his blue eyes, he called out to his roommate in a sleepy voice. “Hey, Cris.”

Cris didn't move to acknowledge him, but replied anyway in a tone that illustrated his preoccupied mind. “Yes, Bam?”

“Where is he?” Bam inquired, not feeling his natural combative self to request answers through intimidation and brutality. He felt too drain, like his body was already giving up on the will to ever escape...or perhaps it was the treatment he was fed this morning. It appeared different than the normal reds and pinks he'd been given since his arrival here.

Knowing exactly who Bam was referring too, Cris let out a depleted sigh as he gradually shuffled around the room like zombie. “I'm not too sure myself where he is, Bam.” Lifting his hands towards his eyes, Cris tried to rub the mixed of stress, paranoia, and fatigue from his eyes. “Bert could honestly be anywhere at this point. At least he usually was before they decided to bring in all this stupid technology into the picture and hindered our plan. Goddamnit, why would they do this now of all times when we were so close to leaving this place?”

Bam shrugged weakly and fell into a long silence. He tried with all of his mental vigor to envision what was going through Bert's mind right now. He didn't know the guy well enough yet to foresee what he was thinking, but that didn't stop him from trying. The only answer that kept popping up in his mind was that maybe Bert decided to give up completely on ever escaping this place. Cris knew Bert, unlike Bam, and so he had to ask him. “Cris.”

“Yes, Bam?” Cris said, rolling his head back so that his face was upwards towards the ceiling, his blue eyes falling shut.

“Could it be that he's giving up on us, and this plan of returning to the surface?” Bam asked him, watching Cris's face for any traces of emotion through heavy eyes weighed with fatigued. “I mean, can we be sure he's even still here? He found a way out already before. He could have just went back there and left us all behind for good.”

Cris rejected the idea with an hasty shake of his head, his face scrunching up in revolt. “Of course not! Bert would never do something like that to us. He'd never abandon us or this dream we've all been holding out for so long. In the time we've all known each other we've become like a family to each other. If he was going to give up for good, he'd surely tell us.”

Bam scoffed and rolled his eyes, not being able to visualize Bert having the balls to show up and tell everyone that he was withdrawing. “Yeah, that's what you say.”

“No, those words are the exact words Bert swore before Connor was taken.” Cris opposed back, shooting Bert a brief apathetic glare.

Bam looked back at Cris in disbelief, not accepting that sappy promise to be legitimate. But his roommate's blue eyes displayed nothing but the truth back at him. He wasn't sure why it was odd to him that Bert could care that much for these people to the point where he'd give up freeing himself to recover them all. Who would do that, honestly? Cris was certain Bert would, and who was Bam to disagree when he didn't know the guy at all. “Hmph, I guess Bert cares about you guys after all then.” He gave Cris a offhanded shrug and chuckled. “And here I was thinking the guy was just trying to look like the macho hero of the hour.”

“CRIS! CRIS!!” The two roommates peered up as just a Demitria came flying in, ultimately tripping over her own two feet and tumbling to the floor on her knees to bawl heavily behind her long brown hair. Cris and Bam urgently fought past their medicated stupor and rushed to her side, each capturing an arm to help her back up. Cris frantically swept her long wavy brown hair from her tear stained cheeks as she grieved. Bam, feeling awkward, tried consoling her by lightly running a hand up and down her back. “What's going on? Are you okay, Demi?”

“Cris, y-you have guy have t-to come! Q-Quickly!” Demitria seized a fistful of each of their white shirts and tugged as vigorously as she could to get them to accompany her.

“Whoa whoa! First, tell us what's going on!” Bam protested, combating her frail tugs.

Demitria glared fiercely at him. “Goddamnit, if you don't come now it'll be too late!” Seeing that her words weren't getting through to stubborn Bam, she wildly released her hold on them and then took off in a run out the room. It was almost time for the lock down of the night, but none of the boys seemed to care as they hurried with Demitria down through the stairwell that led into the cafeteria. From the open doorway, they saw a monstrous burly guard with his arms around both Onika and Alexis's waist, toting them towards the elevator at the far end of the cafeteria. Natasha had picked up an empty plastic trashcan and was whacking it against the guard's back to deter him.

“Oh my god, he's trying to take them down to Solitary Confinement!” Cris exclaimed to Bam as they simultaneously sprinted towards the guard who finally whirled around to address Natasha by knocking her off her feet and over a lunch table by using Onika's legs as his weapon of attack.

“Natasha!” Alexis screeched, tears running down her face as she and Onika fought, bit, clawed, and shrieked for the guard to let them go. Sadly, that wasn't what he was planning to do.

Bam and Cris charged ahead of the guard to outrun him to the elevator as Demitria hurried to Natalia's side and supported her back up. “Oh my god, Natasha, are you alright?”

When the guard halted as Bam and Cris cut him off to the elevator, the boys yelled.“LET OUR FRIENDS GO!”

The guard merely thundered his first and only warning. “MOVE!” And didn't give them a chance to heed before using Alexis this time to try and smack them aside. Cris ducked just in time, but Bam got hit and crashed to the floor. Cris saw the look of pure terror on his friend's face as the guard got closer to the elevator. Dear god, they won't make it down there, he thought to himself, they're not strong as Otep! It was known fact that they'd be beaten, tortured and raped until they stopped breathing. “WAIT, STOP! YOU DON'T WANT THEM! TAKE ME INSTEAD!”

Bam was sitting up and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth when he heard that. Demitria and Natasha were in paralyzed in place. Alexis and Onika were frozen in shock that he'd be offering himself up as a sacrifice for them. The guard scoffed and turned back around, obviously not interested in Cris.

“I won't fight back! They will!” Cris barked in desperation, but the guard wasn't listening, and had just reached the elevator doors. The girls began to scream again and cry in objection. Bam surged back onto his feet and charged at the guard, trying to pummel him down, but found it tough to do just that when he had to evade the girls being swiveled his direction to smack him over again. Cris seized the nearest weapon from the kitchen serving line and assaulted the guard with it without a second thought. “I SAID TAKE ME!!” Cris hollered, stabbing the guard in the back with a sharp kitchen knife that he hadn't grasped he'd picked up from the kitchen. The guard roared in agony before dropping the girls to the floor and whipping around to capture Cris in a strong choke hold. Blue eyes enlarged as his feet rose off the floor, his hands clutching the guard's wrist as he fought to breath. Onika, Alexis, Bam, Natasha, and Demitria rapidly sprang into action but were shortly stalled by a swift sweep of the guard's arm. The blow whacking Onika, Bam and Alexis in the face and causing them to fall back onto Demitria and Natasha. As they all strived to get up as fast as they could, the guard was already standing in the elevator. Before the doors could close, Cris gasped to Bam. “BAM, TAKE CARE OF THE GIRLS! DON'T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO THEM!”

Bam gawked in horror as the door closed, taking Cris with it to Solitary Confinement. The girls wailed as they all dashed for the closed door, pummeling it with all they had in them, shrieking his name over and over again. Demitria soon disintegrated to her knees and bawled into her hands, shaking her head. “No, no no no, this can't be happening!”But it was. They took Cris. Could he even survive down there, Bam questioned himself. In all honesty, Bam didn't believe he could. Cris was virtuous and not very tough. These guards are body builders compared to him! Bam slumped over, the girls weak and weeping on the floor. It didn't take much longer for the other guards to show up and lock them back up in their cells. No one slept that night. Not even Bam. No, his eyes wouldn't leave the other side of the room where Cris once slept. The room was silent, and Bam took that moment to cry in defeat.