Status: Redo of my old story
Silence Falls
Chapter 99: The Library It Is Then
After much beseeching and wrangling with Cris week after week over Bam’s rehabilitation, Bert finally acceded to release him from the Electronic store just so long as he was supervised by Cris. If the hothead decided to act up one more time it would be on the one who pushed him to be free. Cris consented to his stringent terms before running off with the ring of keys to release Bam. Naturally, Otep would object to Bert’s brisk decision the second she found out it ensued, but considering a fast-approaching peril residing in the darkest reaches of everyone’s mind, Bam’s release wasn’t anywhere close to being as pivotal as that.
Every night was becoming wearisome to sleep peacefully when the same recurring nightmare that preyed upon Bert in the daytime was now violating his dreams. He was becoming more and more paranoid over their safety as the hands of the clocks ticked down...though Otep would blame the sleep deprivation for that.
Otep had just depleted the bulk of her morning listening to Bert’s long concerning oration relating to them being discovered by the soldiers possibly still roving the region outside. Crazy talk was something Otep was used to being around after being detained in an underground mental facility for so long, but Bert’s words were legitimate fear, not absurd ramblings of a nutcase. The extremity of his anxiety was enough to coax her to consider his speeches as palpable probabilities. No one could predict when the walls around them would be breached by outsiders, specifically the soldiers that would most surely come spilling through the doors like ants looking for them. At this moment, every second was a risk just by remaining in this ONE location. Every second they desisted in getting away from this town was putting them in more danger! They were stupidly sitting around here savoring life as if reality wouldn't come crashing through the mall like a wrecking ball to wake them up from this fantasy.
And so Bert and Otep found themselves alone standing behind the desk in the manager’s office, hunched over a shabbily drawn map of what little Bert remembered was built on this deserted road.
“Alright, this is what should be on this road after it was ‘finished’ and before I was thrown below ground by these uptight assholes.” Bert shared with Otep who stood next to him, taking in everything he said. “So we are right here in the mall…across the street should be an abandoned library. I’ve been thinking that somewhere inside might be a map of this ENTIRE town. If we can find it, perhaps it’ll show some secret tunnel or a hiking trail that we can utilize to get out of this town without being seen.”
Otep pondered this for a minute before coming up with a proposal. “Okay…yeah, actually that sounds like a pretty good idea and everything, but...I’m thinking if we REALLY want to get a move on here, we head there tonight since the darkness will give us some added stealth after we come out of that tunnel you, Connor and Cris found. The more cover we can use to our advantage, the better, am I right?”
Grinning with pride, Bert patted her on the back in a brotherly fashion. “You are most certainly right, my lovely darling. The only question remaining is...should we tell the others and let them in on our plan? Maybe even recruit some to join us?”
Otep and Bert had both agreed long ago to be more candid with their team members by welcoming their opinions and assistance on whatever concept they both believed would be pertinent to enact for the group’s safety. However, their current plan didn’t require any more people to entail on this short excursion, and neither of them felt like it was vital to update them of something that was only going to take twenty minutes to complete either. In the end, the final decision was made.
“Wait a minute, what if those soldiers are still scouting around this area right this second? I mean, we could be walking into a trap and endangering our lives as well as the rest of the group.” Otep pointed out to Bert who let out an bothered groan before rubbing his face with his hands.
“Fuck! I didn't consider that.” Bert grumbled. Pausing to contemplate the solution, he finally spelled it out for her, ensnaring her eyes with his. “Look, if we return without a map and are forced to rely on only my memory from several years back then we will most certainly get arrested! However, if we do risk our lives for this map and make it back undetected, we’ll have a better chance at leaving this fucking town without being seen. There has to be another way out of Silence Falls without strolling through the damned town’s center to get there! We’ll easily get caught if that turns out to be the case.”
Otep sighed as she appraised their options. To go out there and try to escape with only Bert’s memory serving as their only means of survival after so many years of growth from this town seemed like a sure way of getting them dragged back into that subterranean facility again. The trip to the library would be a more reliable choice only if they could find a map of Silence Falls, and getting across the street by the tunnel could take maybe five or ten minutes tops if met with no interference. The answer was clear.
“The library it is, then. There’s no safer option.” Otep voted, leaning over to memorize the map with Bert as they began to conjure a quick plan before the sun came up.
_________________________________________________________________________________
“See anything, sweetie?” Bert softly hailed up to Otep who had hoisted the manhole cover to peek out into the night for any patrols nearby. Tonight they were taking their plan to action, both garnished from head to toe in black to meld in with the shadows of the night.
“No, no one. Do you think they’re on break or do you think they went back into the swamps?” Otep murmured, her narrowed eyes canvassing their surroundings which were uninhabited of life.
“I have no idea. Come on down, I’ll have a look around.” Bert ordered her, not foreseeing her to ignore him and ascend out of the tunnel into the cool night. His eyes nearly bulged out of his skill as he tore up after her in order to protect her from any soldiers that could be lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on any living soul. Poking his head out from the hole, hissed at her in outrage. “Woman!”
Otep let out a quiet laugh. “Oh, would you chill out, you little baby! it's fine, no one is out here.”
Bert heaved himself out of the manhole and onto the desolate street. He was still miffed at her anyway. “Oh yeah, and how do you know that!? They could be hiding in the tree line or behind these buildings!”
“I think the men Cris and Connor almost encountered were newly enlisted soldiers that think this whole mission of theirs is a joke according to what they overheard.” Otep comforted Bert as she headed towards the ivy cloaked library. “If they were still out here, I’m pretty sure we’d have heard them by now.”
“Again. How can you be sure of that?” Bert repeated as he followed closely behind her, his eyes whizzed in every direction for any sign of the smallest movements.
“I KNOW because of what Cris told me this morning before he ran off to talk to Bam. Those soldiers that passed over them didn’t believe their mission wasn’t a big deal and that this whole thing was being overly exaggerated.” Otep briefed, surprised to find that the library door wasn’t sealed and instead opened with ease. “They don’t believe it was worth coming down here to shoot us all down like rabbits while looking for some guy that has a boogeyman tale surrounding him that goes all the way back to their military base.”
“What the hell?” Bert snorted, trying not to snicker out loud at how outrageous that sounded. Allowing himself to smile, he helped her open the door a little further so he could peep inside. “The soldiers with the big ass guns are scared of the boogeyman now?”
“I guess so.” Otep shrugged, trying to stow her smile back while she scanned the interior to check if anyone had entered as of late. The library was layered with dust from the bookcases to the floor, but other than that it had been impeccably preserved. The duo cautiously stepped inside the library and shut the door behind them so no passerbys spotted a door cracked and decided to inspect the property thus ending in their demise. Little did they know that the security camera installed just a few days ago on a few overgrown trees nearby would be their downfall.
Every night was becoming wearisome to sleep peacefully when the same recurring nightmare that preyed upon Bert in the daytime was now violating his dreams. He was becoming more and more paranoid over their safety as the hands of the clocks ticked down...though Otep would blame the sleep deprivation for that.
Otep had just depleted the bulk of her morning listening to Bert’s long concerning oration relating to them being discovered by the soldiers possibly still roving the region outside. Crazy talk was something Otep was used to being around after being detained in an underground mental facility for so long, but Bert’s words were legitimate fear, not absurd ramblings of a nutcase. The extremity of his anxiety was enough to coax her to consider his speeches as palpable probabilities. No one could predict when the walls around them would be breached by outsiders, specifically the soldiers that would most surely come spilling through the doors like ants looking for them. At this moment, every second was a risk just by remaining in this ONE location. Every second they desisted in getting away from this town was putting them in more danger! They were stupidly sitting around here savoring life as if reality wouldn't come crashing through the mall like a wrecking ball to wake them up from this fantasy.
And so Bert and Otep found themselves alone standing behind the desk in the manager’s office, hunched over a shabbily drawn map of what little Bert remembered was built on this deserted road.
“Alright, this is what should be on this road after it was ‘finished’ and before I was thrown below ground by these uptight assholes.” Bert shared with Otep who stood next to him, taking in everything he said. “So we are right here in the mall…across the street should be an abandoned library. I’ve been thinking that somewhere inside might be a map of this ENTIRE town. If we can find it, perhaps it’ll show some secret tunnel or a hiking trail that we can utilize to get out of this town without being seen.”
Otep pondered this for a minute before coming up with a proposal. “Okay…yeah, actually that sounds like a pretty good idea and everything, but...I’m thinking if we REALLY want to get a move on here, we head there tonight since the darkness will give us some added stealth after we come out of that tunnel you, Connor and Cris found. The more cover we can use to our advantage, the better, am I right?”
Grinning with pride, Bert patted her on the back in a brotherly fashion. “You are most certainly right, my lovely darling. The only question remaining is...should we tell the others and let them in on our plan? Maybe even recruit some to join us?”
Otep and Bert had both agreed long ago to be more candid with their team members by welcoming their opinions and assistance on whatever concept they both believed would be pertinent to enact for the group’s safety. However, their current plan didn’t require any more people to entail on this short excursion, and neither of them felt like it was vital to update them of something that was only going to take twenty minutes to complete either. In the end, the final decision was made.
“Wait a minute, what if those soldiers are still scouting around this area right this second? I mean, we could be walking into a trap and endangering our lives as well as the rest of the group.” Otep pointed out to Bert who let out an bothered groan before rubbing his face with his hands.
“Fuck! I didn't consider that.” Bert grumbled. Pausing to contemplate the solution, he finally spelled it out for her, ensnaring her eyes with his. “Look, if we return without a map and are forced to rely on only my memory from several years back then we will most certainly get arrested! However, if we do risk our lives for this map and make it back undetected, we’ll have a better chance at leaving this fucking town without being seen. There has to be another way out of Silence Falls without strolling through the damned town’s center to get there! We’ll easily get caught if that turns out to be the case.”
Otep sighed as she appraised their options. To go out there and try to escape with only Bert’s memory serving as their only means of survival after so many years of growth from this town seemed like a sure way of getting them dragged back into that subterranean facility again. The trip to the library would be a more reliable choice only if they could find a map of Silence Falls, and getting across the street by the tunnel could take maybe five or ten minutes tops if met with no interference. The answer was clear.
“The library it is, then. There’s no safer option.” Otep voted, leaning over to memorize the map with Bert as they began to conjure a quick plan before the sun came up.
_________________________________________________________________________________
“See anything, sweetie?” Bert softly hailed up to Otep who had hoisted the manhole cover to peek out into the night for any patrols nearby. Tonight they were taking their plan to action, both garnished from head to toe in black to meld in with the shadows of the night.
“No, no one. Do you think they’re on break or do you think they went back into the swamps?” Otep murmured, her narrowed eyes canvassing their surroundings which were uninhabited of life.
“I have no idea. Come on down, I’ll have a look around.” Bert ordered her, not foreseeing her to ignore him and ascend out of the tunnel into the cool night. His eyes nearly bulged out of his skill as he tore up after her in order to protect her from any soldiers that could be lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on any living soul. Poking his head out from the hole, hissed at her in outrage. “Woman!”
Otep let out a quiet laugh. “Oh, would you chill out, you little baby! it's fine, no one is out here.”
Bert heaved himself out of the manhole and onto the desolate street. He was still miffed at her anyway. “Oh yeah, and how do you know that!? They could be hiding in the tree line or behind these buildings!”
“I think the men Cris and Connor almost encountered were newly enlisted soldiers that think this whole mission of theirs is a joke according to what they overheard.” Otep comforted Bert as she headed towards the ivy cloaked library. “If they were still out here, I’m pretty sure we’d have heard them by now.”
“Again. How can you be sure of that?” Bert repeated as he followed closely behind her, his eyes whizzed in every direction for any sign of the smallest movements.
“I KNOW because of what Cris told me this morning before he ran off to talk to Bam. Those soldiers that passed over them didn’t believe their mission wasn’t a big deal and that this whole thing was being overly exaggerated.” Otep briefed, surprised to find that the library door wasn’t sealed and instead opened with ease. “They don’t believe it was worth coming down here to shoot us all down like rabbits while looking for some guy that has a boogeyman tale surrounding him that goes all the way back to their military base.”
“What the hell?” Bert snorted, trying not to snicker out loud at how outrageous that sounded. Allowing himself to smile, he helped her open the door a little further so he could peep inside. “The soldiers with the big ass guns are scared of the boogeyman now?”
“I guess so.” Otep shrugged, trying to stow her smile back while she scanned the interior to check if anyone had entered as of late. The library was layered with dust from the bookcases to the floor, but other than that it had been impeccably preserved. The duo cautiously stepped inside the library and shut the door behind them so no passerbys spotted a door cracked and decided to inspect the property thus ending in their demise. Little did they know that the security camera installed just a few days ago on a few overgrown trees nearby would be their downfall.