[PUNCH CLOCK ANIMAL] MAYBEQUEST: PART 1

[skinstealer]

 

MAY: Yeah, kids!
MAY: All of this is an attempt to get as many people out of here as possible. But, more than that, it’s turned into getting some kids out who need it!
????: …

  
His gaze is entirely focused on you now, but it isn’t as cold as before. 
 

????: Go on.
MAY: You know Anya, don’t you?
????: Course I do. Hate her guts.
????: She’s one of the worst people alive, if you can even call her either of those things. 
????: ...I know what she does, I know what this place is, and I know that trying to get out of this place in your position is a suicide mission.
MAY: We got this far, didn’t we?
MAY: Further than anybody else-

FULLER: For the- stop running!

  

 
Before you can really process it, a tiny karacel comes running up to both of you, and your blood runs ice cold. Your tail reaches out to stop her in the nick of time. You try not to let the panic show as you realize just how dangerous it is for Melanie to be this close to the beast, but you can’t stop her from wiggling away from your grip enough to poke her head out and sniffle. 
  

MELANIE: S-Stop it!
MELANIE: He’s hurting Chance!

 
Just what I need right now. Great.

 

  
You look up to see Fuller trailing behind, struggling to catch up- Mel must have gotten a hell of a head start. Mason struggles to keep up while holding Maes in his arms, not wanting her to run in her sickly state. 
 

MAY: Doc, keep ‘em back! This guy’s dangerous!
????: I’m not gonna hurt kids!
MAY: Chelsea threatened to kill them!
????:  That’s her, not me. She’s not calling the shots right now, and I...I don’t do that.
????: Those kids... Those are Anya’s kids, though.
????: ...you’re even more suicidal than I thought.
MAY: They need out. Doesn’t matter who they are.
????: I’m not gonna deny that, but no fucking wonder you’ve got us on your tails. You just painted the biggest possible targets on your backs. 
????: I’ve wanted to do what you’re trying to pull off for years, but it’s impossible.
????: Even with how far you’ve come, even if we let you go right now, you still have to make it through the surface levels undetected.
????: ...and we just covered one of you in blood.
MAY: We’ll make it work. We’re getting them out of here. 
MAY: I’m not giving up. None of us are.

 

 
No one else says a word. You get the feeling that it’s partially out of fear of the beast, but partially out of agreement- but maybe nobody wants to say it outright. In the silence, Dwayne sneaks over to check on Chance, who still isn’t moving.
 

????: I...didn’t know the kids were here. 
????: I wouldn’t have fought like that if I did. Especially, uh…

  


He glances down at Melanie, who looks up at him with wide, tearful eyes.
  

????: ...especially not somebody who seems to be important to them. 
????: All I knew is that somebody was fighting us, and when we get shocked or burned or shit like that, I tend to get dragged in. 
????: Just along for the ride.