Chapter Text
Escaping Papa’s place was something they’d always planned. But not this way. Not right now.
Thirteen squeezed Fifteen’s hand, scared that his own would slip out of Fifteen’s grip from his sweat. The hallway seemed longer than it ever had before, laid out before them, a seemingly unreachable door in sight before them. Screams of Eleven and—One?—came from behind them. But they kept running. They had too.
Nobody came after them. There were no footsteps behind them. Yet still, they sprinted as if a wolf was snapping at their tails. One mistake. That’s all that would be necessary, he was convinced. Even though he knew, he knew that everyone was dead. His siblings. His family. All he had left was his friend in front of him. Neither of them tried to slow or even question the desperate state of the moment.
They weren’t siblings. Not like everyone else. Fifteen grew up in a different facility, connected to this one. Thirteen's mind wanted to wander to when they were together, and happy, but he couldn't risk that right now. They had only seen each other only a few times before this day, but that didn’t matter right now.
Nothing did.
They burst through the doors, and the rain came onto them like buckets. The sky was dark but mysterious and wondering. Thirteen paused, for only half a heartbeat, taking in this realm. His pupils wens small and his eyes went wide, feeling as if he was zooming out a screen on a camera. His world well over quadrupled in size within only a matter of milliseconds. The clouds swirled above and a hill rolled out to his front, and the wind was harsh and loud, whistling in his ears in an overwhelming yet beautiful, gorgeous way. There was no sun and barely a sky, yet he was astounded and shocked to his very core. He felt a pull on his hand, and suddenly he was back within his own body. He looked to the back of Fifteen's head, as Fifteen kept running fast with his feet landing hard. Fifteen seemed almost unphased, staying in his own universe of fear. Thirteen followed, the terror getting shot within his veins once again.
With what seemed to be a normal step, Thirteen watched as Fifteen’s leg began to tilt and mud fly up into the sky, and then as his other leg went. Suddenly he was holding onto Thirteen for dear life as he was about to fall down a hill, his body swinging to the side and he kicked and kicked to get a grip on the ground. His lips were curled and his teeth showed to be clenching, with his eyes locking onto Thirteen and shaking. A thorough shiver went through him, as the weight of having to save his friend setting onto his shoulders. The sweat proved to be just as Thirteen thought: slippery as butter. Fifteen was gone and rolling down the hill as if he wasn't just there. Thirteen screeched, but as his hand reached forward to go after his, he slipped too. He felt his body spinning along the ground downward violently. His thoughts were everywhere and jumbled. His hands tried to stop him, but he tumbled over his own arm, going up for a minute before landing. There was a loud thunk and extreme pain in his head. The pain went away almost as soon as it was there and his vision went red. His body stopped. He got up despite everything spiraling. He didn’t even notice the traumatized Fifteen rolled up in a ball shaking near him. He just kept moving forward.
Right foot, left foot. Right foot, left foot. He couldn’t run anymore. Everything was fuzzy. What kept him moving was his adrenaline. A hot liquid dripped from his forehead. His legs finally went numb and he collapsed, a long, long time later. He heard screaming. Was it his? Or was he back in the facility? A woman's face leaned over him. That was the last bit, then he blacked out.