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Pickle was dead.
This was no illusion, no dream. His body laid on the floor of his own room infront of her, limbless and faceless. A husk.
And he wasn't coming back.
Taco still was barely done crying. Though her wailing had ceased, wet tears still ran down her soggy face.
What was she going to do? Pickle died hating her, she was sure of that. And from the sounds coming from outside the room, she might too.
She couldn't have that.
People were dropping like flies, from what she inferred. Who would be next? No one seemed to know.
Taco couldn't stop the idea of running away from coming to her mind and infecting it. It snaked it's way into her every thought, in that moment.
She didn't want to die, but she couldn't really run either. At least, not alone.
She needed to talk to a certain someone. Someone who was very important to her.
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Microphone was nervous, though she hid it well behind a confident posture, as she listened to the others try and hold it all together.
Baseball took the lead in no time. He used to be their team leader, back in the game. Though, Microphone could never remember him taking quite as much initiative as he was now. But now that Nickel was gone, he didn't really have a choice, did he?
He tried to keep everyone calm, but this was still Hotel OJ we're talking about. It was always full of chaos.
Microphone needed to step out and take a quick break from that chaos. Just a second was all she needed.
She walked down the hall a little. A headache beginning to subside. She felt safe enough to turn her gain down. She just wanted a moment of complete silence before she went back to help.
Her mind wandered.
Knife was still in the game. He left with Suitcase earlier. Soap was missing, presumed dead. And Pickle... Pickle was dead.
Her friends being gone made her anxieties worsr, but she tried not to dwell.
Microphone exhales. She eventually stops walking to lean on the glass of the windows. Her curiosity turning her head to look out of said window. The woods laid out infront of her.
Before she could think about what those woods meant to her, however, she sensed the presence of another being near her.
She messed with her gain again before turning around to see whose eyes were on her.
Who she sees, is a tear stained Taco, desperation riddled her pitiful looking face. That and misery.
Had she really been doing this bad after she left, or was this because of Pickle? Either way, it was not exactly a state Microphone ever expected to see her in.
The shorter woman began to speak with hesitation, "Mic- Microphone...."
A million thoughts raced through her mind at once. Should she start with an apology, or get straight to the point? An apology is probably best, she decides.
"Microphone, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. Whether you decide to forgive me or not, I understand," she raced out of her mouth in a second.
What was was she doing? Microphone wondered. She was clearly trying to apologize, but so quick, she could barely process what she meant, "Taco-"
"I need to," Taco interrupts, "I need to request something of you...." she begins to talk slow down now. "Can I?"
What was she supposed to say? No? I mean, she could just walk away right now. She didn't exactly want to hear what she had to say anyway. But curiosity be damned.
She nodded for her to continue. Taco nodded in return and took a deep breath in. She was nervous too.
"Run away with me."
....
"Wait, what?"
"I-I know it sounds absurd, and it is! You have every right to deny. But, none of us know what is fully going on here. People are dying, and I will not have us being one of them," Taco was tense. "Please. Don't say no. You can't say no..."
"Taco, I..." Microphone didn't know what to say.
"Listen, we can just leave. We're not tied to the show anymore, nothing is holding us back!"
Taco reached out for Microphone's hand, gently holding it with her own. "Please, Mic. Come with me."
She didn't know what to think. She looked so desperate. She wanted to say yes just because of that. And she was right, they were in danger just by staying here.
But, she also wanted to say no. The people here were her friends, she didn't want to abandon them. Besides, Taco was not exactly in her good graces at the moment.
She felt her hands, gloves covering her skin. She was so gentle with her. She held her hand as if she were a fragile dove, that, if she squeezed too tightly, would break in an instant.
Suddenly, a loud blaring sound echoed from the commons. It was quickly followed by a scream, that led to multiple. A panic.
Microphone turned around in an instant. What was happening? Were her friends in danger? A red, pulsating light emitted from the room.
Taco pulled her hand, slightly, to bring her attention back to her. Her grass-green eyes, pleading, begging. Her grip tightened.
"Mic, please!" She cried.
Microphone had to make a quick decision. Stay, and probably die, with her friends, or run away from all of this with Taco.
She chose Taco.
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Taco rushed through the back door of the Hotel, clutching Microphone's hand.
The gentle breeze of the outside hit Taco's face more like a heavy wind as the door swung open.
The woman didn't dare slow down, and neither did Mic. She kept up with her, steadily.
They ran, and ran, and ran, but they could only go so far before-
BAM!
Taco ran into something infront of her, causing her to fall backwards with a new pain in her head, "ugh...."
"Taco!"
She stood back up slowly. A red liquid trickled down from her nose. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she said.
"You're bleeding." Microphone kneeled down to look at her.
Taco looked down at the supposed blood before quickly wiping it away with her hand.
"It's nothing. We need to go."
Microphone looked over once more to make sure she could stand. "What did you even run into?"
"I don't know." She looks up to see nothing blocking her path forward. In the distance we're the normal mountains and trees she could always see from her side of the forest. The only difference now was the fog.
She carefully stuck her hand out to feel.... a wall? She put both her hands up to feel it. It felt strange.
"What is it?" Mic asked, inspecting it as well.
"How far does this go on for??" Taco tried to follow it, but there was no opening.
"I don't think we can get through this..."
BANG BANG!
Microphone jumped at the sudden loud noise. She glanced down to Taco, who was banging her fists on the invisible wall.
"Um..." she hesitated. "I don't think-"
BAM BANG BAM!!
"NO!" Taco screamed. "We have to-" BANG, "-get through!"
She continued to hit the wall until her fists hurt. But the force-field did not falter. They were trapped.
"NO! No no no!!" She cried desperately. "We're....trapped...."
Taco slowly lowers to her knees. Her fists still curled, resting on the wall. Her face now blank with defeat.
"Taco...." Microphone sits down next to her. "It's.... gonna be okay. At least we tried. Look, we can go back an-"
"No!" The food-object yells. The taller woman flinches. "We can't go back."
"Okay...okay. Then what do you want to do?"
Taco remains silent. She didn't know. She was at a loss.
Microphone could tell she felt awful about the situation they were in. She wasn't used to seeing her so.... hopeless. She tried to make her feel better the best she could.
She leaned her back against the wall. "Why did you suddenly want to run away like that? I mean, that doesn't seem like something you would do. You seemed so focused on the competition before, what changed?"
Taco turned around, now mirroring Microphone.
"You.... changed my mind."
"I did?"
"Ugh! I'm so stupid!" She threw her arms out, before dropping her head in her hands. "Why did I think this would work?"
She continued to get smaller, burying her head in her knees as she pulled at lettuce in her shell. "Can you believe I actually thought we would run away together and live happily ever after!? I had the whole thing plan out, too! We would live in a house by the sea, and forget about all of this bullshit!"
Microphone was a bit flustered at the idea.
"I don't need any of this anymore." Taco turned her head to face Mic, "I just need you."
Her face turned red, as a blush spread on her cheeks. But, she found the idea really sweet. Maybe she would've liked that too.
But before she could express this, in the corner of her eye, far in the distance, the mountains that surrounded the area began to dissapear. Microphone stands up, alarmed by the strangeness.
"What-" She watches as the hotel seemed to glitch and cease to be. All of a sudden, it was just gone. This caused Taco to stand up aswell.
Odd and unsettling sounds fill the women's ears. Taco looks down at herself to see the same glitch on her arms.
She quickly turns with fear in her eyes and voice. "Mic," she calls.
Microphone felt the change in her bones, like the life was being taken from her. She felt as parts of her body simply vanished.
".....Taco...." she turns.
Taco quickly clung on to her, she felt the same power in her body Mic was feeling. It didn't hurt, and yet, was the most painful thing she had ever felt.
Tears welded up in her eyes. They hugged eachother tightly. It was all so sudden, so confusing, and yet, they knew this was the end.
"I'm sorry, Mic!" Taco yells, breaking the terrible silence. Microphone just holds her tighter.
They look into eachother's eyes for last time. For once, not seeing their lies, or who they pretended to be. But, they saw eachother, honest and broken.
They tightly shut their eyes in their embrace.
And in a moment, it was all over.
Only grass remained where they once stood. A simple whistle from the wind would be heard if there was anyone to hear it.
But now, there was no one.