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BEEP BEEP BEEP BE—
They slammed their hand down on the alarm clock, cutting off the obnoxious sound before it could claw itself into their ears even further. With a heavy sigh, they dragged their hands down their faces and brushed off the debris from the corners of their eyes.
They moved robotically through their usual routine yet with a lighter pep in their step since they did allow themselves to sleep an extra hour all due to their new job schedule. So they didn’t move like an undead zombie... they moved like a zombie with a purpose!
They didn’t bother to put on their uniform yet since they didn’t want to get it dirty before getting to work, especially since they knew they had to cook a big meal that morning.
Carefully, they moved down the stairwell, peeking into Riley’s room where the mini critters were all scattered around her room with either pillows or blankets underneath them. They smiled silently at the sight before walking to the kitchen. These kids probably haven’t had anything resembling a normal breakfast in a while.
So it was their job to provide!
Oh shit, they were really a parent now, huh?
It was always a plan further down the line but they never knew it was going to be so soon. They always imagined adopting a child down the road, sometimes with a partner, sometimes not. Either way, they didn’t think it would happen suddenly after they slept past hours at the factory.
But after meeting Riley the other day then dragging home multiple critters in their backseat, they knew they wouldn’t change things. If anything, the only thing they would change is how many rooms the house had. It would save them the time and energy when they eventually have to convert the old barn to house more children.
God, all of those children.
‘Don’t think about it. Just focus on the present,’ They reassured themselves as they started to gather items together for breakfast. Eggs, bread, pancake mix, milk, and a package of bacon that they needed to thaw in the microwave.
And maybe they could use the carton of cut fruit in the fridge before it goes bad… again.
They got to work cooking breakfast, trying to drown out the depressing thoughts of tortured children suffering underneath their workplace. The steady hum of the microwave thawing bacon accompanied the sound of them mixing together the pancake batter.
It became a glorious mess of music from the toaster dealing with slice after slice of bread. The fruit carton being torn open and separate pieces being placed on multiple plates. They might have had to cut up a few of the larger melon pieces because they don’t want to have any of their children choking,
It took until they started on the eggs and bacon for the children to start stumbling down the hallway towards the scent of food.
Hoppy was the first one they spotted. Their long ears flopped to the side before standing straight as their little nose started to sniff loudly. Her black eyes stared up hopefully at him. “Food?”
“Mornin’” they greeted right as Simon shuffled forward past Hoppy.
“Good morning,” Simon yawned, a small stream of black smoke appearing from the back of his throat. What was- never mind they will ask later. They guessed their eyes would have widened in surprise from how they let out a shocked gasp. “Are you making food?”
“Yeah,” they replied. The sizzling of the bacon seemed to draw the plush dragon closer to the gas oven while Hoppy started jumping in place out of excitement. They tilted their heads to see if anyone else was coming but the hallway looked empty. “Is everyone up yet? The food will be done soon.”
“Yes!” Hoppy yelled out, straightening up then making a beeline down the hallway. They shrunk back as they heard a sequence of noises from a victorious yell to a multitude of sleepy groans. “Guys, savior’s making breakfast! Get up!”
Oh, I didn’t mean for her to wake up everybody like that. Well, it’s better than having some of them miss out on the food being hot.
“Hmph. Don’t shout.” He could hear one of the critters groan.
One of them sounded more curious, “Is that what I smell?”
They almost smiled when they heard Riley’s confused growl before Hoppy called out again, “Come on!”
They could already hear Riley shifting on her bed from the sound of soft thumps only echoed by the even softer pitter patter of the critters’ feet.
Sooner than later, he had all of the children watching him from the corner of the kitchen with the sleepiness in their eyes slowly vanishing as the sizzling sounds and smoky smell started to fill the air.
“It smells good,” Kickin leaned against the cabinet, his eyes glued onto the skillet that was cooking up. Then, he scattered away with a yelp once the last pieces of toast popped up with a ‘ting’ noise.
“Alright. Riley, can you show them where to sit on the couch? I just need to work on finishing up this,” they said, gesturing towards the cast iron pan with the eggs and bacon then pointing at the larger pan with butter melting. “And make the pancakes.”
“Pancakes?!” Crafty shouted in excitement
Bubba held a paw up to his chin, “I don’t think I’ve ever had that before.”
They were heartbroken to hear that. Were they so young they never had the chance or was Playcare cruel enough to not give the orphans some semblance of cheer with their breakfast. “Well, just wait a few minutes and you’ll get some mini pancakes on your plate.”
Bubba looked so hopeful at their words which only made their heartstrings feel tighter.
Riley made an affirmative murmur before ushering all of the critters’ towards the couch who were more than happy to climb onto the cushions. Bubba trailed after her, dragging Hoppy with him when it was obvious she didn't want to move away from the counter. Catnap made a beeline for the blanket corner while Kickin tried to overtake the highest spot on a back cushion.
The children chatted with each other while watching reruns of ahem and the Holograms. Somehow Crafty convinced the others to stay on the channel after seeing the amount of colors from what they could hear. They stifled a lush when they realized Simone’s complaints getting quieter the more the show went on.
By the time Jem started singing, all of the food was finally. Done. They took the time to cut up slices of toast and fruit to place them on the side. Each child got an egg with two slices of bacon with mini pancakes. Their own plate had the ones that were slightly more burnt than the others yet enough syrup and butter can cover up that taste.
With a grin, they balanced four plates on their arms and walked over to the couch. “Okay, I have the first round up. Riley, here‘s your plate.” They placed the plate in Riley’s waiting hands, adoring the ways her eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement at the sight of the food. They placed the plates on the tray placed on the cushion. “Then these plates are for Crafty, Simon, and Hoppy. I’ll be right back with the rest for Bubba, Kickin, Dogday and Catnap.”
They made sure to walk back quickly to the kitchen only to come back with the critters’ plates and other things for the children to enjoy their food.
“There we go. And I have the optional toppings like syrup and butter for the pancakes.” They made sure to show off the little array they prepared with the extras like salt, pepper and hot sauce specifically for the egg, but it looks like most of the eggs were slurped up already.
All of them were really digging into the plate. Riley had dug into her toast first while Simon and Dogday jumped onto the bacon slices. Bubba had grabbed onto the syrup and was making rounds putting the syrup onto everyone’s pancakes whenever they called out to the mini Bubbaphant.
They made a final trip to grab their own plate before joining them on the chair beside the couch. They dug into their food, grabbing the hour sauce to place it on their eggs only for Kickin to look up with interest. Silently, they made a gesture with the hot sauce which made a chicken themed smiling critter reach out his little yellow wings for it.
They thought nothing of it when Kickin dropped the sauce in his eggs.
Their shared breakfast time was peaceful for a few minutes as everyone ate, only speaking about how tasty the food was or what they thought of the show.
However, the joyful time was interrupted by a bout of coughing. The sound wasn’t new since a lot of them rushed too fast when eating their food which resulted in them having to cough a little.
But it didn’t stop.
That was enough to make them turn around to see it was a Kickin, clutching at their throat with their wings. A few of the others started to show their concern, putting down their food to watch him cautiously. Riley tried to help by patting Kickin on the back yet it did nothing to help.
They moved without thinking once the choking became more and more breathless like they were barely any sound to them.
They tossed their plate onto their table tray, not caring where it landed as they reached the couch seat where Kickin was sitting. They reached out to the mini smiling critter.
“Pardon me,” they muttered as they lifted Kickin into their arms, laying him across their arms so his face was facing the ground at an angle. They started beating their back with a steady beat, trying to dislodge the food.
Some of the critters started to voice their worries in the background, but all they could say was, “Hold on, he’ll be okay.”
It didn’t take long until Kickin coughed up a huge bit of orangey eggs onto the carpet. He repositioned the chicken smiling critter in their arms so they were carrying him to their chest. They rubbed the mini smiling critter’s back as he finally regained his breath.
“Kickin, you okay?” Bubba asked. The only sound in the room was the show playing in the background and Kickin’s pronounced breathing.
“Yeah,” Kickin sniffled, turning his face so his head was tucked into their neck. “I don’t think I like spicy sauce.”
They made eye contact with Riley over Kickin’s head before slowly stepping away from the couch. They glanced down at the little toy in their arms. “Do you need some water?”
“Uh huh.” Kickin mumbled. They nodded and were about to set him back down but the wings clutched onto the collar of their shirt. “Don’t put me down.”
The words made a few of the critters look up at both of them. They raised back up from where they were hovering over the couch to adjust their position to head towards the kitchen. “Okay, I’ll hold ya as long as ya want.”
“You talk funny sometimes. It’s fun,” Kickin commented as they prepared a cup of water with two—no—three ice cubes. They added a yellow striped straw to the water cup before handing it to Kickin. The mini smiling critter cradled the cup to their chest, “Thank you.”
“Alrighty.“ They muttered.
While Kickin soothed their throat with the water, they moved carefully yet efficiently to clean up the carpet with some napkins. They took a moment to scoop up the hot sauce eggs off their plate with another napkin before throwing all of the mess in the trash.
Since Kickin made no move to go back on the couch, they simply scooped up Kickin’s plate and sat down with him in the chair. They started to absentmindedly rub Kickin’s back with one hand while the other scooped up the cold fruit into their mouth. Kickin eventually started nibbling on their food once again yet slower than before.
Some time passes as everyone comes close to finishing their plate. The first ones to finish were Riley, Crafty, and Hoppy.
They were scooping up the last bits of their soggy pancake when there was a very obvious throat clearing right near them. Once they turned their heads, they were face to face with Hoppy who had Crafty standing behind her with something hidden behind her back.
“Hey!” Hoppy started off with a bite to her words. Crafty poked her from the back with a very firm ‘hmph’. When Hoppy spoke again, her tone was softer. “We made you something.”
“Really?” They asked.
Hoppy pointed at him sternly, “Don’t think too hard about it. It is to act as the message that Bobby and Rabie need.”
Crafty moved past Hoppy while trying to hold herself back from jumping in place from how she was wiggling in place. She showed off the bracelet in her paws with an accompanying ‘ta-da’ gesture from Hoppy at her side. “Here it is!” Crafty said. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah. I really like the colors.” They nodded. They inspected the bracelet closer to see the multicolored beads separating the purple theme. Two little bows of red thread framed the word made from letter beads. They tried not to let their faces shift into confusion as they put it together that ‘ANGLE’ was supposed to be ‘ANGEL’. “Aw, did you spell out Angel?”
“Yeah, I did,” Crafty admitted while Hoppy was giving them a side-eye.
Simon slowly turned towards Kickin with dried syrup still on the lower lip of his fixed smile. The dragon crawled forward until he was right behind Crafty. They chose to ignore how the dragon critter whispered towards Kickin like they weren’t inches away from him. “Do they not know how to spell?”
Kickin, who was still being held, barely reacted apart from a little snort. The mini critter was too focused, avoiding the remainder of the spicy sauce speckling the edge of the plate while chewing on toast with a slice of strawberry on top of it.
*
The mild choking scene at breakfast definitely affected everyone’s mood for a bit. Kickin was particularly affected because he didn’t want to leave their side for the next hour.
However, once all of the plates were cleared away and enough time had passed, things finally started to settle into a calm peace. Kickin had finally rejoined his friends on the couch after a cartoon on the persistent coyote and evasive roadrunner made him want to play with Hoppy.
While the television showed the coyote getting hurt yet again, they started to think about what they would have to make for lunch. They would also have to make dinner for them to reheat, wouldn’t they? Unless they could trust Riley to work a microwave to make hot pockets and microwave meals in the freezer for dinner that night.
They would definitely need to get more easy meals to make so they could eat without having to wait for them to get home so late at night.
“Hey... Angel?”
“Yeah?” They turned at the nickname, feeling their new bracelet moving on their wrist when they shifted their position.
Simon was one of the critters with his eyes planted solely on them. “What are you planning to do?”
“About dinner?”
Hoppy looked expectant once food was mentioned before Bubba smacked her leg. Bubba spoke up, “No with this—“ The blue elephant gestured at both sides of the couch with his paws. “Are you going to help the rest of the toys like us?”
It was a loaded question. Would they rescue the toys that were previously children trapped inside the factory? Were they willing to risk their life on saving every single one that they could despite the consequences if they failed? Are they?
“I intend to.” They answered truthfully. “Ever since I heard more about it from Riley, I knew I couldn’t just stand still and not do anything...” That’s the kind of soul that their family was trying to form.
“As far as my planning goes, I need to start shopping this weekend for more food.” That’s a given. Firstly, they just need more food in general. Secondly, with the number of toys increasing and each toy having quite an appetite, they would need to stock up a lot. “Then, I need to get materials to start redoing the barn so I can fit more of you. I’ll need to fix the barn up to make sure it’s insulated at least then find some furniture and maybe mattresses if I can find any for cheap.”
“Then?” Crafty asked so softly it was almost like a whisper in the room.
“I’m not sure. I could try and work towards getting promoted to see if I can get lower and retrieve more kids from there, but more eyes would be on me then.” They haven’t thought it through all the way yet. They would need more time to find out how big the toys can get before deciding on what was the best way to do it. “I plan to free more the same way I’m doing now before someone starts getting suspicious.”
“That makes sense I guess,” Kickin replied, kicking his orange chicken feet off the side of the couch.
“Yeah, but it won’t work forever. All of us aren’t so lucky to escape into the vents.” Simon shook his head in distaste. He batted at the plush dollar sign accessory around the collar of his neck. “And that doctor guy is keeping an eye on us. He’s such a jerk.”
“Doctor guy? Right, they do have doctors on the property,” they replied. Then they began to wonder if they saw any doctor types anywhere near the factory. Most of the time they only saw warehouse workers and their own coworkers. They knew one of the gate guards due to her being a past janitor just like them.
Wait, doctors’ usually wear those long white coats. But the scientists would have the same, wouldn’t they?
But the word ‘jerk’ really stuck to them until a memory suddenly came to their mind of an irate man in their back mirror. Their slicked back black hair and their glasses doing nothing to hide their gaze of anger at them.
“Wait, was it someone named Sawyer?” They asked.
His question made all the toys look at him with sudden attention. Something about their gazes made them shift uncomfortably in their seats. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. And it wasn’t just them. Riley was worriedly looking between him and the critters.
“Do you know him?” Simon asked coldly.
“I almost hit him with my car in the parking lot once. I almost got into a lot for trouble for it. “The statement made Riley stifle a giggle. “I forgot about that entirely until you mentioned it.”
“Pfft.” The tension was officially broken when Dogday and Catnap started to laugh cheerfully. Hoppy cut in to say, “Yeah, you should’ve just run him over.”
“Anyway, he sucks. He was in charge of making us like this. And from what we’ve heard around the lower levels is that they are doing something to him.” Simon explained, gesturing down below him. “We haven’t seen much of him in the last two months or so which makes it easier for some of us to escape into the ventilation system for the most part.”
“Ugh.” The faint image of the Doctor in their mind was enough for them to get annoyed when it combined with what they knew. “If I could punch that guy without getting fired I would.
The sentiment made everyone start to chuckle. Crafty piped up, “We can name you all the people we would like you to punch but it would be too long.”
It took a few moments for everyone to calm down especially since some of the critters started calling out names of the people they wanted punched. Doctor Sawyer being the main one. Some woman named Ms. Gracie. The head of the school in Playcare. Stella Greyber. Leith Pierre was mentioned several times. Kickin wanted them to punch something named Limón just for fun.
Once everyone was visibly comforted by the list of names being written down, they finally brought the situation back on topic. “Well, I think we just take this one step at a time until we hit a soft roadblock.”
Kickin interrupted, “Yeah! And whenever Angel needs help, we’ll just cram our heads together and think of something else!”
“Good plan, Kickin.” They commented with a grin.
“Thanks,” Kickin responded with a lingering giggle in their tone.
*
The purple and rainbow bracelet didn’t get that much attention when they walked through the doors. The long sleeves of their janitor uniform mostly hid the handmade bracelet from sight. It was better that way since they don’t need a lot of eyes on the bracelet, they only needed a specific type of beady eyes to lock their gaze on it.
The lobby was the same as ever with Huggy Wuggy standing in the middle of it all with his yellow paw raised. He could spot a few workers doing the tradition of using their grabhand to high five the giant toy’s hand. They could see there was a group of visitors gathering around near the entrance at the side with the hallway that led to the gift shop.
They lifted a hand to wave at a small child holding a Mommy Long Legs toy in the line before heading directly towards their specific area. It was away from the usual areas of the lobby, almost hidden by the blocked entrance of the theater.
They don’t exactly know what happened but the entire area was closed off to the public a year ago. And ever since then, they have blocked it off completely from people entering it. Besides the rather off-putting feeling they got from it, the sanitation carts were all lined up in a room very close to it.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was technically a movie theater area, so they would need a lot of workers cleaning up the popcorn and candy that visiting kids would leave behind. They don’t know the particular reason but they aren’t going to ask anytime soon.
They found their boss leaning against the opposite wall right next to the blockade covering the grand theater doors.
“Williams. Good to see you early today.” Mr Baker greeted. He surveyed the area around them before lowering his voice, “Have you been dealing with those rats?”
Williams took a moment to look around as well to see the regular workers going by but they did spot a tour guide gesturing to a group of people closer to their area. That’s probably why Baker is speaking so quietly.
To be cautious, they started to whisper, “I set some traps down last night. I haven’t caught much yet, but I’ll check tonight. I didn’t hear much last night so they might have been down there temporarily, ya know? Maybe hiding away from the rain a few days ago?”
Mr. Baker didn’t look too happy to hear that the made up rats aren’t caught yet. “Well, make sure they are gone.” Mr Baker breathed out heavily. He ran a hand down his face in mild irritation yet they could feel it was more towards the rats than anything else. “The last thing we need is those rats being seen by any visitors taking a tour or parents trying to meet children to adopt.”
They nodded, doing a mock salute to their boss. “I’m on it, boss.”
Mr. Baker laughed so hard that his entire chest shook. His heavy hand clapped them on the back so hard they felt themselves stumble forward a bit. “That’s what I like to hear!”
As the tour guide started walking the entire group around the lobby, Mr. Baker gestured to him with a two fingered point towards the room. “I shouldn’t hold you up too much. Go ahead and get started on your shift.”
“Got it,” they replied.
They moved quickly to set up everything on their cart. Glass cleaner and all purpose cleaner hanging on their spots? Check. Gloves? Yeah. Mop and bucket? Yep. Trash can? That’s a given considering the fact what they need to use it for.
Once everything’s as prepared, they start off on their next shift with a new map drawn on a napkin given to them by their boss. From what the scribbling say, it was to prevent them from using the grabpacks too much since they had to move their cart with them.
That would have been helpful to know a few days ago when they were struggling to rewrite energy to certain doings late at night just to try and find their way out.
Nevertheless, it was useful information now.
It was at this point that they realized for the fortieth time since they started this job that this entire toy factor was huge. Even after taking the easier path that the little crude drawing of a map tells them to take, it was hard to navigate the halls.
They ended up on the other side of the game station train at one point with Mommy Long Legs giving them a mile-long stare at the other side of the play area with kids hanging off her legs.
Safe to say, they skedaddled before the giant pink toy could come storming up to them or before the scientists watching the children could tell they were there.
Most of the day continued on like normal without having to duck back out of rooms. One of the benefits was that they found the employee gondola towards the playcare area without having to walk the long way there through the shipping path by the train tracks.
As the hours passed by, it came closer and closer to the time where they were at the deepest level that they are allowed to go. And closer to the time where they would meet with Bobby and Rabie again.
Eventually they got to the level where he set down the rat traps only to find actual rodents fell victim to them. Huh. They were sure that they should be surprised by this but somehow they weren’t.
It took some time until the amount of nearby and background noise was almost completely gone. They were sure nobody was on the same floor as them anymore when he heard the telltale sign of the vent door being opened. Nonchalantly, they rolled the cart over close to the vent and started messing with the supplies like he was cataloguing everything.
It didn’t take long for a white and pink bat to poke their head out somewhat. “Janitor. You know what we want to see.”
The janitor rolled up their sleeves and let their arms fall to the side so Rabie could see the bracelet and, more specially, the words.
Rabie Baby nodded mostly to themselves as they responded with a raspy, “Good.“
Bobby poked their head out of the vent too to admire the work of arts and crafts on their wrist. Their tone sounded so hopeful as they replied, “It worked? They’re safe... finally something to look towards.”
The janitor took a moment to look around before kneeling on the ground, scrubbing at the top of the baseboard to dust it off. It was mostly to pretend they were doing something while they attempted to continue a whispered conversation in the empty room.
“Janitor. No. Angel. That’s what we’ll call you from now on. It will match the bracelet so the others will know you.” Bobby explained. She paused to look down the vents behind her, her red round ears looked like they were perked up. “Angel, are you able to sneak another round up? They are a little worse for wear. They barely made it out of the yard.”
“The yard? Like the prison?” They whispered as they scrubbed closer to the vent
Bobby’s ears fell a bit. “They must have told you, huh?”
“I know a bit but I’m not sure how much I’m missing,” they admitted before schooling around their car to get to the other side.
Rabie snorted, her wings flaring out at her sides, “You’ll learn more the longer you do this. Unless you end up dying first.”
The janitor silently agreed to Rabie’s words as they continued working on the baseboard.
Once they reached the end of the short wall, they went up and moved to lightly dust the visible baseboards around the room that weren’t overhead by furniture in some way or another. While they worked, they ignored the small bumps and whimpers inside the vent.
The janitor headed back to the vent where Rabie was waiting at the edge, sill hidden by the cart. “Bobby is talking with them, making sure they are comfortable with the road ahead.”
“No problem. Just let me seem like I’m doing something,” They said before reaching out to the vent cover and spraying it down.
“Hey, watch it, cleaning Angel,” Rabie grumbled, hiding her face from the spray with her wings.
“Apologies,” They said while rubbing at the vent cover with a soft cloth.
“Why are you doing this anyway?” Rabie Baby questioned. They glanced over to the white and pink bat who was watching them wearily. “You could have snitched on Riley that same night or reported something about seeing toys where they weren’t supposed to be.”
The janitor asked. “Is it hard to believe that I just wanted to?“
“Yes.”
That’s fair.
“No one else helps. There might be some who say they hate what is happening, yet they never raise a hand to make it better. All they do is watch as a bystander.” Rabie stressed. Their raspy voicebox made the voice breaking even more noticeable. “So don’t blame me for not trusting that someone in a low position is helping us out without any nefarious purposes.”
“I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t trust me in your position.” The janitor replied honestly.
“After everything you have been through, it’s understandable that someone like me still raises warnings. But I could never be the type of person that allows something like this to happen without at least attempting to act.” They shrugged. They knew the answer wasn’t entirely comforting but it was better to be honest than try to coat his reply in promises that they might not be able to perform. “It’s just how I was raised.”
“You know,, I thought I was hallucinating that night partly due to the fact I didn’t sleep well. But when I heard that Riley was getting hurt, the first thing I thought out was getting her out of here.”
“You thought it was a dream?” Rabie Baby interrupted.
The janitor paused in the middle of their cleaning to stare at the plush bat. “A living toy that was bigger than normal just suddenly appeared and started talking to me... it was a reasonable conclusion.”
“Hah...” Rabie Baby almost laughed before a sound in the vent behind her made her look further into the vent system. Once she turned back, the distrust in their eyes lessened slightly yet they still pointed a wing at them. “I’ll keep an eye on you. If you stray away from this, you’ll find out what happens. You got that?”
“Crystal clear, ma’am," they replied. Apparently the earnestness in their voice was enough to shock a full laugh out of the Rabie Baby toy.
They continue to use gentle ministration on the vent cover as Bobby’s voice got closer to the opening of the vent. They briefly glanced up to see Bobby guiding a Boogie Bot with a missing arm and a lopsided tread out of the vent.
They were followed by a Catbee with a torn wing and missing eyes. Then, a Candy Cat with a shredded tail and bite taken out of their ear.
A Maggie Mako and Baba Chops jumped out to take up each side of the Boogie Bot. They thought they looked relatively okay if not for Baba’s shaky footing and Maggie’s missing shark tail.
The last one out was a Bron with missing pieces of plastic that revealed mushy pink fluff underneath. Maybe they could cover that with something when they got home. In fact, a lot of these toys needed care due to the variety of injuries they were sporting.
Taking the opportunity, they reached up to their cart to open the rash can to throw away a disposable wipe they used on the vent. They continued to clean as the toys started scaling his cart to get to the freedom transport. They had to help Boogie Bot up once it was clear the nightmare critters could only help them up so much.
“L-Let-Let’s Boogie!” The Boogie bot’s broken voicebox stuttered as they tumbled into the trash can. Once Bron was inside, they lowered the lid and set the vent over back down on the ground.
“That’s everyone for now. We’ll spread the word about you especially now that you have the ID that really matters.” Bobby gestured at their wrist where the bracelet was.
“Tread carefully from now on, janitor.” Rabie warned as he was placing the newly shined vent cover on. “You’re the first one we have hope in. Good luck.”
“Stay safe you too,” They whispered. They could barely see the pairs of beady black eyes on both critters through the garnet of the vent. But they did see the red paw and white paw placed on the vent grate silently.
*
This was the soft roadblock they were talking about.
All of the group was in varying degrees of injuries but the Boogie Bot was bringing in a new issue to their usual type of escaping.
Angel ran a hand down their face. God this was stressful. They couldn’t park their car over here for that long since there were cameras outside that they were worried about. They would need to do something to make it believable why they were stuck here longer, especially if they have to move the toys directly to the backseat or the trunk if need be.
The idea came to them once they spotted the bag for their tire inflator in the floor of the backseat. Bubba must have moved it when he was exploring yesterday night.
Perfect!
Angel took the moment to reach for the tire inflator and step out of their car with a new determination. They started at the back tire and made eye contact with the critters underneath the car struggling to hold onto the bar and Boogie Bot. Once he flipped on the switch of the inflator, Boogie Bot fell down at the harsh noise coming out from the inflator.
“Can Boogie not hang on?” Maggie shook their head while Baba Chops made a gesture to Boogie’s missing arm and the bar they were trying to hold onto. “Okay. Hold up. I’ll open the backseat door, drop this and swoop Boogie up into the back.”
They stepped away from the back tire once the noises automatically stopped once the limit was reached. When they got to the front tire, they noticed that Baba Chops had walked underneath the car and was now staring at them silently.
Angel can only assume it was for one reason. “The reason is because Boogie can’t hang on and I can’t drop this—“ they gestured to the tire inflator currently inflating the already filled tire— “more than once without the cameras getting suspicious.”
Baba let out a ‘bleet’ before marching their way back to the trunk. From where he can see, Candy Cat wrapped themselves around Bron to provide extra support for the dinosaur toy who was contorting themselves to fit near the back tire.
The janitor did the same with the next tire until they got to the fourth one. Once they finished off the last tire, they could see Boogie Bot waiting for them by the tire.
And just like they practiced inside their head, they opened the backseat door then dropped the tire inflator on purpose. With a purposefully loud grumble, they bent down and swooped up Boogie Bot with one hand. They positioned their body to hide the fact they moved them into the car. Now all they got to do is throw the inflator in there and shut the—
“Hey, Williams!”
Slam!
Angel slammed the door mostly due to surprise with the tire inflator still hanging loosely from their grip in the other hand.
Once they saw who it was, they relaxed slightly. It was just Jess. She was a janitor before she got promoted to the guard position. Either way, it was a familiar face.
They don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing yet.
“Hey there, Jess. What’re you still doing out here?”
“I lingered a little too long by the front gate since I was finishing up a book chapter.” Jess admitted, awkwardly scratching her exposed arm. “And I guess you either found a spot you fixated on or...” A cheeky grin spread across her face and gave him finger guns. “...maybe fell asleep in a closet?”
“Guilty of the first one, trying not to do the second one anymore.” Jess let out a laugh as she gave them a disbelieving look. They waved in the air, gesturing towards her. “Anyway, what brings you over here?”
Please don’t notice anything. Please don’t notice the little feet underneath their car. Were the toys still hanging from the car? They might fall out of exhaustion if they wait too long with this conversation.
“Right. Do you mind if I borrow that from you?” Jess made a motion towards the tire inflator in their hand. “My car has the tire lights on.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Angel walked around their car and stood in the line of sight of the toys just in case one of them fell down. Bron was probably hanging from their neck or mouth if one of the others wasn’t helping out in some way. They threw the inflator towards Jess who scrambled to grab it midair. “Here.”
“Thanks, I’ll just finish up and give it back to you,” Jess said, walking backwards toward her car.
“Eh, just keep it for the night and give it back when ya see me!” They called out.
“You sure?” Jess questioned, not looking as she walked backward in the empty parking lot.
“Yeah, this new night shift is killing me. Plus, I’m too hungry to care about getting it back.”
Jess chuckled. “Heh. Alright. Thank you.” She finally turned around then lifted the inflator over her head, calling over her shoulder at them. “But don’t let me forget!”
“Never!” Angel would probably forget about it faster than her. Plus, they had a spare one in their garage if they really needed one.
They watched as Jess got to her car, mumbling as they waited for her to turn around at any point. “Haha. Is she good? Okay.” They whispered down towards the trunk. “Quick. Hang on tight for a few minutes, guys. It won’t be long.”
Angel practically dived back into the driver's seat, taking a second to glanced at the backseat where Boogie Bot was leaning against the seat cushions. They pulled on their seatbelt with one hand while the other turned the key to start the engine.
The car roared to life as they called out to the toy in the back. “You good, buddy?”
“Let’s Boogie!”
“Yeah. Let’s Boogie.”