"Commencing Echo playback."
"Loading audio file 'soren_2.mp3'"
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My body still aches all over from having slept on the concrete last night. It's been about a half-hour since the girl left, and I've been sitting in this room the entire time, still chained to the wall. The flame of the lamp went out while I was asleep, so the room was pitch black.
I'm sitting up, leaning against the wall, twiddling my thumbs.
I slowly sit up and lean against the wall, twiddling my thumbs. Surely the girl would've visited me by now, or, I don't know, something feels...off...
Since there wasn't any light coming through the cracks of the trapdoor, either it was night outside, but it seemed unlikely that the girl wouldn't have stayed down here if the upper level was exposed to the storm, so therefore the light upstairs must've been turned off, and the girl is out.
"Ughh, I'm going to go insane down here..." I grumbled to myself, starting to fidget with my fingers in the dark. I realized that my wrists were extremely itchy, and when I went to feel the shackles I noted that the texture was very flaky. It seems that the metal has experienced a lot of rust, given how I could brush a few flakes off with ease. I remembered that I still had access to the empty can of beans, and I considered finding a weak link in the chains and bashing them off. Then again, if the girl came back and realized that I had broken out, she would most likely see me as a threat and throw me out. Given that I had no knowledge of this world, being sent out of a place that seemed safe would be a death sentence. So, in the meantime, I decided to just stay put and wait until she returned.
...
"Two hundred fifty-four bottles of beer on the wallll, two hundred fifty-four bottles of beerrr... Take one down, pass it around, holy shit I'm going insane," I sang weakly, resisting the urge to scream. I have run through every means of entertainment that I knew, and the girl hasn't returned. Holy hell, this is boring. The urge to attempt to break the chains has grown significantly, and any second I might give in so I can stretch my legs. "Maybe she'd understand-"
Suddenly, I hear a muffled bang coming from upstairs, followed by a voice. I strain my ears, trying to make out what they're saying. I can barely make out a voice saying, "Please, let me in..!" The voice seems to be feminine, and it sounds familiar...
Oh, no... Is that..?
"Let me in!!" The voice is much more frantic, and it definitely is the girl's voice. She must've gotten caught in that storm that I was in when the helicopter crashed. But shouldn't she be able to open the door..?
It doesn't matter. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. I make up my mind and grab the can of beans, feeling the chain of the right shackle for a weak point. Since it's clearly been rusted for a long time, I should be able to break through if I find a spot that I can break through. Finally, I find a link that feels much flakier than the others. I ready the can of beans, and swing the can down with as much force as I can muster. To my satisfaction, the link crumbles under the force of the can. I repeat the process with the other chain, quickly finding a weak link and shattering it with the can.
I quickly try to stand up, completely forgetting I'm still missing my left leg, and faceplant back to the ground. I grumble to myself, reminding myself that now's not the time to worry about minor scrapes. If I remember correctly, the ladder should be...this way. I crawl over to where I believe the ladder is located, and I quickly collide head-first into it. I feel up the ladder and grasp a rung, pulling the rest of my body up, and plant my leg onto a lower rung. I climb the ladder and once again hit my head on something, this time that something being the trapdoor. The door didn't budge, so it must be locked from the outside, but it did seem rather soft. It must be as old as the chains.
I drop back down the ladder, finding my balance on my single leg, and then grab the ladder, which thankfully wasn't fixed. I use the ladder as a battering ram, bashing the trapdoor repeatedly. After three hits, the trapdoor gave way, granting me access to the upper floor. I placed the ladder down again and hastily climbed up.
The upstairs still is dark, but there's enough light for me to see the lightbulb. I assume this light is turned on and off with a string, and I feel for one. My hands quickly grab a hold of a string, and I pull it down, turning the light on and flooding the bunker with light.
For an old concrete military bunker repurposed into a makeshift home, this place is pretty nice, fit with a rug, a table and chair, and even a hammock. I feel a pang of jealousy that I had to sleep on the concrete while this girl got to sleep in--in my opinion--the most relaxing kind of bed. I quickly snap back to reality and dash to the door. It seems that this door is locked by a large, turning handle, the kind that looks sort of like a steering wheel of a ship. I grab two of the rungs and try to turn the handle with all my strength, adrenaline surging through my body.
"Hang in there, I've almost got you.." I said to the girl, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. She had gone silent quite some time ago, so either she had passed out, or... N-no, no, there's still time, still hope...
At last I got the handle to turn, and once the door unlocked I quickly pushed the door open, instantly being blasted by the extreme cold. I instinctively recoiled back, but once I looked down and saw the girl lying limply in the snow, I got a hold of myself, forcing my body to ignore instinctive instruction. I saw her chest move, but only faintly, so she must still be alive. I bend down and grab the girl's upper arms, hopping back into the bunker, dragging her in with me, and shut the door behind me.
I'm able to get a good look at the girl now. Her body is completely relaxed, her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open. I hold my breath and put my ear near her mouth, and I sigh a sigh of relief when I hear her breathing. I bring my head back up and kneel next to her, pressing two fingers against her neck, feeling for a pulse. She thankfully did have a heartbeat, but it was faint. She looks so peaceful, so...angelic. I scoff at the thought, realizing how much of a saint she wasn't. I softly cupped one of her cheeks with my hand. She was so cold, she must've been outside for a long time...
I notice a strand of her silver hair is stained a deep red, and I turn her head to the side to see the back of her head is bleeding. Aw, poor thing, she must've gotten attacked, and it looks pretty bad... I stand up, about to try to find something to treat the wound, but I kneel back down and pick her up, carrying her to her hammock. I was surprised at how light she is, and I noticed the smallness of her body. She's almost a foot shorter than me, about five feet tall, and she looks like a child, even though I can tell her body has matured. I smile to myself, finding it rather humorous of how big the bark of such a small dog could be.
I lift the girl up and place her in the hammock. I head back down to the lower floor of the bunker to retrieve my coat and the can of beans, bringing them back up with me. I gently draped the coat over the girl as a blanket, as she was extremely cold. I tuck the edges of the coat under her, ensuring it's tightly wrapped around her. I turn around and head to the table, holding the empty can, and search for some supplies I could use to treat the girl with. I found a box of matches, about half-full, and some paper. I look up to check for a ventilation system of some kind, and there is. I place the can below the ceiling vent, crumble the paper up and place it in the can, and strike a match. I light the paper on fire, and the can begins to heat up. I allow the fire to burn while I go back to the table to search for more supplies.
I managed to find a bandage, as well as some bandage tape. I take both and hop back to the hammock. Man, it's so much harder to move without a leg, I'm already feeling exhausted. I can't stop, though. The girl isn't well, and I should repay my debt to her. With one hand, I lift up her head, slipping the unwound bandage underneath her head, adjusting it so it's covering her wound. I then wrap the bandage around her head three or four times, rip off the rest of the bandage roll, and use the tape to keep the bandage in place.
By now the can is hot, so I extinguish the flames and bend the lid back over the top, closing it shut with some of the rest of the bandage. I had made a makeshift heating pad, which will hopefully help warm up the girl. I carefully stuff the can between my coat and the girl, and after just a few moments the girl's face melts a little, subconsciously sighing a content sigh. Seeing that the girl is now safe, I let myself release the tension my body had built up. I pull out the wooden chair that was placed under the table and move it so it's facing the hammock. I sit down in the chair, wanting to watch over the girl, feeling an instinct to protect her. Now, I'll just wait until she wakes up, making sure she won't get hurt.
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"Echo playback finished."
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