Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

*early night December 15th*

Waylon and Eddie stared out at the buildings before them. It took them two days to get here and now, they were standing at the edge of the forest just before the town. Both were looking horrible, wounded and scarred like they went through the largest bar fight in history.

Waylon had a large scar going across his left eye and side of his face. Bullet holes decorated his left shoulder and right leg. Multiple gashes or cuts covering him. Blood staining his clothes in multiple areas, dirt attaching to all the sticky blood. Eddie looked no better covered in more blood, and not all of it was his.

Eddie had a massive gash curving up his entire back, crossing sloppily over his spine. Lesions were on one half of his face from the Walrider project, the smaller ones being scars from treatment before the riot. He had three bullet wounds, one on his left side and two on his right arm. Gashes covered his skin and one big one on his jaw that was now mostly healed.

Obviously the two couldn’t just stroll into town, looking the way they were. It would gather attention, police would get involved, and Murkoff would notice.

“We need to find a place to stay.” Eddie said.

“If we search at the edge of the town we might find an abandoned building.” Waylon shivered. He was still soaking wet, the constant rain during their walk not helping either. Eddie shivered from the wet cold, but not as bad.

“Not good enough.” Eddie said, walking towards the town. Waylon's heart started racing, he didn’t want either of them entering the city. Now Eddie was just walking in to make himself home.

“Wait, where are you going?!” Waylon shivered, limping after him.

“To find a motel.” Eddie said, walking ahead.

“You can't stay in a motel! We have no money, and look at us!” Waylon said, struggling to keep his voice down.

“I am not going to ask the front desk.” Eddie said. Waylon's heart stopped, thinking Eddie was bent on killing the desk clerk to get a key.

“Youcan'tkillthemeither!” Waylon blurted out, latching onto Eddie's arm to stop him. Eddie just dragged his weight before stopping on his own.

“I am not going to. I did this a long time before Mount Massive.” Eddie reassured, continuing forward. Waylon still held onto him, no longer attempting to restrain Eddie. Only holding onto him for more reassurance that nothing bad may happen.

“I should have more faith in Eddie. He probably got away with a lot before being caught. He would know what to do more then me, but he's still not right, and unpredictable. I don’t know how he acts in a normal environment where his actions and thoughts are highly frowned upon.” Waylon thought. They walked in the darkened areas of the buildings. The few homeless people that saw them disappeared in seconds.

They stayed hidden for an hour, coming from the shadows at the arrival of a broken down motel. Waylon examined the rotting but somehow still open building. The large sign that said motel was flickering. Waylon couldn’t look at it long as the engine was aggravated. Cracks ran along the white, now tinted yellow, walls. Doors with dents, looking like they had been busted down before from a drug bust. Cracked parking lot and all the lights were broken or burnt out.

“Perfect.” Eddie said, in a joyful tone, as he walked to the farthest room at the second row of doors. Waylon followed a few steps after, looking for any people near by. The only light available to help him see was from the yellow flickering “motel” sign. Eddie brought out his knife to pick the lock.

“Wait, what about alarms?” Waylon asked, stopping him.

“They cant afford them, no cameras either.” Eddie said, the clicking sound of the door unlocking after. Waylon was amazed at how quickly he picked the lock.

“Wow, are locks that easy to pick?” Waylon asked.

“Only run down motels, houses I find are the hardest.” Eddie said, opening the door. Waylon's awed feeling turned to disturbed.

“How many locks has Eddie picked, and what houses may have been invaded?” Waylon thought, Following Eddie inside. Eddie closed the door and made sure the blinds were closed before turning on the light. The room was as Waylon expected. Old looking beds, a crappy small television with old rabbit ear antennas, lamps that looked broken and a small bathroom. He sat on the bed, wincing in pain as everything ached.

“Take off your clothes.” Eddie commanded.

“What, why?!” Waylon questioned, his paranoia rising.

“You’re wet and cold. You need to get out of those clothes and let them dry.” Eddie said. Waylon was about to reply that he was wet too, but shut his mouth at the thought of Eddie stripping down to dry with him.

“I am in a building now, I can dry off with my clothes on.” Waylon said, hoping Eddie would let him keep his clothes, but doubted it.

“You'll dry faster without them. They also need to be cleaned.” Eddie said. Waylon grumbled to himself, knowing he wouldn’t win this argument.

“What about you? Your clothes are just as bad.” Waylon said with a little anger. His anger died down at what he just said, the thought of Eddie stripping returned.

“I'll clean mine later. I am going out.” Eddie said, heading for the door.

“What where?!” Waylon asked, going to stand. His body forced him to stop, having him sit back down with a hiss of pain.

“Getting supplies, don’t worry about it.” Eddie said, opening the door.

“What if someone finds me?!” Waylon asked, concerned about what may happen, and hoping it would stop Eddie from leaving.

“Only cleaners come, and at motels like this they only come once a month. Maybe every six months if the motel is in really poor condition.” Eddie said as he left. The explanation eased some of Waylon's worries and raised others.

He sighed, starting to strip off his clothes. First was his shirt that he removed from painfully sticking to his shredded back. Turns out all that “gravel” at the bottom of the river he repeatedly smashed against was broken glass. The few glass jars of jerky in his bag had shattered when he first hit the riverbed. The next time he hit the floor, the broken shards shredded through the thin bag fabric. All the jerky was ruined, the backpack useless, and Eddie had to pick out glass imbedded into Waylon's back.

When it was off he examined it. Seeing the entire back side was stained with blood and in shredded thin strips. He sighed, wondering if this shirt was even wearable anymore. He painfully stood up to limp to the bathroom mirror. He turned around, examining his damaged back in the mirror. Lots of blood, scrapes, and long thin gashes. It reminded him of a curtain shredded by a cat clawing down it.

“A shower would help this.” he said. Might as well take it while it was available to him. He stripped the rest of his bloody damaged clothes, getting into a hot shower. After he finished showering, his body felt so much healthier. Month's worth of dirt, blood, and scabs washed away. He looked at his back, seeing the long thin cuts more clearly.

They were still bleeding out in small amounts. He grabbed an unopened roll of bathroom paper, ripping it open. dabbing pieces of it on the cuts to encourage healing. After drying and dabbing them, the bleeding stopped. He examined the rest of his body, sighing angrily at the larger wounds that were bleeding onto the bathroom tiles. Mainly his gun shot wounds being the culprit.

Those would need more then toilet paper to heal them. He dried the blood away from the floor and his wound, only having more gush out to replace it. He Grabbed his shirt and ripped a few shreds off, making a patch and wrap for the hole on his leg. The one on his shoulder he wouldn’t be able to wrap.

He left his clothes in the bathroom, wrapping himself with a blanket on the bed. He laid down on his stomach, his back being too delicate at the moment. He closed his eyes at the relaxing fabric. The beds were horrible, but after sleeping on hospital gurneys with restrains or in vents for the past few months, any normal bed in any condition was heaven to Waylon.

He awoke from his sleep, startled by the door opening. He didn’t know when he fell asleep or for how long. Seeing Eddie at the door calmed his nerves, but they spiked again when Eddie carried in a large first aid kit and a ragged backpack. Waylon got up, ignoring the pain in his body, keeping himself tightly wrapped in the blankets.

“Where did you get that?” Waylon asked.

“A truck driver stopped at a gas station. When he left his truck I grabbed them. I broke a vending machine too, if you're hungry.” Eddie said, throwing the backpack onto the bed next to Waylon. He recognized the sound of crinkling bags when the backpack landed. The sound stirred his starving stomach, having him quickly unzip the bag and grab the first bag of chips he saw.

Eddie set down the fist aid box on the bed, opening it. Waylon scarfed down the bag of chips before Eddie could open the kit. He threw the empty bag of chips aside to examine the contents. The box was large, being a two-by-two foot wide box. He grabbed a large bottle of alcohol, gauze, and a large wrapping of stitching wire with needle.

The first thing he dealt with were the bullet wounds. He sanitized and bandaged any other wounds that might have needed it. After he was fixed up, he gestured for Eddie to sit by him. Eddie needed that large gash stitched closed and sanitized. Eddie sat next to him, removing his dingy shirt and vest for Waylon to see better.

Waylon ignored the gash at first, his attention wandering over the layered scars. Many of them were old, some almost completely faded away. He felt a large one on his shoulder blade, being careful when Eddie's skin tensed at the touch. The largest one he saw, he recognized, was the one left after his impalement.

It was a deep, perfectly round scar just shy of being at his spine. An inch closer and Eddie wouldn’t have been saved by Murkoff or anyone else. Waylon stopped himself from staring, grabbing the alcohol nearby and a gauze to dab the wound. Waylon cleaned it and stitched it, being proud of his neat work. He told Eddie to turn around so he could give attention to the gun shots in his side and arms. Eddie obeyed, holding out his arm to Waylon.

Waylon caught himself staring again at the layers of scars in front of him. Seeing another familiar impalement scar on his side. He poured alcohol onto the wounds, dabbing them dry of the pink fluid. He stitched a few closed, not wrapping them, assuming Eddie was going to take a shower.

Waylon was stitching the last gash on Eddie's arm. He had to get close causing him to lean part of his back on Eddie's chest. Waylon was paying close attention to his work, ignoring Eddie when he started kissing his back. Eventually the kissing was becoming distracting as Eddie pulled him closer.

“Hold still.” Waylon said, holding Eddie's arm so he could finish the stitching. It was becoming harder to do as Eddie kissed more of his back. moving him to be closer to his chest.

“Stop.” Waylon said, still struggling to stitch Eddie's arm while he moved. Eddie finally did stop when Waylon was on his lap. Waylon ignored where he was seated, just trying to focus. Eddie started kissing the side of his neck. The affection had Waylon pause, this act of kissing was lasting longer then usual.

He was tempted to slow his work, maybe even undoing the stitches he just worked on. He didn’t though, finishing off the last stitch and cutting off the excess wire. When Waylon tried to put the supplies away, he was a bit annoyed by Eddie's hold on him. He refused to let Waylon leave his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist.

When the final supply was put away, the box snapping shut, Eddie put a light hand on Waylon's neck. he pulled his head back and kissed Waylon, gently holding him there. Waylon didn’t argue, happily kissing back. He felt the nervousness in his stomach, the feeling growing as Eddie slowly laid him on the bed. Waylon broke the kiss, panting, to speak.

“Are you going to shower?” Waylon asked, receiving kisses on his neck. half of him wishing Eddie would stop to go, the other half against it.

“Later.” Eddie said, kissing Waylon's lips again. Waylon closed his eyes with a moan, relaxing into the bed. His eyes opened when Eddie broke the kiss to unwrap the blanket from him. Waylon watched his only covering be pulled away, frozen. His mind was racing on whether to yank it back or let him be uncovered.

He was only uncovered for a second to have Eddie get under. He covered the blanket over both of them, kissing Waylon. He broke the kiss again as he fully laid on top of him. He kissed along Waylon's jaw and neck, wedging himself between Waylon's legs. He thrusted his hips forward to remove the remaining space between there hips. The sensation made Waylon gasp, grabbing the sheets.

The reaction had Eddie chuckle as he kissed along Waylon's collar bone. The vibrations going into his chest stirred some thrill in Waylon. His blood was pumping now with his thoughts racing on how to react. He was worried that Eddie might turn aggressive, excited at what he was doing. He was nervous at what they were about to do, and now wondering if they should even do it. He knew that once they started there was no turning back.

His mind went blank as Eddie grinded between his legs. He gripped the sheets tightly in his hands, moaning as Eddie kissed at his neck. The grinding slowed down, but got stronger. Waylon wrapped his arms around Eddie, clawing at his back. he accidentally scratched the fresh stitches on his back. Eddie didn’t let out a hiss or flinched away in pain. He repaid the pain with a bite to Waylon's shoulder.

It hurt Waylon, having him wince and be more careful not to grab the stitches. The pleasure soon replaced the pain. The bite mark did not break the skin, but it would leave a bruise. Feeling that grinding was no good anymore, Eddie reached down between them to unbuckle his pants. Waylon helped with the removal of his belt, throwing it off the bed.

Eddie removed his pants, throwing them to the side. Now the only thing being between the two was a pair of, now tight, boxers. Waylon moaned again as Eddie rubbed himself between his legs. The hard on he had feeling more noticeable with less layers. Waylon tilted his head back in pleasure, being rubbed against while Eddie removed his boxers. He was going to close his eyes till he saw the boxers go to the ground. He stared at the black fabric on the ground, his blood pumping faster.

“Ready, darling?” Eddie asked happily, kissing at Waylon's jaw while he shifted Waylon's hips. Waylon nodded after the question, not even thinking of what he was just asked. Eddie happily nipped at his neck, kissing it as he slowly pressed into Waylon.

Waylon winced, gritting his teeth as he was entered. At least Eddie was going slow with his body. When Eddie was fully inside, Waylon took a gasp of air. Having been unknowingly holding his breath the entire time. Eddie pulled out slowly, giving Waylon a mix of pain and pleasure. After a few slow pumps, Eddie quickened his pace.

Waylon moaned, entering a pleasured haze. He kissed Eddie, clawing at his back again. He accidentally caught the stitches again, receiving another bite on his skin. Waylon winced, kissing him when he released. Eddie kissed down to his neck, biting again as Waylon scratched into the wound. This one hurt a bit more and when Waylon was kissed, he tasted a little blood.

Waylon decided it was best to move his hands away from Eddies back. The stitches being in the middle would get caught a lot and Waylon didn’t want layers of bites. Eddie grabbed his hands by there wrists, holding them into the mat. He moved forward, getting a better angle at Waylon when he pumped in.

*The next morning

Waylon opened his eyes, annoyed at the light beaming into the dark room. He glared at the light that beamed under the curtains. He turned his head away from facing the window. The body above him shifted at the movement, holding Waylon tighter in its hold.

Waylon smiled slightly at Eddie sleeping above him. He didn’t mind the extra weight on top of him, it felt a little comforting. What he did mind was the way Eddie was holding him. He had wrapped his arms around Waylon in an awkward way that kept Waylon from moving.

It wasn’t something done accidentally, the hold was meant to keep Waylon from moving out from under him. The trapping position wasn’t uncomfortable to Waylon, but it did look like it for Eddie. The hold wasn’t that tight either, just positioned in the right manor.

There were a few times Waylon tested the hold. Anytime he did manage to slip out, Eddie would change his hold to trap him again. It was some kind of compulsion he felt to keep Waylon trapped. Waylon was sure he could easily escape if he wanted to. A simple yank upward of an arm could break or dislocate something. It was a sign that the hold wasn’t meant to be aggressive toward whoever was in it. An aggressive hold would have been much more constricting and uncomfortable for the prisoner.

Waylon shifted a little to reach his hand up and gently rub Eddies shoulder. The position he was in, lying stomach down, made it slightly difficult. The soreness in his shoulders and neck area from the movement reminded him of the multiple bites he received. He had caught the stitches on Eddie a lot, mainly the large ones on his back.

His hand gently rubbed down Eddie's back, stopping when Eddie flinched his shoulder. He accidentally touched the stitches again. Eddie took a deep breath as he awakened, shifting his hold a bit.

“Sorry.” Waylon apologized, gently rubbing his shoulder. Eddie nuzzled into his neck, kissing it. He closed his eyes at the affection, opening them so he could ask a question he wanted to ask since late last night.

“Why do you do this?” Waylon asked, referring to the awkward trap hold.

“Hm, do what?” Eddie asked, not opening his eyes.

“This.” Waylon said, tapping his fingers on Eddie's arm.

“To keep you here. To keep you safe.” Eddie said, kissing Waylon's neck again.

“Have you always done this?” Waylon asked.

“Only one other time.” Eddie said.

Waylon was interested to learn more, but left it there. He started to move out from underneath Eddie, who let out an annoyed groan, tightening his hold to keep Waylon.

“Where are you going?” Eddie questioned.

“I need to take another shower.” Waylon said, rubbing Eddie's arm. Eddie huffed, removing his hold. Waylon chuckled, getting out from underneath him. When he was off the bed he grabbed one of the extra bed blankets to wrap himself. Even though they had sex, he still didn’t want to walk naked around him. Eddie stayed relaxing in the bed, his eyes closed contently.

Chapter Text

Waylon was replacing his bandages as Eddie showered. He felt so alive right now, being free and not being alone. He ate a few chips from a bag he grabbed. He was still worried for the future. They couldn’t hide away in the motel forever.

“Maybe Eddie will know where to go from here.” Waylon thought, taping down a bandage. He also wanted to get new clothes somehow. His clothes were washed and dried by Eddie, except his shirt. His shirt was beyond any help of repair, so he had to go shirtless.

He ate a few more chips as Eddie came out of the bathroom. He was smoothing out his clothes, trying to cover up the stitches near his wrists. Waylon thought that was odd. There was no point to cover them…unless.

“What are you doing?” Waylon asked, fearing the answer.

“Getting ready to go out.” Eddie said.

“You can't go out! And where would you even go?!” Waylon questioned.

“I'll be fine. And I am going to the small shops nearby.” Eddie said.

“You can't do that! What if they ask about the blood stains?” Waylon questioned.

“What blood stains? This is just stains from a red drink I spilled.” Eddie answered.

“What about your injuries?” Waylon questioned again.

“People get work injuries all the time.” Eddie answered.

“What job do you have?” Waylon questioned with a doubtful face.

“That's none of their damn business.” Eddie smiled.

“Are you going to steal everything?” Waylon asked.

“No, the broken vending machine had money.” Eddie said. Waylon huffed, rolling his eyes as Eddie left.

He didn’t like Eddie going out, but he trusted him. He thought of Eddie being like how he was in the asylum. Knowing where to go and what to do, just needing some trust. It was still early in the morning to, so most people wouldn’t be out yet. He sighed to keep himself calm, grabbing another bag of chips to eat.

An hour passed before Eddie returned, carrying a few bags in. He dropped a newspaper next to Waylon and gave him a bag with some new clothes. Only three outfits and a new pair of shoes. They needed to keep light on their travels. Eddie started to change into his new clothes. Waylon turned away to change into his, wanting to be rid of the cadaver clothes Eddie originally got him.

After his clothes were on, he looked at Eddie in his new outfit. He kept to his old look, a white buttoned shirt, black pants, and he kept that battered stitched vest. Waylon liked that he kept the vest, it would be just too odd without it. He wasn’t used to seeing Eddie in perfectly clean and unstained clothes.

“You look nice.” Waylon complemented.

“Thank you. Do your clothes fit?” Eddie asked. Waylon nodded, tying the new shoes on.

“Want to follow me and buy food?” Eddie asked.

“You’re going out again?” Waylon asked, paranoia acting up. He wanted to stay locked inside and avoid people. His idea wasn’t a very good one though, they needed supplies.

“Yes, we need food.” Eddie said, straightening out his clothes.

“Where will we go?” Waylon asked.

“A small market a little away from here.” Eddie said, starting to straighten out Waylon's clothes.

“Won't they ask questions? Both of us do look like victims of domestic violence when together.” Waylon said, watching him.

“This is a small run down market. If you keep to the small rundown places, they don’t ask. They want money and want no trouble involving police.” Eddie said. Waylon nodded, agreeing to follow. Eddie opened the door for him, letting Waylon carefully walk out.

Waylon stayed close as he felt sick being out. The engine buzzed in his skull as his anxiety of walking past people grew. Eddie noticed how he looked pale and slowed down to be next to him. He tapped him, causing Waylon to be startled. He looked at Eddie nervously.

“You need to calm down. People will notice your abnormal behavior.” Eddie said, wrapping an arm around Waylon. Waylon got close to him, feeling slight comfort. He still felt sick at the sight of people passing by.

“This was a bad idea.” Waylon said, fidgeting with his sleeves.

“We can't stay inside forever.” Eddie said. Waylon nodded, letting out a nervous breath.

Inside the store Waylon was better, not many people to cause anxiety. He leaned against the aisle taking deep breaths. Eddie was grabbing various canned foods from shelves. The sound of glass breaking in the store made Waylon jump. Eddie watched him for a moment to make sure he was okay.

“You need to stop.” Eddie commanded.

“I-I can't.” Waylon said, twisting his sleeves.

“You’re not in the asylum anymore. You're in a different environment. You have to adjust to it.” Eddie said.

“I'll be better off away from people.” Waylon said.

“People are everywhere, you can't avoid them.” Eddie said, grabbing a few cans.

“I know.” Waylon said, looking at a can on the shelf.

“Here. If you stand up and stop slouching it’ll help.” Eddie said, making Waylon stand from his leaning spot. He fixed Waylon's clothes of the wrinkles he gathered.

“It's not that bad out here. You just need to understand how people work and who to avoid. People in run down areas will avoid police and questioning, those are safe areas. The nicer the place the more unsafe it is. Just pay attention to your surroundings.” Eddie said, continuing on.

“If you act polite enough, people will ignore your looks for the most part, just don’t seem too off. And keep conversations short, they’ll get less detail and be unaware to your bad habits.” Eddie explained, all in a quick pace.

“What if someone asks questions?”

“You're very paranoid, what makes you think they’ll ask questions about you? What makes you think they'll get involved?” Eddie asked.

“Uhh, well we are-” Waylon started, interrupted by Eddie.

“See what just happened? I ignored your question and asked one myself. Instead of going back to your original question, you focused on the newest one before you. As long as you're smart in ignoring certain questions and answering others, people will feel satisfied, and you’ll be fine.” Eddie said, giving a quick smile as he turned to head for the cashier.

“I guess so.” Waylon said. Even with that explanation he still felt nervous.

Everything after the store went smoothly. Although there were more people out, Waylon felt a little okay after Eddie's talk. He still didn’t like being out, people were always curious. Seeing two men walk down a street with stitched gashes and cuts were just waiting for questions.

Back inside the motel, Waylon let out a sigh of relief. Sitting on the bed and raking his hands through his hair.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Eddie said, setting down the bag of canned food.

“For you. I am not used to walking out, looking like I was mauled by a grizzly.” Waylon said.

“What are you worried about?” Eddie questioned.

“I am worried about Murkoff.” Waylon snapped.

“Have you forgotten they're still somewhere? They’ll find out we're missing and they will find us.” Waylon said, anger boiling.

“If we stay low, they won't.” Eddie said.

“Stay low? Walking out in the middle of the day on a shopping trip isn't staying low. People are seeing us, cameras are seeing us. Murkoff with their vast resources could be watching us. There could be hidden spies wandering around here. It's only a matter of time.” Waylon said, grumbling the last sentence.

“Listen. I have done this for years. Years! I know what I am doing. If they catch us, we can just escape again!” Eddie snapped.

“I don't want to be caught again! I don’t want to be trapped in there for another year! It was easy for you to be in there, you were a predator! I was just a lamb waiting for someone to eat me! I lived in fear while you wandered where you liked! I was used to a normal life, no fear of hallucinations, being eaten, or molested by someone somewhere in the dark bloody halls. How long were you trapped like that before you escaped?!” Waylon said bitterly.

“I've always been trapped. Until I escaped with you.” Eddie answered calmly. it broke through Waylon's anger, guilt replacing the missing emotion.

“If Murkoff does come, we'll make it.” Eddie said, patting Waylon's back.

“Want something to eat?” Eddie asked, brushing away the argument they just had. Waylon nodded, despite being not that hungry. He wanted something to distract him and a bowl of soup mite help.

Waylon was relaxing in bed, on his stomach, alone in the room. After eating Eddie had gone out again despite Waylon arguing with him not to. He was getting frustrated with Eddie. They had clothes and supplies, what more could Eddie be possibly doing out there? Waylon's paranoia had been acting up so badly. Even locking the door didn’t remotely help calm him down.

He groaned, rubbing his head. He winced as his neck and shoulders hurt, the bite marks Eddie left the night before still sore. He stretched allowing his back to crack. Maybe another shower would ease his nerves, or another bag of chips.

“If things don’t get better, I am going to get fat on food.” Waylon said, thinking of the backpack under the bed. He laid his hand down on the pillow, hiding his face in it. He brought it back up when a tap happened on the door.

Waylon knew that wasn’t Eddie, he would knock instead of tap. Another tap made Waylon get up from the bed. He stared at the door in fear, slowly going over to the bed side desk to get a hunting knife Eddie got him. He went over to the bathroom, hiding behind the wall in front of it. He was hidden from sight, hearing the door click open.

He held the knife at his chest, blade outwards, ready to strike when the person came near. Whether it was a harmless person or a threat, it didn’t matter. They couldn’t be pushed out of here this early. Waylon's desperation to stay away from others and inside clouding over his brain. He was going to kill this person when they came near.

He heard some light foot steps on the carpet. The intruder was slowly looking around the room. when the person was getting close, they stopped short. Waylon grew impatient with the intruder. He wanted them out, now. He leapt out from around the corner, pointing his knife to threaten the intruder. He froze at the sight of them.

It was girl. Not even an adult yet, looking around the age of sixteen. She was looking towards the door when Waylon jumped out. Her head shot forward, surprised to see him and raised her own long pocket knife. She looked even more surprised after a quick look over Waylon. Probably shocked with how scarred and battered he looked. The two looked at each other, both shocked in silence. Waylon's shocked expression turned to anger.

“Get out!” Waylon growled with a glare.

“You get out!” the girl growled back, unafraid. Waylon wasn’t intimidated by her. She was short and slim enough for him to push over. She had a black sleeveless shirt with dark blue jeans tucked into black boots. A silver bracelet on her right wrist. Long dark brown hair, that was almost black, going past her shoulder. And a small silver chain necklace with a silver cross.

“What are you doing here?” Waylon questioned with a glare.

“What are you doing here?” the girl questioned back. Waylon was getting annoyed as his questions were parroted back. What was she even doing here? She looked too clean and neat to be homeless. Too healthy to be a drug addict or a dealer.

“Get out or I'll kill you!” Waylon said. It didn’t sound as threatening as much as he wished it would have. If this was a guy, he would have been more aggressive toward the intruder, his will to kill dying now to just a stare off, because of it just being a young girl.

“Try it!” the girl snapped, still holding her knife firmly. Both were stuck at their spots, neither willing to back down or attack. He didn’t know what to do now. He didn’t want to hurt her. They needed another factor to tip the scales.

That factor arrived with the sound of the door clicking shut. There locked attention on each other was turned to the door. The girl seeing Eddie let out a gasp of fear, turning to fully face him and ignoring the harmless Waylon. Waylon was annoyed at her mistake at turning her vulnerable back towards a possible threat, the thought disappearing as soon as it appeared.

Eddie stood in front of the door, blocking the only exit. Waylon let his knife down, watching Eddie who stared intently at the girl. Waylon was alarmed as he heard a large snap of the door locking behind Eddie. The stare Eddie was turning to something cold with ill intent. Waylon recognized that look, the same one he got after exposing Eddie of his family.

Eddie pulled out his bloody knife when he approached. The sight of it made Waylon and the girl pale.

“Eddie, don’t!” Waylon said, rushing to get in front of him. He tried to stop Eddie from coming closer, pushing against him. Eddie pushed him forward, Waylon leaving drag marks in the carpet. He let out a breath he was holding when Eddie stopped, being at the spot the girl used to stand at. The girl now being cornered at the end of the room.

“She's harmless, just let her go!” Waylon said.

“She knows we're here. I have to kill her.” Eddie said bluntly. Keeping his dark glare fixated on her like a vicious dog.

“Why would that matter to her?!” Waylon question, still holding Eddie just in case.

“She could tell people.” Eddie stated.

“Tell what to who?! That she broke into a motel and was told to get out by strangers?!” Waylon said.

“I won't have to tell her.” Eddie glared at her.

“You can't kill her. This isn't the asylum, she'll be reported missing by family!” Waylon whispered through gritted teeth.

“If she's breaking into broken down motels in the worst part of town, alone, then her family is not missing her.” Eddie said.

“If no one's missing her, no one will ask questions about where she's been if she leaves here!” Waylon whispered again. He heard a grumble from Eddie's chest, feeling it expand as he took a deep breath and let it out.

“Fine.” Eddie said, voice full of displeasure. Waylon sighed relief, but didn’t dare to let go of Eddie. He looked back at the terrified girl. She looked at Waylon and slowly moved forward. The consistent glare Eddie still gave her not helping her move any faster.

Waylon held Eddie's armed hand as the girl got close. He didn’t want to doom the girl, Eddie attacking her, as she passed by. After she passed Eddie and Waylon, she rushed a little quicker to the door, unlocking it and fleeing the room.

“I should have taken care of her.” Eddie said, glaring at the door. Waylon let go of him, sighing now that the stand off was over. Eddie left his side, heading for the door which scared Waylon.

“What are you doing?” Waylon asked, fearing Eddie was going after her. But Eddie stopped at the window, peaking out of the small space between the curtains. He watched the girl run and disappear out of sight around a corner. Eddie grumbled to himself before looking at Waylon with an unfriendly expression. Waylon shrunk down at the stare.

“Why was she here?” Eddie questioned with a temper. It made Waylon want to shrink more until he was unseen.

“I don’t know. She just… broke in. I asked questions, but she wouldn’t answer.” Waylon said quietly.

“Broke in? There’s no reason to. Nothing valuable in here.” Eddie said.

“I think she knew someone was here, because… she… tapped, the door.” Waylon said, going quiet. Eddie could always change his mind on going after her.

“And you wanted her to leave?! No one just breaks into crumbling hotels for no reason! No money, no valuable items to take, nothing!” Eddie growled furiously, temper rising.

“She's just a kid, they do stupid things! They like to break rules like trespassing or breaking in. She was probably just going to mess with the stuff in here to mess with us.” Waylon said.

“That’s just idiotic. There’s no purpose to it.” Eddie snapped.

“Kids do random stupid things. They might eat a bug thinking they’ll get superpowers from it.” Waylon said with a short chuckle, remembering one of his boys did that once. Eddie gave an annoyed huff as he glared at the door.

“Just let it go. She won't do anything.” Waylon said.

“She could always blab to someone.” Eddie said, calming down.

“It's not really polite to kill people Eddie. People don’t like it much.” Waylon said.

“It's not polite to break into people's rooms either. They frown upon that too.” Eddie said.

“Why were you outside?” Waylon asked, wanting to change the subject.

“I was looking out for any sign of Murkoff being nearby. I found nothing and came back to find our hotel door open.” Eddie said, the conversation turned back around. “Why didn’t you kill her? You have a knife.” Eddie said casually.

“I can't just kill people who are not a threat. I don’t want to hurt people.” Waylon said.

“Better to hurt them before they hurt you.” Eddie said in monotone.

“So I should kill you then by that logic.” Waylon said, stabbing holes in Eddie's logic. He regretted doing so when Eddie glared at him. He took the sentence a bit too seriously.

“But I won't, because you are not threatening me. You don’t have to kill anyone unless you really have to.” Waylon said. Eddie's glare disappeared as he got the back pack out.

“If she talks to others, people will spread the knowledge of our existence. It won't take Murkoff long to trace the talk to an address. I see that reason enough to kill someone.” Eddie said.

“We’ve been wandering around town. If people are not talking about us already, what makes you think they will because of some girl?” Waylon said.

“Because adults usually mind their business, going about theiri lives. The young like to spread rumors and let them grow. Eventually the rumors spread to the older people, upsetting them. Like sheep, if you spook one the others will also become afraid.” Eddie said.

“We could always just leave if they don’t want us.” Waylon said.

“That’s not the point. The point is people will get upset and talk about us. If Murkoff passes through town, they'll hear about us. People who are scared would have watched us leave. If Murkoff asks questions, people may be happy to answer about where we have gone.” Eddie said, looking at a couple cans of spaghetti.

“Yeah.” Waylon said, getting the point. He watched Eddie go to the microwave to heat up the canned spaghetti. Before the asylum, Waylon would have despised canned spaghetti. After it though, anything was better then that weird dark green puree food.

Waylon wondered if that they just grabbed weeds around the building with dirt clumps and threw them in a blender with vitamin powder. It had the thickness and texture of sandy mud, crunched like it to. A miracle of wonder that Waylon didn’t chip a tooth on it. Maybe because he mostly refused to eat it and had it forced fed to him through a tube down his throat.

Meanwhile

A man in a neat suit sat at a large desk in a large office. The name plate at the front of his desk saying John Q. Barker. The man was sitting calmly at his desk, looking through papers of the Walrider projects. He was signing things for approval, new patients to be accepted or new equipment.

“Such a shame.” he thought. He found it annoying that Blaire wanted to restart the Walrider project. But after seeing the pile of papers requesting to fix almost the entire structure, he thought it was best. Rebuild the crumbling building, make it bigger and better. More security to keep patients locked and maybe move Blaire away.

Blaire didn’t seem to be competent enough, his work constantly crumbling to the dark ages every time a riot happens and Barker then has to sign more piles of paper to send in security, pay for damages and trace lost files. It was a major annoyance he no longer had the patience to deal with.

Barker didn’t even know how Blaire got this far to being the second CEO of Murkoff. Even if Blaire was under him, Barker felt insulted that this parasite had a high ranking spot. The damn owner of the company didn’t even trust him, leaving Barker in charge of watching him like a babysitter. This time Barker was going to make sure Blaire had his ass on the side walk. He paused in signing papers for a millisecond as a man walked into the room.

“I bring some important news, sir.” the intruding man said.

“Doesn’t anyone knock?” Barker snapped. “If you're bringing news of my deranged younger brother's death, then how sad. Now leave me to grieve.” Barker said, not sounding the least bit interested or sad.

“Actually, Blaire's dead.” the man said. Barker stopped his signing of a paper, a drop of ink splattering from the pen. He stared down at the paper, his interest perked slightly.

“A matter of time before he tested his limits with patients too far.” Barker thought. “And how did he die?” he asked with a sigh, already knowing the answer.

“Patients killed him. Stabbed and beat him to death.” the man said.

“Oh, my. Such a surprise… well, I am sure he'll still look good for his funeral. Are those patients dead?” Barker said, continuing to sign papers as he expected this answer to.

“We think they are.” the man said. Barker paused at the unexpected answer. this time his amber eyes shot to look at the man. The man swallowed at the unfriendly glare.

“Think?” Barker said, something dark in his tone.

“They jumped over the water fall into the rapids.” the man said nervously.

“So I assume you have bodies?” Barker glared.

“No, but-” the man started.

“Then why are you wasting my time?! Unless we have bodies, don’t assume the patients are dead. Get out there and look you idiot!” Barker snapped.

“For how long?” the man questioned.

“Search until tomorrow, you should find their bodies nearby, snagged by something. If they aren't found, I will assume they are alive or Blaire's workers are incompetent in finding floating dead bodies. If I get no news of dead bodies, or where they may be by the day after, everyone’s getting replaced.” Barker said, signing papers in an unhappy fashion. The man swallowed and nodded, leaving the room in a hurry.

“Fucking Blaire can't do anything right. Even with the damn helicopter I lent him.” Barker growled. He typed some codes into his computer, printing out papers for worker replacement. He didn’t believe Blaire's people were any good either, so he was getting his own.

Chapter Text

Barker was sitting in his office, the place darkened. Only the lights closest to the door were still on. the other half of the room, with his desk, was in shadow. He was rolling a small jar on his desk, back and forth. Staring at it with a emotionless face. He stopped rolling it, holding it still when someone knocked on his door.

“come.” Barker said, keeping a serious tone and stare on the jar. A man walked in quietly, stopping when he was 6 feet in front of the desk. Barker looked up at him slowly, a glare forming. He was never happy to be bothered by lower ranking workers. They were all morons who wasted his time.

“we found no body’s.” the man said.

“where are they?” Barker asked coldly. He expected a real answer, or else.

“the river they went down lead to a town. We think they could be there.” the man answered.

“where are they in the town?” Barker asked. He knew they didn’t know and that his time was being wasted again.

“we don-” the man started, jumping when a cracking noise was heard. Barker had cracked the liquid filled jar under his hand.

“did you ask the towns people? No, wait, you didn’t. Because if you did you would be telling me wouldn’t you?” Barker interrupted with a annoyed growl. He set the jar upright from its side, wiping his wet hand on his suit. The man catching a glimpse of something floating in the dark jar when moved.

“we did, but no one would talk.” the man said.

“did you really try? Iam sure a white threat would make them be more talkative. Or did you try and bribe with muffins?” Barker said, looking at the jar. The man swallowed.

“i should have done the talking. Humans are so easy to read, such horrible liars. Simple body motions can give everything away about them. A simple glance of there eyes can tell a direction to search. Eyes are the window to the soul after all.” Barker said, popping the lid off the jar and reaching in. wrapped around his hand by the red roots coming off, was a fresh looking eye.

“they cant lie.” Barker said, playing with the eye in his hand. The man looked away, feeling sick at the image.

“ill go make the troops ask again.” the man said, taking a step back.

“why in such a hurry? It makes me think you don’t like my company. Why don’t you sit.” Barker said in a pleasant manner, gesturing for the man to sit in front of his desk. The man nervously pulled a chair out for him to seat.

“people don’t seem very comfortable around me. I wonder why?” Barker said in monotone, pulling something from his desk. In his free hand he held a sharp blade meant for slitting open packages. The blade had stains that were faded, but still dark.

“just, worker intimidation.” the man said, wanting to just leave.

“could be, but I think its something more. … eyes can be so delicate. Without a delicate hand they could be crushed like a grape and deflate from there nice round shape. They also need to be kept in a fine solution of liquid, or else they dry up and shrivel away. I used to make that mistake, putting them only in plain water. They would lose the beautiful color they had.” Barker said.

“you cant take them out for long either. Its sad, because you can only appreciate them fully when out of the jar. Or … when they're still in the skull.” Barker said. He looked at the color of the eye one last time before dropping it into the jar. The eye making a plop noise as it hit the water and sank to the bottom next to the other.

“ ive never met a pair of ugly eyes, always beautiful. I sometimes have trouble resisting my urge to pluck them out then and there. That would be rude though, I should at least wait till they're fully dead first.” Barker laughed. The man looked beyond disturbed from his chair. Barker stood from his chair, coming around his desk, holding the packaging blade in his hand.

“i cant just pluck them out either. Mite accidentally crush them. I have to carefully pop a blade behind the eyes and gently move it till the eye is removed. Smoother things like a spoon would be better, but a knife is needed to cut the roots.” Barker said, disappearing from the mans view as he went behind him.

“The roots are tougher then they seem. even if its messier to use a knife, I think its worth it. Don’t you think?” Barker said.

“y-yes.” the man, said. Startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Barker patted his shoulder.

“good, glad you agree. You may go.” Barker said happily, walking back to his desk. The man got up quickly with a sigh hidden under his breath.

Barker heard the door close as he grabbed the cracked, slowly dripping, jar. He smiled at the eyes floating in the jar. He walked to a metal door behind his desk, opening the door to a brightly lit white room. The room was filled with tightly packed shelf’s. Covering them were neatly placed, lighted green, jars with a pair of eyes in each. Some having labels with names on them.

Barker went over to a narrow cabinet. He opened it and pulled out a liquid filled empty jar. He switched containers for the eyes, bringing them over to a lone empty space on one shelf.

“if his eyes were just a bit brighter. You would have had a new friend.” Barker said to the eyes, a grin growing as the orbs floated.

*meanwhile*

Waylon was rubbing the back of Eddies neck. he was sleeping above Waylon again, tangling him in his arms. He would have rubbed his back, but was afraid of catching the stitches. It was still early in the night, but Waylon couldn’t sleep since he woke up.

His mind had been buzzing with thoughts. A single question haunting him.

“should I stay with Eddie?” Waylon questioned. Waylon was beginning to doubt the love between them to. His mind keeps telling him that he does, but is it true. What if it was just because of Stockholm syndrome. When he thought about it, was he afraid of leaving because he would be truly heartbroken.

He couldn’t think of that as the main reason. He was just too afraid of Eddie to leave. that was more a sign of spousal abuse then love. He could sneak away, but other things were stopping him. He was having a war with two parts of his mind, one wanting to leave the other to stay.

“you cant leave him, not after everything you’ve been through.”

“yes you can, you don’t owe anything. You both went through hell, but that’s all. Other patients suffered it, should you be with them? You're just afraid to leave him.”

“no iam not.”

“yes you are. You’re afraid that he'll attack you, and that once you leave you’ll be alone. That’s a unhealthy way of thinking. You could meet other, normal, better people. You wont be alone out there.”

“i cant live a normal life with people. Things have changed.”

“whats really changed? You're scarred and have PTSD, but that’s a normal healthy reaction. What about Eddie? He hasn’t changed either, hes still sick. You can heal and become normal again someday. Eddie cant, he will stay sick and abnormal forever. You cant change him and one day ... his sickness will win over you!!”

“no, NO!!” Waylon denied in a painful whisper. He closed his eyes as they started to tear up.

“you could run away. Go and find a hospital and claim amnesia, they'll believe it. They’ll help you be normal again. They'll heal you and let you truly be free. Not a prison you keep trying to cover as a loving relationship. Sick people don’t love, they just obsess over things they consider property. Run and escape him.” his voice growled deeply in his mind.

Waylon gripped onto Eddies shirt tightly, crying into his chest. Hearing Waylon in distress Eddie woke up, concern coming over him. He moved his arms to be wrapped around Waylon, gently shushing him. Waylon buried his face more, unable to stop crying.

He didn’t ask questions from Waylon. assuming he suffered something involving the engine. The engine affects were unfix able. Printed onto the brain in a scarring manor that would never fully disappear. It effected some more then others. Eddie had seen some people turned into unresponsive zombies, or thoughtless attackers. If Waylon had been there for another 4 months he would have been one of them.

Eddie reached up one hand, putting it behind Waylons head and brushing through his hair. Waylons crying slowly died down till it was small whimpers and a few sobs. Eddie gently shushed him some more.

“its okay.” Eddie spoke gently. Hearing Eddies voice calmed Waylon down faster. Waylon swallowed down his depression for a moment.

“iam sorry.” Waylon spoke, muffled, into Eddies chest. He held Waylon tight, kissing the top of his head. ignoring the compulsory feeling to entangle Waylon. It made Waylon feel a little more safe, despite the war in his head.

“you’re not safe. Hes sick, diseased of the brain.” Waylons brain warned, before it shut off for sleep.

*early morning*

Waylon was gently shaken awake by Eddie. He opened his eyes, seeing the bag with everything packed nearby. He was confused by the sight of it. He rose from the bed, still exhausted. The early morning blue light coming through the curtains made Waylon groan. How early was he awakened from his calming sleep.

“time to get up. We're leaving.” Eddie said.

“leaving?! Leaving where?!” Waylon questioned, pausing mid stretch at what Eddie said.

“people know we're here. So we have to leave for a different living space.” Eddie said.

“where would that be?” Waylon questioned, getting angry that Eddie was forcing them to leave.

“next town over.” Eddie said, putting the bag on. Waylon choked on his own spit.

“the next town?! Do you know how far that is?!” Waylon said.

“yes, but its safer there, and we'll be farther from Murkoff.” Eddie smiled as he helped Waylon up.

“he is diseased.” Waylon thought with a growl. He didn’t want to trudge through the cold winter whether to another town. They were safe where they were, but Eddie was paranoid because of 1 kid. He sighed as he followed Eddie out the door.

They walked outside of town, hidden in the vast thick forest. A thick layer of frost had formed on every surface. The crunching of frozen pine needled under his feet made Waylon feel colder.

“this is ridiculous.” Waylon thought. He glared at his breath, watching the thick fog he made drift off. It was early morning, freezing winter weather and they were going to walk 60 miles to the next town. Going through the forest, that Waylon was sure had mountain lions and bears.

“its never too late to run.” his mind spoke. Waylon rubbed his head, irritated and obtaining a headache. He was getting sick of the war in his head. He couldn’t leave Eddie, he just … couldn’t. Nothing was stopping him from running ... so why didn’t he?

He made up excuses and his mind broke them. A lot of people suffered in mount massive. what made Eddie special to keep in company with? Only that they escaped together and both survived. Waylon could go to the hospital, give a excuse of amnesia. Doctors couldn’t look up records if he didn’t know his name. Murkoff wouldn’t be able to trace him under a hospital assigned name or code.

“ staying out of pity?” Waylon thought. He did feel bad for Eddie after hearing his story. Maybe that’s why he stayed, he didn’t want to be known as another to abandon him.

“hes not a stray to be cared for. Hes a rabid dog. Someone abandoned him for a reason.” his mind spoke. Waylon was shocked by his thought, almost stumbling. It seemed to come out of nowhere. How could he possibly think that. It was disturbing to him, it couldn’t have been his thought. He could never think so negatively about someone. He felt sick, his thoughts were getting a bit more “carried away” then normal.

He wasn’t paying attention and walked into Eddie. He backed up annoyed, why did he stop. He looked up Eddie, expecting for him to look at him. When he wasn’t, Waylon got nervous. Did he accidentally say his dark thought out loud? Waylons heart skipped a beat.

“Eddie …?” Waylon said, barely above a whisper. Eddie quickly shushed him, not even fully looking at him over his shoulder. Waylon was a little taken back by the sudden shush. He looked around Eddie. All the color in his face vanished at the sight of a Murkoff blockade up ahead.

“head back to town.” Eddie said, facing Waylon and gently pushing him to walk the opposite direction. Waylon quickly walked, feeling sick and light headed at the sight. At least they weren’t seen, but how long would that last?

“they must be searching towns.” Waylon said.

“told you that girl would mess with things.” Eddie said.

“i don’t think this would be from a kid. Murkoff heard about two injured strangers in town after only 12 hours?” Waylon said.

“rumors and gossip spread fast, dear.” Eddie said, being alert of they're surroundings.

They made it back to the hotel. Waylon was feeling beyond ill when they made it and had to vomit in the bathroom. Eddie checked on him before he went to watch the window. Waylon stood back up and leaned over the sink, splashing water on his face.

“we cant leave the city, but we still have to leave here.” Eddie said. Waylon growled to himself, still leaning over the sink. He was still exhausted, the added stress not helping. He sighed going back to bed and covering himself to block the rising sun.

*a few hours later*

Waylon frowned as he felt himself being moved in his sleep. He didn’t want to wake up so Eddie could move them again. He ignored the light movement. He refused to get up till Eddie forced him up. The movement stopped and Waylon thought Eddie had given up.

Waylon became concerned when his face felt cold like ice. Becoming alarmed when that cold sensation was now feeling a bit suffocating. He opened his eyes, wrenching his head up to gasp in some air. Eddie was holding him under a shower head spraying freezing water down on his head.

“why did you do that!!!” Waylon snapped, wiping the water from his face. He expected Eddie to pull him off the bed to wake him up. Not put him in a freezing shower.

“you wouldn’t wake up.” Eddie said, holding Waylon up.

“that’s because I didn’t want to wake up.” Waylon grumbled.

“i tried for an hour. You had a serious fever.” Eddie said. That caught Waylons attention. He looked down and examined himself. His clothes were covered in a light sticky layer of sweat. Only the area around his head being soaked from the shower. He noticed the fever he had now. His skin felt on fire with no relenting moments from it. Eddie released him when he had his footing.

“iam going to get you medicine.” Eddie said. Waylon felt some panic about that.

“you cant go out there, Murkoffs here!!” Waylon said.

“your fevers high. If it doesn’t get better, you'll cook your own body. Take a cold shower while iam gone.” Eddie commanded as he left Waylon in the bathroom. Waylon couldn’t argue with that. It took a cold shower to wake him, he was wet with sweat and his skin felt on fire. After hearing the front door close, he stripped to take a cold shower.

He stayed in the shower for what felt like forever. He felt tired, light headed, and constantly thirsty. His burning skin felt unaffected by the water, still burning underneath the shower. To satisfy his thirst, he drank from the water pouring down on him. He thought it was a little disgusting, but it was better then guzzling there whole bottled water supply.

He looked away from the stream to the closed bathroom door. Waylon wondered where Eddie was and if he was okay. Something abnormal formed in the room. He didn’t catch it at first, his mind took a moment to recognize it. When he noticed he looked away from the door. next to the door, above the sink, was a mirror. In the mirror was a corpse resembling him.

Its skin was a sickly, pale, darkened green. The eyes were unseen in the black sunken in circles. Its face resembling more of a skull with its tight darkened skin. its whole body anorexic, bones pointing and gliding under tight skin. Its hair was dark and dull, somehow not falling out and sticking together.

Waylon stared at the creature in the mirror with wide eyes. The creature was looking away till Waylon looked at it too long. It turned its head to look at him with crackle noises of its neck moving. It looked at him and slowly opened its mouth with a threatening growl hiss. Inside its mouth were multiple sharp teeth and blackness. The skin on its cheeks splitting apart from the force of opening its jaws.

A scream got caught in Waylons parched throat. He jolted himself back against the other end of the tub/ shower. He hit the wall and hid behind the dark blue curtain at the end. He stayed still as he could, his body shaking with fear. He stayed there silently, listening to the sound of bones crackling and snapping. When the room went quiet, excluding the shower, he peeked out from the curtain side.

He was still shaking when he looked. He saw himself, looking at the mirror in the reflection. He let out a deep breath of relief to not see the decaying creature. He didn’t want to shower anymore, getting out quickly and changing. It didn’t take long for his body to sweat through the new clothes. He stayed in the bathroom, leaning over the sink.

He barely remembered getting changed and how, or why he was at the sink. He looked up at the mirror, staring at it for a moment. He heard something like a hiss and was startled. He looked around the room, fearing the creature returned. The hissing happened again, being more clearly this time. It was whispering.

Waylon listened, looking around in fear to find the source. The whispers slowly became clearer and clearer. He swallowed down what little was left of the moisture in his mouth.

“ what?” Waylon asked, feeling they were trying to say something important.

“its spreading … its spreading … its spreading ...” the voices whispered repeatedly. Waylon was going to ask them what was spreading, but stopped. He noticed something dark moving on the bottom of his arm. He turned it over, his stomach flipping when he saw darkness spreading through his veins and up his arm. Where it spread the skin turned into that sickened green the corpse was. He panicked, turning on the faucet, trying to scrub it away with hot water. It only slowed the spread.

“cut it out … the disease … cut it out …” the voices whispered. Waylon didn’t know what else to do. He ran into the main room to the backpack. he tossed things aside and out till he found his hunting knife. He returned to the bathroom, slightly happy to see the disease hadn’t spread much. With a shaky hand he started gouging into the infected area. He shredded through his arm, feeling no pain from it, watching red blood flow out and pour into the sink.

He frantically cut through more of it. He became hysterical as he saw the infection continued to spread up his arm. The whispering turning to yelling as it wanted the disease carved out. He began hyperventilate and was about to amputate his infected arm when a hand grabbed the knife away.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!” Eddie yelled at him, yanking the knife away and pinning him to the wall. He came into the bathroom, finding Waylon shredding his arm open. The whole white sink was coated in thick red blood, dripping off to the tiled floor. The walls were also splattered from Waylon yanking the knife out. It all looked like a murder scene happened.

“its spreading!! I have to cut it out!!” Waylon said being strongly upset that Eddie stopped him. He struggled and thrashed under Eddies hold.

“whats spreading?!” Eddie questioned, holding Waylon and keeping the knife far away from his reach. Waylon looked at his arms to say “that”, but went quiet as he saw no infection.

His arm was its normal skin color. The middle area down the bottom of his arm shredded open. There were long varying cuts that blood poured from. Waylon started to silently cry at he stared at the mutilation he just did. He wasn’t sure if the crying was caused by relief that the infection was gone, or from pain swarming in. he heard Eddie grumble something as he took him to the other room by his good arm.

He made Waylon sit on the bed and hold a towel to the bleeding wound. he sat quietly, staring at the bloody towel with a blank face, his mind void of thought. Eddie searched around the room for medical supply’s. Waylon tossed things all around the room and Eddie had to regather them.

Finding everything, Eddie treated Waylons mutilated arm. Cleaning it out and bandaging it. Waylon by his own stupid luck, missed the very important tendons in his arm. If those were damaged, his hand would have been useless. Eddie pulled out a bottle of medicine from his pocket, sitting next to the still blank Waylon. He read over instructions and poured a cap full of syrup. Eddie almost coughed from the strong smell as he gave it to Waylon.

“drink this.” Eddie commanded. Waylon stared at it blankly, unmoving. Eddie thought that Waylon didn’t understand him and was about to help him. Waylon poured all the medicine into his mouth with one large tilt of the cup. Waylon gagged on it almost spitting it out. Eddie grabbed his mouth, keeping it closed so he couldn’t spit.

“swallow it.” Eddie commanded with a growl. Waylon swallowed it down roughly, having a coughing fit after. Eddie picked him up again to move him back to the bathroom. He needed another cold shower to keep his fever down and to wash all the blood away.

Eddie will stay with him, not trusting Waylon to be good on his own. He stripped Waylon down with little struggle from him. The sickness and lack of blood making him a disoriented being. Able of doing only very simple tasks on his own. He left Waylon in the shower while he cleaned up the bloody sink area.

Chapter Text

Waylon sat against the cold wall, enjoying the coldness of it. He was sitting on the floor while Eddie was in bed. He couldn’t sleep and the fabric made him so uncomfortable with his burning skin. So he just sat, leaning on the wall, letting the cold air blow over him in quick waves.

His new clothes were wet with his constant sweat. The medicine he drank earlier helped a little. The cold water could actually affect him now and his temperature had stopped rising. It wasn’t going down though, being locked in place with the high temperature.

He opened his eyes to look down at his bandaged arm. After staying in a cold shower for a few hours, Waylon regained his mind. He couldn’t believe he did that to his arm. He was embarrassed about it. Even more embarrassed that Eddie had to undress him for a shower. Waylon found him still cleaning blood when he regained his mind.

Waylon still wasn’t wearing his shirt. Eddie took all day to scrub the blood out. It was still drying in the bathroom. Waylon didn’t get a new shirt, his body was too uncomfortable and hot for one. Waylon wanted to know why he even got this fever.

He thought it was just stress, but he remembered what doctors testing on him said. The engine could mess with peoples immune system. Sometimes making them have a fever or making them go into a coma. It varied and doctors were trying to get better control of it. Waylon seemed to be one of the few patients it didn’t make ill the first few times.

Doctors were interested in why it had no effect on some. They did blood work, brain scans, examining stomach contents. They cut him open multiple times and injecting him with bottles and bottles of anything available to him. They didn’t even bother to bring him to a cell anymore. They kept him strapped to a hospital bed in a lab. They had no need for the straps, he was too weak to move for most of the time.

Going in and out of surgery’s took out a lot on his body. When he became “suddenly” sick the doctors were angry with him. They assumed the engine caused it and that meant he was effected, wasting there time on him. He knew it wasn’t the engine, but like hell he was going to tell them that.

Doctors seemed to be more angry with him. It wasn’t his fault, but doctors blamed him for his illness. Saying things like he faked his health, and the engine always effected him. Some doctors got abusive towards him, Mainly Andrew. Andrew scared Waylon, he never wanted to end up alone with him. Even if the other doctors wouldn’t save him from what ever Andrew wanted to commit.

Thank fully Andrew left him alone for a time to deal with something. Waylon pushed away the memory’s of the lab. They made him feel worse with his body becoming painful around the surgery sites. He felt cold and his body shivered. Waylon growled, knowing the shivering was a lie. Hed gone back in bed when shivering, dying of heat his body radiated when under the covers.

He looked over at Eddies sleeping form. seeing only a silhouette of him from the small amount of light through the window. he was still asleep on his side, his back towards Waylon. He had been awakened a few times when Waylon walked around the room. Eddie could be a light sleeper when paranoid. Making sure when Waylon wondered that he wasn’t going to do anything harmful.

Every time he woke, he asked Waylon what he was doing or where he was going. Waylon would answered him soon after. it made Waylon feel safer that he could. Being aware of his surroundings and not in a haze made him a little confident.

“asking where you go like a prison officer. You're trapped” his mind said. His heart skipped a beat. The thought just happened and he didn’t feel the need to stop it.

“hes not trapping me. Hes just making sure I don’t mutilate myself again.” Waylon reasoned with his mind.

“try and go outside. You cant, he wont let you.”

“of course he wont let me outside, Iam sick.”

“you’re not sick. You could be trusted enough to stand by the door. Its not like you’ll go wandering off like a Alzheimer patient. You're not sick.”

“i should stay inside.”

“afraid of some fresh air? Or afraid of him? You're a grown man, you can control yourself to not wander off. You're not sick, he is.”

Waylon swallowed, he was right. He could just stand by the door. Eddie knew he wasn’t someone to go off around town. Or one to confront people or communicate with them.

“you’ll just be out for, just, a few minutes.” his thoughts spoke gently. He nodded to himself, getting up. He unconsciously grabbed the hunting knife from the end table, sneaking to the door. Waylon turned the door knob, a click happening as the door opened. Eddies eyes shot open, ready to attack what ever intruder was entering. His aggression changed to confusion when he saw Waylon opening it.

“what are you doing?” Eddie asked, sitting up.

“iam going out.” Waylon said.

“you cant go out!” Eddie said urgently.

“yes I can.” Waylon growled. Eddie could see Waylons aggression rising, something was wrong.

“you cant go out, you're sick.” Eddie said. He saw something change in Waylon.

“YOU'RE SICK!!!” he yelled at Eddie, about to bolt out the open door. Eddie grabbed him, pulling him away from the door way as Waylon hysterically struggled.

“hes not letting you go. You're trapped.” Waylons mind said, fear growing. He felt the need to escape and fight. he grabbed his hunting knife from where he pocketed it. With one sudden thrust, stabbed it deeply into Eddies side.

“AH, FUCKING BITCH!!!” Eddie roared, his hold getting tighter on Waylon. Waylon yanked the knife out, readying to stab again.

“you’ve made him upset. Now, hes going to kill you.” Waylons mind said calmly. Eddie saw the knife and grabbed his armed hand to stop it. Waylon continued to fight, throwing punches and when he became desperate he began scratching and biting.

Waylon twisted the knife in anyway he could to scratch or carve into Eddie. Getting Eddies injured side when ever he struggled it close enough. Waylon broke his hand free and slashed Eddies face with the knife. Eddie dodged away, making the slice not as bad as it could have been. Eddie growled, this was getting too dangerous for the both of them while Waylon held that knife.

Eddie dropped him, ready to tackle him to the ground. He underestimated Waylons recuperation time and speed. Waylon was up again in seconds, bolting out the door into town. Waylon was panting as he ran. He had no idea of where he was going, only running to escape Eddie. Just like he used to do in the asylum.

For anyone who saw him, he would be quite a site. Running crazily, bloody and half naked with a bloody knife. He ran through the darkened town, the cold air freezing the sweat on his body. He slowed down when he walked down a dark alley. He was shivering and panting, adrenaline coursing through his blood.

The engine flashed a image of Eddies silhouette at the end of the alley way. It startled Waylon and he bolted off into the opposite direction. He was running again, wheezing for air as the engine crushed his rib cage. He ran up next to a tree, stopping next to it to catch his breath.

He was frightened again when the tree turned into a shadow creature with teeth and multiple eyes. Waylon lashed out at it, stabbing into the tree. The shadow creature disappeared and Waylon yanked on his knife after it was stuck. He yanked it out after the 5th forceful pull. Bits of bark and wood flying to the side.

He continued walking again. ignoring his body that desperately warned him of his condition. His body was radiating heat from his fever, heavily dripping sweat off of him. His hair was wet with sweat, drop’s flinging off when he whipped his head around. He could barely wheeze with how tight his rib cage was. His vision blackening and blurring out of focus. His eyes were wide, almost fully blackened from being dilated.

“hes still following you. Keep running.” his mind spoke clearly over his zooming fearful thoughts. He sped up in walking, flinching and swinging his knife at another hallucination flashing near him. He started running again, barely breathing. He turned the corner of a alley way, ending up on main street.

At the end of the street was a Murkoff blockade. He was unaware of them, ready to just run out into the middle of the street. His wet shirt collar was grabbed, yanking him back. He swung his knife around to stab the person. He was punched in the face, his vision going black and his body becoming unsteady.

Despite his weakened body’s state, he still fought back. Weakly waving his knife around and struggling to get up and stay on his feet. He felt more pain when he was slammed into the brick wall, his body completely blacking out.

Eddie panted, annoyed that Waylon had to be chased all over town. He was like a rabbit, terrified of the smallest noises or flash of light. He bolted off when ever Eddie caught up to him, never able to get close enough to grab him. Finally he did catch him, just in the nick of time before he could stupidly run into a Murkoff blockade.

Eddie picked him up from the ground. Seeing him wheeze and sweat falling off him like he fell into a pool. He ignored his injured side as he heaved Waylon over his shoulder, carrying him back to the motel. He needed to quickly cool off Waylon. He made a cold bath, laying him in it without stripping him.

Eddie didn’t want to leave Waylon, but he needed ice. He broke into a ice box outside, stealing bucket fulls to fill the bath tub. He stayed with Waylon till his breathing was no longer a wheeze. Afterwords he changed the bathroom. Getting rid of anything breakable or sharp. Removing the mirror off the wall and the shower curtain and pole. He got a chair and blocked the bathroom door from the main room, trapping Waylon inside.

Waylon had a complete mental break down and needed to be isolated somewhere. The bathroom was best, easy to block and, with a tub of cold water for his fever. Eddie began treating his bleeding wounds. A stab wound to the side, slashes over the same side. Bite marks over his arms, scratches going up his arms and on his face. A cut on the side of his face from the knife cutting it.

He hadn’t faced someone fighting that desperately to stay alive in years. He growled as he looked at the blood splattered around the doorway. A few carve marks in it from Waylon slashing his knife around.

*the next morning*

Waylon opened his eyes, turning his head over to look at the room he was it. He stared at the door, his mind unable to recognize where he was or why. His mind was still locked on the thought that he needed to escape. He attempted to get up, his body unable to. He was weak and still feeling a little out of breath. The ice and adrenaline made him numb to the soreness in his body.

He attempted again, managing to just sit up. He kept forcing himself till he was standing out of the tub. He leaned against the wall as he walked to the door. He turned the knob and pushed the door to open it. He frowned when it didn’t open. He pushed on it with force to try opening it. Two more times with no success made him stop.

He growled, looking around the room for another escape. He saw a small window above the shower. It looked really narrow, but he had to get out. He cautiously went up to it, trying hard to stay on his exhausted legs. He punched through the glass, cutting his arm. Glass shards getting stuck in the bandaging of his arm.

He managed to get up and through the window, getting stuck half way. Waylon futility pushed on the wall to get out. Being too big for the window he admitted defeat to it. The soreness and exhaustion catching up to him. Waylon went limp, shutting his eyes closed to sleep in this awkward position. He opened his eyes when he heard the bathroom door open.

He felt someone grab his legs to pull him back in. he looked back, freaking out when he saw Eddie. He thrashed in the window, cutting his sides on broken glass. Fighting Eddie off to escape again.

“STOP IT!!” Eddie commanded, yanking him back in with one pull. Waylon weakly fought him, not doing any harm. He was taken to the main room and set on the bed. Being wrapped up in blankets and forced to lay down.

Waylon fearfully did as he was directed. Shaking in fear while covering his head in protection. He began crying again thinking he was about to die. Eddie sighed, aggravated by how Waylon was acting. He could be such a hassle at times. Eddie didn’t image his marriage being like this. Chasing his husband around town, both covered in blood and one hallucinating.

Eddie sighed, rubbing Waylons back to calm him down. He forgave Waylon, despite the anger he was feeling from being stabbed. He made a commitment to stay with Waylon and he would never go back on it. No matter how threatening Waylon became to his health.

“iam sorry. iam sorry. iam sorry.” Waylon cried in fear. Eddie continued rubbing his back as he sat down next to him.

“i forgive you darling.” Eddie said, kissing Waylons back. Waylon calmed down a little, letting out only a few whimpers. All of this was new to Eddie. He was used to killing people who attacked him. Now he had to restrain himself. It felt unnatural for him to comfort as well. He had done it rarely in his life and no one really did it for him.

He grabbed Waylon in a gentle hold, moving him onto his lap. Waylon buried his face into his chest, going silent. Eddie rubbed his back, thinking that whatever he was doing passed as comforting. It made Waylon stop crying so it was good enough, for now.

Waylon stared at the white bathroom ceiling. Eddie told him that he should stay in the bathroom. Whether Waylon liked it or not, it wasn’t a choice. Waylon knew Eddie was paranoid of him now. He couldn’t blame him, after he stabbed him with his knife. his paranoia also made Waylon worried. Eddie didn’t act sane under its affects.

The bathroom was cleaned out of anything remotely able to be turned into a weapon. Leaving Waylon in a cleaned out bathroom. He was only given a single pillow, with no case, and a very thin sheet. When Waylon asked why he wasn’t given a blanket, Eddie told him he may try to hang himself with it. Which is why he was given the sheet, it would rip and break easily with weight. He felt like he was back at the asylum.

“now you really are trapped.”

“shut up!!” Waylon growled at his thoughts. Even after his fever had calmed down after his town run, the voices weren’t going away. His mind went to what he did earlier. He attacked Eddie, ran around town bloody, and almost ran into Murkoff from what Eddie said. Waylon could only remember small clear points involving fear and hallucinations, the rest was a dark blur.

He was shocked to hear that he attacked Eddie. He would NEVER even think of doing that.

“that’s because you are afraid of his illness.”

“ I have a illness.” Waylon growled to himself.

“NO!! you're normal, hes sick!!” his voice yelled in his head.

“no iam not!!!” Waylon yelled back in his mind.

“you need to remove the sickness!!” it yelled back.

“NO!!” Waylon yelled out loud. Grabbing his hands with his hair.

“THE SICKNESS IS SPREADING!!! CUT IT OUT!!!” his inner voice yelled. Waylon dropped his arms, ready to call Eddie, but froze. That dark spot was growing again on his other, non bandaged, arm. He began hyperventilating, trying to wipe it off and viciously scrubbing at it in the sink. He scrubbed at it with blistering hot water till his arm burned and bled from the scratching.

Eddie came in, inspecting Waylon after he heard him yelling. Waylon was startled, and became terrified when Eddie gave him a dark glare from his actions. Waylon looked from him to his bloody arm. The darkness was gone, only seeing red from scratching and blood. Eddie grabbed his shoulder, holding it tightly so he couldn’t run. He made him sit on the bed as he got more gauze for the arm.

“stay.” Eddie commanded firmly, glaring down at him. Waylon shrunk away from the glare. He felt afraid, doing something with no real reason besides a hallucination. The engine had never reacted this bad. Now he was hearing things and doing actions out of his control.

“you can cut away the sickness.” his inner voice spoke. Waylon shook his head.

“you need to get rid of the sickness that’s spreading to you.”

“no, no.” Waylon whispered, shaking his head. Eddie paused his actions of digging through the medical box to look at Waylon.

“you need to kill him!! Hes spreading his disease!!!” his inner voice growled.

“NO, I WONT!!!” Waylon yelled, getting to his feet. Eddie reacted to his sudden movement, pinning him to the bed. Waylon thrashed and struggled yelling out no repeatedly.

“STOP!!!” Eddie yelled, choking him to force his body to relax. Waylon forcibly calmed down, stopping his thrashing. He gasped for air when he was released. Eddie pressed him into the bed, glaring at him to make him stay there. He left back to the medical box, grumbling something about tying Waylon to the bed would use less gauze then this.

Eddie grabbed his newly injured arm, cleaning it and bandaging it. Waylon could see that Eddie was losing patience with him. If he didn’t stop this, Eddie mite just snap on him.

“we're going to have to move soon.” Eddie said as he made Waylon sit up to tie the gauze.

“what?! We cant leave. Not when iam like this!! what if I see hallucinations again?!” Waylon said.

“you just need to learn to control them. There just images.”

“ I cant control them. And to me they're real, not images. I panic, I feel sick, and I feel pain from them. I cant ignore those feelings when they happen!!” Waylon snapped.

“yet they're just images. You may feel it, but nothings happening to you, unless you do it to yourself. Just close your eyes and breath next time. We are still leaving and ill leave without you if you refuse to come.” Eddie said, fully tying off the bandage. What he said hurt Waylon deeply. After everything Eddie would just leave.

“you'll just leave me?” Waylon asked, feeling hurt.

“ eventually Murkoffs going to check buildings. You can stay here, but you'll be caught. If I leave now, at least ill be free to help you later. I would prefer you to follow, but unless you get your images under control. Maybe you should stay here till then.” Eddie said.

“at least hes not entirely abandoning me.” Waylon thought.
“i cant control them!!” Waylon growled.

“and we cant afford to be caught. I don’t know where we'll stop. I don’t want to use all our gauze tying you to a pipe. If we run I don’t know how you'll react. If you panic and run off I don’t know how bad it will go.” Eddie said.

“i could be better outside, you don’t know. Being in enclosed spaces hasn’t helped so far.” Waylon said.

“last time you were out, you ran around town covered in my blood.” Eddie glared.

“after i freaked from being trapped inside.” Waylon growled.

“ you didn’t like going out. You wanted to stay inside. You weren’t trapped till Murkoff showed up. Why the sudden change?” Eddie glared him down with a look of suspicion. Waylon backed down from the glare, swallowing. He refused to tell Eddie about his chaotic thoughts, especially the ones wanting him to kill Eddie.

Eddie reacted bad enough to just mentioning killing him in a early conversation. Telling him that he may be planning it would be bad for his health. Eddie was smart that he knew Waylon was suffering hallucinations and voices, but he didn’t know how deep they spoke to him. They could cause him to panic in a conceiving voice. Convincing him to even attack Eddie. Waylon still couldn’t wrap his head around that. It was a mistake that could have ended in him brutally murdered.

“i feel that you're doing this on purpose to spite me for something.” Eddie stated with a deep frown.

“what?! No?! Iam not doing this on purpose!!! you think I would fucking cut my arms just to spite you??!!” Waylon snapped, standing to his feet.

“non of this happened till after Murkoff came!! you wanted to stay inside till just a few hours ago!!! why??!!” Eddie growled, stepping into Waylons personal space. It made Waylon hesitate for a moment, backing away a few steps.

“i-i dont know. I just wanted some fresh air. If you had let me out I would have been fine!!” Waylon continued to argument. He was disregarding what may happen to him. the malicious voice disguised itself as the voice of reason. The real voice being drowned out with aggression to win this argument. One voice whispering him to stop because of something threatening. The other was shouting encouragements to continue.

“why??!!” Eddie yelled, stepping again into Waylon's personal space. Waylon didn’t hesitate, stepping back to continue his stand against Eddie.

“because I wanted to, fucking, go out!! am I not allowed to go anywhere on my own??!!” Waylon yelled back.

“NOT WHEN YOU'RE MUTILATING YOUR SELF!!!” Eddie yelled, getting close.

“I-!!” Waylon started, about to say he could take care of himself, till he hit a wall. His true voice of reason bubbled up to the surface with a mixture of fear and instinct to run. He realized the argument he just did, how he was now trapped between a cold wall and a furious Eddie. The rush of anger died, he had to get himself out of this hole he just dug.

“iam just … sick.” Waylon said, his voice disappearing.
“you’re not sick!! you're not sick!!” the voice screamed repeatedly in his head.

“you got sick after we tried to leave.” Eddie said, a look of realization coming to him.
“You're doing this on purpose so we wont leave!!” Eddie growled, glaring down at him.

“ NO, no!! iam not sick- I mean iam sick, I just ...” Waylon blurted nervously. The voice shouting in his head was messing with his words. Waylon stopped talking, knowing that the hole he was digging was turning more into a grave with each word.

“YOU WERE DOING IT ON PURPOSE!!!” Eddie yelled, grabbing Waylon by his collar and yanking him up. Waylon felt more trapped then ever.

“NO I SWEAR I WASINT!!” Waylon yelled defensively, grabbing a hold of Eddies wrists.

“WE'RE LEAVING TOMORROW!! NO EXCUSES, ILL FUCKING DRAG YOU IF I HAVE TO!!!” Eddie yelled at him.

Chapter Text

Barker was messing with another familiar jar on his desk. He read the name on the yellowed label, remembering who’s skull they were taken from. His wide grin dropped to a scowl when someone entered his office.

“what?!” Barker snapped, startling the person entering.

“w-we got news that they were seen walking around town.” the man said nervously.

“and?!” he snapped again. He wanted to get to the point. Did they know there location or not?

“we're still looking for them.” the man said. Barker silently opened a drawer with a gun. He was sick of time wasters and maybe this would make them think before entering.
“we found out who they are. A Waylon park, who used to work for us, and Eddie Gluskin, a long time patient.” the man said, unaware of barkers actions.

“Gluskin?” Barker said, his interest grabbed. He slammed the drawer closed, having the man jump from the bang.
“i recognize that name.” Barker grinned as he stood from his seat.

“ came to us 10 years ago, caught in a town. Known for kidnapping girls. He Killed 23 victims before he was caught. Difficult to catch, kept moving around. I read his file before, the towns people were all very concerned for where he was going. Lots of meetings, and court dates with arguments of him going here or there. They wanted him to be as far away as possible. Murkoff wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by.” Barker said amused as he walked to a wall covered in file cabinets.

“so we happily offered to take him under the guise of the head of mount massive. we discreetly told the town we were in the deep cold mountains. Far away from any town and being heavily locked down. That’s all they needed to hear from us, happily giving him away. Not even bothering to find out more.” Barker said as he pulled out a certain file.

“there was one person though. I think he sensed we were up to no good. He kept coming in, asking questions about why we wanted Gluskin so badly. Wanting tours of our facility and to see papers of our staff. The nerve of him, he was so rude and nosy. We couldn’t get rid of him though. after all, he was the one who caught Gluskin. He was a town hero, a sudden disappearance wouldn’t do well. So the next time he visited we had … “problems”, with our facility.” Barker spoke with a annoyed tone.

“he seemed to be less fond of me after that. Demanding to speak with the head of mount massive. He only knew me as the “head doctor” of mount massive during that time. After shooing him off we gave him a message. It wasn’t a very polite message, but he stopped prying into our business.” Barker said as he looked through the file. He pulled out a old looking business card.

“iam sure Gluskin would love to meet his old friend.” Barker grinned, looking at the name Artisan Schep centered on the card. He began dialing the numberto set a meeting.

*later*

“glad you could come artisan.” Barker grinned at the man sitting at the other side of his desk. Artisan was wearing beat up old blue jeans with black boots. His shirt a dark grey, mostly covered by a beat up dark green jacket with pockets on the front. Some spots were stitched on the jacket from long ago cuts and tears. His hair was brown with a line of grey slightly showing at the front corner of his fore head. He had a few small scars on his face and dark blue hazel eyes.

Artisan was taping his fingers on the desk. He was glaring at the man before him, not at all happy for being called here. He didn’t know why he was called. He hadn’t seen this man in years. Going from a head doctor to a CEO of some company. None of that sat right with him. He knew something was disgustingly off about this company and mount massive. That’s why he kept wanting to get in.

“weren’t you a doctor?” artisan questions with a raised eye brow. He faked a pleasant tone, although his eyes were still glaring.

“i was, but I didn’t want to do that forever.” Barker grinned.

“ so why the hell am I here? Going to finally give me a tour of mount massive. After that in detail letter claiming “harassment” over me interfering with your “doctoring” I thought you’d never want to see me.” artisan said in a aggravated tone.

Thats what stopped him from investigating mount massive and Murkoff. A letter claiming he was harassing the company, saying that it began interfering with they're “charity” work and patient “treatment”. It was sent to the mayor, and artisan had to back off or lose his job. No one cared for Murkoff or mount massive, so no one was willing to back him up against the paper.

“ Gluskin has gotten out.” Barker said bluntly. Artisan choked on his spit, starting a couching fit. He stood up in anger, catching his breath.

“YOU LET HIM OUT??!!” artisan yelled, looking furiously at Barker.

“no, no. there was a riot and he escaped in the chaos.” Barker smiled, talking casually as if it were a everyday thing. It almost was, but artisan didn’t know that.

“god dammit!! do you fucking know where he is?! Has he done anything?!” artisan growled, beginning to pace.

“hes hiding in a near by town, from what we know. He also has a friend with him. A man who used to work with us, but had to be committed for violent actions against coworkers.” Barker explained. Violence against coworkers aka actions against Murkoff.

“he doesn’t make friends, if he ever did, they didn’t last longer then a few hours.” artisan said, confused and suspicious of that. He followed Eddie for months. It didn’t sound anything like Eddie to have a friend. Especially one that was alive.

“well his friend is very smart. Easily manipulates people, don’t listen to anything he says. He'll try to convince you hes harmless, then he will stab you in the back.” Barker grinned.

“fucking hell. I need to gather up a squad. Call some people, make reports.” artisan said, rubbing his face.

“oh, you don’t need to worry about that. We have a squad for you. You just have to hunt down Gluskin and they'll kill him for you.” Barker said.

“iam not going to kill anyone. Hes done horrible things, but iam not just going to murder someone unless I absolutely have no choice.” artisan said. Barkers grin turned into a frown at that news. Before artisan could turn to see it, Barker changed it back to a smile.

“i can understand that. You are a good man. Just find Gluskin and his friend, bring them back and we'll take care of them.” Barker grinned.

“how exactly did they get out of your “highly secured facility”.” artisan quoted him from long ago.

“ I told you. During a riot.” Barker said blandly.

“and how did the riot happen?” artisan glared. Barker stared at him calmly.

“it doesn’t matter. Things were taken care of.” Barker said in a plain tone.

“your facility isn’t very secure.” artisan stared back.

“even Alcatraz had a few escapees.” Barker grinned at him. Artisan looked at him unamused.

“ so I assume you got me for this because I caught Gluskin long ago, correct?” artisan asked.

“of course. Why would we get someone else?” Barker smiled.

“well, I chased him for months. he always moves around, making him hard to pin point. Do you have any leads where in town he could be?” artisan asked.

“no, they’ve done a pretty good job of avoiding us. And people refuse to speak with us about them.” Barker explained.

“i wonder why.” artisan thought sarcastic. To him, Barker was as trust able as a shark in a swimming pool.

“probably because they were threatened by them.” Barker said.

“maybe … ill go to the town and speak with the team. See what they say on the situation.” artisan said, beginning to leave.

“i hope to see you back soon.” Barker said in a pleasant tone that made artisan just want to punch him.

*meanwhile*

Waylon was kept in the bathroom again. Once morning hit, him and Eddie were going to leave no matter what. Everything looked bad for Waylon. His fever was gone, but he still suffered from voices. Eddie was mad at him for things he never meant to do. Or never did, like faking his illness. They were going to move and that settled badly in the pit of Waylons stomach.

Murkoff had not made much of a move. Only setting up road blocks. They haven’t searched buildings yet harmed or threatened anyone. as far as he knew. Then again, they were probably just being more discreet. They didn’t want all this getting to the news. Threatening people would bring up a panic in others. People would run away and word would spread.

With that thought, Waylon still felt something looming over them. A dark cloud of misfortune just waiting to hit with a hurricane. He definitely didn’t want to leave now, but that could be just him. He was always afraid to go out and pass people. Being forced into leaving the only safe house he knows. And not knowing where they’ll end up added a extra layer of anxiety.

He started looking back on all the different decision they could have made. They could have not stopped in this town. Could have kept to the woods. Could have continued past this town to another. They were in bad shape when they arrived though. They had to break into the motel, or face pneumonia. Or possibly infections of all kinds and disease like rabies from wild animals.

He probably got his fever from the pouring rain and stress. It was a matter of time before he got sick from something. He started looking around the bathroom walls, being board. He stopped and stared at one small dark spot in the ceiling corner over the shower.

He stared at it, leaning towards it in confusion when he thought it was beginning to grow. His eyes widened at seeing long black shadow spider legs grow from the dark spot. He stared at it a moment longer, watching the spot grow from the size of a dime to the size of a plate. He got up and backed away to the door, watching a large spider dripping black ink crawl out of the darkness.

It opened its multiple eyes, shining a bright red at Waylon. It let out a large gurgling hiss as it clawed to get out of the darkness, like it was stuck. By the time it was half way out Waylon started banging on the door.

“ EDDIE!! LET ME OUT!!! EDDIE!!” Waylon yelled, getting ready to just bust down the door himself. The spider was almost entirely out when the door opened. Waylon bolted out a few feet, getting stopped by Eddie grabbing him.

“what is it now??!!” Eddie questioned. Waylon was shaking and hyperventilating. He looked back into the bathroom for the spider, finding no sign of it.

“huge spider.” Waylon said a little shaky.

“ a spider?” Eddie questioned in a mocking tone.

“it was a massive shadow spider that dripped ink.” Waylon snapped.

“iam sure it was.” Eddie mocked again. Waylon angrily grumbled about seeing it and it wasn’t a tiny spider. Eddie left him by the bathroom door, getting some canned food to make into dinner. Waylon went over and laid quietly on the bed. As Eddie started to heat up the food, Waylon began asking questions.

“where will we be heading?” Waylon asked. Hed like to be aware of at least which direction they’ll be heading in.

“heading towards the northern part of town to the lake. Unused log cabins over there. Most likely to be looked over by Murkoff since there a little away from town in the forest. Just need to stick to the woods and cross over a bridge. A little more walking through the forest and we'll be there by afternoon.” Eddie said, as he watched the microwave.

“are the cabins rotten?” Waylon asked.

“some will be. Others can be fine.” Eddie said.

“i rather not get one with a hole in the roof.” Waylon mumbled.

“i cant promise that.” Eddie said, taking out the food. He handed Waylon a paper bowl of SpaghettiOs. Waylon looked down at it, feeling mild sadness when he remembered feeding his boys this stuff.

“ … if Lisa saw me now … would she be happy with me being with Eddie? Or would she advise me to run?” Waylon thought, staring at the noodles.

“you should eat those.” Eddie said, breaking his thought. Waylon nodded, forcing himself to start eating. He would need a full stomach for this trip. He had been feeling exhausted, unable to sleep for more then 5 minutes. Nightmares plagued his dreams, barely remembering them when waking up terrified. The feeling of suffocation attacking him after trying to breath.

He stared into the empty bowl when he finished. He looked up towards the bathroom door, sighing as he felt sickness. He didn’t want to try and sleep in there again. He knew he would be unable to. He looked over his shoulder at Eddie. He watched him pack stuff into they're bag. He took a deep breath before talking.

“Eddie, can I sleep with you?” Waylon asked quietly. Eddie paused, thinking for a moment.

“alright, but if you see something. Wake me before you do anything.” Eddie said, continuing to pack. Waylon nodded, feeling some relief. At least with Eddie, he felt secure that Eddie will know when somethings near. Knowing when its a actual threat vs just a hallucination. He yawned, the exhaustion feeling heavier on him.

He laid down on the bed, covering himself with a blanket. He hid his face in one of the pillows, and covered his head with the blanket. He just wanted sleep and didn’t even want to see the light of the room. After hiding himself away in the bed, did he realize how exhausted his body really felt. Everything was sore, weak, and felt sick.

He let out a groan mixed with sickness and exhaustion. He really didn’t want to leave feeling like this. He hoped that by morning he would have slept well enough to be a little better. He felt a hand rub up his back, then felt a body lay over his. He let out a deep breath, his body relaxing as Eddie joined him in bed.

Eddie tangled Waylon in his arms like he always did, earning a grumble from him. Waylon usually didn’t mind, but he didn’t want to be shifted around and trapped at the moment. Eddie shushed him, raking a hand through Waylons hair before relaxing.

“at least its still better then the bathroom floor.” Waylon thought, shifting a bit. He fell asleep a minute later.

Sometime during the night, Waylon awoke. He sighed in annoyance at waking early. thankful that he had no nightmares this time. He turned his head to look at the wall. Tensing up when he saw the shadows begin to shift and move. He swallowed, shifting back to be more underneath Eddie.

Eddie seemed unaware to the shadows, so they must be hallucinations. Eddie growled at Waylon moving and gripped tighter around him, stopping him. Waylon buried his face back into the pillow to not see the shadows. The feeling of being watched nagged at him, making him nervous. He grabbed on tightly to Eddies shoulder, looking for something to give him small comfort. Eddie, being the only thing there, was all he had.

Eddie awoke to Waylons grip on his shoulder. He untangled him and wrapped his arms around Waylon. Eddie grabbed his hand and let Waylon hold it tightly. Eddie began feeling Waylon shaking underneath him.

“its alright darling. Ill keep you safe.” Eddie said, trying to give some encouragement. Waylon let out a few long breaths he was holding. It was hard for him to calm down when seeing realistic nightmares and the feeling of being watched. He looked again at the wall, sighing when he saw no more shadow things. The feeling of being watched disappeared. He buried his face back into the pillows, trying to fall right back to sleep.

He did after more encouragements from Eddie. The rest of the night was peaceful for him. He growled when Eddie woke him the next morning for breakfast. He raked his hair back as he sat up. He looked into the paper bowl handed to him, seeing some canned peaches.

He finished them off soon after they were handed to him. He stretched as he turned to look at the window. He saw some blue light coming in through the cracks in the curtains. He growled again at how early they were up. He missed being able to sleep in. he changed his clothes and got ready to leave.

“come on, time to leave.” Eddie said, watching Waylon re-tie his shoes.

“ I know.” he yawned, standing up to move towards the door. They walked closely together along the forest edge, watching out for Murkoff. Stopping a few times as Murkoff passed by. Half way on there walk, Eddie stopped to watch a large Murkoff gathering. The security were formed in a large circle, protecting something. Eddie walked up to a building to try and get a closer look.

“what are you doing?! We gotta keep moving!!” Waylon whispered.

“they’re talking about something. I want to know what. It mite help us get by them later.” Eddie said as he got closer. Waylon stayed close to him, wanting rather to leave.

Waylon looked around him, trying to listen. He only heard mumbles, getting 1 clear word every 10 sentences. A small group of Murkoff in the middle disbanded, showing a man. At the sight of him Eddie sucked in a quick breath and his whole body tensed. It made Waylon worry, was he someone Eddie knew?

“Eddie …?” Waylon whispered, trying to get his attention. He was ignored, Eddie stared intently at the figure, hatred filling his eyes.
“Eddie?” Waylon said again, getting more paranoid the longer they stayed.

“Darling?” Waylon said, to break Eddies glare. It worked and Eddies tense posture softened. He looked at Waylon and guided him to start moving.

“we have to leave, now.” Eddie commanded as he pushed Waylon along.

“do you know that guy?” Waylon asked as he was pushed.

“nothing to worry about darling.” Eddie said. All those words did was make Waylon worry.

“Who was that man? Ive never seen him before. Eddie was involved with him at some point. Something big if Eddie is worried about him.” Waylon thought. Eddie stopped pushing him and yanked him away in another direction as Murkoff started getting too close.

Murkoff was spreading out from the grouping and the two had gotten too close. They were slowly being surrounded by wandering Murkoff. Eddie brought them to a nearby apartment building, climbing up a few flight of stairs.

“we cant stay here.” Waylon said, panting from there running.

“i know. We'll sneak out the back fire exit, jump to a nearby building and go down the stairs to the woods again.” Eddie said, walking with a quick pace down a hall.

“what if Murkoffs there?” Waylon asked.

“they'll pass by the building. They want to check run down buildings first and will be heading to the rundown factory’s.” Eddie said, climbing out onto the fire escape, making sure no Murkoff were around first.

Waylon quickly climbed out the window, following Eddies lead. They jumped onto the roof of the building next door. Not very hard when they were only 5 feet apart. They went to the stairs, silently going down a few flights. At the bottom, Waylon was heavily panting as he followed Eddie. He was running behind him till Eddie stopped suddenly. Waylon slammed into him, not expecting at all to stop.

He looked up at Eddie, surprised and confused. Eddie was frozen, staring at something ahead, his posture tense. Waylon slowly glanced around him, seeing the man from earlier. He was pointing a gun at Eddie, forcing him to stay in place.

The man glanced at Waylon looking out. Waylon hid back behind Eddie, his nervousness growing. Eddie put a arm a little behind him to stop Waylon from trying to look out again.

Artisan turned a corner into this building after seeing movement pass by on the roof. He turned a corner with his gun drawn, surprised by Eddie coming quickly coming down the stairs. Stopping a few feet short of running into him. Eddie deeply glared at him with hatred after recognizing who he was. Artisan was silently looking him over, the lesions on eddies face catching his attention. He began noticing there were other multiple wounds.

Gashes, bullet wounds, lesions on his face, and his eyes contained blood. Artisan knew Eddie was a rock with experiencing pain, but all this must be dragging him down. His examination was cut short by movement to the right of Eddie. It was another man with him, looking even worse.

One huge scar going across his face with stitches, bloody gauze wrapped arms. As soon as artisan saw him, he disappeared back behind Eddie. Artisan knew something was off. Why was Barker so desperate to get them? What the hell happened to these two? They looked like they just went through all the layers off hell. No asylum could do this much damage without some illegal action occurring.

“... what happened to your face?” artisan questioned bluntly. He didn’t care if he offended Eddie, not like Eddie didn’t despise him already. He wanted some answers, and he would at least get some from Eddie then going through a dance with Barker for a vague one.

“why are you here, with them?” Eddie glared, unblinking.

“i was called by Barker to bring you in.” artisan answered with a glare.

Waylon went pale and sick at the name. Flashes of cannibals eating body’s, blood, the thick smell of rotting body’s and metallic blood. The engine awakened in a flurry of bloody images, painful flashes, and painful shocks. Waylons PTSD was run over with fear to escape terrifying hallucinations of rotting sick cannibals.

Waylon started hyperventilating and shaking against Eddie. It caught his attention, although he didn’t want to loose attention on artisan he had to check Waylon. Eddie glanced over his shoulder, paying attention to any movement artisan made while checking Waylon. He slowly reached behind him to grab Waylon. The touch back fired.

Waylon grabbed Eddies knife, sticking out of a side pocket, and barreled past him. He slammed into artisan, knocking him over with a gun shot going off. Eddie froze at the sound, fearing his darling was shot. But the bullet missed and Waylon continued out a near exit.

Eddie felt a little relief, running by artisan. He wanted to kill him, but he had to stop Waylon before he ran into a Murkoff search party. He followed him to a near by alley way. Waylon was shaking and hyperventilating, the grip on Eddies knife made his knuckles white.

He approached cautiously, yanking the knife away from Waylon and grabbing him so he couldn’t flee again. Waylon tried to fight Eddie till he calmed down and realized who it was. The hallucinations had stopped once he ran out of the building. He didn’t fully remember what happened and hid in a alley. He was fearing that Murkoff mite find him and fought Eddie when he was first grabbed because of that.

Eddie started pulling him away from the area. Trying to get them away to the cabins as quickly as possible. They just had to pass the bridge and they would be free to hide in the woods. They were running by buildings, passing by scrambling Murkoff. They knew they were around by artisan alerting them all through radio.

They were closing in around them. They had no time to stop or slow. Every minor pause allowed Murkoff to get closer. Eventually they were spotted, running by a alley. Bullets went by them, busting off pieces of wall near by or the concrete at there feet.

Waylon kept up as close as possible. Fearing something was going to happen. The dark cloud looming before was turning into a storm in his skull. Everything was slowing around him, the sound of shootings being muffled by the loud pulsing of his heart. They ran to the stone bridge that was just ahead. The thick trees around them blocking the heavy fire. Running across the bridge had become almost impossible with the fire on it. Dust and pieces of rock being shot off around them.

They made it half way, but then a large rock thudded in front of Waylon. He jumped back in reaction, assuming it to be a bullet when it hit with a loud sound. He looked at the rock, everything going quiet, and suddenly slow for him when he saw the detail on it.

It wasn’t a rock … it was a grenade.

Eddie stopped, seeing Waylon freeze. He looked at what Waylon was looking at. His blood froze, seeing Waylon 8 feet from a grenade.

“RUN!!” Eddie yelled at him. It snapped Waylon out of his freeze. He bolted away from it across the other side of the bridge, separated from Eddie. He got 2 feet before it exploded.

Waylon let out a sudden painful gasp as something went through his ribs with intense force. He heard multiple snaps, only hearing his heart pulse in his head. All the noise he heard went silent. He felt immense pain that quickly turned to numbing cold. The world went bright for him and turned black, in a second, as everything sped up and then stopped.

Chapter Text

“BARKER!!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!” artisan yelled as he bashed through the office door without knocking.

“ what happened?” Barker asked in a calm manor.

“you’re idiot guards killed one of them and Gluskin escaped!!” artisan yelled at him, stopping to stand in front of barkers desk. He was fuming that this had happened.

“iam sure it was a accident. They must have misheard my instructions.” Barker said, keeping a calmness about him.

“they threw a FUCKING GERNADE!!! how is that a accident?! And what instructions?! You said I was in charge and I clearly said I wasn’t going to kill them!!” artisan, growled.

“i simply said that they must bring them in, but if they happened to accidentally die in cross fire it wouldn’t be so bad.” Barker said with a small smile.

“why do you want them dead?!” artisan questioned with a glare.

“i didn’t say I wanted them-” Barker said, interrupted.

“but you do. Why?!” artisan snapped. Barker paused, his smile disappearing into a frown.

“ … why do you even care? There just two deadly psychopaths. Willing to kill anybody they wish. Don’t you remember what Gluskin did when he was free? Killed all those girls before you caught him. And you care more that hes alive then dead. why is that? Do you actually care for him?” Barker questioned.

“i know exactly what he did, but that doesn’t mean anyone has a right to kill or torture him. He did a lot of crap, but he could have gotten help. Its not my job to kill. I am suppose to bring them in alive to be judged and sentenced. I want to make sure he was actually getting the “help” he needed from mount massive. Now, iam just thinking that the “help” doesn’t exists anymore.” artisan glared.

“torture?” Barker asked.

“yes. I saw him. He was covered in scars, gashes, bullet wounds, and odd lesions that couldn’t be made by just a fight or weapon. They looked like some sort of burns after touching heat or acid.” artisan said.

“... i can assure you … he got treatment, but he continued to fight it. Those “burns” are a result of shock therapy. Its a old method, but the doctors informed me that they were running low on options. He never spoke to anyone. Always aggressive and fighting away any doctors trying to give medication. He was becoming a real threat to mount massive workers. They kept asking for donations of his treatment. If they didn’t have some sort of break through soon, he would be transferred.” Barker stated, a blank expression on his face.

“maybe the help never existed.” artisan stated. He didn’t believe the shock therapy. It never caused lesions like that, or at least wouldn’t cause them on just one side. He sighed in anger, he wouldn’t get answers.

“i must warn you, artisan. Mount massive is very … strict, with its record of keeping patients under control. They don’t want there reputation tarnished. So reporting this to outside sources wouldn’t be wise.” Barker warned, a threatening tone hidden under the words.

“two patients could wreck a facility’s record. One that holds patients that are there for being harmful to themselves or others? Shouldn’t news about two escaped psychopaths be reached to the public?!” artisan said, holding in his outrage.

“no, mount massive made it very clear to keep this discreet.” Barker said.

“DISCREET!! you have a army in the town!! a fucking army for TWO escaped patients, just TWO!! and your idiots threw a GERNADE that broke the damn bridge and killed one of them!!! they cant afford to be discreet!!” artisan yelled.

“it will be fixed, in a few days itll be back where it was. Like nothing happened” Barker stated.

“that’s not the fucking point!! why does Murkoff even have a army?! Isn’t Murkoff a “charity” organization?!” artisan questioned Barker.

“Murkoff is a charity organization, but we need to get money some way, don’t we? We do a few business deals and some of our charity work has offered us help when we need it in these situations. So we take advantage of that.” Barker said.

“business deals with who exactly? Not many people in business have a army to just give away. Or grenades and a arsenal of weapons.” artisan said. Barker was silent for a moment, then leaned in over his desk slightly with a glare.

“... the less you know artisan, the better.” Barker said, sitting straight in his chair again.
“do you have the body?” Barker asked. Artisan let out a grumble before answering.

“yes, it was taken to the morgue.” he said.

“very good. I shall inspect the body later for records and files. Ill ship them to mount massive with some credit for you.” Barker grinned widely. Finally someone competent was working under him. If he didn’t despise artisan and he wasn’t so prying, he would hire him.
“you may go and search for the other one now.” Barker said, dismissing artisan. Even though artisan wasn’t invited and came on his own.

“you can keep the damned credit. I don’t want to be labeled a murderer.” artisan said.

“it wasn’t murder, it was a accident. Just a simple mistake. It wont happen again I assure you. I will investigate my men and find out who caused this.” Barker stated, taking some papers and writing on them.

The man huffed as he left. Angry that he got more questions then answers. He would have to be more careful around Barker from now on. Something dark was going on and artisan didn’t like it. For now, he was going to do as Barker instructed and look for Eddie.

He almost got a few answers from him till he was knocked away. Strangely Eddie ignored him and followed after the other. That wasn’t normal for Eddie, he was usually controlling and wouldn’t follow anyone anywhere. He had to have had a lot of faith and interest to follow them.

“If i could have talked to that person, it would explain why.” artisan thought, going out to a Murkoff jeep that would escort him back to the crumbling bridge. The person perked his interest more when Eddie showed some sense of protection over him. It was confusing to artisan. Maybe the person was a master manipulator, but Eddie wasn’t stupid. He hated being ordered around and would rather make the decisions.

Although, a master manipulator was good at making people think a idea was there’s. Still, Eddie was aggressive. Manipulation or not Eddie wasn’t very friendly with new people. He would kill as soon as they got close.

Especially males, based on the small amount of knowledge he got from his file. Because of his childhood abuse he was much more “friendly” towards females then males. He was complicated to handle after capture. No female officers were allowed near him, and he tried to kill any male officers or doctors that got too close.

His show of protection was a oddity like a three headed lion. Eddie had changed his mannerisms then what he used to be years ago. Not as dominating, but still aggressive. Protecting and not mutilating someone so they’re “perfect”. He needed to talk before it was too late. He had to keep Murkoff away for just a bit to speak.

The jeep stopped at the bridge at late afternoon. Artisan was examining the area again. Lots of cobble from the annihilated bridge and blood splattering over the rocks. He sighed at the blood. It wasn’t his job to kill, he never wanted to kill anybody. He wandered passed the ruins and started tracking along the river edge.

Eddie had headed down this direction and he was injured. He couldn’t have gotten far with a bleeding leg. He watched the river, seeing some blood flow by.

Hours passed as he tracked down the river. It was getting late with the sun being close to setting. He stopped, seeing a big blotch of red on the ground. He got close to the object on the ground. It was a rock covered in blood near the rivers edge.

*earlier*

Eddie was panting heavily against a tree, filling a whirl of emotions of what just happened. Waylon was struck with a rock to the chest, bones cracking, a explosion of blood from his chest. And there was nothing he could do. He tried to reach him, But Murkoff got in the way. He was also injured in the grenade explosion. A jagged rock piece had smashed into his leg, ripping it open. His whole pant leg from the knee down was soaked with blood. Ripped open to expose the large gash running down the leg. Exposed muscle and a little bone showing.

He was breathing unevenly, trying to keep himself together. He wanted to kill someone, make them pay. He also wanted to cry for his loss, but just couldn’t. Crying was useless to him, it never helped him, so there was no point to it. Anger however, he could use to mine adrenaline and either run or fight.

“how fucking dare they!! all those rotten leeches!! they killed him!! my darling!! how dare they!! they will pay, all of them!!! ill skin them all!! make them beg for mercy from me as I rip there organs away!!” Eddie growled to himself. He furiously punched the tree he was leaning on, breaking off a chunk of bark.

He couldn’t handle loosing his darling, his true and perfect darling. He started to feel guilty, a new emotion he was rarely familiar with. It was eating him inside and he didn’t know why. The idea that it was his fault shifted his blame.

“how could I have forced him out. He was sick and delicate. I should have paid more attention. He would have been closer and he could have been saved.” Eddie thought. He had never felt guilt before, only feeling fear, disappointment, or burning hatred. The new emotion was making him sick with confusion at its appearance.

He started to think about moving on, but his heart wouldn’t let him. Another strange feeling, grief. The last time he felt that was when his mother died when he was 5. when one of his “darlings” died he would brush it off and soon move to the next one. None of them lasted long so he never grew attached in anyway. They were more of just things and projects to pass the time. Hope of finding the real perfect one just being a excuse to continue the fruitless work. Till he saw him, the perfect one.

undamaged by Murkoff, small, delicate, not like the others who were too ugly or not “proper” wife material. Too disgusting, destroyed, and not at all polite. His true darling was different, it would work with him. And it did, not exactly the way Eddie planned it though, without the surgery.

His mind couldn’t handle the grief. It raced with thoughts, looking for someone else to blame. He never harmed his darlings, someone else always did. This was a repeat of what happened years ago. He found his darling, the perfect wife that just needed patience. Then, it was all taken away from him, by artisan. Eddies grief turned to hatred as he remembered artisan.

“HE KILLED HIM!! THAT DAMNED BASTARD!!! ILL FUCKING SKIN HIM!! PARALYZE HIM AND MAKE HIM SUFFER!! WHY DID HE HAVE TO TAKE MY DARLING AWAY!!” Eddie roared, walking by the river again. Hed stalk him till he could have his chance. He would be patient, making sure he was never seen when artisan disappeared. Find a empty space to work with.

When he would finally hear the screams, the feeling of blood coating him, he would feel more relaxed. He stopped a moment, grinning darkly at the image. He would work very slow to enjoy it all. Bathe in the moment of terror and screams for help. The pained and panicked look in his eye as he helplessly died in excruciating pain.

He glared with anger again as he watched his thick blood spill onto a large rock. He growled at it and kicked it away. It rolled a few times before stopping close to the rivers edge. He huffed at it, limping on with his injured leg. He stopped a few steps later at a large rock to sit on. He had to fix his leg before he bled to death.

He took the bag off, thoughts of Waylon and sorrow returning. The sorrow being covered soon by hatred for artisan. He kept thinking he had to be patient. His time would come soon and Eddie would be sure of that. He growled and gritted his teeth at pouring alcohol over the long and deep wound.

Normally Eddie would ignore injury’s. He grew up with them, having no medical supply’s available for treatment. Hospitals and any doctor involvement was a big no during childhood. For years he just accepted them and never gave or got any treatment. If a infection happened, he’d find luck in it healing on its own. So he never cared for medical supply’s and he was always paranoid of the pills Murkoff had around. He only started caring when his darling did.

He never let Eddie rest if there was a large wound on him. He refused treatment at first, till his darling became stubborn about moving. He could have just dragged Waylon, but that would have grated on his nerves. He didn’t like stubborn wives, but he said he only needed patience with this one. His patience for Waylon worked and he grew to not mind treatment.

Eddie now had to start on stitches. he was never really good with those. Only doing quick patch work, or nothing at all. Waylon was usually there to give him stitches. And the few stitches Eddie ever did was for his darlings surgery’s. And those were a mess of wire, blood, meat, and other things.

He was tempted to leave the wound, but if his darling was here he wouldn’t want that. So he started sloppily stitching the wound. when it was done he saw the stitching was bad, but would have to do for now. He couldn’t sit around for long or Murkoff mite find him.

*meanwhile*

Barker was followed by three Murkoff employes to the morgue. He needed to see the body and take records and picture to confirm patient death for files. Normally they wouldn’t need pictures, but this was a special case.

He walked down the pristine halls with his arms behind his back. the tapping of his boots heard when hitting the tiles. The door to the morgue was opened for him. Coldness hitting his face as he entered the freezer like area. In the middle of the room was a table with a black body bag on it.

Barker unzipped it and looked at it with a raised brow of confusion.

Chapter Text

everything was black and numb, he was stuck in a limbo of rest. He was aware that he was awake and needed to move, but his brain warned him not to. He stayed still not focusing on anything, just wanting to rest. Then came a strong sharp pain in his side. His mouth twitched a grimace and the pain went away. He was fine for a moment, then he felt another sharp jab around the same area. He opened a eye slightly, seeing a blur of color. He was jabbed again and reacted with a hiss and growling gurgle.

“holy shit, you're alive! You're a tough bastard.” came a girly voice.

“what?” Waylon wheezed out, looking over to the source of the voice. It was that girl he met earlier at the motel. She jabbed him again with the stick.

“stop that!!” Waylon snapped with a wheeze. He waved his arm to push the stick away, freezing up when his ribcage sent an excruciating shock. He shut his eyes tight, trying to breath, but couldn’t as he felt pain and difficulty.

He opened his eyes again and slowly looked up at his chest. He looked at it, fully shocked by what he saw. A large sharp rock had smashed itself into his rib cage, breaking a few ribs. He saw the uneven places where broken ribs were indented and seeing pieces sticking out. Blood was covering his entire shirt. He had to get up, but needed to remove the rock as to not shift bone pieces.

He took a slow deep breath. It was almost impossible, one of his lungs had collapsed from being crushed and stabbed with broken ribs. He grabbed the rock and started pulling on it. He let out a painful cry, stopping against his will from pain and the girl restraining him.

“don’t pull it out!!” the girl said, hovering her hands over the rock to keep Waylon from pulling it up.

“i cant keep it in!!” Waylon snapped with another growling wheeze.

“we need to get you to a hospital.” the girl said.

“NO!!” Waylon yelled, going into a excruciating coughing fit and hacking up blood.
“no hospitals.” Waylon wheezed after his coughing fit ended.

“you cant pull it out. You're not suppose to.” the girl warned with concern.

“i know … but I need … to get up.” Waylon said, taking pauses to try and breath.

“let me pull it then. You’ll go too slow and would pull it at a angle.” the girl said, looking over the rock. Waylon nodded, if he tried to pull it out he would stop with the pain. And possibly pulling at a angle would shift things. If she pulled it out he mite have a smaller chance of going into shock.

She got over him and grabbed onto the rock, ready to pull. Waylon braced himself and when he shut his eyes she yanked it out. He let out a pained cry, stopping mid way when his voice cracked and gave out from lack of air. He stayed still for a moment, allowing the pain to die down. He could hear thick liquid dripping onto the leaf cover ground. Deep thudding like rain on a tarp.

He opened his eyes, seeing blood pour off the rock just before the girl threw it close to the river edge. Now he had to get up, being its own painful mission. He slowly propped himself to sit up, hearing cracks and snaps. He paused a moment to suck in the pain and a wheeze of air.

The girl grabbed one of his arms and slowly hauled him to his feet. He leaned against a tree trying hard not to black out in pain or from lack of blood. Things were spinning and blurring out in his vision. He felt sick like being on a spinning disk at a carnival.

“my house is near by. I can help you walk there.” the girl said. Waylon felt uneasy going to a strangers house, but he had no other option. He wheezed and nodded, accepting her help to walk to her house. He was annoyed that they had to go up a nearby grass hill, barely able to breath when standing.

It was a white two story house with a barn off to the side. It was surrounded by a grass opening that was surrounded by forest. The barn was a grey old wood color from age. Inside the house she sat him down on the couch.

“anyone … else here?” he wheezed, paranoid of what the kids parents mite think when they see him.

“no, my dads on a business trip and my moms in a different state.” the girl said, running to the back of the house. There were a few clanging noises before she came back with a first aid kit.

“i cant fix the hole, but we can cover it up.” the girl said. Waylon shook his head.

“need to … remove … bone shards.” Waylon wheezed, pointing to the large hole in his chest. Covering it up would be useless if bone pieces would stab and fray it or scratch against it moving around inside him.
“take me … bathroom.” Waylon said, trying to take a deep breath. The girl nodded and took the kit and helping Waylon to a near by bathroom. She leaned him against the wall, making sure he could stand before letting go. Waylon carefully and slowly removed his blood stained shirt. Hissing when the fabric caught on some bone.

He fully looked at the wound in the mirror. A large bloody hole with broken bone circling the edges. The girl looked at it, looking around from different angles. She paused at one low angle and stared at the hole. Waylon looked at her a little annoyed at her staring.

“i can see your heart.” she said. It made Waylon freeze and he turned to look in the mirror, twisting back slightly to be at a angle. Sure enough, he could see the slight movement from the corner of his heart beating. It made Waylon light headed and he had to stand straight to not faint.

He noticed something else, one cheek was entirely red. He thought it was blood, but at a second glance, saw it was his face muscle. He got closer to the mirror, leaning on the sink. The cheek that was sliced and stitched long ago had been ripped off.

“THAT WAS-” Waylon yelled filled with fury, cut off from lack of air and just mouthing the last words.
“almost healed.” was what he mouthed. The injury caused by the puppeteer, worsened by Barker, and almost fully gone was now fully ripped off. Luckily the skin ripped down and not up towards his eye. He wheezed and huffed air angrily.

He focused on his more important wound after catching his breath. He pulled out alcohol and long tweezers. He sterilized the tweezers and paused while holding the alcohol. He wanted to sterilize the large wound, but he didn’t know what was sliced open. His lung was broke and what if alcohol got in there?

He got a small amount of gauze and poured a little alcohol on it to dab on the wound. It was hard and painful, after dabbing the whole thing he grabbed the tweezers. He removed all the small easy pieces that were floating around. The bigger pieces being harder. Some he, regretfully, had to snap off. A few end pieces were cracked and moveable, but hanging on by a sliver of bone.

About an hour passed and he had removed enough bone to make 4 ribs. Waylon felt sick about the damage he suffered. He needed real medical help, but he couldn’t go to any hospital. For now he thought of what to do with the wound. He couldn’t just cover the large hole. It needed some protection now that ribs were gone, exposing a vulnerable spot to his heart and last lung.

A simple jab from something could kill him. He started to slowly make his away around the house, checking the kitchen first. Maybe he could find a tough plate or small pan.

“what are you looking for?” the girl asked him.

“cover … protection.” he wheezed, looking at her and pointing to the gaping hole.

“oh!” she said, going off to search for something. She came back with a thick text book. Waylon looked at it. The book was 4 inches thick. He remembered carrying text books in school. They were so thick and heavy they could stop a bullet. He nodded at it in approval.

“cut it … in half … and bend … to flex.” he wheezed. She nodded and bent it backwards to loosen the spine before she jabbed and cut it repeatedly with a kitchen knife. When it broke in half she left the attached together pages alone while the separated cover was bent. She bent it till it was flexible in any way.

He had her follow back to the bathroom. He grabbed some duct tape to reattach the cover to the pages and then wrapped it in thick gauze. He set it on the wound, which hurt, and started tightly wrapping it on to him. Getting help for spots he couldn’t fully reach around without pain. After wrapping with gauze, he covered the wrap with a layer of duct tape, assuring nothing would move or fall off.

He paused to breath, also examining the work. It would work, but he needed real medical. This wasn’t something some stitches could fix. He wheezed as he looked in the mirror.

“i can take you upstairs to our guest bedroom. You can sit on the bed and ill get you one of my dads old shirts.” she said, looking at Waylons blood stained shirt on the floor. Waylon nodded, he had to sit down, or lay down to keep his oxygen need low. She helped him get up the stairs, going into a small bed room with a bed and bathroom nearby.

He sat down wheezing on the bed, closing his eyes to take a moment to relax. The girl came back with a dark blue buttoned shirt and Waylon slowly put it on. It was a little big on him, the sleeves almost going past his hands. He breathed out and rolled up the sleeves a bit to get them out of the way. Felt a little nice to get out of a blood soaked shirt. Another thing caught his attention, his clothes were wet. He hadn’t noticed the cold wet fleeing because of the excruciating pain.

“how did … I get … here?” Waylon asked the girl.

“i saw you crawl up the river edge and you stopped moving. I thought you were dead. I tried talking to you, but you didn’t respond, so I started poking you with a stick. I wasn’t sure what to do. The stick worked though.” the girl said.

“ wheres … Eddie?” he asked.

“you’re hulking, angry, gorilla friend?” she asked. Waylon almost laughed at that description of Eddie, but it came out as a single harsh cough.

“i don’t know where he is. My friends heard from Murkoff that he escaped.” she answered. Waylon was suddenly paranoid.

“what friends … you know … Murkoff?” he wheezed nervously.

“my friends and I usually stalk Murkoff when there in town. A lot of people here know them, they pass through town often with trucks and jeeps. No ones allowed to talk about them though. When people did, they disappeared shortly after.” the girl explained.

“before I met you, Murkoff started doing a lot of activity. So me and my friends spied on them, watching them drive through. One of my friends heard that two patients escaped the nearby asylum and Murkoff was trying to find them. We heard a rumor that the two patients broke into a motel. I thought it was bull shit and that you two were just harmless junkies or hobos.” she said to him.

“and I thought I was right, till your hulking friend came in.” she smiled. Waylon huffed, a attempt at a chuckle.
“want to try and drink some water?” she asked. Waylon paused before nodding. He was nervous about trying with a damaged lung. Drinking water mite aggravate something and he didn’t need that right now.

She left and came back with a bottle, unscrewing the cap for him. He slowly drank some water, feeling a little better when it went down smoothly. He gasped for air when he stopped, wheezing.

“whats … you're name?” he asked.

“its Beth.” she smiled.

“Waylon.” he said, smiling back.
“whats … Murkoff … doing?” he asked.

“last I heard they were hanging around the bridge after a “misfire”” she explained.
“one of my friends heard a guy yell about one of you being dead, after the “misfire”, and the other escaped. So I assume they think you're dead.” she said.
Waylon nodded, watching her leave after he said he needed no more help. He thought that maybe Eddie assumed he was dead to. He did suffer a horrible injury, and from a grenade. He wouldn’t be surprised if Eddie didn’t know. He paused for a moment when he thought of something. Murkoff and Eddie thought he was dead. If he wanted, he could leave and be free. Eddie wouldn’t track him down if he thought he was dead, neither would Murkoff.

He was technically free and could just leave. No need to fear of telling the news to Eddie. No fear of Murkoff hunting him down alone. Beth could give him supply’s and maybe some transportation of sort. He could be free of burdens involving Murkoff. Be free of the burden of Eddie.

It made his chest hurt, thinking of Eddie as a burden, But wasn’t he? He was intimidating, threatening, if he tried to leave Eddie would become abusive. So why did it hurt to think of leaving? Maybe he just had Stockholm syndrome or the problem of a abusive relationship, unable to leave him.

This was his chance, he was away from the abuse. He could feel the freedom and not worry of Eddie attacking him.

“It will get easier the longer i stay away.” he thought.
“i just need to stay away. Then ill leave.” he thought. It didn’t feel right, thinking those words. They made his chest heavy and he felt sick.

“why be with him? Trapped in a abusive relationship. Hes a killer, he doesn’t really care for you. Hes moved on, you were just another “darling” project to work on.” Waylons mind spoke on its own. He breathed out a sigh. He laid back in the bed, laying down carefully to not harm himself. It felt a little relaxing to know Eddie wasn’t lurking around him. But it also felt lonely, Eddie was the only thing that kept his night terrors away. He didn’t know why that was, maybe because his body was busy being afraid of Eddie looming nearby.

“iam free, I just need time. Iam free.” he thought in his head, closing his eyes. He kept telling himself he would get better as he was away from Eddie. The words only made him depressed, instead of inspired.

“it will take time.” he thought, frowning.

*meanwhile*

“what is this?!” Barker growled as he stared down at the Murkoff soldier body.

“its the body you wanted.” one of the 3 Murkoff personal said behind him.

“NO!! I fucking asked for the body’s of the patients!! why the hell would I want a dead Murkoff security officer!!!” Barker snapped, his temper coming to a hot boil.

“artisan said-.” one of the personal started, but was interrupted by a bullet to the head.

“IDIOTS!!! MORONS!!! ALL OF YOU!!!” Barker yelled, shooting at the last few personnel. He shot the second one in the head and was chasing the last one down with his gun in hand.

Chapter Text

Artisan examined the bloody rock, then looked around it. Footprints, trail of blood and water. Artisan hummed in interest at the new discovery’s. He looked behind him, the direction he came from, and saw no Murkoff. He stood up from his kneeling spot and kicked the sharp rock into the river. The blood washed away and the rock sunk to the dark river bottom.

He pulled his gun from its holster and followed the steps cautiously. A few minutes of walking and it lead to a house with a barn. He approached it in a walk, hiding his gun behind his back. He went up to the door and knocked. If no one answered in a few minutes he would enter without permission. He stood on the porch till a girl answered the door.

“yes?” asked the girl. She didn’t fully open the door and hid most of herself behind it.

“iam looking for someone and I think hes gone into you're house.” artisan said.

“iam the only one here.” the girl answered.

“iam sure he came in, there’s a blood trail to your door.” artisan said, pointing to a few blood drops on the porch to the door.

“oh, that’s from my dog. He got cut by something.” the girl answered.

“i didn’t hear a dog.” artisan said.

“he doesn’t bark and hes old, so he cant get up to the door.” the girl answered suspiciously. Artisan knew she was hiding someone. Knowing the person was dangerous he barged in with his gun out and pointed to the ground.

“HEY!! you cant come here!! and you cant search without a warrant!!” the girl yelled, following artisan around the house, trying to block him. He went up the stairs and entered into one room. He was startled by seeing the man from earlier, bloody and wheezing.

He stood up just as artisan opened the door. He noticed the man wince in pain at the stand and freeze in pain.

“don’t move. Sit back down.” artisan commanded, aiming his gun.

Waylon stood from the bed, startled by it swinging open. It took him a few moments to get up and try to stand. He stood to run and escape through the window, but pain shot through his body at the motion. He froze in pain, looking at the man who entered with a gun.

Waylon recognized him as that man artisan. Waylon watched him in pain, wheezing. He was afraid of him, he worked for Murkoff. If he was here, security wasn’t far behind. The gun was aimed at him to keep him still, like he could actually move.

“don’t move. Sit back down.” Waylon was commanded. He did as he was told, sitting down as he was no longer able to stand. He sat on the bed, wheezing and panicking that he was going to be taken away.

“hey, you gotta leave!!” Beth snapped at artisan from the hall.

“you go down stairs. Or ill arrest you for hiding a criminal!” artisan threatened. The girl huffed as she was forced to leave.

“so you lived?” artisan asked looking at him. Waylon slowly nodded to him.
“you sound pretty bad. Broken ribs?” he asked. Waylon nodded and pulled the shirt slightly down to show the top of the bandages and a fresh blood stain.

“wheres Gluskin?” artisan questioned.

“ I don’t … know.” Waylon wheezed.

“whens the last time you saw him?” artisan asked.

“the bridge.” Waylon breathed out.

“hmm.” artisan hummed. He examined Waylon up and down, fully noticing all his new injury’s. His face was skinned around one cheek. Scratches and scrapes going all over his skin.

“why are you with him?” artisan asked.

“we escaped … together.” Waylon wheezed, panting out now from all the talk. Artisan paused, letting Waylon catch up with his lack of air.

“why hasn’t he killed you though?” he asked.

“marriage.” Waylon answered in one word.

“why you?” he asked.

“ long story.” Waylon breathed out.

It was getting harder for him to breath. Waylon being lightheaded and close to blacking out. Artisan could see that and put his gun away. He knew Waylon couldn’t fight or stand in his condition.

“i can make a few calls and get you to a hospital.” artisan said. Waylon shook his head.

“no … hospitals.” Waylon wheezed.

“ I know you cant be found, and neither can I right now. I said your body was in the morgue and iam sure Barker has seen it by now. I wont be working for them anymore. If I make some calls, I can sneak you to see a doctor I know. He wont record anything, and he can get you medical attention and pain killers for that.” artisan said, pointing to Waylons injured chest.

Waylon paused to think. He was afraid to go out, but he had to get medical attention for his newest injury. If it was a trap, and he refused the treatment it wouldn’t matter, he would still suffer. He nodded silently in agreement. Artisan nodded back.

“ill make a call and get someone to pick us up.” artisan said, leaving to go down stairs. Waylon watched him go before slowly laying back down. He was exhausted from that short talk and never wanted another one.

Eddie was still free and hiding, based on artisan asking him. That gave waylon a little comfort, he didn’t want Eddie to be captured. He was still thinking about leaving and was bent on accomplishing that. Driving to a hospital away from this area would help get him a little farther. While getting him closer to his goal of leaving. He would stay for maybe a week to heal, then just leave. No good byes, or attempts to talk it over. Eddie would just be too furious with him.

It was better that way for Waylon and his health. He wouldn’t be good with saying good bye.

“i know we escaped together, you saved my life multiple times, and I know I said I loved you. And I know we had sex, but iam going to leave because iam afraid of you.” Waylon thought, the fake conversation going through his head. He imagined the look on Eddies face. First shock, then anger, and finally hatred with a mix of murder. Waylon huffed at the thought of it. The show replaying over and over in his head. He closed his eyes, falling asleep instantly.

He was woken some time in the night by artisan and helped onto his feet. Waylon grumbled, agitated from being awakened. He carefully walked by artisan, needing help when the stairs came. Waylon was loosing his breath too quickly when walking.

Artisan brought him out to a black minivan, sitting him in the back. Beth was in the back to help Waylon in,also to make sure he stayed awake to the hospital. Artisan got into the side front seat. A driver in hospital uniform started up the car, making it move forward down the dark dirt road.

Waylon closed his eyes, feeling too tired to stay awake. His attempt to rest was disturbed by Beth lightly shaking him. She said something to him, but he ignored her. Being too tired to focus on her voice, which came to him as a bunch of noise.

They arrived quickly at the hospital, or so Waylon thought from his hazy state. He was quickly helped out by Beth and artisan, who both mostly had to carry him. They transferred him from a parking garage into a hospital hall through a back exit. It was held open by artisans doctor friend.

“we need to bring him into the room, now. He has lost a lot of blood and needs a I.V.” the doctor said, helping them sneak into a room down the hall. Inside, Waylon was hooked up to a I.V and given a heavy painkiller and sedative. More things set up to him like oxygen, and a heart monitor.

Waylon passed out from his own exhaustion. The sedative only to keep him from waking during surgery on his ribs. The doctor removed his old bandages to check his other wounds. He cleaned out the smaller ones before removing Waylon's shirt and makeshift text book armor to get a Xray.

5 broken ribs, 3 of them having large chunks missing or smashed to bits. The doctor removed the smaller pieces that floated around his muscle. Or rattled around his normal ribs. He patched Waylons popped lung, allowing it to suck in air again. After the patching, he installed metal rods onto the ribs, replacing the missing chunks.

He stitched some parts of Waylons chest, creating a large X mark. There was one spot that couldn’t be stitched, the middle of the X where the rock ripped skin away. Earlier the doctor took a skin sample and made replica skin. He applied the new skin layers, attaching them at the edge with minor glue till they would attach on there own. He did the same to the side of Waylons skinned face. The layer was lighter then his normal skin from being so thin. Leaving a obvious light patch on his face.

His wounds were all properly cleaned and bandaged. Then Waylon was left in the room to rest in the bed. Artisan and Beth stayed in the room to watch Waylons condition. They couldn’t have a nurse do it, fearing one mite ask questions or take records. The next morning Waylon woke in pain. Feeling stiff and sore all over, hurting to breath now with his fixed lung. Artisan saw him waking and went to stand by his bed side.

“feeling okay?” artisan asked.

“everything hurts, and its hard to breath.” Waylon said without wheezing.

“pain killers have warn out. Ill get the doctor.” he said, leaving cautiously out the room. Artisan returned 10 minutes later with the doctor.

“how are you feeling?” the doctor asked.

“everything hurts, and its painful to breath.” Waylon said.

“that’s normal with your fixed lung and ribs.” the doctor said, giving another dose of painkiller into the I.V. The doctor then listened to Waylons breathing, telling him to take deep breaths.

“everything sounds fine. Be sure to take deep breaths every hour. If you don’t, fluid will build up and you could get pneumonia. Stay inside when its cold, and don’t eat anything cold like ice cream.” the doctor informed.

“so, wait, im being sent out?” Waylon asked, a doctor wouldn’t warn a patient to stay inside if they were being kept in a hospital.

“you cant stay here. Eventually a nurse will come in, or Murkoff will search the hospital. You're only staying for today and tomorrow. then we take you back to the house.” artisan said. Waylon sighed in aggravation. Hed rather stay in the quiet hospital with quick medical attention at hand.

“you’ll be leaving with a bottle of pain killers and antibiotics. Only enough painkillers for a month, after that, no refills because of your “special” problem. And 2 weeks worth of antibiotics” the doctor informed him. Handing a large and small bottle for artisan to hold temporary.

“take 1 painkiller in the morning and 1 before bed. Not on a empty stomach or you'll get nauseous. Only take one antibiotic every 3 days.” the doctor informed Waylon. Waylon nodded as the doctor finished. the painkiller setting in for easy movement. After the doctor left, artisan pulled up a chair next to Waylons bed. Waylon sighed as he expected more questions.

“ … are you aware of what Eddie has done. Before he was taken in?” artisan asked.

“yes. … I found and read his file. I also saw it happening in the asylum.” Waylon said.

“what did happen in the asylum?” artisan asked.

“alot of things. Torture, experiments, surgery’s, testing, disturbing therapy, mutilations. It was its own hell on earth.” Waylon said.

“is that how Gluskin got burns on his face? Or was that something else?” artisan asked.

“he got those from a test in a pod. The pods were filled with a delicate fluid mixture. It never reacted well to someones skin, but it at least kept them alive long enough.” Waylon said.

“pod? Pod for what? Therapy?” artisan asked, his curiosity growing.

“no, it was a experiment for the project Walrider. A secret test of nanotechnology. They had it for years, but could never control it. They hoped that by turning cells into factory’s to produce the bots. The body could live without backlash of the immune system. Most tests failed, the body’s cells would copy the bots, but stop with the immune system reactions. It usually killed the experiments.” Waylon explained.

“you said there were therapy’s, what for?” artisan asked.

“there were a few. Hormonal, hypno, and the engine. Hormonal was used to try and deter the immune system, but it had major effects. Patients became huge with unimaginable strength, or some becoming aggressive zombies. Hypno was just a show of how much they could control someone. My guess was it was to be used on patients to make them more cooperative. It just never worked because patients wouldn’t sit still.” Waylon said.
“... the engine was the worst. … Its goal was to inflict massive pain. The one major flaw in the Walrider project was that they needed someone who faced massive trauma. They couldn’t use patients forever, so they made a synthetic trauma inducer. A flashing swirl of bright images made of black and white. The pictures and flashes were very controlled. When you stare at them, it aggravates the nerves in your brain. Causing excruciating pain, and usually insanity, hallucinations, or brain death.”

“did you go through the engine?” artisan questioned.

“yes. I went through it for weeks. It still effects me. I see disturbing hallucinations every now and again. If I become too afraid, it effects my senses. Things darken, blur and shift. I could stop hearing for a moment. I become sick and feel like iam dying. Its been getting worse over time. if the engine aggravates the nerves too long, it wears them out. It scars the nerves and deteriorates them over time. I think mine are rotting like old string, holding by a few threads till they snap.” Waylon said, feeling tired.

“how did you get away?” artisan asked, listening intently to what he was told.

“i got away two times. The first time, a patient named billy hope had managed a break through in the Walrider project. “lateral ascension”, which meant he had developed a nanobot swarm he could control. The swarm broke out and caused havoc. I escaped soon after from the engine therapy. I ran through the asylum, looking for an escape. All the other patients broke out and I had to avoid them. A lot of them had become cannibals. One especially had chased me down through halls with a electric saw.” Waylon said.

“when did you meet Gluskin?” artisan questioned.

“i was chased by a man into a lower floor level. Talking about me being a goat to save his own skin from Eddie. Looking back I shouldn’t have continued, but I thought going down would have been better then running through the walls I had just done. I was wrong.” Waylon said, letting out a weird chuckle at his lethal mistake.
“i went down, and I found Eddie. Or he basically found me, calling me darling. He was obsessed with getting married and having kids. He had spent his freedom mutilating male patients to try and make them into girls.” Waylon said with a sigh, recalling the bloody images of body mutilations.

“that’s what he did before he was caught. For a long time he would catch girls, but when I started to chase him he couldn’t catch any. He had to keep moving and girls were usually warned. I found out he had tried to improvise a few times. when I got close to catching him, I would find left over body’s. He would catch guys and try to “fix” them. When we found the body’s, they were disturbingly carved. There faces were always deeply slashed and caved in. I assumed it was because he got angry at them. Maybe because they were guys or that his plan wasn’t working.” artisan said.

“ most likely. I was caught by him and put on a buzz saw table to be “fixed”. I got away from another patient attacking Eddie, accidentally breaking the table. I ran, and he chased me till I escaped out a window. I had to go back though, the exit I needed to pass, needed a key. Eddie had it, and I did get it. As soon as I unlocked the door he caught me again. He beat me down to hang me with the other failed darlings. A whole gym full of hanging body’s. I fought, the movement and added weight to the rotten roof had it cave in. he got tangled in his ropes, yanked off the ground to be impaled on a pipe.” Waylon said, going through the events.

“i was free again to leave the area. Went down two halls before I was trapped by Murkoff personnel. I was captured, treated, and later approved for more experimentation. so was Eddie, after being saved. A few weeks later a riot broke out. I escaped again, survived for a few months. Then Murkoff wanted to kill all the patients. Because of the engines effects on me, I needed help. Eddie was the only one capable. Able to defend me and him in a emergency. The only one even willing to talk with me, although furious that I left him impaled.” Waylon said.

“ you promised him marriage if he helped you escape?” artisan asked, remembering Waylons earlier answer.

“yes. Thankfully after everything, he no longer wanted to mutilate me for it. Maybe after he thought of cannibals carving me, it lost its charm.” Waylon said.

“do you know where he could be right now?” artisan asked.

“we were heading for the cabins, but I don’t think he would be there now.” Waylon said.

“he could be around there. He was injured badly.” artisan said.

“how? What happened to him?” Waylon asked with worry.

“a chunk of rock flew at him and sliced his leg. He was bleeding a lot from it and had a limp.” artisan said. Waylon sighed, he didn’t want to hear Eddie injured.

“don’t worry, hes a tough one. Ive shot him a few times and he still somehow ran. Hes smart enough to treat it too.” artisan said.

“i always treated him though. He would rather leave them open to get infected. Forget about anything involving the need for pills with him.” Waylon said with a annoyed sigh. He was beginning to develop a deep headache.

Artisan asked a few more questions before leaving Waylon alone. Waylon was happy to sleep and relax. till it was time to be taken back to Beth’s house a few days later.

Waylon was out on the house porch. Sitting on a chair under the roof to watch the rain fall. Another storm had come, with lightening and thunder. Waylon came outside, despite it being cold, to think and breath fresh air. He had been locked inside places for a long while now. He was sick of the indoors.

“the doctor said you shouldn’t be out when its cold.” artisan said.

“i know, but I needed some fresh air to think.” Waylon said.

“about what?” artisan asked.

“about leaving Eddie. … I don’t think I can.” he said.

“why not?” asked artisan. Waylon sighed.

“i think its because only he can understand me now. ... I could run and hide. Eventually ill heal, but ... iam different. I cant have a normal relationship like before. I have so many scars, people will be afraid of that. Ask too many questions that I cant answer. If I did, they would think I was a insane patient. Ask “how I got them” and ill say what? “i escaped cannibals, crazy doctors, at a asylum working on nanotechnology?”. Pff.” Waylon said. Artisan nodded in understanding.

Waylon was very scarred, the light patch of new skin being a cause for concern to most. And people would get curious, hed be asked questions where ever he went. Party’s or any gatherings would be a major hassle. Even simple relationships would eventually lead to questions. His abnormal behavior would draw attention too. The engine hallucinations and his PTSD would make anyone afraid of him.

“the relationship with Eddie is different though. I would get shunned by normal people if I said anything. Eddie would understand however. He would know exactly what I meant. Know which experiments and tortures I talk about. I don’t think he would leave me either. Hes put up a lot being with me and tolerated it. Others would take my secrets as something to fear. Think of me getting them from murders or fights with others, maybe even self abuse. Which is partly true.” Waylon said, looking down at his wrapped arms.

“if you really want to leave, I could try and smuggle you away from here. Get you somewhere as far as Mexico or Canada.” artisan offered. Waylon shook his head, refusing the offer.

“i cant. I wouldn’t do well alone and on my own. I need someone to lean on in a way. If I have a hallucination and harm myself again. I cant stop myself and anyone else would be too afraid to stick around long. I wonder if Eddies more afraid for me then iam afraid of him.” Waylon said.

“iam not sure if I could let him go.” artisan said. Waylon looked at him, fear rising in his heart.
“hes done a lot of disturbing things. Killed a lot of people. For that I should bring him in, but I really cant. Murkoffs looking for him, and me. If I bring one of you in, Murkoff will take you away. I cant let that happen. So my choices are to bring you in for Murkoff to take away or let you two go. You seem … stable, enough to let go. Iam just worried about Gluskin.” artisan said. Waylon nodded, knowing what he was talking about.

Waylon was afraid of Eddie to. Unpredictable, strong, smart, Waylon wasn’t strong enough to stop or control him. If Eddie wanted to do something, he couldn’t stop him. That’s what Waylon feared most about him. If he could fight him, or control him, maybe he wouldn’t be so afraid.

“i don’t know about him either. He tried to kill Beth when he first met her.” Waylon said.

“he met her before?” artisan asked.

“yeah, she broke into a motel we were staying in. Eddie was ready to kill her, but I convinced him not to.” he said.

“you seemed to have good control over him.” artisan said.

“it doesn’t feel like it. If he wanted to, he could have ignored me.” he said.

“you still stopped him. Either because he really didn’t want to, or because of you. I think that’s a great step.” artisan said.

“mm, I still don’t think so.” Waylon said.

“could try and test it.” artisan said. The suggestion seemed horrible to Waylon.

“how so? Make him angry at me and stop him from killing me?” Waylon said a bit negatively.

“could test your boundary’s. See how far you can go. If you have some control, he will let you go far before stopping you.” artisan said. Waylon nodded, but wondered how he could do it.

He knew of Eddies past, so questions on that would be stale to test. Making him angry with no real reason to would only get him injured or killed. Touching was the only thing he could think of. It was a delicate ground to step on, making it both the worst and best thing to test. Eddie wouldn’t even let Waylon get over him in any way during sex.

Waylon assumed it was because of his younger life. It disturbed Waylon to think about it, and he left that space alone. When he did try, Eddie had gotten pretty aggressive in holding Waylon under him. Testing it to the farthest made Waylon nervous. A lump forming in his throat, and Eddie wasn’t even here.

“ill have to find him in order to test.” Waylon thought.

“good luck with that. He constantly moves around, his injury mite slow him a bit however. You cant go now either, you're still recovering.” artisan said. Waylon nodded.
“i could go out and try to find him.” artisan said.

“yeah, just don’t go till its starting to get dark. Murkoff will be everywhere, and be careful with Eddie. Iam sure he wont be happy to see you.” Waylon said standing from his seat. He needed to go back inside to get warm again. Artisan nodded, following him in.

Chapter Text

“hey, do you guys want to eat something?” Beth asked.

“like what?” artisan asked.

“i don’t know. Got steak, or chips and dip.” she said.

“ill make the steaks, set out the chips and dip. Could eat that with the steak.” artisan said, standing from the living room couch. He went to the freezer and started pulling them out. Waylon got up from the one person couch, sitting in the kitchen. Beth put the chips and dip on the kitchen table, near by Waylons seat. He looked at the dip, seeing it as a jar of guacamole. The dip reminded him of that disgusting puree food at the asylum. His stomach cramped up from just looking at it, pushing it far away from him.

“don’t like guacamole?” she asked.

“it looks a lot like the weird asylum puree food they fed us. It was like swallowing concrete, settled in your stomach like it to.” Waylon said.

“eww.” Beth said. Waylon chuckled. She went to the fridge as artisan cooked. She got Waylon a can of soda and laid it in front of him. He stared at it with a burst of happiness. He hadn’t drank a soda since he started working for Murkoff. In the area he worked, they didn’t have soda machines. And his breaks were barely a minute long before he had to fix something.

He opened it and guzzled half of it down, loving the taste of it. He was used to drinking rain water, eating frozen ice. Or scavenging around for any water bottles. A soda was a rare thing to find, usually being crushed or empty.

He sat there, slowly drinking his soda till the steak was finished. Artisan set Waylons steak in front of him with a fork an knife. Setting two more down for him and Beth. Waylon started cutting off pieces and eating them. Happy that it wasn’t another can of something cooked in a microwave.

He started slowing down when he thought of Eddie. Waylon hoped Eddie was alright with his injury. He knew Eddie had the back pack, which had food and medical supply’s.

“How would Eddie react when he sees me? Happy that iam alive? Angry because I didn’t find him right away? Or does he care at all? I was just another darling when we first met, didn’t matter if I died or not.” he thought.
“if Eddie doesn’t care, would I leave then? I need someone to look out for me, but Eddie mite not be good for that.” he thought, eating his steak.

He finished before artisan and Beth could. It was normal for him to finish his food quick. Never having time to really stop anywhere to eat unless it involved cramped in vents.

“iam going to bed.” he told them as he left the table to go upstairs. He went into the room, getting a glance of himself in the mirror near by. He went up to it and looked at himself. He looked tired and worn out. Waylon had also grown a 5 O' clock shadow on half his face. The side that wasn’t skin graphed on. He wasn’t surprised by it, hadn’t shaved in ages. Usually it took ages just to get this way, used to hate it like that when he was in middle and high school.

Always looked 5 years younger then he was. The shadow made him look 10 years older, made older by his beaten down looks. Looked like he went through some kind of war. Covered in varying scars, bruises, and had dark circles forming around his eyes.

“whats happened to me?” he said to himself, staring in the mirror. He thought about his decision with Eddie again. It was hard to decide with so many pros and cons in mind.

Cons that Eddie was a murdering psychopath. He was possessive, easily angered, and could kill Waylon with no guilt. Waylon could be living in fear the rest of his life if he stays. Trapped in a abusive relation of sorts. Waylon couldn’t stand the thought of being trapped, not anymore.

The few pros being that Eddie could protect them both. Protect Waylon from himself when the engine showed itself. He could understand Waylons pain, could admit when something was horribly wrong. He wouldn’t look at him like a outcast.

So the decision was mainly between a controlling relationship or never having one at all. People would look at him as a reject outcast. Too afraid to get near him with how damaged he was. Waylon hated to admit it, but he was a danger to people. He almost killed Eddie, but Eddies smart and tough. People couldn’t handle him when hallucinating. They’d either die in his hallucination panic.

call a ambulance or call the police, and he had to avoid those. He could never live like that. Jobs were an exclusion to, with his scars and PTSD. No one would hire him anyway. Hed have to work from home like he used to. Before Murkoff, he helped make websites or software. The jobs weren’t often, but paid a lot. He had to stop when his boys were born, it wasn’t enough money. So he had to get more out of house jobs.

Him and Eddie would have to live far away. Waylon was sure people would stare at them. Eventually one day some morons will want to pick a fight. So they had to live alone in the country somewhere, far away from others. It would be better that way, Waylon couldn’t watch Eddie all the time. Most likely Eddie would head out for food and supply’s. Waylon would rather he go to some shop alone in the country then a full on market with crowds.

“The controlling mite not be so bad.” he thought. Thinking of how they would live. If he worked from home, he would rarely go out anywhere. He mite have to fight Eddie over who should work.
“Since he was basing his whole life on those olden time family’s during the cold war.” Waylon thought.

“The man went to work, woman stayed home with kids and cleaned. A small cookie cuter house with a green lawn, Yada yada.” Waylon thought, heading for the bed. He hoped Eddie would see that it wouldn’t work well with his looks.
“Maybe after his face fully healed. His behavior however was still a nervous thing. He just ... isint much of a people person.” Waylon put it lightly in his head.

Working on the books was to be avoided as well. Use there social security numbers and Murkoff would find them instantly. Like Waylon could even remember it. he couldn’t even remember to put sugar or milk in his coffee in the morning. They would have to work under the table.

He laid stomach down on the bed, his face in a pillow. His body always feeling so exhausted was beginning to annoy him. Maybe eating some more nutritional foods then spegettios would help boost him back up. His body needed it.

“maybe I should get artisan to buy vitamins.” Waylon thought. His body had been living off jerky or that weird gunk Murkoff force fed him. He was sure there were no vitamins in that. supposedly there was vitamin powder in it, but Waylon didn’t believe that. He thought about shaving before going to sleep, but he didn’t really want to deal with it. He always managed to cut him self while shaving.

He stretched and popped his back in the progress. He needed to do his breathing exercises like the doctor told him. Do deep breathing for 5 minutes. 2 times a day, one at breakfast and the other around dinner. He raised his head off the pillow to lay his chin down on it.

He kept his eyes closed while he started taking deep breaths. Wincing because it caused pain on his ribs. He remembered that he needed another pain killer. He growled as he got up from the bed. He grabbed his medicine bottle and a glass he used for water, going to the bathroom to fill it. He got some water and drank down a pill before heading back to bed.

He laid down, continuing his deep breathing. He heard some talking down stairs, then a door opening and closing.

“artisan must be going out. Should have asked if he could get vitamins.” Waylon thought, taking another deep breath. He yawned in between the next breath. He fell asleep at some point.

He hadn’t realized it till he woke up to the sound of yelling and a door being bashed open. It made Waylons heart jump, he looked at the clock in the room. Only a hour had passed.

“Murkoff?” he thought fearfully. He stiffly got up from the bed, painkillers having just started to slowly take effect. He thought of escaping out a window, but Murkoff had probably surrounded the house. He took a deep breath to calm himself before he headed for the stairs. There was no escape for him.

Waylon quickly walked down the hall, a lump forming at his throat. What was he to do? He couldn’t go back with Murkoff. Back to the asylum to do experiments all over again. He turned the corner, seeing down the stairs he was shocked. It was Eddie attacking artisan at the bottom of the stairs. Beth was nearby with a knife in hand for defense. She looked at Waylon with a shocked face. An expression begging him to interfere. He had to, he didn’t want Eddie to kill artisan.

“YOU!! YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME!!!” Eddie roared, bashing a struggling artisan repeatedly into the wall.

“Eddie!!” Waylon yelled, catching Eddies attention and making him freeze. Eddie looked at Waylon in shock and in a second was at the top of the stairs hugging him. Waylon closed his eyes, enjoying the warm hold. The hug had soon became too tight for his, recently fixed, ribs.

“Eddie, you're hurting my ribs.” Waylon said with a wince.

“don’t leave me.” Eddie said, continuing to hold him. It made Waylons heart hurt to hear that. It felt like Eddie was talking about Waylons thoughts to leave. He knew that wasn’t what he meant when he spoke. Still, it hurt and made him hug Eddie tighter.

“what happened to you?! are you okay?!” Eddie questioned quickly, letting go of Waylon to examine him.

“artisan helped me.” Waylon said. He regretted what he said when Eddies happy look turned into a scowl.

“you touched him!!” Eddie yelled at artisan, who stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“HOW DAR YOU!!” Eddie roared, coming down the steps with his knife ready.

“stop, no!! he only brought me to a hospital.” Waylon said, following Eddie.

“i only brought him to a hospital. If I didn’t do anything, he’d be dead. He could barely breath with his shattered ribs.” artisan growled, standing in a defensive position. Eddie stopped, letting out a displeased growl. Waylon stood behind him, making sure he wouldn’t cause harm to artisan.

“get out!! get out NOW!!” Eddie commanded while stepping closer to artisan, forcing him to back up.

“Eddie wait-” Waylon said.

“GET OUT!!” Eddie yelled, still forcing artisan back.

“fine, iam going!!” artisan said, leaving the house with a aggravated huff. Eddie stood in place, watching him leave. Waylon watched at artisan left the house, walking towards the barn.

“lets get you to bed darling.” Eddie said, lightly pushing Waylon to move. He didn’t argue, there was nothing to say. Eddie would most certainly refuse to let artisan in. Waylon had still felt tired from being abruptly awakened. He walked back to the bedroom, making sure Eddie was following. He wanted to be sure Eddie wouldn’t go out to attack artisan.

maybe it was better when Eddie was away. He didn’t have to worry about artisan and Beths safety. He looked towards the floor when entering the room, adrenaline wearing off for exhaustion. He noticed Eddie was limping with a bleeding leg. Remembering that artisan said he was injured.

“you’re legs bleeding.” Waylon said, worried at how bad it looked.

“its not that bad.” Eddie said, closing the door behind him.

“let me look at it.” Waylon said, sitting on the bed. He was right in Eddie ignoring the large injury. Eddie sat on the bed, allowing Waylon to uncover his bloody leg. He looked at the bad stitch job. Large parts still open, others too bundled up to heal properly.

“well, ... you stitched it. It needs to be cleaned again, and restitched.” Waylon said, trying not to insult Eddies handy work.

“it worked for what I needed.” Eddie said, showing no emotion.

“ill go to the bathroom for some stitching supply’s” he said, getting up and going to the bathroom. He returned with the supply’s and started cutting off the horrible stitches. He cleaned it, washing the blood away with the alcohol and a small towel.

He restitched it and bandaged Eddies leg. The injury looking much better then before. Eddie laid across the bed on his side, looking just as tired as Waylon. With what happened to both of them, it was no surprise. Waylon laid next to him, getting close enough to rest his head against Eddies chest. Eddie pulled him close, holding him there in a light hug.

Waylon remembered about testing his boundary with Eddie, see how much influence he had. He passed it off for tomorrow, too exhausted to try. Hed need energy for his tests. Either to fight off Eddie or something else if it goes well. He closed his eyes, falling asleep to the warmth of Eddie next to him.

The next morning, Waylon had woken up first. It was a bit of a surprise to him, being that he was so tired last night. He looked at Eddie, seeing that he had switched positions in his sleep. Eddie was lying on his back, that being a rare thing for him. He mainly slept on his stomach or side.

Waylon slowly stretched, trying to not move the bed. Eddie could be a light sleeper, simple movements or touch waking him. He stared at him for a moment, thinking of if he should start testing now. It would catch Eddie off guard, making it easier. He wouldn’t have to ask permission to start either. Doing it while hes off guard would give the best results.

He look a deep breath before slowly sitting up. He carefully moved over Eddies hips to straddle him. Eddie hated to have anything on him, making this a delicate move. When Waylon started to slowly sit down, it made Eddie wake and sit up immediately. Eddie grabbed Waylons arms in reflex. the sudden waking and grabbing made Waylon flinch, shutting his eyes. Waylon still managed to fully straddle Eddie, sitting in his lap. He slowly opened his eyes upon no major harm done to him.

“what are you doing?!” Eddie questioned, a paranoid tone. His grip on Waylons arms being a bit painful. Waylon didn’t say anything, feeling that he was unable to. He silently hid his face in Eddies chest, causing Eddie to loosen his grip. Waylon could still feel that Eddies body was tense and on guard.

He glided his hands around Eddie, rubbing his hands into Eddies muscles. It made Eddie tense more at the unapproved touch. Waylon kept his face hidden, making sure his hands didn’t go past the middle of Eddies back. If he went too far too fast, Eddie would push him away and break the experiment.

“darling.” Eddie said, a warning tone starting to show. Waylon moved his face to be by Eddies neck, planting a kiss at his jaw line. The kiss didn’t make Eddie tenser or loosen up. It was a small gain in ground for Waylon. He was going a bit farther then he thought he would be able with Eddie.

He glided his hands to be on Eddies chest, sliding down to the rim of his shirt and under it. Waylon could feel his body staying tense, he needed to relax him somehow. He removed his hands, bringing them to the sides of Eddies face. He made sure to not touch his face wounds as he pulled him down. Kissing him gently while holding him there.

Eddie relaxed a little while he kissed Waylon. The grip on Waylons arms slowly disappearing as Eddie slid his arms down. Waylon let go of Eddies face to return his hands under Eddies shirt. It made Eddie tense again, pausing his kissing. Waylon rubbed up his chest. Moving over the indents of all his muscle.

Waylon blushed at the feel of them, pressing slightly on the hard muscles on eddies side. The pressing had Eddie shift away from the touch. It almost made Waylon chuckle, but he held it in, kissing him instead. Eddie loosened a little more at the kiss. It made Waylon smile that he wasn’t pushed away yet, he was making good progress.

Waylon shifted slightly to get closer against Eddie, this time he didn’t tense. He wrapped his arms around Waylons waist, holding him close. Waylon smiled, happy that this was going so well. He still had to continue carefully with his actions. His arms slowly moved lower and lower till he reached Eddies pants.

Eddie tensed at Waylons hands reaching there. Waylon moved slowly, undoing Eddies pants. He carefully moved a hand under Eddies pants. rubbing over his boxers and across his rod. Eddie let out a growling moan, causing Waylon to pause a moment. He slowly rubbed his hand over his boxers again. Paying careful attention to Eddies reaction. He seemed a little tense, but still allowing Waylon to continue.

Waylon kissed at Eddies jaw line again. He was surprised when Eddie kissed him and pulled his hips closer against his. He let out a moan in Waylons mouth, causing him to blush when he felt something stiff and hard form against his rubbing hand. He shifted against Eddies hips, moaning at the contact.

Waylon reached under Eddies boxers, rubbing more firmly across his rod. It had Eddie moan again and he dropped forward, pushing Waylon down in the mat. Eddie kissed him as Waylon continued to rub him. He stopped when Eddie started stripping him down.

Waylon did the same, removing Eddies clothes. He let Eddie take over, feeling his experiment was a success. Eddie pushed against Waylon, slowly entering till he was fully in. Waylon let out a moan that was silenced by a kiss. He wrapped his arms around Eddies chest, keeping him close.

Waylon caught the large stitches on Eddies back again. He received a bite on his shoulder, not wincing as much as before. The bite that normally hurt and left a bruise wasn’t as painful. It still hurt, but only left a small mark compared to others before it.

He tensed up when Eddie started doing light bites at his neck. Moaning when he applied light pressure, leaving minimal and non painful marks. Eddie gave a sudden thrust, causing Waylon to let out a small noise of surprise. The noise made Eddie chuckle, deep vibrations going through Waylons chest. After surgery he could feel them better with his sensitive chest.

Eddie kissed down Waylons neck till he got to his collar bone. He paused and looked at Waylons recent surgery stitches. He rubbed a hand over one of the long stitches.

“any of these hurt?” Eddie asked.

“a little, but I have pain killers for it.” Waylon said, feeling Eddie rub over a separate spot on his chest.

“you have a deep scar here.” Eddie said, tracing over a large white V across his upper chest. connecting to another scar line that turned it more into a Y. the full scar going down his entire body like those in a morgue.

“it was from Murkoff experiments.” Waylon said, flinching away at the gentle touch. The scars felt sensitive, no matter how long they had to heal. The scars were a result of being cut open daily in labs, stitches being only a very temporary thing to be cut off later. Waylon imagined that if they could, they would have installed a zipper to his skin.

“mm.” Eddie said, kissing the scar. Waylons chest tightened at the scar being touched. Waylon relaxed again when Eddie kissed him, moving down to kiss his neck. Eddie thrusted hard again, Waylon emitting the small noise of surprise again. Eddie smiled at getting the same reaction from earlier.

“ill keep you safe love, I promise.” Eddie said against Waylons neck.

“i know.” Waylon said, happily kissing him.

A little while later Eddie and Waylon had both managed to get up for some breakfast. Beth had made eggs and pancakes, already giving artisan a plate in the barn. Eddie had been staying close to Waylon, making sure he was doing alright. It annoyed Waylon, but he thought it was better with keeping a eye on him.

Waylon didn’t like the thought of Eddie being alone with Beth or long enough to see artisan. Pain in his ribs began setting in, reminding him of his meds. After breakfast he left to go take his pills. Followed closely by Eddie the entire way, he stopped to lean at the doorway. In the bathroom he saw himself in the mirror again. Frowning at his half 5'o’clock shadow that he still needed to shave.

He swallowed down his meds with a little water, searching for a razor to shave with. There was already some shaving cream ready on the sink. He found a razor in the cabinet and started covering his face with the shaving cream. When he started he had cut him self before getting a inch off.

“damn.” he hissed, looking at the cut on his face. He always managed to do this, this was why he hated shaving. He started up again, hissing at another cut.

“what are you doing?” Eddie asked, coming in. Waylon looked at him, only having a inch shaved off.

“ knifes work better then a razor.” Eddie said, bringing his knife out. Waylon swallowed at the knife appearing.

“ive never used a knife for it.” Waylon said, hoping to avoid it.

“i could do it for you.” Eddie offered. Waylon swallowed again, thinking.

“i could refuse, but I don’t think Eddie would harm me. I can tell him to stop.” Waylon thought. He nodded in approval for Eddie to do it. Eddie smiled coming close, washing the knife first before stepping behind Waylon.

“dont move or I mite accidentally slit your throat.” Eddie said, moving Waylons head up to expose his neck. Those words made Waylon rethink his decision. Eddie slid the sharp knife edge across Waylons throat. He held his breath the entire time, feeling no cuts in his skin.

Eddie flicked his knife in the sink, removing the collected cream before doing another graze. A few more grazes and flicks and he was finished with Waylons neck. Eddie gently glided the knife over Waylons face. Pausing when he noticed his stitches were gone and a light patch of skin was in its place.

“what happened here?” Eddie asked, removing the cream. uncovering the only clear spot of Waylons 5 0'clock shadow on his face.

“the skin and stitches were ripped off somehow. I got a skin graph to cover the skinned spot.” Waylon said.

“hm.” Eddie said, continuing to shave Waylons face. Carefully gliding around the pale spot. He flicked his knife a few more times before finishing. He examined Waylons face for any spots he missed, finding none.

“there, told you knifes were better.” Eddie said, letting Waylon clean off his face of the remain cream. Waylon nodded as he washed his face.

*meanwhile*

Barker was shifting through disorganized, scattered, files and papers that littered across his desk. Eyeless body’s were littering around his office, gun shot splatters painting the dark walls. He had to use a desk lamp to see after shooting out his main light.

“morons, fucking morons.” Barker grumbled to himself, shifting through papers. These were special files, highly classified ones. Barker wanted the job done quickly, for that he needed some special workers. Murkoff wasn’t only working on the Walrider project.

They had many others, a lot of them highly successful. He was sure at least one of them would take care of the escapees. He just had to pick one and make a simple call. A sane man wouldn’t dare to release one of these abominations on a town. Diseases for biological warfare, monstrous mutated men, insane men willing to kill and torture anything. created to be perfect hunting and killing machines for war.

Barker smiled at a certain file he found. Bringing out a card number for a Murkoff office in the arctic.

“this one will kill them easily.” Barker smiled.
“and I shall hope that some eyes will be left over for me.” Barker laughed as he dialed.

Chapter Text

Days had passed since Eddie and Waylon had been reunited. Waylon had been keeping a close eye on Eddie. Still fearing he would sneak away at some point to attack Artisan, or Beth. Eddie would come close to doing so. Waylon knew when Eddie would when he stood by the door. Glaring at the barn out the near by windows. To stop him, Waylon would call Eddies attention for almost anything.

Beth had become the telephone wire between Waylon and Artisan. Also doubling as their spy on Murkoff and supply gatherer. She had been telling them both that murkoff was slowly regrouping and leaving the area. This news was a surprise to both Waylon and Artisan, worrying them.

Artisan had talked to his doctor friend. Telling how Waylon had been, confined, starved, and injected with multiple narcotics. Artisan managed to get a container of strong vitamin powder mix from the doctor. Being told it would help Waylons body against the negative narcotic effects and bring his energy back.

Today was the first day Waylon was to start taking it. When Eddie asked about where it came from, Waylon lied. Explaining that Beth had it in a cupboard. If Eddie knew Artisan brought it, he would have spread it across the front lawn thinking it was poisoned. Waylon also got the idea that Eddie should be taking the mix with him. He wasn’t the only one fed or injected with toxins.

Waylon let out a sigh as he opened the powder container. He looked at the smooth white powder with a feeling of nausea. Remembering murkoffs disgusting tar cement powder mush. Waylon requested Beth to be with him during this. She had been watching and helping him through the instructions. His nausea stopping him from continuing with the mix. Beth smelled the powder after the lid was popped off. Waylon not daring, being too afraid to know.

“doesint smell bad, smells like vanilla.” she said, measuring two cups and putting them in a blender. Waylon just made a groaning sound of sickness as he watched. She added milk to the mix before thoroughly blending it. Once done she poured the mix into two small glasses.

“ready to take it?” she asked Waylon. He stared at the glasses silently, looking sicker then he was before.
“it wont be that bad. It’ll just taste a little dry.” she said, grabbing one of the glasses and taking a small spoonful of it.

Soon after taking it she made a surprised gag. turning around to spit it out in the sink. She snatched a glass near by, filling it quickly to wash her mouth out. The reaction didn’t help Waylon feel any better.

“not bad.” Waylon grumbled. Beth spat out more water in the sink before speaking.

“i think this batch is rotten.” she coughed, looking at the cups with disgust. Waylon sighed, he knew he had to take it at some point.

“maybe if I drink it with coffee.” he said, rubbing his face as he made a cup. Beth nodded as she leaned on the counter. Eddie walked in curious of the noise, first seeing the blender with left over mix.

“what is that?” he asked, raising a eye brow. The remaining mix was clumping together, looking like watery cottage cheese.

“its the vitamin powder mix we should take.” Waylon said as Eddie inspected one of the cups.

“its disgusting.” Beth said as she left through the back door.

“oh?” Eddie said, smelling it before gulping it down. Waylon and Beth watched in shock as Eddie drank it all with no problem. He set down the empty glass on the table.
“doesn’t taste that bad.” Eddie said. Waylon stared at him with a mixed feeling of confusion and curiosity.

“want coffee to help swallow it?” Waylon asked, setting his cup in front of him. Eddie took a drink of it, setting it down with no reaction. Waylon had no time to add sugar or milk. the coffee still being plain and bitter. Eddie didn’t seem to notice or mention it.

“ is the coffee too sweet? Ooor, anything?” Waylon asked.

“its okay.” he said with a shrug.

“ … can you taste anything?” Waylon asked.

“ not much.” Eddie said.

“you cant taste anything? Since when?” Waylon asked.

“ hm, since the doctors shoved tubes down my throat. It was also hard to breath with them till they switched them with other tubes.” he said. Waylon thought back to a certain file he read at mount massive. It noted that Eddie had a build up of fluid and developed rashes. It all stopped when they switched away from latex tubing. If Eddie was allergic to latex it could cause him to stop tasting.

the thought of losing taste seemed depressing. Then again, hed love not to during the Murkoff muck and at this current moment. At least one of them could drink the powder just fine. Waylon looked at his glass, swallowing down his nausea. He took a deep breath and quickly swallowed down a thick mouthful.

He covered his mouth when he gagged on the taste. It was like vinegar with a very temporary taste of vanilla at the beginning. Good thing he decided against lunch in case this happened. Although gagging, the taste was still ten times better then Murkoffs “vitamin” puree slop. Even better was the fact that it didn’t settle in the stomach like concrete mixed with black tar. He took another quick chug from his glass. This time he didn’t gag as badly as he did the first time. He paused before his next drink when he noticed Eddie was glaring out the window again.

“ uh, do you want more vitamin mix?” Waylon asked, trying to grab Eddies attention away from the window. Eddie let out a annoyed growl when he saw Artisan walking out of the barn.

“Eddie!” Waylon snapped, demanding his attention. Eddie glared for a moment longer as he turned to walk over.

Waylon quickly poured the last bit of mix for Eddie to have. Happy that he could pull Eddies attention away from Artisan. He thought for a moment, thinking of what their next plan should be. Murkoff was disappearing from the area, which raised some red flags. Something must be coming.

“maybe their going to bomb the city.” Waylon thought.
“no, that would be too stupid. Every town near by would notice it. A big smoldering crater where a town was.” he thought.

“we're gonna have to try and leave while Murkoffs gone.” Waylon said to Eddie while staring down at the glass in his hand. Eddies attention was snapped to Waylon.

“you can't leave, your still healing.” Eddie stated.

“ we have to leave, this mite be our only opportunity. Murkoffs leaving and who knows why.” Waylon said, growing agitated.

“no.” Eddie asserted. Waylon let out a grumble of anger.

Eddie had been treating Waylon like he was the most delicate of all china dolls. Although, Waylon probably had not helped that image. Sometimes the only way Waylon could grab Eddies attention from Artisan was to act hurt. He had been doing it at least 10 times a day sometimes.

“we cant stay here. Its not safe. What if Murkoff finds us. Ill just get worse if they catch us.” Waylon said. Eddie stayed silent, seeming to be torn on what to do. Since the grenade explosion Eddie wanted to keep Waylon inside and safe. Waylons got a point though. If Murkoff did catch them, they would be separated and Waylon would suffer more then if they had just traveled.

“why do you think Murkoffs leaving?” Eddie asked, disregarding Waylons push to leave.

“i don’t know and I don’t want to know. They could be dropping a bomb here for all I know.” Waylon spoke with aggravation showing. Eddie stopped listening after Waylons first sentence. Attention caught again on Artisan as he talked to Beth near the tree line.

“Eddie you need to pay attention!! Artisans not going to do anything!! just drop it already!!” Waylon snapped. Eddie whipped his head around with a bitter expression.

“how could I?! Hes the one who locked me up!! HE sent me to that damned lab!! HES THE ONE WHO GOT YOU HURT!! AND HE took-!!” Eddie growled till he suddenly froze. staring ahead silently as if he remembered something important. Waylon was worried, feeling slightly scared at Eddies negative reaction. The feeling growing after Eddie froze up.

“ … Eddie? … Want something to eat?” Waylon spoke quietly. Trying to get Eddie out of his thoughts. Eddies body twitched slightly when breaking his concentration.

“maybe later.” Eddie spoke as he left to the living room. Waylon sighed as he finished the last mouthful of mix.

“Waylon, I saw Murkoff with a big truck pull into town.” Beth said quietly to him as she entered through the kitchen back door.

“truck? Like a van truck or a semi kind of truck?” Waylon asked quietly.

“like a army cargo truck. The back container looked super enforced. Thick metal with a iron girder like frame.” she said.

“ cant be weapons in there. Sounds like a transport for something. They used to use cells like that for the extremely powerful patients.” he said.
“that doesn’t make sense though. Murkoffs really going to bring another patient out here. One that they cant control. It would cause havoc on the town, word will spread.” Waylon said.

“they blew up a bridge, nothing spread from that.” she said.

“ yeah, ... why not though? How are they keeping information about all this in.” Waylon questioned.

“maybe its because this is a apple town.” she said. Waylon recognized the term, but hadn’t recalled from where.

“apple town?” Waylon said, confused.

“back when America was testing nukes. They used “apple towns”. Those fake little towns with dummy’s that they would bomb. Our town is like that. Its mainly for looks. Any one around here wont say a thing for one reason or another. Illegal aliens that could be deported, people with a high criminal record that cant get a job anywhere, homeless with no families, that sort of stuff.” she explained.

“why doesn’t anyone do something about this?” Waylon asked.

“ the town and Murkoff have a neutral standing. The town acts and looks nice to keep suspicions low and the people are allowed to live here with a “small” money bonus. If anyone talks they're taken away.” she said.

“why do you and your dad keep living here?” he asked.

“my dad had a alcohol problem after he and mom got divorced. Tons of DUIs and no body would hire him since he had no drivers license. And I also did a little street scamming.” she said, speaking the last bit a little mumbled.
“ He heard about Murkoffs deal and we moved here. NOW, my dads trying hard to get us out. That’s why hes away on business. Trying to grab a job over seas and move us there. If Murkoff notices that hes planning to leave they’ll get rid of him.” Beth spoke in a sad tone. Waylon nodded in understanding.

“well, nothing we could do. Cant leave with Murkoff still lingering around.” Waylon thought while rubbing his head.

“should I try and get more canned food today?” Beth asked.

“no!! not till I know what Murkoff is doing. They could be trying to take people away and search their homes.” Waylon said. She nodded in agreement.
“ I need to talk to Artisan. Make sure Eddie doesn’t notice.” Waylon whispered.

“ me??!! what am I suppose to do?!” Beth whispered back.

“just distract him for a little while.” Waylon whispered.

“what if he finds out??” Beth asked.

“then ill take care of him.” he said while walking out the back door. Once the door was shut he ran over to the barn. Finding Artisan inside with a large road map on the wall with marks and pins on it.

“whats the map for?” Waylon asked as he walked in.

“its a map of the town. Ive been keeping the best track I can of Murkoff. They’ve been setting up a large road block out of town, massive set up.” Artisan said while putting up a few pins.

“do you know whats in the large container they brought in?” Waylon asked as he scanned over the map.

“no idea. It cant be guns or anything. Why make it so enforced if it was? Could it be that Walrider project?” Artisan questioned.

“no way. The project was still horribly flawed and the research was greatly compromised. if not entirely lost after the Walrider broke out. They had to almost entirely start from scratch, if it were not for me collecting their damned files.” Waylon growled.

“could it be a different project. Did they work on anything besides the Walrider?” Artisan questioned more.

“they worked on other things, but nothing that could help them now. They made a few super patients. Very huge and lots of muscle, but completely uncontrollable and extremely aggressive.” Waylon explained as he subconsciously began to pace.

“how about anything out of mount massive? Murkoffs pretty big, they could have other labs.” Artisan said.

“i don’t know. Everything was kept very secret and locked down. I was only kept long enough on their computers to fix them. Then I was quickly shoved off to fix something else.” Waylon spoke, flipping through all the time he was kept busy to stop from asking questions at mount massive. Artisan growled in frustration.

“so what should we do? Try and sneak away tonight?” Artisan asked.

“ no, no. that wont work. Murkoff still has patrol’s wandering all over the place. Mite even have cameras set up or watch posts.” Waylon shook his head.

“we cant keep staying here. And with most of Murkoff gone we mite have a chance to slip away while they're off somewhere else.” Artisan stated.

“and then what? Run past the large blockade out of town?” Waylon replied.

“ we would think of something when we get there. A distraction maybe.” Artisan said, letting out a tired sigh.
“get back to the house. Ill think of something. Hopefully by tomorrow.” he said. Waylon nodded as he went back to the house.

Waylon had gotten back in with no trouble. He shut the door quietly until Eddie startled him. Waylon jumped at his voice, turning around to face him with a small gasp of surprise.

“why were you out side?” Eddie questioned.

“ I uh, was getting some fresh air.” Waylon lied. He had almost forgotten how quick and silent Eddie could be when moving.

“ you're suppose to stay inside while your lung heals.” Eddie said.

“i know, but inside air gets a little suffocating. After a while.” Waylon said.

“mm.” Eddie hummed with a look of suspicion.

“iam gonna go to bed early.” Waylon tiredly mumbled as he walked to the stairs.

“ Do you at least want dinner first?” Eddie asked.

“no, maybe after a few hours of sleep.” he said tiredly as he reached the top of the stairs.

He laid down on the bed,covering himself with blankets. He had hoped that the mix would work quickly. Besides helping his body remove the last of what ever chemicals Murkoff injected. It was suppose to bring his energy up. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up for it though. It was gonna be a few days before it really kicked in.

*hours later

Waylon woke up in the night with a uncomfortable feeling. He listened and heard nothing, assuming everyone was asleep. When he looked over for Eddie however, he was missing. Waylon found it abnormal for him, Eddie would usually join him in bed for sleep. He quietly got out of bed and opened the door. The house was pitch black. even the constantly on bathroom light was off.

Waylon grew worried and tried to flip the bedroom light on. No luck in it working.

“is the power out?” Waylon thought as he walked quietly down the carpeted halls.
“Eddie?” Waylon said quietly, getting no answer. He continued on down the hall, opening the door to Beth’s room.
“Beth?” Waylon said, calling her name. He opened the door to her room. Finding that she was missing as well. Waylon was now becoming extremely worried.

“what if Eddie got in a fight with Artisan, and Beth went out to stop him? Oh god, I should have kept a eye on him.” Waylon thought in panic while rushing down the steps. He winced and hissed in pain when he hopped over the last step. Putting a little more stress on his sensitive ribs.

He ran over to the front door, yanking it open to run out straight to the barn. He stopped two feet past the doorway when he saw a ominous glow. One side of the forest had the bright orange glow of fire. Waylon couldn’t see the fire from where he was and he knew it must be far.

Waylon wanted to see what had caused the fire, but needed to find the others first. He continued to the barn, finding it entirely empty. he looked back at the bright orange glow with worry.

“Eddie wouldn’t start a fire to harm Artisan … would he?” Waylon thought while he built up to a jog towards the fire.

He ran by trees, climbing over small hills of landscape while trying his best to stay silent. He finally reached the fire, most of it had burned out. He looked across the area, noticing the trees were burned purposely. Bursts of fire had been let out at certain points in a consistent pattern. Larger circles of trees and dirt burnt down every 10 feet.

“Eddie?!” Waylon yelled out, but not too loudly for it to travel far. Still no answer. He began to carefully follow down the burn trail. He didn’t walk for long till he found the end of it. Trees were still burning brightly around the place.

He stopped shortly past the burning area. Freezing when he heard the loud clunking and scraping of metal. He suddenly turned when he heard the sound of crunching leafs and twigs. He tensed when he saw a large figure behind him. Unable to tell its features because of the bright fire behind him blinding Waylons eyes.

The figures head whipped to the side when it saw Waylons head movement. It seemed to have not immediately spotted him. Even when they were only 4 feet apart. The large figure let out a groaning hissing noise and the smell of gasoline hit Waylon hard. The strong smell almost made him choke. The figure brought up his hand towards Waylon in a flash of movement.

The abrupt movement of it startled Waylon. having him jump away in reaction, thinking he was going to get shot. He move just in time as a cloud of bright fire shot out from the figures hand, burning everything near. Waylon fell down a small steep hill side. Landing at the bottom painfully on his ribs.

His body stiffened in pain and was unable to get up as quickly as he wanted. When he stood completely he had to lean on a tree to catch his breath. He again heard the loud clanking metal. He turned to look at the revealed figure slowly stepping down the less steep part of the hill.

Waylon froze at the sight of it. His first fear was that the engine was over running his brain again, but not this time. This time it was a truly real horrific monster.

A practically dead looking corpse of a mangled human. The thing was emaciated, stitched and stapled together. Practically no muscle with the skin hugging the bones tightly. It had no feet attached to its legs being replaced by long sharp metal poles that stabbed and sunk into the ground. Anything covering the ground would crunch and groan under its weight. the thing must have weighed a few tons.

Its arms were almost entirely replaced by blackened poles. Only a thick slab of useless skin bolted and twisted around it to attach them to the arms. Useless black boney burnt hands hanging at the ends. The ragged body was framed and weaved into thick metal parts. certain parts connecting to certain areas like the hips and legs. being the soul support for the thing to even be able to move at all.

Gears and pieces were moving around a huge piece of metal on its entire back. The item that made the thing weigh so much and most likely a gas tank for the fire. Multiple thick tubes sprouted from the tank. weaving into the body’s chest to only sprout out the ends of its arms to attach into the tubes.

Waylon froze up at the thing being near, still fearing this to be the engines fault. It just had to be the engines fault, this abomination couldn’t really exist. The monster slowly looked around with the help of turning gears at its neck. It looked at Waylon, being in clear view for it.

The creatures eyes were sunken in and a pure milky white. Contrasting with the dark circles around his eyes. The creature had no skin around its jaws to hide its jagged broken teeth. Black exhaust fums floated out of its mouth like hot breaths in the freezing cold.

The creature wheezed in a long deep breath causing a loud hissing noise. Waylon stayed frozen, staring at it, unable to move. It breathed out a huge cloud of black fumes. The metal parts revved to life, clunking and turning to have the creature turn its head forward to walk. It walked only a few feet in the darkness before setting a area on fire. Lighting the nearby surroundings for it to continue.

“it didn’t see me?” Waylon thought, letting out a breath of scared relief.
“Its eyes were bad. Probably from constant bright light, and poisonous fume exposure in its face.” Waylon thought as he shakily snuck away.

He was keeping a close eye on the creature behind him. Watching it slowly leave his view in the forest. He had not been paying attention to the space in front of him. If he had, he would have noticed the near by figure sneaking up to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement. He turned in time to see a arm reach to grab him. He was roughly yanked into a tight hold with his mouth covered to keep him from yelling for help.

Chapter Text

Waylon panicked in the tight hold of the stranger. He struggled uselessly and resorted to clawing them when he was unable to squirm out of their grip. His body tensed when he felt the clawing work on the strangers shoulder. A little too well, causing some skin to peel off. The stranger let go with a painful growl.

Waylon turned around in a, ready to fight, aggressive disposition. His body laxed and filled with gilt when he realized he had just clawed Eddie. Eddie was critically burned on his right side. the whole side of his stomach and almost all of his arm was burnt black. The only parts that weren’t burnt were pieces that flaked or were ripped off by Waylon. He looked at the bunch of ripped off skin in his hand and tossed it away in guilt.

“Eddie are you okay?!” Waylon said shakeingly as he got close again. He quickly examined him, seeing the damage of his third degree burns. Then Waylon noticed a huge blood stain at Eddies gashed leg. The stitches had been undone. Hanging unraveled around the ripped skin.

“stupid and stubborn.” Waylon thought. Eddie should not have pushed that wound at all.
“Eddie?” Waylon asked again when he got no answer the first time. Eddie nodded at first seeming reluctant, or unable, to speak.

“iam fine.” he said with a rougher voice. It hurt Waylon inside hearing Eddies usual smooth and charming voice distorted. He got incredibly close to Eddie to look at his neck for any burns. There were none, which confirmed Waylons suspicion that he had inhaled smoke.

“we have to get you home!! right now!!” Waylon said while trying to lead Eddie away. Eddie needed immediate restitching on his leg and bandages on those burns.

“no!!” Eddie said, snapping from his tree leaning posture in to a upright one. Waylon glared at him in anger.

“stubborn maniac. He can barely stand and he thinks he can continue on?” Waylon thought, glaring at Eddie who’s body shook from pain, exhaustion, or adrenaline.
“Eddie you're going back to the house. You can NOT stay out here.” Waylon said firmly.

“no!!” Eddie growled, his body shivering even more from trying to stay up for so long. Waylon didn’t want to argue or drag Eddie back through the burning forest. So he made a simple trick that would have Eddie return.

“fine, you can stay here. Ill go find artisan and bring him home instead.” Waylon said, taking a few steps away. The trick worked, grabbing Eddies attention and want to keep Waylon separated from artisan. He took a quick step forward to try and grab Waylon in an attempt to stop him. His body locked up in pain after the step. unable him to continue after Waylon if he did leave.

Waylon took a few more steps away slowly increasing the space between them. Eddie had a look of mild panic and frustration on his face. He quickly looked around in some fearing attempt to regain control. This feeling of helplessness he hadn’t felt since the grenade. He always had control of Waylon and he was now losing it. He tried to continue forward again, having his body absolutely refuse. He was breathing hard now from fear and panic. Waylon felt guilt for doing this, but Eddie was stubborn and he needed to break that if he wanted to bring him with no fuss.

“come on Eddie. I wont look for artisan if you come back. Please.” Waylon pleaded. Eddie was hesitant to answer ignoring Waylons eyesight while fighting to stay standing.

“fine.” he said in a gravely voice. Waylons mouth twitched a smile as he helped Eddie carefully walk forward with him being a support. Eddie was furious inside that he let this happen. He was never suppose to be weak. He was to be his darlings protector, not the other way around. What good was he being something too weak to stand. If he could at least keep his darling inside he could still do his job.

Waylon cautiously walked him back to the house. Careful to avoid the creature, where ever it was. inside the house Waylon sat Eddie on the living room couch so he can go grab the med kit. Waylon returned in a matter of minutes to set everything up. He cleaned, restitched, and rebandaged Eddies largely gashed leg.

The gash had gotten worse from Eddie pushing it. It had ripped a lot wider and longer to now damage Eddies leg muscle. If he pushed it any farther it would have shredded a big chunk of muscle off. permanently crippled his leg. Waylon then directed his attention to Eddies 3rd degree burns.

First he had to remove Eddies burned shirt and vest. It was difficult because the skin melted to the fabric and had to be torn of in some areas. Waylon was kinda sad to see Eddies vest go. it looked nice on him and now he looked naked without it. Now to begin the real skin removal.

“iam going to have to remove all this dead skin. Its not going to feel good.” Waylon warned Eddie as he got antibiotic ointment and a trash bin for the skin. Eddie sighed in annoyance and nodded for Waylon to continue. Waylon started with his arm where most skin near the top he already scratched off earlier.

He carefully but quickly as he could, peeled off the dead skin he could. Scraping off the sections that were blistered. Waylon after taking the pieces off could see the red muscle of Eddies arm that’s suppose to be hidden. Eddie would grit his teeth and let out hisses or growls of pain as Waylon peeled. It took Waylon 15 minutes before he got all the dead skin off.

He carefully dabbed the antibiotic ointment on the burns. It gave Eddie some mild relief, cooling and soothing the burned areas. Waylon then carefully wrapped up the burns in gauze.

“you pushed your body too far. You could have crippled your leg permanently.” Waylon said, a tone of anger showing. He wasn’t sure what he should be feeling. He was angry that Eddie almost ran himself into the ground, being afraid that it almost was, and worried about it repeating.

Eddie wasn’t liking the small lecturing. He was just doing what he needed to do to protect Waylon. Now he was being scolded for it. Waylon should be the one being scolded, leaving the protection of the house while injured.

“you shouldn’t have left the house.” Eddie growled at him in his damaged voice.

“need to get you something for that to. Maybe some cough syrup.” Waylon said on his way to look for a bottle. Eddie let out a huff of frustration. The door opened with a loud bang as artisan rushed in, closing it behind him. Artisan spotted Eddie on the couch giving him a glare from his sitting spot.

“artisan?” Waylon said, surprised to see him. Artisan was singed in multiple places with a light grey layer of ash on him.

“i see the stubborn fool made it home.” artisan panted in a angry tone aimed at Eddie.

“yeah I found him alone in the forest with burns and broken stitches. What happened?” Waylon asked.

“we saw the forest on fire and went to investigate. We found a monstrous dead thing Murkoff released. It was blasting fire everywhere. We confronted it and I noticed it was heading towards the house because it could see the lights. I sent Beth to shut the power of so absolutely no lights could be on.

Meanwhile, this stubborn jack ass tried attacking the damned thing. It blew out a huge cloud of fire and hes just lucky the thing isn’t fast. We split up to try and lure the creature away.” artisan said getting some water for his dry throat.

“wheres Beth?” Waylon asked concerned.

“shes fine. She went to go find her friends and see if they could help.” artisan said.

“you shouldn’t be in here.” Eddie snapped from his seat.

“shut up!! your lucky to even be here after what you tried. Just be happy for that!!” artisan snapped back. Eddie gave artisan a murderous glare, if he could get up he would back up the look.

“both of you drop it!! we cant be fighting right now. Artisans staying in here and you're going up into the bedroom.” Waylon said to Eddie while getting him up. Eddie let out a growl as he passed artisan, unable to walk on his own to attack him.

Upstairs Waylon had set Eddie down on the bed. Remembering he forgot the cough syrup down stairs he left Eddie on the bed. Artisan met him in the hall.

“we need to talk strategy’s and escapes plans in case that thing makes it here.” artisan said.

“problem is where could we escape to.” Waylon said.

“ iam sure there’s some abandoned buildings somewhere in this town. Wont be comfortable, but useful in an emergency.”

“better send Beth to try and scout out places to check or look for.” Waylon said.

“we're not going anywhere with him.” Eddie growled. Somehow he had made it to the door way of the bed room.

“get back in the room, you shouldn’t be up!!” Waylon commanded.

“iam fine.” Eddie growled, glaring at artisan.

“no, get back in the room!!” Waylon commanded again.

“iam not going anywhere while hes here.” Eddie growled.

“Eddie the longer you stay there the longer ill stay out here. Go back to bed!!” Waylon stated. Eddie grumbled as he was forced to give up to the bed.

“geeze I need a aspirin.” Waylon sighed while rubbing his forehead.

“you seem to be taking authority over him.” artisan comment.

“that’s only because he almost dug him self a grave. Iam worried for him. Hes way too stubborn.” Waylon sighed, heading down stairs.
“why does he hate you so much? He mentioned you taking something?” Waylon questioned.

“its a old story.” artisan started.
“back before the house fire Gluskin was a frequent runaway. And there was a girl in foster care who was also a frequent runaway. One day they met on a rail road bridge and soon they formed a friendship. Every time they ran away they met at the bridge. They decided to run far away and start their own lives.

They did well … for a while. They lived together in a apartment, planned to get married and everything.” artisan said, sadness coming into his tone.

“I was patrolling when I got a call of gun shots and yelling. I drove up to the apartment where the noises were heard. And i found Gluskin out on the front lawn. Crying over the girl in his arms, surrounded and soaked in her blood.

I had to forcefully pull him away for investigators to examine what happened. When the ambulance came and put her in a body bag Gluskin was in immense denial of her death. Yelling that she wasn’t dead, attacking officers and had to be restrained to a car.

He was 16 back then, a minor, and a runaway. because of that, we had to call his father to come release him. I feel that that’s why he locked onto me for the blame. I took him away from the girl and delivered him back to his asshole father.” artisan said sadly.

“ why was Eddie always taken back to his dad. Didn’t anyone see that Eddie was abused?” Waylon asked.

“everyone knew or suspected it. But Gluskin's father wasn’t dumb. He kept Gluskin hidden away from society. Home schooled, no visitors, if he needed a doctor his father would pay them to keep quiet or chance records.

Any abuse found on him was connected to his depression and labeled off as “self harm.” his father also had strong lawyers that got him away Scott free every time.” artisan explained.

“ who shot the girl?” Waylon asked.

“we never found out. Gluskin couldn’t be questioned without his fathers permission and you could guess his answer. He wanted Eddie away from us as fast as possible. A few weeks after all this a mysterious fire happened and killed his father. Then a few years passed and his uncle was found floating in a lake” artisan said. Waylon was silent, recalling the story Eddie told him in mount massive.

“things kicked off from there. He started going after girls. Kidnapping and killing those who avoided or bullied him. … I feel that he was trying to replace her, but the longer it went on the more desperate and broken he became.” Artisan said leaving Waylon to head back up stairs.

Waylon returned to the bed room with the cough syrup. Eddie was laying on his side with his back towards the door way. Waylon quietly padded over.

“i got the cough syrup for your throat.” Waylon said quietly.

“iam not taking it.” Eddie growled roughly, making his throat agitated and having him cough roughly.

“come on Eddie, please take it.” Waylon begged. Eddie grumbled.
“it’ll make me happy.” Waylon said. Eddie growled before stiffly sitting up. Waylon smiled and poured him a dosage of cough syrup. Eddie quickly took it and gave the empty cap back. He laid down with a huff.

Waylon sat on the bed silent as he stared at Eddies back. He wanted to ask him questions about the girl, but that seemed a even more sensitive subject then his dad. It was one of the major roots of his problem’s. another was if Eddie even remembered the events at all, he may have blocked them out. He took a deep breath and asked.

“Eddie … do you remember a girl? One you used to live with?” Waylon asked quietly. Eddies body tensed up at the question. Waylon paused for a moment before continuing.
“she … got hurt. … do you remember why?” Waylon asked quietly again. Eddie stayed silent for a long while. Waylon thought he would never get a answer till Eddie spoke.

“that night … I woke up seeing her leave the bedroom. I asked what she was doing and she said she was getting some water. … and I let her go.” Eddie said, stopping to hold in tears.

“i heard a crash of glass breaking … her screaming my name ... I ran down to find a burglar chasing her out the front door with a gun. I ran out, heard gun shots, and found her bleeding out in the grass.” Eddie stopped to take a shaky breath.

“i feel it was my fault. I let her go.” Eddie said barely managing to keep it together. Waylon came around the bed. Lying down next to Eddie and wrapped his arms around him, careful of the wrapped burns.

“that why you always hold me when we sleep?” Waylon asked muffled by Eddies chest.

“yes.” Eddie replied, resting his head above Waylons.

“it’ll be okay.” Waylon said, lightly kissing Eddie.

*the next morning

Waylon woke up in the same position he fell asleep in last night. Wrapped up with Eddie under a blanket. He stretched a little having Eddie wake up from the movement.

“hey.” Waylon said, quickly kissing Eddie. Eddie let out a tired hum and returned the kiss.
“you should probably take a bath. It would help sooth the burns a bit an clean them of the last dead skin flakes.” Waylon said. Eddie again tiredly hummed.

Waylon got up to go start Eddie a bath he could soak in. hopefully he could find some lotion or soap with aloe, he doubted it though. He started the bath and then went down stairs for any news. Artisan was still asleep on the couch, Beth didn’t seem to be back. He returned back up to the bath, shutting it off as it was getting full.

Waylon went to the bedroom, helping Eddie get up and walk with his damaged leg. In the bathroom Waylon began to carefully unwrap Eddies gauze. He would wince as the gauze was unsticking from his skin or accidentally rubbed a little roughly at the sensitive burns. Waylon let out a breath of relief as he finished.

“there. You can probably handle the rest. Ill go make us breakfast.” Waylon said, carefully wrapping up and setting the gauze aside. Eddie, knowing artisan was down stairs, didn’t want Waylon down there.

“you're not staying?” Eddie asked.

“no, why?” Waylon asked back. Eddie tried to think up a good excuse to make hi m stay.

“its hard for me to move with my injuries.” Eddie explained.

“you’re just going to be soaking. You don’t have to do anything else.” Waylons said.

“what if I need to get out?” Eddie tried again to make a excuse.

“then ill come to help you.” Waylon said.

“please stay, darling.” Eddie said. Waylon paused and sighed. Hed never bathed or showered with Eddie before. He still wasn’t even comfortable with being naked around Eddie yet. It just seemed awkward to him, both sitting naked in a tub together.

“okay, but you have to look away till I get in the tub.” Waylon said. Eddie chuckled.

“still shy.” he said with a smug smile. Waylon gave him a small glare, looking away as Eddie stripped. When Eddie was in he closed his eyes for Waylon, who stripped quickly. He carefully got in the tub to make sure no water overflowed. Eddie opened his eyes again when Waylons body was submerged.

“make sure to soak the burns. And rub off any floating skin.” Waylon said. Eddie nodded, making sure his burns were in the water. There was a moment of silence between the two.

“want to sit in my lap?” Eddie asked with a smile.

“what?” Waylon question, confused. Looking at Eddie with a questionable expression.

“wed be less cramped.” Eddie said, gesturing to how the two of them were bunched at opposite ends of the tub. Waylon continued to silently stare at him.
“easier to keep eyes from wandering?” Eddie said, trying to tempt Waylon over.

“fine.” Waylon sighed. He slowly and carefully enough not to expose too much settled between Eddies legs. His back going up along his chest. Waylon let out a exhausted sigh as he relaxed against Eddie. The feeling of being tired reminded him that he needed to take more mix this morning.

“love you darling.” Eddie smiled and kissed the top of Waylons head.

Chapter Text

the house was still kept black, and curtains covered every window to hide movement. The blazing fires died down and there were no new ones. Everyone guessed that the creature had shut down or went back to Murkoff to refuel.

Waylon was up early and drinking some more vitamin powder. Everything was quiet in the house. Artisan was up drinking coffee, Eddie was still sleeping same with Beth who returned a hour before sunrise.

“we need to get rid of it somehow.” Waylon said.

“but how?” artisan said.

“could you shoot the gas tank? Make it explode?” Waylon asked.

“tried. Didn’t even leave a dent. Just seemed to agitate it.” artisan said.

“makes sense Murkoff would make the huge tank bullet proof.”waylon grumbled before swallowing down more mix.

“bad luck on our side.” artisan growled at his coffee. Waylon nodded in agreement.

“we need to go out and watch it. Try and find a weak spot.” artisan said as he looked from his coffee to Waylon.

“Eddie wont be happy about that, but I am definitely not going to let him leave the house.” Waylon said.

“also need to send Beth for more first aid supply’s. All the bandages are almost gone. Only a quarter of disinfectant. Absolutely no more stitching wire.” Artisan listed off.

“definitely, Eddies bandages need to be changed constantly. And if he doesn’t stop acting like a moron his stitches are gonna pop again. Possibly ruining his leg permanently.” Waylon said.

“before we head out you better set him straight. you're going and hes staying. Better to do it early so we are not arguing for hours.” artisan stated. Waylon was already rubbing his head from just the thought of the argument they’d have.

“Beth better put some aspirin on that shopping list to.” Waylon said as he chugged the last amount of vitamin powder. A moment of silence passed before they both herd heavy steps on the stairs. It was Eddie limping down and tightly holding the railing.

When he reached the bottom he gave artisan a agitated stare. Eddie seemed frustrated enough that he seemed weak by limping and barely able to speak. His agitation seemed worse when he had to show it around artisan.

“feeling alright?” Waylon asked, getting some vitamin mix ready for him. Eddie gave a hum instead of a yes from lack of voice. Waylon added a bit of cough syrup to the mix and handed it to Eddie. Once Eddie started to drink Waylon thought it best to break the news.

“me and artisan are going to watch the fire starter.” Waylon said, causing Eddie to choke as he swallowed.

“WHAT??!!” Eddie yelled furiously. Even with his broken voice he still managed to yell when he wanted to.

“i have to Eddie.” Waylon stated.

“no, ill do it.” Eddie said.

“ no, you wont. You can barely make it down the stairs!! maybe if you hadn’t shot out your leg and almost went up in flames I would have let you.” Waylon snapped at him. Eddie let out a growl of refusal to listen.

“I am not arguing this Eddie!! I am going, you're staying!! you wont make it out there. Besides I am faster anyway, ill have a better chance then you did.” Waylon said with agitation.

“you also wont attack the damn thing.” artisan mumbled under his breath. Eddie reacted violently by throwing the glass of mix at artisan. Artisan managed to dodge it in time and let the glass smash into the wall nearby.

“god dammit Eddie!!” Waylon snapped. He could already feel a headache coming on.
“and your not helping!” he yelled at artisan. “I am going to make breakfast. You go sit on the couch.” he said and pointed at Eddie. Eddie growled as he limped away, irritated that he was sentenced to the couch.

Halfway through making pancakes Beth finally woke up and sat down at the kitchen counter. She immediately noticed artisan cleaning powder mix and glass off near the wall.

“aw, you guys fucked up my wall.” Beth said angrily.

“yeah. Eddie and artisan got in a argument. Eddie threw the glass.” Waylon sighed, putting pancakes onto plates. Waylon brought a plate to Eddie, sitting near by to eat with him. Artisan turned on the news, bringing it to a low volume.

Any news about their town was fake and made to make the town seem happy, but boring enough to keep any possible visitors away. The news would show a fake happy news women in a oddly empty looking town. No people walking, no cars going by. Beth told them that sometimes they'd replay the same news reports after a while. Like a cycle of prerecorded messages. The news would shift between clips of random fields, beaches, then to weather.

“so whats the plan for today?” Beth asked.

“we need you to get more medical supplies. Me and artisan will go out and watch the fire starter for any kind of weakness.” Waylon said.

“no.” Eddie growled.

“we don’t have a choice.” waylon growled back.

“i could go!!” Eddie snapped.

“ NO!!” Waylon snapped back.

“weeell, I am going for supply’s now.” Beth said loudly to interrupt the fight as she walked out the door. Waylon sighed, loosing his appetite he brought the plates to the sink.

“come on Eddie I have to change your bandages.” Waylon said as he helped Eddie up. He brought him upstairs and sat him on the bed in their room.

“i can go.” Eddie said in his graveled voice.

“no, Eddie.” Waylon said, getting tired of the argument.

“ I am going!!” Eddie growled.
“no you're not!! what could you possibly do out there with a torn leg and a burnt arm??!!” Waylon yelled.

“i can protect you!!” Eddie loudly replied.

“i don’t need-!!” Waylon started, interrupted by Eddie.

“ITS MY JOB!!!” Eddie yelled standing up from the bed. Waylon paused.

“listen, its not your job.” Waylon said, interrupted before he could say more.

“yes it is! What good am I if I cant keep you safe. What kind of husband cant keep his love safe?!” Eddie said. Waylon paused and took a breath before speaking.

“Ill be fine without having to worry about to while out there. Okay? Just, stay here. Please.” Waylon talked up to Eddie before hugging him tightly.

“... okay, but if anything happens to you. ill kill artisan when he comes back.” Eddie said while hugging Waylon back tightly. Waylon rolled his eyes at Eddies threat, even though he was sure Eddie was serious about it.

“don’t worry, I’ll be back. I promise. Just rest here and make sure to drink a lot of water.” Waylon said while rubbing Eddies good arm for more reassurance.
“now lets change your bandages. Make sure the burns are healing well.” Waylon said while removing the bandages from Eddie.

Once the bandages were off Waylon closely examined the burns. They seemed to be healing well. Or, at least as well as unprofessionally treated 3rd degree burns could heal on their own.
Waylon carefully spread a thin amount of antibacterial ointment on the burns to help healing and keep away infection. Applying fresh new bandages when he was done.

“i have to go now. Ill be back though. I promise.” Waylon said before kissing Eddie. Eddie kissed back, letting out a agitated sigh afterward to show his displeasure.

Waylon left Eddie in the room, going down to meet artisan. Beth had made it back in time just as Waylon made it down.

“got fresh meds.” Beth said, setting a couple bags down.

“great, could you watch Eddie. Make sure he doesn’t try to follow us.” Waylon said as artisan and him went to leave.

“watch him and do what?! I cant stop that tank.” Beth questioned.

“just say ill be disappointed or something. It’ll keep him here. Or at least it mostly will.” Waylon said as he passed through the door way. Beth gave a aggravated huff as she went to put away the medications.

Both artisan and Waylon were quickly walking off into the forest. Hoping to find the fire starters trail to track its hideout down. They started at the last burning areas with a few live embers left on the black burnt trees. Following it to the small fire burning areas. The trail of burnt or burning area suddenly stopped. Now they had to follow the tracks that were stabbed deeply into the dirt.

“probably stopped at daylight and went to town or where ever to refuel with Murkoff.” artisan said as they followed the trail.

“maybe we could tamper with the fuel it uses.” Waylon suggested.

“how?” artisan asked.

“hm, not sure. Add something to it that makes it unstable to compression or too much movement.” Waylon said.

“like nitroglycerin” artisan said.

“got any?” Waylon asked.

“pff, where do you think I work? I am a cop, not from the CIA.” artisan joked.

“do you have any other idea then?” Waylon asked.

“nope. Any thing combustible would require the tank to go bust. And if shooting didn’t do that I don’t know what will.” artisan stated.

“maybe if we lead it to a trash compactor and have it crushed.” Waylon said.

“i am sure that would make a wonderful fire works show.” artisan joked.

“if you don’t mind losing your eyebrows, then sure.” Waylon joked back.

“hey, look.” artisan pointed out a massive grouping of Murkoff personnel and the massive transport truck the fire starter came in with. Both hid down and next to a tree to observe the large crew.
“there’s Barker.” artisan pointed out. Barker was pacing a lot around the area yelling and snapping at the personal working.

“definitely not happy about something.” Waylon commented.

“should we get close to try and hear?” artisan asked.

“no way. We get caught we're screwed. Especially you if you don’t come back with me.” Waylon said.

“Eddie?” artisan asked.

“yeah, he wasn’t happy that I left.” Waylon said.

“no surprise there.” artisan said.

“lets head back, nothing much we can do.” Waylon said. The two turned to head back, but froze as they saw Murkoff personal setting up tents around the entire area.

“fuck.” Waylon growled.

“don’t panic, they haven’t seen us yet.” artisan whispered.

“we cant move, they’ll see us.” Waylon whispered.

“we'll have to stay here.” artisan sighed.

“till night fall?!” Waylon exclaimed.

“we try to go now, we'll be spotted.” artisan said

“eddies gonna be pissed.” Waylon said.

“just pray that he doesn’t come charging over here for you.”artisan said.

“please don’t say that.” Waylon groaned as he grew a headache.

*hours passed

nightfall was over the area only having the tents lit up with a few small work lights. The Murkoff personnel had been working over time around the truck and setting up other equipment.

“time for us to go.” artisan said as he carefully left their hiding spot. Waylon followed close behind getting halfway before they almost jumped out of there skins. Startled by bullets that just missed them. Both ran, splitting from each other to get away from the shooting personnel, and bright search lights.

Waylon lost all track of artisan as he was chased by personnel. Beams of light going through the air and flashing too close for comfort near him. He ducked and ran down a ditch following it far before slowing to a stop. He looked around, panting with exhaustion. No more search lights and no sounds of any Murkoff.

Waylon looked around the dark area. Barely able to see anything. He carefully walked along the ditch he was in. slowing down when he heard the light flow of a stream. He followed it, hoping to find some minor civilization. Which he did in the form of a large drainage pipe that went under a road bridge.

Near by was a sign with a few broken lights that lightly lit up the area. Waylon stepped forward towards the sign. Hoping to get some sort of marker for where he was. Waylon was startled back and froze at a sudden movement in the large drainage tunnel.

“what are you doing here?” a sickly sounding voice said from the concrete drainage area. Waylon stayed silent, not wanting to say who he was or what he was doing. The tall figure stepped into the dim light slightly. Just enough for Waylon to recognize a few features.

The figures eyes shown brightly from the minimal light. They were the first thing Waylon noticed. Then he noticed the figures slim starved body before finally noticing his clothes. Ragged clothes with a recognizable number on the front. Waylon was too in shock to speak as he started at the number for a long time.

“... you're from mount massive.” Waylon said.

“ no, I am not. I am from the other facility.” the figure said.

“other facility?” Waylon asked, his chest getting tight by those words.

“yes, the one in the arctic. Where that thing came from.” the figure said in a calm and collected voice.

“murkoff has another facility in the arctic? How did you get here from there?” Waylon questioned.

“i escaped and boarded on the plain they flew here.” he stated.

“ … so, what did you do at the other facility?” Waylon asked. He was used to all the patients at mount massive, but had no idea the personality’s of ones at the other facility’s. He didn’t even knew they had other facility’s. He had to be cautious, he could be dealing with a aggressive patient for all he knew.

“... experiments … for that thing.” he said, stretching his arms out to show large burn scars up his arms.

“what did you do, when you were alone?” Waylon asked.

“ … that’s not important Mr. Park.” the figure said. Waylon tensed and nervously swallowed.

“How'd you know my name?” Waylon asked in a aggressive tone.

“i saw a few files on the computer and heard rumors from doctors. There were a lot of video files about your progress in research. And talk of how you tried to take down Murkoff with a email and a video camera.” the figure spoke.

“i almost made it. I got a reporter to come, but he was killed. I recorded everything, but I got caught. And the memory card was destroyed.” Waylon spoke with a heavy weight to his heart

“lot good that would have done.” he said

“what?” Waylon said, confused.

“you think a massive rich army corporation would be brought down by a simple home video?” the person mocked.

“it would have exposed them.” Waylon said defensively.

“only 1 building. Murkoff has tons of fail safes in case this happens. Different names and thousands of locations that even you don’t know of. Sure, the home video would have spoiled that location, but there are more. And with the public’s short attention they would lose interest in a few months. No one cares about forgotten lunatics Mr. park. there was a lot of up roar about you in the higher ups. Lots of files concerning you, your family, and your testing progress. Jeremy Blaire seemed to be the most interested in your testing process.” the figure said.

“that’s not true. People wouldn’t just forget what they saw. What I would have shown to the world!” Waylon snapped.

“IT WOULDINT MATTER!” the figure snapped back.
“you know NOTHING! You never saw the files at my facility. What they’ve created. What they’ve done to leaks like yours. Yours would have been just a small nuisance. A small tip in the scales, but after a few weeks people would either have lost interest or gone into denial.
SOMEone would have claimed your video was fake. Murkoff wouldn’t stand for it either. They would bribe company’s and with there high “charity” work people would be in denial from the get go. How could such a lovely company cause such a hell on earth.
Then another point is brought forward. Who could possibly bring this company down? They have bases everywhere. Who cares enough to save worthless lunatics and criminals Mr. park?” the figure stated.

Waylon stood there. Soaking in all that the figure said. He denied what the figure was saying. Someone would have done something. Murkoff at most would have been crippled in some way. He decided to drop the subject.

“... my fist names Waylon.” Waylon introduced himself.

“i am dame.” the figure replied.

“do you have any idea to stop the fire starter?” Waylon asked.

“if you drop him from a high enough height. That could destroy it. Possibly from that rickety rotting bridge near by. It does weigh a few tons.” dame said.

“okay. The bridge. Thanks. i uh, have to leave before the fire starter comes.” Waylon said.

“you could follow me out of the city” dame offered.

“out of the city? How? And where?” Waylon questioned.

“wont say. Don’t want my plans ruined because of you.” dame said.

“well, i gotta get the others first.” Waylon said.

“cant take too many. Too many passing and we will be caught.” dame stated. Waylon paused, thinking for a moment.

“id have to bring Eddie and artisan.” Waylon stated.

“Eddie and artisan?” dame questioned.

“Eddie was another patient I escaped with. Hes been protecting and helping me through a lot.” Waylon said.

“oh … you have one of those with you.” dame said with a tone of aggravation.

“whats that-” Waylon started, stopping when he heard shouting.

“waylon!” he heard artisan yelling from the forest behind him. Waylon looked back towards dame, only to find him completely gone. Waylon paused for a moment before turning around to go find artisan.

“oh good, your okay.” artisan ran up to him, panting from running and yelling.

“yeah, are you?” waylon asked with concern.

“soon as I can breath again. I will. Lets just head back before those ass holes find us again.” artisan said tiredly as he walked away. Waylon following close behind. He glanced over his shoulder to try and see dame again, with no luck.

“so he has one as well?” a deep voice spoke from the dark.

“unfortunately.” dame said with agitation.

“don’t worry, we'll have them ready for our travels. Even more so for the other one. And when your better, we'll leave and be free.” the voice spoke in a loving tone.

“i am sure, but we need Mr. park alive. And don’t talk to me that way! Hate it when you do that!” dame snapped at the voice.

“yes, mi amor.” the voice continued with the loving tone. Dame let out a low growl.
“why do we need the other one alive? Both would be better for us. Especially you.” the voice spoke more seriously.

“murkoff wants him badly. The reports say he must be saved for the Walrider project. If I bring him to Barker, and mention it. I might get promoted back to my rank in the facility. we will have to separate him I am sure. Wont be that hard. Mite even get him sooner if he takes on that thing.” dame growled in anger.

“sure you even want to go back after how easily they demoted you?”

“you wouldn’t understand. They give you power and what ever you wish as long as you work hard and keep your mouth shut. The higher your rank, the more privileges. Park was a weak link that lead to the whole chain of command break down in mount massive. It was the first time that’s happened.” dame spoke.

“the Walrider break out didn’t help either.” the tall shadow spoke as he walked over to a mostly destroyed carcass.

“no, it didn’t. But the second riot should have been handled easily. They became too busy with covering up evidence of the Walrider break out and with what emails Waylon sent out. They had to block and remove interested reporters. There command was weakening and was finally destroyed by Blaires incompetence to handle one patient.”

“hm, we will need more food soon.” the large shadow said before ripping off burnt meat from the mostly gone human carcass.

Chapter Text

Waylon and artisan tiredly came through the door. Greeted shortly by Beth, who was cooking dinner of hamburgers. Artisan laid down on the couch with a tired huff as Waylon went to check dinner and speak with Beth.

“you guys okay? I could hear gun shots from here.” Beth asked with concern.

“yeah, just a small chase and a adrenaline rush. so how was Eddie?” Waylon asked, hoping he wasn’t trouble.

“he panicked a little while after you left. Tried to leave a couple of times. Didn’t get far though with his hurt leg before I had him go back inside. Then he went upstairs to silently mope. Or at least I think hes up there, he mite have jumped out the window.” Beth said while turning over the cooking patty’s. By the look on Waylons face he was obviously not amused. Since he figured it would be something Eddie would do after he was gone for so long.

“i was only joking. I am sure hes just up there moping. Now do you want cheese on your burgers?” Beth said with a joking tone.

“yeah, ill be back after I check on Eddie.” Waylon said, heading for the stairs. Waylon came into the room to find Eddie sitting at the end of there bed with his back towards the door.
“hey Eddie, you okay?” Waylon asked softy as he walked over. Eddie stayed silent as he ignored Waylons presence. Waylon paused for a answer, sitting down next to Eddie when no answer came.

“i promised id be back, and I am.” Waylon quietly spoke with a smile. Eddie let out a annoyed grumble. Which reminded Waylon that he had to give Eddie more cough syrup for his throat.
“I am still fine.” Waylon said to him.

“you were shot at.” Eddie growled in his gravely voice.

“like that’s new.” Waylon said.

“that’s not the point. I wasn’t there to watch you. Make sure that nothing happened.” Eddie said, standing.

“artisan was there to help if something went wrong.” Waylon said.

“what good is he?” Eddie huffed. Waylon sighed, Eddie was stuck in his protective ways. No way hed trust anybody with protecting Waylon, not even Waylon himself.

“Eddie at some point you'll have to let me go and-” Waylon spoke, interrupted mid sentence.

“never.” Eddie growled as he looked at Waylon. For the obsessive love Eddie was known for Waylon thought his word was intimidating. Would Eddie ever be able to give Waylon freedom with peace at mind. Most likely never at this moment.

“you'll have to someday.” Waylon said, standing to leave the room. While Waylon walked down the stairs he thought of how maybe he was developing a false sense of security with Eddie. It was easy to see how nonthreatening he was when hes horribly injured with a almost crippled leg. Would Waylon still see him the same when Eddie was fully healed and able to fight and kill again?

“burgers are done!” Beth called out as Waylon reached the bottom of the stairs. Artisan didn’t seem to notice, being asleep on the couch with his arm over his eyes.

“so was he moping in the room?” Beth asked when Waylon entered the kitchen.

“yes, except now he isn’t happy with me.” Waylon said while preparing his and Eddies burgers.

“just bring him food and I am sure he'll forget.” Beth said before throwing a small spice bottle at artisan, startling him awake.
“foods ready.” Beth said to artisan, who was half awake.

Waylon grabbed a glass of water with a dosage of cough syrup going with the plate of burgers to take up to the room. Artisan walked up to the counter, bushing his hand through his hair to help himself wake up.

“when should we go again to spy?” artisan asked.

“i was thinking after dinner.” Waylon said as he stirred the cough syrup water.

“what? Why so soon?” artisan questioned.

“i had an idea while out in the woods. The fire starter is massively heavy. There are rickety rotting bridges near by. If we lure it over one and it breaks through, it could be destroyed by the fall. Or at least horribly crippled to the point of being useless for Murkoff.” Waylon said.

“well okay, but still so soon? Shouldn’t we at least take a day to plan first? Find a good bridge to use. A way to lure it there. Whats plan B if Murkoff ruins the plan or if that thing doesn’t fall for it.” artisan pointed out.

“murkoff wouldn’t get involved. There setting up there little camp and will assume the fire starter will get us anyway. The only bridge that will work is the one crossing that steep cliff area with the shallow river. Its too rotten for anything heavier then a person to cross, and I can lead it. I am fast, I can make it to the bridge and to the other side before it can hit me.” Waylon said.

“i don’t think that’s a good idea.” artisan stated in displeasure.

“look, we have to do this. That thing gets closer and closer each day. Tomorrow it will have burned a path fully to the house. Then what? Murkoff will probably see this house and what to check it since its the only one out here by itself. We have to do this tonight.” Waylon said. Artisan let out a long sigh.

“... go tell Eddie what your idea is. I am sure he'll be just as thrilled as I am of it.” artisan said with a sarcastic tone. Waylon dismissed artisans tone as he brought the food and glass up stairs. Eddie was sitting down on the bed again when Waylon came in with everything.

“i brought food.” Waylon said a little nervously as he thought about telling Eddie the plan. Eddie let out a little grumble to acknowledge Waylon. Waylon set down the food on the bed before holding out the glass of syrup water to Eddie.
“i got more cough syrup for your throat.” Waylon said. Eddie glared at the glass, displeased he had to take more medicine.

“i am fine.” Eddie said, refusing to take the glass.

“please take it Eddie. It'll help you heal a bit.” Waylon said, still holding out the glass.

“i can heal on my own just fine without some crappy syrup that tastes like shoe polish.” Eddie growled.

“will you just take it. It wont harm you to drink it.” Waylon said, starting to get annoyed by Eddies stubbornness. Eddie growled again before taking the water and grumbling about something. Waylon smiled and sat by him grabbing a burger to eat as Eddie guzzled down the glass in one sitting.

When the glass was set down Waylon handed Eddie a burger. Eddie took a bite as soon as it was handed to him.

“probably to remove the “shoe polish” flavor from the water.” Waylon thought as he watched Eddie quickly eat.

“as soon as Waylon thought to tell Eddie his plan. His appetite was entirely lost, being replaced with nervousness and nausea.” Waylon stopped eating, thinking of what to say. He would wait till Eddie finished before telling. When Eddie gets angry he wont want to eat anymore, although he should. Eddie noticed Waylon stopped eating and sensed his nervousness.

“what is it?” Eddie asked as he stopped eating as well. Waylon froze up for a moment.

“nothing.” he said quietly.

“what is it??” Eddie repeated.

“its nothing Eddie.” Waylon said, a little aggravated. He had hoped they’d finish eating before fighting.

“you're going out again?!” Eddie angrily asked.

“yes.” Waylon sighed in defeat. Eddie furiously got to his feet.

“when are you leaving?! Tomorrow morning?!” Eddie demanded to know.

“no.” Waylon said quietly. The nausea growing inside him.

“in 2 days, three days, when?!!” Eddie growled, demanding a answer.

“sooner then morning.” Waylon spoke.

“YOU'RE LEAVEING TONIGHT!! AGAIN?!” Eddie blew up in fury.

“we have a plan to kill it and it has to be done TONIGHT Eddie!!” Waylon stood up angrily in defense.

“NO!! I AM NOT LETTING YOU!! ILL FUCKING DO IT MYSELF!!” Eddie yelled as he walked towards the door.

“EDDIE you can't go out!!! EDDIE!!” Waylon yelled at him only to be ignored. Eddie left the room now stubbornly walking down the hall despite the massive pain it probably caused his shredded leg.

“GLUSKIN YOU BETTER GET BACK IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW!!” Waylon yelled from down the hall. Him Demanding Eddie return in vain as Eddie headed down the stairs. When Eddie reached the bottom Waylon latched onto his waist to try and stop him or make him fall, anything to try and stop him.

“get off!!” Eddie snapped at Waylon as he continued twoards the door. Fighting Waylon all the way.

“artisan, stop him!!” Waylon yelled as he pushed against the carpet to slow Eddie. Artisan went up to grab him, barely dodging a knife swinging at his face.

“get away from me you worthless maggot!!” Eddie growled. Slightly stopped for a moment.

“you wont make it out there you stubborn moron!!” artisan growled back at him.

Eddies plan of escape was now turning towards a fight with artisan as he turned away from the door slightly, knife in hand. Waylon tried to yank him back, letting go when Eddie let out a painful yelp. Waylon thinking he had forced Eddie into hurting his leg opened, backed away to look for damage.

He found no damage but a pink fuzzy tranquilizer dart in Eddies right side. Eddie yanked it out, looking at it and then glaring at Beth holding a gun.

“you shot me.” Eddie angrily slurred and unsteadily turned around towards her. Falling soon after and blacking out.

“Where'd you get the darts?” artisan asked.

“me and dad used to live in the mountains. We had a horrible black bear problem during the spring. So dad got this. Each dart has enough to take down a adult black bear. Sorry I shot him, didn’t know what else to do” she said the last part being directed to Waylon as a apology.

“its alright. I don’t think anything else would have stopped him. Probably for the best before he hurt himself.” Waylon said, checking Eddies stitched leg. The stitches held, but the scabbing was ripped open to bleed a bit.

“help me take him back upstairs artisan.” Waylon said as he held up Eddies front end while artisan grabbed his legs to carry. After putting Eddie back in bed everyone was meeting downstairs.

“how long will he be out?” artisan asked.

“about three hours, give or take. The tranquilizer was for bears, not people. So he mite be out twice as long.” Beth said.

“alright so we have 3-6 hours to do this plan. If we succeed then what?” artisan said.

“we should move. Its not safe here anymore. Murkoffs camping close by and will eventually find this place. Pack everything now and be ready to move if the plan works.” Waylon said, taking some pills for his headache.

“and go where?! Even if we did have a place, we cant just run out there after knocking off Murkoffs living flame thrower. They'll be buzzing everywhere after that, looking for us. It would be stupid to play leap frog through that for a new place to stay. Unless Beth has a idea.” artisan said.

“i only have my friends places in mind, but they wont be safe for you guys.” Beth said.

“ … I met someone who said he could get us out of the city.” Waylon said.

“what? Who, and where? When??” artisan questioned.

“in the forest, a few hours ago. They said they could sneak us out, and Beth can go to her friends.”

“sounds too good to be true.” artisan said, feeling skeptical of the situation.

“mite be, but with all 3 of us we can take him if we need to.”

“i don’t trust that. You also seem to forget that one of us has a busted leg and crispy arm.”

“the only think that stopped him moments ago was a dart to the side!” Waylon pointed out.

“still, you’ll be pushing our luck with rushing him into a fight. Lets relocate somewhere safer for now. Then we meet up with whoever you met to talk and asses the situation. We're already rushing into our current plan, we shouldn’t go rushing off with unknown strangers. I most certainly am not.” artisan said firmly and asserting his position on the plan.

“fine, lets get going then. While Eddies still asleep and the fire starters out. Beth, you go and hunt us a place to stay.” Waylon said as he got ready to leave.

“gotcha.” Beth said as she headed out behind them.

Both teams split, Beth running to find a new safe spot while artisan ran with Waylon. Planning to lead the fire starter to the rotting bridge and hopefully destroy it with no complications. It was no trouble finding the fire starter with the thick smell of gasoline, smoke, and burning wood flowing through the air. The two hid behind a mostly burnt tree to plan there next move.

“you know where to find the bridge?” artisan whispered.

“no, but I know where that steep canyon is. Eddie and me passed it while getting to the city. When I get to that I can probably find the bridge.” Waylon whispered back.

“greeeat.” artisan said with heavy sarcasm.
“so how will you get its attention?” artisan asked.

“shoot it in the head. And ill run out.” Waylon said.

“shooting its head is going to make it angry.” artisan stated.

“i know, that’s the point.” Waylon said.

“alright, your funeral. Get ready.” artisan said as he loaded his gun.

Artisan leaned out from behind the tree, aiming before shooting twice. Hitting the monster twice in the head, barely leaving a few small holes. The creature turned quickly with loud clicking gears. Or as quickly as it could with its massive weight.

Waylon ran out from there hiding place, spotted by the creature. It let out a deep growl with the strong smell of gas wheezed out before shooting out a massive wave of flames across the trees. Waylon was just out of range from the flames, running by the creature towards the canyon.

The creature followed in a quicker pace then its usual speed. Making enough noise to sound like a loud bulldozer. Despite its slowness, Waylon still had to keep far ahead or be burned with its far reaching flames. Waylon ran quickly making sure now and again that the fire starter wasn’t losing him. He made it to a dark road and stopped to catch his breath, panting heavily.

He was startled into running again as the trees behind him burst into flames. He hoofed it down the road, hearing the loud clanking of the creatures metal legs on the hard road. When ever it tried to burn the road, the suffocating smell of burning tar filled the air. Waylon stopped in front of the canyon, catching his lost breath and waiting for the slow creature.

Now Waylon had to quickly decide which way to go. The road split into two directions down the side of the canyon. One way lead to the bridge, the other just went deeper into the woods. Waylon decided to follow the right road. It was towards the city, which meant bridges were more likely to be around there. That also meant he would be heading towards the area Murkoff was working around.

Running was getting more difficult as this road just seemed to keep stretching on. He couldn’t afford to stop with the threat of being burned. The engine was burning in the back of his skull once again. The stress on his body lately causing it to burn alive with the annoying consistent buzzing. If he kept this going he would start suffering from the worser effects.

He ran down the darkened road till he met up with artisan at the large rotting bridge over the canyon. He was barely able to talk with the lack of breath he had. Panting heavily to catch himself up.

“what are you going to do now?” artisan asked quickly.

“ill lead it across, you stay.” Waylon said, pausing in the middle to breathe.

“your out of breath, you wont make it.” artisan said.

“no time to change plans.” Waylon said, looking back at the approaching monster.

“just don’t stop till you're the other side. Remember that.” artisan said before going off to hide. Waylon nodded to him before running up the edge of the bridge. The fire starter wheezed in a breath before blasting fire across the front of the bridge. Waylon felt the flames brush by his back, almost searing him, as it passed by.

The flames spread quickly across the parched rotting wood. The flames were crossing the bridge faster then Waylon could. Waylon stopped as flames in front of him grew wild as it hit a sudden dry patch of moss growing on the bridge. Waylon whipped his head back as he heard groaning from the fire starter.

Each of the monsters steps bent the old wood. Flying embers up from the creeks of the burning boards. It stopped and took another deep wheeze. Waylon knew he had to take a risk and jumped through the large flames.

His heart stopped momentarily as he found a sudden drop. The boards on the other side had collapsed and broken off in the fire. Waylon managed to grab onto a ember brightened board, missing a cloud of flames pass over his head. He flinched back, shutting his eyes at the bright flames over head. Ignoring the burning sensation on his hands from the hot ember covered board that barely hanged on.

When the flames were gone Waylon hurried to get up onto a more stable part of the bridge. Watching the fire starter as it stalked closer to the edge. It wheezed in another breath, one Waylon wouldn’t be able to escape. Before it could spread another burst of fire, its weight could not be held anymore.

The rotten burnt boards snapped like twigs under its weight. It fell with a burning chunk of bridge. Smashing into a rocky part of the canyon side. Exploding in a huge wave of flames from the pressured tank bursting open on the rocks. The creatures body turning into falling red hot pieces of metal and burnt meat.

Waylon would never forget the disgusting bitter smell of gas mixed with burning human meat. Waylon couldn’t stay long as his bridge half began to groan under his weight. He got off the bridge watching the rest of it fall into the canyon.

“are you alright?!” artisan yelled from across the canyon.

“i guess.” Waylon yelled back with what little breath he had.

“how do we get you back?” artisan asked.

“find the other bridges. I guess? Or walk around.” Waylon said.

“walking around could take hours.” artisan said. Both paused for a moment as the sound of approaching cars and trucks were heard down the road.

“leave! Murkoffs coming. Ill get around somehow.” Waylon yelled before running down along the canyon.

“eddies going to be pissed.” artisan yelled before splitting away from the canyon.

Chapter Text

“there goes all your work and research.” the shadow standing tall next to dame spoke.

“that was partially my research, but never my work. They wanted faster results from me. I told them they couldn’t rush science. Since I wouldn’t work faster, they demoted me and I was replaced. Now look where its gotten them. A useless and now destroyed pile of rot and bolts. I could have made it better, actually given it a brain to think with. Not so easily fooled by simple tricks of being lured.” dame spoke with hatred.

“now that we have him separated. Should we grab him?” the shadow said with a grin.

“no, I am in no condition to fight. You'll just kill him like the savage you are. I need to lure him to Barker with no trouble. Besides, it'll make me look better and more promotable.” dame grinned.

“what about me?” the large shadow asked.

“you can be like my office pet.” dame shrugged off.

“as long as I stay by your side.” the voice said happily.

“eech.” dame groaned with annoyance before going to follow Waylons trail.

Waylon wandered for hours. The exhaustion in his body catching up with him by feeling sore.

“maybe the bridges were the other way?” Waylon though. Stopping and looking at the thick forest around him and the wide canyon. Waylon rubbed his face and head to ward away sleep and his returning headache.

“oh, there you are. You wandered far from the burning bridge.” dame said happily as he walked up to Waylon from the shadows of the forest. He startled Waylon from his sudden appearance.

“jumpy, arnt you?” dame asked.

“you would be to. Experimented on by insane doctors and forced to live in vents. Staying arms length away from insane patients.” Waylon stated, on guard around the acquaintance.

“i can relate.” dame grinned, his burnt arm to his chest.
“we were used for target practice. You had to be smart to live. Even smarter if you wanted to grab necessities. Why give supplys to targets for burning?” dame said.

“so how did you get your necessities?” Waylon questioned.

“stealing, or other things.” dame answered.

“like cannibalism?” Waylon said in a serious tone.

“for some, yes. I could never stomach it though.” dame said.

“mm.” Waylon replied, still a bit nervous around dame.

“your a bit lost.” dame said.

“i am not. I know there’s bridges somewhere on this canyon I can cross.” Waylon said, annoyed as he was reminded of his situation.

“you cant cross the other bridges. There almost as destroyed as the bridge that was burnt down.” dame said.

“and what do you suggest I do?” Waylon asked with a bit of aggravation.

“come with me. I have a place to hide near here. From there you can rest a bit and ill show you the way to the other side.” dame spoke with a grin.

Waylon took a breath and a pause. He wanted to get back to the safe house and before Eddie woke. He would be pissed just as artisan said and come hunting for him. Waylon didn’t want that to happen, but he was exhausted.

“... where and how far is your hideout?” waylon asked, sighing.

A man stood nervously in front of a pair of steel doors. He had to break the news to Barker that his experiment was destroyed. He swallowed down his sickness, bringing up his shaking hand to knock on he door. He knocked a few times and waited.

“come in.” Barker spoke with a annoyed tone. The officer opened the door, having to force it a bit and push a dead body away. The officer looked at it, seeing a few bullet holes covering the body. There were a few others littering the room. All were other officers that brought bad news to Barker.

Barker sat at his desk, in the dark room. Only lighted by the light coming in from the hall. Barker had a glass jar in his hand, a fresh clean one. Showing clear visibility of the jars contents. Two fresh eyes, making the jars liquid a little red with blood.

“why are you here?” Barker asked in monotone, steadily rolling the jar back and forth on his desk.

“... the experiment was destroyed.” the officer said hesitantly. Barker paused his rolling, the last one being a bit to strong and sending the jar rolling off the desk. Smashing apart when it hit the hard floor. The pair of eyes left on the floor in a pool of liquid and shattered glass. One eye seeming to stare at the officer in a almost judging manner.

“...uh.” the officer spoke, breaking the tense silence. Looking from the staring eye to Barker. Barker stared down at his desk, silent.

“... they weren’t very pretty. … I just felt I needed to add to my collection. Its been a long while since I have.” Barker spoke in monotone. Looking from his desk to stare at the officer. The long unbroken stare was making the officer even more nervous. he swallowed before speaking again.

“d-do you want me to give out orders?” the officer said nervously.

“ … yes. Bring me a map of the entire town and its outskirts. We must have missed something. A place they are hiding. … there not in town, but having gotten to any city’s. So they must be near by. Tell everyone to form searches and watches. Around the clock, on every street. No one is allowed outside there homes. Anyone caught is to be immediately executed.” Barker commanded.

“yes sir.” the officer said before quickly leaving. Taking a breath of relief when he was away from barkers view.

Waylon stood out of dames “home”. An old abandoned shack. Covered in moss, vines, and pine needles from the near by trees.

“why don’t you come in?” dame asked from the door way.

“i need the fresh air.” Waylon lied.

“you mean, space to run? I cant and wont hurt you. You know that, don’t you?” dame said, trying to pressure Waylon.

“i am fine out here. Besides, its almost morning and ill leave soon anyway.” Waylon stated. Asserting his idea to stay outside.

“i mean you no harm. Its not healthy to stand in the cold.” dame said, a little annoyed at Waylons reluctance to enter.

“ill stay out as long as I want.” Waylon snapped, no longer tolerating to be bothered inside.

“its very rude to snap.” dame growled, losing his patience.

“its rude to pester people.” Waylon growled back.

“... get in the house.” dame demanded in a serious tone.

“or else what?” Waylon challenged.

“ill have your legs broken.” dame threatened.

“id like to see you try-” Waylon spoke, the last word knocked out of him as his legs were hit with something metal. He was knocked to the ground, pain shocking through his legs. Not broken, but definitely hurt. Waylon let out a hiss of pain as he looked up to what hit him.

Waylon froze and stayed laying on the floor. It was another patient. Massively tall and bulked just like another patient he saw once at mount massive. He was definitely taller then Eddie and a lot stronger too. The large beast of a patient yanked Waylon off the ground as if he were a scrawny rabbit.

“better do as he says.” the patient commanded in a deep voice.

“don’t break him yet. We need him alive for barker.” dame said. The tall patient grumbled before harshly dropping Waylon to the dirt. The drop hurt Waylons legs even more. Finding out just now what he was hit with. A long narrow pipe with a sharp twisted end. Probably ripped right off of something from the hulking patient.

“when do we take him?” the tall patient asked. Waylons eyes widened, remembering what dame said while being held.

“you cant take me to Barker! What do you think that will bring you?!” Waylon said.

“my place back in my facility. I was like you, working for Murkoff. That’s why I have the burns, not from target practice. The price of my life’s work and research.” dame spoke with pride.
“till it was stolen from me and I was demoted to being a research pawn. Murkoff really wants you for the Walrider project. If I bring you back, they’ll have to take me. Especially after that failure of a experiment.” dame spoke, full of hatred and pain of his downfall.

“he'll kill us.” Waylon said.

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW!! you never took your place!! you could have been part of a great system, but you made it fell by sending those damned emails!! I knew my place and I was respected in my position!!” dame furiously growled down at Waylon.

“PLACE IN WHAT?! The cruel experimentation on souls who could barely understand themselves or barely there surroundings!!” Waylon snapped.

“at least they had a purpose!! they were useless to society till Murkoff obtained them!! They served a greater purpose of power to civilization.” dame growled.

“your just like the monst- GAH!!” Waylon yelled out in pain as he was stabbed in the lower part of his leg.

“watch your tongue boy. I don’t tolerate name calling of my love.” the tall patient growled with a grin.

“DONT call me that!! I am not your love you thick headed boar!!” dame yelled angrily.

“yes love.” the patient grinned, ignoring the insult. Dame let out a groan of annoyance and anger.

“i am going inside to rest. Watch him out here. Since he was so keen on staying out. We'll take him in the morning.” dame tiredly spoke as he headed inside. The sky was just beginning to turn a deep blue as morning began to arrive.

Meanwhile Beth had no luck in new hide outs. Artisan came back alone and when Eddie woke soon after learning of this news was furious. He barged out the front door, ignoring his painful leg and the burning sensation from his injured arm.

“you can go out there now!! Murkoffs running everywhere.” artisan said, running up next to Eddie.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Eddie snapped, almost stabbing his knife into artisans gut.

“you're a damned fool if you go out there!! Waylon was fine when I left him and hes probably still is!!” artisan yelled at him.

“yes!! YOU left him!! you left him out there alone!! how dare you!! I SHOULD SPILL YOUR BLOOD ON THE GROUND!! but I don’t have time to waste on your revolting hide!! WORTHLESS!!!” Eddie roared at him, forcing artisan to step away to avoid Eddies reach.

“he'll be fine on his own!!” artisan yelled back.

“what do you know?! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!! THINK YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY DARLING!! I WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT HIM!! I WOULDN'T HAVE ABANDONED HIM!!YOU NEVER CARED FOR HIM!!! PROTECTED HIM!!! I AM MORE RELIABLE THEN YOU EVER COULD BE, MAGGOT!!!” Eddie said, chasing after artisan as he threateningly got close.

After chasing artisan for a moment, Eddie was forced to stop. The searing pain in his leg locking up the muscles. He shut his eyes tightly and stood still to ride out his pain.

“see!! you could barely chase me. How far do you think you'll get if you need to run?” artisan questioned. Eddie let out a deep growl.

“i wont run.” Eddie growled with a deep glare of hatred. He slowly turned to limp away.

“stubborn fool.” artisan said to himself.
“we have to go and search again for a hideout.” artisan said to Beth.

“there is no hideout.” Beth stated.

“there’s gotta be somewhere.” artisan sighed as they headed inside.

The blue sky grew dark and grey as a storm grew, the sound of rain heavily pouring down. Eddie refused to be slowed down by a little weather, trudging through the forming mud. If anything the weather helped. It cooled his burning arm and numbed the pain in his now bleeding leg.

He knew if he wanted to track Waylon, he needed to hurry and get to the bridge before the prints were washed away. He quickened his pace into a running speed. The numbness helping greatly with making his leg tolerable. Although, this may mean his leg had been shot out from the sudden stress. Eddie was not going to tolerate slowness now, not even from his own leg.

He ran till he reached the bridge. Panting heavily and standing before the burnt bridge. His leg bleeding heavily enough to form a small pool in the rain caused wet road. Eddie shook his head to keep himself focused away from pain, confusion from loss of blood, and the possible fever he was growing.

He looked around the area letting out deep hotted breaths that could be seen in the cold air. He needed to get across, but how? He took in a deep breath before running towards the edge of the burnt bridge. He leapt and managed to grab onto the other side. Slipping to just barely hanging on from the sliding of mud under his arms.

He took out his knife and stabbed it into the muddy ground. Using it to gain some power in pulling himself up without slipping. He stood at the edge, panting while looking down the canyon side. Pausing when he spotted the wreckage of the dead fire starter. Eddie growled down to it before looking at the surrounding ground.

He found Waylons trail, and a couple others. He glared at the unknown ones, seeing one was much larger then Waylons and the other trail.

“murkoff?” Eddie thought with a glare. He tossed the idea aside.
“why only two alone?” Eddie questioned as he began to track them.

He followed there trails, a few hours passing by before coming upon a old rotten shack. Eddie took a deep breath to collect him self when he saw blood pooled on pine needles covering the dirt.

“how dare they!! ill spread them open across the dirt in a rain of organ and blood.” Eddie growled in his head, following the trail again.

Waylon sat shivering under a pine tree. Water leaking between the open areas of pine needles. While dame relaxed inside and the patient sat under the dry porch. Dame opened the door approaching the large patient.

“morning love.” the patient grinned at dame. Dame just gave him a mixed look of annoyance and disgust.

“just get up you dumb warthog. We need to start moving.” dame commanded.

“are you sure? Maybe you should eat first.” the patient said with concern.

“no! I hate eating damn human meat.” dame growled.

“you'll get used to it love. it'll make you stronger.” he spoke happily. dame just gave a grumble as he began to walk. waylon was forced up to walk, having to ignore the hole in his leg.

“why do you talk to him like that? I wouldn’t say that’s very smart.” Waylon asked dame, talking about the large patient behind them both.

“Vorick is a mindless love sap he wont do anything to me. He was used in experimenting and attached to me, clinging like a leech no matter how hard I batted him away. I loved to burn things, especially people, and he always liked his human meat cooked.” dame grinned at Waylon.
“i was stuck with him, getting weak with no food. Despite the fact that I hate him and I express it. He takes care of me, dragging food home for us to cook and eat. Despite the fact I don’t like to eat his preferred diet of human flesh.” dame said annoyed. Waylon just let out a noise of disgust, not wanting to hear anymore.

“and I thought my relationship with Eddie was demented.” Waylon thought. He sighed, shivering off the rain collecting on his skin.
“god I hope Eddies doing alright. He must be awake now. Probably trudging through the woods somewhere. What will he do if he does find me. He cant take on Vorick even if he wasn’t injured.” Waylon thought.

“Eddies smart though. I’ve underestimated his planning a few times before. He'll push himself to find me, but I am sure he'll plan instead of barge in. what could he possibly do in his state though.” Waylon thought, worry growing inside of him.

Chapter Text

“there it is. Just need to get inside.” dame spoke with a victorious tone.

“where are most the guards?” Waylon said, more to himself then dame.

“you sure you’ll be alright in there?” Vorick asked with concern.

“i will, just take out the last few guards and ill handle the rest.” dame grinned.

“yes love.” Vorick grinned before knocking Waylon to the ground with his pipe.
“stay there while I am gone!!” he growled down to Waylon, who was down in pain. He walked calmly to the building front getting the attention of guards before skewering them with the pipe or crushing there skulls in against the walls. Dame smiled with victory as he forced Waylon up and practically dragged him to the front door.

“all yours love.” Vorick smiled.

“yeah yeah. Give me that damned pipe!” dame said with a roll to his eyes and snatching the pipe away.

“if you call, ill come.” Vorick said, having kept his happy loving tone.

“go!!” dame commanded as he pushed Waylon ahead with the pipe. Waylon stumbled to a stop.

“no!! if we go. We'll be killed, I am not taking a step further.” Waylon growled. Dame had no patients for Waylon. In a swift sudden movement he drew back the pipe before shoving it into Waylon side.

“then Ill make you move.” dame growled as he pushed Waylon forward with the pipe stabbed into his side. Waylon had trouble taking in air with the sharp pain flashing repeatedly to his side. Only till he was shoved off and thrown into barkers room was he able to breath again. He watched blood seep from his side and pool into the mat carpet he was on. He put his hands over it, applying pressure. The blood still managing to seep through and pool over his fingers. Barker let out a growl from his spot. Angry that he was rudely disturbed by whoever.

“what is it now?!” he growled, looking over to who barged in with a dark glare. His glare disappeared when he saw Waylon on the floor, growing a wide grin at the sight.

“hello Barker.” dame grinned at him.

“and who are you? Bringing my troubles into my office.” Barker questioned.

“i am dame. Head of the fire maker experiment and research.” dame said, showing a sense of pride in his work.

“ah yes. The one who was demoted.”barker said, watching closely as Waylon rose painfully to his feet.

“i know the price for park. Hes proved great for the Walrider project in reports. Trust me, hes very important to the project. You've been hunting him and I’ve brought him unlike your useless pawns. I want my place back in my facility and my credit restored.” dame said. Waylon stood nearby, unable to do anything. His injured leg wouldn’t allow him to run and the injury in his side was already effecting his head.

“heh, you have no place with Murkoff. You were useless to us, which was why you were demoted. You cannot demand from me. Last I checked you were locked away in the arctic facility. Obviously mount massive isn’t the only facility needing some enforcement.” Barker said in a unamused tone.

“i brought him!! I did what you couldn’t!!” dame spoke furiously at Barker for the rejection.

“I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HIM EVENTUALLY!!” Barker roared, standing from his desk. He opened a near by drawer, pulling out a silver gun. Dame and Waylon froze up in fear.

“VORICK!!”dame yelled behind him towards the door.

“you have more friends? No matter, they wont save you. My guards are already returning to me. They’ll finish you off.” Barker grinned, aiming the gun at dame. Waylon began to slowly inch toward the door. If he could just get passed the doors.

“where are you going Mr. park? Fortunately for you, I need you alive. Where are your friends?” Barker questioned. Waylon remained silent, unwilling to answer.

“tell me, or ill shoot your only good leg. Or worse.” Barker spoke with a sneer. Before Waylon could answer, Vorick burst through the doors. Knocking them off there hinges. Barker let out a aggravated growl after seeing the large patient. He let out a few shots into Vorick, which barely slowed him.

Barker leapt out of the way just before Vorick could crushed him. Instead smashing barkers desk in two. Barker reloaded his gun quickly before shooting up Voricks entire side. Vorick growled in pain as blood seeped from him. he decided against staying, retreating along with dame. Grabbing Waylon while fleeing out the door.

When they were away and free from barkers place they stopped in the forest. Vorick dropped Waylon harshly to the ground, taking back his pipe from dame.

“that was a bust.” Vorick said.

“shut up!!” dame glared.

“can we leave this town now?” Vorick asked.

“no use sticking around now.” dame grumbled.

“can we eat him then?” Vorick smiled down at the injured Waylon.

“not yet. Lets travel to the outskirts so we wont have to hide anymore. Ill cook him there.” dame said as he went to lead to there destination.

“you should probably eat now. You're emaciated.” Vorick said, forcing Waylon to get up again.

“i am not eating damned meat till I get into a better mood.” dame grumbled as he walked.

Eddie was quick in following the trail. The rain finally letting up and no longer forcing him to rush before the prints could be washed away. He stopped when the prints lead to Barkers office. Eddie let out a deep growl as he saw Barker walking outside to his officers.

“did you find them?” Barker asked a officer.

“no sir. No signs.” the officer answered. Barker growled at this news.

“when will Charles get here with the maps?” Barker growled at another officer.

“soon sir.” the officer answered. Barker wasn’t happy with this news either.
“my squad was able to gather some clues of where the 3 went.” the officer said.

“where?!” Barker hissed.

“we think there heading east.” the officer said.

“anything else?”

“no sir.” the officer answered, shaking his head quickly. Barker let out a frustrated sigh.

“i guess its something. Send a few scouting party’s out.” Barker huffed before heading into his office building.

“east, hmm.” Eddie thought, looking out toward the direction. He silently went around the Murkoff officers, searching. finding a trail of foot prints and blood in the mud. Eddie looked back towards the direction of the Murkoff personnel. He couldn’t afford to have Murkoff find this trail.

He broke off a near by branch, using it to sweep away his and the other tracks as he went along them. With the help of the water puddles and mud, the tracks were easily swept away.

He tracked them for hours. Eddie had slowed his pace for a while. The cold rain no longer numbing his leg and the strong burning in his arm returning. He stopped when he heard fighting. Eddie ran passed a few trees spotting Waylon fighting another person on the other side of a deep quick river.

“HEY!!” Eddie roared across the fast river. It caused the other to stop, leaving a beat up Waylon laying on the ground. waylon was panting heavily, being so tired from fighting.

“who are you?! And what do you want?!” dame yelled from across the river.

“LAY ONE FINGER ON MY DARLING AGAIN AND ILL SPREAD YOUR ORGANS ACROSS THE MUD!!” Eddie threatened with a dark tone.

“i don’t take kindly to those insulting my love stranger!!” Vorick growled loudly as he came out from between a pair of trees.

“neither do I!!” Eddie huffed.
“now hand him back!!” Eddie growled.

“no. hes going to be our only meal for a while. If you want to join him you may!!” dame mocked.

“you wont live that long!! ILL FIND YOU!!” Eddie threatened.

“id like to see you try something!!” Vorick mocked.

Eddie let out a huff, hell bent on keeping his threats if its the last thing he does. He needed to find a way to cross the river. Swimming would be useless with his busted leg. He was hesitant to leave his spot, watching Waylon. Not much good he would be, only able to shout across.

He took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. It was going to rain soon with the way Eddies breath was showing in the air again. Eddie hoped it would come sooner, he did a lot better in the numbing cold.

He followed down the river, looking for any possible shallow spots. Anger building up in him that he was wasting time. His body was also starting to be worn down. He had been pushing himself all day. Pain in his leg no longer tolerable, the muscles permanently locked up.

When he finally did manage to find a shallow spot he waited till he got to the other side before resting. He let his swollen painful leg and burning arm soak in the shallow water to wash the pain away. only staying for a few minutes. It was going dark and he needed to find them before it turned pitch black and the rain came.

Waylon was worried sick since he last saw Eddie on the other side of the river. He sounded sick and in pain. Waylon had been too worried about Eddie to care about his own pain. He was fighting so much with dame at a huge disadvantage. Dame is weak, but Vorick didn’t tolerate his love getting hurt. So all Waylon could do was stand there and take it.

“guess they liked there meat tender.” Waylon joked darkly in his head. He rested under close watch. Too beaten and injured to get anywhere. He didn’t know how long they'd keep him or exactly where they were going. He guessed to possibly the next town and that would take a few weeks of traveling. He was shoved away from his thoughts by a jab to the side. Waylon let out a hiss of pain, looking up to see dame.

“get up, were. Moving.” dame commanded down at him. Waylon glared and grumbled to himself before stiffly getting up. Trying his best to ignore the soreness and sharp pain shocking through his body. He was shoved forward once he was up, almost falling over.

“so where are we going?” Waylon asked, his exhaustion showing in his words.

“me and Vorick are heading over to the nearby town. You'll only get half way.” dame said.

“How'd I even get into this situation?” Waylon grumbled to himself.

“aww, don’t be down. Your friends coming isn’t he? I am sure hed love to join you for dinner.” dame mocked with a smile. Waylon couldn’t help himself and punched dame in the back of the head. Somehow it didn’t entirely knock dame to the ground. Waylon was then knocked to the back of his head with a pipe.

“fucking bitch!!” dame growled down at Waylon. Waylon let out a hiss of pain as he slowly got up, rubbing the back of his hand. He felt something warm and looked at his hand. It was dark, but he could still tell it was blood by the warm thickness of it.

“dammit, hope he didn’t break my skull.” Waylon growled in his head.

“get moving!!” Vorick commanded as he hit Waylon forward with a pipe to the ribs. Waylon let out a painful growl after Vorick hit the sensitive ribs. He did as he was told, continuing on with no arguments. Not like arguing would do any good. They traveled for hours.

“you should stop.” Vorick said to dame.

“i don’t wanna stop till were either closer to our city, or farther away from the other city.” dame said.

“we still have to get over the mountains though. And your not well enough for that. Please, just rest.” Vorick said.

“I SAID I AM FINE!!!” dame snapped.

“... very well, but you should rest.” Vorick said.

“ill rest on the damn mountain then, if it would make you shut up.” dame growled.

“i will. you know I just worry, mi amore.” Vorick smiled. Dame grumbled at those words.

They traveled till it was early morning. Stopping once they reached the foot of the mountains.

“will you sleep now?” Vorick asked.

“i said on the mountain. Learn to listen warthog.” dame growled.

“please love.” Vorick begged.

“no dammit!!! I am fine!!” dame roared.

“you need to rest, love.” Vorick stated.

“i am not resting till we're away from here!!” dame yelled.

As dame and Vorick went back and forth in arguing. Waylon saw his chance to try and slip away from the two. He quietly walked away, once he was out of there sight, he began to run. It wasn’t long before he heard yelling coming after him.

He looked back for just a moment, not noticing a halfway covered hole. He fell through landing down at the bottom with the branches his weight snapped through that once covered the top.

“aww, what happened?” dame mocked down to Waylon. Waylon looked up with a glare.

“are you going to get me out?” Waylon grumbled.

“...no. I am not dragging you any farther. This will make a great burning pit.” dame grinned.

“want another piece of cloth?” Vorick smiled to dame.

“yes, rip a good piece off to.” dame smiled.

“ never really cared for sleeves anyway.” Vorick said as he ripped the short sleeves off his shirt. Dame pulled out a match and lit the fabric, letting Vorick drop it onto the wood branches in the hole. The branches quickly caught on fire. Waylon was panicking in the hole. pushing the branches all on one side to try and avoid the growing flames.

“it does make a nice cooking pit. Holds the heat well.” Vorick laughed as he watched. His laughing stopped as he yelled in agony from Eddie stabbing him into the side. After yanking out his knife Eddie was hit away by Vorick. Eddies knife flew out of his hand and down into the pit with Waylon.

Waylon saw the knife land onto the burning branches. He knew he had to get it. With a deep breath and a quick lunge he was able to grab it with minimal burns to his hand and arm. He immediately dropped it when he realized how hot the knife was, once out of the fire. He waited a moment before carefully picking it up.

Eddie had come running after seeing the smoke. Finding Waylon about to be cooked, he ran in and stabbed Vorick. Trying to take him out first though had become a quick problem. Eddie had to dodge and keep running. He couldn’t fight in his condition and especially without his knife or any weapon at all.

Dame had been avoid the battle, staying near by the pit. While Vorick chased Eddie around the trees. Eddie managed to dodge a stab with the pipe, he grabbed it and yanked it forward enough to just stab it into Voricks foot as he ran by.

Eddie ran over to the pit, scaring dame back a bit. He reached down and grabbed Waylons hand, pulling him up and away from the fire. His clothes were lightly singed and his skin lightly burned as well. Once Waylon was out of harms way, Eddies attention was brought to dame. He glared at him with the heated stare of fury.

He chased him down and beat him into the ground. Ignore the repeated threats from Vorick, who was still trying to remove the pipe out of his foot. Eddie picked him off the floor before throwing him down into the pit. Dame fell down, smashing into the burning branches. The sound of them crunching under weight and dames screams of agony.

“told you I would find you.” Eddie snarled down the pit. Eddie didn’t have time to react as Vorick smashed him away with the pipe. Eddie was tossed off to the side, landing roughly into the dirt. He was kicked away as soon as he landed by a furious Vorick.

“LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!” Vorick roared at Eddie. He hit him again with the pipe, having Eddie smash harshly into a tree. Eddie was frozen there, his body refusing to work for him. Vorick loomed over him, getting ready to skewer Eddie with the pipe.

Vorick was stopped when Waylon, using Eddies knife, stabbed into Voricks side. He yanked it back, shredding through Voricks side. Vorick swung around, hitting Waylon away. The damage was done however. Blood and some organs spilling out the large wound. Vorick wanted to go after Waylon, but the loss of blood was shutting his body down. He turned and took a few steps forward before falling to the blood covered dirt.

Waylon was panting and shaking with adrenaline. He carefully walked around Vorick to get to Eddie. Eddie had somehow managed to stand, mostly because of pride to not seem weak for his darling.

“are you okay?” Waylon asked Eddie as he walked up to him. Eddie grabbed Waylon into a deep hug. Despite Eddies condition he still held Waylon tight enough to hurt Waylons ribs.

Waylons pain was forgotten when he realized Eddie was crying as he held onto him. Waylon rubbed his back as he tightly hugged him.

“i am sorry. i should have gotten here sooner. I am SO sorry.” Eddie cried as he held tightly to Waylon.

“its okay. I am okay. You're here.” Waylon said, trying to comfort him.

Chapter Text

“sir, Charles is here with the maps” a officer said at barkers door. The officers decided, among themselves, it best to remain out of barkers office.

“let him in.” Barker commanded. A moment passed before Charles slowly opened the door.

“whys it so-” Charles was about to comment on the dark room till he spotted the bodies around the room, a few missing eyes. He stared in shock, looking them over and glassing at the blood pools covering parts of the floor.

“sir, what have you-” Charles started, interrupted by a jar smashed on the floor.

“... not good.” Barker said, aimed at the eyes on the floor in the puddle with broken glass. Charles saw the eyes, despite the darkness and swallowed nervously. Barker was standing still, his back towards Charles.

“i-i have the maps.” Charles said quietly.

“good, set them on the table.” Barker said, pointing to his desk near by.

“y-yes sir.” Charles said, walking over and quickly setting the maps down. Once the maps were flattened down, Barker stepped over to take a look.

“are there any buildings outside the city?” Barker asked charles.

“just regular things. Gas stations, run down factory’s and office buildings.” Charles said.

“hmm.” Barker hummed.

“and a house.” Charles added.

“where?” Barker asked in a dark tone.

Eddie and Waylon somehow managed to make it home with the help of artisan and Beth. After both were gone for so long, artisan tracked them down. Finding them at the burning pit too hurt to move far. Waylon was helped home, with Eddie refusing, despite barely being able to walk.

Waylon checked Eddies leg once home, needing to restitch it later. His leg had thankfully held well without them with no extra damage. Waylon fixed his own leg before deciding the two needed to soak. The two were soaking in a warm bath, Ridding both of there pain and sore muscles. Waylon was examining Eddies leg again in the water. Washing away dirt, mud, and small rock pebbles in the wound.

“does this hurt?” Waylon asked as he poked around the wound.

“it does if you prod it like that.” Eddie hissed through gritted teeth.

“that’s good. Means the areas still healthy.” Waylon said as he grabbed a stitching needle and wire off the counter next to the tub.

“you need to stop popping your stitches.” Waylon said as he carefully restitched Eddies leg closed.

“they would have been fine if you had just let me get the fire starter and kept you away from the other two.” Eddie said tiredly, closing his eyes.

“if you hadn’t busted your leg this much, I would have.” Waylon said tiredly back as he finished stitching.

“its artisans fault.” Eddie grumbled.

“yet, you still haven’t killed him.” Waylon joked as he laid back on Eddies chest.

“i would if he didn’t run like a coward.” Eddie said, wrapping his burnt arm around Waylons waist as his other arm was on the tub edge. Waylon grabbed a near by small towel, getting it wet. He started to use it in brushing off the small bits of burnt skin on his arms. Removing what ever small blisters he had as well.

“you shouldn’t do that.” Eddie said, talking about Waylon removing the blisters and burnt skin.

“i know, but it'll heal faster without and I don’t want to walk on egg shells when dealing with it.” Waylon said. Eddie hummed and kissed the side of Waylons face.

Out of the tub, both got dressed in new clothes. Waylon took Eddies bloody clothes to the laundry. Artisan was asleep on the couch while Beth tiredly ate cereal.

“want breakfast?” Beth tiredly asked.

“no, I do need cough syrup for Eddies throat though, and mine.” Waylon said, noticing his throat was a bit hurt from the heat and smoke. Waylon got a few water glasses, putting a dosage of cough syrup in both. Waylon headed up stairs with the glasses, handing Eddies his once back in the bedroom.

“what do you think Murkoff will try next?” Eddie asked as he took the glass.

“don’t know. Just hope they don’t try anything so soon.” Waylon said as he carefully laid down, soreness in his body slowing him down. He quickly drank his cough water before setting the glass down and laying back.

“agreed.” Eddie sighed, setting his glass down.

“we still need to find a new base. Beth and artisan weren’t successful in there earlier hunt.” Waylon said.

“they just didn’t look in the right places.” Eddie grumbled. Waylon huffed. Beth came through the door in a hurry, knocking the door to the side.

“Murkoffs coming!!” Beth said to the two. Waylon looked out the window, seeing a large team of Murkoff swarming around the house. Dressed up in dark, heavy, looking gear like for a swat team. Eddie and Waylon got up, rushing down stairs.

“what do we do?” Waylon asked.

“i have a hidden cellar you guys can hide in.” she said, pulling carpet away to show a door. Waylon, Eddie, and artisan rushed down into the cellar.

“i am going to go out and talk to them.” Beth said.

“don’t!! hide down here!! they'll just hurt you!!” Waylon said.

“maybe, but if they don’t have anyone come out there going to rush in and tear or burn the place to the ground.” Beth said.

“shes right. You know they'll just burn this place for wasting there time.” artisan said. Waylon breathed out and gave a slight nod, watching Beth disappear. She carefully covered the cellar door with the carpet, hearing a voice from outside.

“come out, we know your in there.” Barker said through a megaphone. Beth took a deep breath before opening the door.

“okay, you got me in my house.” Beth jokingly shouted to them. Barker was certainly not amused. Two officers went and collected Beth, bringing her to Barker. They sat her down on the ground.

“where are the others?” Barker asked.

“who? My dad?” she asked. Barker glared down as her. He pulled out a gun and spoke into his megaphone.

“if you all don’t come out right now, she dies!!!” Barker yelled, blasting off a shot. Waylon, Eddie and artisan stayed quiet for a moment.

“... aww hell. I have to go.” artisan said as he got up to leave.

“please be careful.” Waylon said with worry. Artisan nodded as he left the cellar, shutting and covering it again.

Artisan came out with his hands up. Taken by two officers and patted down. His gun being confiscated before taken to Barker. He was sat down on the ground next to Beth.

“where are the rest?” Barker asked, his patience wearing thin.

“there not here.” artisan glared. Barker growled and pointed his gun at artisan.

“where are they?” Barker growled. Artisan refused to answer, only giving Barker a silent glare. Barker shot off his gun next to artisans head causing both Beth and artisan to flinch from the shot.

“come out, or your friends are dead!!” Barker yelled.

“we have to go out.” Waylon said, going to leave till Eddie grabbed him.

“NO!! once they get all of us, they'll just kill us. They have a better chance if we stay hiding.” Eddie said, forcing Waylon to stay. Barker growled when there was no more coming.

“go search the house.” he told a small team. They all rushed inside, busting doors and going through all the rooms. Tearing apart anything that could have hid them. Eddie and Waylon kept silent in the cellar, listening to them run around the house, knocking things over. The team returned to Barker, empty handed.

“no sign of them sir.” a officer said. Barker shot the man in the head. Having Charles flinch.

“i despise bad news.” Barker said.
“load them up, take them to my office. Ill interrogate them there.” Barker said. Artisan and Beth were forced up and into a transport truck along with other officers. Waylon and Eddie were left alone in silence.

“think they're gone?” Waylon asked.

“let me look.” Eddie said as he got up. He cracked the cellar door open. Listening and looking around, nothing. He got up and closed the cellar, hieing it before fully looking. Seeing no Murkoff anywhere he went back to the door.

“there gone, along with Beth and artisan.” Eddie said as he helped Waylon out.

“fucking great. Now what?” Waylon said.

“well, they're probably taken back to barkers place. Try and beat the answers out of them to where we are.” Eddie said.

“we have to save them.” Waylon said.

“and how exactly? Neither of us are in any condition to sneak into a Murkoff headquarters. Or to even get into a fight.” Eddie said.

“we have to do something.” Waylon said.

“where are they?” Barker growled as he punched artisan for the sixth time. Both artisan and Beth were in his office, tied tightly to chairs.

“fuck off!!” artisan glared at Barker. Barker stared back for a moment before growing a grin.

“did anyone tell you, you have nice eyes.” Barker smiled. Artisan stayed silent.
“i have a very nice collection I could add them to. You don’t know much about it. I am quite proud of it. Been collecting for years, starting with my mothers. My brother was the one to help me find my hobby. He killed our mother and ate her, hoping that by some greater power it would cure his anemia disease. It never did, the poor fool. However some good came from it. I was able to start my first collection. I always loved the phrase “eyes are windows to the soul.”.” Barker said proudly while talking.

Barker opened a drawer and pulled out a sharp curved knife. He admired it for a moment before grabbing a piece of paper. Using the knife to cut through, slicing as if it were butter.

“ah, still sharp.” Barker grinned at it before walking up to artisan.
“if you tell me where they are. Ill only take one eye.” Barker grinned.

“fuck off!!” artisan growled. Barker grabbed a hold of artisans head, pushing it back painfully. He slid the knife deeply into the corner, dipping into the socket. Artisan yelled in pain as the knife was moved around to try and cut the cord. Besides the pain the sound alone would cause anxiety. The sound of cutting meat or the knife tip scraping skull bone on the sides.

Once the cord was cut, artisans eye was simply popped from the socket. Artisan kept the removed eye shut as blood poured from it and down his face. Artisan face was in so much pain it just felt like burning fire that never weakened.

“sure you don’t want to keep your other eye?” Barker mocked. Artisan hissed in pain before replying.

“there hiding in the mountains, next to a river. Foot of the mountain. They were heading towards the next town.” he huffed.

“very good, but if your wasting my time ill take your other eye. Along with something else to pay back my time.” artisan smiled as he took his new eye to drop in a jar.

“looks like they're moving out.” Waylon said. Him and Eddie had been watching the building for sometime looking for a weakness.

“artisan must have said something.” Eddie said.

“a false trail?” Waylon asked.

“they're heading east, toward Vorick and dames body’s.” Eddie said.

“this mite be our chance to get in.” Waylon said.

“we should wait for nightfall to do anything.” Eddie suggested.

“no time, its barely afternoon.” Waylon said.

“it'll take them till at least night fall to reach the bodies. They cant drive through the woods, they'll have to walk.” Eddie said.

“i don’t know. Beth and artisan mite already be in bad shape, or worse, dead.” Waylon said with concern.

“patience is best in this situation. You may not like it, but we cant afford to be cornered. Especially now.” Eddie said. Waylon sighed and nodded.

“maybe we can spend our time finding a new safe house.” Waylon suggested as they went off. The two went around the Murkoff solders walking away to the farthest part of town.

“now where do you think we should set up?” Waylon asked.

“gas station.” Eddie said.

“a gas station?!” Waylon questioned.

“yes, why not?” Eddie questioned.

“because people are not allowed to live there. I am sure the owner would be thrilled to have us over.” Waylon said.

“this is a apple town, they don’t want visitors or citizens leaving. So there has to be some shut down gas stations.” Eddie said. Waylon huffed.

“fine, mite as well look for one.” Waylon said as they went on. Took a few hours of walking and finding a town map, but they managed to find one. It was a little out of town, but not too out to hit a Murkoff blockade. The area around it was deep forest with over grown grass. The gas station was heavily boarded with closed signs covering the windows and doors.

“lets go through the back door. If we break in, it wont look so tampered if someone passes.” Eddie said as he walked around. Waylon followed, looking around to make sure they weren’t being watched. The back door was just as boarded as the front. Eddie grabbed a nearby branch, using it as a make shift crow bar on the boards.

Eddie shoved the door to the side, the rusty hinges busting off. Inside it was incredibly dusty. Empty shelf’s around the room, broken lights and a back room for employers with a couch and old big tv.

“this place could work. Will be hard to keep warm though and cook.” Waylon said.

“we'll grab stuff from the house to bring here. Get medical, canned foods, blankets and stuff to build a fire.” Eddie said.

“we could grab some jars. If we hunt food I am sure I could make more jerky.” Waylon said.

“looks like there’s a few jars on these shelf’s.” Eddie said as he took one off.

“what was it?” Waylon asked with a look of disgust. Eddie popped the jar opened to look inside.

“pickles. Still good too.” he said, putting the lid back on.

“that’s good, save the juice. We could use that to pickle other things.” Waylon said. Eddie nodded in agreement.

“should probably go grab stuff from the house. Mite have to take multiple trips and it'll take us a while just going back and forth.” Eddie said.

“get food and medical first. Then we'll get whatever else we can after.” Waylon said as both went outside. Eddie reset the door in its place, to at least seem closed.

The two spent the rest of the day, going back and forth. Hiding supplys at the gas station, avoiding Murkoff patrols, and shoving what ever they could into back packs and trash bags.

“okay, we got all the water, canned and jarred food. Blankets, pillows, cooking pans and pots, flashlights, battery’s, a few lighters.” Waylon listed off as he took inventory of what they had.

“what about medical supplys?” Eddie asked.

“uh, got 2 bottles alcohol. 4 rolls of gauze, a large roll of stitching wire and a few needles, cough syrup, ointment and lotion for burns.” Waylon said as he looked in the case, closing it after.

“its getting dark. Time to go sneak in.” Eddie said, looking out the darkening window before looking at Waylon.

Chapter Text

“okay, deep breaths.” Waylon said, trying to ready himself before they enter the office.

“sure you can handle this. I could go in alone and-” Eddie said.

“no!! I am coming. I don’t trust you to bring artisan in one piece anyway.” Waylon said, a little jokingly about the last part. Eddie chuckled, before leading them passed Murkoff.

They hid behind a truck, keeping to the shadows. Waiting and watching as small groups of Murkoff passed by. They moved when the soldiers were looking away, getting behind another Murkoff vehicle. They continued to jump from place to place, watching and waiting for the right moment. Avoiding groups of heavily armed Murkoff. They made it behind a large group of barrels. Just a little away from the doors, but unlike everything else the doors were a bit in the open.

“think we can make it?” Waylon asked.

“possible, but we don’t know whats on the other side. Could be more guards.” Eddie replied.

“so now what?” Waylon asked.

“find a side or back door.” Eddie said, as he looked around.

“hey, there’s a fire escape. What about that?” Waylon said, pointing it out. Eddie looked to see a large rickety, rusted fire escape barely hanging on to the side of the building.

“that could work, just stay close and go slow when were on it.” Eddie said as he lead them over. They found the latter and with a little help from Eddie, Waylon was able to carefully bring it down for them. Climbing up the fire escape was anxiety enduring with the continuing creaks and other noises. They were sitting ducks on the fire escape and if any Murkoff officers decided to check the noises, they wouldn’t last long.

They both snuck in through the window. Letting out sighs of relief that they were out of sight, for now.

“we're in. now to find artisan and Beth.” Eddie said.

“they have to be in barkers officer. There’s no real place to contain them around here.” Waylon said.

“he probably wanted to interrogate them too.” Eddie said. Waylon nodded in agreement as he slowly opened the door. No sign of any guards which allowed them to move out. They snuck down the halls quietly, pausing when ever they heard a sound.

“feels like mount massive all over again.” Waylon whispered, trying to break the silence a little. Eddie hummed with agreement.

“almost there.” Eddie said as they were halfway away from the door. Once there Waylon slowly turned the knob and quietly opened the door. Eddie peaked inside for Waylon, making sure no guards were inside.

“alright, lets hurry and get them out.” Eddie said as they both rushed in to untie a beat up artisan and Beth.

“howd you guys get in here?” Beth asked.

“ive sneaked in and out of a lot of places before.” Waylon smiled.

“what happened to your eye, old man?” Eddie mocked at artisan.

“shut up, and who you calling old?” artisan growled. Eddie snickered at artisans condition. Waylon felt bad knowing artisans pain since he knew how it felt, almost losing a eye himself. Waylons attention was caught when he saw Beth digging threw barkers desk drawer.

“what are you doing?” Waylon asked.

“looking for a lighter. Like this one!” she said as she grabbed a hand lighter from the drawer. She ran over to the corner of the office and set ablaze a curtain.

“what are you doing??!!” Waylon exclaimed at Beths actions.

“setting this all on fire. It sure put a wrench in his plans.” she said, talking about Barker.

“we need to get out before the fire spreads to the lower floors!!” artisan said. Everyone silently agreed as they headed toward the door. Waylon was following till a idea hit him. He stopped, looking towards barkers computer. He wouldn’t have a open chance like this, he had to take it.

He ran back over to barkers desk, digging through it. Hoping by some miracle that what he needed was in a drawer. Eddie noticed Waylon was not fallowing. He ran back in to see what had stopped Waylon from running out of the currently burning building.

“what are you doing?! We need to go, NOW!!” Eddie said to him.

“no I have to do this!! I need to find a memory stick though!! help me look!!” Waylon said frantically as he tore apart the drawers.

“a what?! No!! we have no time!!” Eddie said as he watched the flames grow closer. Waylon let out a sigh of relief and happiness when he found a USB. He shoved it into the computer and powered it up. The screen loaded to show a square asking for a password.

“shit I don’t have the time to break this.” Waylon said a little panic.

“lets go then!!” Eddie said, attempting to pull Waylon away. Waylon struggled and refused. Artisan came back through the door way.

“what are you two doing??!!” artisan asked. The flames taking up half the room.

“i have to get the files off this computer!! I have a stick for it, I just need to know the password for the comp!!” Waylon said, refusing to leave the computer. Artisan thought for a moment. Remembering barkers obsession from the empty socket he had.

“try eyes.” artisan said. Waylon typed it in, getting a error.

“no.” Waylon said.

“just eye then?” artisan recommended. Waylon tried again, another failure. A warning popped up saying a lock down will be activated if the next try is wrong.

“no, and we only have one try left.” Waylon said. Artisan thought again, thinking back to what Barker talked about. Then it hit him.

“try eyes are the windows to the soul.” artisan said. Waylon typed it in, success. Waylon grinned and quickly searched the computer. Copying every file he possibly could as the fire drew dangerously close.

“okay, you have it!! lets go!!” Eddie said.

“no it needs to finish copying!! if we yank it out now it could be corrupted.” Waylon said as he watched the loading bar slowly grow. A piece of burning roof dropped down, crashing into the floor. A wave of embers flowing over the three around the computer.

“how long?!” Eddie asked urgently.

“just a second!!” Waylon said, shaking with anxiety. When it was done he yanked the stick out and was yanked away by Eddie. Getting Waylon quickly away from the flames that started to consume the desk and computer. They ran out into the halls, stopped by Barker.

“YOU!! what have you done!!!” Barker roared, taking out a large knife from his pocket.

“we don’t have time for this!!” Eddie growled. Barker attacked artisan first.

Artisan dodged his first attack. He punched Barker in the chest, knocking him back slightly. Not out of his range however, Barker swung his knife, cutting artisans side. Barker swung again, missing as artisan took a step back. Artisan stepped forward again, punching Barker square in the face. It was a good hit, but a grave mistake.

Artisan had gotten too close. One more swing from Barker had slit artisans throat. He gasped as his neck bled out in large amounts. Waylon ran over and tackled barker back. The burning fire was spreading out into the hall. Waylon grabbed artisan back enough to separate them all from Barker.

Waylon ripped off large pieces of his shirt. Making padding and a tight tie around artisans cut throat. Both got out as quickly as they could. Artisan running was making the bleeding worse. Escape the area was easier then they thought. The Murkoff officers panicking over the fire and for the fact Barker was commanding them to go inside and save his collection. Anyone who denied the command was quickly executed on the spot.

As they got far enough away, Waylon had them stop to try and get a better solution for artisans throat. Artisan wasn’t doing so well, most of his blood poured out onto his shirt.

“we have to keep moving.” Eddie said.

“we cant, artisans throat is slit. He'll bleed out before we get to the hideout.” Waylon said.

“he'll have to last. We have no other options while out here. We have medical back at the hideout.”

“we could find medical supplys in town.” Waylon suggested.

“where its swarming with Murkoff patrol?! No way!!” Eddie Eddie argued. Waylon sighed, Eddie was right.

“okay, but we have to go slow. We cant have him run anymore.” Waylon said.

“whatever.” Eddie grumbled.

Halfway there artisan began to stumble and become dizzy. Beth had caught him and helped him walk.

“hes not looking too good.” Beth commented. Artisan had begun to grow pale and cold.

“just help him walk. We'll get him there.” Waylon said to try and give some reassurance.

They finally made it back with artisan, But barely. He was pale, cold, and not even conscious anymore.

“set him on the couch. I need to stitch his neck closed.” Waylon said as he grabbed the kit. Beth laid him down as Waylon grabbed the stitching wire and needle.
“i need you to hold the cloth. I cant completely uncover it or release the pressure.” Waylon said as he carefully untied it. Beth kept the pressure on the bandage while Waylon carefully uncovered a small portion to begin stitching.

Waylon carefully stitched the wound closed. Cleaning it with alcohol and Wrapping it thickly in gauze.

“will he be okay?” Beth asked.

“i don’t know. He needs a blood transfusion or a iv, badly, but we have none of those. He just have to give him lots of water and hope his blood levels catch up. Watch him for the time being.” Waylon said, putting away supplys.

“so now what?” Eddie asked.

“ … we need to get this stick out to some news reporters.” Waylon said, pulling it out of his pocket.

“whats even on that thing?” Beth asked.

“reports, any videos I could possibly find of there research recording. And a list of where all there facility’s are, and what they work in.” Waylon said, looking down at the stick.

“did you see how many were on that list?” Eddie asked.

“hundreds. Pages, upon pages of names and short descriptions.” Waylon said.

“if we want to get that to a news source, we'll have to leave the city. Remove the Murkoff blockade from its post.” Eddie said.

“wed have to break down Murkoff for that.” Waylon said.

“better get started then. We cant last any longer here in this town. We need to do something against Murkoff. At least weaken them a little.” Eddie said.

“for that wed have to break the structure somehow.” Waylon said.

“what would we have to do first?” Eddie asked.

“take out leaders. Or high officers in charge. If they go, the officers will be confused as to what to do. It'll break the orders and scramble them a little.” Waylon said.

“alright, then lets do it.” Eddie said.

“how?! We don’t even know who the lead officers are.” Waylon said.

“we'll watch them. The leaders will be obvious. Others will go to them repeatedly for instructions. I am sure they will also have a mark or tag on them that shows there rank.” Eddie said. Waylon nodded.

“for now, lets just rest. Don’t go out for a few days till we see how artisans condition is.” Waylon sighed.

Barker was counting his collection that was stored in the back of a truck. Some jars burnt with labels peeling off in crispy black pieces. The officers had been staying as far away as possible while Barker handled his collection.

“... sir?” Charles said from the entrance of the truck.

“ … a few are missing. ...” Barker said.

“oh, … um, sorry?” Charles said, unsure of what to say.

“they'll replace them.” Barker said.

“what?” Charles ask.

“THEY ruined my collection. They will replace the ones I lost!! ALL of them!!” Barker roared, scaring Charles back.

“move out of my way!!” he growled as he pushed Charles aside. He went into a temporary tent set up as a office with a new computer being run by a generator. Barker started the computer up, entering his password. He scanned the computer files, making sure his officers got everything on. Then he noticed a alert on his system.

He opened it, seeing that files were copied to a unauthorized device. He read the list. Seeing lots of videos, files, and a list of Murkoff facility contacts were copied to the random device. Barker was not happy.

“how dare they.” Barker growled. It was the last straw, he would no longer waste anymore time with these escapees.
“CHARLES!!” Barker called.

“yes sir?” Charles said, quickly coming to the call.

“tell my officers to burn everything, and allow deadly force.” Barker commanded.

“your going to destroy the town and kill all the citizens for 4 people?!” Charles said in shock.

“you have a problem?” Barker said with a cold stare.

“n-no sir.” Charles said as he quickly ran to give out the command.

In minutes the officers were out, burning buildings and killing civilians. No one was spared, either stay and burn in the fire, or try to run only to be shot. The town was a mass of burning flames by morning, the lights shining bright over the tree line at the new hide out.

“that light is very bright.” Waylon said.

“maybe the fire had spread and Murkoff still trying to put it out?” Eddie suggested. Beth had been watching artisan for the past few hours. He had been very slowly regaining consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes.

“hey, can you hear me?” Beth asked, snapping her fingers over artisans head.

“ah, what? Where are we?” he asked, slowly getting up.

“youve been out for a while.” Beth said.

“were at a gas station out of town. Its our new hiding place.” Waylon said.

“ugh, too fucking old for this. I need to retire.” artisan said, rubbing his face. Beth offered a bottle of water, which artisan happily took.
“is it morning?” artisan asked, looking as Waylon and Eddie looking out the brightly lit window.

“no, we think the fire spread.” Waylon said.

“spread? How much? The fire must be huge with all that light. Is Murkoff letting the whole town burn?” artisan said, carefully getting up to go look out.

“you shouldn’t be moving, you lost a lot of blood.” Waylon said.

“bah, I am tough. I’ve lived through worse.” artisan said before looking out the window.
“looks like a forest fire, way too large for a few buildings.” artisan said.

“that wont be good. Were surrounded by forest here.” Waylon said.

“we better check it out, make sure the fires not heading towards us. I can probably figure out if it is.” artisan said.

“you cant go out. Your throat was slit open a few hours ago.” Waylon stated.

“let him go. If he dies its more supplys for us.” Eddie huffed. Waylon glared and sighed.

“ill be fine, just watch my back.” artisan said.

“since you want him to go, I am going with artisan.” Waylon said. Eddie glared at him.

“why cant Beth go?!” Eddie said.

“I'am not running out there into a forest fire. I’ve been trapped in one before and I am not living through that again!” Beth said. Eddie growled.

“i am going!” Waylon said. Eddie grumbled to himself for a moment.

“fine.” Eddie grumbled.

“what?” Waylon asked, confused by Eddies answer.
“no “ I am going not you.” or “stay here”? Non of that??” Waylon questioned.

“no. ... I am not happy about this, but I cant stop you. I cant go on forever, ill need to accept that eventually. Its better for you to go on your own … sometimes. Besides, if artisan returns alone again, he cant run.” Eddie said, glaring at artisan before leaving to the couch.

Chapter Text

“alright, its settled. Lets go.” artisan said as he left. Waylon followed behind, setting the broken door back in place.

“if you get dizzy or anything. You gotta tell me.” Waylon said.

“yeah yeah, ill be fine.” artisan waved off. They silently continued on through the woods. Being cautious of how much noise they made while walking. When they made it to the source of the fire, they were in shock.

A wall of fire, consuming the entire town. Piles of bodies that Murkoff officers were torching. They looked over, attention caught by some yelling. A few people were lined up and sat down in a line. One by one they were shot and there bodies tossed onto a nearby burning pile. A few ran, but never got far before they were shot dead.

“my god ...” artisan said, his gaze scanning over the horrors. Waylon kept a straight face as he watched.

“ive seen this, many times. This isn’t the worst Murkoffs done to people.” waylon said quietly.

“we need to head back.” artisan said as he turned around back the way they came.

Back at base, artisan sat down on the couch. Beth was cooking canned chili over a small fire behind the building. Eddie was inside sweeping with a broom and dustpan he found.

“are you cleaning?” Waylon asked.

“ive dealt with enough filth at mount massive. I am sick of it, so I am sweeping.” Eddie said as he swept up some broken glass.

“so is the fire heading this way?” Beth asked.

“its not a forest fire.” artisan stated grimly.

“murkoff is burning the whole town. Killing everyone. … sorry.” Waylon said quietly.

“ ...mm. … its expected. … knew at some point this would happen. Murkoff always took people away. Just another reason to leave even faster.” Beth spoke with a feeling of grief and sadness.
“anyway, dinners done.” Beth said, picking up the pot before brushing dirt over the fire to snuff it out. She poured the chili into separate bowls for them.

“i guess now we just need to start our plan into action.” Waylon said, taking his bowl.

“what plan?” artisan asked.

“the stick I have contains Murkoff files, we need to spread it out to the news. For that we need to break down Murkoff and break the blockades. Our first action is to take out the high officers. Break up the forces and make them work less smoothly.” Waylon said.

“ah, and after taking them out, then what?” artisan asked.

“not sure. Lower there numbers, some how?” Waylon said as he ate at the cash register counter.

“well, at least its something.”artisan said as he ate.

“yeah.” Waylon agreed.

“its getting late. We should go to bed soon.” Eddie said, looking out the nearby window as he ate.

After eating everyone set up a spot to sleep in. artisan got the couch. Beth got the floor nearby. Eddie and Waylon slept together behind the register counter. Waylon was now a little thankful of Eddies sweeping. Less broken glass to lay on. Last thing he needs is to have his back carved with glass all over again.

In the middle of the night Waylon woke to a empty spot next to him. Eddie was missing, this caused Waylons paranoia to grow. He got up in a hurry to try and find Eddie, finding him going outside.

“where are you going?” Waylon asked, Eddie froze then relaxed with a sigh.

“i am going out. To watch Murkoff.” Eddie said.

“i am coming.” Waylon said.

“id rather you stay.” Eddie groaned.

“i am going.” Waylon said, coming outside. Eddie sighed and shook his head

“fine.” he huffed, putting the door back. Waylon hugged Eddie from behind.

“you're being a little independent with me.” Waylon smiled.

“i wish I wasn’t.” Eddie grumbled.

“i know.” Waylon smiled as he let go.

“come on. Don’t make me regret taking you out either.” Eddie sighed. Waylon chucked.

“ill be fine. I promise. “ he smiled.

They both walked till they reached the end of the smoldering town. With almost all building destroyed and any left taken over by Murkoff, it was easy finding them. Waylon had to quickly cover his nose from the thick smell of burning bodies still thick in the air.

“feeling sick?” Eddie asked.

“a little.” Waylon said.

“a felt sick when I first smelt it. But then again, I was feeling too much joy over my fathers death to care.” Eddie grinned at the memory. Waylon kept his mouth covered as they went around to find a Murkoff team in the open.

They found a group working around a non destroyed diner. Hiding behind a few faraway trees and bushes. Everyone seemed to be working on something. Setting up computers inside, giving out equipment.

“i don’t see any that look like a officer.” Waylon said

“there armors probably covering anything that would give them away. Just look for whatever one looks bossy or commanding a lot more then others.” Eddie said, Waylon hummed as he carefully scanned the large group.

“that mite be one.” Eddie said.

“where?” Waylon asked.

“one who’s smoking by the truck. His armor looks thicker then the rest.” Eddie said.

“could be him, if not, hes still more important enough to get double armor.” Waylon said.

“yes, its a good start. Hopefully others will be this easy to spot.” Eddie said.

“once we start this, they're gonna be harder and harder to kill them.” Waylon said.

“more guards, more armor, and most if not all are gonna hide after a while. If we can at least get 5 it'll put pressure on the army.” Eddie said.

“yeah.” Waylon agreed.

“so we're going to mark him as one. Head to the next area?” Eddie said.

“yes.” Waylon nodded, standing from his crouched position.

The next group they found was at a old police station. Seeing anyone was more difficult as most were inside and hidden.

“what do you think there doing?” Eddie asked.

“tons of supply trucks. Police station that’s hard to get into. Possibly making a armory. The diner could be a cafeteria area. Setting up a possible fort?” Waylon wondered.

“if that is what they're doing. We need to pluck off these guys quicker then we planned or else it will be impossible.” Eddie said.

“how will we do it though. Getting close is suicide. Not like we have access to any weapons.”

“we'll have to break into the armory and steal some guns.” Eddie said.

“what?!” Waylon exclaimed.

“we cant get close. We have to get long range weapons. And the only guns left in this town is in that armory.” Eddie said.

“we cant break in there!! its swarming!! not to mention the multiple locks, doors, and safe wed have to break in to reach the guns.” Waylon said.

“you have a better idea?” Eddie asked.

“... no.” Waylon said.

“then that plan is all we got. Now lets move on. Seems like barely anyone is coming out of here.” Eddie said.

The next 6 areas were heavily run. Officers walking every where, watch posts freshly set with search lights. Tents surrounded by work lights containing computers and other technological set ups. One large came had more set up then others. One computer set up caught Waylons attention.

“there using a large locking alarm system.” Waylon said.

“a what?” Eddie asked.

“its what they used in the walrider project. You know, those massive doors that locked and unlocked while passing through certain sections. The open and close freely, but if the alarm is risen, the doors shut quick and could trap you in between them. We passed through a lot of them during the first experiments after the Walrider.” Waylon said.

“oh, those. They don’t look set up anywhere. Where could they even place them. Seems like the doors would need a massive set up and enforcement to stay.” Eddie said.

“not entirely. Just put a steel frame deep into the ground and they can lock it into place. The computers handle all the other stuff.” Waylon said.

“what could they use them for?” Eddie asked.

“doors for there fort. Or there new base since we broke the last one.” Waylon said.

“mm, lets head back and tell the others what we've seen. Figure out a way to get the guns.” Eddie said.

Back at base everyone else had been awake. Doing a bit more cleaning and clearing off a few of the gas station tables on the diner half of the building. The smell of fresh coffee inside.

“did you make coffee??” Waylon questioned.

“yeah, the coffee maker here actually still works. Just needed to clean it. Coffee grounds were also safe in the packages.” Beth said as she gave artisan a paper cup full of it.

“smells better then what was out there.” Waylon said. Beth sadly looked away and set the coffee pot down.

“sorry.” Waylon apologized, remembering that it was Beth town.

“yeah, … want coffee?” Beth asked.

“sure.” Waylon said, feeling a bit bad.

“did you find out who the lead officers were? Artisan asked from the counter.

“a few, all of them had double armor on. One smokes and another has a large scar going up his arm. We also think there building a fort.”

“and we need to break into the police station for a few guns.” Eddie said.

“BUT its a damn armory that Murkoffs taken over.” Waylon said, with little confidence of Eddies plan.

“i can get us in.” Beth said.

“you can?” Waylon and Eddie both spoke, looking toward

“yeah, I used to pick locks all the time.” she said.

“they probably keep the guns in a safe though. Can you break into that?” Waylon asked.

“this is a small town, police station doesn’t have a safe it just has a locked cage room with a regular brass lock. Those are easy to pick.” Beth said.

“well, if we can just get the guns we can pick them off easily.” Eddie said.

“have to do it before the fort is set.” Eddie said.

“do it tonight then.” Beth said.

“wait, we have no idea of the set up inside or how many could be in there.” Waylon said.

“I know the layout inside.” Beth stated.

“we still don’t know how many.” Waylon argued.

“do you have another plan?” Beth asked.

“no.” Eddie answered, gaining a glare from Waylon.

“there, its settled then. Were going and I am breaking in.” Beth said.

“no!! I am not sending a kid in a building full of ruthless murderers!!” Waylon snapped.

“we don’t have a choice. Ill go with her.” artisan stated.

“you cant run, if you do the stitches wont hold on your neck and you’ll bleed out there or dying running when shot down.” Waylon said.

“then ill go.” Eddie said.

“you cant run either!!” Waylon yelled.

“you want to go then?!” Eddie asked.

“no, I don’t want anyone to go!!” Waylon growled.

“we cant afford to play it safe and careful anymore. We have to go and take risks.” Eddie said. Waylon huffed in disagreement.

“i don’t want to argue. We'll talk about it more tomorrow.” Waylon sighed and grabbed a few cans of soup too cook.

“you can cook those inside now. Cleaned and cleared of the stove.” Beth said.

“great.” Waylon said as he grabbed a pot.

The rest of the day was spent mostly cleaning and resting or treating wounds. Everyone went to bed early after dinner. Waylon woke up after a few hours, realizing Eddie was missing again. He got up to find him, discovering the others were gone too. His heart jumped when he thought of the reason.

“dammit!!” he yelled. Running out to hunt them down. He got to the police station, finding artisan watching them just break inside.

“what are you all doing?!” Waylon growled, startling artisan.

“we're getting the guns.” artisan stated. Waylon let out a aggravated sigh as he joined to watch. Unable to do anything else.

Beth had successfully picked the back doors lock getting in with Eddie.

The minutes ticked by having both artisan and Waylon grow anxious. The two jumped when a chain of shots were fired in side. Yelling and everybody scrambling around to get inside. As Murkoff went through the front, Beth and Eddie ran out back with 4 guns. The 4 met up before running into the dark forest, hiding away from the large spot lights as Murkoff followed. Back at base Waylon was furious at what they pulled.

“what were you all thinking??!! whats wrong with you??!! you barged in there with no idea of what you would face!! what happened in there??!!” Waylon yelled.

“everything went fine. There were no Murkoff in the back, Beth took care of the locks, we got the guns. Then we were caught by the lead officer. Took him out easily with a few shots.” Eddie explained.

“i didn’t even know you could handle a gun.” Waylon said.

“well, the only gun ive handled before was a hunting rifle years ago.” Eddie spoke.

“geeze. So we got 4 guns and how much ammo?” Waylon asked.

“4 guns, but only two boxes of ammo.” Beth said.

“they caught us as we were grabbing the boxes.” Eddie said. Waylon sighed and rubbed his head.

“cant afford to waste then. At least we got one.” Waylon said

Barker sat in his tent at his desk. Going over the list of files copied and filling out forms to ship in more officers, supplys, and gear. Charles was pushed in by officers too scared to tell the bad news. Charles wasn’t sure why they didn’t do it, but it still gave him a nervous feeling.

“um, the escapees broke into the armory and … stole some guns and ammo.” Charles spoke, pausing to swallow.

“how many?” Barker asked, oddly calm.

“4 guns and 2 ammo boxes. … they also killed the lead officer of the building.” Charles said. Barker let out a laugh.

“so, they want to play war do they? Not much good the guns are with only 2 boxes. … Charles, you come from the Russian sector, yes?” Barker asked.

“y-yes.” he answered.

“give a order to bring in the devil armor.” Barker commanded.

“but you cant!!” Charles said.

“why not??!!” Barker snapped with a glare.

“i-its not finished yet. No one can ware it. It needs to be drilled into bone for the weight to be supported and nobody can ware it longer then 10 minutes. It mutilates everything as the armor slices around even with the drill supports. It'll kill any solider who wares it.” Charles said.

“i am no ordinary solider. I am not weak like those sheep out there. I'll ware it and kill those fools. Order it!!” Barker commanded.

“... it'll take a few weeks to come in.” Charles said.

“i wont mind the wait.” Barker grinned.

Chapter Text

waylon awoke slowly this morning. He hissed in pain as his body was still feeling strongly sore after running around non stop for the past few days. Along with the deer indecent yesterday. Eddie was up and near by cooking. He looked toward Waylon after hearing him stir awake.

“you alright darling?” he asked while stirring the large pot of soup. The soup contained extra chunks of deer. The deer had been giving them a good source of food and energy for them all. Yesterday the deer had bashed through one of the windows. Causing a whole panic that it was Murkoff along with a mess of broken wood and scattered glass. The deer died shortly after from wounds and its mass panic inside. Best lunch they had in days after that short panic.

“yeah, just sore.” Waylon said, slowly standing.

“will you still be able to head out today?” Eddie asked.

“yeah, everybody else is too sore to switch anyway.” Waylon said, sitting at the counter.

A week had passed since there plan was put into action. They had only been able to take out 2 generals. Unfortunately they haven’t been acting fast enough. Despite being slowed after the generals death Murkoff was able to set up their fort. Now they had to ambush 2 generals in one day as they went out on patrol with their groups. It was incredibly risky to do, especially the run during the day.

They had to jump in, kill the generals of the group and make a run for it. With luck the woods will help hide and protect them from flying bullets while being chased. Everybody had been going out to do tasks or in an attempt to sabotage the fort. Even Beth had been happy to go out and break into the fort with artisan. Last run they were able to grab a couple boxes of ammo and a small box of rations and jam the side gate into the fort. Now Murkoff had no easy way of bringing vehicles in as the side gate was the only one big enough for vehicles.

Made stealing things easier as trucks had to stop and unload outside of the fort. That side of the wall had no watch towers or any real protection besides the heavy duty fort wall. The group did countess raids when ever they could at night. Most of the time the truck was heavily guarded or the items inside were useless computer parts. Despite the uselessness of the items, they still destroyed every last part to ruin Murkoffs progress.

Obviously Barker wasn’t happy to have the progress slowed. Any Murkoff who was left alive from failure in protecting the trucks was hanged, impaled or shot and left to rot outside the fort walls. Seemed more and more Murkoff were trying to go out on patrol to avoid being inside or guarding the trucks. Waylon wasn’t even sure what Barker was doing anymore.

“Maybe make a extra wall out of bodies?” Waylon thought.

If they were set up to intimidate it certainly wasn’t toward them. The Murkoff officers had gotten pretty erratic with anxiety growing throughout them. The only thing keeping them together was the generals. Soon they'd be out of those in a few more days. After the last general falls, barkers army would be a useless mess.

“me and you head out this afternoon and ambush them by the river. Then me and artisan will head out after dinner to snag the next group by the drain off pipe.” Waylon said while Eddie poured him a bowl of deer soup.

“don’t talk to strangers this time.” Eddie said, setting the bowl in front of Waylon. Waylon gave him a small glare as he took a spoon from him knowing that he was talking about the whole Dame indecent that started there.

“i wont.” he growled while staring to eat. He stopped when he heard artisan come in.

“i see you two are up.” artisan said, stiffly walking in with his sore legs.

“soups ready.” Eddie stated as sat next to Waylon to eat.

“great, soups always best in the cold morning.” artisan said as he poured himself a bowl.

“Beth still sleeping? “waylon asked.

“yeah, still sleeping as hard as a rock.” artisan said, sitting down to eat.

“better wake her up before the soup freezes.” Waylon said.

“she probably wont wake till lunch. By then the soup will be cold and fully reheated again to eat.” artisan said.

“true.” Waylon said.

“i better start cleaning up. … again.” Eddie said after finishing his soup. There was still a huge mess remaining after the deer problem. They only took the time to clean up the blood and sweep some broken glass. They still had to remove most of the broken boards and reset everything the deer thrashed into.

“ill set up the supplys for later.” Waylon said, finishing off his soup and heading into the back room. He examined the two guns, making sure they were fully loaded before setting them next to there bags on a shelf. He checked the bags, going through the list of needed items.

“ammo, check. Emergency bandages, check. Emergency matches, check. Emergency stitching kit, check.” Waylon mumbled to himself as he went through both bags.
“okay, everything’s there.” Waylon thought to himself. He headed back to the main room. Seeing Eddie sweeping up broken board bits while artisan tried to recover the broken window.

“everything ready?” Eddie asked.

“yeah, everything’s there.” Waylon nodded.

“shall we go out then and set up our ambush?” Eddie asked.

“yeah we should. we need to get there before they do.” Waylon sighed as he looked toward the back door.

The two grabbed there ready to go bags and guns. They headed out through the deep forest to there marked spot. A place hidden behind a large boulder close to the trail Murkoff had made from countless patrols. They flipped the safety off the guns as they watched Murkoff approaching from down the trail.

“ready to run?” Eddie asked, looking toward Waylon.

“god I hope so.” Waylon said, his sore legs currently numb from the cold.

The closer Murkoff got the more the ground seemed to shake from there heavy foot steps. It was no wonder why the trails were so cleanly made in a few days in the thick forest. When Waylon was sure the group was in sight he took a deep breath. He looked around the boulder in a flash with his gun ready. The loud shot rang through the air. Hitting the 3rd general in the neck.

“It wasn’t a bulls eye to the head, but good enough.” Eddie said, grabbing Waylon to start running.

The Murkoff patrol was panicking and firing widely around them. Barker had made them so full of anxiety and paranoia that they were just a mess of nerves. Even a crinkling leaf would have them paranoid as if being followed. Eddie and Waylon kept low as they avoided the few spare bullets that managed to blast nearby. Breaking off chunks of trees or creating sparks as they ricochet off rocks.

Both stopped to catch there breath behind a large tree. Far away enough to no longer feel bullets whizzing past. They could still hear multiple gun shots ringing out in the distance far behind them. Waylon wasn’t even sure if those solders were going to even be a part of Murkoff anymore after this. Going back to Barker as a failure got you killed without even a trial first.

After catching there breath they headed back. Taking the walk slow and easy as the pain in both there legs returned after running from the scene.

Charles was once again pushed to the front of barkers room. He stood there shaking while staring at the door knob. He tried to get others to tell the news, but everyone absolutely refused. Charles was sick to his stomach thinking about how worse Barker had gotten in a short time. His obsession with collecting eyes growing at an alarming pace. Sometimes it seemed he picked officers at random to blame for some small issue before tearing out there eyes right where they stood.

Only to throw out the collected eyes in an hour. Only making a mass reminder right outside his office door. Broken glass and rotting eyes laid about the area. Couldn’t take one step without crushing a glass piece or, worse, squishing a freshly thrown eye.

Charles felt sick to his stomach, but SOMEone had to be the messenger. Charles weakly knocked on the door. Fear being the only thing keeping him frozen in front of the door.

“what?!” Barker snapped from inside the office.

“i-its me.” Charles spoke fearfully.

“get in!!” Barker snapped again. Charles swallowed before carefully entering. He silently closed the door behind him, avoiding the mass amounts of jarred eyes crowding the room. It was like entering a hoarders home, so many jars piled so much they only allowed a very thin path between the wall of jars. Even barkers desk was surrounded and covered with them. God help your soul if you accidentally broke one of them.

“what do you want?!” Barker growled as he impatiently tapped a fresh jar of eyes.

“t-the general-” Charles started, going silent when Barker interrupted him.

“forget the damn generals. Do you have the cargo from the experimental labs?” Barker said.

“the devil armor-” Charles started, interrupted again.

“not THAT cargo. The LIVING cargo I wanted.” Barker growled.

“o-oh, yes. Its here, but in bad condition. Do you want me to feed-” Charles spoke sadly about the subject. Barkers plans for the special cargo seemed beyond cruel.

“no.” Barker growled with a cold glare.
“let it suffer for all the trouble its family has caused. Only give it treatment to keep it barely alive.” Barker said, going quiet when his tapping make a loud crack in the, now leaking, jar. Barker stared down blankly at it for a moment. Making Charles nervous.

Charles looked toward the door out of the corner of his eye. He had a head start if Barker decided he needed a quick replacement. Barker picked it up in one of his hands.

“get rid of this before you leave.” Barker spoke coldly as he held the jar out for Charles to take. Charles hesitated before cautiously heading past the walls of jars to grab the rejects from barkers hand. When the disgusting leaking jar was in his hands, Charles was quick to leave barkers presence.

Eddie and Waylon were back at the hidden base. Glad to find that artisan had fully cleaned up the wrecked main room.

“you guys do alright?” artisan asked as he stirred the reheated soup.

“yeah, managed to avoid being hit by multiple bullets.” Waylon said, carefully sitting down.
“after we leave this town ill never want to walk again.” Waylon said as he rubbed his painful leg muscles.

“i know the feeling. I am absolutely retiring after this.” artisan said, turning off the stove.
“soups hot again.” artisan said as he pored everyone bowls. He sat down two between Waylon and Eddie before bringing one to the back for Beth.

Waylons mind started to wander as he ate. Where would they go after they did escape. He sighed as the thought caused a migraine to grow in his skull.

“you alright darling?” Eddie asked.

“iam fine. Just tired with a headache coming on.” Waylon said, raking his hand through his hair. Eddie carefully kissed him on the cheek.

“feel better?” Eddie asked.

“yeah.” Waylon smiled.

“you should probably rest for tonight. You'll have to run more in the night when you cant see obstacles. If you trip, you'll have to get up and run quickly.” Eddie said.

“i know. With how my legs are I probably wouldn’t get far. I do need a rest, try and get rid of this pain in my muscles before I have to do the second run.” Waylon said. He finished his soup, then headed off to bed.

Waylon was able to sleep for a few hours till night fall came. Waylon was woken up by artisan.

“time to go.” he said down to Waylon. Waylon nodded as he sorely got up. He grabbed a bag from artisan, carefully putting it on as he followed artisan out the door.

After walking a long distance they made it to the drainage ditch. They waited and waited, but no patrol came.

“i don’t like this.” artisan said, on edge.

“maybe they stayed in the fort after me and Eddie attacked earlier?” Waylon said.

“hmm, most likely. That messes with our plans though. It also means more walking.” artisan said. Waylon let out a pained groan at the thought of more walking.

“i know, but we need to get this done.” artisan said as they walked toward the fort.

At the fort they watched from afar. Assessing the area for the 4th general.

“there he is.” Waylon pointed. The 4th general was guarding a small building off to the side with his patrol.

“we have to get closer. We cant hit him from here.” artisan said. He lead the way closer till they were uncomfortably close to the main gate.
“damn, we still cant reach him.” artisan sighed.

“we have to go in?!” Waylon exclaimed. Not happy to enter a place with limited exits and crawling with heavily armed men.

“yes, but don’t worry we're in luck. Looks like there’s a large fuel tank near by. If we shoot it the explosion will cause a mass panic through out the camp. We can pick off the general and nobody will notice a thing.” artisan explained.

“lets just be sure to do it quickly. I don’t wanna be stuck in there long. If we don’t take out the guard fast enough we mite be locked in by them shutting the doors.” Waylon pointed out.

“we better get started then. Follow me closely, once inside ill shoot the tank. You make sure to keep an eye on the general so we don’t loose him in the crowed.” artisan said. Waylon nodded, following behind as they moved forward.

Inside the fort they hid behind some nearby large cargo boxes. Artisan checked his gun, carefully aiming at the fuel tank. In one shot the tank exploded into a mass of fire or falling debris. Setting anything near by or injuring soldiers as large chunks of metal bashed on top of them. Even Waylon and artisan had to duck from flying chunks.

The fire quickly spread to 3 parked trucks that exploded one by one. Raining bits and pieces of flaming metal onto the multiple tents and buildings. The inner fort looked like Armageddon had fallen upon it with no mercy. After the chunks of falling debris had finished falling, artisan and Waylon were able to look again.

“whered the general go?!” artisan asked as he quickly searched through the panicking army.

“i have no idea. His whole post seemed to be wiped out, but I cant see his body.” Waylon said quickly, searching as well.

“HEY!!!” both heard a voice yell nearby. They looked to see that the general had spotted them behind the boxes.

“run!!” artisan yelled. Both fled for the door making it out just as the general had gathered a small group to shoot at them. Bullets were mulching up the trees they had been running by. Murkoff was on there trail still, but lost sight of them. Artisan and Waylon were running in the darkness, avoiding the searching spotlights Murkoff waved over the area.

Both had to stop to catch there breath. Crouching low behind a tree as Murkoff continued to search around them. The whole place was suddenly silent besides there heavy breathing. Then Waylon heard a faint noise. He recognized the sound and naturally had the attention ripped off Murkoff for it. Waylon had to find it despite the incredible danger they were currently in. Waylon bolted off without alerting artisan to what he was doing or where he was going.

“waylon!!” artisan spoke loudly. Trying to avoid in alerting the nearby Murkoff solders.

Waylon ran to find the noise, ignoring any possible Murkoff he got dangerously close to as if they weren’t there. He stopped, panting hard, when he arrived close to where the noise was. Waylon recognized the noise as only a parent could. A child was crying somewhere.

Artisan was far behind, leaving Waylon to look for the helpless child alone. Where ever it was. Questions were going through Waylons mind as he carefully searched.

“How'd a child get out here? Did Murkoff miss him from the town?” Waylon thought, walking around trees as he followed the sad sounds. Then he spotted the poor thing. A small crying figure hiding against a tree.

“hey, ... are you okay?” Waylon said gently, crouching low to the ground. He didn’t want to scare the child and make them run away. Not scaring the child may prove a little difficult with all the scars and injury’s he had. The child was startled, turning to quickly look back at Waylon.

Waylons heart froze, then shattered to pieces. This wasn’t just a random child he had found.

“... daddy?” the child sniffled.

Barker was outside, watching the chaos with a cold and blank stare. Charles standing far off to the side nervously. He had some important news for Barker.

“um, … sir?” Charles spoke, barely able to go above a whisper.

“what?” Barker said. Giving a uncomfortably calm feeling about the mass failure around him.

“the devil armor came early.” Charles said. Barker slowly turned to stare at him, growing a large grin.

“wonderful. Fetch it for me. I want to ware it immediately.” he spoke overly happy. It made Charles feel sick to his stomach about the whole thing. He had no choice in the matter, nodding his head. He grabbed a bunch of guards to get the suit unloaded and ready.

The suit was massively heavy, needing a special machine to attach it to the wearer. Its also why the pieces had to be drilled in the bone. It stopped the Armour from spreading its weight too much across the body, crushing the human inside like a rotten tomato. With the bits drilled in the Armour pushed against its own weight to keep itself up like a house of cards. The horrible side effect was that over time the humans body would become too tired and ruined after drilling into the bone to handle the weight on it.

This is why any human testing it only lasted a few minutes before dieing a horribly painful death. The first to be crushed was the rib cage, but only enough to break the bones. A slow and extremely painful inner bleeding would occur. A few extra minutes were able to be bought with the use of a consistent painkiller that was attached and injected directly into the spine of the wearer.

However this to brought lethal issues. And overdose was easy to obtain with the uncontrolled painkiller. The wearer usually had the choice of dying an over dose or through being crushed slowly by the suits weight.

Once the suit was set, Barker stepped onto the middle plate. The pieces were placed onto the machine with the bolts screwed in quickly and tightly. Barker barely filched as the parts pierced his bone. The machine released the pieces, dropping the weight fully onto barkers body to free him.

“get me the swords.” Barker commanded, his heavy foot steps smashing into the ground as he walked.

A box was unlocked and opened. Showing two large pure metal swords. Only a person wearing the suit was able to just pick them up. Barker grabbed them both from the box. He squeezed the thick handles to activate a strong electricity throughout the sharpened blades.

Chapter Text

Waylon held his poor son close to his chest. Trying to warm up the boy and stop him from crying. Waylon had totally forgotten that Murkoff was stalking him and artisan in the surrounding woods.

“hey, hey, its okay. I am here.” Waylon comforted his son.
“Noah, do you know where mom and Aidan are?” Waylon asked, desperately hoping they were alive somewhere, but a feeling deep inside told him otherwise. His stopped crying for a moment, sniffling through his thick tears.

“when they came to take us mom hid us upstairs. We heard a loud noise down stairs and while they were taking us away mom was on the floor.” Noah managed to get out before bursting into tears again. Waylon was about ready to cry too imagining what his poor kids went through without there mother or him. He had to be strong though, for his son.

“wheres – wheres Aidan?” Waylon asked, keeping his voice strong and steady as much as he could.

“t-they put us in a dark room without food. I tried to take care of him, but he fell asleep and didint wake up. They took him away.” Waylon poor son cried into his chest. Waylon was having his own trouble keeping himself together. Only till he heard a noise behind him did he crush down his sadness. Ready to kill who ever would dare threaten his son. Waylon relaxed when he saw that it was artisan coming up to them.

“goddammit Waylon.” artisan came up angrily panting.
“why the hell did you run off like-” artisan started before he saw the sad ball of crying child in Waylons arms. Waylon looked away from artisan to back toward his son. Still trying to comfort the young child.

“is he from the town?” artisan asked gently.

“no. … hes my son.” Waylon said quietly. He never expected to ever say those words again since that file back in mount massive.

“we better get him back and-” artisan said before Waylon interrupted him with a roar.

“NO!!” Waylon snapped with the pure fury and protection of a parent.
“i have absolutely no idea how Eddie will react to finding out the last bit of my family from my old life is still alive. I have no idea what Eddie will do to him with his obsession of starting his own family.” Waylon yelled protectively.

“then what do you suggest?! We just leave him here?!” artisan exclaimed.

“no, ill find somewhere else to stay with him.” Waylon snapped angrily.

“WHERE?! THE TOWN IS GONE!! you have no where to go, but our hiding place. Stay here and he'll definitely die!” artisan snapped back. Waylon paused, thinking through his limited to basically only option.

“listen, I know Eddies criminal record and hes never harmed a child. Or even had any violent tendency toward children or women WITH children. We will introduce him slowly. If he does something you, me and Beth can stop him. Alright?” artisan explained. Waylon hesitantly nodded, getting help from artisan to stand. Waylons poor son going quiet as he fell asleep against Waylons shoulder as he was carried along.

“need help carrying him?” artisan asked.

“no.” Waylon snapped a little. After so long of thinking him gone it felt like a miracle holding his son again.

Upon reaching the gas station, Waylon froze as they approached. Artisan could see on Waylons face how he was feeling inside.

“ill go in and get Beth so we can talk out here. Stay here, okay?” artisan said, waiting till after Waylon nodded to retrieve Beth. A silent minute passes before Beth walked out with artisan.

“Aww, hes adorable.” Beth said as she saw the now awake Noah in Waylons arms, clutching Waylons shirt in his hands.
“how old are you?” she asked the shy Noah.

“six.” he mumbled out nervously.

“only six? Your pretty big for a six year old.” Beth smiled, getting a small smile back from Noah. waylon had to wipe some water from his eyes. Last time he saw his sons smile was 6 months ago before he left to work at mount massive.

“ready to see Eddie?” artisan said. Waylon sniffled a bit as he finished wiping his tears dry before nodding. They all went in, Waylon sitting on the couch holding his son. Artisan standing near by and Beth going to fetch Eddie.

Waylon nervously sat there tapping his foot repeatedly on the broken tiled floor. The wait seeming like hours just made Waylon think about leaving more and more. Beth returned with Eddie and a blanket to help warm up Noah.

Eddie stood at a distance, surprised to see waylon with a young child. Artisan kept close watch on Eddies body language for anything threatening. If he had too he would tackle Eddie. Waylon wrapped Noah up into the blanket before gesturing Eddie to sit on the couch. Eddie slowly approached before carefully sitting on the couch. With artisan still hovering near Eddies shoulder.

“ … so hes yours?” Eddie asked.

“yes.” Waylon answered. Eddie was going through a million questions in his head. Beth told him how Waylon was right now. He was doing his best in trying not to scare Waylon away or say something that could up set him more.

“... can I help somehow?” Eddie asked.

“you can warm up some soup. Hes very hungry.” Waylon said. Eddie nodded before heading off to heat up some soup. Waylon sat down Noah to sit between him and the end couch arm.

Eddie returned and gave Waylon the bowl, still keeping his distance. Waylon mixed up the bowl a bit for his son to help it cool a little.

“whats that?” Noah asked.

“its deer soup.” Waylon smiled.

“you killed Bambi?” his son asked sadly. Giving Waylon a sudden chuckled at the innocent question. Eddie was also smiling at the other end of the couch after hearing Noahs comment.

“no, no, its not Bambi.” Waylon chuckled and wiped some tears from his eyes.
“its the bad deer.” Waylon said, as he held out a spoonful.

“oh.” Noah said before eating the spoon full. Soon he was eating more at a quick pace emptying the bowl in a short time.

“should I get more?” Eddie asked.

“no, he just needs to rest now. Hes been through a lot.” Waylon said as he rubbed Noahs back as he fell asleep in his fathers arms.

“... how old is he?” Eddie asked, carefully scooting closer.

“his names Noah, and hes six.” Waylon said, nervousness growing a little as Eddie got closer.

“will he be alright?” Eddie asked with concern.

“yeah, he'll be alright now. Just need to make sure he gets a lot of food and water in him.” Waylon said as he rubbed his sons back. The exhaustion that had been building up inside of him for the past few hours were now beginning to kick in. the only thing keeping it back was the adrenaline from finding his son and the fear of a negative reaction from Eddie.

“tired?” Eddie asked. Waylon slowly nodded. He was, but he was also still nervous of what Eddie mite do. Artisan seemed to catch it and sorted out a plan to get Eddie away for a while.

“Eddie, since Waylon has his son we cant check on the camp. So you'll have to take his place with me.” artisan said. Eddie looked from artisan back to Waylon and returned it back to artisan with a nod. He got up and slowly followed artisan out of the building, watching Waylon as he left. Waylon let out a mixed sigh of relief and exhaustion.

“do you want to sleep on the couch or your normal spot?” Beth asked. Waylon thought for a moment on it. The couch was softer, but the normal spot behind the counter meant Waylon noticed more going around him.

“ill sleep in my normal spot.” Waylon said as he achingly got up from the couch. Beth gave him a few extra blankets and pillows to let his son lay on. Instead of having him be on the hard floor. The moment woke Noah up from his nap. He looked up at his dads face as he set him down to set up the “bed”.

“what happened to your face?” Noah asked. Waylon looked at him and gave him a small smile.

“i got hurt a lot while running away from the bad guys.” Waylon explained.

“is that what happened to the boogeyman?” Noah asked.

“boogeyman? You mean Eddie?” Waylon asked with a raised brow.

“the one with the lots of cuts and stuff.” his son tried to explain.

“that's Eddie, and yeah. They did a lot of bad things to him to. He helped me get away and saved me a few times.” Waylon smiled a little.

“what kind of things?” his son asked, causing Waylon to freeze for a moment. Memory's of experiments, torture, and fighting going through his mind.

“... a lot of painful things. Like what Aidan and you went through.” Waylon said sadly.

“oh.” Noah looked sadly toward the ground.

“yeah, he went through a lot. So don't call him boogeyman, alright?” Waylon said, getting a nod from his son.
“good. Now lets go to bed.” Waylon said as he tucked his son into bed.

Barker watched as the life was drained dry from the soldier impaled on his sword. Shocking him till the strong smell of burnt skin stained the air. When the soldier finally turned a crispy black he tossed him to the side. The body landing with a thud into other burnt black bodies.

After Barker had dawned the Armour he went on a psychotic rampage. He refused to speak and anyone attempting to speak was painfully killed. The last full soldiers tried to defend themselves. Throwing grenades, shooting him with endless amounts of bullets. Nothing had any effect on him or the amour. Charles managed to escape off into the woods as Barker slaughtered his whole team.

The remaining soldiers weren't so lucky, being trapped with Barker inside the fort. He stalked around the camp with the loud sound of his foots steps being the only thing filling the air. He walked over bodies, crushing them like twigs or even kicking some out of the way.

Despite being fried on his sword being an excruciating death, it wasint the worst. He still very much remembered his love of eyes. If he thought he even remotely loved your eyes hed hold you down with the strength of elephant and carefully slice the eyes from your skull. When he was done hed toss you about the camp like a rag doll. Then leave you lying somewhere to die from your agonizing injury of multiple broken bones and punctured organs.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” he suddenly roared in the middle of camp. Any soldiers left absolutely refused to come out or even glance on what the hell Barker was doing.

“ANSWER ME!!” Barker roared again. When everyone refused to come, Barker switched on the heat vision built into the right eye screen. He spotted a group hiding in a truck. He walked over before punching through the truck door and yanking it of the hinges. Terrifying the soldiers enough to freeze them in place.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” he yelled at the three soldiers frozen on the opposite side of the truck. None of them answered, agitating Barker even more. He grabbed one solider and smashed him through the windshield.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” he repeated.

“t-t-their b-by the river.” one solider just stuttered out to appease Barker.

Artisan and Eddie had been watching the entire thing. Not at all surprised to see that Barker had just finally snapped. Entirely attacking his team with fresh bodies left an right. Both had to cover there mouth and noses from the burnt skin smell that hung thickly around the air.

“we better get back.” artisan said.

Barker was about ready to kill the last soldier in the truck as they both failed to give “satisfactory directions to them” as Barker put it. Until he spotted two bodies of heat walk off into the forest. He let out a deep growl in the suit before leaving to hunt the two down.

Waylon awoke early the next morning to Noah missing from the “bed”. He got up in a panic till he noticed artisan out of the corner of his eye. Artisan knew what Waylon was looking for and pointed toward the couch in the back room. Waylon immediately went to see. Finding Noah sleeping on Eddies chest as he slept on the couch. Waylon let out a sigh of relief knowing Noah was still okay.

“eddies been acting pretty well around him. Nothing aggressive or concerning. He fed him a bowl of soup earlier and they played some tic tac toe.” artisan said.

“alright, that's good.” Waylon said, not entirely happy he wasint able to supervise, but still happy that Eddie wasint reacting negatively. Waylon took some deep breaths to relax before sitting at the counter.

“stressed?” artisan asked.

“yeah. Ive been thinking about things recently.” Waylon said.

“like what?” Waylon asked.

“like if we live and after this is all over. Where will we go? Ill need a job online. Living anywhere with neighbors is basically a train wreck waiting to happen.” Waylon said.

“mm, well, I do have a second house in Wyoming. Out in the country with lots of land and absolutely no neighbors. You could live there till you get on your feet and just pay utility basically or move to someplace else when your ready.” artisan offered.

“that'd be fucking great.” Waylon said, fully meaning the words. At least they had an idea of where they could go now.

“good, anything thing else weighing on you?” artisan asked.

“... could you … adopt my son?” Waylon asked, causing artisan to almost choke on his spit.

“what, why? Don't trust Eddie?” artisan asked.

“no, I do, but … just look at us. Do you really expect no one to call in a case of domestic abuse of some sort or even child protective services if we drop Noah off at school or take him to the park? That's not even taking into consideration the need for parent teacher meetings.” Waylon said. Artisan nodded, Waylon was right that people would be incredibly judgmental of there mass scars.

“ill take him. Maybe if I found a near enough house we could be “neighbors”.” artisan said. Waylon nodded with a slight smile.

“would be nice. Id love to stay with him, or at least see him everyday if I can.” Waylon said. Artisan nodded in agreement.

Both paused when they heard a loud thudding noise repeating over and over, getting louder each time.

“what is that?” Waylon asked.

“don't know. I don't recognize it. … whatever it is, its getting closer.”

“get everybody up.” Waylon said as he got up to wake up Eddie and Noah. While artisan went to wake up Beth.

“Eddie, get up!!” Waylon said shaking him. Eddie was startled awake, soon noticing why we was so abruptly awoken. They all rushed to the window to see what was causing the noise.

“shit, its Barker.” artisan said, as they saw him approach in full on devil armor.

“that's Barker?!” Waylon explained.

“he went on a rampage on his camp last night. Its all gone now with piles of bodies left and right. He must have followed us back somehow.” Eddie said.

“we have to leave.” artisan said.

“where will we go?” Beth asked.

“there's a quarry near by. We can lose him there in the area or at least in the tunnels.” artisan said as they quickly grabbed what ever supplys they could. They ran out as soon as they could, following artisan out toward the quarry. Eddie carried the heavy bags and guns, while Beth held the food and bottled water, and Waylon carried Noah.

“here's the entrance. Be extremely careful on the walk. There's holes and years of rust on it.” artisan said as they reached the thin metal walking ramp that lead deep down into the quarry crater. Everyone nervously headed down with Eddie needing to be extra careful with his weight. Everywhere he stepped there was a creek or a groan from setting his weight down with each step.

The whole ramp rattled when a massive weight dropped onto it. They all looked back to see Barker had landed onto the walk. His massive weight stressing the bolted side of the walk so much it began to snap the bolted metal off the wall. The whole walk drifted off from the wall it was once attached to and slowly threatened to twist the piece enough to snap it off.

They all bolted to the end of the ramp to get off as soon as possible. The ramp snapped off the end the only think holding it it up. Everyone had made it to the safer part except Barker. The broken ramp slammed into the quarry side giving Barker the chance to stab one of his knifes into it to save himself. Seeing Barker survive the lethal fall the group continued running down the ramp.

“there's a building up ahead that leads into the caves. We just gotta make it inside.” artisan yelled out as they ran toward the large building built into the quarry wall.

With barkers immense strength in the suit he was able to get back on the ramp in seconds. He chased down the group and just managed to grab artisans shirt collar as he was the last to head through the door. Barker yanked him out of the door way and tossed him off the quarry edge.

Barker watched as artisan fell, crashing into a small ledge jutting out from the side before landing into the deep freezing water at the bottom. A minute passed before artisan resurfaced. Coughing in pain. Hitting the small ledge broke his fall enough to let him survive the long fall. But not without obtaining broken ribs along with possibly a broken shoulder.

Barker let out a deep growl of anger after seeing artisan survive, but he still had the others to finished. He would come back for artisan after the others were taken care of. He smashed the door to the side off its hinges. Following the obvious heat signatures around the dark cold building.

“fuck, he got artisan.” Beth panted as they stopped against the wall to catch there breath.

“we have to split up.” Waylon said.

“no.” Eddie disagreed.

“if we stay together he'll just kill us off easier.” Waylon argued.

“and if we split he'll pick us off one by one!” Eddie snapped.

“waylon right. If we split he'll have to choose one of us and it'll at least give us a head start in getting into the tunnels.” Beth agreed. Eddie growled in dissatisfaction with this. They all went silent as Barker approached.

“ill go this way!” Beth said before running off. Waylon and Eddie both looked at each other, saying there silent good byes in one look.

“be careful darling.” Eddie spoke sadly.

“you too.” Waylon replied with worry before running off down another tunnel.

Barker paused as he watched his prey separate, considering who to maim first. He decided to go for the one who started this entire mess. Waylon, the one who sent out information on there organization, the one who killed Blair, the one would destroyed mount massives project and the years of research. The one who also ruined barkers eye collection.

The last remembrance of Waylons crimes fueling the black fire of vengeance in barkers skull. He was going to make Waylon suffer immensely. First by taking the last of his family's eyes as he watched helplessly.

Waylon ran through the tunnels, stopping against a wall to quickly catch his breath. His chest was beginning to hurt from the thick dusty air.

“daddy?” Noahs small voice said shakily. Waylon gently shushed him, holding him tightly in his arms to try and comfort his son. Waylon peaked around the corner to look out for Barker. Getting a nasty surprise as he saw barkers blade swinging at him. He ducked just in time as barkers blade smashed through the wall.

Chunks of concrete wall and rubble flying across the room. When the dust cleared Waylon made a run for it. Followed closely by a enraged Barker.

“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!!” Barker roared at Waylon down the halls. Eddie meanwhile had heard barkers rampage after Waylon, skidding to a halt. He sped off back the way he came from to find waylon.

Meanwhile artisan had finally been able to climb up the steep shore of the quarry. His shoulder and chest being in immense pain from the movement of swimming. He took a few quick small breaths to keep from harming his chest. He paused when he noticed someone running in the quarry. It definitely wasint Waylon or Beth or anybody from his group.

He sped walked over to find the person. Managing to catch up and grab them by the back of the shirt. The random stranger turned out to be Charles. Upon seeing artisan, Charles had a mass mental break down. Turning into a pure sobbing mess on the floor.

“pleasedonthurtme. Iswearillneverworkformurkoffagian. Justletmegoplease.” he sobbed uncontrollably on the floor. Artisan barely understood what he said as first.

“shut up!!” artisan snapped so he could actually hear himself think over the sobbing.
“how do I stop Barker in that suit?!” artisan snapped down at Charles. Charles managed to pull himself together enough to get some words out.

“he should have died already. No ones ever lasted more then a few minutes.” Charles got out before beginning to break down again.

“hey, hey, stay with me. Is there a way to beat him or not?!” artisan said. Trying to keep Charles together long enough to get answers.

“there's some tubing over the spine that holds the painkiller. If you puncture it, it'll force the rest out. It should lead to a fast collapse of his body.” Charles managed to speak. Artisan released Charles from his grip to go help his group running in the mines.

Waylon had been running left and right down tunnels to escape barkers wrath. So far it was becoming a death trap for Waylon and his son. Waylon stopped against a wall, wheezing from lack of air and sucking in thick clouds of rubble dust.

His body was starting to shut down from all the stress he was putting on it. He legs in excruciating pain from non-stop running. His lungs felt on fire from the irritating air. His vision blurring in and out of focus or doubling his vision. Waylon knew he had to look around the corner for Barker, but every time he did Barker was always right there.

He went to look, getting knocked back when Barker slammed through the wall. Waylon landed on the floor, his body freezing in pain as he protected Noah from falling concrete chunks. Waylon stayed on the floor, his legs too numb to cooperate in getting up to run. Barker raised up his sword to finish off Waylon and all Waylon could do is protect his son. As a father it was the least he could do before he died.

Before Barker could bring down his lethal blow of electric blade he was struck in the head by a large chunk of wall rubble. Barker turned around with a growl to face Eddie standing there. Eddie tosses another chunk right into barkers face, capturing his full fury.

Waylon saw what Eddie was doing and painfully got to his feet to run. Barker hadint noticed as he closed in on Eddie. He swiped at Eddie with one blade, missing just by a hair as Eddie stepped back.

Eddies wounded leg couldn't have lock up at a worser time. He dodged the first swipe, but wasint so lucky on the second. The air was knocked out of him as he got a full stomach of the bladed sword that slammed him into the ground. He had no way to escape with the sword having pinned him to the floor through his stomach.

Waylon stopped in his tracks when he saw what happened. He was about to run back when Beth caught his attention. Eddie wasint the only one to hear barkers rampage.

“take him and run.” Waylon said quickly as he handed over Noah. He didint want his son to be in harms way as he ran back.

“hey!!” Waylon yelled, grabbing barkers attention off the impaled Eddie. When Barker looked back toward Waylon he got a face full of rock. The loud sound of something on his mask cracking. The bright eye that picked up heat flickered before slowly dimming as it was too damaged from the blow to work.

Barker let out a deep growl as he charged at Waylon. Waylons eyes went wide before he bolted down a tunnel to lead Barker away. Eddie was left alone to try and free himself from the pinned sword in his stomach.

Blood poured from the wound, causing Eddie to turn pale and exhausted. He tried repeatedly to remove the sword, but it wouldn't budge. Besides being pinned deeply into concrete the sword easily weighed around 200 pounds. Eddie stopped to catch his breath, surprised by artisan running up.

“god damn.” artisan said in shock, seeing the sword through Eddies gut. He removed his jacket to add some sort of protection to the wound. It helped stop what ever little amount of blood Eddie left from pouring out.

“g-go help Waylon.” Eddie stuttered a little angrily as artisan stopped to help him. Artisan nodded after he helped Eddie as much as he could. Running off in the direction Eddie pointed. Artisan knew with that wound he had a low chance of survival.

Waylon bolted down the halls, dodging the rubble as Barker charged recklessly through one wall after another. Waylon ran into a mining area and hid behind one of the large carts. Catching his breath while Barker trudged through to look for him. With the heat sensor broken Barker had to now rely on his regular sight.

Waylon grew tense as he prepared himself to run when he heard barkers heavy foot steps come closer and closer to the cart. He was only a few feet away when his attention was caught by artisan throwing rocks at his back. Waylon peeked out to see what was going on.

“break the tubing on his back!!” artisan yelled at Waylon. Waylon looked from artisan to Barker, spotting the obvious line of tubing going along the spine. Waylon grabbed a nearby rock and slammed it into the tubing. Out poured the bright neon blue painkiller that collected into the dirt.

Barker swung his other sword back. Just missing Waylon with his sword smashing into the huge metal cart. Denting it into a little folded lump with it flying off into the wall. Waylon knew better then to stay in the room after that. He dodged around Barker to meet up with artisan.

“we got rid of his painkiller. So it should be a matter of time before his body just gives up.” artisan said to Waylon as they ran.

Already the lack of pain killer was become obvious to Barker. The parts drilled into his legs and chest had shredded through all the tissue. Muscles far too damaged to handle the weight of running with the parts any longer. The pain killer was the only thing stopping the last bit of muscle from locking up in pure pain.

When Barker began slowing down with his uncooperative legs, Waylon and artisan stopped. Despite both barkers legs going lame he refused to stop. Continuing forward with the crushing weight. Artisan calmly picked up a large rock in both hands to toss it at barkers legs. The large weight of the hitting rock being the final straw on the camels back. Barkers leg went back too far causing it to snap backwards. The freshly broken leg forcing him to take a knee.

Even with a broken leg Barker still tried to rise back on his feet. Pure hatred being his only drive to keep him going. After his leg breaking it was like a domino effect. His shoulders began to crack with his ribs crushing between the armor plates like eggs under a lead brick. Barker gave one last push on the amour with his body to get up. He barely got up an inch before the Armour collapsed in on his body. His mutilated body still staying up from the weight of the Armour pieces acting as support.

Blood oozed out from every small opening of the Armour. Forming a pool of blood around him. It was like watching a human juicer in action.

“he ain't getting up now.” artisan said. Waylon snapped his attention away from Barker when Eddie came to mind. Waylon ran through the tunnels begging god that Eddie wasint dead.

When Waylon arrived he saw Beth sitting by the barely conscious Eddie with Noah still in her arms. Waylon got next to Eddie on the floor. Tears welling up as he saw how pale and unresponsive Eddie was.

“come on Eddie, please don't die.” Waylon cried as he grabbed Eddies hand.
“you survived impalement for gods sake. You can survive this.” Waylon cried, getting a weak smile out of Eddie.

“don't cry.” Eddie said, barely above a whisper.

“don't die.” Waylon begged, sniffling through some tears. Eddie gave him another small smile.

“you were … the best family, I ever had.” Eddie spoke carefully to not mess up his words. Waylon practically broke down crying against Eddies hand.

“please don't die boogeyman.” Noah spoke sadly, getting a small smile both out of Eddie and Waylon.

Waylon swallowed back his tears long enough to kiss Eddie.

“you cant leave me.” Waylon cried, desperate to somehow keep Eddie alive.

“iam sorry … darling.” Eddie breathed out. Waylon hugged him tightly as Eddie closed his eyes.

Waylon sat still under the hot sun. he breathed in the fresh air as the gentle breeze blew over him and the tall golden grass. A year had passed since leaving the apple town under Murkoff. Artisan had fully adopted Noah with them living near by. Beths father returned after getting a call from police about all that's happened. Now they were living in a nicer town with her father working a high paying job. After the incident Waylon was taken care of at the hospital. Cleaned up and given a small amount of pain killer for the weeks worth of painful cramping muscles. Any wounds he had were stitched, rebandaged, sterilized, and carefully watched.

Once everybody was patched up and reunited. Waylon was approached by the CIA and FBI that had investigated this matter. Waylon was incredibly hesitant at first to share. paranoid that they were Murkoff in disguise. Eventually though he trusted them and handed over the USB containing multiple files that he got off barkers computer.

A week later he saw the whole issue reported on all the news stations. Waylon was constantly asked for interviews during his hospital stay. Asked to be on live TV shows or just have some written reviews. Waylon only gave out one, mostly to get it over with and to let other reporters know that he wanted to be left alone after his hospital stay. he would refuse any more interview requests he got after that last one.

Finally after half a year the reporters stopped stalking him to the grocery stores for interviews. Only because the FBI stepped in with a warning. Both the CIA and FBI had been keeping close watch on Waylon. Putting him into full witness protection. New bank accounts and identity papers specifically made and given to Waylon to protect him from any Murkoff staff still hunting for him.

Waylon stretched, cracking his back in the process before leaning back to lie down.

“ah, geeze!” Eddie yelped as Waylons elbow hit Eddies healing stomach area.

“oh, sorry.” Waylon apologized. Back in the mines when Waylon ran off to see Eddie, artisan ran off for an emergency phone. He managed to get a helicopter to fly in with a huge team of paramedics and doctors. Since they couldn't remove the massively heavy knife from Eddie, they had to preform emergency treatment around it. They attached 6 different IVs. Cauterize the wound around the knife with a blow torch to shut it until the knife could be removed. Gave multiple blood fusions over the course of 3 hours till they were able to get a bulldozer in to lift the knife up and out.

They got Eddie to the hospital for emergency surgery and care. Organ transplants were needed, countless x rays, MRI's, more blood transfusions and For the next 6 months Eddie had been kept in a medical coma. When Eddie was finally allowed out of the coma he had to stay in emergency care for another 2 months before he was allowed to go home.

During that time artisan adopted Noah, Waylon got a really good job doing graphic design jobs from home. Gaining enough money that he was able to buy the house off artisan. Waylon had been caring for Eddie since he got home. Making sure he took his pain killers and didint try to sneak any foods he wasint allowed to eat out of his liquid diet.

His stomach area still had a long way to go in healing. He had to get a stomach transplant, liver transplant, and surgery to reattach his intestines together. Due to that he had to stay on a liquid diet for a few more months as they healed. Even after a year he still had a huge gash going across his stomach, needing to ware a long bandage wrapped around his waist till the stitching could finally be removed.

“i still don't think you should eat regular food while I cant.” Eddie grumbled. hating that Waylon still got to eat things like bacon or chicken while he could only eat puree fruit, mixed with vitamin pills.

“don't worry. In a few more months ill take you to a steak house. Okay?” Waylon smiled and kissed Eddies cheek.

“first thing i am gonna order is that record breaker 20 pound steak that they advertise on the posters inside. Then i am gonna ask for some blended sausage and blood in a glass. Fucking sick of puree fruit and vegetables. Feel like i am eating baby food.” Eddie said.

“whatever you want.” Waylon chuckled. Waylon was happy to still have Eddie around. The first scare of having him die was bad enough without the second scare of him being arrested during his time in a coma.

Despite all that happened Eddie was still a wanted criminal who committed great acts of horror. Waylon was having panic attacks each time he had to attend court on behave of Eddie. Constant debates during the hearings on why Eddie, an insane criminal, should be allowed to stay free.

Months passed and thankfully due to help from artisans persuasion of the courts and the peoples due to mass news coverage of Waylons plight. Eddie was pardoned and allowed to stay free. On the grounds that Eddie stay with waylon, artisan continued supervising Eddie, and Eddie didint not commit another crime unprovoked.

“want to head inside and eat?” Waylon asked.

“eat what?” Eddie asked.

“puree avocado mixed with squash and kiwi juice.” Waylon said.

“hate avocados.” Eddie groaned.

“i know, but its required for your diet. Doctors orders, now come on.” Waylon smiled as he got up.