>>5495738 >>5496862Decisions later. Movement now. You need to get up. The ground is not safe. With a grunt, you manage to force yourself onto your knees. From there you reach for the kitchen counter and use that to pull yourself up. You let out a deep breath as you do so, let go of the counter, and steady yourself. You hurt- you really do- but nothing immediately stands out to you as 'unable to operate', thankfully. If you really do have a major injury or sprain... well, you guess you'll find that out when you try to use it.
Now you have to... what did you have to do again? It's not to destroy this thing- it's to survive. You just need to not die, and ideally not be maimed, and you're in the clear. You need to leave. Now. While your 'friend' is still trying to get up.
But as you're abut to bolt, you remember one more thing. You're not accountable only for yourself. Madness and Folly are still around here. While they aren't, well, people, you've had the two of them for a long time and care about them. They're your friends. You have a responsibility to get them out of this in one piece, come hell or high water.
With that thought, you peer into your backpack. They're both gone. Fuck. You know Madness is in the living room, but where did Folly go? You're still going to do your best here but- well, they certainly aren't making it easy on you. What you wouldn't do for some squeaking or somethi-
squeak- no, not from you Madness.
Well, regardless, you should grab Madness first.You do your best to move out of range of the creature, which is still trying to steady itself on its uneven leg, and run to the couch. You lean down and grab Madness, who responds with some indignant chattering. As you do so, you force yourself to take an extra couple of seconds and sweep under the couch. In both a philosophical and very literal sense, Madness and Folly tend to appear together. If you take the time to look, you should have a good chance of finding Folly under the furniture nearby.
Much to your relief, 'a good chance' quickly turns into 'a guinea pig that is upset about being woken up in your right hand'. You withdraw your hand from under the couch and ignore your pets' angry stares as you try to fit them in one hand so you can unlock the front door. As you do so, you hear a noise from behind you. You can't help but glance back- the thing is up, and it's walking towards you.
No, no, no, no, no. Unlock the door. Unlock the door. There are footsteps behind you. Unlocked- good. Pull. Why didn't it open?! Pull harder- there you go. Now step back to give the door room to open, a-
Those footsteps are way too close.
You practically jump forward into the still opening door, but still manage to feel a sharp pain graze across your upper back. Fuck. Ow. It's nothing- you're sure it's nothing. Just keep running. Just keep running.
With that thought in your mind you rush out into the door and into the cold street, desperate to find a new shelter.
