Cliffton Fanfiction: Intractable - Chapter 8
This is the final chapter in my (I hope) epic fic for n3m3sis43's Cliffton. It's about the character Devin's mental instability, and the other chapters are linked below.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
---------
My relief is fucking short lived. Alex narrows his eyes at me and says, “Tell me what you’re doing, or I’ll tell Al.”
“Trying to fucking escape. What does it look like?” I mutter. I don’t have time for this.
“Escape? That’s not possible. I’ve tried to get into the major systems, and I couldn’t,” Nem says. I notice he’s holding hands with Alex.
“A little bird gave me instructions for getting out of here, okay?” I say. “And if you don’t want me to tell on you, I would fucking shut up.” Doubt those two want their forbidden activities revealed.
I turn back to the CompuPanel, my heart fucking hammering. I don’t dare look at the clock anymore. I stick the next MobiDrive into the CompuPanel. Fucking hope it’s the one that’ll open all the doors. It just shows me a bunch of what looks like code. Endless streams of numbers and strange symbols I’ve never seen before. No doors open. I pull it out and stash it in my pocket -- thing makes no fucking sense, but it might come in handy later. Maybe.
“You’re taking us with you,” Alex mutters.
The fuck? My heart hammers even worse. Don’t want any tagalongs. Can’t fucking afford it. I don’t trust those two. Don’t trust anyone.
“Or I will tell Al. Even if that means you tell on us,” he says. His voice is fucking threatening.
I’ve got no choice, do I? “Fine,” I sigh, “you can come with me. Look out for any doctors or Care Assistants.” If I had time, I wouldn’t let them. Can’t think of a way to get rid of those two, though.
Fucking drop the next MobiDrive when I try to stick it in. Lean down and grab it. I can’t help seeing the clock -- 5:04PM. Fuck. When I jam the thing into the CompuPanel, it’s fucking chaos.
Alarms go off everywhere -- and every single door in the hallway pops open.
People flood into the hallway. I yank the MobiDrive out. Stick it in my pocket. My heart beats so fucking hard, I think I might die. Can’t breathe. Gotta keep it together, Devin. I make a run for it.
Alex and Nem follow me. Three security guards block the entrance. Shit. Where did they come from? We’re screwed. It’s over.
But it’s not. Nem rushes the guards. Knees one of them in the groin. He falls. The other two attack, and it’s a fucking blur. Limbs flying everywhere, moving almost faster than I can see. Can’t believe what’s going on. Nobody else in the hallway is moving -- it’s like what happened with Rose, but freakier.
The fuck?
Everything stops. The three guards are down. Lying in a heap. Looks like a bunch of bones got broken. Alex’s jaw drops. Nem stands there, uninjured and grinning. Not even a bit out of breath. “And you thought all hackers were wimps,” he says.
No way is that guy human. No fucking way. Don’t have time to think about it now, though. I give myself a shake and step over the heap of guards. Try to remember which way to go as alarms continue to blare.
One door triggers something in my memory. That’s the one. It’s gotta be. I go through it, Alex and Nem not far behind.
“You should shut the door so they can’t follow us,” Nem says.
I do that. The door clicks shut. Don’t think we can go back that way, now. This hallway’s dark and narrow. I don’t fucking like it, but we have to keep going forward.
And going forward. And going forward. Hallway seems to never end. Even weirder? No fucking doors on either side of it now. And it’s sloping downwards, like we’re tunneling into the fucking Earth. The fuck?
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Alex mutters from behind me. He sounds annoyed. His fucking fault for following me.
I don’t answer him. Hallway never seems to fucking end. And the noises. Weird echoes. Don’t like that.
After a long fucking time, we find two doorways. One on either side of the hall. Identical. Worse, I don’t know which door is the right one. Vague memories of the map in my mind. That’s it. I think this is the right hallway, but the doors? Can’t fucking tell one from the other.
“Which way do we go?” Nem whispers. He’s afraid -- I can hear it in his voice. Who wouldn’t be, though? This place looks like something out of a monster vid.
Alex walks to the door on my right. “Let’s take this one,” he says. “You lead the way, Devin.”
I nod. Might as well choose that door. Don’t fucking trust Alex, but it’s not like I know which one to pick. There’s just one problem.
When I try to push the door open, it’s locked. Of fucking course. Having every door open would be too easy.
Nem points to what looks like a small CompuPanel on the side of it. “Try one of your MobiDrives,” he murmurs.
Think I hear fucking footsteps. No way. Can’t have people coming after us now. Heart hammering, I press my hand to the panel. Nothing. I smack the panel. Still fucking nothing.
I smack the panel a second time. Again, nothing. Air sucks in here -- can’t fucking breathe.
Those footsteps get louder. Sounds like a bunch of people walking in unison, like guards would. Fuck. I can’t get caught now. I won’t.
When I try the third MobiDrive, it doesn’t fucking work.
A bunch of guards appears. Five of them. Armed. Nanoblasters pointed right at us.
It’s fucking over. I turn to face the guards, lifting my hands in surrender. Nem lifts his hands, too. Guess even he doesn’t wanna take on five fucking armed guards. But he looks tense, like he might strike. Maybe he can save us?
Alex doesn’t lift his hands. The fuck? Why does he look so relaxed?
“We owe you quite the thank you, Alex,” the guard in the middle murmurs. Think he’s the leader.
Wait, what?
“I’m always happy to help root out troublemakers and flaws in the security system,” he says. Sounds so fucking smug. “Recruiting an unwitting hacker like Nem here proved so very useful.”
The fuck?
“You -- you were on their side the whole time? What about us?” Nem breathes. He can’t fucking believe it.
My stomach sinks, but I’m not surprised. Knew it was bad news to involve other people in my escape.
“I was,” Alex says. “How else do you think we got away with so much?”
“How. Dare. You,” Nem shouts. His voice shakes with rage as he glares at Alex. “I love you, and you do this?”
He fucking charges the guards. Doesn’t seem to notice as he’s hit with several rounds of glowing nanoblaster fire. Scares the shit out of the guards. Scares the shit out of me. Like before, Nem turns the men into a whirl of limbs. Trained fighters have no idea what to do with this enraged kid. The weapons involved don’t seem to fucking matter because he somehow disarms four of the guards. Their blasters skid away from the fight. I pick one up. No idea how to fucking use it, but it doesn’t hurt to be armed.
Alex picks up a nanoblaster, too. I worry he’s gonna try to hit Nem with it, but he doesn’t. Just fucking stands there. “No,” he breathes.
Nem bends and dodges and kicks and punches. Like nothing I have ever seen. Fucking inhuman. A sweeping kick knocks down three guards. The last armed guard does shoot his blaster. Misses Nem. Fucking hits Alex in the chest instead. He screams and falls, dropping his weapon. Bastard deserves it.
Moments later, the guards are down in a heap. Not moving.
While Nem might not be human, he’s in bad fucking shape this time. Covered in blaster burns. Clothes in tatters. He collapses. I walk over to him and kneel by his side. “Thanks for saving me, dude. You can’t fucking die now,” I say. My voice shakes. Don’t want any death. Can’t have any death.
“No -- problem,” he croaks. “But I’m -- gonna die.”
Alex staggers over to us, a hand clutching his chest. I point my nanoblaster at him. My hands are shaking. The fuck am I doing? Alex fucking drops his weapon. “I mean no harm,” he mutters.
“Right,” I snort.
He kneels by Nem and fucking takes his hand. Nem’s too weak to resist. And there are tears in Alex’s eyes. The fuck?
“I’m sorry, Nem,” he murmurs, voice cracking. “I -- never meant for you to get hurt. Definitely never meant for you to die.”
Nem’s eyes shine as he looks at Alex. “Did it -- did it mean anything to you? Any of it?” he asks. Sounds both angry and hurt. Different from the rage of just moments before.
“It did. You won’t believe me, but I -- love you, too,” he whispers. “It started as a lie, but who could resist you? I wasn’t -- strong enough to switch sides for real, but it looks like my betrayal got me, too. I’m hit pretty bad.” He hisses in pain.
“I don’t think I can believe you,” Nem mutters, looking away from Alex. “Please let go of my hand.”
Alex fucking kisses him on the lips and says, “Okay” before letting go of Nem.
Nem stops moving -- he’s dead, isn’t he? I can’t fucking make myself check. Everything now is hollow and unreal. Nem dead. Alex, a traitor. Escape fucking ruined. I hug myself, grabbing my arms. Squeeze them hard enough it hurts. Need the fucking pain now. Gotta ground myself, or I’ll go crazy. Am crazy.
Alex fucking reaches into one of his pockets. Pulls out a MobiDrive. “Take this,” he says.
I stare at him. No way am I taking any of his shit.
“It will give you your freedom. Activate the CompuPanel on the door you didn’t already try. Stick this MobiDrive in that CompuPanel, and it’ll open all the doors from here to the exit. Only two more doors before you’re out. After you go through the door with the activated panel, make your first left and then a right at the end of the hallway you just entered. The door at the end of that hallway will lead to the outside. After that, run. As far as you can. You better hurry before more guards come,” he says. Tries to hand me the MobiDrive.
Trust him this time, a voice echoes in my mind. Think I see something flicker at the corner of my vision.
The fuck? It’s Ernest.
The boy from my dreams lead me to here, so why should I trust him? But I do. I take Alex’s MobiDrive. Don’t even thank him for it. Do look at Nem’s face, though it makes me sick to see his body. “Sorry, Nem,” I mutter. I shouldn’t have trusted Alex, and Nem shouldn’t have fucking trusted me. I’m poison.
I stand up and walk over to the other door. When I press the drive into the door’s CompuPanel, it activates. Alarms go off. Of fucking course. I turn back to look at Alex. He’s still on the floor, watching me. The door pops open. I nod at Alex and go through it. Why am I bothering?
Despite how fucking stupid this is, I follow his instructions. Make the turns he told me to. Hallways are brighter now. Slope fucking upwards.
I can’t let myself think about what just happened. Too fucking awful. I hug myself again and grab my arms. Need the pain. I’m fucking shaking when I make it to what Alex said is the final door. No CompuPanel or anything. Just a door.
And it’s fucking open. Sunlight leaks through it. Sunlight. At least, I think that’s what that is. I blink from the brightness. Have to shield my eyes as I push the door open. That is fucking sunlight. I go through the door. And feel grass beneath my feet. Actual fucking grass. As far as the eye can see. There’s a fence a few hundred feet away. With a big fucking hole in it. I run towards the hole. No guards come after me.
When I squeeze through the hole, I don’t so much as look back at the Home for the Intractably Insane. I run as fast as I can away from the place.
I’m fucking free.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
---------
My relief is fucking short lived. Alex narrows his eyes at me and says, “Tell me what you’re doing, or I’ll tell Al.”
“Trying to fucking escape. What does it look like?” I mutter. I don’t have time for this.
“Escape? That’s not possible. I’ve tried to get into the major systems, and I couldn’t,” Nem says. I notice he’s holding hands with Alex.
“A little bird gave me instructions for getting out of here, okay?” I say. “And if you don’t want me to tell on you, I would fucking shut up.” Doubt those two want their forbidden activities revealed.
I turn back to the CompuPanel, my heart fucking hammering. I don’t dare look at the clock anymore. I stick the next MobiDrive into the CompuPanel. Fucking hope it’s the one that’ll open all the doors. It just shows me a bunch of what looks like code. Endless streams of numbers and strange symbols I’ve never seen before. No doors open. I pull it out and stash it in my pocket -- thing makes no fucking sense, but it might come in handy later. Maybe.
“You’re taking us with you,” Alex mutters.
The fuck? My heart hammers even worse. Don’t want any tagalongs. Can’t fucking afford it. I don’t trust those two. Don’t trust anyone.
“Or I will tell Al. Even if that means you tell on us,” he says. His voice is fucking threatening.
I’ve got no choice, do I? “Fine,” I sigh, “you can come with me. Look out for any doctors or Care Assistants.” If I had time, I wouldn’t let them. Can’t think of a way to get rid of those two, though.
Fucking drop the next MobiDrive when I try to stick it in. Lean down and grab it. I can’t help seeing the clock -- 5:04PM. Fuck. When I jam the thing into the CompuPanel, it’s fucking chaos.
Alarms go off everywhere -- and every single door in the hallway pops open.
People flood into the hallway. I yank the MobiDrive out. Stick it in my pocket. My heart beats so fucking hard, I think I might die. Can’t breathe. Gotta keep it together, Devin. I make a run for it.
Alex and Nem follow me. Three security guards block the entrance. Shit. Where did they come from? We’re screwed. It’s over.
But it’s not. Nem rushes the guards. Knees one of them in the groin. He falls. The other two attack, and it’s a fucking blur. Limbs flying everywhere, moving almost faster than I can see. Can’t believe what’s going on. Nobody else in the hallway is moving -- it’s like what happened with Rose, but freakier.
The fuck?
Everything stops. The three guards are down. Lying in a heap. Looks like a bunch of bones got broken. Alex’s jaw drops. Nem stands there, uninjured and grinning. Not even a bit out of breath. “And you thought all hackers were wimps,” he says.
No way is that guy human. No fucking way. Don’t have time to think about it now, though. I give myself a shake and step over the heap of guards. Try to remember which way to go as alarms continue to blare.
One door triggers something in my memory. That’s the one. It’s gotta be. I go through it, Alex and Nem not far behind.
“You should shut the door so they can’t follow us,” Nem says.
I do that. The door clicks shut. Don’t think we can go back that way, now. This hallway’s dark and narrow. I don’t fucking like it, but we have to keep going forward.
And going forward. And going forward. Hallway seems to never end. Even weirder? No fucking doors on either side of it now. And it’s sloping downwards, like we’re tunneling into the fucking Earth. The fuck?
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Alex mutters from behind me. He sounds annoyed. His fucking fault for following me.
I don’t answer him. Hallway never seems to fucking end. And the noises. Weird echoes. Don’t like that.
After a long fucking time, we find two doorways. One on either side of the hall. Identical. Worse, I don’t know which door is the right one. Vague memories of the map in my mind. That’s it. I think this is the right hallway, but the doors? Can’t fucking tell one from the other.
“Which way do we go?” Nem whispers. He’s afraid -- I can hear it in his voice. Who wouldn’t be, though? This place looks like something out of a monster vid.
Alex walks to the door on my right. “Let’s take this one,” he says. “You lead the way, Devin.”
I nod. Might as well choose that door. Don’t fucking trust Alex, but it’s not like I know which one to pick. There’s just one problem.
When I try to push the door open, it’s locked. Of fucking course. Having every door open would be too easy.
Nem points to what looks like a small CompuPanel on the side of it. “Try one of your MobiDrives,” he murmurs.
Think I hear fucking footsteps. No way. Can’t have people coming after us now. Heart hammering, I press my hand to the panel. Nothing. I smack the panel. Still fucking nothing.
I smack the panel a second time. Again, nothing. Air sucks in here -- can’t fucking breathe.
Those footsteps get louder. Sounds like a bunch of people walking in unison, like guards would. Fuck. I can’t get caught now. I won’t.
When I try the third MobiDrive, it doesn’t fucking work.
A bunch of guards appears. Five of them. Armed. Nanoblasters pointed right at us.
It’s fucking over. I turn to face the guards, lifting my hands in surrender. Nem lifts his hands, too. Guess even he doesn’t wanna take on five fucking armed guards. But he looks tense, like he might strike. Maybe he can save us?
Alex doesn’t lift his hands. The fuck? Why does he look so relaxed?
“We owe you quite the thank you, Alex,” the guard in the middle murmurs. Think he’s the leader.
Wait, what?
“I’m always happy to help root out troublemakers and flaws in the security system,” he says. Sounds so fucking smug. “Recruiting an unwitting hacker like Nem here proved so very useful.”
The fuck?
“You -- you were on their side the whole time? What about us?” Nem breathes. He can’t fucking believe it.
My stomach sinks, but I’m not surprised. Knew it was bad news to involve other people in my escape.
“I was,” Alex says. “How else do you think we got away with so much?”
“How. Dare. You,” Nem shouts. His voice shakes with rage as he glares at Alex. “I love you, and you do this?”
He fucking charges the guards. Doesn’t seem to notice as he’s hit with several rounds of glowing nanoblaster fire. Scares the shit out of the guards. Scares the shit out of me. Like before, Nem turns the men into a whirl of limbs. Trained fighters have no idea what to do with this enraged kid. The weapons involved don’t seem to fucking matter because he somehow disarms four of the guards. Their blasters skid away from the fight. I pick one up. No idea how to fucking use it, but it doesn’t hurt to be armed.
Alex picks up a nanoblaster, too. I worry he’s gonna try to hit Nem with it, but he doesn’t. Just fucking stands there. “No,” he breathes.
Nem bends and dodges and kicks and punches. Like nothing I have ever seen. Fucking inhuman. A sweeping kick knocks down three guards. The last armed guard does shoot his blaster. Misses Nem. Fucking hits Alex in the chest instead. He screams and falls, dropping his weapon. Bastard deserves it.
Moments later, the guards are down in a heap. Not moving.
While Nem might not be human, he’s in bad fucking shape this time. Covered in blaster burns. Clothes in tatters. He collapses. I walk over to him and kneel by his side. “Thanks for saving me, dude. You can’t fucking die now,” I say. My voice shakes. Don’t want any death. Can’t have any death.
“No -- problem,” he croaks. “But I’m -- gonna die.”
Alex staggers over to us, a hand clutching his chest. I point my nanoblaster at him. My hands are shaking. The fuck am I doing? Alex fucking drops his weapon. “I mean no harm,” he mutters.
“Right,” I snort.
He kneels by Nem and fucking takes his hand. Nem’s too weak to resist. And there are tears in Alex’s eyes. The fuck?
“I’m sorry, Nem,” he murmurs, voice cracking. “I -- never meant for you to get hurt. Definitely never meant for you to die.”
Nem’s eyes shine as he looks at Alex. “Did it -- did it mean anything to you? Any of it?” he asks. Sounds both angry and hurt. Different from the rage of just moments before.
“It did. You won’t believe me, but I -- love you, too,” he whispers. “It started as a lie, but who could resist you? I wasn’t -- strong enough to switch sides for real, but it looks like my betrayal got me, too. I’m hit pretty bad.” He hisses in pain.
“I don’t think I can believe you,” Nem mutters, looking away from Alex. “Please let go of my hand.”
Alex fucking kisses him on the lips and says, “Okay” before letting go of Nem.
Nem stops moving -- he’s dead, isn’t he? I can’t fucking make myself check. Everything now is hollow and unreal. Nem dead. Alex, a traitor. Escape fucking ruined. I hug myself, grabbing my arms. Squeeze them hard enough it hurts. Need the fucking pain now. Gotta ground myself, or I’ll go crazy. Am crazy.
Alex fucking reaches into one of his pockets. Pulls out a MobiDrive. “Take this,” he says.
I stare at him. No way am I taking any of his shit.
“It will give you your freedom. Activate the CompuPanel on the door you didn’t already try. Stick this MobiDrive in that CompuPanel, and it’ll open all the doors from here to the exit. Only two more doors before you’re out. After you go through the door with the activated panel, make your first left and then a right at the end of the hallway you just entered. The door at the end of that hallway will lead to the outside. After that, run. As far as you can. You better hurry before more guards come,” he says. Tries to hand me the MobiDrive.
Trust him this time, a voice echoes in my mind. Think I see something flicker at the corner of my vision.
The fuck? It’s Ernest.
The boy from my dreams lead me to here, so why should I trust him? But I do. I take Alex’s MobiDrive. Don’t even thank him for it. Do look at Nem’s face, though it makes me sick to see his body. “Sorry, Nem,” I mutter. I shouldn’t have trusted Alex, and Nem shouldn’t have fucking trusted me. I’m poison.
I stand up and walk over to the other door. When I press the drive into the door’s CompuPanel, it activates. Alarms go off. Of fucking course. I turn back to look at Alex. He’s still on the floor, watching me. The door pops open. I nod at Alex and go through it. Why am I bothering?
Despite how fucking stupid this is, I follow his instructions. Make the turns he told me to. Hallways are brighter now. Slope fucking upwards.
I can’t let myself think about what just happened. Too fucking awful. I hug myself again and grab my arms. Need the pain. I’m fucking shaking when I make it to what Alex said is the final door. No CompuPanel or anything. Just a door.
And it’s fucking open. Sunlight leaks through it. Sunlight. At least, I think that’s what that is. I blink from the brightness. Have to shield my eyes as I push the door open. That is fucking sunlight. I go through the door. And feel grass beneath my feet. Actual fucking grass. As far as the eye can see. There’s a fence a few hundred feet away. With a big fucking hole in it. I run towards the hole. No guards come after me.
When I squeeze through the hole, I don’t so much as look back at the Home for the Intractably Insane. I run as fast as I can away from the place.
I’m fucking free.