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“Ugh this is so baggy.” Josie complained as she tried to get comfortable in her new green jumpsuit.
“Sorry it was the smallest I could find on short notice.” Gretty replied as they walked through the door.
Once opened Josie saw the factory Gretty had described earlier for the first time. It was a large warehouse with ceilings taller than Josie could possibly imagine. There were boxes of things from toys to clothing and other trinkets being produced with just as many beastling workers shuffling around busy with their jobs. They were all in matching jumpsuits and Josie briefly remembered seeing something similar when she was escaping Wool Works with Peg days earlier.
“This is Cobalt Hall.” Gretty explained as Josie followed her around. “This is where all the Beastlings trapped here work and live. Most of them are prisoners whose sentences were sold off to the Park and forced to work, others just got unlucky like me and ended up here. Either way anyone here is essentially forgotten.”
“If some of them are prisoners,” Josie asked as they walked around. “Wouldn’t they be free after they served their time?”
Gretty shook her head. “For people like Tezuka, it’s relatively cheap to buy out a Prisoner’s sentence, especially Beastlings. It’s just as cheap just to make the powers that be not worry about pesky things like freeing them. It’s awful but of course Tezuka and his company denies it all.”
"What about the guards? I thought this place would be crawling with those Gawain thingies?”
“Now there’s something not so cheap.” Gretty replied. “They’re powerful weapons courtesy of the Custerdome. They’re mainly used as soldiers for the Ministry but from what I understand Tezuka has 2 himself. One above and one down here to keep us from escaping.”
Gretty realized as she was explaining everything that Josie had jumped up to one of the tables and started yelling.
“Hey! There’s only one guard! Stop working and let’s all get the Hell out of here!”
The workers nearby looked up at Josie. Some chuckled to themselves, others rolled their eyes and told her to shut up as they all went back to their work. Josie stood deflated until Gretty pulled her down.
“Josie! You can’t draw attention to yourself, I told you to keep a low profile!”
“Yeah but did you see, none of them even really reacted. They just went back to work. If there’s only one Gawain and almost a hundred of us, why don’t we just all attack at once.”
“Buddy,” Gretty said, kneeling and placing her hands on Josie’s shoulders. “It’s not as easy as you think. Every Beastling here has had their Feral Gland removed and outside of just removing their abilities it greatly weakens their natural strength and defenses. Gawain’s are tough for Beastlings at full strength but in their weakened state it’s a death sentence no matter how many of us attack it.”
“So how are we supposed to get out? Is there another way?”
Gretty shook her head. “No, the only way out is past the Gawain but I’ll have to explain it later. For now, you need to find some work and blend in with the others.”
Josie wanted to ask more questions but she knew if she was patient she’d get the answer she’d need. So instead she nodded and followed Gretty through the factory quietly and got ready for her first full day of work.
🌱🌱🌱
There were no windows or any hint to the happenings of the world above Cobalt Hall. Josie didn’t really mind as it reminded her of her times back when she worked in a factory herself. She wasn’t all that familiar with most of what was being made but the machinery was self explanatory enough and she was able to blend in quickly. After some hours a steam whistle blared signaling dinner and the end of the work day.
Josie lined up with the other Beastlings and followed their lead. She grabbed a small bowl and a spoon and waited for her turn to get a bowl of the disgusting gruel. She longed for sweets or a large steak but had to make due for now. The machine scooped a large dollop into her bowl and Josie gulped it down immediately. She raised her bowl for seconds but the machine blared. There were no options for seconds and between the machine’s screeching and the yelling of the other prisoners she quickly shuffled out of line to lick any remains from her bowl and spoon.
Once dinner was finished the lights of the warehouse shut down and everyone went to find a corner of the factory to sleep in. There were no beds or actual sleeping quarters so you just had to find a spot and make do. Josie being small was able to find a tight spot away from others and remembered what Gretty had told her earlier.
“Once the lights are off, I’ll come find you and I can explain my plan.”
Josie shut her eyes pretending to sleep but stayed alert as possible. After about an hour she was finally visited by Gretty and the two quietly walked to the other end of the factory to a large metal door.
“Is this the exit?” Josie asked with a whisper.
“Not quite.” Gretty replied as she easily pushed the door open.
Past the door was a long hallway, dimly illuminated by lights on the wall. Josie followed in silence until they reached a large open room with a simple locked door on the other side. Josie tried to rush past until Gretty put up her arm to stop her. She pointed to something in the center of the room and Josie squinted to try and focus her eyes in the darkness.
Where Gretty pointed was a chair but sitting in the chair was none other than the reason that Josie was captured, The Gawain. Josie had only seen it in a cloak but it seemed to have a body like a normal person. It’s head however was a mixture of plant life such as twigs, leaves and mushrooms sprouting from where it’s neck would be.
“So we just got to sneak past it?” Josie whispered.
Gretty silently shook her head and motioned for Josie to stand still. Gretty took 3 steps out of the Hallway and into the open area and the moment she did the lifeless Gawain sprung to life and bolted towards Gretty at full speed. Josie’s eyes widened as Gretty was able to return to the Hallway in just enough time to not get hurt. The Gawain reached where Gretty stood and stopped in its tracks before slowly turning around and returning to its seat.
“The minute you cross in there it will move.” Gretty whispered. “It’ll attack you until you run back to the hallway or until you're unconscious and can bring you back to the factory.”
Gretty lifted her jumpsuit revealing a nasty burn on her abdomen.
“I got this when I tried to escape months ago. Even though it’s been a while I’d need a special type of medicine to get it to heal properly.”
“That’s a nasty burn!” Josie exclaimed, poking at it and causing Gretty to snap at her.
“That’s not an excuse to poke it, Josie!.”
“So then what’s the plan?” Josie asked.
“That door has a simple lock, I saw it on one of my attempts to escape. I can pick it pretty easily but I need at least 10 minutes uninterrupted to do it.”
“Oh so I gotta’ be a distraction? Piece of cake!”
“Not quite, you have to distract it long enough for me to pick the lock which is easier said than done.”
“So you just brought me here to show me?”
Gretty shook her head and pulled out a watch she snagged from the production line. “The next few days we’re going to practice. See how long you can last. Once you can survive for ten minutes we’ll be ready to break out of here.”
Josie knocked her fists together as Kinto lightly wisped around her wrists. “Well watch the clock, we’re getting out of here tonight.”
Josie leapt from the hallway into the clearing causing the Gawain to jump from it’s seat and lunge towards her. She wouldn’t be caught off guard like last time and she even had Kinto supporting her movements. Her confidence grew as she easily dodge the Gawain’s attacks.
“See? What did I tell ya? Piece of cake!”
Josie found a small opening, reeled back her fist and slammed it right into the Gawain’s side. A punch like that would send most things flying but the Gawain slid only a few inches. It paused for a moment, as if calculating what just happened before lunging at Josie again, this time with higher intensity.
She continued to dodge but realized it was becoming increasingly difficult. Even with her free movement she wasn’t fighting at a hundred percent. She couldn’t find an opening and the harder she looked the more difficulty she found dodging the attacks. Eventually she leapt back into the hallway, kneeling next to Gretty while trying to catch her breath.
“How long was that?” Josie asked, watching as the Gawain turned back to sit in its seat right on cue.
Gretty sighed.
“One minute and thirty seconds.”
Josie fell back and laid on the ground, completely exhausted as Kinto dissipated from around her. She finally understood how daunting this challenge would be and realized she had a long road to finding her freedom.
🌱🌱🌱
Days passed and Gretty did her best to scrounge up whatever food she could to help Josie regain her strength. It seemed the more Josie ate the stronger her cloud, Kinto became. During the day Josie would work, without causing any problems. She’d find small secluded areas to take naps during her shifts because once everyone slept her and Gretty would go back to challenge Gawain and with each night that passed more and more time was added to the clock.
After two weeks of attempting to escape Josie felt like any day she’d hit the ten minute mark. She was happily working, daydreaming about escaping and reuniting with Peg. She had seen and learned so much even with just being trapped down here and she wanted to tell her everything. She also wanted Peg to meet Gretty and see if maybe the three of them could continue their journey together. The more companions the better is what Josie thought.
BANG!
A shot rang out and Josie’s head whipped around to follow the sound. Without a word she ran towards the commotion. For the first time in weeks Josie saw human guards and they were screaming at the prisoners.
“Listen up you dirty freaks, today’s the anniversary and there are many important guests visiting today. Which means we do not have room for faulty products…”
He glanced down holding a gun over a Beastling wearing a costume and already leaking blood.
“Or any error in performances.”
He fired three more shots into the whimpering beastling until it lay motionless on the cold floor. Two more human guards dragged the body away as the man with the gun turned to follow them.
“Another one…” Gretty whispered under her breath now standing behind Josie, she looked down and felt the tears well up in her eyes. “Those monsters in the park, they force some of us to do their games and little shows, acting out the roles of evil villains while their heroes fight and win the day but…”
The tears overflowed and Gretty fell to her knees sobbing next to Josie.
“But they want the show to be as real as possible, so they actually badly hurt the Beastlings. Most don’t make it and when they’re deemed useless they’re put down like rabid animals. We're treated like nothing and no one will speak up for us! And here I am, an idiot who got caught and more and more people will die and-”
“Gretty.” Josie spoke softly, turning her head to look at her. “I don’t know much about anything going on here. Even with all the days we’ve spent with you explaining, I don’t know if I can ever wrap my head around it. But anyone who treats people like this, human, beastling or whatever doesn’t deserve to walk around without a broken jaw.”
Josie walked past Gretty, returning to her station to do her work, but before she did stopped and whispered to Gretty.
“I don’t care what I have to do, but tonight’s the night. Tonight’s the night we get out of here, deal?”
Gretty wiped away her tears and smiled but as she reached up to shake Josie’s hand she noticed that Kinto had returned. It was faint of course, due to Josie never reaching her full strength from the lack of nutrition in Cobalt Hall. Each day after an attempt Josie wouldn’t be able to summon Kinto without another meal to regain her energy but somehow she brought the clouds back.
“You got yourself a deal Josie.” She shook her hand before standing to her feet. “I’ll get a lock pick kit ready.”
Only an hour later an alarm rang, signaling it was time for the prisoners to get dinner and turn in for the night. The bell rang earlier than usual, most likely due to the unrest earlier. Once everyone was asleep Josie felt a familiar tap against her shoulder and without a word followed Gretty for one last dance with the Gawain.
To Be Continued