Day 6: (Ab)normal Days

He looked over at Herbert and quirked an eyebrow. "It's not acting. It's being natural. Sound proud that you're getting out, and you'll be fine."

He looked to Eloise and nodded. "I have a list of things to do. That's at the top."

He watched them all get ready and shifted. "I...I gotta get going. Sorry. Good luck to you all. I'm sure you'll all be okay."

He saluted them all.

She nodded - she wasn't the best actor, but that all seemed doable. She heard a rhyme in David's speech and smiled a bit subconsciously. She smiled at him and bowed a bit. "Good luck to you too, David. You'll be fine too, I hope."

That was a new word for her. Hope. It felt nice.

She turned to Duobear. "I'm ready, too. Yes."

Laura glanced around the room one final time. It seemed as though everyone was getting ready to leave. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Adda grasping the goggles around her neck. Oscar's goggles. She thought to herself how sad it was that four of her classmates lost their lives in this school. Asher's death especially stuck out to her.

Then it hit her. "The rabbit!" she gasped, sitting erect. "The rabbit the rabbit the rabbit the loving rabbit!" She  began wheeling herself towards the door to the main office, then panicked and wheeled herself back to Eloise's side. "I can't believe I forgot Candy! It's still in my loving room!"

She gulped, staring down at her legs. "It's ok," she whispered to herself. "Asher would understand. I'll find his carny friends and... and..." She began to tear up. "Let's just go," she said solemnly.

Eloise mirrored David's salute, a bit sadly. "Same to you. Best of luck."

She moved to the back of Laura's chair, looking at her as if to ask if it was ok to push her. She was half-concerned that Laura would bolt out the second the door opened, and half-concerned she'd get left behind at the sidewalk. She felt bad about the rabbit, after all she was leaving the broken mask in her room. She shrugged to herself, she didn't need it.

Adda nodded to David.

"Thanks for this.  Do your best out there."

The two bears nodded. "Five yes's. We're going, now. Everyone get ready...!"

"Three....two...one!"

They flung the door open, and into a world of black and white.

The schools lawn was freshly cut, smelling fresh. The school itself looked magnificent from the outside, one of the few still looking that way. Most of the buildings around were rickety and shoddily built. One or two people stared in awe as they walked out, but didn't approach.

It was raining - a light drizzle, but it was raining. The sky was gray.

In between the walk from the door to the sidewalk - there was a nice little path - was a gauntlet of too many bears to count - all ready to blow at any moment.

"One stood in front, laughing. "This is the part where I hold up my end of the deal." It walked out of the way, gesturing them to walk through the gauntlet. "Don't try any funny business, bastards, or I'll blow all of you sky-high! Upupupupupu!" As it laughed all the other bears laughed too - in a terrifying unison. The front one looked back.

"So, what are you waiting for?"

Adda swallowed hard and grabbed Marci's hand before walking on stiff legs behind Duobear.

This wasn't the time to blow it.

Literally.

Herbert's face was calm. He stepped forward, following.

This was for his only friend. And the chance to be reunited with his only other (presumably) living one.

Marci tried to walk calmly through the line of bears, but ended up looking more robotic than ever. She shielded herself from the rain with her arms, somewhat upset by the fact that her first look at the outside world was a raining one. It was poetic, to say the least.

"At least the lawn's cut nice." she said with a light tone of amusement, trying to get her mind off the 40 or so bears around her. "Nice to know they cared about something we'd never see until now."

Laura peered around the scene from behind Eloise. It was strange to see the outside world again for the first time in what was likely less than a week or so, but felt like an eternity and a half. She was startled when she noticed the group of Monobears confronting them.

"Damn, it's an army of them!" she stuttered. "They're not gonna try and kill us, are they?" she asked, looking up at her friend. "If my legs weren't down for the count I'd make a run for it..."

David ran off as the walked out. He took off his remaining glove, and looked at his bear hands. He took off the Monobear control panel and squashed it under his foot - it felt refreshing. He walked up to his room, after - he still had a few things to grab before everything ended.

A tie and a pair of gloves, specifically.

Adda smiled at her, making sure her eye didn't shift to focus on the bears.

"Well, this is a big deal for us, right?  It's the least they could do."

She stumbled on a small raise in the path, arms reaching forward.  She still hadn't fully adjusted to being short an eye.

The bears all looked at Laura, curiously. "Make a run for it...? That doesn't quite seem possible, now does it? Not on those legs!" They all laughed again. "Upupupupu...don't be afraid. We won't hurt you!"

One of the ones near Laura made a very familiar ticking sound.

"No, we'd never hurt you. Not now!"

Eloise took in the sight, devoured it before the doors could shut again or an explosion closed her eyes.
The monobears did much to ruin it, though.

She looked down at Laura and gave a smile, spinning around to the back of her wheelchair and pushing her steadily outside. They couldn't look nervous, so Eloise put as much of a skip into her dead slow steps as she could, looking straight ahead.
The ticking made her walk just that much faster.

Herbert started to tense when he heard ticking again. His pace stiffened and grew a little faster, ever fiber of his body ready to book it if he heard a blast again.

He looked up, trying to relax as he heard the rain at the same time. Impossible.

Marci grabbed Adda's hand and pulled her back up into a standing position, then continued walking. "You almost fell!" she chastised, holding her hand tighter. She looked back at the other three and tensed up - they seemed to be doing okay.

They were at the halfway mark. Maybe they'd make it.

Adda laughed sheepishly.

"Walking without normal vision's not as easy as one'd think..."

She squeezed Marci's hand tighter and looked straight ahead.

One of the bears looked at Herbert and laughed. The main one, who had walked over peered at him and laughed. "Thinking about someone? Is it Richyboy? Really, forget about him. He ain't worth your time!" It smiled at Herbert and shrugged. "Trust me, I know the kid, upupupupu!"

Laura could tell the bears were looking at her, but obviously didn't hear what they were saying. She kept her head low and advanced slowly through the line. Behind her, the door back into the hidden room grew farther and farther away. Laura thought about how she was leaving behind Asher in that dreadful school. "It's like we're walking away from a funeral," she said quietly. "And now I won't even have anything to remember him by."

Herbert looked over to the bear disdainfully, pulling his collar up and looking back forward.

He rubbed his bandaged hand and tried to think of Janice and the fact she may be alive. That was better than anything. He straightened his posture, a slight smile tugging on his lips. He wanted things to go back to normal so badly.

"Oh...I...I forgot, I'm sorry. I can imagine it's a bit more difficult than normal." she said casually. She looked ahead and sped up a bit, seeing the sidewalk. They were almost there, they were almost there...!

Eloise could feel all the cloud drift away as she walked into the rain. It was almost as if it never happened.
A slight pain in her head brought her back. She coudn't just disregard the kids they were leaving inside. Or the ones that she was hopefully going to see.

If the world was a changed place, how so?

The sidewalk was almost there. And then she could run.

The bear frowned. Obviously, it needed to do some better threatening.

"Ten went in. Five come out. You all are the survivors, I guess then! The other five...must have been to weak to survive." It laughed. "Yes, that makes sense. Survival of the fittest is something a bear understands very well! Upupupu!"