Chapter Text
Queen
She was the greatest. To be worshiped.
The finest meat, going to another?
Inconceivable.
If she could not have it, no one could.
Cattle was to be used. But it would not be harvested unless it was for her.
.
Emma
Where had it all gone wrong? Emma stared into empty space.
We were going to scout out what was on the other side of the wall. Everything was going as planned and then… her hand clenched around the pen in her grasp.
“Congratulations, my dear children. Norman, Ray, Don. You, along with Anna, Nat, Thoma, and Lannion are being transferred.”
Mama smiled that smile– that same smile–
Connie’s body was so small–
“Why don’t you go get your siblings and let them know?”
There was pain in her leg and it hurt, but it was numb compared to the despair of discovering that her siblings were being shipped off. Where were they going? How did Mama know who was in on the secret? Were they being killed? What could she do? How could she fix this!?
There was nothing. Emma could do nothing. She couldn’t even go see them off, acting like nothing was wrong… that was impossible because…
“There’s a cliff,” Norman had said.
Ray had looked to the side with his jaw clenched. Anna let tears slip down her face, Nat stared into space, Thoma and Lannie cried as they clung on to each other… Don tightened his fists with tense shoulders, and Gilda collapsed with her face in her hands. Emma wished they would shout. That they would scream and fight and anything to show that they weren’t just— just… giving up.
But, a voice whispered in her mind, what could they do?
Something, she wanted to shout back, they could do— something, there has to be something—!
The voice just laughed.
“Emma,” that sickly sweet voice brushed over her ears, and she tensed.
“Are you not going to say goodbye to your siblings?”
“...”
Mama sighed, and closed the door.
Emma sank back into the silence.
“Emma?” she twitched, eyes shifting to the door.
“Phil… ” the younger boy slipped into the infirmary and closed the door behind him, trotting over to where Emma was sitting on the bed.
“Emma...” he looked up at her as she stared at him numbly.
“They’re gone aren’t they… ”
Phil nodded sadly, “Mama said there were some families adopting...”
“...” Emma didn’t respond. She looked down at her lap, adoption… “That’s what we thought before...” she murmured under her breath.
Phil was silent for a few moments before speaking again, “Emma, Norman wanted me to tell you something.”
Emma tilted her head up to look at Phil.
“‘Look in my drawer, there are some presents for you,’” Phil said, and his voice echoed Norman’s so much.
Norman’s drawer, Norman’s drawer-
“Ne, Emma?”
Emma froze where she had shifted to get up.
“Emma,” Phil repeated, “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
Because he didn’t know, Emma’s throat squeezed and she bent over the side of the bed, retching, because everyone who knew is gone and we were planning to tell others but now it’s too late, and all that planning has gone to waste because there weren’t enough people to follow it and Oh god, Gilda!
Gilda wasn’t shipped, she wasn’t, she was “safe” but they couldn’t even talk because if Mama found out and got suspicious Gilda could get hurt!
“Emma!” Phil’s call brought her back to herself, “tell me what’s happening.”
From sixteen to nine.
“Okay,” she rasped, “okay.”
And as she spoke she could see Phil’s face crumpling in fear and sadness overlayed with memories replaying in her head.
“So Norman, Ray, Don… and the others… are going to be harvested, and Connie … and everyone else… ”
They’re all gone.
Days later, after she’s met with Gilda and they’ve both stopped, she’s still numb when Mama comes into the room and hugs her.
“Give up,” said the woman who raised her, “give up, and I can make you a Mama.”
She answered no. (But the idea won’t leave her head)
Months later, Emma sat in the dining room on Ray’s birthday.
And Gilda walked in.
“I found oil and matches under Ray’s bed,” was what Gilda started with.
“I’ve modified Norman’s plan,” was what Emma responded with.
Gilda’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses and her hands tightened around the box of oil.
“Ne, Gilda,” Emma said, hands held tightly in her lap, “I’m not leaving.”
Gilda stopped, stomach lurching, “You aren’t really giving up… are you?”
Emma smiled, and Gilda almost flinched at the look on her face.
“No, I’m not.”
Glida freed the breath that had caught in her throat, but Emma continued–
“Gilda, today, you, Dominic, Yvette, Chris, Mark, Jemima, Alicia, and Rossi will escape from Grace Field.”
Gilda tensed…
“Emma—”
“I,” Emma interrupted, “will stay and become a Mama.”
…and her heart dropped.
“What?!”
“Gilda,” Emma said, smile becoming sad, “I can’t leave the children.”
Gilda shook her head helplessly, “but I can’t take care of everyone myself!”
Emma only continued to smile, “I think you can,” she said, “and one day, when you meet up with Ray and the others, I’ll be your person on the inside.”
Gilda stared in confusion, wondering, not for the first time, if her friend had gone crazy. “Emma…”
The other girl’s smile became a little more forceful, “I’m sorry for interrupting you so much, Gilda, but you need to listen right now.”
Gilda closed her mouth and nodded.
“Ray, Norman, Don, and the others were transferred, not shipped out.”
“You know Emma, Ray and Norman could still be alive,” Emma looked up at Isabella in shock.
Mama only continued to smile.
“It’s quite interesting, your siblings are special, you see,” that once-warm smile felt so cold with the memory of a small body and red flowers, “I’ve raised such intelligent children.”
Emma couldn’t tell if she felt hope or horror.
“The instructions were actually to prepare them for transport rather than the usual shipment order, that’s quite a rare deviation.”
Warm arms wrapping around her.
“Shall I tell you a secret, sweet Emma?”
She couldn’t move.
“This isn’t the only farm. And this is not the only farm location. Those children have been transferred, not shipped. Isn’t that curious? I’m sure you can put the pieces together, my smart child.”
(Would those in charge care what the Mamas noticed? Perhaps they underestimated them, but Emma thought that would be foolish of them. The Mama candidates were all geniuses after all.)
There was something blooming in her chest, she could almost call it hope.
And that’s when she made her decision.
“... Gilda, you escape with the rest of the children, and go to B06-32. If Norman, Ray, Don, and the others are alive and can escape… that’s where they’ll be. I’ll stay here with Phil and the other children, and when the time comes, I’ll become a Mama.”
“No.”
Emma sighed, “Gilda—”
“No Emma, I’ve already listened to what you wanted to say. Now you listen to me.” Emma paused and nodded, prompting Gilda to speak.
“Emma, you’re coming with us. I don’t care if things go perfectly, if there’s even a slight chance of error, it’s better that you come along. You’re the one who can keep up with Norman and Ray, and you’re the oldest, so who knows what could happen after we leave,” there were tears in Gilda’s eyes, “Now that I’ve made my logical point,” she stepped forward, setting down the box of oil that was heavy in her arms.
And slapped Emma.
“You moron!” Gilda hissed in the whisper of a shout as she hugged the older girl, “you’re always worrying about others, but what about you!”
Emma’s eyes widened as something in her heart cracked. But they were gone. As much as she loved everyone else, they had been hers and they were gone.
Her eyes filled with tears, “Sorry,” she cried, “I’m sorry.”
.
“EMMA,” Gilda’s voice, filled with sorrow, tore through the house.
Everything was burning.
.
Isabella ran to the dining room, mind running a mile a minute.
Gilda was crouched near the edge of a blazing fire, screams and sobs tearing through her small frame.
The smell of burning flesh, hair, and wood permeated through the air.
Smoke bellowed in choking waves as angry red flames ate their way through the room.
Isabella’s stomach dropped, the premium grade–!
(The Mama candidate– the one I could save–!)
Running out of the room, she yelled at Yvette and Domnic to get the children out of the house.
If I could just save the brain!!
“Gilda, get out of here–”
–huh?
She was already gone.
Isabella checked her tracking watch.
Time slowed.
There was no tracker nearby other than the one in the fire.
She disabled the tracker?!?
.
“What about your tracker, Gilda?” Emma asked as they prepared the “Emma” that was going to be burnt using ingredients Chris and Mark had brought them.
Gilda just smiled, taking something out of her pocket, “Jemima took it out earlier today, so we could use it to burn in case we couldn't get yours out in time.”
“And this hair...” Emma nodded slowly and paused as she picked up two braids of pale hair. “This hair–”
“It’s Anna’s,” Gilda smiled sadly, “She cut it off before leaving…” she suddenly grabbed Emma’s cheek.
“Which you would know if you had come to see them off, you moron!”
“S-sowwy–” Emma said, clutching Gilda’s hand. She looked away as Gilda let her go, “... I regret that too.”
Gilda looked at her for a moment before sighing, “Well, there’s nothing to do about that now.”
Emma felt like a bobblehead, nodding to each instruction she was given.
“By the way, Gilda,”
“Hm?”
“Why do you need my tracker?”
“One tracker for the ‘you’ in the fire, and one for me. I’ll disable the one showing me before I leave.”
They had extra devices after all.
Emma nodded.
.
Isabella ran for the radio.
.
Gilda arrived at the wall just in time to help Rossi up and climb up herself.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Rossi asked her.
“I’m fine,” she answered, smiling reassuringly at him.
They caught up to the rest of the group just as Domnic slid down the rope that Emma had thrown over. All the children let out sighs of relief as they saw a light at the other side, showing his safe arrival.
Mark and Alicia shot ropes over next using modified bottle rockets, which Domnic tied tightly around nearby trees.
One by one, the children slid down the ropes, pushed by Gilda and Emma, until only Jemima remained with the two older girls.
“Emma, my hands...” Emma bit her lip.
“It’s okay,” Gilda said, picking up Jemima, “Emma, let's release one of the ropes.”
Emma nodded, signaling to the children on the other side to release a rope, and helped Gilda tie the two younger girls together.
“See you on the other side, Emma,” Gilda said, before jumping.
Emma watched them go before climbing the tree to untie one of the ropes there. She had just hooked her hanger over the last rope when-
“NO! EMMA!”
“Become a Mama.”
You could help the other children
The younger ones
The ones that don’t know anything yet.
B06-32 she mouthed to Gilda, whose distant eyes were filled with terror. There was no possible way the younger girl could see her face from such a distance, but this wasn’t for her. It was a prayer to the uncaring deity who allowed for children to be raised for slaughter. Emma’s promise to hold them accountable for her family’s safety.
“EMMA, NO!” she heard the echo like a whisper in the wind.
Emma smiled as she pulled out a scalpel and cut the last rope, leaving it to flutter in the wind.
I’ll be okay Gilda, this’ll take a target off of you. They won’t chase after you as much if there’s no “premium quality”… so be safe, okay?
“Mama,” she said, turning towards Isabella, she smiled, “Can I be a Mama like you?”
“Of course, Emma.” Isabella smiled that cold kind smile, and wrapped Emma up in her warm arms.
“I’m still not giving up,” the older woman paused at Emma’s words, whispered like a threat over her shoulder.
“I know they’ll survive, so I’ll wait,” Emma looked up at Isabella.
“And I’ll help as many kids as possible in the meanwhile.”
Isabella’s eyes widened, memories of an old tune playing through her head, before smiling sadly, bringing Emma into a tight hug.
I’m sure you will, She thought, If it’s you, I’m sure you will.
.
Ray
Why
They were all running.
Why
And then
Why!
It was just him running.
.
There was blood.
“LANI!”
He couldn’t run- he had to run but he couldn’t run- he couldn’t run- it hurt and he couldn’t breath and he was scaredscaredscared
They were laughing and the only thing he could see was his leg sitting in their claws-
His leg-his leg
They took his leg-
Everything was redredred
“Thoma NO!”
Lani was down he couldn’t leave Lani and now he was on the floor with a hole in his side and he still couldn’t reach Lani because everything hurt and his arm was gone-
And he was so, so scared
(Mama it’s cold)
“NAT!”
“Keep running! Leave me!” but he was scaredscaredscared and where his hands once were there was only a stump and a bloody mess and some part of his mind cried that he’ll never be able to play piano again and there was a fresh wave of pain then he knew his leg was shattered-
He wondered what death would be like
“ANNA!”
She was blacking out and somewhere in her head she was glad her hair was short, that it kept out of the holes in her stomach and the gashes across her neck and face and there was blood in her mouth and her eyes but she smiled because she couldn’t see Norman and Ray and Don which meant they might have been able to get away-
(But she didn’t want to die alone)
“Wait, Don!”
He couldn’t hear and couldn’t see and everything hurt so bad. He knew his bones were broken, if not shattered, that there was no part of his body that would move, and he could only hope that he could have bought even a little time for Norman and Ray because he knew if anyone could survive it would be those two–
He missed his family
Norman slid to a halt and twisted around, leaving his back to Ray, who stopped in confusion.
“Keep going Ray.”
“What?! Norman, I’m not leaving without you!”
“Listen—”
Ray interrupted, grabbing the collar of Norman’s top.
“Norman, I’ve spent this entire time making sure you and Emma-”
“Listen Ray. Take that pen—”
(There was a girl with braided hair on the ground.
“T-ake this pe-n”)
.
The small group missing their heart had picked up two more children, who claimed to be from an orphanage called “Grand Valley,” before the truck sped off to a new location. No one wanted to break it to the new kids that they were probably being killed, not adopted.
They were knocked out before waking in some sort of imitation town. They had only been there for a moment when the music started and they barely, barely survived, but just as they took a breath the music started again and the second hunt was going for their heads-
And then they were running running running but Lani went down because they ripped off his leg and Thoma was running back for him and reaching out but a swipe of a claw took his arm and left a hole in his side and they couldn’t do anything because the weapons didn’t hurt the demons at all—
And Nat was shooting at the demons but then his gun was gone and so was his hand, and he just barely moved the other one out of the way, but it was still torn flesh and blood and he fell and he was telling them to keep going and there was a demon stomping on his leg laughing
Anna pushed them forward as a claw stabbed through her stomach and she was crying but she was also smiling and she was mouthing “Keep going” but she was falling and now the demons were bearing down on them and they could only see her vague figure slowly crawling away even though she now had gashes in her face–
Don stopped and flipped around, running the other way. He turned his head and smiled at them when they called out, but there were tears in his eyes and the loud bangs of the gun shooting were ringing out, but that only made it more silent when the shooting stopped with a pained yell and the crack of a body hitting a tree.
“GET THE PREMIUM QUALITY!”
And they were running together, but the demons were faster and then Norman stopped-
“Listen Ray. Take that pen—” he said, “—and escape. Go to B06-32. When Emma and the others get out, they’ll meet you there.”
“Norman, there’s no way they all got out, and if it’s just Emma there’s no way she would leave them—” Ray was a cynic and this was an awful set up.
“They’ll make it out,” Norman interrupted with an unreasonable amount of confidence.
“Norman–!”
“They will. Now hurry up and go!”
“I won’t leave you!—” Ray was not here to survive without Norman or Emma.
“Escape for Emma!” but that was unfair.
Then the demons were there, so Ray reached out to push Norman and Norman reached out to push him and now they were running in different directions and Ray didn’t know where Norman was anymore and the only thing he could think of would be to get the demons to focus on him instead—
“Escape for Emma”
But if Norman was already dead they needed someone to meet Emma at the shelter— to tell her don’t go to Goldy Pond and keep her safe—
And he runrunruns to the tunnel they found earlier— the one they hadn’t explored yet, but it might’ve been a way out and they had been so close to escaping with everyone, but now it was too late—
(They were smart. So very smart. But even they needed a moment more of time.)
He picked up a gun (there were so many lost) as he left, and he’s running through the tunnels, and it’s quiet there, so he tried to stay quiet but then there's a demon and he just wanted it to go away so he shot it in the face and it—
Stayed.
Down.
Ray stared numbly.
This entire time, all that it would have taken was a single shot to the face?
He crawled closer.
The bullet had hit the left half of the demon’s middle eye.
“Ha…haha… hahahaHAHAaa,” a wretched laugh wheezed out of him.
“ahAHAHA...aaAAHHHHH,” his desperate cackling turned into devastated cries.
B06-32
Ah….
He had to go to B06-32.
.
Norman
“T-ake this pe-n”
(She was buried with 10 other children that had the same branding placement that she did.)
(It was clear the other members of their family that were spoken so much about at the park had been killed and taken to be eaten.
He was scared.)
He was so so scared, but he was the only one left. The only thing between these demons and Ray— and Ray needed to go to protect Emma, Ray could survive out there— better than Norman anyways.
There was a tall figure in front of him.
The being was… wearing a hat… with a monkey-like creature on its shoulder.
It spoke in a deep voice.
“Let’s play a game.”
He ran.
Ran and ran and ran as fast as he could.
Even as his arm and side were stabbed through, as he crumbled and crawled, dragging himself behind a tree, as his vision faded out, as a girl appeared and pulled him, and when he was hidden in a dark, dry place… as his mind never stopped planning—
As days, then months, then years passed, as he offered his hand to a child splattered in the blood of his lost family, then another, and another, and he spread his knowledge... something in him never stopped running.
He was scared.
(He wasn’t the one of the three who was fastest or strongest, he never was, he never would be, but he couldn’t stop running.)
.
.
.