#wuckle

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Climber’s POV:

I'm dead. I'm dead. I am so fucking dead. Oh, Gods, why have you forsakened me like this?

The doors of this building won't open. I climbed around this… this thing and nothing. All that time I wasted running away trying to find people… my people… What happened to them?

Is it all going to be in vain? Even if I jump now, it will be of no use. I wasted all my saves trying to get here, repeating all of that again is of no use since the explosion made the main bridge collapse. Getting here again would be impossible… but for some reason, I'm still clinging to that hope. The hope that maybe the door will somehow open; that somehow my story isn’t over yet; there’s still things to stay strong for… like… Like…? Oh, yeah! The rare cockroach I caught! Pretty sure it got used to staying in my pocket by now — I can stay strong for it! Maybe…

Slumping back against the metal door, the pain in my entire body is finally able to process itself: my shoulders, knees, legs, arms, especially my damn hands. All that climbing left blisters all over my palms; I can feel the throbbing pain, exactly like a heartbeat, thumping as I let my muscles finally rest.

I took my new friend cockroach out of my pocket and finally gave it a good look: a platinum one! How shiny.

Taking a moment to look around now, my ears are still ringing from the explosions. Maybe giving it a few seconds will make it pass eventually. This small area of the gate is covered so I won’t have to deal with rain that much, which is good. Although the wind might be a problem… But, besides that, I believe this could be a good place to sleep for a bit. But the glowing fungus outside are a bit bright, I wonder if it will give me any problems

My eyelids get heavier with every minute, and I feel the cockroach crawling around the hand that I held it in. My ears still kept buzzing with that high-pitched sound horribly, but now I can hear the rain better. Crossing my arms and leaning against the corner between the wall and the gate, my body slumps into the concrete further. Maybe just to rest, perhaps to actually get some sleep (if I can even get a wink of it).

My mind is still flooded, rushing with the thoughts of panic and fear. Maybe when I get inside, I can get new bandages. If the Gods haven't fully forsakened me yet, I'll be able to find some beans for I only have a food bar in my pocket… I also have the flare gun, although there's only a single flare in the cartridge. Some rebars as well, my hammer, the spear, and the flashlight. And that's pretty much all I have- Oh! And the cockroach!

My eyes began getting heavier with sleep. Finally, I'm able to fall asleep while thinking about the damn roach, which settled back inside my pants’ pocket after feeling its little legs crawling all over my bare arm.

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Waking up again because of the strong wind, I look outside and notice how it's still night somehow. Does a day and night cycle even exist in this place? I stretched upwards, trying to get up without falling slouching back down with exhaustion. I look around for my cockroach, just to find it crawling around my knee. I grab it and put it in my pocket again — in you go! Does that even hurt it? Well, it isn't trying to crawl out, so either it died or it doesn't mind.

Walking out of the entrance area and looking around, still the same; the gate won’t open. The growing fungus is still glowing brightly all throughout this place. And the bridge… Not sure if I would be able to jump back to the other side. I would probably need a lot of items, which I used to get here and climb around.

With that also in mind, I didn’t see the top… Maybe that's the entrance to the building? Probably a stupid thought, but that same hope from yesterday is still clinging onto me even after all of this.

Approaching the wall to see if there is any way to climb it, I look at the glowing, flowery fungus. It looks stable enough… Would it kill me to try to jump on it? Probably. After all, I only have this one chance and then it's back to the beginning.

Should I risk it? Probably not. But I sure will.

I grasp tightly onto my spear, burying it in the ground below and leaping to the flower fungus. I start to climb on its roots, and up to the top. Climbing every root I see and stepping on every fungus there is, slowly but surely climbing towards the peak.

It takes a lot to climb to the top. My hands start to hurt even more every time I climb closer; that familiar throbbing coming back. Calluses opening back in my reddening palms. But, finally, after minutes until there was nothing left to climb, the roots or fungus stopped coming into view. Just this singular small fungus I’m standing on. Using my leftover items would be a waste, and even if I did use the spear to climb higher, it would be of no use… This building seems endless.

But as I look back at the progress I made, I can see almost everything. The Hanging Gardens mostly, but if I squint hard enough, I think I can see some of the Deadman’s Handle.

Oh, wow. I really climbed all of that.

I wonder where the creatures are…

Before I even processed it, the air started feeling thinner. My head starts spinning, and suddenly my thoughts have gone too foggy to be able to make out what I'm thinking. What the hell is happening? Is the… Is the pressure dropping? Ah. Oh no. Going down is out of the question. I feel too dizzy to climb back down, I could fall back all the way I climbed through without being able to function right.

But, if I don't go back down… How will I know if the gate ever opens or not? I mean, is there an entrance really at the top? How will I get inside? I've still got so much to explore! I don’t wanna lose any progress!

My head feels too foggy; empty and full at the same time, as if a nasty migraine had made its way inside. I sit back in the same fungus I stood in, slumping against the concrete wall again. Barely able to move now, all I hear is the wind. Did I really run out of time? Is this how I die, after all I did to get here?

As a last act before succumbing to this pathetic death, I take out my flare gun, pointing it towards the sky to shoot the last flare.

It's a silly thought, but maybe the Gods will have pity on me. Maybe they'll send someone — anyone — to get me. Or… there will most likely be a monster who’ll eat my body before that. The only last thing that I can think of is the cockroach residing in my pocket. I feel bad just leaving it there, but hopefully it’ll escape. I let out one last shaky breath, closing my eyes at last.

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Grace’s POV:

Well, this wasn’t supposed to happen.

First of all, me and Rocky somehow rescued Simon, finding him in the blood ocean was a surprise, truly, and now we have another roommate! That I, again, did not ask for. 

Rescuing them was a nightmare; we were floating around this planet and Rocky saw the red light of a flare gun. The person we found seemed to have passed out when we eventually found them. And now… Armando is treating them, just like it did back with Simon.

All the three of us were standing on the medical bay with an alien in front of us getting treated by Armando.

I had my arms crossed just staring at the new thing- person? Whatever they are. And so was Simon. He was closer to them, but by the knit of his eyebrows and clear frown, he seemed to be showing more worry towards them.

“New thing. Keep it, question?” Rocky asked curiously. He was still on his “sphere”, trying to see the new guest. I actually did consider for a bit if we should just throw them back where we found them. Gathering food for the three of us would be hard.

“It would be cruel if we left them there, no?” Simon answers

Thoughts started flooding my mind: what if they're dangerous? They barely look human; their skin is almost ashy, they have bruises and wounds everywhere in their body. Especially their knuckles… Maybe from hitting things? I'm not sure, but they do seem to have severe-er injuries. A huge burn mark can be seen on their shoulder, and they also have some kind of metallic marking on it? The number “26491” is written on their skin. Perhaps an identification number, most common amongst inmates. We also noticed a huge scar on the area of their stomach. It seemed like something pierced through their body, but how are they still alive?

I look over to Simon and see that he is also analyzing the… New guest? Can we even call it a human?

“We’ll keep them,” Simon stated as if it was the most obvious decision they've ever done.

“Maybe…” I began, “When they wake up we can question them, but for now we should leave them for Armando to deal with,” I say, a bit unsure of the new situation at hand.

“Agree, agree.” Rocky nodded in his own way.

Simon went a bit too quiet, seemingly spacing out for a bit before he finally nodded along with Rocky.

“Grace friend watch it sleep, statement” Rocky tilts his body up to look at Simon, surprising both me and the other man as Simon let out a yelp. 

“What?!” Simon shouted incredulously, “Why me?!” Taken back by the statement, he snapped back and raised his arms up as if in defense.

“Grace friend take too much time with grace, Rocky need time with grace, Rocky need time with friend,” Rocky responds, and before I could say or question Rocky, he starts pushing at my legs with his sphere to lead me out of the room.

“Grace go, go, go with Rocky, time with Rocky!”

I sputtered, attempting to convince Rocky not to leave the two others alone, but the alien didn't really seem to care as he continued his insistent pushing. I could only look back and wish Simon a quiet good luck as I watched him disappear behind the med bay door.

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Simon’s POV:

I watched as Rocky pushed Grace away and out of the room, at the same time I noticed the man giving me an encouraging thumbs up, mouthing “good luck” at me as the two finally left me and the other person alone.

I frowned, looking down at the… our newfound member.

Well, shit.

especial thanks to!:

@theroringknight - Proofreader

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