Ray's Retaliation

December past, and soon it was January 14th, the night before Ray's birthday.

Penny moaned as she sat up in bed, hearing someone hum a familiar tune from the dining hall. She wearily sat up and glanced up at the clock...somewhere around eleven.

The girl felt a hand on her shoulder, and Penny glanced up to see Emma glancing tiredly at her. "You hear that?"

"Yeah." Penny mumbled. "I think it was Ray."

"What's he doing up so late?"

"I dunno..." Penny cringed slightly as she climbed out of bed and onto her two feet.

"Hey, are you sure about seeing him?" Emma asked, her eyes wide as Penny reached for the crutch near her bed. "I mean..."

"I want to." Penny said. "I fear something's gonna happen."

She gave Emma a pleading look that was irresistible, and Emma finally sighed. "Fine. Let me help you. After all, this could be a good chance to talk to him about our plan." The girl walked to Penny's right side and wrapped an arm around her, and the two hobbled towards the dining hall. And just as predicted, Ray was sitting on one of the tables, a box next to him and a book in his hand, a tired look tracing his eyes as he hummed the familiar tune.

"Ray..." Emma mumbled, opening up the door and helping Penny in. The ten year old winced at the sight of Ray's tired face, and she immediately wished she stayed in her bed. Emma glanced up at Ray, looking tired herself, making Penny feel even more guilty as Emma spoke tiredly. "What are you doing here this late?"

"It's my last chance..." Ray mumbled, his voice slightly echoing against the walls of the empty hall as he glanced numbly around it. "...to say bye to the house."

"Oh..." Emma mumbled. "Your birthday's tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Ray sighed. He turned to Penny. "Why are you up? Should you be resting?"

"I...I..." Penny stuttered. She lowered her head. "I wanted to see you..." She wanted to smack herself. That sounded so lame. She wished she didn't have this anxious feeling swarming inside of her. It had been weeks now since he yelled at her. She wished she could forget about it and move on, but the memory still ached at her heart. Yet she still wanted to see him.

"I see." Ray whispered. He looked up. "Tonight's my last night. And then I say goodbye."

Silence. Nothing was heard except the clock ticking in the distance. Penny felt herself hobble over to Ray, aided by Emma.

"Hey, Emma, Penny..." Ray whispered. "Did you give up like Mom told us to?"

Penny jumped as Ray slammed the book shut and sent both girls a hard stare. "You haven't actually given up on running away, have you?"

Emma gave Ray a faint smirk.

140146

A few uncomfortable moments have past until Emma finally broke the silence. "I've been thinking this whole time. I even talked to Penny about it. What should we be doing for Norman's sake?"

"And the answer," Penny mumbled, not willing to look at Ray's hard stare. "was to do nothing..."

"Mom told both me and Penny to give up and free ourselves from the pain we felt. But..." Emma glanced up, a dark glare scribbled on her features. "I refuse to ever give up! Penny and I won't...we won't let his death be in vain. Will you?"

Ray let out a shaky sigh as he put the book down on the table. He turned to the girls. "It seems the three of us are on the same page, then."

"Let's run away." Emma said, her voice sounding stronger. "We came to talk about that."

"I wanted to talk, too." Ray nodded at the girls in agreement. He stood up to face them. "The past two months...we couldn't communicate since we were worried Mom would see."

"Yeah." Emma nodded. "I didn't want her to know our true intentions. So I stayed quite." Penny just stared at the floor, not daring to look or speak.

"True intentions?" Ray mumbled.

"Right." Emma nodded her head. "Mom's really cautious. Even though the three of us weren't doing anything, she never stopped watching us. But that's something we can use against her. If she stays focused on me and Penny, she can keep her eyes away from the other kids."

"Don and Gilda, huh?"

"Yeah. I left them in charge. They're training the others, and making preparations."

"How far along are you?"

"It's all ready. There's warm clothing. Supplies and food. We can leave whenever."

"We're all ready to escape and survive." Penny added, finally speaking.

"That's impressive." Ray hummed with a slight smile, folding his arms. "But how will you escape?"

Emma smiled. "Oh, don't worry. I have it all planned. Let's run tomorrow morning."

"Before you get shipped out." Penny added.

"Hold it." Ray reached out his hand with a frown. "That's dangerous. Things are a lot different now. The escape should be at night when it's easier to hide."

Emma looked like she wanted to protest, but Penny quickly put a hand on Emma's shoulders. "Emma, please. Ray's listened a lot to us, it's time we listen to him."

Ray gave Penny a small nod. "Thank you, Penny. You two should sit down." He motioned his hand to some chairs, and Emma pulled one out to Penny, who carefully helped Penny sit down. Once the three sat down, the two girls gave Ray his full attention as he spoke.

"Okay, then," Ray began. "There are two problems here. First Mom's watchful eyes. She's always watching us and is always holding one of the younger ones during the day. And at night, she puts the babies to sleep in her room. In order to make sure that everyone escapes here, we'll have to separate Mom from all the little ones."

"You're right..." Penny mumbled as Emma gave him a silent nod.

The boy picked up a piece of paper. "The next problem's the cliff, it's past the wall. We're not able to climb down it. If we're getting out, we'll have to take the only bridge that's available. I'm sure there's already security. And once they know we're gone, guards are going to rush over. It's at the edge of the Headquarters. Those monsters are going to be all over the pace. Knowing that, what will you do?"

Emma narrowed her eyes.

Ray glanced at the box next to him. "I have the answer right here." he stood up and opened the box, pulling out a canteen.

"Oil?" Emma asked, while Penny's eyes widened.

"We'll just set the house on fire."

"Y-you're going to start a fire?!" Emma squeaked out.

"You're burning down our home..." Penny choked out, not believing what she was hearing.

Ray nodded. "That's right. While Mom's distracted, she'll try to put it out. We'll pretend to evacuate everyone. We'll blow off the door to the secret room forehand, so then Mom can't get in. HQ will assume it's only a fire. So security won't be tight on the bridge. And you can escape easily. As a bonus, I also went ahead and hid ten molo tons behind some rocks in the forest."

"Wait. You what?!" Emma gasped, sharing the same look of horror Penny held.

"Don't underestimate how much I've prepared." Ray said. "Now. When you're heading towards the bridge, throw these into the plants next to ours. It'll start another fire, spreading security even thinner. The forest will be empty since it's dark. So no one should die." The boy closed his eyes and opened them. "So. Instead of leaving tomorrow, let's go now. Can you do it, or not?"

"Now?" Penny squeaked out. "But what about...the others? Would they...." She jumped as Ray put a gentle hand on her shoulder, glancing at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. This place is pretty far from everyone's rooms. None of them should get caught in the fire." He turned to Emma, his hand never leaving Penny's shoulder. "They've trained for this, haven't they? What we've taught them during tag...wait." He turned to Penny. "Does your leg still hurt?"

Penny stood up tall and Ray quickly reached his arms out to catch her if she fell, but Penny stood firm and tall, throwing away her crutch. The girl slammed her foot on the ground to prove her point. "All better!" She stomped it again and grinned at him. "It doesn't even hurt!"

Ray let out a sigh of relief, lowering his hands. "Then it's decided." He clicked the lid of the oil canteen and turned away from them.

"Ray..." Penny squeaked out, her eyes wide.

"But to be honest," Ray muttered as he leaned down and began pouring the liquid out onto the floor. "I'm still against it... the whole idea of taking all the other kids along..." he dropped the canteen and stood up. "Especially knowing there's a cliff beyond those walls." He walked up to the box and grabbed another canteen. "What I think is, you should take Don and Gilda, and at least leave the babies here if anything. It's the best thing for them...and for you two. Especially you, Penny." The boy muttered the last part under his breath.

"Ray..." Penny mumbled again, completely lost for words.

"However." Ray continued, pulling out two extra canteens. He walked over to the oil puddle and added more oil to it. "I know that you're not going to listen, though I guess you'd rather do that then not escape. So I won't harp on it." He tilted his head towards Emma. "It's your choice."

He dropped the canteen on the ground, his back facing them. "Why are you still here? Go tell Don and Gilda."

"About your plan?" Emma asked. "We're throwing...mono tons?"

"Yeah." Ray turned to them fully. "Could be you, or maybe Don."

Silence.

"Actually..." Emma muttered. "What I'm most concerned about is...what if when we start the fire, Mom decides to abandon the whole building? She might just give up on putting it out, and focus on us since we're the merchandise."

"Exactly." Ray nodded. "There's a pretty good chance of that happening. That's why simply starting a fire isn't enough. We've gotta make sure we stop her. 'Cause there won't be an opportunity later. But don't worry."

Emma and Penny gasped.

Ray pulled out the second canteen and undid the lid. "There's still this..."

Penny watched in horror as the boy lifted the canteen to his head, pouring the oil on himself.

Emma and Penny both gasped. "Ray!!"

When the can was empty, Ray snickered and turned to them, his hair shining from he oil. "Pretty smart thinking, huh?! I'm gonna burn to ash on my shipment date! Mom can't abandon me!" He tossed the can down. "I've been waiting for this day! I decided this years ago! And it's finally time to act it out! This is my retaliation! You know, Penny, Emma, when it came to all that studying, I was never really into it. Regardless, I did it. To prove my value. And I wanted to be...the highest possible! For twelve years, I've been the feast that they've all been waiting for. Tonight I'm taking that away...right before the anticipated harvest! Don't think you can eat me! I won't give you that satisfaction! Food! Product! Yeah right! This is gonna show them all...that I'm human!"

"Ray..." Emma muttered. Penny just stood there, scared out of her wits as she watched Ray rant in front of them. The boy lowered his head. "I have to do this. It's the best way. The only way. I've watched so many of my siblings die over the years. I used them. And each one of them was a good kid. They were so kind and carefree."

"Wait!" Emma yelped, about to run to him.

"Don't move!" Ray snapped. "Listen up, Emma and Penny. You only have one chance, so make this work. Norman and I gave our lives for this. I'm begging you, don't waste it."

"R-ray..." Penny mumbled, tears threatening to fall once again. She felt Emma's hand grab her own, squeezing it gently and comfortingly.

"Catch."

Emma jumped as Ray tossed her the book he was reading. Emma opened it and her eyes widened at the picture of her, Penny, and Norman. "This is from..."

Emma's eyes swelled up with tears.

"Emma..." Penny mumbled, reaching out and wrapping her small arms around her.

The clock chimed twelve, and Penny let out a small gasp as the chimes echoed through the halls. The sound of a match was struck, and Penny watched in horror as Ray held the small flame with the tip of his fingers. "I'm finally twelve. It was a life I wanted out of, but I cherished the time I spent with you guys."

"Ray!" Penny cried, finally snapping out of it. "Please! Don't do this!"

"Thanks a lot." Ray interrupted her. "Nice knowing you, Penny, Emma."

Ray dropped the flame, and time seemed to slow down as Penny watched Emma lunge forward.