Out There Reimagined Chapter 2: Meeting

16 had finally given up hope. It had been what felt like hours, and there was still no sign of there being anyone else of their kind besides 5, the twins, and himself. He was beginning to doubt that these so-called “others” were still alive, if they were even alive in the first place. He looked behind him to see what his companions were doing. At that moment, 5 was trying to get 3 and 4 to stay together with little luck. The two just kept running around, making it hard for him to keep up. He tried to chase them around with no luck, yelling at them to settle down. He stopped to catch his breath from all the running. “Man, it's impossible to keep track of you two!” 5 shouted out at the hyperactive twins as they tried hiding behind 16.

“Hey, look on the bright side, 5. At least you don't have one eye. That would make it impossible to keep track of them!” 16 joked, trying to lift the mood a little bit, as well as try to make himself feel better. 5 wasn't amused with his little joke however, and just walked past the three childish Stitchpunks with a sigh.

“We need to keep moving. Now is not the times for jokes like that 16. Besides, if I only had one eye, 3 and 4 would be your problem.” 5 responded.

“Why do we need to keep moving anyway? We've been out here for hours and haven't found a trace of anybody else! Just face it! There isn't anyone else like us out here! They're probably all dead by this point!” 16 stated, beginning to complain again. “In fact, if by some miracle we do find someone out here, I'll eat my own hat!” he said, crossing his arms.

In the shadows, 11 was thinking about revealing herself. They had been searching for a long time, although that was because 16 had been leading them around in circles, and she didn't want them to keep wandering endlessly with no hope. She prepared herself to walk out and speak to them, but before she could do anything, a voice called out to the group. “Hey there! Are you alright?”

5 and 16 turned their heads, spotting a white, female Stitchpunk running towards them. 3 and 4 were interested in the strange Stitchpunk and were eager to meet her. 5 looked back at 16 with a smirk on his face. “Now what was that about eating your hat if we found somebody?” he asked.

16 just glared at him. “She found us, it doesn't count.” he insisted, trying to save himself from keeping the deal.

5 just rolled his eyes before turning back to the newcomer. The twins had eagerly begun to catalogue her until 5 told them to stop. The twins sulked back over to his side as 5 introduced themselves. "Sorry about that, they were just interested in you. I'm 5. These two are 3 and 4, and this guy is 16." he said, gesturing to the members of his group as he gave her their names. "Who are you?"

“I'm 7," she began. "My group sent me out to find more of our kind in the hopes that we can all make it out of here. And there's no need to apologize.” she explained.

"You mean there are others?" 5 asked, a smile on his face. 7 nodded her head.

"Just follow me." 7 said. 3 and 4 were overjoyed to be going with her, while 16 just stood there with his mouth hung open in astonishment. 5 seemed to be glad that there really were others, and let the female Stitchpunk lead the way. From her hiding spot, 11 was glad that someone had found 5's group. Curious about who the others 7 spoke of might be, she decided to keep following them. As the five Stitchpunks began to head back to where 1 waited, 11 trailed behind them, still waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.

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15 and 6 stopped for a brief moment and starred at the large building before them. The size made it look a little intimidating at their height, as 6 was shaking like crazy just standing in front of it. He was still holding onto his new key for a source of comfort, while the other hand was squeezing 15's arm as hard as it could. She could see the fear in his eyes. The poor little Stitchpunk had seen things that he shouldn't have and it made him terrified. That was something she was hoping to fix. She placed her hand on his back, which startled him and caused him to flinch until he realized that it was only her. “It's alright 6, we should be safe here. The machines haven't even tried to attack this place yet. It's going to alright. We're going to be safe.” she tried comforting 6 the best she could.

6 became less jittery hearing 15's comments. He looked at her the way a scared little kid would look at their mother. “S-s-safe...?” he managed to mumble. He let go of his key and suddenly began to cling to her left arm completely, as if it was going to protect him from everything. “W-w-we'll be safe...” was all he said as he held onto the arm. 15 was confused as to why he was acting like this, but there was something about it that she seemed to like. It was almost kind of cute in a way.

Before either of them knew it, the sound of a nearby explosion startled both of them back to reality. 6 let go of 15's arm as soon as he had grabbed it. “Let's go. We need to get to that building as soon as possible.” 15 said, running toward the entrance. 6 ran after her, not wanting to be left behind out here. Another explosion that sounded even closer than the last one, caused the ground beneath them to shake. 15 lost her balance and fell to the side, her right arm piercing a loose glass shard sticking out of the ground. Upon impact, she yelled out in pain. 6 heard her yell, and he looked back in fear. He had already seen one person die because he was too late to act, he wasn't about to let that happen again. Not to her. He ran over to where she was lying in order to help her up. He removed her arm from the glass, and saw the damage. The shard had torn through the fabric in the middle of the arm and had pierced her joints, leaving the bottom half of the arm dangling there. He didn't know how to fix it, but he didn't want to leave her there. He pulled her up, and rested her damaged arm across his shoulders. Slowly, he brought her inside the building as another explosion sounded off farther away.

When they entered, 6 carefully rested her on a book that was near the entrance. Once 15 had sat down, she placed the arm on her legs so it wouldn't hang and possibly fall off. With her free hand, she began to draw an image that just popped into her head in the dirt. As she drew, 6 starred at the image intrigued, almost as if he had seen it before. When it was finished, it turned out to be some kind of circle with three strange symbols in it. 6 smiled a little, recognizing the image in front of him. “T-the Source!” he proclaimed with joy.

15 looked at him, confused. “The Source? Is that what this is? It's not just something I'm imagining am I?” she asked. "I mean, it isn't the first thing I've seen in my head with no warning."

6 turned his head back to 15, his look of joy replaced with surprise. “Y-you have visions t-t-too?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“If by visions, you mean these strange images that pop into my head and show me things and events that might happen, then yes.” she said, unsure that she should be telling this to him.

6 began to search around the front of the room. He came back with a slightly crumpled piece of paper and a small ink jar. He placed the paper next to 15's good arm, and set the ink jar to the side of the book. “D-draw with m-me...F-15?” he asked.

“Why not.” 15 said with a smile. It was better than sitting here doing nothing, and fixing her arm was currently out of the question. She dipped her fingers into the ink and moved her hands across the paper slowly. 6 joined her and began to draw across the paper. 'Besides, I have to do something while I wait for others to get here.' she thought.

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1 looked through the hole for 7 from inside of the helmet. 2 had been getting worried about her being gone for so long and had asked him to watch for her. What 2 didn't know was that 1 was also getting worried about her, but he would never admit it. He had to keep his image as a strict and stern leader. 2 asked him if he could see her for about the twenty-fifth time. He was about to once again respond no, until he saw something move across the bleak landscape. There was no doubt that it was 7. Following behind her were four more Stitchpunks. “You're lucky, 2. I can see her, and she's found more of our kind.” 1 said, hoping that the other elder would finally stop talking.

2 let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the Creator.” he said.

A slight knock came from the outside, and 1 signaled 8 to raise the helmet. “I found others.” 7 told the leader, motioning toward the four behind her to get inside. 1 and 2 got a good look at each of them. The first to enter was a pair of twins marked as 3 and 4. The next was a timid looking Stitchpunk with buttons called 5. Last, was a light gray boy wearing a leather hat called 16. 2 looked at the frightened 5 and tried to comfort him.

“It's alright my boy, things will be fine.” he said.

The ground began to quake from an explosion, which meant they had to get moving fast. “There's a building up ahead. It looks stable and should keep us safe.” 7 explained. She began to run ahead, leading them to protection.

1 turned back to look at the others inside the helmet. “You heard her, follow me.” he motioned to the others to get moving. 8 put the helmet back down to protect them, and the group began following after 7. Not long after they had began walking, a blast came from behind causing 5 to lose his balance and fall out of the helmet. Turning himself over, he found three Walkers heading towards him. He felt a bump under him as a human man walked past him and threw a blaming projectile at the Walker in the middle, but upon impact it did nothing to stop the machine. The Walker pointed its gun at him and shot at the attacker. Within seconds, the human fell to the ground and 5 was running to keep himself from being hit by the remaining bullets. The Walkers didn't shoot at him, which he found to be strange, but he soon discovered why. Giant pods nearly hit him from both sides. He just nearly dodged them, but a third one hit him from behind and slammed his head into the ground. The impact caused his vision to falter, and his head to grow heavy. 5 began to lose consciousness, and everything was becoming fuzzy as a green gas covered the area.

"1, stop! That boy 5 is missing!" 2 said with worry. "We have to go back to help him!"

1 turned to face him, telling 8 to stop moving. The large Stitchpunk did as he was told, the others stopping along with them. "There's no time to go back for him! It's too late! What matters right now is that the rest of us make it to safety!" 1 said.

"I can't just leave him to die, 1! We have to stick together right now! Nobody should be left behind! I'm going after him whether you like it or not." 2 retorted. He slowly tried to lift the helmet in hopes of getting out. 16 and the twins helped him in his efforts, they too were worried about what might happen to their friend. The four of them managed to lift it up just enough for 2 to make it outside. Without wasting another moment he ran out onto the battlefield, much to 1's displeasure.

2 returned to the area where the explosion had occurred, and found 5 lying on the ground. The strange green gas that was coming from the pods made difficult to see, but 2 was able to reach him in time. He picked 5 off of the ground and looked at the damage. His left eye was gone completely, and sparks were shooting out of the wires in the socket. 2 just tried to smile, hoping that it would reassure the boy. With the Walkers getting closer, the elder attempted to bring 5 back to the others.

11 was watching everything that was happening with worry. She could see the Walkers getting closer to the elderly Stitchpunk, knowing that they would never make it in time unless she acted quickly. She jumped down from the pile of rubble, and ran as fast as she could. “Look out!” she yelled, as she pushed the two Stitchpunks out of the way just in time. They looked back, and saw the Walkers foot land in the exact spot 2 had just been standing in. 11 sighed with relief and said, “Thank goodness, that was way too close.”

“My dear, thank you for saving us.” 2 said with a grin.

11 blushed a little at the thanks she was getting. “It was nothing. I couldn't just stand there and let you get crushed. Any decent person would've done the same.” she stated with a determined look on her face.

As 5 drifted into unconsciousness, he looked at the Stitchpunk who had just saved them, but could only see a blurry, light purple figure. It came closer to him and began to lift him up with 2. “Come on, we need to get him out of here.” he heard a female voice say. It wasn't 7 though, he knew that much. He wanted to know who she was, this woman who had saved his life, but his vision faded into darkness as the last bit of consciousness drifted away.

2 and 11 made it back to the others with 5 in tow. Everyone noticed 5's condition, a horrible feeling sinking in. 16 felt terrible, remembering the wisecrack he had made earlier. 1 noticed this newcomer and became suspicious. “What is the meaning of this?! Who are you? I don't remember seeing you with 7!” he questioned.

11 starred at the elder with a defiant look. “My name is 11, and I believe that I'm the one who just saved these two from getting trampled, old man.” she told 1. "I happened to save them from being trampled by one of those machines, and all you're worrying about is who I am?" Upon being called an old man, along with 11's other comments, 1 became furious. Before he could say anything in retaliation, 2 and 11 headed into the helmet with 5. 7 just looked at 1 and shook her head in disappointment. 1 ignored her and walked back into the helmet as well. The group continued on their way to the tall building in the distance, unaware of what waited for them there.

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The two artists had nearly filled up the piece of paper with all sorts of little drawings. There were drawings of the Source, of each other, and a few of them were even from visions the two of them had. The two of them smiled at each other. After all that had happened out there, it was nice for the two of them to have a peaceful moment such as this.

15 looked up from the piece of paper and stopped drawing. From the open crack in the doorway she could see an object moving closer to the building, and she faintly heard voices. She knew what it was, and what that meant for them both. They were no longer alone. 6 noticed that she had stopped drawing and stood up. “F-f-f-15? Is s-s-something wrong?” he asked.

15 looked back at 6 and said, “We've got company.”

She tried to stand back up, and grabbed her right arm so that whoever was coming wouldn't see her wound. 6 stood beside her protectively. He didn't want whatever was out there to hurt them, especially in 15's current state. “15, w-we should h-hide.” he said. 15 turned her head around to look at her striped companion. As much as she wanted to meet them, she knew that it would be best to wait it out until things settled down. She searched around until she found a bench where they could both hide. She let go of her arm and pushed 6 behind it, watching to see what these guests would do.

The first ones to enter were a huge Stitchpunk, and a smaller elder that wore a bullet shell on his head. The smaller of the two inspected the area, determining whether it was suitable. “This should do. Although it could use some improvements. We'll stay here.” he said. The larger Stitchpunk just grunted, which seemed to show that he understood what the elder had said. 15 assumed that the smaller one was the leader.

The next to enter were a pair of twins, and a light gray Stitchpunk. The twins began flashing their eyes at everything they could find. The gray one just looked around the building and smirked. “Nice digs. I could totally hang here.” he said, placing his hands behind his head.

Next to enter was a white Stitchpunk, and behind her were two more carrying an unconscious Stitchpunk by the arms. The two placed him on a rock and only looked at him with worry. “2, will 5 be alright?” a light purple girl with strands of beads on her head asked.

“Well 11, I'm afraid that I can't replace his eye, but I should be able to patch it up with the right materials. It may take some time, but rest assured, he should be fine.” an elder, who 15 assumed was 2, answered. The one called 11 looked disappointed, but tried to smile upon hearing that he would be okay.

Suddenly, the twins started making excited clicks about something they had found. 15 and 6 looked and saw that they were going nuts over their drawings. They had forgotten to take the piece of paper with them before hiding. 6 let out a slight whimper and began to shake. “6, it's alright. They're not going to do anything to it.” 15 whispered. She kept hold of her arm, so she was unable to try to comfort 6 like she had before. She looked back to the group that had entered, realizing something was missing. The large one was no where in sight.

“Well well, lookie what I jus' found. A couple a pipsqueaks!” They heard a deep voice coming from right above them. The two artists looked up and found themselves face to face with the huge Stitchpunk. He had a smirk on his face that made both of them worried. The brute picked the two up by their key and lock, and brought them over to 1, as the number on his back indicated. “Hey boss, I found dese two hiding behind dat bench over dere.” the brute explained, dropping 6 and 15.

1 glared at the two as they lay on the floor. “Good work 8. You caught these trespassers red-handed. Or black-handed in this case.” he said, noticing the ink stained fingers they both had. A few of the others turned from what they were focused with, looking at their leader dealing with the newcomers. 11 was ready to stand up for them, still a bit sore about his behavior towards her earlier.

15 stood up, keeping her arm injury hidden, and walked up to 1. “Now wait just a minute here! We were here long before you had shown up. We haven't done anything worth being accused for. We can't even be trespassers considering you don't own this place. The two of us have as much of the right to be here as you do.” she explained, determined to clear their name. 6 just got up and tried to hide behind 15. There was something about 1 that scared him, most likely the brute that stood beside him; he couldn't believe that 15 was standing up to him like this. 7 and 11 looked at 1's reaction to what this girl had told him, 3 and 4 began to hide behind 11, 16 was wondering what was this girl's deal, and 2 noticed the fact that the girl was holding on to her arm strangely. 8 stood behind 1, ready to do anything that he had to if she went after 1.

1 was startled by 15's defense, but quickly regained his composure. “A likely story. If you are so innocent like you claim, you wouldn't have needed to hide when we entered. I've already allowed more than I can deal with to stay with us, and there's no room for sneaky little liars. 8, dispatch them!” he ordered. 8 however, didn't understand what he had said and just looked at him with a confused face. “Oh, just throw these two out!” he yelled in rage. 8 understood him that time and began to stalk towards the artists. As he came closer, 15 starred at him determined, and 6 clung onto 15's good arm in fear. As 8 was about to grab them, 2 ran out in front of them in defense.

“1! I can't believe you would do something like this! Threatening those who need our help in this time of turmoil. These two are just children, they haven't done anything to suggest they're lying! And in case you haven't noticed, the poor girl's arm is about to fall off! You may be the leader around here, and you may be my older brother, but I will not let you throw these two children back out there!” the elder argued. Everyone who had been watching was surprised at 2's outburst. Even 15 and 6 were surprised. This man they had just met was defending them, and he didn't even know their names. 1 called off 8, knowing that as long as his brother would stand in his way he couldn't get rid of them. 1 glared at 2, and then at the artists.

“Very well. But if either of them step out of line, I will not hesitate to throw them out. And you won't be able to stop me either, 'brother'...” 1 turned around to find a suitable room for him to use, with 8 following behind him.

2 looked back at the Stitchpunks and took hold of 15's arm. “Don't hide your injury, my dear. I can help you with it. Please let me take a look at it.” he said, his voice much calmer than before. 15 let go of her injured arm and let it hang limp in his grip. After studying it for a moment, 2 smiled and looked back at her. “I can fix this up no problem. A little stitching and a bit of repair to these joints will make your arm good as new. However, I need to fix up 5 over there first. He's in a horrible state at the moment. You don't mind do you?” he asked. 15 just shook her head, she could tell that he needed help immediately. “Smashing! Alright then, 11 and 16, I need you two to carry 5's body. I can see a spot over there that will serve perfectly as a workshop. 7, 3, and 4, you look around for some supplies. I'm going to need some thread, a needle, and something to patch up 5's eye.” he instructed the other Stitchpunks. “As for you miss...15, I need you to follow me. Your little friend here can come too if he would like.” he said, referring to 6.

“Thank you, um, 2 wasn't it? I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't stepped in. We owe you for stopping him.” 15 said.

2 just smiled at her as he lead her over to the room he was talking about. 6 followed 15 closely, still afraid to go near anyone else. 11 and 16 picked up 5's body followed him like he had said. 7 and the twins searched around the area for the things 2 had asked for. “Not a problem, my dear. And you don't owe me a thing, I couldn't stand there and let him do such a thing to you two. Now come, let's get you and 5 fixed up shall we?”