[A few weeks after the escape]

No POV:

Everyone was better now, a couple people were still healing, and it was still a bit hard for everyone to adjust, but things were better.

Lightbulb was starting to become her happy-go-lucky self again, despite not being able to see.

Balloon was able to walk better now, it was still a bit of a struggle for him, but it wasnt painful anymore. He had to wear a medical boot though.

Everyone else had their injuries taken care of as well. Some of them had permanent damage, such as Mic, Lightbulb, Balloon, and Soap, but they were still doing better.

As for MePhone and MePad, they found that MePad had been implanted with a chip, almost like a virus, and had caused him to become violent and uncontrollable.

Luckily they were able to remove the chip, and he was back to normal.

MePhone, luckily, had survived the fall, but was in critical condition when he was treated.

He was repaired and was doing much better now. there were still some large cracks in his screen that weren't able to be repaired, but he was alive, and that was what mattered.

Unfortunately for everyone, Cobs had not been caught yet.

Nobody had seen any sign of him.

MePhoneX had been seen around, but was able to avoid police.

The kidnapped students were concerned about that, because he was still out there somewhere, and they were afraid they would be caught again.

But there wasn't anything they could do about it at the moment, all they had to do for now was focus on staying safe.

They ended up learning the doctors name that had offered to help. His name was Dr. Fizz.

Surprisingly, YinYang got along really well with Dr. Fizz and actually became friends with him later on.

Knife eventually forgave Fan after a lot of convincing from Soap, and they were on better terms now.

Everyone was staying at a shelter for recovery at the moment until they were sure it was safe for them to leave.

They werent sure that would be any time soon though.

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Balloon's POV:

I sat up in my bed.

It was dark out.

I wasnt sure if anyone else was awake, so I stayed quiet.

It was a struggle to get back to sleep when I woke in the middle of the night, due to paranoia and all the thoughts rushing through my mind.

I had therapy every day to help with the paranoia, but at night it just seemed to come back.

Maybe it was because of how much it reminded me of the dark lab.

Or maybe it was because of the quiet and how it left more room to think.

Whatever it was, I didn't like it.

I wanted someone to talk to, to take my mind off of the stress.

But it was too late for anyone to be awake at this time.

I didn't want to just walk into their rooms and ask them to talk.

Maybe a walk will help...

I stepped off of my bed, putting my medical boot on.

It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than ruining my leg again.

I then walked over to the door and opened it, glancing around the hallway to see if anyone was there.

The hall was empty, aside from a few pictures on the wall and some decorative plants.

I stepped out into the hall, and wandered around for a bit.

Eventually I ended up in the main hall, where everyone spent most of their time.

There was a TV, a pool table, a game console, art equipment and more activities such as those.

Pickle surprisingly didn't spend his time on the game console, in fact, nobody did, most of the time they would just watch TV or play board games.

Pickle would occasionally play on the game console, but it wasn't often.

I sat on a small bench next to a window, and stared out at the garden in front of the building.

We weren't normally allowed to go out, in case something happened to us, but maybe tomorrow they would let us.

Once I had gotten my head cleared, I stood up, and walked back to my room.

I was tired now, and it was fairly easy to fall asleep.

I laid down, closed my eyes, and let sleep overcome me...

...but I woke up again

I was standing in the middle of the hallway.

But, something wasn't right.

Everything was out of place, and the hallway was longer than it should've been.

Then, I started running.

I dont know why, but I did.

Then I heard something behind me, and a red light filled the hallway.

I immediately started panicking, knowing exactly what it was.

I didn't look back.

I didn't want to look back.

I just kept running down the hallway.

It seemed endless, the farther I ran, the longer the hallway would get...

...and it was gaining on me.

I was beginning to get tired, and I started slowing down.

Eventually I collapsed.

I flinched when I hit the floor, and a shock of electricity rushed through my body.

Then everything went black...

I jolted awake, frantically looking around.

I was still in bed.

Just another dream...

I found that I had been crying in my sleep, and I was still shaking.

I wiped my eyes and got up.

I walked back to the main hall, and found that it was light out. Everyone was already up and wandering around

I had been asleep longer than I thought.

I walked up to Fan who was chatting with Paintbrush and Lightbulb.

Lightbulb had a large grin on her face and was kicking her legs energetically.

They seemed to just be talking about their interests.

"Uh... hey guys!" I said awkwardly.

Fan glanced up at me.

"Oh hey Balloon! Whats up?" He asked.

I just shrugged.

"I just need someone to hang out with for a bit." I mumbled, rubbing my arm, or, what was left of it.

"You can sit with us!" Fan said with a smile, scooting over to make some room for me.

I smiled back and sat down.

"Is that Balloon? Hey Balloon!" Lightbulb said, still facing straight ahead and kicking her legs.

She couldn't see where I was, so I wasn't surprised when she didnt turn to face me.

I smiled, even though she couldn't see it, and greeted her as well.

"So, was there something you wanted to talk about?" Paintbrush asked, grabbing onto Lightbulbs arm to prevent her from falling off of the seat.

I stared at my feet for a second.

"Well... I've been having these... nightmares... and... I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is gonna happen..." I mumbled, shuffling in my seat a bit.

"The dreams usually involve a field, and falling, and walls closing in, but last night it was about being chased... I was being chased by... M-MePhoneX... and-"

Fan's face turned pale upon hearing MePhoneX's name and he shuffled a bit.

"N-never mind, it's just a dream! It can't mean anything!" I said, a little louder than intended.

A couple people turned to look at me and I just stared, then laughed awkwardly.

They decided to ignore it.

Paintbrush just stared at me with a concerned look on their face.

"I think you've been thinking too much Balloon." Paintbrush mumbled, putting one hand on my shoulder. "Maybe you should find a way to take your mind off of things."

I sighed, then nodded in agreement.

Paintbrush smiled warmly.

"Maybe we can see if we can get some fresh air?" Fan said, a little bit of a quiver in his voice.

Lightbulb perked up.

"Ooh! Do we get to go outside???" She exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and almost falling over.

"Maybe we should ask," Paintbrush responded, "cmon, lets go."

They helped Lightbulb to know where to go, and they walked to one of the people who were taking care of us.

"Hey, we were wondering if we could have a bit of time outside today?" Paintbrush asked, one arm around Lightbulb.

Lightbulb was bouncing up and down excitedly, holding tightly to Paintbrush and waiting anxiously for a response.

"I guess you can today, bit you'll need a supervisor." The caretaker responded.

Lightbulb let out a squeal of excitement and Fan smiled.

I was also a bit excited, we didn't get to go outside much.

The caretakers ended up getting Toilet to be our supervisor.

They thought that he was pretty good at taking care of us, despite not being the brightest.

Eventually Toilet showed up and led us out.

The rest of the group ended up coming with, which was a bit of a struggle for Toilet when it came to YinYang.

But he managed to keep us all together.

Lightbulb, Paintbrush, Fan, and I all chatted and Lightbulb kept having us stop so she could feel the grass.

After a while, I decided I was going to walk ahead a bit, so that I could take in the scenery and clear my mind.

The sun was out, there were no clouds in the sky, and it was warm.

I would occasionally hear some birds chirping and see some butterflies and bees in the gardens.

I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I never realized how much I would miss just walking around town, being free.

I had heard a lot about captivity, but I never realized how bad it actually was until I had experienced it firsthand.

I was honestly surprised that I was even still alive, I figured I would've been killed in that lab.

Especially because I wasn't supposed to be one of the subjects in the first place.

Instead I was just a "stowaway."

Someone who just happened to get caught in the web of torture.

Some of those scars would never go away, wether they were physical or emotional.

But at least I was free.

At least everyone was free.

That's what really mattered.

I was so lost in thought, that I didn't notice the alleyway next to me.

That was a critical mistake.

I should've been looking forward.

Maybe I would've noticed.

But by the time I realized...

...it was too late...

I was suddenly yanked into the alleyway.

I screamed as loud as I possibly could.

Whoever it was, they had their arm around me, and they were holding me tight.

I kicked and screamed as the rest of the group ran around the corner to see what was going on.

They all stared in shock for a moment, and I couldn't tell who had grabbed me, but they seemed to recognize whoever it was.

I panicked for a bit longer, then stopped struggling.

I stopped struggling after...

...after something cold and hard was pressed against the side of my head...

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