Survival of the Few

Naruto lay defeated at the tenth chain from the ground. He had been climbing for hours and his body was worn and tired. He stared out at nothing, listening to the gentle breeze, watching the red sky. He sighed softly before closing his eyes, leaning his head against the chain. He lazily kicked his small legs out of boredom.

Maybe he should’ve stayed in that room. Maybe he could’ve outlived all of them if they had just decided to kill each other, forgetting he even existed. But who knows if he would have survived in there at all. They were all screwed anyhow.

Naruto’s eyes grew heavy. He was exhausted thinking of getting down and what to do after. His hands were blistered and covered in the rust of the chains. His clothes even being slightly stained from the rust. His stomach growled a bit too.

He let out of quiet sigh. His tired eyes peered down at the ground. He was only looking, thinking he’d see nothing at all, until he saw movement. He didn’t move or get giddy. He just saw movement. Of what? Who knows. He continued to stare down at the stone ground and the moving figure. It was crouched and was moving slow then fast then slow again, hiding behind anything it could. 

Then it stood.

Naruto’s eyes went wide. It was a person….He squinted his eyes a bit just to be sure, but the figure was already on the move once again.

’They might have escaped too…’ Naruto thought. That was enough to give him a bit more energy. If they were on the run, they wanted to get out too! If he got down soon enough, he could meet them and they could team up. 

Suddenly, an alarm rang out. It was low thrum the shook Naruto to his core. Naruto looked up at the floating structure with wide eyes.

They knew. Whether it was his escape or the other’s, they knew someone was missing and he wasn’t going to sit around and wait for them to catch him.

Just as he was about to move, the chain began to rattle. Naruto held on as tight as he could as he felt the chain lower itself onto the ground at a steady pace. This was it! This was how he could find that person! He continued to hold on tightly to the chain, a newfound hope erupting in his chest. Soon enough, his link of the chain was on the ground. He quickly hopped off and ran to where he saw the person go. The sound of the alarm became distant the more he ran off. He was panting like a dog that was let loose in the park, feeling free and without a worry in the world. He kept running, the stone valley being crooked and curved in odd ways, but it was fine. It gave him a place to hide.

Naruto looked up at the structure, his breath caught in his throat for a second. It was descending faster than he would’ve liked…It was not very close to the ground but it wasn’t very far either. He quickly realized if he kept running, he would get caught eventually. 

The boy stopped, frantically looking at his surroundings. Two stones were awkwardly leaned against each other creating a small cave.

‘Bingo’

Naruto wasted no time scurrying into the small cave. He struggled a bit. It was a tight squeeze. Eventually, he was able to get inside. He was curled around himself, his knees touching his chin. He twisted his body a bit to be able to have a view outside.

His blue eyes glanced at whatever the opening allowed him to see. He saw nothing. No boy, no people out to look for him. He could only hear the noise of the structure getting closer to the ground.

His plan wasn’t going to work. He would be found eventually and that kid was long gone by now. And even if they never found him, how would he survive? He’s seen very little life here as it is. He let out a frustrated breath. Hugging his knees and closing his eyes as if that would protect him from the reality of the danger he was in. He saw nothing but darkness and heard nothing but his possible demise. He was going to die here…

Suddenly the sight behind his eyelids became brighter. He felt a cold shiver run up his spine, his stomach dropping in dread. He kept his eyes closed, too scared to open them, until he heard footsteps. He opens his eyes and was blinded by a light. Tiny feet came into to view, and ran straight into the light, disappearing completely. Naruto gaped. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets, he was sure. Desperate to leave this situation, he squirmed about, trying to get out if the hole he was in. 

Once he was out, he ran into the light too. As soon as he was in, the light disappeared from the stone valley as if it was never there before.

…

…

…

He blinked slowly. He got up, his body aching. He stumbled a bit in his attempt to stand.

”Arg…!” He whined. His head was spinning. It felt as if it was tightening, ready to explode. He brought his hands to his head, pressing them firmly to ease the growing pain. 

He continued to whine in agony. His ears were ringing loudly. His vision grew blurry and he felt like throwing up.

The throbbing pain in his body continued until a large metal bang was heard.

The pain suddenly stopped, vanishing completely. He took deep breathes as he took in his new surrounding. He was above a set of large stairs. Industrial sounds could be heard all over. Instead of the stone valley he was in before, he was now in a large metal hall. He could barely see anything on account to how dark it was…

Another thing Naruto took in was the odd look of this setting. Everything was…big. Not overly big, but too big to be considered normal.

He cautiously stood up, taking everything in slowly. His mind wandered until he heard an agitated growl and the clang of metal. He jumped a bit.

’Was it that kid?’

The clangs continued. From where he was, he could see a slimmer of light in a room in the dark hall. A shadow could be seen on the wall. It was moving a bit. Naruto began to doubt if it was a kid by the shape of the shadow. It seemed to short and oddly shaped to be a kid, but it sounded like a kid.

Naruto gulped, looking at the stairs he had to climb down. There were luckily only five, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem. He crouched down and began to carefully crawl down the steps, the patter of his feet quiet under the noise of metal and frustrated growls.

He held his shirt, fiddling with its hem. The noises getting louder the closer he got. The light got brighter and brighter and the shadow became large on the well. Anxiety rise throughout his body, causing it to feel stiff and numb the closer he got. What if it wasn’t a kid back here? 

By the time Naruto was at the edge of the opening to room the possible kid was in, a loud huff could be heard and a less aggressive rattle of metal.

With one final shaky breath, Naruto looked into the room.

There was a boy.

He had shoulder length black hair. It was dark. Really dark. He could only describe it like a crow’s feathers. His dark bangs covered his face. He was pale, but covered in grime and bruises. He wore a blue turtleneck and dark brown shorts. And much like Naruto, was barefoot.

Naruto was astonished and glad to see another child. So much so, he began to lean out exposing himself a bit more. The other boy looked up quickly, tensing immediately. Naruto flinched from his reaction.

The two boys continued their stare down. Neither moving or speaking. Naruto only saw black hair, having no clue what face the boy was making under his bangs, but his body language spoke so many words.

Soon the other boy lost interest. He continued to do what he was doing earlier. Under the boy was a vent. He was tugging at it hard as to open it. His efforts caused the metal to clang loudly, echoing through the hall. Naruto saw the screws to the vent were loose, but the boy didn’t have the strength to open it. Nervously, Naruto began to walk towards the black haired boy. The boy’s head flew up immediately, pausing his actions for a moment before continuing again.

Naruto slowly grabbed onto the vent as well and began to tug. Both boys pulled with all their might until finally the vent flew open. 

Naruto looked down the endless darkness of the vent. He looked around the room for a rope or anything. Until he heard a bang. He turned to see the black haired boy had disappeared inside the vent. 

‘He just…went down..?’

That didn’t seem safe at all, but he did it. Having no other way to leave, as far as he knew, he jumped down too.

…

…

…

Naruto gripped his shoulder. The fall down was less than graceful. He whined a bit, looking up at the black haired boy. The other boy just stared at him. He would call him a statue if he didn’t know any better. 

The other boy scoffed and shook his head, beginning to crawl away from Naruto. 

Naruto wondered if he should wait for his shoulder to feel a bit better, but decided to follow the other boy now. 

The black haired boy’s pace was rushed, like he couldn’t waste a second. Naruto had trouble keeping up. He had to crawl much faster than he would’ve preferred to keep up.

Eventually the two made it out the other end of the vent. The room they were in was covered in chains. There was a large metal cliff from where they were. Above them was another platform. Another possible escape route.

Naruto looked around and saw the only way to the other side was the chains. The chains were the only connection from where they were and were they needed to go. 

But it wasn’t safe.

Naruto stood around, while the other boy went to the end of a chain from their side. He jumped to pull himself up, but was too short to reach. 

“Hey!” Came a sharp whisper. Naruto was shocked the boy spoke. He had believed he’d be silent the whole time.

The other boy waved him over. By the time Naruto got to him, the boy grabbed his shoulder and roughly pushed him down. He stood on his back, close to grasping the chain, but not close enough. He began to dig the heel of his foot into Naruto’s back, silently demanding him to move up. Naruto struggled to move himself up, so put his hands out. The other boy planted his feet into his palms and Naruto pushed up, hoisting the black haired boy into the air, allowing him to successfully grab onto the chain.

The other boy hesitated, looking up to his destination then at Naruto. Naruto grew nervous at this. Would he ditch him here?

With a bit of a silent fight with himself, the other boy reached his hand out to Naruto. He was stunned to say the least.

Naruto jumped up and grabbed the boy’s hand. 

With that done, the other boy began to side step his way up the chain. He was careful with his movements. Looking only straight ahead, his hands slightly stretched outward to keep his balance.

Naruto followed his lead.

Not as good though.

Naruto was a bit clumsy. He swayed a bit as he tried to keep up. 

His heard was pounding as he tried to just look forward and pay attention to his path. His breathing was uneven as his fear grew the more he moved up the chain. 

Suddenly, there was a firm grasp on his upper arm. The other boy simply looked towards their destination and continued to move up. He swayed a bit due to Naruto, but kept a slow yet steady pace anyhow. 

Naruto held his breath the whole time, completely scared at the thought of falling. Causing the other boy to fall. So he was as steady as he could be under the boy’s direction.

The two eventually made it to the end. The other boy immediately let go of Naruto going for the large door before them. Naruto quickly let out the breath he was holding and followed. 

The new room they were in now has a carpet, the sound of their feet was nonexistent. There were many crates, cages. and hooks in this room. Some in the floor and some hanging from the ceiling. The more Naruto observed the room, the more disturbing things he found. Like the blood stains on the floor and on the hooks. The dark atmosphere didn’t help the unsettling feeling rising within him.

He looked to the other boy, who moved quickly but cautiously through the room. They kept moving forward until they had to climb a pile cages blocking a the entry to another room. The climb was easy, but tedious. The blisters in Naruto’s hand not appreciating all the gripping and climbing he’s been doing. The two hopped down unceremoniously, causing a small creak to be heard in the wooden floor below them. The black haired boy paused, tensing, before moving forward again.

This room smelled. It was a suffocating smell. It was rotten and sickening.

The two continued on despite the smell. It stung their nostrils, but the quicker they moved, the sooner they’d be out.

The next part of this room seemed to be filled with loads of cages and crates. The smell was worse here. Naruto could feel tears gathering in his eyes. The other boy seemed unbothered and climbed the smelly things. Naruto was hesitant, but moved with him.

It was like climbing an odd path. There was no consistency as some of the cages and crates piled on top each other or were angled weirdly. 

Suddenly a screech was heard. It had a weird tick at the end of it, that continued on for a bit. Naruto tensed before looking back and saw a figure. It was large. It looked like a man. He had baggy clothes on, but his face looked like it sagged. Thankfully, the thing was looking the other way, paying no attention to the boys.

They both shared a look, before moving a bit faster. Naruto could hear his heart beating in his chest. It was all he could hear. It was so loud…

They nearly made it to an even metal contraction that they could simply walk on. Naruto’s eyes looked right at it and nothing else, loosing his footing and tripping a bit. He fell inside a crate and let out a gasp before he could hold it in.

A dead rat. Suddenly another screech was heard. But this one sounded alert. Naruto whipped his head back and saw the large creature looking straight at him. He looked up at the other boy, wanting to apologize, but the other boy simply began to run.

The creature now was coming straight towards them. The clangs of the metal loud in Naruto’s ears as it rushed over to him over the crates and cages. Naruto shook his head in hysterical disbelief before running too.