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bogusboxed · 1 year

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Boxtober - Day 31: "The Halloween Massacre."

Day 31: -The Proxies X GN!Reader “A Sweet Treat” x “I’m not alone, and neither are you.”

I do not own any of the proxies and do not take credit for them.

Trigger Warning(s): Graphic Descriptions of pain, Blood, Violence, and Fear elements.

When the glass shattered into your hand, you weren’t sure what you expected. You were barely hanging on when all of this happened. You had just hoped everything would clear up. You just wished you could’ve gone back in time and warned the past, even though that was far from now. You shifted as you could still hear the recoil from a mile away as a warm crimson ran down your arm. You recalled the moments that led up to this heart-pounding moment as you could hear faint yelling in the distance.

You lazily woke up from your nap, not caring about your current surroundings and just trusting that it wasn’t anything bad. You could feel yourself leaning against something warm as you felt a gentle bounce push you up. You shifted from where you had been partly laid. You muttered something, feeling your eyelids heavy on your figure. You were still filled with a tired haze, but you also had the desire to know what was happening around you. You blinked your eyes open, looking around lazily. Though your fatigue was strong, you still managed to get a grasp on your surroundings. You were in your shared van with your friends on an open, rocky road on some back road that Brian swore he knew. At that point, you were confident that the bouncing was coming from and being caused by the roadways. And for some reason, you were comfortable with seeing it as almost a regular thing. You huffed, going back to your original spot to get some more shut-eye against the metal. At least that was the plan until the van hit a larger rock, making you go into flight or fight mode. You could hear a sharp cuss come from the person behind you, the same person you had been coincidentally leaning on.

"What the fuck?" Toby cursed at the two men who were operating it in front.

You could feel your soul spike from internal regret as you pulled yourself away from his shoulder, not knowing how you’d been resting on him. You felt a sliver of cringe and pity for him, but he didn't seem all that upset, as if you hadn’t crossed a line and it was just you over-thinking. He seemed pretty contemptuous about it all, just upset at the reckless driver ahead. As you processed everything, you fully realized that you had been in a van. Though that was obvious, you had just fully taken it in. You hadn’t a clue why you were here or when you fell asleep, but even so, you’d gotten distracted by the events that were currently taking place. You exhaled, calming down from the initial high of being rudely awoken. Though, in the shadows of the van, you could see Kate’s figure sitting a good distance from the both of you, as Masky and Hoodie had been in the front. You should have been facing the masked men that Toby was currently cursing at, but instead, you were getting used to your current surroundings.

"I can’t do anything about that," Brian muttered while driving the van, occasionally glimpsing in the mirror to see the three of you.

He sighed firmly as Toby huffed in response.

"Looks like you're finally up, [Name]" Kate hummed among the chaos with a sweeter voice than the other two.

She seemed happy to see you finally up.

"What’s going on?" you yawned faintly as you could hear Toby shift to the left of you.

"Mission," she answered you as you sighed, not wanting to go on a mission.

But you were also not about to fight her words. So you just accepted what was going to happen shortly. Though it was weird how often you’d lose track of time and how much you’d end up in situations like this not remembering a single thing. But you did know one thing, and that one thing was the fact that it was Halloween night. The one night everyone was out and you’d all fit in perfectly. So, you all probably wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking, though you were sure Brian was still going to make you nonetheless. He'd say it was a good practice or use some other mentor wording.

"It's Halloween night, isn't it?" "Wouldn't that make tonight riskier?" you inhaled, just putting in your two cents' worth of effort.

"Well, I forget about that but hey nonetheless happy Halloween." Tim joined in for no apparent reason, huffing.

He seemed oddly tired with the way he spoke, but, yet again, he always spoke that way. You gazed at the man in the flannel for a moment or two. You made a noise in agreement as you could feel meaningless stares directed at you. Though still, no one answered your question, the van continued on its voyage, being driven by Brian's calculated swerving. You exhaled wanting to know what to expect but not wanting to push anything.

"The mission shouldn’t be that bad; it's just a target downtown." Tim seemed to notice your anxious glare as he tried to comfort your shaken state.

You exhaled, accepting his words with ease, seeing as how Hoodie would've given a ten-hour lecture if it had been a harsher task. And in doing so, Tim mentally told you he didn't want to be there either and comforted you about your anxieties. Afterward, the van quickly sank into silence. No one spoke, having nothing to fill the void of noise, though it wasn’t all bad. You had each other's presence, and that was more than enough. Just to have no words uttered but, only each other's shared memories to comfort one another. And you could tell that even with Toby upset, he wasn't going to be permanently angry. Because at the end of the day, you all only had each other. Because there was no sane person who could ever go down to your level or even understand what you all went through. No one could ever bond in the way you all five did, and it would probably stay that way for a while.

Though your train of thought was interrupted by Brian suddenly stopping, and as Toby's silent rage rose, you looked out of one of the nearby van windows to be met with an expansive neighborhood. But it wasn’t just any normal neighborhood. This one was covered by various Halloween decorations and all sorts of spooky treats. It looked like a neighborhood that someone would write up in a book due to how many celebrated the spooky day. The place had been covered in different blaring lights as kids ran up and down the streets, clearly on a sugar high. You could mentally hear the screaming the children let out for no apparent reason. You internally cringed watching the younger kids go ham as mothers sat back not caring about what their kids did. even if it meant stealing the entire bucket of candy. And you didn't even want to imagine the angsty teens at this time of night. And after looking at this spectacle, you suddenly remembered the burden of the holidays. You remembered why the creeps didn't celebrate them all that much. You could hear Toby let out a string of cuss words, knowing this mission just got vastly harder. You could feel the desire to just stay in the van and go back to bed burning within you.

"Alright, Kate and Toby will head toward the east side of the neighborhood while Tim will stay back to keep guard," and before Brian could finish his explanation and give his direct orders, Toby interrupted him.

"Of course, Tim doesn’t have to do shit," he complained as Tim chuckled lightly, knowing his part of the mission would be a breeze.

"Anyway, me and [name] will head north, and don't forget to use your walkie-talkie if anything gets dicey." Brian adjusted his ski mask to cover his entire face, as Kate had already made a move to leave.

It seemed that even when those two had been sitting for hours on end, they still seemed ready to go on their assigned mission. Meanwhile, on the other hand, you were exhausted for no apparent reason other than your body wanted payback for something you couldn't even remember. You could hear Toby grudgingly forcing himself to get up and follow Kate, with whom he was paired. He grabbed a few knives, knowing that it wasn't a good idea to bring a real axe into the public, even if it was Halloween night. Though, thinking about it, Brian probably put the two together so Kate could make sure Toby didn’t do anything too stupid. You had to give it to Brian; that was a pretty smart decision on his end. Because you knew that if you let Toby out on his own after being a rogue proxy for so long, he'd probably kill more than half the neighborhood. Though you were sure that Kate was comically murdering Brian in her mind for setting her up like that,

You thought to yourself as you got out as well. You bid the rest of your friends' good luck, as Toby still mentally stabbed Tim with his stares. You looked around your surroundings once again, taking plenty of mental notes. like how the van was parked on the side of the road in a darker part of the neighborhood to not draw any suspicion. Another part of it was that none of you had dressed up since you all looked right at home during Halloween. None of you would stick out, so you didn’t bother to change. The only one who might get stared at would be Tim, but he could probably disguise himself as some southern cowboy. Your shoes hit the concrete as you followed Hoodie closely, watching his stiff figure make progress quickly.

"Scouting only," his tall figure muttered.

You knew it was him speaking, but, even with his voice, you couldn't feel safe with how intimidating he looked and sounded. You could only hear the muffle that was his voice. You nodded in obedience as he stood tall, letting himself blend in.

As the two of you got into the more populated part, kids seemed to avoid the both of you. They gave Hoodie a horrified look in a discreet way, but you didn’t think much of it until a kid screamed and ran from him. You both stood still. You let out a light chuckle, not expecting to witness that, and clearly, he didn't either.

“How are you scaring kids by simply existing?" You looked at his frozen frame as he tilted his head toward you as if to say he was glad to know he wasn't the only one who witnessed that.

"I haven’t a clue," he answered disappointedly, knowing how scared he must have looked at those children.

But to you, it was pretty funny knowing his goal had been not to draw attention, and he did it by existing. He broke his own goal by just naturally looking scary. It was cute at the moment, but it eventually got drowned out by the thought of your mission. And how truly sinister your shared mission truly was; thinking about it ruined the atmosphere you two had for a moment. You mentally ignored it as you went further into the northern part, but Brian still managed to make kids run. even with your shared thought process. You assumed people thought the same way you did when you guessed his scary traits, which were his height and his mask.

The breeze was gentle as kids raced past the both of you, occasionally dropping a fun-sized candy bar along the way. And you could tell Brian couldn't tell if they were running either out of fear or because they were having great fun. He was never the best at reading social cues. You looked up at the dark sky, with only the moonlight to light the area around the two of you. You smiled to yourself, seeing how the both of you were so relaxed at the moment, even with the accidental scares. The stars twinkled as the night grew deeper, and the need to finish the mission was only growing.

"You think the others got anything?" you asked, breaking the silence, and he sighed upon hearing you not use any code lingo.

. He was disappointed in your lack of hiding the fact you were after something. He glanced at you for a moment before detaching his walkie-talkie from his belt and placing it to his ear. He seemed to agree with wanting to know any updates. You could hear static blares as well as faint voices from his end.

"Did you find them, over?" he answered to someone on your shared end, as you could hear a feminine voice. It was probably Kate talking to both of them.

You stood there listening and watching him use the walkie-talkie seamlessly with little to no struggle. And when he did so, the only thing you could think of was the last time, which was Toby’s absolute struggle to use one. You remembered that you both sat there, with you laughing and him turning like twelve things that shouldn’t have been turned. You lightly chuckled to yourself when you saw Hoodie getting anxious due to how long he’d had this thing in his ear. He was probably just nervous enough to be slightly out of place as he spoke again.

"Got it over and out." He huffed to himself as, through his ski mask, he gazed at you.

You motioned for him to go ahead and give you the news from the others.

"They overheard some party in the west region, and it's sounding like our target is there," he answered to your motion, watching your smile fade a tad.

You exhaled upon hearing that it was going to be in a public place, though you did get a sense of reassurance that it wasn’t some poor kid trying to enjoy the holiday. You had no desire to become a child murderer on top of all the other things you've committed.

"What happened to the code lingo?" You lightened up the mood, sensing he was glancing at your anxious state.

He paused for a moment as the things he just said seemed to flashback, and you knew he was going to beat himself up after that one mentally. You chuckled at his stance as he loosened up upon seeing the smile laced across your face. He just couldn't bring himself to criticize the way you attracted attention in public. After a good minute of taking second looks and making sure to retrace everything, you soon both concluded to head back to the van, seeing as the other two were planning to do the same. You passed the same over-decorated houses, now somewhat recognizing the area. You hummed to entertain yourself as you watched kids knock on different doors. even with the decorated houses. There were still some that weren’t lit with any decorations, which wasn't surprising. People had the right not to celebrate the holiday for any reason; it was all in good fun nonetheless. You and Brian soon passed a fairly under-decorated house with a Halloween-themed bucket sitting on the driveway. The more you looked, you could see a flimsy note with the words "Take one!" written on it. You could feel a spike of interest rise as you went off the path momentarily and grabbed two childish pieces of candy. He stopped for a moment, staring you down and almost wanting to stop you. But he couldn't, not wanting to draw any attention by doing so. He stood there waiting for your meaningless tomfoolery to commence so he could get back on track. Though you could feel his stare burn into the back of your neck, you just couldn't find it in yourself to care about his disapproval.

"Why’d you grab two?" he huffed as the both of you went back on task.

"So I could give you one," you muttered, passing him the other.

He took it with hesitation, almost disappointed in you, but he seemed pleasantly surprised, all things considered. He stuffed it in his pocket, just as you did the same. The house lights helped you find your way, as you could now see the van in the distance with the streetlights reflecting its lack of color. And the more you looked at it, the more you realized that it looked like the type of van that would have "free candy" carved into the side. You'd have to joke about that with Toby later, you thought as you joined Brian's side. You exhaled as you could hear noise coming from inside. You glanced at Hoodie, seeing him freeze momentarily out of despondency. You both approached the ruckus as he grabbed one of the doors, swinging it open abruptly. You could tell he tried to catch them off guard, and he did. The noise ceased as he just stood there staring. And before any of them could explain themselves, Brian started to speak.

"I and Kate will scout from behind while Tim and [name] will go in directly." And Toby can just stay here." Brian had a descending tone near the end as Toby squinted at the man.

"This feels targeted," he muttered as he sat on the van’s flooring.

not liking how Hoody put it but also not minding that he got to stay back from the mission. You sighed in envy as Tim got out of the door and made his way out. He seemed to be enjoying not doing anything but smoking. He muttered as he grudgingly put on his mask. He wasn’t a big fan of his iconic mask and had his reasoning behind it. He shifted out as he stood next to you. You both stood still, taking in any input that Brian had to put in, seeing as the both of you got the riskier end of having to be in a more vulnerable spot. as they both took off into the more isolated part of the neighborhood and back into the forest. You and Tim started to head directly north, leaving Toby alone. It wasn’t the best idea to leave him like that, but it was even worse to question Hoodie's judgment. So you sighed, not caring enough about it to pry at it mentally anymore.

You continued to walk with him, knowing he had smoked before this. Even though at first you could never stand the smell, you eventually got used to it after spending so much time around him. And maybe that’s what he wanted to happen.

"Nice costume," you muttered, testing the waters to see if he was in a better mood than normal.

"Gee, thanks!" he exclaimed with barely any excitement in his voice.

Though he had a more raspy, tired tone, you could tell he wasn’t upset. You’d managed to catch him in a better mood, which would play in your favor. Especially during a more open mission like this, And you all knew he struggled with public spaces. You followed the unfamiliar concrete, trusting Tim to call you out if you made any mistakes. It was fairly dark, as you only had minimal lighting and sound to guide you. And the closer you two got to the house, the louder the music got. And the more people there were, ranging from kids just passing by to people who were enjoying the party a little too much and weren't children.

You both were about to report back to Kate about making it to the supposed house when a kid ran up to the both of you.

"Aren’t you two too old to be trick-or-treating?" The short kid stared at Tim with a sour look.

He seemed to target Tim, seeing him as the older and more elderly of you two. The kid wore an astronaut costume that was too big for him as he stood confidently. Tim just stood there awkwardly, really not wanting to deal with this.

"I'm here for the party, actually," he said, breaking the staring contest as the kid with his bucket in hand glanced toward the house.

"You’re not cool enough to go to my older sister’s party." He snapped out at the both of you for a split second.

You wondered where this kid’s parents were, but it makes sense why they just left him here. You needed to get back on track and task, but you couldn’t with the child in the way. So, you did the only logical thing. You were going to scare him.

"Don’t you know you should be out?" "There's an evil... beaver out at this hour," you mentally slapped yourself for the terrible story you just made up.

Even with it, you could feel the apparent smile creep up on your face. And you swore you could hear Tim let out a chuckle right along with you. The kid backed up for a second, looking around him. Paranoia was visibly setting in as he felt like something was watching him. though you were sure nothing was.

"Yeah, and he carries an axe to swing at his unexpected victims," Tim added, which reminded you of a certain person. as if to point and laugh at a certain close friend of yours.

"I'm not scared," the self-proclaimed astronaut huffed, as you could tell he was just by the way his hands were shaken.

And the way he looked around, he was visibly uncomfortable. He was fearing the made-up beaver.

"You should be," Tim muttered with an ominous edge to his voice.His voice was just dripping with a campfire scary story as you watched him tense up from fear.

The kid stood for a moment, flinching. He suddenly turned around and ran for it, dropping plenty of candy on the way back to wherever he came from. You looked at Tim, who now had a small smile pasted on his face. That was probably cruel, but there were worse things you could've done to the astronaut. For example, if he were your target, that would be much worse.

"Menace." You smiled right along with Tim as you heard your walkie-talkie go off.

You quickly reached for it as you placed the cold plastic against your ear. Your carefree stance quickly turned professional, ready for action.

"Hello over?" You broke the silence, as you could hear shuffling on the other side.

"I’m bored," Toby said on the other side as he dragged his words out.

Your stance lessened as you quickly relaxed into the phone, not hearing Hoodie's condescending tone.

"Just wait; it shouldn’t take long," you answered, as you could hear Tim scoff.

"..sure." He gave up on the walkie-talkie lingo as you hear him shift in the van.

He muttered things that the walkie-talkie didn't pick up. And before you could say anything else, he cut the line abruptly. You mentally cursed him out for being upset with you for not solving his boredom.

"Guessing Toby?" Tim looked at your less-than-stressed face.

"Yeah," you answered under your breath, tucking the walkie back under your shirt.

Tim chuckled at your disappointed response as the both of you got back on task. You gazed toward the well-lit house as you could see the shadows of people dancing.

"Teenage party?" You could hear him huff, clearly not wanting to be adults at a younger party.

You lightly chuckled at his response as you kept your eyes on the entrance and once again took out your walkie-talkie. You wanted to hear the next course of action, and you knew he wouldn't mind explaining every detail to you if you simply asked. You switched to Brian's line as you placed it against your ear.

"Hello over?" you broke the silence, staring at the house in front of you and Tim.

You could hear static for a brief moment as he placed the device against his ear.

"What’s wrong over?" Hoodie’s husky voice was well translated over the talkie as you took a second.

"At the house, what's the next course of action over?" You lowered your tone, not wanting anyone to hear you.

"Uh--" Brian was going to announce something before he sharply stated "Fuck" in a whisper-like tone.

You could hear the recoil of him shifting from whatever position he was in. "What?" You didn’t manage to keep your professional talk up, hearing the panic in the other male’s voice.

"Get out of there," he stated sharply, with a certain rasp to his voice.

Your face tensed for a moment as Tim immediately realized something was wrong. Whatever had just happened on his side was major. He would never joke about something like that. Something was wrong. Something was wrong, and you could feel it only getting worse and festering in your mind. You needed to hear Brian affirm that everything was okay as Tim seemed to get closer almost in a way to comfort your form.

"A rogue proxy is in the area, Jeff." Hoodie seemed to snap out at you, practically begging you to get the fuck out.

He answered your mental question as he was struggling on the other end. You could feel your stomach contort as you froze. Your grip on the plastic increased as your heart felt like it was being squeezed. You could feel your flight or fight instinct bubble up within you.

"He's headed directly toward your area; get out now." Your hands shook against the plastic, frantically trying to process it.

"Get to the van within five minutes. If you don’t make it, we’ll be forced to leave you over and out." Brian ended the line with those words, warning you of the danger in the area.

And the danger was something you hadn't expected. It was one of the rogue proxies who worked for no one but themselves and the operator. He would kill you on sight, and you wouldn’t be able to stop him. Your heart was racing for once. You were up against an apex. You suddenly didn't feel like you were in control. You felt like prey, ready to be torn apart. You stood no chance against a rogue, especially not Jeff.

"Tim, we need to go." Your eyes widened looking at him as his eyebrows furrowed at you.

You could feel some form of cough come out of your throat. You could feel the fear the kid astronaut had gone through. You were wondering if this was it or not. Tim swallowed thickly as the both of you turned back to the van. He didn't question a word you spoke. He trusted you with his life. You both picked up the pace, not caring about bystanders. You didn't care about the eyes on either of you because their sight was going to be bludgeoned right out of them within minutes.

“What the fuck is happening?" Tim looked at you as his steps were heavy, following right along with you.

"Rouge proxy, it’s going to be a massacre in a few minutes." You got it out of your system as he cussed under his breath, following the similar way you had just been walking.

Though it made sense, the larger scene probably drew the proxy’s attention seeing that many people. Those people were just a way to add to his kill count. And the fact that it was Halloween didn't help. It was just too perfect to ruin. You should've expected this. You both took sharp turns, being under a timer that Tim wasn’t aware of. The pressure of both of your lives in your hands was just stacking up.

"Who?" Tim rushed out as you rushed up the concrete sidewalk.

"Jeff." You pushed yourself to keep up, not wanting to be next.

You could tell Tim froze upon hearing that news. You knew he hated those types of proxies. They had no care for anything and had completely lost it. But Jeff was worse than that because he dragged everyone he could along with him. And he was the reason you were here today. You could feel your straining muscles, but it didn't matter to you. A small pain or two was much better than having your brains splattered on the sidewalk. You could see the van in the distance. And for a moment, you felt like you had made it in time. You felt like you were going to make it. That was until you could hear a high-pitched scream come from behind. It was way behind you, but it was still enough to make you scared. And it ensured that you weren't safe until the van was on the move because now Jeff had made his presence known. The massacre had just begun, with no plans to stop anytime soon. And by this point, you’d all abandoned the mission, and this was life or death. If you didn’t get in the damned van, you’d be fucked. Brian couldn’t risk the lives of the others if you two couldn’t run fast enough. It was just protocol. You could feel something in your break when the van’s doors were open. Either they were waiting for you or someone else got to them first. But, luckily, as your scattered breath got into the van, Toby was still there.

"What’s going on?" Toby abruptly woke up from his nap, looking at your shared panting breath.

"Where’s Brian and Kate?" you looked at Toby as his eyebrow furrowed.

"On their mission?" He looked at you firmly before stiffening.

He could tell something was wrong. It was clear that Brian didn't have the time to warn Toby.

"There's a rogue proxy." Tim cut to the chase as Toby squinted upon hearing the name.

It wasn’t so long ago that he was one before he changed.

"Jeff," you answered the question he probably had mentally as his jaw tightened upon hearing that name.

Toby started to faintly visualize watching you two emerge from the van.

"I’ll drive." Tim looked at the both of you getting into the front of the vehicle.

You could feel your heart stop for a moment as your heart spoke for you.

"What about Kate and Brian?" you managed to say as Tim froze holding the wheel.

You'd just put that thought into his mind. He'd just realize what he'd lose if he took off right now.

“I—" He was going to say something, but he stopped.

It was almost as if he saw something that you hadn't. You could feel yourself becoming anxious as you needed to hear him communicate with you two.

"What?" Toby muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He took the question right from under you as you listened.

"They took the fucking key," Tim mentally cursed out Brian.

And even if that were a terrible thing for you guys, you could feel a sense of relief wash over you. You wouldn't be forced to make that decision.

"We’ll just wait for them; they shouldn’t take long." Toby stared at Tim montonely.

. He kept his emotions under wraps in a professional way, but you could tell by his tensing how scared he was.

"I don’t want to leave them; it's just protocol," he huffed as he tried to relax, but you could see his sight go into the mirrors to be aware of his surroundings.

You knew he was anything but calm; he was far from it. The longer the three of you waited, the more screams came from the neighborhood.

The more it felt like you guys were sitting ducks waiting to be shot, "We’re fucked." Tim took a cigarette out, ready to smoke his heart out, as he threw his mask to the side of his face, revealing his fluffy hair.

"I’m not leaving my fucking friends!" Toby snapped at the man in the flannel, not caring about Tim’s last statement.

He was getting fed up with Tim's pessimism.

"It’s Brian’s order." He lit his cigarette violently, not bothering to ventilate it. almost, as if he thought that'd be his final one.

"We can’t even leave if we wanted to, so stop fighting for fucks sake." You lost your voice at the two fighting about the situation.

“We’re staying here until Brian and Kate get here." You relaxed your stance, feeling the fixated gaze of Toby on you as Tim just smoked.

You saw where both of them were coming from. You knew they were just scared, but that was no excuse for fighting while a bloodthirsty animal was off its leash.

"There's the no man behind bullshit." Tim hummed as he let the nicotine rot his mind.

You could see him physically relaxed, leaning back with a smile laced across his face.

"Tim’s high, and I’m panicking." "You're going to be alone fighting that bitch, and I won’t be able to do anything about it," you could see Toby pull his legs up to his chest heaving.

He was stressed out so badly just thinking about the situation. And your heart went out to him; you didn't want to see him like that.

"I’m not alone, and neither are you." You looked at his frantic state as you shifted your figure next to him.

You reassured him that it wasn't over, and it seemed your presence was enough for Toby to get his breathing back on track as he aggressively leaned into you. You had to be his rock. His anchor, you would say, would be the thing that kept him from floating. You had to ground him from his thoughts. You could see Tim’s smoke blow into the back of the van as he was stressed over his mind. He never led missions; he had always been third in charge under Brian and then Kate. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave his best friend, and he couldn't, and he knew that even with what he had said. You could smell the flumes as they ruthlessly traveled to the back of the van, having nowhere else to go. You didn’t know what you could say to Tim to just make him calm down. But he was smoking, so he was probably getting it together by getting looser.

"What the fuck do I do?" Tim lightly chuckled to himself as he inhaled harshly.

He hit the steering wheel a few times just to get some of the stress off of him, and before you could comfort him, you heard something. You could hear someone running rapidly toward the van; your stomach dropped, not knowing who it was. You peered out the window to see Brian and Kate’s forms running toward the van. Your heart swelled with relief upon seeing the others. You could tell Tim was already aware of their presence as he quickly got into gear, putting out his cigarette on the dashboard. Kate had her machete in hand, and Brian had a gun firmly in hand. They were close to the van as you swung open the doors for them. Toby pulled a decent distance away from you, feeling better about seeing them. Kate headed for the back door as Brian aimed for the front. You could tell he knew Tim was in front as he rushed in. You could see the both of them relax somewhat as they settled in the van; they were weighing the whole thing down with their sudden arrival. They were huffing as Kate practically slid in as Brian tossed the keys to Tim. He turned the ignition as the engine roared for fuel. He got it into gear, pressing down on the gas, ready to bust ass. The vehicle took off as the doors were still wide open. It seemed like you were all in a hurry. You shifted to go shut the doors as you could see two figures in the distance. As you recoiled, trying to figure out who it was even though you already knew the answer, it was Jeff and Liu in the distance. And Liu had his gun pointed right at you. You pulled it back with all of your force, shutting one of the doors as the van bounced you all against the rocky road. The gunshot broke the glass of the shutter as you sat on the floor, feeling the shattered glass rain on you. Kate quickly came to your side, grabbing the other as she was about to shut it, and you could tell he was going to shoot again. And he was aiming right for her hand. You pushed yourself up, fully shutting the door, as the glass left on your palm was stuck deep in your hand. You could feel the pain flare up, almost like you'd just burned your hand. Your pain felt like a statistic that was skyrocketing and then drastically dropping. Your hands were over Kate’s as the bullet went against the metal doors. "Get down!" Brian huffed, as Kate had already done so. Both doors were now tightly shut, with one window broken. You could feel the glass against every part of your body. You shifted awkwardly, sliding down the metal door, as none of you had expected to see his brother among them. The rogue proxies never worked with anyone, which made them the way they were, but maybe they had joined forces for a common goal. Or maybe it was something else. You panted as you sat against the frame of the van door. You held your wrist, feeling a sudden burning sensation in your hand. The sharp, burning sensation was all you could currently focus on; nothing else seemed to matter other than the feeling. The feeling of a throbbing pain rising and falling with the bonus of a disorienting haze clouding your mind. You could see the glass now tainted with your crimson liquid. The blood ran down your hand and arm as you held your hand there. Seeing the clear, crystal-like shard stick out from your palm Kate soon reached out, holding your injured arm, as you could hear aggressive shifting to your left.

"Everyone alright?" Tim managed to get out, adjusting his hold on the wheel, seeing as all of you were now a good distance away from the soon-to-be massacre of a neighborhood.

"Yeah, though [Name] got their hand injured." Kate's voice was gentle as she grabbed the medicine kit that Toby had thrown at her.

"Okay, good. "Now, wanna explain to me why you two took so long?" Tim raised his voice in a panic; he seemed to be overwhelmed by the current events.

as Toby was staring at you with a concerned look. "We got chased in the forest behind the house," Brian answered for both of them.

"Mid conversation, we saw them, and once we made our move, we had to take a long way so they wouldn’t ambush." But, they saw us in the end, and we had to run for it." Kate sighed, pulling out an antiseptic and a bandage.

She gently reached for your hand, grabbing your wrist as she poured it on. Your hand burned with intense, sudden pain, and you could feel your muscles flare up as she kept a good hold on you. You tried not to move, but it just felt impossible not to. She waited for a moment before applying a bandage to your bruising wound. She tried to be as delicate as possible which was hard due to the fresh gash in your palm. She put a second of pressure on it, which you thought was for medical purposes but was instead for comfort.

"Thank you." She admitted her mistakes, feeling bad for your wound.

You just saved her from losing her entire hand. You made a noise that sounded like "Uh huh." You were just too sleepy to answer anything else. From the sudden adrenaline rush to the sudden wound, it was getting to be too much. It was probably just the blood loss. as you couldn’t move your hand as you gently placed it down. Everything felt sharp to the touch, and your hand didn’t feel usable anymore. as Kate pulled down her sleeve, swiping away any fallen glass on your figure. She was trying her best to make it up to you which you greatly appreciated from her and you could tell she knew.

Your hand was now numb as you took the pain relief that Tim had recommended. You could now see Toby’s figure slowly sit next to you to provide you comfort, just like you had done for him. He wasn’t good at vocal comfort, but he was doing enough just by caring. You felt your breathing become more regular, and you were not feeling the wound as badly. You could feel a sense of excitement arrive just from the fact that you made it out. You've all survived Jeff and his brother. You had lived to tell the tale, but you were sure he wasn't done with you. He'd be back, but it was nice for the moment. Tim relaxed, seeming to not be as tense as he once was moments ago. Though Brian, on the other hand, had his ski mask up to his forehead trying to catch a second.

"I hate rogues," Brian muttered, thinking about the mission that had just collapsed upon you all.

Tim laughed in agreement as everything seemed to lighten up from the original stress and climax of it all. You lightly chuckled, deciding to add a comedic moment to the new voyage, as you dug in your pocket and pulled out a piece of candy, handing it to Toby. It is now much more melted and less new, but candy is candy. You passed it, knowing it was the same one you and Brian had taken. Toby seemed to tilt his head eagerly while taking it. You knew he enjoyed chocolate as you relaxed against Kate. She didn't mind your dependence on her, as she even adjusted her position to make it more enjoyable for the both of you.

What would your life be without the adrenaline you get from your friends? What would life be without them? You couldn’t imagine it, and you wouldn't, as Tim drove while he shared his cigarettes with Brian, who insisted he didn’t want one but took one nonetheless. And Toby munched on the candy as Kate watched your wound intensively. You had a group that cared about each other. You had a group that survived the Halloween massacre, and there was nothing much that could ruin it. other than dying, but that was just part of the risk. It was just a part of the fun of working for the operator, and you couldn't imagine being stuck with anyone else but your team.

A/N - We finally finished Boxtober !! I hoped all of you enjoyed it! <3

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