Preview of Escaping; a Sticky Situation
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Summary: A surprising power failure reduces the security of a secure facility where three kidnapped charr are being kept prisoner. Jacketed, muzzled and in the dark, they try their best to escape from a facility known for its experiments in non-lethal but highly adhesive capture....
Word count (Full Version): 3469
Posted using PostyBirb
The trio let out a muffled groan of recognition. A thick, sap like substance had spilled on the floor and all three of them had stumbled until their soles were embedded in the stuff. "Mmuh-mmhmh!" Chaz tried to mumble in apology to Severa, yet she was already straining, her mind focused on moving as quick as she could to break loose. Varius meanwhile was acting in the opposite way, their feet planted intentionally.
"Mmmhh! Mmhhf." They tried to warn her. She however was mumbling back as if urging them to join in.
Chaz looked confused, not understanding the meaning of their actions. Both of them had experienced similar glues in their tests with Severa's getting stronger if she dared wait, while Varius had been conditioned in a different way, to move as little as possible.
The ground creaked and groaned under all three of them as even the low-motioned Varius still had to twist their paws to keep balance. Chaz felt too restless to stay still, trying to stretch the goo until it broke, only to have her foot wrenched backwards until she nearly fell from the sudden grasp.
She turned to see Severa's progress, she was focused on taking small deliberate steps that left a tangled trail of strands, a pathetic distance made for the effort but still some actual distance.
Severa felt Chaz's eyes on her, looking up for a moment before she noticed the other charr was no longer looking at her but past her, with widened eyes.
"Mmmh?" She twisted her neck to look before she saw the problem; a security drone had rounded the corner and was approaching them. Its scanning light was dipped as it checked a short distance in front of it, navigating in the darkness.
Creak, groan the glue on the ground shifted as the three of them suddenly felt urgency. Severa's sandals had gotten covered in the thick gunk as her steps caught up on her, yet she noticed Varius' actions, they were stepping carefully, using the glue to keep the sandal on the floor as they wiggled their foot free from the straps.
It seemed the only viable choice, Severa's path might have won eventually but the drone would catch up before then and none of them wanted to discover what happened when it did.
With grunts and shakes of her head she directed Chaz to observe and follow Varius' example, and then the trio of self-hugging squirming felines were working out of the footwear they bore.
Having been so cautious, Varius was the first to escape from their sandals, squinting into the darkness and believing they spotted the edge of the careless spill. They hunched down as low as they dared before taking a leap, tense and worried that they wouldn't have made it. Though a scholar rather than a soldier, Varius' strength proved sufficient, letting them leap to the ground on the other side. They turned, shaking the shaggy tuft of hair from their eyes to see how the other two were doing, Chaz had gotten out of one sandal, while Severa's wading had made it physically difficult for her to part with her own.
Slowly they watched, grunting the little encouragement they could manage. Chaz had escaped the sandals shortly after but seemed nervous about making it that far in a jump. As if to give her further confidence, Severa grunted to pull her attention back and then, as she had finally made it out, she launched herself forward, sailing over the glue to land beside Varius, who moved to help steady her. The drone was catching up as Chaz hesitated, both the other charr egging her on.
It was now or never. Chaz tried to mimic the others in leaping free from the goop coated ground, eyes squeezed shut as the air whooshed by.
Severa's eyes widened, she saw the arc Chaz was taking, it wasn't going to be enough.
Before Varius even realised what she was about, let alone with time to stop her, she hopped back into the glue in a crouched pose, wincing and growling as her now bared paws slapped in the sticky mass, Chaz dropped, angled to land beside her and so Severa rose, her back and shoulder connecting with the airborne charr, propelling her the extra distance needed to land safely.
Chaz fell onto her front, helped to a stand by Varius, clear of the glue, with Severa doing her best to once again wrench her tired legs out of the mire and stomp back to safety. She knew as well as any that she wasn't making it in time, though if even one of them made it to freedom, they all had a chance to make her sacrifice worthwhile. A thought she tried to communicate with a grunt and a tossing of her head, bidding them to go.
Behind her the drone let out a pulse, its eye had fallen on her discarded sandal and it scanned the area. "Gmmhhh!" She yelled, prompting the two to start moving despite the guilt they felt at leaving her.