by Jay Ford
“Oh, you mean the lobby. As in, the one that contains the exit out of here? The place that we're trying to get to?” Alex said sarcastically.
Sarah nodded.
“Oh, great. Why don't we just start shouting, 'We're here! Come eat us!’? Might as well get it over with now! Because I can tell you right now, once we step foot in there, it'll get torn off! No, it'll get torn off in the air before our foot can even hit the ground!” Alex said so fast, I could barely understand him. He was clearly freaking out.
“Alex, dude, chill. We're gonna get out of here,” I comforted him. Well, as much as one can as they're crouched down in a ventilation shaft, crawling away from these monsters that came out of nowhere and are suddenly killing everybody, but really, you're going right towards them. Okay, now I was the one who needed to chill. “We'll get out of here. Promise.”
Chapter Fourteen
We finally made it to the lobby. My knees were killing me from crawling on them for so long. It felt good to finally be sitting down properly. We were huddled around one of the grates in the lobby and were looking down on the chaotic scene.
There were about fifty Grimms in the lobby tearing it apart. There were sofa cushions all over the place. The TV was broken on the floor. There were telephones yanked off the walls and the pinball machines lay in pieces on the floor. The worst thing about this was what was lying across the floor. There were dead bodies all over the place. Human bodies. They were bloodied and torn apart. Grimms were walking on them, while some were dragging them into a line. I thought I was going to puke. Bloodied, mangled bodies was something that was definitely new to me. All those lives gone thanks to the Visitors, or Grimms. Whatever they're called. I wanted to know why they didn't just leave us alone. We never did anything to them, so why would they want to do so much to us?
“What are they going to do with the bodies?” Alex asked.
I shook my head. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I was going to throw up.
“What I want to know is where these people came from,” Sarah said. “I mean, I haven't seen another person in the entire time since everybody disappeared.”
“Well,” I said. I paused to make sure I wasn't going to throw up. Nope. I was all good. “The Grimms probably scoured the city and brought the people here. Or, there could have been some staff holed up in the hospital that the Grimms got to before they could escape. You never know.” I realized that I wasn't helping their morale very much. Mine either. They probably would've stayed there, paralyzed in fear. I had to snap them out of it. “Look, all that matters is that they're dead, and we're not. Now we need to focus on getting out of here alive. We can't raise the dead. All we can do is just accept that they're gone, and move on.” Same with everybody that disappeared. They're gone, and I can't do a thing about it except focus on staying alive, I thought to myself, but didn't dare say it out loud.
The two of them nodded, but I could tell that they were still freaked out.
“All right, we need to figure a way out of here.” Right as I had said that, the Grimms started shouting. For a split-second, I thought that they had found out where we were at and started trying to figure out a way to get up here. I realized that wasn't the case, when I looked out the grate and saw them chase after a pack of dogs that had wandered into the hospital. The Grimms flooded out of the lobby—jumping out the windows—and started chasing after the dogs.
“Well, that was convenient,” Alex said in a very proper accent.
“Yes, the timing was excellent,” Sarah matched his tone.
“Cut it out guys and help me get this grate off the vent before the Grimms come back,” I ordered. I put my back on the wall of the shaft facing the vent and put my feet on the grate. It was a large grate, so Alex and Sarah were able to get one of their feet on it.
“All right, on the count of three,” I told them. “One...two...three!” We pushed as hard as we could. the grate started to buckle, but then stopped.
“I don't think that helped very much,” Alex said.
“No duh?” I asked sarcastically. “Let's try again.” We took in a deep breath. “One...two...three!” We pushed as hard as we could. It moved a little bit more. There was a gap big enough for a hand to squeeze through, but the screws weren't going to let go of the grate.
“Oh my god!” Alex screamed. He punctuated every word with a hard kick to the grate. “Why. Won't. You. Freaking. Open!” With the last word, one of the screws came off, and fell to the ground with a loud clank that sounded like a gunshot in the silence. “I did that,” he said in an excited whisper. “I DID THAT!” he yelled. He was really excited about it now. He kissed his biceps. “Oh yeah. Just call me Batman.” He kicked the ventilation shaft in excitement. A look of pain came across his face.
“Kicked with the hurt leg, right?” I asked in response to the look on his face.
He quickly nodded and moaned.
“Let's try kicking it, instead of just pushing,” I said. “One screw coming off isn't going to help us very much.” We returned to our positions and lifted our knees to out chest. “One...two...three!” The three of us kicked as hard as we could. The grate went flying off the vent, flying through the air. It landed on the tile floor. It sounded like a cannon going off.
“Sarah! You go first. And hurry! I'm sure they heard that!” I told her. She nodded and crawled to the edge of the shaft. She put her hands on the edge of the vent and climbed over the edge. She was hanging off the vent with her legs four feet from the ground. She let go and hit the ground with a thud.
“Alex, you next. Are you gonna be able to do it with your leg?” I asked him.
He nodded. “My adrenaline is taking care of most of the pain. My leg is going to be freaking sore tomorrow though.”
“Well, let's get out of here, and we just might live to see it.” I knew that would make his adrenaline pump even faster.
He crawled to the edge of the vent like Sarah did, and let go. He let out a grunt when his feet hit the ground, followed by an “I'm okay!”
It was my turn. I crawled to the edge and climbed down like Sarah and Alex did. I was hanging above the ground. I looked down. Wow. It looked a lot higher than I thought it was. I knew my feet were only about four feet from the ground, but my head was about eleven. Now, I know that's not very high, but I have a slight fear of heights. I tend to forget everything. Even the fact that I'm one of the only humans left on Earth, there are aliens that want to eat me, there are tons of dead bodies underneath me, and those aliens are going to be back any second.
“Just do it!” Alex yelled, bringing me back to reality.
Okay, I thought. If Alex can do it, then I definitely can. I let go, and hit the ground with a thud. That wasn't too bad.
“Let's go,” I told them as I wiped dirt off my jeans.
We turned towards the exit to the hospital, and took off running. We were going to make it out alive. I just knew it. There was a feeling of euphoria as I ran out where the window used to be. The sun was low in the sky, even though it was high in the air when Alex and I entered. We had been in there longer than I thought. Oh well. We were out of there now and were never going back.
We stopped, and I turned to Sarah. “Is there anything we need to get out of your car, before we go home?”
A puzzled look came across her face. “You mean, you want me to go home with you?”
Alex laughed and slapped her on the back. “Of course! We just saved your life! We aren't going to let you just leave! We gotta stick together!”
A wide smile formed on Sarah's face. “Thank you so much!” She shouted. “Can we go by my house, so I can get a few things?”
“Of course!” I said. “Do you want to get your car, and you follow us?”
She shook her head. “It was a piece of junk. Besides, I don't want to be on my own. I'm too freaked right now.”
“Oh, don't worry!” Alex hit her playfully on the arm. “W
e'll take care of you!”
I laughed at Alex's blatant act of flirtation. “Come on, guys. The car is straight ahead.”
I heard the sound of Grimms in the distance. “Yeah, let's hurry up and get out of here!” Alex said. He took off running, leaving us behind.
Sarah chuckled. “And he's off!” she teased, as she took off after him.
I started laughing at how weird all this was, how much my life had changed in just a couple of days. I heard the Grimms getting closer and started running after Sarah and Alex.
Chapter Fifteen
The car is always a great place to have deep conversations.
“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Alex screamed from the backseat. Obviously the gravity of what just happened finally started to hit him.
“YOU'RE ASKING ME?” I yelled back from the driver’s seat. We had just left Sarah's house, and were on our way to ours. We had to take back roads that were rarely used in order to get there without having to get out and push things out of the road (which, occasionally, we still did).
“Guys! Cool it!” Sarah ordered. I looked in the rearview mirror at Alex just in time to see a look that was the facial version of a dog tucking its tail between its legs and running off to a corner.
“We need to figure out what's going on, what we're going to do,” I said after a few moments of silence.
“Well, I know what I'm doing,” Sarah began. “I'm going to D.C.”
“Right, right. Your brother, wasn't it?” Alex inquired.
“That's right.” She didn't elaborate further.
I few more moments of silence passed, before Alex broke it. “So, what's your brother doing in D.C.? I mean, how do you know that he's there—alive?”
I did the biggest mental face palm ever. Alex truly was an idiot when it came to girls.
To my surprise, Sarah answered him. “Friday night, when all of this happened, I was on the phone with my little brother, Sam. He was telling me about his day at school. He lives in D.C. with my dad, while I live here with my mom. Right as he was talking, he started screaming!” Sarah's voice got louder and louder, and she started crying, obviously reliving the moment. I didn't have any siblings to take care of, but I saw how my dad treated my aunt. You don't mess with somebody’s brother or sister. “He said that Dad disappeared. He was going crazy! He was crying, screaming, and searching for Dad. It took him a long time to calm down, but finally, he did. I was able to tell him to stay there, and I would be there in a few hours to get him.
“As you can see, I haven't been making much progress with all of these things that are going on.” Sarah wiped the tears from her face. She looked down at her hands. “I failed him. He's probably dead—or worse—because I wasn't able to get to him.”
Alex leaned from the backseat of the FJ and patted Sarah on the shoulder. “No, no, no. It's okay. I'm sure he's fine! He sounds like a strong boy. I'm sure somebody found him. D.C. is where the government is. I'm sure they've set up some sort of shelter or something there. Right, Charlie?”
I nodded. “That's exactly why we're going with you.” I knew that we weren't going to leave Sarah. And Alex was right. There probably was something set up by the government in D.C. to fight the Grimms or something. Maybe that's where Jared went?
“You guys are coming with me?” Sarah asked, breaking my train of thought.
“Do we really need to go over this again?” Alex asked, smiling at Sarah. She returned the smile.
Sheesh! Turn down the flirt factor! I thought.
“I guess I owe you one, huh, Alex?” I said, teasing him about the bet that we made earlier about Alex finding a girl.
“Wha—oh, I, uh, right. No idea wha—” Alex shut up and turned to look out the window, his cheeks flushing.
We drove awhile in silence. The sun quickly disappeared with the Moon beginning to take its place. I glanced up at the Moon before quickly turning my attention back to the road. I had to make sure I was still on Earth. All these things that happened made the Earth seem alien. It didn't seem like home.
I turned the FJ down the street leading to my house. I searched the places that the headlights shined for any signs of the Grimms. I felt a chill go down my spine. “So, when are we leaving?” I asked Sarah, trying to start up a conversation, so my mind would dwell on other things. Still, I couldn't shake the strange feeling that was in the back of my mind.
“As soon as possible,” she replied.
“How about first thing tomorrow morning? I'm afraid that whoever drives will fall asleep.” As soon as I said that, my eyelids felt like weights. Almost dying multiple times by the hands of an alien will do that to you.
“I want to leave right now, but you're right. We'll be no help if we have a wreck and die.”
“That's positive thinking right there!” Alex said.
Sarah and I ignored him.
We pulled up to my house. “What the—” Alex said.
“Who in the world—” I began.
“I'm guessing that the truck sitting in your yard, that also demolished your gate, isn't supposed to be there?” Sarah asked.
“Nope.”
****
I examined the truck the best that I could in the moonlight. It was a black Chevy Silverado 3500.
“Somebody's been doing some shopping!” Alex said, referring to the fact that the truck didn't have a license plate on it. Where that was supposed to go was just a plate with the Chevrolet logo on it.
“They've also got their hands on explosives,” Sarah said as she appeared at Alex's side.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The gate was blown open. Probably with some sort of small explosive. It was small enough that it didn't do too much damage, so you couldn't really tell, but large enough to blow it open.”
Alex and I started at her in disbelief.
“How do you know these things?” Alex said, shocked.
Sarah blushed. “Not all girls are Barbie dolls! I love me some explosives.”
“Yeah, well, you sure didn't look like GI Jane back there in a hospital!” Alex said, laughing.
“That's because I was about to be eaten by some crazy aliens. I was in shock—still kinda am—but I'm ready for them now.” Sarah's tone grew serious.
“Okay! Chill! Just kidding!”
I walked over to them. I was tired of their games. This was serious. “You guys need to shut up, and focus on the guys with the guns, and bombs, who are probably in the house right now.”
Their faces twisted into seriousness. Alex mumbled and apology.
“Why are we even going in there anyways?” Sarah asked.
“Because,” I had to stop and think about it for a moment. Why was I risking my life for the hundredth time today? I suddenly realized it. “Because this is my home, and I'm not letting some douchebags with explosives do what they want with it. Just like I'm not letting Grimms do what they want with my home. The planet one, that is.” I turned and started making my way over to the back door before either of them could protest any more.
I crouched down once I reached the backyard. I didn't look to see if Sarah and Alex were following, but I heard them. I snuck up the back porch and stopped at the back door. I was making a plan. They're probably asleep. I just need to sneak in there, and...do...something. I let out a sigh. I hadn't actually figured out what I was going to do once I got in there. Why didn't I just leave like Sarah suggested? Because I'm way overprotective. I could thank my mom for that...which I'd most likely never get to do.
I shook my head. I needed to focus.
I reached under the mat that was in front of the door. I grabbed the spare key. I inserted it into the lock on the back door, and twisted it. There was a satisfying click, and I slowly turned the doorknob, and opened the door.
I crouched down and started slowly walking inside. I looked behind me. Sarah and Alex were inside the house, too.
The door slammed shut. The lights flicked on.<
br />
“Welcome home,” a strange voice from behind me said. I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Everything went white, and then very, very, dark.
Chapter Sixteen
I slowly became aware of everything around me. My eyes weren't open, but I was awake. The first thing I noticed was the dull throbbing pain in the back of my head. I reached up to rub the spot of the pain. That's when I noticed the second thing: my hands were tied. My head snapped up to attention (increasing the pain in my head), and I opened my eyes. I looked down, and saw that I had rope wrapped around my waist, which tied me to a chair I was sitting in. My hands were tightly bound behind me. I looked around me, and saw that I was in my living room. I was a captive in my own home.
To my left was Alex. He was also tied to a chair, except he was still asleep. I noticed that his glasses lied in a broken heap at his feet.
I was gonna kill somebody.
I started shaking in my chair, which was making no difference.
“Charlie,” I heard someone whisper. I looked to my right and saw Sarah.
“Sarah! Thank god. I totally forgot about you!” I said, relief flooding my body.
She shot me a look. “Gee. Thanks.”
I realized what I had said. “No, no! I didn't mean it like that!”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Try to scoot your chair in front of me, so I can untie you.”
I nodded and started hopping forward. I tried to be as quiet as I could, but that's kind of hard to do when you’re hopping in a wooden chair, while at the same time you're tied to it. I hopped forward a couple of times. Then, I started hopping to my right, so I could get in front of her. I grunted as I made my way over. Hopping in a chair in any direction except forward is hard to do. I tried to keep my balance, but it was no use. I lost it, and fell in the direction I was hopping with a loud crash. I started to try and get up, but I couldn't.
The sound of someone running down the stairs reached my ears. I made one last effort to get the ropes off me, but it was no use. A man who looked to be at least twenty came barging into the living room in just a pair of jeans. “And what do you think you're doing?” he shouted at me, spit flying from his mouth.
