First Date- a Novella

by Thomas A. Watson

  Ginger looked down at her body, wearing only her leather biking pants and boots. “I think you can see I’m not really ready,” she said, looking up with a forced grin.

  With wide eyes, Daniel spun away. “Sorry,” he mumbled, looking at Malik and the stooges ogling the partially clad women. “Hey, one of them is my date, so avert your eyes, or I’ll do it for you.”

  The four hurried out the door as Daniel followed. “Are you blushing, Daniel?” Ginger asked as he walked out. After they left, Ginger pulled the knife out of Monica’s skull and heard Teresa and the others crying. “That’s not helping our situation,” she said, closing the knife.

  Walking over to Teresa, Ginger grabbed her arms. “Pull it together, or you won’t make it to your kids.”

  Hearing that, Teresa snapped her head up, and the tears stopped. Grabbing the clothes she found, Teresa started getting dressed. Looking over at Holly and Beth, the only other female employees to survive, Ginger relaxed, seeing them get dressed in casual clothes.

  After grabbing the backpack he emptied, Daniel walked back into the break room. He stopped and looked around, clearing his mind as he concentrated on the list of problems in his head. Pulling out his keys, he walked over to the supply cabinets and opened them.

  Standing at each one, he scanned them for anything useful. On the second one, his eyes stopped, and a grin split his face. “One of mankind’s greatest inventions,” he said, grabbing a cellophane-wrapped six pack of gray duct tape. Shoving it in the backpack, he continued scanning and moved to the next cabinet.

  As Malik came out carrying the bat, he saw Daniel stuff two rolls of para cord in the backpack he was holding. “You know, I remember when you started at that second board meeting,” he said, walking over. “They used to use yarn on their presentations, showing how everything was connected. Then up steps the new guy right in Mr. Barron’s face and says, ‘If our competitors ever saw us use yarn, they would know we were limp dick bitches.’”

  Turning around with a grin, Daniel nodded. “Never expected him to put out a memo saying if anyone ever used yarn again, they would be terminated.”

  Malik laughed. “I loved it when Mr. Barron asked you what we should use so we wouldn’t look like limp dicks.”

  “Para cord is great stuff,” Daniel said as several thumps sounded against the door and windows.

  He turned, looking at the door to see it vibrate. “Malik, stack two tables there, then move another beside them with a chair on it,” Daniel said in a low voice.

  Malik moved over and grabbed a table as the stooges, Oscar, and Lonnie came out of the locker room. He waved them over to help as Daniel looked through the rest of the cabinets but didn’t find anything else except a pack of zip ties, which he put in the backpack. Looking at the counter, he saw a paper cutter. Stepping over, he pulled the pin out of the two-foot-long swing blade, removing it.

  He held up the curved blade by the handle. “A bit awkward,” he mumbled but held onto it. Seeing Andy’s body, Daniel walked over and undid the tool belt. Pulling it off, he shoved it in the backpack and zipped it up.

  Hearing the women’s locker room door open, he turned to see the others come out following Ginger. She walked over and looked at the two foot long curved blade of the paper cutter. “That has possibilities,” she said, holding out his knife.

  Taking the knife, Daniel handed her the paper cutter. “Here, you take this,” he said, looking around, and his eyes stopped at the back corner as a grin crept up on his face.

  As Daniel walked off, Ginger turned around, almost knocking down Teresa, which almost caused her to knock down Holly and Beth. “Don’t follow me that fucking close,” she hissed at them as more pounding started at the door.

  Stepping away from them, Ginger looked back at Daniel at the back corner opening a red metal door with “Fire Hose: only use in case of fire,” in white letters. Stopping behind Daniel, she watched him flip open the knife and cut the shiny nozzle off. He grabbed the cut hose and pulled it out, handing her the end. “Hold this; I’m going to wrap it on your arms,” he said, yanking the hose.

  A look of understanding sprang up on Ginger’s face as she held her arms out about three feet apart. “Fucking brilliant,” she grinned as Daniel wrapped the hose neatly from one arm to the other. Keeping the hose flat as he wrapped it, Ginger looked at the yard-long spool as it spun around. “How long you figure it is?”

  “Over a hundred feet,” he said, continuing to neatly wrap the hose. “It’s not true tubular climbing webbing, but it should get us down.” Behind them, the door continued vibrating under the thumps, and more were sounding on the windows.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Teresa and the others helping Malik. “The others can’t rappel down,” Ginger said, trying to ignore the pounding.

  “My concern is you,” Daniel said, glancing up as he yanked more hose out. “I provide the way; it’s up to them to use it. Moving out to the ground floor is suicide.”

  Knowing he was right, Ginger nodded as her arms struggled to hold up the heavy hose. When he reached the end, she sighed with relief as he cut it from the valve. Taking the wrapped hose, Daniel set it on a table and grabbed the backpack he stole. Pulling out the zip ties, he tied the hose at the ends and middle so it wouldn’t unravel. Then using more ties, he secured it to his liberated backpack.

  “We need to leave,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the others. “Listen, we are going over the tiles. Do not put any weight over the tiles, or you will fall through, and you will die,” he said in a low voice as the door thundered under the assault, and they heard one set of blinds rattling now as the window pushed in against it. “The metal on each side of the tiles is where you put your weight, and don’t get close to each other either, or the support will fall.”

  The others stared at him in wide-eyed horror as he got up on the table and stepped on the chair, climbing up the stacked tables. Reaching down, Daniel held out his hand for Ginger. She nodded and stepped up, grabbing Teresa by the shoulder and pulling her along.

  Daniel moved a ceiling tile out of the way and stood up, climbing in the ceiling. “We are heading to the board room,” he said, pulling himself up.

  Joe looked around. “Where’s Gary?”

  “Fuck ‘em,” Malik said, helping Holly and Beth up.

  Extending his arms, Daniel crab-walked on the beams that held the three-foot-wide ceiling tiles. Ginger climbed up after him and moved ahead, looking back to make sure Teresa came up. Seeing Teresa move along the supports like a monkey, Ginger whispered, “No so fast, Teresa, or you’ll get too close to me, and it might break.”

  Trembling violently, Teresa gave a nod and slowed down as the others followed her. Joe was the last one up, and Gary walked out of the locker room to find the break room empty, and now, the pounding on the door and windows sounded like thunder. “Where the fuck did they go?” he grumbled, looking around, and saw the stacked tables under a removed ceiling tile.

  Running over, he climbed up on the improvised steps, almost knocking them down. Thwack sounded, and he looked over to see one of the thick sheets of Lexan had been pushed out of the window, and hands were ripping down the metal blinds. Whimpering, Gary climbed up, knocking the chair off as he climbed on the stacked tables, and he heard bodies hitting the floor in the break room.

  Glancing down, he saw his coworkers pouring through the opening. Pulling his bulk up in the ceiling, he felt his pants get soaked as he pissed. Looking around the top of ceiling, he saw who he thought was Joe moving under some metal ducts thirty yards away. “Hey wait!” Gary yelled, pulling his legs up.

  Moving off the support, Gary tried to crawl on the tile only to have his upper body fall as the foam board cracked and broke, falling to the floor. Only because his knees were on the support, Gary didn’t follow it. Looking down, he saw dozens of bloody faces looking up at him, growling and moaning.

  “Please wait!” he yelled, looking at Joe hold his arms and legs out to c
rab walk on the supports. Joe stopped and lowered his head, looking under his body back at Gary.

  “You need to come on,” he said and took off, disappearing around more duct-work.

  Bawling like a child, Gary spread out his arms and held on to each support then slowly crab walked over the exposed gap as the break room was almost full of his coworkers reaching up for him. Hearing the stacked tables crash, Gary sped up as tears rained from his face.

  Moving a tile, Daniel saw the conference room table. Lowering his head, he looked around and saw the room was empty. Daniel lowered his legs and dropped to the table. He reached up as Ginger put her legs through and caught her at the waist then lowered her. “Thank you,” she said with a smile and kissed his cheek.

  Reaching up and grabbing Teresa by the waist, Daniel grinned as he lowered her. After helping Holly and Beth, Daniel jumped off the table. The men could drop down like he had as far as he was concerned.

  Taking the liberated backpack off his chest, Daniel tossed it on the twenty-foot-long table that sat in the center of the room. Then, he pulled his backpack off, tossing it beside it. Sliding them to the end near Mr. Barron’s chair, he pulled off his jacket and hung it on the chair.

  Ginger was pulling a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and heard Teresa suck in a breath and turned around to see Daniel standing without a shirt and suspenders holding his pants up. His muscles rippled under his skin. “Yeah, I’ve seen him before at the dojo, and I have to admit he makes my mouth water,” Ginger whispered at Teresa.

  Joe dropped to the table as Daniel pulled on a black tank top with a skull wearing a green beret on the front. “Gary’s coming,” Joe said, jumping off the table.

  “Surprised his big, stupid ass could figure out how to,” Daniel said, looking around. “Guys, we need weapons if we are to leave here.”

  Putting down her bottle of water, Ginger moved over beside one of the lamps that ran along the wall. A brass pole ran from a wide, black base up to a frosted glass shade. Looking at the pole, she saw it wasn’t a single piece. Grabbing the lamp pole, she tilted it and used her foot to yank the plug from the wall.

  Hearing grunting, she looked up to see two legs drop out of the ceiling. “Help me,” Gary cried out in a sobbing voice.

  “We just dropped down, Gary,” Joe said, moving over to see what Ginger was doing.

  With a startled cry, Gary let go and really dropped down, landing hard on the table and falling off. He landed hard on his back. “You fucking left me,” he cried out, trying to stand up and groaning from the pain of his landing.

  “Yeah, so what of it?” Daniel asked, staring at Gary with a blank face. “You were getting money from wallets; how does that help the rest of us?”

  “I’m saving it so they don’t lose it,” Gary snapped, wiping his face.

  Daniel grinned and looked around. “You pissed your pants, Gary.”

  “No I didn’t.” Gray pouted, and everyone snickered. “I’m warning you,” he said, glaring around at the group. No one, not even Teresa or the teenager Holly, looked away.

  Hearing glass break, everyone turned to see Ginger twisting a brass pole that supported the lamp. Opening the pack with the tool belt, Daniel dug around and pulled out some heavy wire cutters. Walking over, he cut the wire that led through the pole to the lamp housing.

  “You better be glad I unplugged it, or you would’ve gotten shocked and had to postpone our date,” Ginger said, grinning at him as she unscrewed the sections of the pole.

  “I saw it was unplugged, hot stuff,” Daniel said and leaned over, kissing her with a peck on the cheek. Handing the cutters to Joe, Daniel walked off as Ginger smiled after him.

  As she worked, Daniel unpacked the bag of supplies, laying them out. When she was done, Ginger laid down three heavy, shiny, brass pipes. Two were the same length—around two and half feet—and the other was barely two feet long. Grabbing the two longest ones in each hand, Ginger twirled them around. “A bit heavy and long, but I can use them as batons.”

  Looking along the wall, Daniel saw five more lamps. “Take ’em apart,” he said, waving his hand. “I’m going to look for more weapons.” He walked over and grabbed Ginger by the hand then led her to the end of the room to the door that led to Mr. Barron’s office. The other door on the wall with the lamps led to the hallway to the other executive offices.

  He walked in and pulled Ginger close. “You and I can leave now,” he said in a low voice. “We have mountain climbing experience, and so does Malik.”

  “Daniel, if we just hang that hose out, all of them will fall and get hurt or killed.”

  “The longer we stay here, the harder it is going to be to leave,” he said, grabbing her hand. “I’m sure our reservation’s been canceled though.”

  With a startle, Ginger jumped back. “You think this is happening in other places?”

  “Oh yeah,” Daniel said, letting her hand go and stepping over to the wall of windows. Grabbing the cord for the metal floor-to-ceiling vertical blinds, Daniel tugged them open, and Ginger sucked in a breath as she looked out over the city.

  “We are in some hellacious bucketfuls of pig shit,” she mumbled, seeing black columns of smoke rising everywhere. Stepping up to the window, she glanced down at the street to see throngs of people staggering around. Noticing fast movement, she turned to see a person running, weaving around the staggering ones. Further out, she saw a garbage truck plowing through those staggering along the street.

  “You already looked?” she asked, turning to him.

  “Nope,” he said, walking away. “I knew we were in shit because the police never showed.”

  “Daniel, there has to be away for the others to get down,” she said as he started digging through Mr. Barron’s desk.

  “How far are you willing to go to put your life at risk for them?” he asked, not looking up as he rummaged through the desk. “Besides Malik, none of the others have done anything to help fight or help—period—for that matter.”

  Ginger looked out the window. “This is a bit much,” she said, waving her hand.

  Pausing his digging, Daniel looked up. “You are functioning quite well,” he said then returned to his task.

  “Daniel, you know why I learned to fight?” she asked, and he looked up. “When I was in high school, a senior took me out on a date and tried to rape me. I got away, but I swore then nobody would ever be able to take me without a fight again.”

  Reaching in a bottom drawer, Daniel tossed a satellite phone on the desk. “I shall have to pay this man a visit,” he said, standing up, then started looking at the items on the desk. He grabbed a round, glass sphere that had a scorpion suspended in it. Tossing it up and catching it, he figured it weighed about three and a half pounds. “Maybe,” he mumbled and set it beside the phone.

  When Daniel walked away from the desk to the shelves on the wall, Ginger followed, looking at the shelves for any type of weapon. “He’s in prison for drugs now,” she said.

  “He gets out at some point,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “How come I have to work for a pussy that doesn’t have swords or suits of armor in their office? Too bad I don’t work for Bruce Wayne,” he said, throwing up his hands.

  “Hey, we’re doing okay,” she said, walking over to him.

  “You didn’t answer my question; how far are you willing to risk your life for people who aren’t trying?”

  Lifting her chin, she said, “When we hit the ground, they are on their own, but if they don’t help in the meantime, we just leave,” she said.

  “I can live with that,” Daniel said then snapped his fingers. “Come on,” he said, moving to the door. Cracking it open, he didn’t see anything in the hallway. Easing out, he moved down the hall until he saw the reception area and stopped, seeing a bunch of people staggering in the hall outside the glass. It looked like someone tried to paint the outside of the glass with blood.

  Easing in, he moved to the maintenance cart and pulled it back slow
ly until he couldn’t be seen from the windows. “They can’t break those windows,” Ginger whispered. “They are inches thick and drilled into the floor.”

  “Yeah, but the doors to the cubicles are open, and they can get in here,” he whispered back. “Give me my ID back.” Swallowing hard, Ginger dug his ID from her jacket. “If they come in, run,” he said, easing around the reception desk to the cubicle doors.

  One of the people in the hallway saw Daniel and moved over, hitting the thick glass with a dull thump. Hearing the noise, Daniel moved quickly to the scanner beside the doors and waved his card, making it beep. He quickly pressed numbers on the key pad, and the light turned red. A magnetic thump sounded from the cubicle doors as they sealed.

  Feeling much better, Daniel turned around as a thud sounded on the sealed doors. He ignored it. Daniel walked over to the coffee table and looked at the flags on either side. One was a state’s, and the other was Old Glory. The flagpoles were polished wood with a brass spear point on the top. Looking at the bottoms, he saw they were set in an inverted narrow brass holder.

  Grabbing Old Glory, Daniel pulled it out of the holder and grinned, seeing a sharp brass point. “This is a real military flagpole,” he said, twisting the pole to roll the flag up. Grabbing the other one, he laid them on the cart.

  Moving behind the reception desk, he started rummaging. Before he closed one drawer, Ginger grabbed a stack of mouse pads. Not asking, Daniel kept looking and stopped at a box of gold metal executive ink pens. He picked one up and nodded, rolling it around his hand. He tossed it back in the box and took the whole thing. Looking under the desk, he saw a small fire extinguisher.

  Grabbing it, he looked at the large funnel. “Fire is our last worry,” Ginger said, looking at the window wall as the crowd continued to grow, beating on it.

  “We need some kind of standoff weapon,” he said, grabbing the stuff they pulled out and carried them over to the cart. “Take this back, and put everything out on the table so we can see what supplies we have and get everyone to start on weapons. One of the flagpoles is mine.”