by Mac Flynn
Chapter 2
I let myself out and walked the short distance down the hall to the laundry room. Straight ahead of the doorway was the outer wall of the building with low, long windows, and the room turned right and stretched down the basement to the end of the structure. The outer wall and the wall to my right were lined with washers and dryers, and at the far back were some hard chairs to wait in. Overhead was a row of dim lights and by the door was the switch.
The coffee break with Garrison had at least ensured I'd missed the usual rush of other after-work launderers. It was nice to have my choice of machine, especially since half of them didn't work all too well. Garrison was a decent mechanic, but not even God could get some of these ancient machines working.
I shoved my basket load into the machine and glanced down at my shirt. That needed to be washed, too, but I didn't have a spare shirt on me and I didn't want to walk the four flights for one which would have left my other stuff unguarded. Some of the guys in the building were a little immature, and there'd been more than one panty raid. There wasn't anybody around, but I made sure I'd have some privacy when I shut the laundry room door. Then I pulled off my shirt, hurriedly stuffed it into the machine and turned it on. I'd have to wait a half hour for the wash and nearly an hour for the dryer.
I took a seat in one of the chairs closest to the wall so if someone came in I would have a chance to duck between the wall and the last dryer. Then I'd have to hope they leave without spotting me. To pass the time I whipped out a short romance novel I'd been reading where the hunky guy gets the thin, smart, beautiful girl. It almost made me wish I'd go on a diet, exercise more and buy me a nice pair of breasts, but that would have involved effort and money. I was short on both, mostly because I was just fine with my weight and not fine with emptying my bank account to buy myself a pair of breasts that would make Mount Everest look like a hill.
While I was brooding over my unrealistic but tantalizing love story I heard noises out in the hall. They were men's voices, and I ducked down into my hiding spot just as the door to the laundry room opened. I peeked around the corner of the machine and watched a half dozen of thugs walk into the room. They wore green bandannas on their heads showing they belonged to the Green Bandanna gang, one of the most unimaginatively-named gangs in the neighborhood. Their crimes, however, weren't anything to joke about. They'd been accused of everything from petty theft to rape and arson, and they came into the laundry room to stir up one more crime for their list.
"All right, boys, pick a machine and grab the cash," their leader, a tall man wearing a black hat, called out to them.
I ducked behind the machine and squished against the wall as one of them came up to the washer behind which I hid. The gang members pulled out small crowbars from their jackets and smashed the coin slots. Coins spilled out onto the floor, and they scooped up the change and shoved it into bags. One of the guys looked familiar, like I'd seen him around the apartment building, but I wasn't sure. I just hoped they wouldn't notice-
"Hey boss, there's some underwear in this machine," one of the thugs piped up. I cringed and peeked around the machine to see what was going on.
Mr. Hat went over and inspected my laundry still swooshing around in the washer. He stopped the machine and pulled out the same pair of underwear Cartwright had played with. Mr. Hat plastered a wide, stupid grin on his face as he held it up for all the men to see. "Anyone have a girlfriend who wants these?" They laughed.
"I think I could get two of my Maria in there," one of them quipped. I rolled my eyes. Even these guys were weight critics.
I must have rolled my eyes too far out from behind the machine because one of the thugs pointed at my corner. "Boss!"the man yelled.
The boss scowled and marched over to me, where he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my hiding spot. My half-nakedness caught their lecherous attentions immediately, and Mr. Hat tossed me in the middle of those vultures. They practically consumed my flesh with their lustful eyes. Mr. Hat held up my underwear in front of me. "This yours?" he drawled with that sick grin on his face.
"Yeah, but you can keep it." I tried to push my way through them, but was pushed back into the circle. They edged in closer to me, and more than one had tight pants.
"No hurry, we jist want to play with you some," Mr. Hat insisted.
"I, um, I left my toys in my apartment. If you'll just wait here I'll go get them." I tried again to break through their line to the slightly ajar door, but like every other Red Rover game in my life I was pushed back and fell on my butt. At a signal from Mr. Hat one of the gang members grabbed my arms and another one caught hold of my legs. I thrashed and kicked, but they were stronger than me. "Let me go! Somebody help me!"
Mr. Hat knelt down beside me and slapped my chin. "Shut your mouth or we'll hurt you worse," he growled. They didn't get a chance because at that moment the lights in the laundry room went out. The windows along the outer wall didn't give much light because they faced an alley, and the light from the hall outside the room was extinguished when somebody shut the door. "Somebody get these damn lights on!" Mr. Hat ordered. I saw the silhouette of one of his men move toward the door, but another shadow overtook him near the switch and he let out a blood-curdling scream. The men holding me let go and backed away from the door and behind their leader. I sat up and scooted over to the outer wall in front of one of the machines. "Ricardo?" he called out to his missing man.
"B-boss, let's get out of here," one of his stooges pleaded.
I saw Mr. Hat's silhouette grab the scared man and toss him out front. "Then leave!" he shouted at his man.
The frightened man scrambled for the door, but the large shadow rose up from behind the end dryer and grabbed him. He screamed and thrashed, but nothing stopped the unknown vigilante as the gang member was tossed across the room. His body hit the wall and he fell to the floor. He didn't move, and I wasn't even sure he was breathing.
"Shoot it!" Mr. Hat ordered.
The men pulled out their guns and fired at the shadow. I swore they hit it with more rounds than those guns could hold, but they didn't even slow it down as the shadow barreled into their tiny group. The men scattered or were tossed aside, and Mr. Hat scrambled toward me. He slid behind me, wrapped his arm around my throat and pulled me onto my feet with his gun aimed at my temple. He shook hard enough to pull the trigger, but after so many shots I doubted he had any bullets left.
His men tried to escape the room, but each of them was thrown against the wall or machines, and didn't move. The shadow rose up and turned its head toward us, and through the dim light I could see a pair of yellow eyes. "S-stay back or she gets it!" Mr. Hat threatened. The creature raised itself up to a height of six feet and growled at him. "D-don't come any closer!"
In a flash the creature covered the short distance between us and grabbed the gun. It tore the weapon from his hand and I heard the metal crunch between its strong fingers. Mr. Hat screamed like a girl and dashed to the door, but the creature followed him. The thing's shadow covered him and he screamed. That was when I decided it was a good time to faint, and collapsed to the hard, cold floor.
