by Mia Ford
As the live feed popped up on the screen, I froze, the remote falling from my hand and bouncing into the floor. The police had started to push in toward the protesters and they were running into the hotel. The doors were broken, glass was everywhere, and people were rolling around choking on the smoke bombs the police had thrown into the crowds. I flipped the news off and stopped, realizing the sounds of gun fire and rumbling were no longer coming from the television. I stood up and ran over to the emergency exit, grabbing a chair and lodging it under the handle. It would be locked from the outside but so was the door midway down and from the sounds of it, the protesters had made their way up to the top floor. If they could break through that door, they would be able to get through the front door. There were two emergency exits, one on the inside and one on the outside that the stairwell leads from the roof to the lobby.
Immediately, I turned and grabbed Seth off the couch and headed for the bathroom. I set him down and locked the door, pulled him into the bathtub with me and held him tightly in my arms. I didn’t know what else to do or where else to go at that moment. Seth was now scared, trembling in my arms as he realized I was scared too. The only thing I could think about was Dex and where he was. What if he had come to get me and got caught up in the crowd? What if one of those gunshots was meant for him? I couldn’t even control my thoughts at that moment. Terror flooded my body. I wrapped my arms around Seth and buried my face in his hair. I didn’t know where else to go or what else to do except barricade myself in that bathroom and hope that someone got to us before the police or protesters. As we sat there waiting, I thought about Dex, our history and the way that our lives had gone to bring us to this place. Though we were sitting here in danger, I didn’t regret Dex, I regretted not being more responsible as a mother.
I leaned over and grabbed my phone, dialing Dex’s number again but still getting the block. I was so frustrated and so scared that I couldn’t get my mind to work right. I could hear the rumbling of footsteps in the halls of the stairwells outside the hotel room. People were shouting, screaming even, and the muffled sounds of gunshots could be heard in the distance. With every bang my body jumped, holding Seth closer. I had never experienced anything like this before and I was completely beside myself. I was normally so brave, so level headed, but I had never been in a situation like this before. There were armed men all over the place, fighting for their freedom, fighting for their causes, while Seth and I hid from them, wishing we had never come to this country.
My thoughts turned to our penthouse in New York where it was safe and comfortable. It was insane to me that I was able to think of New York City as a safe place but compared to where we were, it seemed like Kansas. I wanted to be in our living room, watching Seth draw the buildings from the large windows, so high up we didn’t have to worry about anything. I wanted to hear Dex’s voice and feel his loving arms around me. I had never felt safer than when I was with him, but being in this situation alone was absolutely terrifying. Instead of being comforted and warm in our apartment, I was in a foreign country that decided to suddenly start a massive revolution. I was locked in an unfamiliar bathroom, in an unfamiliar place, where I barely understood the culture, much less knew how to fight through a major civil unrest. God, I hoped my mother wasn’t watching this from home, she would have a heart attack not knowing whether we were okay or not. The truth was, I didn’t even know if we were okay or not.
My thoughts shifted back to Dex and I wondered where he was at that moment. Dex had turned into my best friend and my partner, who would I turn to if Dex were gone? I had always been so courageous and independent but now, I was sitting here in a bathtub completely terrified and without any idea of what to do next. Where would I go if Dex was injured? How would I even find him? My breath increased and I felt like the walls were closing in around me. The noises outside began to ring loudly through my ears and I pressed my hands to my face, trying to calm down. I was having a panic attack and I needed to get it together. I set Seth down in the bathtub and climbed out, walking over to the sink and running the water. I splashed water onto my face to try to snap myself out of it. I grabbed the towel and blotted the water from my neck and cheeks. Slowly, I lifted my head and stared at myself in the mirror.
Get it together, Casey. With or without Dex, you have to figure out a way to survive this, for your son’s sake.
Chapter 27: Dex
The streets were flooded with protesters and it got so bad that the cars could no longer move through the crowd. The police tried to move them out of the street but every time they approached a brawl would ensue. In fact, I started to think we weren’t even safe inside the car anymore. I looked out the window at the droves of people holding their fists and signs in the air, chanting for their freedom and rights. I remembered watching protests like these on the television from home and thinking about how brave these people were for standing up for their rights. Now all I could think about was how dangerous they and the police had made it for everyone else in the city. Smoke bombs were going off all over the place and I could hear the faint rumble of gunshots in the distance. If it were this bad this far from the hotel, I could only imagine what it was like in the center of it all. Casey and Seth must be absolutely terrified being holed up in the hotel, hearing everything going on around them. I had to imagine them still in that room, I couldn’t even begin to think about anything bad happening to them.
I watched as Mateo leaned forward to the driver and whispered something in his ear before returning to the seat in front of me. He looked up and motioned to the seat belt so I reached over and quickly fastened it around me. The car took a quick left turn down the empty street and began to speed up. I looked at Mateo, confused as to where we were going.
“What’s going on? The hotel is in the other direction,” I said. “We have to get to them.”
“I know,” Mateo said with a serious tone. “The streets are completely blocked. The further we go the more violent it is going to get. The videos show that the protesters have pushed into the hotel and the cops are already engaging anyone on the streets. We will never get there if we keep going in that direction. We are going to the closest airfield, you can charter a helicopter from there. With any luck and your deep pockets, we can get to the top of the hotel faster than we could run down through that crowd.”
“What if they don’t have any helicopters? My pilot is stuck right now as everyone is fleeing the city,” I explained.
“This is a small carrier,” he explained. “It’s mostly used by militia and military. There should be plenty. And if not, we will go from there. Right now, this is our only choice.”
Maybe he was right, maybe going through that mess was the worst thing we could possibly do. If the other guards hadn’t even made it there yet, it would be hours before we could get to Casey. Hours in which anything could go wrong and hours that would pass while my wife and child sat terrified inside the suite, waiting for someone to help them. And what if something happened? What if they needed help and we didn’t try to get there any faster? I could never live with myself if I made the wrong decision and it cost me my family. That was something that I couldn’t even start to imagine, a fear so deep that my mind refused to let me think about it. So, seeing as Mateo had been through situations like this before and he knew the area, I decided that going along with whatever he thought was best was the right thing to do at that moment.
I nodded my head and looked out as we sped through the streets and out of the city. Right on the edge of the metropolis was a small airfield with older helicopters parked in the tall grasses. As we approached the gate, Mateo rolled down his window and nodded at the guard. The man with the large gun peered into the car and stared at me suspiciously. Mateo spoke to him quietly and they opened the gates for us. When we approached the small shack at the front, Mateo and I jumped out and hurried inside. He spoke to the man for me since I didn’t speak fluent Spanish, relaying my requests and offering to pay double when he seemed uneasy. A
s soon as the money was offered, he shook his head and yelled to the pilot in the background. We watched as he jogged out to the helicopter and began preparing it for flight. It was obvious that the owner had told him to make haste as he threw the contents of the chopper on the ground and readied it as fast as his hands could move. I handed over the cash to the owner and raced after Mateo, jumping in the chopper and buckling in. They pushed headphones on me so I could hear them talk and I held on tightly as the blades began to turn above us.
As the helicopter took to the air and moved into the city, I could see the droves of people moving toward the hotel. There were thousands of them carrying signs and protesting the political division within their worlds but all I could think about was Casey and Seth trapped in the top of the hotel. I had spent my entire life emboldened by the fact that I was a lone wolf, capable of any and everything on my own. My independence had been the most important aspect of my life but now, as I flew toward fate, I realized that independence meant nothing to me. I no longer felt like a lone wolf but instead like the alpha, protecting his family, keeping them close, and making sure they were safe. I wanted to have Casey and Seth by my side for the rest of my life where I could always ensure their safety. They were the only things in my life that I cared about anymore, even beyond the company and way beyond my independence. In all reality, this situation was the first time I had ever felt completely dependent on someone else to lead me in the right direction. I threw my boldness to the wind, as I didn’t want to make the wrong choice and have the consequences affect those dearest and closest to me.
We circled around the block and hovered over top of the hotel. I could see people spilling out onto the rooftop, waving their signs and tending to their injuries. The place was swarming with protesters running from the police and they had broken through the stairwell blockades that lead straight past the suites that Casey and Seth were in. My heart was beating heavily in my chest as we touched down, immediately jumping from the helicopter and making our way toward the door. I turned back to Mateo as he listened to his earpiece, nodding. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close, yelling loudly over the crowds and sound of the helicopter behind us.
“The other guys are on their way,” he yelled. “Let’s get to the suite and try to get them out.”
I nodded my head and pushed my way through the crowd of people and into the stairwell. The place was packed full of people, some injured, some hiding, but all in a chaotic state. I took a deep breath realizing that the only thing standing between me and my family were these people and though I felt for them and their plight, they were the enemy in my eyes. I pushed forward, breaking through the crowd, pushing people out of the way, and stopping for only a moment as I wrestled past those who wanted to heckle us. Mateo was behind me keeping the path clear as I shoved and pushed one step at a time. As I hit the landing where the door to the suites sat wide open, a man in a ski mask jumped in front of me. He squared up in front of the door not wanting to let me by. At that moment, Casey and Seth’s faces flashed through my mind and I ran forward plowing into the guy and rolling through the doorway. I stood up and reared back, punching him in the jaw and pushing him into Mateo.
The guy stumbled backward, grabbing his face and trying to get his footing. He looked up at me, anger flashing in his eyes, but before he could come back at me, my bodyguard grabbed him by the shoulder. The guy spun around and looked up slowly, standing a good foot and half shorter than the guard. Mateo shook his head at the man and watched as he put his hands up and ran back into the stairwell. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the reaction he had, though I didn’t blame him since my bodyguard stood at about seven feet tall and was wider than three of me put together. It was kind of strange to think this giant man was so calm and collected in times like these. He nodded his head toward the suite door and I looked, letting out a deep breath as I noticed that the door was still there strong and secure. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the card, hoping the security systems were still intact. As I swiped the card and turned the handle, I smiled, pushing the door open and peering inside. I turned back to Mateo.
“Stay here, protect the door until the others get here,” I said. “I’m going to grab them and we can get out of here.”
He nodded his head and turned his back to me, crossing his arms and standing guard as people flooded from one emergency exit to another. I crept into the apartment wanting to be safe in my approach in case anyone had gotten in and was holding my wife and child in a dangerous manner. I looked around the living room but it was empty. I hurried into our room but nothing was there except our half-packed luggage. Slowly, I turned the corner and looked into Seth’s room but again, the place was empty. Immediately, dread filled my stomach as I walked over to the glass and looked down at the drawings Seth had done. His crayons were still all over the floor and his picture wasn’t finished.
“Casey,” I yelled in panic. “Casey where are you?”
I looked around the room for any sign of where they might have gone. Everything was just as I had left it before we went to lunch. There was no sign of a struggle, no panicked exit, nothing. As my eyes moved across the space, they landed on the bathroom door, which was closed. The light was shining through the crack underneath it so I ran over and started pounding on the door. After pounding for a moment, I stopped and listened, trying to figure out whether they were in there or not. I didn’t hear a single sound so I jiggled the doorknob and started pounding again. Either they were in there and hurt, or they were so scared they didn’t know what to do. Just the thought of them being alone and hurt sent panic through me and I pounded harder against the door. Exhausted, I let my arms hit my sides and I leaned my forehead against the door. Maybe they weren’t in there at all.
I turned to go get the guard, thinking he could take the door right off the hinges. As I stepped forward, I heard a whimper that echoed into a scream coming from the inside of the bathroom. It was Casey and she was absolutely terrified, her scream showing something was not right at all.
Chapter 28: Casey
My hands were shaking so hard I could barely even hold onto Seth. The phone still wasn’t working and I had no idea where Dex was or if he was even okay. I could hear the crowds of people yelling and running through the halls and up the emergency stairwells. The sounds of sirens echoed through the entire building and an alarm had been triggered inside the hotel. Lights flashed above the bathroom door and Seth grabbed onto me, frightened by all the sounds. I wanted so badly to calm my son, to make him feel like everything was going to be okay but I couldn’t wrap my head around what was going on enough to calm even myself. It had been hours since all of this started and we were still hunkered down in the bathroom listening to the protesters trample through the hotel. Muffled gunshots rang out below us and I wondered if people were dying or were they rubber bullets like they used in the US during riots? This had to be the worst situation I had ever been in and all I wanted to do was hear the sound of Dex’s voice, feel his comforting arms around us, and get our little boy to safety.
We sat very quietly, listening to all the sounds around us, wondering when those sounds would get closer and if they did, what I needed to do to get us out safely. In reality, the bathroom seemed like the right choice but I had ultimately cornered us, not leaving any space to make a run for it. Part of me thought about leaving the bathroom and venturing through the crowds trying to get to safety but I knew that the sight of a woman and child wasn’t as strong during these kinds of events as they would be back home. These people were angry and though I understood their plight, I couldn’t help but see them as the enemy keeping me and my son from safety. I listened carefully as the sound of fighting out in the hallway rung out and I grasped onto Seth hoping it would quickly end and move on. However, as the fighting ended I could hear the click of the front door, someone was inside the room. Footsteps echoed all around us as someone searched the space, looking for something or someone. I heard the person yell something out but bet
ween the alarms and the sounds in the hall, I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Seth began to whimper and cry. I pulled him close, trying not to give away our hiding space. We ducked down in the tub, finding solace in the porcelain sides, listening as the footsteps grew closer. Suddenly there was a loud banging noise on the bathroom door and I covered my mouth to stifle a scream. The person banged for several moments and Seth pressed his face against my chest. When the banging stopped, I took in a slow quiet breath, hoping they would just leave. But as my shoulders began to relax they knocked loudly again, scaring Seth and me half to death. Tears flooded my eyes as I sat completely unable to do anything. I could see the shadow of the person’s shoes under the crack in the door and I sat very still. As he continued to bang on the door, I could no longer hold it in and Seth whimpered loudly as I let out a scared and frustrated scream.