Let Me Out

by A H Alhaila

  Samuel came back in and Steven’s anxious look on his face. “Anything new?”, said Steven?

  “The bodies organs are intact.”, said Samuel.

  Steven was shocked and felt like they are back to square one! All he knew now was that Frankie had escaped, the murderer escaped too, one of them stole the bodies and that the organ trafficking story is trash!”

  “What would make either of them steal the bodies?”, asked Samuel.

  Steven started to think and said, “There are only two possibilities. If Frankie stole the bodies, it means he lost his mind and doesn’t want us to catch him. That way he could stay away from the killer! However, if the murderer stole them, even though he hasn’t done it before, he might have done it to provoke Frankie!”

  “What about who killed Dr. Jackson and shot your daughter?”, asked Samuel.

  “Maybe the murderer did it because I started investigating this banned case, which I’m stopping right now.”

  Samuel realized that Steven wasn’t changing his mind this time. “Fine. Do you want me to tell you if we have a break-through?”, asked Samuel. “I’m going to the funeral and might find Frankie there.”

  Steven took out the badge Samuel gave him and said, “No. Don’t call me unless it’s something other than the investigation!”

  “Fine. Have it your way. I wish you well.”, said Samuel.

  “Good luck.”, said Steven.

  After Samuel left the room, Steven asked Joanna, “Are you hungry?”

  “No. I just want to sleep.”, replied Joanna.

  “Okay. Get some rest. I’m right here beside you.”, said Steven.

  Joanna slept and so did Steven on the chair beside her.

  Chapter Five

  The Search for a Safe Place …

  One hour after sunset, Steven awoke to the loud sounds in the corridor. It was completely dark and the sound of the town siren echoing through the town. He looked out the window to find the electricity cut off. He took out his cellphone to make a call, but there was no signal! He started to worry. Something wasn’t right! He tried to use the light emitting from his phone, but it was very dim. He and found that the hospital was in chaos. In that moment, Steven heard the sound of an explosion in the distance. He went back into the room to look out the window, but he couldn’t make out the location of the explosion. He headed to the roof to see what was going. When he got there, the siren sound can still be heard as if it were coming from the sky. He tried to look towards the source of the explosion and saw army helicopters fly over his head. Steven froze in shock, feeling the reality of what was happening and that it wasn’t a dream! He quickly ran back down towards his daughter’s room and woke her up. Breathing heavily, he said, “Joanna! Wake up quick.”.

  Startled, Joana said “What’s going on Dad?”

  “Can’t you hear? We’re under attack!”, said Steven.

  Not hearing him clearly, Joanna said, “What happened? And why is the electricity out?”

  He carried her without second thought. “Wait! Let me remove the IV.”, said Joanna

  Steven bit the IV off and continued walking. Joanna felt that something terrible had happened. As they left the room, Steven headed into the living room and stood in front of the flash light that was on the reception counter and asked her to grab it. He then headed to the parking lot towards his car, as his daughter lit a path for him. At that moment she asked him, “What’s happening?”

  “I still don’t know.”, replied Steven.

  “What are we going to do?”, asked Joanna.

  “Let me think.”, said Steven.

  “Wait! … Why are you taking me out of the hospital?”, asked Joanna.

  “We might be in the middle of a war!”, said Steven.

  Shocked, Joanna asked, “Who’s attacking us? Why?”.

  “I don’t know!”, replied Steven.

  He reached the parking lot and unlocked the car. Then he placed his daughter in the backseat, got behind the steering wheel, and drove quickly without a destination in mind! He thought about going home, but he knew that wasn’t safe. Instinctively, Steven thought of going to the shopping center to get food and other supplies and continue his journey. He headed towards the shopping center when his daughter said, “What about Lily?”

  “The explosions were near our house. I can’t risk it.”, replied Steven.

  With a sad and sorry voice, Joanna asked “Where are we going?”

  Focusing on what was happening and not with Joanna, Steven said, “Yeah, I’m heading there. Don’t worry!”

  Chaos spread like wildfire all over town. The number of cars started increasing. Vehicles came to a halt because of traffic. Some people got out of their cars and started walking on foot. Steven asked them what was happening but no one knew. He turned around and found a group of people crowding in an area. He went up to them and found them listening carefully to a man who had come from a nearby town. He was telling them what had happened. Crying hysterically, saying, “We’re all going to die.”. Steven tugged him by the shirt and said, “Tell us what’s happening!”.

  “You’re going to call me crazy. But there are weird human-looking creatures out there! They have clear white skin with black veins stripping their bodies. They looked terrifying! I’m losing my mind.”, said the man.

  People got confused and some started running frantically. “Aliens! They’re Aliens!”, said the man. Fear got over the people and they started running in between the cars. Steven started running in the opposite direction towards his car, jumping on top of the other cars to get to his daughter. When he reached the car, he found a man and his young son, screaming at people. “You’re going the wrong way!”, he said.

  Steven went up to the man and asked, “Why do you say that?”.

  “The aliens are that way.”, said the man.

  “They attacked our family.”, said his young son crying.

  “Where are you from?”, asked Steven.

  “From the town next to here.”, said the man.

  “Damn it! We’re trapped. Try hiding somewhere.”, said Steven.

  Steven ran quickly to the car. When he got in her recklessly started cutting a way through the crowd. Joanna shocked the whole time at what he was doing. He even took the pedestrian road to get closer to the shopping center until she became in front of it.

  “Where are we going?”, Joanna asked.

  “Hold on to something.”, said Steven.

  She saw her father speeding towards the shopping center and said, “Are you going to …”,

  “Hold on!”, shouted Steven.

  He broke into a shopping center with his car and saw that some people had snuck into the dark place. He almost ran them over! He parked next to the escalator. He got out of his car and helped his daughter out. They headed upstairs and left his daughter in front of a store. On his way back to the car, he found that other people were breaking into the shopping center as well, “Go upstairs! Go upstairs!”, he said.

  Some took his advice while other did not care. Suddenly, he saw a man get into his car trying to get away with it. Steven raised his gun and shouted, “Stop!”.

  The man drove straight towards Steven trying to run him over, forcing Steven to shoot him in the head, instantly killing him. Steven jumped out of the way, avoiding the car. It crashed into a store. Steven took the body out of the car and got into it. There was a security guard standing close by, in shock of what was happening. Steven went to the guard and shouted, “We’re under attack! Do you have the keys to the stores?”.

  Unaware of what was happening, the guard said, “Yes, I do!”

  “Listen to me carefully”, said Steven to the guard. “I’m going crash my car into the escalator to destroy it. You have to stop the people from coming up the escalator. Did you hear me?”

  “Yes!”, said the guard with shock. “You’re going to destroy the escala … Wait … What? You’re going to destroy the escalator?”

  “Yes. So just move everyone
away.”, said Steven.

  Steven got in his car and drove it back enough and stopped. He took a deep breath, getting ready to crash into the escalator. People were still trying to get up when Steven sped towards it. The guard, a well-built man, used his strength to push people aside, stopping them from going up. Hitting some of them and shouting at them saying that going up is not a good idea. They moved away, trying to find elsewhere to hide. The guard turned to find Steven’s car quickly approaching him. He threw himself out of the way, as the car crashed into the escalator, destroying the bottom part of it. The guard ran towards the car to check on Steven. The thick smoke made it difficult for him to see but the guard reached his arm in to pull Steven out. That’s when the guard heard a voice calling from a far. “Hey man, over here!”.

  It was Steven, standing there far away, carrying his weapons bag that he took out of his car. The guard headed towards him amazed and said, “Tell me exactly what’s going on!”.

  “It seems like we’re being invaded.”, replied Steve. “I’m going to have to turn this shopping center into our refuge until things clear out. Now, open the emergency staircase door for me.”

  “What? A war! How do you know that?”, asked the guard.

  “Don’t worry about that and do as I say.”

  They headed towards the emergency staircase that has become the only way of getting upstairs, now that the escalator is destroyed. They went through the door and locked it after letting a few people through as well. Then they locked it and went upstairs. When they reached the upstairs floor, they saw Joanna holding a gun and shooting at someone without actually getting him as if to scare him off. Her dad ran towards her and said, “What’s going on?”

  Joanna said, “That bastard was attacking people and threatening them at gun point!”

  “Rest here. You’re hurt”, said Steven.

  He then headed towards the shooter. He hit him and said, “I don’t want to see you here again. Leave, or die!”

  Steven asked the guard to open the emergency door for him to leave. Before he left, the man angrily said, “I hope you all die soon!”.

  Steven did not care to what he said as the man continued his way out. Others started saying that they too wanted to leave as they felt trapped and unsafe. They wanted to keep going to the nearby town, even if that meant walking there. Steven tried to persuade them that what they wanted to do was dangerous, but some insisted on leaving. Steven let them out before the guard quickly locked the door.

  After they had left, Steven started speaking to those who stayed, saying, “What I know is that this is not a war, but weird looking creatures attacking. We don’t know where they’ve come from. We know that they have clear white skin with black veins covering their bodies. This may either be a breakout or an alien invasion.”

  What he said made them grow even more fearsome. “I’ve heard the same thing.”, said one man.

  Fear increased among the people. One man approached Steven with his wife and child and said, “I have three more children staying at home with the babysitter. We have to go get them. Can I leave my kid with you until we bring the others?”

  “It’s total chaos out there. The best thing is to stay here.”, replied Steven.

  “We would rather die with them than leave them alone to die.”, said the man.

  After trying his best to persuade him to stay. “Be quick and come back as soon as you can.”, said Steven.

  After saying goodbye to their son, the man and woman moved quickly, leaving his son behind with Steven. The guard came back after letting the parents out. Steven then turned to the others, and said, “We have to get everything from the ground floor up here! Let’s go!”

  Steven called the guard and asked him to unlock the emergency staircase doors, lock the car park doors in the basement and then help them get the supplies upstairs. He then told him to lock the staircase doors after finishing. The guard went to do just that. Steven turned towards his daughter and found her sitting down in front of a store. She was still in pain from her injury. He went up to her, carrying the child in his arms. “Who is this?”, asked Joanna in shock when her father got to her.

  “His parents left him with me until they come back with the rest of their children.”, said Steven.

  “I hope they do return.”, replied Joanna.

  “Come. Let’s find you something to wear from one of these stores and get you out of this hospital gown”, said Steven.

  “Okay.”, said Joanna.

  Steven left the child with Joanna and went to figure out what is happening. “What’s your name?”, asked Joanna.

  Her question made the child cry even more. Joanna looked behind her and found a candy store. She got up and asked someone’s help to take the child to it. “Here you go. This place is all yours.”, said Joanna.

  The child some candy. “Now can you tell what your name is?”, asked Joanna.

  “Hmm… Oliver.”, said the child.

  “What a beautiful name! How old are you?”, said Joanna.

  Oliver used his finger to count then said, “Five years and three months.”

  “So, you’re a big man!”, said Joanna.

  “Yeah.”, said Oliver.

  She left the store with Oliver and made him sit beside her so that he doesn’t feel scared. Joanna wore her new clothes as people kept bringing supplies to the upper floor.

  Steven gathered the people around him and said, “Listen up. We’re going to find out what’s happening outside. I’m sure government will clear things up and send help. Until then, we have to make use of the food we have. It will probably last us a month with our number. Hopefully we won’t stay here that long. We will have two meals a day. Probably three. We’ll assign someone to distribute the food evenly. Don’t worry. As we remain in here, I’m sure the military is doing its best in this crisis.”. Finally, he added, “Anyone has any better ideas?”

  They all agreed with him. He continued saying, “I have here some guns in this bag. I’ll be supervising them myself. We won’t be using it unless we really have to!”

  One person disagreed saying, “Danger is everywhere. Each of us should have a gun in hand!”.

  “Okay.”, said Steven. “I’ll appoint some of you to search for weapons around us. The weapons I have are few.”

  Another person came forth with two bags full of weapons saying, “I have enough right here.”.

  Steven opened the bags to check the weapons and said, “Good job! What’s your name?”

  “I’m Joseph.”, said the man.

  “Great work, Joseph! You will supervise the weapons.”, said Steven.

  “No problem.”, said Joseph.

  Everyone worked together to organize the food piles. They distributed snacks and the weapons in case of a sudden attack. Suddenly, the siren, that was on the whole time stopped. It was silent. Everyone felt anxious yet happy at the same time. Steven said loudly, “Don’t worry. Stay where you are.”

  Steven went to his daughter and said, “Are you ready?”.

  “Your question doesn’t bid well.”, replied Joanna.

  “For the first time, I feel terribly afraid. I keep asking how our end will be.”, said Steven.

  “Have you forgotten what we’ve been training for?”, asked Joanna. “We’ll teach those things a lesson!”, she added.

  Steven felt a rush. He kissed Oliver’s forehead, who had just fallen asleep beside Joanna, and told him, “I hope your family makes it.”

  “Me too.”, said Joanna.

  After two and a half hours have gone by, and it was getting close to midnight, tranquility covered the whole town as if it were a deserted island. People started questioning whether or not staying in the shopping center was a good idea. Steven reassured them by saying “We have to wait it out”.

  “Do you think the military won?”, said Joseph.

  “I’m afraid that they have lost”, said Steven. He added, “I don’t want to disappoint you, but there has been no sign of them
yet. Everything is cut off even communication. That’s a bad sign. This is probably happening all over the world. As we know, it’s not humans who are attacking us! I might be wrong. Everything around us is blurry and unclear.”

  Everyone felt the gravity of the situation. Reassuringly, Steven said, “Anyone who wants to sleep can sleep. We’ll take turns on guard”.

  Steven stood by the glass overlooking the destruction covering the street. His daughter followed him and said, “Oliver’s parents haven’t come yet.”

  “Why don’t you get some rest?”, said Steven.

  “I’m ok.”, said Joanna.

  “I’m afraid the worse has happened to them.”, replying to her question.

  “Do you think Lily is okay?”, said Joanna in a sad voice.

  “I hope so.”, said Steven. “Don’t worry though. It’s a good thing I forgot her food outside the cabinet. If she’s alive, she’ll be able to sustain herself.”

  “That makes me feel better.”, said Joanna.

  Steven smiled and placed his hand on her head and said, “I won’t allow anything happen to you!”

  “I’ll always be beside you.”, said Joanna.

  They then heard Oliver start crying. “Go to him.”, said Steven.

  “Okay.”, said Joanna.

  Chapter Six

  Revealing the Past

  As the guard wandered around making sure everyone is well, he found Steven awake, sitting on the chair in front of the glass, waiting for Oliver’s parents to return. However, Steven was deeply thinking, remembering his dream and asking himself, “Is this what I dreamt of? What’s going to happen to us? Will I be able to protect Joanna like my wife asked or not?”. Pondering his thoughts, Steven did not realize that the guard was there. The guard went to him and sat beside him. He saw that Steven was startled a bit when he saw him and was wiping his tears. “I’m sorry. Is it okay if I sit?”, asked the guard.

  “My name is Adam by the way - Are you okay??”, said the guard.