Let Me Out

by A H Alhaila

  “Then Mr. William, first you need to get the ropes.”, said Steven.

  “No problems.”, replied Mr. William.

  Mr. William went to bring the ropes while the group were still training. As Steven asked, He entered one of the stores and brought back a hand full of ropes. Then, they all headed to the basement except Adam who stayed to look after Oliver’s. Alexander’s sons started to tie the ropes together forming a long rope. After that, they tied the rope to the trolley. Joanna was worried that the creature she captured in the electricity room would make some noise, but fortunately it did not. It was quiet since they left her.

  “We have to move the car blocking the exit.”, said Steven.

  “How will we do that?”, said Joanna.

  “We’ll use the cable winch in front of Alexander’s car.”, said Steven.

  “The cable’s cut.”, said Joanna, knowing that she had cut it earlier.

  “Really? Was it cut before?”, asked Steven.

  “Yes, I believe it was.”, said Joanna.

  Mr. William can you jump over the car and get past it?”, said Steven.

  “Of course, I can. Do you think I’m weak? I’m still a young man!”, said Mr. William

  “Excuse me! Are you ready Mr. William?”, said Steven.

  “Yes, I am.” He replied.

  “Okay. Now, just walk out of the garage gate. There’s a car in front of you so watch out. Victor and I will direct you to the pharmacy from the roof.”, said Steven.

  “Sounds good.”, said Mr. William

  Daniel opened the basement entrance gate and Mr. William went out pulling the trolley behind him. He lifted the trolley over the car and pushed it. He then went after it as Steven and Victor headed to the roof to direct Mr. William to the pharmacy. When they had reached the roof, they found that Mr. William had just left the basement. Victor then started directing Mr. William and said, “Mr. William, turn left.”.

  Mr. William turned to the left and continued walking until Victor said, “Now, turn right. The pharmacy is the forth store. Just keep feeling the doors until you get to the forth one and open it.”.

  With the directions given to him, Mr. William reached the pharmacy. It was far away, out of Victor and Steven’s sight range. Mr. William sighed and said to himself, “Okay, now, where should I start from?”, after entering the store.

  Mr. William decided feeling every shelf in the pharmacy so that he could imagine it to get an idea of where to start. He only wanted to bring one of every medicine to increase the chances of it being the right one. He began gathering the medicine bottles until he filled up the trolley. The trolley was small which meant that he could not bring back many medicine bottles. After he had finished, he tugged on the rope strongly to signal them to pull it back. The trolley then started to move as he followed it, moving away anything that could stop its movement. He finally reached the basement. Victor and Steven came down from the roof as Daniel opened the gate for Mr. William. “I hope I got what you’re looking for.”, he said after entering.

  “None of them is the medicine for Oliver.”, said Victor sadly after checking the medicines.

  “Well there are a lot of medicines. I’ll keep going back until I get the right one.”, said Mr. William.

  “Thank you, Mr. William.”, said Steven.

  “No problem.”, he replied. “You don’t have to direct me to the store again, I know my way.”, he added.

  “That’s great.”, said Steven.

  Mr. William went out a second time, pushing the trolley with him towards the pharmacy. When he entered, he started talking to himself saying, “Last time, I gathered medicines from the first two rows on the right. This time, I’ll get the medicines on the next shelves.”.

  As he gathered the medicine bottles, he noticed that the shelf he was gathering from is higher from the previous one. He climbed the shelves to get to the upper shelves. However, the wooden shelf that Mr. William had his hand slid out of place, causing Mr. William to fall backwards, hitting his head on the corner of a counter, knocking him still on the floor.

  At that time, Steven and the group were waiting for Mr. William. They kept waiting until they started to feel worried. “Why is he late?”, said Victor.

  “Be patient.”, said Steven.

  They waited longer but Mr. William still did not show up! They kept watching the rope, hoping that he would tug on it in any second. “Try pulling the rope. He may have forgotten to pull it.”, said Joanna.

  Brian tugged on the rope a little but there was nothing. They started to be extremely worried. Steven went to the roof to see if perhaps Mr. William has lost his way and moved away from the trolley but couldn’t see him. The rope was lead to the pharmacy which meant that he did not lose his way. Steven went back down to the group and found them discussing what could have happened. Steven asked them to be a little more patient. “How long should we wait? He might be in danger!”, said Joanna.

  “Even if he is in danger, how can we help? The car is still blocking the exit and the cable winch on Alexander’s car is cut so we cannot pull it out of the way!”, said Steven.

  Joanna felt guilty for cutting the rope which she did so that no one would find out about the creature they captured. “All we can do is wait.”, said Steven.

  They waited until more had passed. At that time, Mr. William woke up and put his hand on the pain. He started looking at the ceiling when he realized that he could see again!

  He felt so happy he couldn’t feel his pain. However, his happiness was short lived as he remembered something that would make him regret gaining his sight back. He remembered the creatures that would attack him as he is now not blind. The first thing he thought of was to tug on the rope so that they would pull him back to safety. Steven and the others were looking at the rope and waiting anxiously. Their patience had almost run out when suddenly the rope started to move. Everyone was overwhelmed with happiness as Brian started pulling the rope. Mr. William saw that the trolley was being pulled. He quickly held on to the trolley and placed his feet against the table and started pulling back indicating to them that something was wrong. “The rope has stopped.”, said Brian.

  “There might be something stopping the trolley from moving.”, said Steven. “Wait until Mr. William does what he can then try again.”, he added.

  Brian waited for a while then pull on the rope again. But it still wouldn’t move. “I can’t pull it further.”, said Brian.

  “It might be stuck. I’ll help.”, said Steven.

  They both started pulling the rope forcefully making it harder for Mr. William to pull back. “Don’t pull harder you fools. I’m in trouble. Come help!”, said Mr. William to himself as he pulled back.

  Mr. William then felt that he was the fool. He was so afraid that he did not realize that he could just leave the trolley go and they would know something is wrong when it returns without him. He then let go of the trolley which made Steven and Brian fall backwards. Everyone thought that something strange was happening. “I think the medicine fell onto the floor because of you guys pulling so hard!”, said Joanna.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening.”, said Steven.

  “Should we keep pulling?”, asked Brian.

  “I don’t know. Mr. William might be collecting the medicine on the floor.”, replied Steven.

  “Wait until he tugs on the rope again so that we know he’s done collecting it.”, said Joanna.

  They waited a bit and Mr. William saw the trolley still outside the pharmacy. “Don’t stop pulling you fools!”, he said to himself.

  Mr. William couldn’t pull the rope to signal them because the trolley was outside the building. He did not want any of the creatures to notice him as he was well hidden.

  “It shouldn’t take that long to collect the medicines.”, said Joanna. “I’m afraid something has happened to him.”, she added.

  “Maybe the medicine broke which made him recollect them again.”, said Victor.

 
“Maybe!”, replied Brian.

  “If he really wanted to gather the medicine again, he would have pulled the trolley back and returned to the pharmacy and not leave it after we pulled. Joanna started pulling the trolley when her father asked, “What are you doing?!”.

  “I’m sure after all this time that Mr. William is in trouble.”, said Joanna.

  She pulled until they heard a screeching sound in the yard coming towards them. The trolley had arrived without Mr. William. It was upside down, scratching the ground as it moved. Everyone felt worried about Mr. William’s safety. “Mr. William is in trouble!”, said Steven.

  “He truly is.”, replied Joanna.

  “Maybe you pulled the trolley away from him.”, said Victor.

  “The trolley’s screeching sound alone would lead him to us.”, said Steven.

  Joanna kept pulling the rope, pulling the trolley over the car blocking the entrance. Some medicine bottles rolled to the basement entrance because of inclined pathway. Steven asked them to open the gate. Daniel opened the gate, letting the trolley in. Victor searched through the medicine and checked them carefully. “We finally have right medicine!”, he said.

  “Good. Quickly take it to Oliver.” Said Joanna.

  Victor ran towards Oliver as Steven turned towards his daughter and said, “What about Mr. William?” He said he knew the way to the pharmacy so why didn’t he come back?”.

  “I’m really worried about him.”, said Joanna.

  “We’ve just lost someone good. We can’t lose another.”, said Steven.

  “The others will be upset if they find out what had happened to him, even-though they’ve only just met him, they’ve grown attached to him.”, said Joanna.

  “Let’s ask Joseph.”, said Steven.

  “I’ll go get him.”, said Joanna.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It can’t be!

  Joanna went to the first floor and found that the group had just finished their training and were unaware of what happened. She pointed to Joseph to come to her and said, “Something happened. My father needs your opinion.”.

  “Where’s he?”, he replied.

  “He’s in the basement.”, said Joanna.

  He headed towards the basement while Joanna went to elsewhere. “What’s going on Steven?”, he asked when he arrived.

  Steven explained to him what happened, and that Mr. William did not return. As they were exchanging ideas, they heard the group shout from upstairs. Feeling worried about what they heard, Steven and Joseph ran upstairs. They found the group gathered at the center opening overlooking the ground floor looking downwards, even though they were warned not to go close to it. When he ran towards them to see what they were looking at, he found his daughter Joanna in between the creatures! Everyone was shocked and did not believe their eyes when one of the creatures wrapped its hair around her head. Joanna was not fighting back. “Joanna!!”, shouted Steven.

  He saw that his daughter continued to walk as she had just left the building. “She isn’t transforming! What the heck is going on?!”, said Joseph.

  Steven did not know what to do, but he knew that his daughter was not foolish enough to give herself up to them! Steven and everyone else ran to the roof to see what was going to happen! When they reached the roof, Steven kept looking at where Joanna was going and he realized that she was heading towards the pharmacy. Another creature attacked her again and wrapped her head with its hair. Everyone felt worried, but the creature left her quickly. Everyone was amazed by what they were seeing as Joanna continued to walk towards the pharmacy. Joanna kept feeling her way as she was walking as if she were blind. “Have you gone blind?”, Steven asked himself out loud.

  Hearing what Steven has said, Joseph said, “Mr. William is blind, and they didn’t wrap their hair around his head. She’s probably just closing her eyes.”.

  “That’s impossible! They will try to open her eyes.”, said Steven.

  “Good God! That means her eyes are open!”, said Joseph.

  “What is my daughter doing?”, said Steven.

  Joanna continued walking while the creatures followed her until she reached the pharmacy. Mr. William saw shadows moving and getting closer to him and thought that the creatures found him. “Oh God! They found me! Why did I get my sight back? Why?”, he said.

  He then remembered the creatures did not attack him when he was unconscious. He then did what Joanna had taught them. He put both his hands around his neck, putting pressure on the veins to stop the blood from reaching the brain, making him pass out. After a few seconds, he passed out. Joanna was standing outside the pharmacy surrounded by the creatures. She too did the same as Mr. William. When Joanna had passed out, the creatures left her lying in front of the pharmacy. Steven noticed the creatures were going back, as if Joanna was not here anymore. “They were just following her, why did they suddenly leave her?”, said Steven.

  “What do you mean? Did she transform?”, said Adam.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on!”, said Steven.

  “We have to calm down and think.”, said Joseph.

  Steven kept watching closely as everyone else talked about how shocked they were from what they had seen. “How was she walking between the creatures like that?”, said Victor.

  “There’s no explanation to that.”, said Joseph.

  Steven thought of all possible scenarios then said, “If something happened, I’ll go to her even if it means I die.”.

  Everyone felt Steven’s love towards his daughter and they knew that what he really would do what he said in a heartbeat!

  “Being naughty before was okay but you can’t be doing that in a situation like this!”, said Steven to himself.

  “Did you take good care of Oliver?”, Adam asked Victor.

  “Yes, I gave him the medicine and I asked someone to sit with him.”, he replied.

  Everyone stayed at the roof waiting and talking amongst themselves about what had happened. This made Steven angrier and even more worried. “Can’t you all just be quiet for a little bit!?”, shouted Steven.

  Everyone became quiet and kept waiting. A few moments later, Joanna regained consciousness and quickly stood up and entered the pharmacy without being noticed by the creatures. She started searching for Mr. William until she found him lying on the floor behind the counter. Joanna did not know what had happened to him, so she checked his pulse and found that his heart was still beating. She tried to wake him up, saying, “Mr. William! Are you okay?”.

  Mr. William started waking up. He got startled as Joanna reassured him, “It’s me Joanna. Don’t worry.”.

  “Thank God! You scared me!”, said Mr. William in a nervous voice.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.”, she replied.

  “I was right. You really are beautiful.”, said Mr. William.

  “What did you say?”, said Joanna shocked.

  “I can see you just like you can see me.”, he said.

  “You can see again?”, said Joanna, overwhelmed by happiness.

  “Yes, I can.”, said Mr. William.

  “That’s amazing! But, how?”, replied Joanna.

  “I was climbing the shelves and fell and hit my head. Just like that, I was able to see again.”, said Mr. William.

  “Now I know why you didn’t come back.”, said Joanna.

  “Where’s everyone else?”, asked Mr. William.

  “I came alone.”, said Jonna.

  “What? How?”, said Mr. William shocked.

  Mr. William then was surprised at what he saw next. Joanna closed her eyes reveling the painting of an eye on her eyelids. “That’s how you came and that’s how I’ll go back?” said Mr. William.

  “Yes! But I’m going to have to go back and bring Sam the painter.”, said Joanna.

  “They really didn’t attack you because of that? Are you sure?”, he asked.

  “How else could I have come here? Don’t worry, I’ll be back quickly.”, replied Joanna.


  “Be quick. I don’t like waiting here.”, said Mr. William.

  “I will.”, she replied.

  Joanna headed back to the shopping center and Steven noticed that some creatures were heading towards the pharmacy. He felt that his daughter was on her way back. He felt overwhelmed with happiness when he finally saw her walking back. So, he ran down to the first floor to welcome her back. Everyone felt that Steven had seen something. They looked towards what Steven was looking at and saw Joanna. Everyone felt excited as the too ran down to welcome her with her father. The creatures were surrounding Joanna as she entered the building. Everyone was looking through the center opening overlooking the ground floor. “Open the door but keep away from it.”, said Joanna.

  “How did you go out if the keys aren’t with you?”, asked Steven.

  “The keys are with Sam.”, she replied.

  Steven turned towards Sam, looking at him angrily which made Sam nervous. “What were you guys doing without me knowing? Why didn’t you say something?”, said Steven.

  “It was Joanna’s idea.”, replied Sam.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”, said Steven.

  “Dad, I’ll explain everything after we rescue Mr. William.”, said Joanna, hearing them arguing.

  When he heard the word “rescue”, Steven felt that he was wasting time and that he needs to focus on rescuing Mr. William as soon as possible. “Go open the door. We’ll talk about this later.”, said Steven to Sam.

  Sam went and opened the door, leaving the keys behind so that Joanna could lock it. “I want you to cause a distraction so that I can go in.”, said Joanna.

  Everyone started distracting the creatures until Joanna was able to escape and walk through the door. However, one of the creatures grabbed the door, preventing her from closing it. Joanna punched it on the face making it move a few steps backwards, allowing her enough time to lock the door. She ran upstairs and found her father standing in front of her followed by everyone else, waiting to know what had happened. “There’s no need to look at me like that! You’ll thank me.”, said Joanna.