No Escape

Chapter 24

Two months passed by in a flash and before anyone knew it, it was June 6th and time to carry out the most important job of their lives. Ellie Maisie was genuinely worried, but a little less when she realized she

would be surrounded by supportive, helpful people who were probably trustworthy. Probably being a keyword, but if they got through this without trouble from Rosanna and Dominic, she would consider it a win. This day was chosen because Keres made it a worldwide holiday. No one knew why, but they were willing to take advantage of it. They would wait in their cells all day, using phones to wait for a call from Cindy who would tell them when to begin executing the plan. Dominic had also managed to get the guns. They were all hiding them under their unreasonably large dresses. Ellie Maisie felt weird. She'd never held a gun before in her life. She wasn't sure if she could use it correctly, but how hard could it be. It's just aiming and pulling the

trigger. Then again, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. They all collectively decided that the guns were for threat because they wanted these people alive. They didn't deserve the release of death. They could only shoot if they felt like they were going to die. She sat there silently, staring at her gun, wondering if she was actually going to go through with it. She didn't know if she could actually kill someone with a gun, it just seemed so wrong. Especially how she was raised. Guns were legal in the United States, but there were so many restrictions. You couldn't just carry one around and bring it with you to go shopping. It was only in the case of situations like this. She agreed with it, she just never expected to find herself in this

situation. All these overwhelming thoughts were filling her head. She'd forced herself the whole time to ignore them, to shove them away, because they weren't helpful. They were just there to harm her. To make her afraid, to damage everything she'd worked for. All the mistakes and good decisions she'd made, all amounted to this moment. The calm before the storm. The quiet tension before all logic flew out the window and the world went crazy. And right as she prepared herself to cry, the phone rang. It was Cindy.
"Now," she said. And that was that. There was no time for tears.
Immediately, everyone stood up and started running towards the doors. The only other times Ellie Maisie had seen all the imprisoned women

exit the corridor had been in a calm orderly manner. But there was something so wild and revolutionary about this commotion. The crowd shoved against the doors. She could feel the feet of everyone around her pounding on the floor. Everything was happening so quickly, she didn't know if it was real. It felt like a crazy dream. One she had fantasized about every night for the past few months and had got her through all those uncomfortable, restless nights. She could feel angry energy coursing through her body. She felt she would just burst into flames at any moment and destroy all the people who had wronged her. Ellie Maisie then realized that she was part of a strong, invincible force that wouldn't stop at any cost until they achieved total and complete

equality. She was completely lost in the crowd. They pushed door after door before ending up in the giant hall. They stormed the area. Ellie Maisie looked around. Every imprisoned woman was there, yet she couldn't spot her friends. It was so loud. She couldn't make out any sounds. It was just screaming and noise. The motion of the crowd blocked her view, she couldn't see anything. Suddenly, the room became dead silent, and Ellie Maisie soon saw why. Troops of armed guards flooded into the hall and completely surrounded the crowd. She looked right in front of her and could see Keres with the priest and Sister Davide standing by his side. His expression was hard to read. Somewhere between angry, amused, surprised, and impressed. But behind

all of that, she could feel his fear.
"I understand your frustration, and we see what is happening across the globe. I must say, it's quite interesting how you managed this. I almost respect you," he announced, "However, you will not get away with this. You are outnumbered and frankly incapable of destroying me and my empire because this is the nature of humanity. Men will always be superior to women. Men will always triumph over the weaker sex. You deserve this. This is God's punishment for your disobedience. For your refusal to stay within the law."
"I'll kill you!" some woman called out from the crowd. Other women yelled in agreement.

"I figured you might feel that way," Keres said, condescension seeping from his voice "So here's my proposition. If you stand down and retreat to your cells, I won't kill you all. Does that sound like something you can do?"
In that second, someone fired a shot that missed Keres' head by a hair. Then the guards began to shoot with their rifles and all hell broke loose. This was no game.
The crowd fired back. Ellie Maisie felt lost in an agitated sea of screams, bullets, and blood. People were being struck down to the ground, on both sides. She couldn't even think straight with all these people rushing past her and shooting their guns. Keres, Siter Davide, and the priest had existed through the

doors. How could they get to them? She couldn't even make her way out of the crowd, much less find her friends and carry out the mission. She felt a tight grasp on her hand, that pulled and dragged her through the crowd until finally, she could see a door. She realized it was Dominic helping her. He pushed the door open and shut it once they were out of the hall. The sound of the bullets was slightly fainter, but still a disruptive, terrifying presence. Ellie Maisie pressed her back against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
"Oh my God, thank you," she gasped, still breathing heavily.
"No problem," he sighed, "Do you still have your gun?"
"Yeah?"

"Good, you're probably going to have to use it."
"I didn't think it was going to be so... sudden," she said, "I knew it was going to be violent, but not five minutes in-"
"I know, I don't think Cindy anticipated this, but we all knew what we signed up for."
"What now?"
"The same plan," Dominic explained, "Believe it or not, most of the people in there are alive and are making their way through the halls. They're trying to get out of here, and we need to help them."
"We still need to get to Keres and the others."

"Yeah. Let's go, we can't waste more time. Are you ready?"
"No," she said, but carried on anyway. They kept walking through the halls, trying to reconnect with Ariana, Mo, Nanette, and Rosanna. Once they found them, they had to find the exit, Mo would manage to get them out of there. Them and all the women who could make it out alive. The other five would find Keres, the priest, and Sister Davide, corner them, and somehow apprehend them. All the details were blurry in her mind, but she trusted the people around her because she knew she could not do this by herself. She needed all of this to work because she didn't know what to do with herself if it didn't.