His Mistake

1

The amount of days Ellie has spent in this basement has bled into a good percent of her life. Well, at least her adult life.

Today was the day she leaves it, and that's only because it was no longer safe for her to stay. Which would push her plan a little further down the line than she had wanted, which meant less planning.

Life is, of course, spontaneous.

"I am sorry, Anthony, you've helped me a lot." A tear runs down her cheek as she bends down to where the old man lies in his wire cot. The scent of decay reaches her nose and fills her mouth; he has only been dead a day, but his age had been breaking him down for a while. She respects him, almost loves him enough like a daughter. She kisses his papery cheek and savors the feeling of disgust and sadness she feels. This will be her last memory of him before she leaves and starts her new life.

The moment passes, and she stands up straight, hiking her bag up higher on her shoulder. The dim basement, its layout the size of a 3-bedroom apartment but seemingly always lacking space, pulls at her to stay. Even for a little bit longer, while she worked things out. Plan a little more. None of this will matter if you get caught before you can even finish it.

"I'm sorry, but it's now or never," Ellie breathes out into the cold space, years crushing down on her, nights spent hungry, days spent underneath the strain of cruel training Anthony subjected her to. She wasn't ready, but she knew enough to at least do some of what she needed to, hurt them enough for it to matter.

For the first time in five years and eight days, Ellie walks up the stairs leading out of the basement, flicking a match behind her. The petrol catches, and the darkness lights up like daytime. It licks up behind her, and she cherishes its warmth before she escapes through the heavy door.

---

There was another four years in their plan, but Anthony always accounted for exceptions.

The warehouse that she stepped into had long been abandoned, in the outskirts of downtown where it wasn't uncommon for people to sleep in any place they could find, and who would sometimes accidentally set alight with campfires. There may be an investigation, but she wasn't worried about that. Neither of them were tied to this place, and the owner had seemingly forgotten about it. The mask covering the lower part of her face would be enough to obscure her for now, and by the time she walked into the crowd of downtown and onto a train, she would be lost.

All these calculations, down to a fault. Ellie had studied them almost every night, in case they were raided, or if the basement caught fire, or if Anthony died. None of these precautions guarded her against her own biology, though. The light seeping through large windows, stained yellow with age, caused her eyes to start to twitch and ache. And ears seemed to perk at the sound of birds and, far away, voices.

Her heart started to beat in her chest, her hands shake.

For a minute, she allowed herself to panic, and then she was out a broken roller door. Smoke was already seeping out of the hidden trap door from the basement, and soon the whole lot would be alight.

Her eyes hurt so unbearably that she was squinting, and the people she could now see made her stomach quiver. Words flowed into her mind, beat for beat memorized. Anthony, even in his death, would lead her to calmness.

Step 6, follow the map provided to the train station...