I awoke to a rhythmic beep, beep, beep. I bolted upright and heard a voice saying “Hey Ace.” It was Malcolm; he was standing by the bed I was laying in. I took stock of my surroundings. I was in the hospital, I could tell by the starch white sheets and bleak walls everything looked as if it had been antibacterial washed (which it had.)
“Malcolm?” I said groggily. He smiled. “How long was I out?” I asked. Almost a day he answered gravely.
“Is Salem…?” I let the sentence hang. “Malcolm smiled again “Yep you did it Ace well kind of.” “What do you mean?” I questioned. “Well the cops caught you and took you here so as soon as you recover enough to go the big house were both burnt toast.” Malcolm explained. My sprits plummeted.
“We can’t let that happen” I said. “I hate to admit it” Malcolm said “but I don’t think we can get out of this one.” “One more thing you missed, this might come as a shock but Naomi died yesterday morning.” Malcolm said with effort. You could have hit me with a battering ram and it wouldn’t have hurt as bad. Naomi had played an important role in my life not to mention saved my hide a few times as well.
For a while I was silent and then I took a deep breath knowing I still had to be tough. “Malcolm I got you into this jam and I’ll get us both out with every breath I have left in me.” Malcolm’s face was grave but then it softened and he replied
“I was hoping you’d say something of that sort.” I gave him a half smile. And continued “Hey do you know where my cloak and weapons are?” “I managed to steal your cloak back” Malcolm responded “but your weapons are gone.” I shrugged and he produced my black cloak. I sat up and recoiled as my shoulder flared up in protest. I glanced at it; the wound was heavily bandaged and stitched up. I stared at it and remembered the final moments before I went unconscious. I recalled the explosion of pain and the feeling of helplessness and despair. I was extremely lucky to be alive.
“Malcolm” I said “my body needs more rest. Give me until I wake up again and then we’ll blow this Popsicle stand. In the mean time you think of an escape plan.” He smiled and turned off my lamp. I suddenly was completely drained of energy. So I closed my eyes and went to sleep. While my body rejuvenated Malcolm was thinking hard he sat motionless for hours and finally perfected the plot. Then he stood up and walked briskly out of the room to collect the needed supplies. I slept like a rock, my body recharging its battery. I don’t know how long I slept but finally I came to. I looked around it was dark, very dark. Malcolm was slumped over in a chair by my bed.
I whispered “Pssst Malcolm wake up!” He didn’t move. “Malcolm!” I hissed. He jerked awake.
“Huh” he muttered. “Oh hi Ace, are you ready?” he said fully awake now. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be” I replied.
“Okay, here’s the plan.” He said. Malcolm explained his complex but ingenious escape plot. First Malcolm had already written a note saying that I passed away and he went back to his house from the doctor. He and I both knew that the not wouldn't last long but it would buy us a little bit of time. Next he hacked into NYPD security system and made it so when their tracking him (he knew they would keep him under surveillance) it would look like he was moving around. Then we'd sneak down into the morgue. After that we would disguise ourselves as dead people and are carried to a refrigerated truck, but before they put us in there we run away. Malcolm had already created very convincing fake passports and bought tickets to Barcelona. This plan was so crazy it might work. I sat up and stretched my shoulder it felt a little better but I would have to be careful. We tested whether I could walk and run. It took a little bit but I got the hang of it again.
Finally at almost four AM. We snuck out. Before we left I changed out of my embarrassingly feminine hospital garb and into some warm up pants and a T-shirt, along with my cloak. Over our normal clothes we wore janitor outfits; this escape plan was classic. The cops had of course confiscated my weapons but if Malcolm’s plan went smoothly I wouldn’t need them. We crept across the dimly lit hallway and down the stairs. At the ground floor we needed to be extra careful the lobby would have a number of patients waiting and security.
When we opened the door people were milling around but the guard was snoozing on the job. We were in luck. We sauntered through the very light crowd and finally to the basement and in the basement was the morgue.
Safely in the morgue (the place where they keep the dead bodies) we stripped off our janitor suits. It was a little unsettling being down with the deceased. I felt a trifle guilty about being down here because I cheated death. I was shot but lived to fight another day. These unfortunate innocent people weren’t as lucky. Standing there proved my perspective of life right. Unlike other people I got a second chance so I wasn’t passing this one up. Sometimes you have a chance to gain an opportunity to go higher but passed on the opportunity. You don’t always get a second chance, seize the first one or you might or you might end up like some of these poor people. They went before they deserved to. So that’s the end of my emotional speech now back to my story.
We stealthily crept through the stretchers of the dead patients until we got to the empty ones at the back. We climbed into two empty stretchers and lay completely still under the thick cover sheet. I dozed off once for about three hours. My body wasn’t completely ready yet. Suddenly the door swung open and in walked a guy with all black on; Suit, tie, pants and everything else. It was one of the people who carried the dead bodies to the refrigerated truck. That truck then took the cadavers to the crematory.
I didn’t dare move in case the man saw me. I scarcely even breathed when he pick Malcolm’s stretcher and then mine. He handed me off to another man in all black. Through the hefty tarp I could hear the automatic doors slide open. We were almost there and our luck was holding! When the doors closed I started to count to ten. Ten seconds was the approximate time it took to get to the van. On the tenth count I sprung out and hauled tail down the street. Up ahead I saw Malcolm doing likewise. I heard shouts of complaints from behind us. One guy even bellowed “Stupid kids!”
“Nope” I thought “just desperate fugitives.” Once I caught up to Malcolm we ducked into an alley. Panting we High fived in relief. We crept through the streets toward the Portland airport. We continued our trek across the city for a grueling two hours. For Malcolm it wasn’t as bad but my shoulder was throbbing in protest. We walked past dock after dock, store after store. I was not ready for this; the sun baked my skin. The cranked up air conditioner cooled my sweat and felt like the best possible thing at the moment. We found our plane and waited at the gate I fell asleep for I don’t know how long but my body was in dire need of it.
Malcolm gently shook me awake when we were ready to board. The customs officer looked at our phony passports and waived us through. I couldn’t believe it Malcolm’s insane plan worked! On the plane we sat in separate seats so we didn’t look conspicuous after all we were still wanted in Maine. Nobody took note of us. Malcolm was rewarded for his escape plot by having a whole row to himself. I wasn’t as lucky, Squashed between the smelliest, fattest and loudest Identical twins ever. They probably took showers in vinegar and ate potato chips all day as well as having a contest on who could chew them the loudest. Other than that it was a nice flight. I shot Malcolm some withering looks he smirked backed. When our plane finally alighted from the air I was desperate to get off the plane.
The ride was so annoying squeezed between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum supersized. Although the flight was horrific Barcelona was a gorgeous city. When I stepped outside the air was shimmering with heat waves and the streets were packed with tourists; the perfect place to hide. Just then I felt a shiver go down my spine I spun around only to see a blur of color evaporate into the maelstrom of people. I was ready to do the same.
THE END...
