Watchers

Chapter 37: Freeze, Police!

Sasha pushes the button on the wall and the gate in front of the elevator slides open. She and Daniel get in and she pushes another button to take them down. The elevator is old and mechanical and Daniel flinches at the sound of the pulleys groaning to life and bringing them out of the Elimination Game house.

"That's loud," he says. "They're going to be waiting for us."

"I'm sure they would be no matter what," Sasha says. "They had more cameras on us than the president."

"Are you ready for this?" he asks as the elevator dips below the floor and takes them down to the next level.

"No choice," Sasha says.

When the elevator comes to a rest at the bottom of the shaft, though, there's only one person waiting for them and he looks like he just might wet himself.

"Don't move," he barks, his legs shaky as he fumbles a baton out of his utility belt. "Stay where you are."

"What is this?" Sasha asks out of the corner of her mouth to Daniel. "One guy?"

"I don't know," Daniel says. "I'm sure more are on the way, though."

He reaches over her and punches the button to open the gate, and the lone security guard takes a step back, holding his baton out in front of him.

"I mean it," he says. Then he sees the knife in Daniel's hand and his voice goes squeakier as he says, "Stay in that elevator car."

"We don't want to hurt you," Daniel says, stepping out with Sasha right behind him. "We're just trying to get out of here."

"I can't let you do that," the man says, then he mumbles to himself, "Damn it, they said no face-to-face conflicts."

"There doesn't have to be a conflict here," Sasha offers. "Just let us pass and we'll be more than happy to go peacefully. That's all we want."

Daniel takes another step forward, staying close to the wall to show the guard that they don't intend to be aggressive, but he keeps the knife up.

"Stay back!" the man yells, swinging the baton wildly and catching Sasha's forearm with it.

"Ouch!" she hisses through her teeth, cradling her arm, and Daniel lunges forward with the knife. It catches on the guard's uniform, slicing through the front of his pants. The material hangs down and a thin line of blood trickles down his thigh - not much, but enough to draw his attention.

"Now," Daniel says, grabbing Sasha's wrist and pulling her past the guard. They sprint down the hallway, a dark and long one that Sasha prays fervently will lead to a way out, or else they'll really be in trouble.

Behind them, the guard keeps one hand on his thigh, applying pressure, while he pulls a radio out of his belt. His words echo down the hall, "There's two of them, heading for the exit. They cut me - send a medic, I'm bleeding!"

"Is he going to be okay?" Sasha asks, trying to turn and look back at him, but Daniel keeps her moving forward.

"He's a crybaby," Daniel says. "I barely nicked him."

They keep running. The hall is at least the length of the Elimination Game house, and the guard doesn't follow them, nor does anyone else appear in the hallway. At the end, there's a flight of stairs and Daniel and Sasha pause at the base of them.

"There's probably going to be a lot more guards at the top," he says.

"Yeah," Sasha agrees. "So what's the game plan?"

"You don't happen to have any more tricks up your sleeve, do you?" he asks. "Karate lessons when you were a kid, a gun in your pocket you just forgot about, the ability to teleport?"

Sasha laughs - she can't help it, despite their situation. Then she shakes her head and Daniel says, "Then I guess we just have to do our best to fight our way out."

"Do you think they'll kill us?"

"I have no idea."

Daniel takes a deep breath and puts his foot on the first step, preparing to ascend, and then Sasha throws her arms around him. It feels like the end of something, like they gave it their best shot and they're about to walk up these stairs to their deaths. He hugs her back and says nothing, and then they walk up the stairs, Sasha just behind Daniel.

But on the landing, there's no one there. Just a pair of doors. Daniel puts his hand on one, and Sasha takes the handle of the other. They each take a deep breath and he holds up his fingers, counting silently.

One.

Two.

Three.

Daniel's door is locked, but Sasha's swings wide open. Cold air blasts into the stairwell and she shivers as snow swirls around her feet. She takes a deep, shaky breath as she enjoys the bitter cold air filling her lungs for the first time in weeks.

"We did it," she says. "We're out."

She steps outside and Daniel follows her. They're in an alley and the ground is covered in snow. Her body temperature is dropping already - she'd gotten used to the artificial summer inside the Elimination Game house - but she doesn't care. All she wants is fresh air in her lungs and the freedom to run, to scream, to shiver.

Daniel puts his hand in hers and the warmth feels good. They walk to the end of the alley and he looks just as ecstatic as she feels.

And then a shadow falls over them.

And five more.

She looks up to see six Watcher drones hovering twenty feet overhead, slowly dropping and preparing to make their arrest.