Us Against The World

Chapter 9

Is this place safe to not wear a mask? I need to escape or else I will rot in this room. I need to finish my mission, but how? I look around the dimly lit room—the only light source coming from the small window to the left of the room, and find a rusty ladder in the corner. It looks old and dangerous, but there may be something up there that I need to escape the place and finish what I had started.

I jog as quietly as possible to the ladder and pull on both sides and the bars in between to make sure they're strong enough to hold me. I grab hold of the sides and take my first step up. "Successful so far." I say quietly to myself. 

As I continue up, I feel and hear a crackling sound. I gasp and look down as the bar that's holding my right foot deteriorates and snaps, making me slip. I catch myself before fully falling and hurry to the top- in hopes to not fall again.

When I finally reach the top, I sigh of relief at the sight of a candle-lit room. I look around and gasp loudly when I look down and below the window in the room. A body. I quickly back away, then rethink. "Don't be so stubborn, Farrah. It's not like you've never seen a dead body before." I say to myself. 

I slowly walk over and kneel in front of the corpse. It is fresh dead and smells terrible. It is a man: he looks about forty-or-so years old. The mask across his face gives me slight relief and wonder- knowing that this man had died of starvation by the looks of his rib exposing top half. Next to the man is a bag similar to mine. It looks full, so I reach over the man to grab it; my eyes never leaving his face.

Inside the bag tools of all kinds are what I found. An old hammer, a wrench and bolt cutter. I also found a half filled bottle of water, but I decide not to drink it because I do not want to get sick. I figured the same with the mask. I'd rather die from a disease that takes over my body starting with my brain than to become sick from using items that were previously used my a newly deceased person.

I grab the man's bag and throw it over my shoulders on top of my own bag. I stumble from the added weight, but manage to make it down the ladder without a problem. I look at the lone window in this prison room and think about how to get out. I walk over to it and examine the pane and edges. There are bolts and screws all around it. I remember seeing the tool for that. I mentally thank the dead man for helping me escape.

I have never used a mechanic tool in my life, nor was I ever taught. I squatted and dug through the bag until I had the wrench in my hand. "Best way to learn, huh?" I ask myself and stand. 

I looked around the outside to make sure nobody was around or watching me. When I figured that the coast was clear, I began to work. The bolts are rusted tightly to the window that I feel like giving up. This window is so old and escape proof. I drop the wrench and sink to my knees, crying. "I need to get out of here!" I mentally scream, but sob loudly.

When I finally pull my head up from my knees, I look around the room again. There has to be another way to get out of here. There has to be.

I stand and look out the window again. Two men are talking... or fighting. Despite whatever is going on, they both look angry. My ears cannot make out what they are saying, but maybe I don't want to. The taller man, the buffer one, yells something then storms off. That's when Jexton appeared. None of their faces were masked- which relieves me, knowing that I'm safe without mine. 

Then I put the pieces together.

The community Jexton had told me about when we met... we are here. The Consilium Jexton had told me about... they run this place. The disease only existing outside the community Jexton had mentioned... I am safe in here.

Or am I?

I watched as Jexton listened to the man, barely looking at him. The man wasn't much taller than Jexton, and they looked a bit alike. 

"That's his dad!" I say aloud in a whisper-tone, then cover my mouth in hopes they didn't hear me. I duck under the window for a few moments, and when the door doesn't burst open with angry Jexton and men with guns, I was sure they didn't. I slowly stood and looked out the window again. 

Jexton's father looked angrier than he had been before. Jexton waited for him to finish talking, then said something back. The man yelled at him and slapped him. I gasped as Jexton held both hands to his left cheek. He looked at his father with a disgusted expression and walked away. I sunk myself to the floor again; a horrified expression on my face.

"Why am I caring about if Jexton got hit by his father?" I mentally ask myself. "He betrayed me. He threw me into a cell. He used himself as bait to drag me in. Why do I care?"

I glance over at the rusty ladder once again and think about the room above me. This building is very tall, and if the room above is anything like this one, it'll have a ladder and eventually I'll get to the top. 

"What will you do then?" my subconscious asks. "I'll figure it out from there." I mentally answer. 

I stand and decide to try unlatching the window one last time before making my final decision. I use the hammer to knock as much of the rust off of the bolts as I can. It would make them easier to remove. As I scrape rust off of the last bolt, pick up the wrench and place it around the first bolt, I hear the door open. I freeze and my heart stops.

"What do we have here? An escaper? Such a brave move." I slowly turn around to the familiar sobbing voice.