The One Who Changed It All (Rewritten)

17. Thrill and Fear

I reached the ground. My phone started ringing in my pocket. I quickly picked the call and hid in a nearby bush.

" I am fine, I will see you tomorrow. Goodbye, don't call me for a while, " I whispered.

I ended the call before Jessica could say more. I looked at the houses in front of me. Gladly there was no one in my sight. It was pretty late for kids to be out too. My eyes landed onto the house where a woman was putting up clothes on a rope to dry. The clothes were still hanging there but a few of them caught my eye. These were the exact things that I needed right now...

I ran towards the house while making sure I don't make noise with my footsteps. I snatched the uniform from the rope. It felt cool as it still wasn't dried off properly. I took it and hid behind the bushes near the house. The idea of changing my clothes out here was unsettling to me. I decided to put on the uniform over my clothes as anyway, it was way bigger for a petite girl like me. I tied my hair up in a knot. I could feel my blood rushing.

I needed something to cover my face as well. I went back to the rope and snatched a handkerchief hanging on it. I tied it on my face tightly. I started walking towards the factory as normally as I could. The slight wetness of the uniform was making me feel colder than it already was.

There were two trucks standing near the factory. They were being loaded with boxes of Crinkies. Another man was picking up empty boxes and taking then inside the factory. I walked as confidently as I could. I adjusted my cap and picked up an empty box and started walking towards the entrance. My heart was thumping uncontrollably. Even if I was almost shivering with cold, I could feel sweat trickle down my face.

Just as I reached the entrance, the guard stopped me. He peeked into the empty box and then looked at me. I froze for a moment. Then I realized I had my lower face hidden by the handkerchief. I sneezed loudly thrice in a row before pressing the handkerchief more onto my nose. He shook his head and patted my shoulder twice. I let out a mental sigh and started walking.

I entered the factory. It was dimly lit in there. Most of it was vacant. I followed the man who was walking in front of me with an empty box. He walked towards a room in the corner. It had a restricted entry sign on it which fueled my curiosity. I had to admit that I was enjoying the thrill of this. When was the last time I enjoyed something this risky so much! My mind drifted towards the thought of me and Cole vandalizing the curmudgeon's car at the university. I grinned.

We reached the room and the man opened the door. I followed him in. There were stairs going down. I followed him downstairs. The basement was well lit. There were people carrying huge carton boxes of Crinkies out. I followed the man to the second room. We stepped in.

"Give 'em here," said a man.

"Fill it with the 30 ones," The man wrote a small 30 at the right of the box and gave it to the man in front of me.

"Fill it with the 50s," he said and handed over a box to me. I stood there puzzled for a second but then realized it would be wiser to keep moving. I looked at the man I was following before. He had vanished. There was a long lobby in front of me with many rooms. 'Where should I go?' I wondered.

I went to the nearest room on the left. I opened the door.

"Where are you going?"I heard a voice from behind.

The man was tall and had grey hair. I looked up to him at loss of words. I cleared my throat and said, "50s" in a voice as manly as I could manage and looked at the carton box in my hand.

"Are you new here?" he asked.

I nodded in response.

He gave me an icy glare. I shuddered. I forced myself to stand there instead of running. He snatched the box from my hand suddenly.

"We have not recruited any newcomers for this work!" he said and tossed the box away. I froze. He took a step towards me. I did the only thing I could do. I ran. I ran the fastest I could shoving a man harshly as he tried to stop me.

"Catch him!" I heard voices shout behind me.

I sprinted upstairs. Pushing the door open, I started running towards the exit but people around the place had already become alert and were looking for me. I ran towards the unlit part and hid in a small space between a huge machine and a wall. My whole body was trembling with fear.

"Turn on the lights!" I heard someone shout.

I looked around for a place to escape. My eyes landed on a window near me. I quickly ran towards it and climbed on it swiftly.

"Stop!"

"Catch him!"

"He's trying to get out of the window!"

I landed on the ground and started running. I could hear the footsteps behind me. I took a left from the end of the factory. I could see trucks standing. I ran towards them and climbed up on a truck. It was filled with boxes of Crinkies. I hid in the middle of the boxes and shifted three of them in front of me. I placed another box over the box in front of me so I could not be seen.

I let out a sigh and removed the handkerchief tied on my face. Holy shit! The truck had started moving.