hear any sirens yet. I think we should hide and wait it out.”
The smoke that seeped in from the stairwell was starting to irritate Eric’s throat and he cupped his hands over his mouth and nose. Alice soon did the same when the smoke started choking her.
“If the shooter doesn’t kill us, the smoke will.” Eric said, “We won’t be able to stay here.”
“We head to the roof.” Matt said.
Alice and Eric turned around and faced Matt who finally scraped together the courage to step out into the hallway and appeared a little bit more confident.
The Circus
A constable was cordoning off the immediate vicinity surrounding the parking lot and Johnson Incorporated building with police tape as a large group of people congregated out of curiosity and the constable had to tell some of them to step back as he cordoned the area.
“Please step back.” The police constable said.
The ever growing group of people all stared at the building wondering what was happening. On the other side of the tape barrier they could see several police vehicles as well as the coroner supervising a body bag that was being carried into the back of the coroner’s van.
Sergeant Wilson was in charge of overseeing the constables and the circus that came with it. He had been with the police department for over ten years and had vast experience with hostage situations. When the emergency call came in about a mask gunman in an office building, he was immediately put on the case as he had the highest success rate at getting hostages out alive.
Sergeant Wilson glanced back over his shoulder at the growing circus behind them; two news vans pulled up and the field reporters jumped out. He hated the news vultures. They could compromise everything he was working towards for a scoop.
Constable Josephs recently graduated from the Police Academy and this was his first big case. He was excited, but terrified as well. He wanted to be a policeman ever since he was a little boy and each Halloween he’d wear the same police outfit, but standing outside a building with a supposed gunman made him wonder whether he was ready.
“Sergeant?” Constable Josephs asked.
“What’s the situation?” Wilson asked
“We have one confirmed deceased. A security guard we found in the outpost in the parking lot. His identity is still unknown. The area has been cordoned off.”
“What do we know about the people inside?” Wilson asked.
“We know that there’s a masked gunman inside. That’s basically it.”
“Any demands?”
“Not yet, sir.”
Wilson stared up at the large building in front of them and assessed the situation at hand by scrutinizing every little detail to his disposal. The parking lot was still full of cars which meant that nobody has left the building yet. Why would nobody leave the building when there is a crazed gunman walking the aisles of the building?
Wilson walked over to the front doors with Josephs and another constable following him. Wilson inspected the glass doors and its framework and spotted thin wire that ran from the inside door handle all along the framework and disappeared into the shadows to the left.
“The doors are rigged.” Wilson said.
But surely someone in a panic wouldn’t have noticed the trigger and opened the door? He glanced through the glass doors and inspected the interior; the lobby seemed hazy and then he noticed a glow in the stairwell.
Wilson stepped back and assessed the building exterior again and noticed that one of the second storey windows seemed to be fogged up. A faint stream of smoke was escaping from the window of the stairwell.
“We have a fire on the inside.” Wilson said.
“Sir?” Josephs asked confused.
Constable Josephs was unsure what to do next.
“Our gunman is smarter than he appears. He made sure he eliminated all means of escape by setting up a fire in the stairwell on the second floor and I bet the elevators are out of order as well.”
“But why?” Josephs asked confused.
“To ensure his victims can’t escape. To jump from the second floor could prove fatal. This way his victims have to hide. This is fun for him. He’s enjoying every minute of this...”
Wilson turned to Josephs and knew he’d have to utter words he haven’t said in years – those dreaded words that ended with six officers losing their lives back in 2003.
“Get the bomb squad.” Wilson said.
He inspected the nearby buildings and said, “I want snipers stationed on the roof of the surrounding buildings. He has to pass a window at some point. Get me a blue print of this building. I want to know if there’s any other way into this building. This guy wants to take his time with the killings. I think this is personal. Get me information on all employees that were let go in the past five years.”
Rita sat on the sofa in the living room while the morning sun was rushing in through the window and bathed her feet. It was one of her incoherent days when she’d sit on the sofa for hours simply doing nothing, and other days she would flip through the TV channels. On her more lucid days she’d read a book, do some knit work and some days even go down to the senior citizens recreational centre.
She stared down at her hands and then at her palms; the old hands couldn’t belong to her. When did she get this old? When did her body betray her to Mother Time? To her it felt like only yesterday that she was a young girl dreaming of becoming a world renowned dancer.
She looked down at the coffee table in front of her and noticed the TV remote, picked it up and studied it closely; half scared of what it might do.
She pressed a button and the TV switched on; startling her. She stared at the pictures on the tube and it took her a moment to realize what it was and then she started flipping through the channels.
TV technology might’ve improved, but the programming was still horrible.
Her choices came down to soap operas or talk shows. She wasn’t in the mood for either and continued surfing from channel to channel.
Wendy came in and yawned as she sat down next to her mother. She didn’t even bother getting out of her pyjamas and her hair was a mess. Every day Wendy would hang around the house doing nothing and then go to bed at night when Alice got home.
“What are you watching?” Wendy asked.
“Nothing really… Who are you again?”
Wendy sighed and said, “Wendy. Your daughter. I don’t know why Alice can’t just put you in a home.”
Wendy took the remote from Rita, flipped through the channels and when she got to a news channel she stopped. The news channel was showing live footage from outside the Johnson Incorporated building. Wendy sat up straight upon recognising the building and turned up the volume to hear what was happening. The news bulletin didn’t give much detail except that there was a hostage situation.
And then there were two
Eric led Alice and Matt up the smoky stairwell as each one covered their mouth and nose and tried not to breathe in any smoke. When they got to the fifth floor Eric motioned for them to step out of the stairwell.
They stepped out of the stairwell and into the vacant floor that was under construction and had sheets of shredded plastic hanging from the ceiling like curtains and the lights were out. The only light came from the windows – or at least the windows that weren’t boarded up.
Eric coughed and gasped for air. His chest was burning from inhaling smoke through his fingers.
“Are you guys alright?” Eric asked.
Alice gasped for air and nodded.
“Why are we stopping?” Matt asked, “We should keep going.”
“We must stop for fresh air.” Eric said, “As head of the Health and Safety Committee—“
“I don’t care about your committee.” Matt insisted.
“You can suffer serious implications from smoke inhalation. We have to take a break for a few minutes.”
Matt sighed and rolled his eyes. This was stupid. Staying put on a vacant floor could get them killed. He wan
ted to get out of there, but didn’t want to continue on his own. He knew his chances of survival diminished drastically if he ventured off on his own and opted to stick around.
“Fine.” Matt said.
Eric glanced over at Alice and saw she was still in shock. He walked over to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Are you alright?” Eric asked.
“I don’t think so. I saw him shoot people in cold blood. How can someone be so cruel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why is this happening?”
Alice was trying her best to be brave, but her trembling body gave away her true feelings; she wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her mom and her useless sister. She didn’t want to die at work. She wanted to die an old lady asleep in her bed.
“Shit happens.” Matt said annoyed.
Eric gave Matt a stern look and Matt rolled his eyes again. He didn’t like the fact that Alice got more attention than he did as he was used to the limelight.
“We’ll get through this.” Eric said, “You’ve done great so far. You’ve stayed alive so far. You’ll get out of this alive. The police will come and arrest this guy.”
“If he doesn’t kill us all first.” Matt said.
“Will you shut up?” Eric yelled out annoyed, “You’re not helping.”
“It’s the truth.” Matt said. “This psycho made sure we can’t go out through the front door by setting a fire in the stairway. Do you really think he’ll just let us walk out of here?”
Eric stared at Matt with a frown and shook his head. Matt was heartless and seemingly brainless when fear took a hold of him.
“I can’t believe I liked you once.” Eric said.
Matt was shocked at the revelation and his demeanour changed completely as intrigue set in.
“What?” Matt asked shocked, “You liked me?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“I knew you liked me.” Matt said proudly, “Every woman and gay man likes me. I knew you liked me, but wasn’t sure why you’d hide it.”
“Because you’re a jerk. You flirt left and right and flaunt your charismatic smile all over the place like you’re God’s gift to earth. Yes, I fell for it at first like everyone, but I see right through you. I see you for who you really are.”
“And who am I?” Matt asked.
“You’re a lonely guy who can’t get any woman to stick around, so you jump in bed with every woman you see hoping to fill the void in your life, but it never goes away and never will.”
Matt stood in silence. Eric had it spot on, but he tried to hide it and turned away. Eric saw that his harsh analysis had hit a nerve and could immediately taste his own foot in his mouth. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t a mean gay and didn’t know why he said what he said.
“Matt,” Eric said sincerely, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. It’s the stress of the situation.”
Matt wasn’t listening to what Eric was saying and turned his back to Eric as he stepped closer. Matt stared at the doorway.
“Are you seriously giving me the silent treatment?”
“Shush.” Matt whispered.
“Did you just shush me?” Eric asked annoyed.
Matt turned around with complete fear in his eyes and both Eric and Alice knew what had matt trembling in his boots… the clown was near.
“I hear him.” Matt whispered, “I hear his footsteps out in the stairwell.”
Alice stepped closer to the two men and the three of them stood in silence as the faint sound of boots coming up the stairs echoed in the distance. None of them could move a muscle – they were frozen in fear. Maybe he’d continue to the next floor? Why would he come into a vacant floor?
Eric held his breath and listened to his own heartbeat and the sound of the approaching footsteps; the gunman was heading their way. Instinctively he ducked behind a stack of boxes and the other two followed him.
The door hinges screeched as the door opened as the three of them quailed tightly together behind the boxes; listening to the footsteps that were slow but steady as the clown