Average Joe and the Extraordinaires (4 page)

Chapter
6

Stranger
Danger

Joe
struggled to breathe, and began to cough loudly.

Joe: “Is
that what we came here for?”

Dahlila:
“Shutup with all that coughing.  This is not a what, but a ‘she,’ if you hadn’t
noticed. She has a name.  Now come on, we need to get the hell out of here.”

The air
of the place felt different.  It felt livelier.  He looked down at the little
girl that held Dahlila’s hand ever so gently.  She couldn’t have been any older
than nine; he guessed seven.  Joe had never seen a little girl with as little
hair as she had, or one quite as dark as her.  He couldn’t help but think that
he had misheard Dahlila when she had called the little one a “she.”  After
studying her features, he was convinced of her femininity however.  She looked
calm despite her surroundings, and simply looked at him as if unaware of how
much danger they were in. 
Why is she so dang calm?
he wondered.  The
little girl looked right at him as if he were talking right to her.

Joe: “Who
is she?”

Dahlila:
“Her name’s Melissa.  Melissa, this is Joe.”

The
little girl knelt down and relieved the unconscious guard of her flashlight.

Joe: “And
why is she down here?”

Melissa:
“Because my daddy’s a very important man.”

She gave
him a reassuring smile, reached out and gently grabbed his trembling hand.  Joe
pulled his hand away from the little girl.  He was too embarrassed to show her
how scared he was.

Melissa:
“It’s okay to be scared a little, Joe, we all are.  Especially me, since I’m
just a little girl.  But we all have to be smart and work together to get out
of here.”

Joe was
flabbergasted by the wisdom of that. 
If she can be brave, then so can I
,
he thought.

Dahlila:
“Let’s go, guys.  I’m going back to the stairs.”

Melissa:
“Bad idea.  They already know you’re here.  There’s another way up.  A safer
way.”

Dahlila:
“Sounds good.  Lead on, lil’ sister.”

Joe:
“She’s your sister?”

Dahlila:
“She wishes.”

Melissa
smiled.

Melissa:
“Follow me.  This way will lead us right out of here.”

“STOP
RIGHT THERE!!!”

Melissa:
“Oh no!”

The group
looked back and saw a team of guards in blue behind them.  The word W-Sec lined
their clothes like a brand name.  Dahlila and Joe ran like the wind after
Melissa, but she was only a little girl and began to fall behind.

Dahlila:
“We need to get out of here now!  Come on!”

Dahlila
picked up Melissa and the girl scrambled onto her back.  Joe was amazed at the
woman’s show of strength, and surprised that even with the extra weight of the
girl that Dahlila still outpaced him.  They approached a fork in the hallway.

Melissa: 
“Take the right up there.  Then at the end a left, and be careful, they have
guns.”

Dahlila
responded to her instructions precisely, with Joe right behind trying to keep
pace.

Melissa:
“Now up ahead a left, and run all the way to the end and take a right. Don’t
turn at the middle.”

Dahlila:
“I could’ve just took a left the first time.”

Melissa:
“I’m trying to confuse them.  I want them to think that we don’t know where
we’re going.  Now keep running!”

They ran
and ran, taking another right, then a left, right, left.  They didn’t stop
running until Melissa halted them.

Melissa:
“Dahl, use your level seven keycard for this room.”

Dahlila
swiped one of her keycards and they entered the dark room.  Once they closed
the door behind them, Joe couldn’t see anything.  The little girl shined a
flashlight up towards the ceiling.

Melissa:
“Daddy told me never leave home without one of these.  Daddy’s usually always
right.  Now I need you two to help me climb up there.”

Joe
volunteered.  He followed the direction of Melissa’s flashlight to a table and
moved it right below the spot she had pointed.  He climbed atop it, with
Melissa soon after, and pushed up on one of the cold metal tiles.  It proved surprisingly
tough to move, but Joe managed it.  He hoisted little Melissa up and over soon
after and then waited anxiously.  She hadn’t informed Joe or Dahlila what would
happen after they lifted her.  Joe could hear the voices outside getting
closer.  He dared not yell at the girl for fear of being discovered, so he
whispered as loud as he thought possible.

Joe:
“Psst, Melissa, we need you.  They’re going to be here any minute now.”

He became
aware of his sweating again.  He had nearly thought that the girl had fled,
until she dropped a rope down for him and Dahlila.

Melissa:
“Come on, hurry!”

They
climbed up, pulled the rope with them and placed the tile back in the spot
where it was left.  Joe could only see wherever Melissa pointed her flashlight.

Joe: “So
this somehow leads out of here?”

Melissa:
“Yes just follow me.  I’ve done this a bajillion times before.”

Joe: “Who
helped you get up here before?”

In what
little light they had, Joe could see the little girl’s expression turn somber.

Melissa:
“His name was Joe too, and he was a good man.  I told him that he couldn’t
escape through here on his own but he tried anyway.”

Joe:
“What happened to him?”

Melissa:
“They caught him on level six and that was the last I heard of him.”

Dahlila:
“Men never listen to little girls.”

Melissa
shook her head and walked faster ahead.  She had a much easier time getting
around in the dark than Joe did.  Her small size made navigating the cramped
space no issue, especially compared to Joe, who was crouching down.  He found
it hard not to trip over his own feet.  He had walked into a few strands of
spider web and had nearly eaten some when he went to ask Melissa to slow down. 
Besides the area directly around Melissa and slightly ahead of her, Joe was
surrounded by black.  The group walked as quietly as they could in a direction
that Joe could not even guess.

Eventually,
the three of them did encounter a sliver of light from above them.  Melissa
stopped and pointed at it, but Joe had already guessed what needed to be done. 
He struggled but managed to push aside the tile floor tile above out of the way
and pulled himself up to take a peek at the next floor.  He saw no one. He was
in a bathroom. He pulled himself up first and listened for sounds for a few
seconds.  When he heard nothing, he reached down and pulled Melissa up. 
Dahlila had already climbed up by the time he was finished with that.

Dahlila:
“I know where to go from here.  Hop on my back.”

She
looked at Joe and grinned.

Dahlila:
“Not you, Joe.”

Dahlila
led them all into the hallway. Joe recognized the furnishings from earlier. 
This was the floor he and Beauty had first stopped at, UG6 or level six.  The
halls were mostly empty but for the occasional security guard that ran by. 
Joe, Dahlila, and Melissa all hugged the walls and kept low as they crept
towards a set of double doors.  They had to duck into a room when a group of
guards rounded the corner so fast they were nearly caught.  Once the guards had
passed, it left the path open for the group to run forward through the double
doors and up to the stairs.  They ran up one flight and Joe tried to press on,
until Dahlila grabbed him.

Dahlila:
"Wait."

Joe:
"What?"

Dahlila:
"You don't want to go up there.  What we need is in here."

She put
Melissa down and felt around a small corner of the wall.

Dahlila:
"I overheard them talking about what this place was like before they got
the elevators.  They used to have to climb up and down with a ladder.  They
said it was over in this direction and I remember ... ah here it is."

She
tapped the wall with her right foot first, and then with a quick burst of
strength kicked the top part in sending the shattered wood down to the floor. 
Her next two kicks broke through the rest leaving them enough space to walk
through.

Dahlila:
"I tried to escape before and ran over here.  I remembered seeing some
funny looking lines around here.  Let's go!"

They
followed her through an area that looked very unpolished compared to the rest
of the facility.  There was dry, dusty rock and dirt all around them, like they
were in a cave.  There also wasn't any light ahead.  Melissa shined her light
forward so they could at least see their feet.  Finally they spotted a rope
ladder hanging up ahead.  It stood out in the darkness, a dingy beige color
that was probably white at one time.  Dahlila tugged at it firmly.

Dahlila:
"It's good!  Time to get out of here."

Joe:
"What's up ahead?"

Dahlila:
"The exit I imagine, but truthfully I don't know.  I've never made it this
far before."

Joe:
"What if there's nothing up there?"

Dahlila
shook her head and sighed.  She lifted Melissa and put her on the ladder
first.  Melissa looked down at Joe and smiled.

Melissa:
"Have a little faith, Joe."

She
climbed up with Dahlila trailing right behind her.  Joe only hesitated for a
bit before deciding he had no choice but to take his chances with the girls.

Dahlila:
"It's a long climb.  If your arms start to hurt, just stop and rest.  This
goes for both of you.  Joe, if you stop, let us know so we don't leave you
behind."

Joe:
"Okay."

Her
concern for him perked Joe up a bit.  He began to feel a burning in his arms
only moments after starting his climb.  It felt like they had been climbing for
at least five minutes straight, and when that turned to almost ten minutes Joe
was tapped out.  They all stopped and waited for about a minute for him to get
his strength back.  Neither the little girl or Dahlila had looked tired.  Joe
wondered what the heck they were made of.  Right after that, they made it to a
large metal platform with wooden planks for footholds that led to more stairs. 
They took the stairs straight up until they couldn't go up any further.  Here,
there were metal rungs attached to the wall.  Joe dreaded more climbing, but
decided he'd be the first one to climb up this time.

Dahlila:
"Just don't fall."

Joe:
"I won't.  I can see a little light up there though."

The climb
to the top was short, and Joe found a metal door with a latch on it.  He pulled
the old latch towards him and pushed the little door.  It budged only a little.

Dahlila:
"Is that all you got?  You're really going to let a little door end your
hopes for escape like that?"

For some
reason, that got right under Joe's skin, like when his friend Jonathan used to
tease him about his height or basketball when they were little.  He pushed and
pushed with all he could muster until he almost fell off the ladder rungs. 
Dahlila managed to do some quick acrobatics to climb up past Melissa to help
him out.  They both pushed together until they moved whatever was atop their
exit and opened the latch door.  They emerged into a room filled with
construction equipment and Joe saw it was a large workbench that had blocked
their exit.  There were old dirty gray tarps covering nearly everything in the
room.

Dahlila:
"Come on, no time to waste!"

They
raced through the room and found themselves suddenly right near the football
field.

Joe:
"Oh no..."

Ahead of
them near the sidelines they spotted a group of men fervently talking.  It was
mostly a group of the black-suited men and the security guards.  All of them
seemed to be focused on the man in the center.  He stood out from the rest by
the sharpness of his style, and projected an air of importance as he gave the
men orders.  He was dressed in a crisp gray suit that was about two shades
darker than his hair.  He looked sort of familiar to Joe, but he couldn't
remember where the heck he would've seen the man.  Melissa looked at him with
terror in her eyes.  She whispered something under her breath.  Joe barely
heard it.

Melissa:
“…Grabas…”

Suddenly
the commanding man was looking right at him.  His eyes were pale blue and
hunter sharp.  Joe knew the man wouldn't turn away no matter how much he wished
for it.  When his stare intensified, the men around him took note and looked
over to what he was staring at.  With all eyes on them, Dahlila took off with
Melissa on her back, yelling.

Dahlila:
"Run the other way!"

She
darted up the stands and out of sight.  Joe followed her orders, but was sure
he would be caught.  He ran as fast as he could up the stadium aisles and out
as soon as he found the nearest exit to the lobby.  There, he saw a bunch of
security and knew the jig was up, but now he felt daring.  He remembered the
thrill of running from when he used to play football.  He was never good at it,
but it was fun, and now … was this fun?  He ran and ran, and when a security
guard tried to grab him he dodged and ran some more.  He saw his exit, but
after his brush with the security guard the rest now saw him.  He was almost
out of breath but he’d curse himself if he got caught.  He’d at least distract
these guys until the girls could get free.  He was good for that.  That’s when
he noticed something odd.  There were no police inside the stadium, only
security and the men in black.  All the cops were on the outside.