Chapter 16

There was no one in the hallways. I followed Theo as he walked over to the emergency door. After opening it, we both enter and close the door behind us.

"Well, that was easy," he says. His voice echoes through the hall.

"Shhh. Quiet " I say to him and he nods.

As we go upstairs, Alex comes close to me.

"I have this really bad feeling he's up to something. Be careful," he says in a concerned tone. Seeing him so concerned about me makes me feel kinda happy and warm.

"How do you plan to get past the guards. " Theo whispers on the final step.

I upon my bag and show him the drug.

He smirks "Yeah, this'll work "

Standing outside the door, I take out the drinks. They're just lukewarm now. I had them to Theo as I proceed to add the drug in them.

"Let's wait for few seconds and then you go in," he says.

"Ok. But then what if someone comes here while we're in the room. " I ask him.

"Seriously? That thought never occurred to you? But I think the bigger question is, how will you get all the kids out quickly " he asks back.

"I got that covered."

I take the beer cans from him and walk towards the door. Taking a deep breath, I open it.

The first thing I notice is the stench of cigarettes. On this floor, there's navy blue wallpaper along with the light blue carpeted floor. Unlike the other floors, this one is surprisingly...neat.

"What do you want?" a man says in a hoarse voice.

Looking to my right, I see two men sitting at the end of the hallway playing cards. Is the room over there?

"Oh, uh...we were drinking and Ben told me to get you guys some too." I say awkwardly.

"Oh great! I was getting thirsty anyways." one of them with a swollen eye says. Wonder whats the story there.

As I make my way over there my hands begin to shake. The closer I got to those two the more I realised how big they are. Keep your cool Lisa. Don't mess up!. Just hand them and go.

"Here you go. Sorry, it's not cold, got warm on the way here." I say.

They both take it and start drinking it. Great!

Suddenly I notice one of them with red hair look at me suspiciously "You seem off today. It's as if you completely forgot what happened this afternoon."

Shit...

"Yeah well, you know, no point in holding on to the past." I laugh nervously.

They eye me with confusion and keep on taking sips of their beers.

"Well, whatever. You can get lost now," they say and continue with their game.

I can visibly see them slowly but surely getting tired and sleepy. But now I need to pretend like I'm going away.

I turn around and start walking towards the elevator.

Alex suddenly appears to my side which almost made me yell in shock.

"Keep walking. The drugs are kicking in, they're gonna fall asleep in no time," he says.

Where was he this whole time anyway?

As soon as I reach the elevator, I hear an audible thud sound from the hallway. Looking back I could see them both passed out on the floor with cards scattered across the floor along with the spilt drinks.

I wait for a minute to make sure than run towards them. Kneeling down, I began to search their pockets carefully.

"Where were you? " I ask Alex.

"Keeping an eye on Theo and scanning the floor. He wasn't doing anything suspicious and There are few people here but there already asleep. We better do this quietly and quickly." he says.

I find a bunch of keys in the red-headed man's pocket.

Getting back up, I run towards the emergency door. Opening it, I spot Theo sitting down checking his nails.

"Done? " he asks as I lead him inside.

"Yup. But we gotta stay silent"

Making my way to the end of the right hallway, I stop at room number 305. This is it.

"We need to get the ones who aren't injured first. They're in this room. There's like 7 of them here and 5 in room 304." Alex says. I simply nod in response.

"I wonder where the janitors closet is," Says Theo and starts to walk away.

"What are you doing!?" I whisper yell at him.

He looks back with a bored expression "Finding something that'll prevent people from coming here. Sort of like a distraction. You can go ahead in the room and work on getting the kids out." he says walking away while waving his hand.

"I'll follow him" Alex assures me and then vanishes. I unlock the door. It creaks as I open it.

I'm greeted with pitch-black darkness and the smell of sweat. Opening the door more and allowing the light from outside to get in I could see small bodies curled up to the walls. I take out the flashlight.

The children are awake and scared. Cowering in fear before a stranger. Their clothes are dirty. The oldest one in this room I could see is this girl holding onto two little boys. Siblings maybe?

As I step forward they start to whimper and tear up. I hold up my hand in a non-threatening manner.

"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you. Now listen closely, I'm going to get you out of here ok? So you need to calm down and do as I say"

I flashed the light across the wall looking for a switch. I see it way up on the wall. Out of the kids reach. I go over to it and turn it on. The sudden brightness in the room blinds us all for a second. Once recovered, I take a good look around.

Grey floor and off white walls with only a single window. This is a small room. There are only two beds here but I wonder why no ones using them. I notice a little girl in a pink dress crying quietly. I go over to her and kneel at eye level.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright. I'm going to save you and get you home, ok? So no more crying. We can do this. Now, give me a smile!" I say as I wipe her tears away with my thumb. She sniffs and then gives a weak smile.

"Are you...one of them?" I hear a meek voice from the corner of the room. A brown-skinned boy with a buzzcut.

"No. I snuck in here to rescue you guys. Along with a friend whos outside right now."

I look over to the oldest looking girl "You..what's your name?" I ask her.

She looks at me and says softly "Alice..."

"Ok, Alice. I'm Lisa. Since your the oldest here I'm going to need you to take care of everyone here. Ok?" I ask her. She nods in response.

I walk over to the window. Opening it I look down. Yeah, it'll be one nasty fall from here. Don't know if it'll kill you but surely break a lot of bones. This here is the back of the building.

"Lisa!!! " I suddenly hear Alex's voice. I turn around and he's in front of me.

"Theo. He's pouring gasoline all over the carpet. I can tell what he's planning but it's too risky and there's a lot of holes in it." He says as he rolls his eyes.

So he plans on setting the building on fire once we're out? Well...it may not be such a bad idea. This is definitely risky but if done right, it could work. The timing should be perfect.

I look out the window again. Throwing a rope from here...will it be ok? What if someone from the other floors sees it?

"There's something like a signboard holder next to this window. Bottom left. It'll direct the rope away from the other floor windows." Alex says.

He's right. There's a horizontal black signboard holder stuck on the wall. I reach out and touch it. Well, it feels firm at least.

The kids all stare at me as I take out the rope from the bag. It looks worn out but is also sturdy. Walking over to one of the beds, I tie one end tightly as I could onto the bedpost.

"What if we fall? " asks Alice.

"Well we don't have any other options kid," Alex says laughing nervously. Knowing she can't hear him.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright. You just have to trust me on this" I say as I walk over to the window. Throwing the rope over the signboard holder, I watch as it reaches just above the ground. Good. It's not too short and away from the other windows.

I look back at the kids and smile awkwardly.

"So...whos wants to go first? "