Jacqueline Druga - Protocol One

Immediately I was struck with fear. What happened? What was wrong? But I couldn’t let that consume me. A clear head was needed. Maybe everything was all right. Surely, if there was a take over there would be gun shots?

If I heard chickens in the middle of the night, I would hear shots.

Nothing.

It was eerily quiet, like the calm before the storm.

The suddenly, I heard the ‘bang’ of the second floor stairwell door. A sound I was used to because every time Duke walked through that door, he let it slam.

That was the sound I heard.

But it was more pronounced as if done loudly on purpose. It caused me to jump. It wasn’t a good sign, I knew it and felt it.

I spun to Joie and told her, “Hide.” Then grabbed the chair and ran to my door.

Everything Tony had said, felt and tried to convey, proved me wrong right there and then when the door blasted open and Lenny stood there.

I remember the clothes we gave him, the dark green button work shirt and dark pants, and he still wore the same clothes.

Had it been a movie, the cliché scenario would have him shut the door, pull out a gun and erupt into some deep speech on how he had returned, why he returned, and what he was going to do.

But it didn’t happen like that.

He blasted open that door, and stood with his arms to his side like a gorilla waiting to attack. He kicked back with his foot to slam the door and I got one call out on the radio, “Tony!”

That was it.

It happened so fast. He reached out for me, knocking the radio from my hand, grabbed my arm and yanked me to him.

I didn’t see a weapon, but did he really need one?

He pulled me into him and my chest hit his. He lifted me up by my arm and my shoulder ached as I fought to stand on tip toes.

He wasn’t getting the best of me. I struggled and fought, even though he was a much bigger man.

My left hand slammed into his gut, but it didn’t make a difference. He whipped out his other hand, slapped it against and over my face and spun me around.

His hand nearly suffocated me. It covered my mouth and the foul stench of his fingers crept up my nose.

He braced his arm around my waist pulling me against him, my back to his chest, and he whispered in my ear. “Easy now. Just gonna take you to the others.”

I shifted my body back and forth, left to right.

“Though I think you and I may have some fun before I cut your fucking head…”

His words ended with a grunt, his hold released at the same time as he groaned out a quick cry of pain.

I fell immediately to the floor. He grabbed at my shirt in an attempt to hold on. As I hit the carpet, I saw the reason.

Without a doubt, she proved that she was her father’s daughter, even at five years old.

Joie stood there, looking in shock, her eyes wide. Protruding from Lenny’s thigh was the pair of scissors.

Joie’s scissors, the ones she used to make her collage.

“Run,” I ordered Joie. Without hesitation, I yanked the scissors from his leg while at the same time he snatched me from the floor and brought me back to him. I swung my hand upward and jammed the scissors directly into the center of his throat.

He released me and stumbled back, gurgling as he did. Before he could grab the scissors, I did. I was motivated by fear and rage fueled by something that caused me not to think, only to react. I pulled the scissors from his throat, and buried them into his neck again. Once more I retracted them and did so quickly. Lenny’s hands shot to his throat and blood poured over his fingers. He tipped forward, stammering and his eyes lifted. He fought to keep his balance, and as I made eye contact with him, I jammed the scissors into his ear.

That was the final blow.

Lenny’s hands dropped, his head cocked up and then Lenny fell face forward to the floor. He landed hard, making a crunching sound when he connected.

My head spun and I tried not to think about what I had just done. My shoulders shook as I fought to catch my breath. A pool of blood was forming under Lenny’s body, and I stepped back lifting Joie.

“Oh my God, thank you.” I kissed her. “Thank you.” I kissed her again.

Her frail arms wrapped around my neck.

My first inkling was to run, race from the room and get help, but I didn’t. Reality kicked in. What if there were more right outside the door? What if there wasn’t any help?

I had to think.

While I did, I cradled Joie’s head into me. “Don’t look at him.”

“Why?”

“Just… just don’t look.”

“Is he dead?”

“Yeah.”

What to do? Then I spotted the radio and grabbed it.

I depressed the button to call out and stopped. I called once for Tony, he didn’t come. I didn’t need to be a GSS person to know something was terribly wrong.

On my dresser, connected to my tablet were ear pieces I used to listen to Jackson’s music at night. I put the end into the radio, the other piece in my ear, and knowing that Peter was secure in the Switch room, I tuned the radio to our private chat channel.

“Peter,” I whispered. “Peter, please be there.”

“Oh my God, Anna. Where are you?”

“Peter, Joie and I are in my room. We’re fine. What’s going on?”

“Listen to me, Anna. How fast can you run?”

“Fast.”

“Get out of the room, run to the stairs, come directly up here. They’re on their way up from the fourth floor. You can beat them if you go now.”

“Who?”

“Run!”

I didn’t need to be told twice. With Joie in my arms, I stepped over Lenny’s body, cautiously opened the door and peeked out. When I saw no one in the hall, I did what Peter instructed and I ran. Radio in hand, child attached, I ran.

My heart raced like it had never done before when I heard the voices on the stairwell below me.

I could do it, I could make it. It was only one flight.

I heard the footsteps pick up pace on the metal steps as I raced to the top.

Peter must have been watching through the camera, because he opened the door as soon as I arrived, pulled me in and locked it.

I emerged into a cigarette smoke filled room. Nelly had one arm crossed over her stomach as she leaned on the counter, smoking her Pall Mall.

“Where are the kids?” I asked, setting down Joie, then looked at Peter. “What’s going on?”

Everything felt rushed, it was hard to breathe. I tried to take it all in. Before Nelly or Peter could answer, someone was banging on the switch room door.

Continuous banging.

The voices were muffled, but I could make out some of the words. They were definitely threatening to break down or shoot the door.

Peter threw off a strangely irritated energy, and walked to the counter that held all the controls. He leaned forward as he pressed a button.

I couldn’t see the monitor, Peter’s body was blocking it, but clearly he spoke to the person on the other side of the door.

“Hey, asshole. This is a safe room. You can’t blew up the door. It also has a fail safe moron, in case of infiltration. So go on, piss me off a little more, because all I really care about in this bunker is in this safe room with me. I’ll release the Sarin gas, kill off all you people and spend the rest of the apocalypse living happily ever after with a hot chick. Test my nerd ass on that one.”

He stared down, exhaled and stood up.

“Did they leave?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Peter replied.

“That was a really good lie.”

“That wasn’t a lie.”

“Which part?”

“The Sarin gas part.”

My eyes widened and I felt the puff of smoke seep under my nose. “Nelly, where are the kids?”

“Goddamn little bastards.”