screamed in the background as another shot was fired off. Alice tried not to cry and covered her mouth with her left hand again.
“Ma’am?” The operator asked concerned, “Are you somewhere safe?”
“I’m hiding under my desk.” Alice wept softly.
“Can you get out?”
Alice glanced over at the doorway. If she kept to the cubicle walls and stayed low she could sneak to the door… if she moved fast. She just hoped to God that the gunman wouldn’t see her.
“I think so.” Alice whispered.
“Ma’am, Police are on their way to your location. I need you to either get out of the building or get somewhere safe and barricade yourself until help arrives.”
Alice nodded with tears flowing down her cheeks. She couldn’t get any words out – they simply died in her throat and she found it hard to concentrate knowing there is a psycho only a few feet away.
“Ma’am?” The operator asked.
“Yes.” Alice whispered, “Thank you.”
Alice disconnected the call and shoved the phone into her left bra cup; taking a moment to try and calm herself down. She took a few deep breaths and tried not to breathe too loudly. This was it… She had to leave the safety of the desk and get out of harm’s way, but could she do it? Would she make it? Would the gunman see her? What if he saw her? Will he shoot her like the rest or would he let her go? Of course he’d shoot her! But if he found her cowering beneath her desk he’d shoot her as well just for the fun of it.
She cautiously crawled out from underneath her desk and inched closer to the edge of her cubicle, stuck her head out and glanced up and down the aisle of cubicles. There were three people lying in their own blood to her left and one to her right, but there was no sign of the gunman.
Alice stared down at the bloody corpse that lay in front of her cubicle; the woman had an expression of sheer terror still frozen on her dead, blood-spattered face that made Alice tremble with fear at the thought of her own mortality. If the gunman saw her she’d end up the same way. She probably wouldn’t even get a chance to scream for mercy.
She carefully crawled over the woman’s body and snuck in the direction of the doorway. She had to tread lightly as to not draw attention to herself and tried her best to retain herself. Her eyes were filled with tears and she could hardly see in front of her, but she could make out the three bodies lying further down the aisle.
The sound of footsteps approaching made her froze with fear – the gunman was heading her way. Her cubicle was too far back to turn around and the door way just out of reach. Her heart was beating as if it wanted to break out of her chest and made it hard for her to concentrate. What should she do? Should she risk going back or risk running for the door? No. She had to stay put. It was the only way he wouldn’t notice her. She had to blend in with her surroundings. It was the only way.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and scurried closer to the three corpses and immersed her hand in the blood – it was still warm; reminiscent of a life taken away suddenly without merit. She was disgusted at the thought, but she smeared the blood in her hair, on her face and over her blouse as she tried not to cry.
The footsteps were getting closer and were almost on top of her… she had to move fast. The ominous sound of approaching doom made Alice hold her breath and stare at the corner cubicle further down; dreading that death might appear and spot her. She shoved one of the corpses aside and lay down amongst the other corpses; making sure her head lay in a pool of blood and as she closed her eyes, the shooter came round the corner cubicle.
‘Stay calm,’ Alice told herself, ‘Do not move. Do not breathe and most of all, for the love of God, stop trembling! He’ll see you are still alive and kill you right here!’
Alice calmed herself by shutting out any thoughts from entering her head and her body stopped trembling. She kept her breathing as shallow as she could and opened her blood-submerged eye just a crack – hoping to see who it was. She could hear the footsteps getting closer and the sound of oxygen in the blood bubbling in her ear and as the shooter approached, she closed her submerged eye – trying to ignore the sting of the blood.
The clown masked shooter held the shotgun with both hands as he strode down the aisle of cubicles towards Alice. The second floor was quiet. He had taken out every last one that hid beneath their desks praying to God to save them. There was no God coming to their aid. They all had to die. The dark angel told him so. He was given instructions to send every demon in the building back to the fiery hell they came from. They were posing as innocent humans, but he knew the truth.
He stared down at the four bloody corpses in front of him with his dark and vacant eyes before stepping over the first corpse and in the pool of blood next to Alice’s head, but she didn’t even twitch. He took another step and stepped on Alice’s right hand and though she was screaming on the inside she didn’t move or make a sound.
The clown lifted his foot off her hand and continued walking down the aisle as she lay motionless. Her hand was in so much pain she was sure it was broken, but she didn’t dare move. She listened to the footsteps as they disappeared into the distance and when she was sure it was safe, she opened her eyes.
Where there is smoke there is a clown
Eric stood in the stationary room holding his ear up to the shut door – he was certain he heard anarchy outside; something was happening outside. He just wasn’t sure what. Matt stood a few feet away from him with his arms folded across his chest and a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t tell me to shush.” Matt insisted.
“I thought I heard something.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure.” Eric said and took a step back, “Might be nothing.”
Eric stared at the shut door in front of him not sure whether he should step out and investigate or stay put.
“I didn’t hear anything.” Matt said.
“Of course you didn’t.”
Eric turned to him and could see Matt wasn’t really concerned with what he heard or didn’t hear.
“What stationary did you request?” Eric asked.
“Two ledger books and a new stapler.”
A loud thud made both of them jump and turn to face the door and the two of them stood in silence; staring at the door – both wondering what happened on the other side.
“There it is again.” Eric said.
“I definitely heard it this time.”
Eric cautiously approached the door and reached for the doorknob. He knew it was an absurd thing to do, but he had to investigate. What if someone was injured and needed help?
“Don’t.” Matt said.
“Why not?”
“What if it was a bomb or something?”
“A bomb?” Eric asked annoyed, “That’s ridiculous. If it were a bomb, we would hear people screaming. Do you hear screams?”
A couple of screams echoed on the other side of the door and then there was another loud bang that made Eric jump back with a jerk. Was Matt right? The bang was loud enough to be a bomb, but it was over too quickly to be a bomb.
“What the hell was that?” Matt asked growing concerned.
“Definitely not a bomb.”
There was another loud bang which sounded farther away this time and Eric stepped closer to the door again, placed his ear up against the door and listened.
“Eric…” Matt whispered.
“Hush.”
Eric listened closely and tried to figure out what was happening on the other side of the closed door, but he couldn’t hear much. It sounded quiet outside. Whatever happened seemed to be over until a sudden scream was silenced by another bang. It was definitely not a bomb, but something macabre was definitely happening on the other side of the door.
When Eric realized what was happening he took a step back and stared at the door with wide eyes before turning to Matt who seemed clueless as to what was happening, but was also clearly stressed.
“What is it?” Matt asked wo
rried.
“I think someone is out there shooting people.”
The words tasted like poison in his mouth and never in his life did he ever think he’d have to utter those words. It felt like a surreal dream as he stood there in a dazed state; wondering what on earth was happening on the other side. What kind of madness led to an office shooting?
“What?” Matt gasped with a tremble in his voice.
Beyond the safety of the door another scream was silenced by a gunshot and Matt stared at the door; wondering whether they were safe. He wasn’t ready to die just yet and felt like a scared little kid.
“Do you think we’re safe in here?” Matt whispered.
“I don’t know. The only way to know is to go and assess the situation.”
“Are you insane?” Matt insisted in a hushed voice, “What if you get shot out there?”
“And what if this person steps through this door? Either way we’re in serious trouble.”
“How can you be so calm?”
He could see Matt was on the brink of crying, but his pride was preventing even a single tear from escaping his eyes. If he cried, Matt wouldn’t seem masculine anymore and he had to protect his reputation at any cost, but Eric saw right through his act to see the scared little boy inside.
“I’m scared shitless.” Eric said, “But we have to stay level-headed. We don’t know what we are dealing with.”
Eric reached out and took a firm grip of the door knob, but Matt lay his hand on top of his.
“Eric,” Matt pleaded, “Please. Don’t go out there.”
Eric stared at Matt a moment and wasn’t impressed with the man he saw; Matt was so confident in his sexuality, but when it really mattered he had no confidence. Eric turned the knob and slowly pushed open the door.
The hallway outside the stationary room was twilit and murky and he saw nobody out in the hallway nor any signs of what might be going on. He cautiously stepped out into the hallway while Matt waited for him in the doorway like the coward he was.
Eric walked down the hallway towards the open-plan office space further down and as he passed the stairway to his left he saw a shadow moving up the stairs. He stood still not knowing what to expect, but was relieved to see Alice emerging from the shadows of the stairway.
“Eric?” Alice whispered.
“Alice? What’s going on?”
Alice hurried up the stairs and shoved Eric up against the wall and out of sight from the open-plan office space. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t spotted and it was only when Eric felt his shirt was wet when he realized Alice was covered in blood.
“You’re bleeding.” Eric said.
“It’s not my blood.”
“What?”
“It’s not my blood.”
“What happened?”
“Keep your voice down.” Alice whispered “He’ll hear you.”
Alice kept glancing around at the dark that surrounded them and looked like she expected the devil to jump out at them at any moment.
“Who?”
“The clown with the shotgun.” Alice murmured, “There’s a man with a clown mask and a shotgun going around shooting people.”
Alice tried not to cry as she wiped the blood and tears from her face. She was a mess and longed to go home to her mother and just cry the rest of the day in her warm embrace.
“Everyone on the second floor is dead.” Alice whispered.
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It made no sense. It felt too surreal, but he could tell that she was telling the truth. They had to get out of the building before it was too late.
“We have to get out of here.” Eric whispered.
Somewhere someone screamed and then they were silenced when the shotgun fired off a shot.
“I tried.” Alice said, “He barricaded the stairway between the second and first floors and set a fire on a halfway landing. We can’t get out that way.”
“Shit.” Eric said annoyed, “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know. I called the police a while back, but I don’t