You Can't Hide - Part 2

     At this point Mr.Banes began to shake violently, as if he were trying to wake up from a terrible dream. Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere, his mind went to work. As I studied him closely I could see in his eyes, that his brilliant mind was devising a plan. His eyes flicked back and forth as the gears and levers of his brain, shifted and pulled themselves into order. The puzzle pieces flew together connecting, locking, and patching themselves into place, then revealing his shaky yet well thought plan. 

     Reassuring himself with a head nod, perhaps to his conscience, he steadily walked over to Jace and began examining his arm. Delicately he lifted it and studied the precise location the bullet had struck.

     “Your gonna be fine but we need to get you to a hospital as soon as possible. We need to get all of you out of here...”, he said shakily.

     “Listen, I’ve thought this through and the only way were gonna get out of here alive is if we escape...”, he said confidently. 

     “Ummm in case you haven’t noticed, theres a bunch of men with guns out there. If we “try to escape” they’ll kill us. I think I’d prefer to live for a few more hours than die right now.”, Anna said hastily.

     “Believe me the men out there are preparing to head around back in a few minutes, their going to enter the school from the other side. Thats when we’ll have the chance to make a run for it.”

     “But-“ Anna started.

     “You see that red Jeep out there in the parking lot? Thats my car. I’m going to send you out two at a time and I want you to run and hide behind it until I get there with the key.”

     “And how exactly are we supposed to get there? They’ve locked every door leading out of the building!” Jenny said histarically. 

     All of the sudden Mr.Banes head turned side ways, I followed his gaze...the window. Its white painted borders and blue curtains made it seem so harmless but its fifteen foot drop down to the ground was by no means “harmless”. Its true, Mr.Banes classroom was the only one that hadn’t had the new window installation. All the other classrooms had 3 inch thick, sealed glass windows. 

     “NO WAY.” Jenny said finally.

     Mr.Banes didn’t seem to be paying much attention to Jenny’s feelings at the moment. He intently stared out the window examining the men, one by one until his brain seemed satisfied.

     “Okay they’ve headed around back, this is our only chance to get out. Jace, Anna, come here. Now Jace I want you to go first. I know your arm is injured but do the best you can. When your feet hit the ground try to do a somersault to brace your impact but remember you’ve only got a small area of grass to roll on and then you’ll hit the cement sidewalk so try to stand up quickly.” Mr.Banes said hastily.

     “Got it.” Jace said reluctantly. Slowly he slipped his two feet over the side of the window sill, wincing as he brought his injured arm with him. Then without hesitation he slipped off the window sill and did a perfect somersault. He looked up expectantly. Anna sat on the window shaking nervously and then slipped off before she could change her mind. However she wasn’t so lucky. As she landed we heard a loud crack, something had definitely broken. Wincing in pain she stood up and wrapped an arm around Jace as they limped across the parking lot. Grant went next and eagerly scrambled on to the window sill, excited to prove his skills. Yes, Grant was currently a black belt in one of those karate/kung fu thingies. Slipping off the window sill he rolled into a somersault straight back into a standing position. And then went Jenny, she was shaking like a leaf and looked as frail and innocent as a young child. As several tears slipped down her face, she swung her leg over and slipped out the window. We didn’t hear a crack however I looked down to see what appeared to be a twisted ligament. Her ankle lifted high in the air, she limped toward the Jeep with her arm wrapped around Grant.

     “You ready Amy?” he asked concernedly.

     “Ya, ya sure...”, I said nervously.

Slowly I approached the window, lifting first the right then the left leg over the side. I should’t have but I looked down. A searing wave of fear overtook me as I examined the blades of grass soo far beneath me. Looking back I noticed Mr.Banes to have the most unpleasant look of impatience, so without thinking I closed my eyes and jumped.

     In mid air I felt the wind whip through my dyed black hair, and for a moment I was a bird. Flying swiftly over a maroon sunset, feeling the rush of warm summer wind through my hair, or in this case, feathers. And then suddenly the world jolted. Gravity kicked in and I went plummeting toward the earth. Just in time I pulled my feet under me and did a pathetic somersault. No it wasn’t perfect and my ankle felt a little twisted, but at least I could walk.

     I looked up to see a very relieved Mr.Banes smiling down at me. He was about to jump also when I saw him look back for a moment. I followed his longing gaze to the coffee cup on his desk, the one I had been examining earlier. For moment he seemed to regret his plan but he shook that thought away and slipped off the edge of the window. 

     Plummeting to the earth, he rolled into the most excellent somersault I’d ever seen. He then proceeded to roll straight back up to a standing position as if he jumped out a window every day for a living. 

     “Come on, lets go, we don’t have much time...”, he said hurriedly.

     Together we ran hastily across the parking lot, looking every direction for one of the black masked men. 

    When we reached the car after a few seconds, I knelt down quickly behind it. As I knelt Mr.Banes pulled out a small container, and removed a peculiar looking ridged key. He then continued to shove it in the lock, wiggling and shoving it around. I examined it closely and realized there was no way this was his car.

     “Your using a lock pick? Are you kidding me?! This isn’t even your car?!” I said angrily. 

     “This is our only chance!” he wailed back at me just as the pins aligned and the key clicked into place. 

     Mr.Banes shoved himself in side, hastily hitting the unlock button. All five of us practically ripped the doors off their hinges as we threw them open, piling into the jeep like frightened cattle. I shoved my self into the trunk since there wasn’t much room in the back. While doing so I caught a glimpse of something out the window. Several of the masked men stood down by the bottom end of the school, pointing curiously at the Jeep. 

     “Mr.Banes! LOOK! They’re back!!” I screamed violently. Quickly I saw his eyes flash towards the men, however this was all they needed. Catching a glimpse of Mr.Banes they began sprinting up the hill, attempting to load their machine guns at the same time. 

     Looking towards the front of the car Mr.Banes was wriggling the lock pin furiously, shoving it into the ammunition like a mad man. 

     “We’re all gonna die! WE’RE going to DIE!!!” Jenny screamed histarically at the top of her lungs, streams of saltwater flowing down her red puffy cheeks.

     Then suddenly something clicked, the car woke up from its long slumber and rewarded us with the sweet sound of a humming engine. In response Mr.Banes laid his foot on the gas as the car squealed in the opposite direction of our pursuers. 

     Looking back the men were still running towards us, except their machine guns were fully loaded. One man cocked his gun, aimed and shot directly through the back and front window, narrowly missing Mr.Banes’ head. Then they decided aim no longer mattered and shot round after round at our speeding car.

    We all screamed madly as they peppered the tailgate and windows with rounds of ammunition, until we were too far out of range. 

    In the madness of it all, Mr.Banes had shirked the paved road, and sped right up the side of a very steep, very muddy hill. However we made it up alive and were now driving hastily down the main road as if we were taking a routinely visit to the doctors.

    After a few moments of driving Mr.Banes pulled hastily to side of the road. “Is anyone hurt?” he said worriedly.

    “Yes, I’m afraid so.” Jace pointed to Anna who was clutching her bloody arm, weeping madly. Her curly brown hair was frazzled, and matted to her face from all the sweat. Yes, one of those stray bullets had pierced her right arm, I just didn’t know how. She must’ve not gotten down under the seat soon enough. 

    “Okay Jenny, I want you to call 911 and tell them where you are, I don’t have enough time to drive you to the hospital but I'm sure there will be an ambulance here soon.” he said hastily.

    “Wait what do you mean you can’t drive us to the hospital? Where are you going?” I asked slightly concerned.

    “I can’t just leave all those students and teachers in there. I have to get back inside and organize an evacuation, get as many people out as possible.” he said confidently as if he’d worked this out ahead of time.

    “And what makes you think thats even possible? Those men almost put a bullet through your head! I don’t think their going to let you waltz inside and be a big hero! Plus how will you even get inside? All the doors are locked!” I said madly.

    “Look I know what I’m doing...I...I...I know what those men want, what I mean is, the only chance those innocent people have is if I can strike a deal with their captors, I’m  the one they want so I’m the only one that can help...” he said guiltily. 

    “What? You know them? You knew this was going to happen?” I said appalled.

    “No I didn’t know this was going to happen! Listen Amy, I thought they'd never find me but they have...Any way its a long, classified story that is not worth getting into, the point is I have to go back.” he said finally.

    Grant, Anna, and Jenny grunted loudly as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

    “You know what the only problem with your plan is?” I said matter-of-factly.

    “No, what?” he said clearly amused that he could ever be wrong.

    “You don’t know a thing about our school. What I’m trying to say is, you have no idea how to navigate it. As far as we know you come in through the side door each morning, stay in your classroom all day, and leave through the side door. You’ve never been through the other parts of the school! How on earth do you think your going to organize a secret evacuation when you even don’t know which way to turn?” I said surprisingly loud.

    “Ya, you’ve got a point. But you must have a solution little miss Sherlock Holmes?’ he said amusingly.

    “I could come with you. I have lived, breathed, and worked every day of my life at that school! Kindergarten through 10th! I know it better than anyone! Every utility closet, every secret passage, and the name of every classroom around every corner! Face it you can’t do this without me.” I replied quickly.

    “NO. Your not coming.” he said finally as he turned to leave.

    I grabbed him by the shoulder, “WHY! Why not!?”

    “Because your parents would kill me if you died in there, its just not under my will power to allow you.” he replied slightly aggrivated.

    “You know my parents can’t really kill you if their dead. My mother is a teacher in there! My sister is part of the 5th grade class there also! And my dad came in for career day with my sister! Don’t you understand, their going to die if I can’t help you find them! Please let me come!” I said breathlessly.

    “Fine.” he said exasperateingly,”But when you find your parents in there I want you to evacuate with them, I’m sure I can find someone else to help me navigate.”

    “Deal.” I said smiling, although I wasn’t sure why I was smiling. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that would be one of my last moments as a sane person.

Author's Note

Continuation of part 1, tell me what you think

Reviews

[Rhea752]

YAAAAAYYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!! I loved it :) but you do realize your not finished yet right? I have to know what happens. when you write the next part can you send me a read request or a message or something :P thanks for a great story :D

[TheMadnessWithin]

thank u sooo much!:)