Break Out

A bellow wakes me from my soundest slumber.

I hear a man’s rumbling voice thundered from the living room. “Where is she?!”

My eyes quickly open. My sleepy mood abruptly turns alarmed with the disturbance. I set myself to pure alert. It drives me anxious of what is happening outside my room. I was like a child hearing his parents fighting.

But I am sure, that growling voice is neither my father’s nor mother’s. Both of my them are gone for a trip, and they will return in three days.

I suspect intruders have entered in our house. I guess two in the afternoon is an unusual time for burglary. The sun’s still up, shining brightly in the sky. Surely, people will see burglars at this point of time.

I get up slowly from my bed. Stealthy enough to avoid making the squeaking sound of my cot. Just for safety, I search for a weapon to grab.

I let my eyes wander around the room to look for something that is stone-hard and long enough. I can’t see anything like that. But thank God, I remember the baseball bat I am keeping beneath my mattress. That will suffice, I hope. So, I fetch it and grip the metal bat with my both hands.

With the long, metallic bat on my hand, I walk toward the door. Cautiously waiting for the next to happen, I silently listen  for another sound to come from the living room. And I hear the same voice, but not grumbling this time.

“Someone from my faction informed me that Tris is here, and she’s alive,” the man said. The sound is like a whisper. But I can clearly perceive the resonance from his vocal cord with solidity and firmness like it’s just a normal voice quality.

“I don’t know your point. I just came here because the code directed me here,” another man said. A more mature than the other voice.

There are two of them, and I guess, they don’t know each other. It can be discerned it with their conversation. There is the sound of confusion on it.

They mention about something. If I am not mistaken, it’s about the name Tris  and an idea pertaining to a code.

But what they are talking about?

I have to get out now, and to know the situation out there.

I exhale heavily to gather the bravery within me. Then, I touch the knob to open the door.

Two men, a middle-aged and a man still in his teenage years, maybe seventeen or eighteen,  standing two meters apart stop when I emerge.

They both look at me with surprise the way people react when they see something unexpected.

“Identify yourself!” the teenager, wearing a black leather jacket and fading dark-blue jeans, ordered peremptorily. His stance tells that he is always ready to fight. Fists closed. Eyes are sharp like a falcon. His manner implies that he was likely trained in military.

I grip the bat  in my hand,  ready it  to swing anytime.

Ignoring the younger man’s command, “Who are you people?” I asked them.

The middle-aged man who wears a gray suit and pants like many corporate men dress on their workplace said he is Robert Langdon. I have the assumption that despite of his attire, he is not a businessman.

“I am a Professor from Harvard,” Langdon said. “ And I am in a mission to save the humanity.”

“Mission to save the humanity?” the teenager frowned.

Landon glanced at the younger man. “Yes. That’s why I am here because the code led me in this house.”

“Wait..wait...” I said. “Save from what?”

“From extinction. I am searching for the vial that contains a virus. A virus that will kill the population of the world.” the middle-aged answered, feeling worried.

“Uh-huh,” My only response. “How about you? Who are you and what brought you here?” I asked to the teenager.

The young handsome man cleared his throat. “I’m Tobias. Tobias Eaton  But on my faction, they call me Four.”

“Four? Like numbers? What happened to number Three then?” I joke.

The teenaged man looked deadly serious. “Did you know what happened to the person who asked me that before?” He glares like a dragon, piercingly scary.

“Um...It’s better to leave the answer alone. But why are you here?” I asked to change the subject.

“I learned from the other Dauntless that Tris is here, and she’s alive.”

“Tris? Who’s Tris?”

Before Four could answer the question, the room in my right opens. Casey, my younger sister appears then. She was holding a small glass tube. “Sam? Did you...?” she asked loudly then quickly stopped as she saw us. “...My books?”

“Tris!” Four said to Casey.

“The vial!”Langdon peering on the thing on Casey’s hands.

I see the shock on Casey’s widely open mouth.

I ask Four and Robert to wait for a second for me to explain to my younger sister everything is happening (though I do not understand it yet).

To talk  about this subject,  we go back to Casey’s room. I tell her everything. She then inform me about Four and Robert Langdon. She told me that they are fiction characters. We don’t know how that was happened.

In the midst of our confusion, we hear two thumping sounds from our living room. Then, we go back. But Four and Robert Langdon were nowhere to be seen. Casey’s missing books entitled “Inferno” and “Allegiant” are the only materials appeared on the exact spots where the two fictional protagonists were standing.

My younger sister and I look each other, and then, I shrug. We both fall into silence. There is a broken and sizzling sound coming from Casey’s room. The sound crackles the way how huge amount of electricity bombards. When it stops, another thumping noise follows like an object fall to the floor.

At snail’s pace and with a little fright, we walk toward Casey’s room. A frail creature emerged on the side of her bed. Its back is turned on us. We see the mold of its spinal column on his back which is covered with pinkish coarse skin. On his waist is a dirty rug that covers one-fourth of his lower part. When it faced us, wide eyes and sharp teeth were exposed.

And in raspy voice, it says, “My precious!”

K. L. Allen
2017 COPYRIGHT
All Rights Reserved