The Home, Part 5: Flash Fiction Friday Post

See Part 4 here.

[image error]Morgue__Table_by_anaisroberts in Deposit Photos

The Home, Part 5

At five till two, the staff that
was going to the meeting were already in the conference room. The security
guard had the door open while Ralph made a big scene getting broom, trashbags,
mop, and water-filled bucket through the door into the lobby. Mike was trailing
along with the buffer. Edna had a stack of buffer pads. I stood at the door
with a clipboard and pen. “Okay,” I said as I made check marks on the paper. I
smiled at the guard, who was glaring at the four of us. “That’s everything.
Thank you, Austin, for holding the door for us.”

Austin wasn’t happy, and he grunted
in what sounded like disgust. “Just get on with it,” he said. “We’re not
supposed to have the door open this long.”

“Of course. Just let them put the
stuff down. Shall I hold the door while you go with them?” I smiled sweetly,
doing my best not to let my excitement show. This was going to work!

He looked with alarm at the other
three, steadily marching toward the front door. “Yes. Yes.” He hurried across
the lobby. “Hey. Stop right there.”

I slipped out into the lobby and
let the door close behind me, holding it so it barely snicked as the lock
caught. I rushed across the floor. Ralph put the bucket down, dropped
everything but the broom and shoved the handle end of it right into Austin’s
chest.

Edna all but threw the buffer pads
to the side and Mike let go of the buffer. I really expected a horrendous
scream from Austin but he was making little mewing sounds instead, eyes wide in
shock. Mike and Edna ran for the front door. I grabbed Ralph by the arm. “Come
on.” He was standing, staring at Austin, hands still on the broom handle.
“Let’s go!”

He nodded, releasing the broom and
took two steps then went back.

“What are you doing?”

“Keys.” He dropped to his knees
beside Austin, still making those noises, and searched his pants pockets. Ralph
pulled car keys from the left pocket. “Got ‘em.” He rose and ran to the door
Mike was holding open.

I don’t know about the others, but
outside in the sun I was nearly blind. “This way,” Edna called. We followed her
to the parking lot. I had my hand over my eyes, looking through the spaces
between my fingers.

Ralph was holding the key fob out,
pressing the unlock button until we heard the car horn of a newer model
four-door sedan. To say we ran was an understatement. Ralph took the driver’s
seat. Edna was front passenger. Mike and I slid into the back seat. “Let’s go!”
Mike yelled.

That’s when a klaxon began to
sound. “Hurry!” I yelled. I looked out of the car windows. That noise was going
to bring the neighbors. But there weren’t any neighbors. There were no other
buildings within sight.

The car tires squealed as Ralph
floored the gas and pulled out of the parking space. Security was running out
of the building.

“They’re going to catch us!” Edna
yelled.

“Not if I can help it.” Ralph had
both hands on the wheel, white knuckled.

I slid back into the seat and put
on my seat belt. We were already going so fast I was scared to death. Mike saw
what I was doing and did the same. “Look out!”

One of the security guards was just
about at the parking lot. We just had to get past him and we’d be able to drive
down the driveway and out of here.

Edna covered her eyes. It looked
like we were going to hit the guard. I held my breath. At this speed, Ralph
might lose control of the car if we collided with the guard. We brushed by it,
it’s hand out. I could hear it thump against the rear window, right in front of
Mike’s face.

“Hoo!” Ralph yelled. “We made it!”

We were at the edge of the parking
lot, driving onto the access road. That’s when I saw the shimmer. “What’s
that?”

“What?” Ralph asked.

Then we hit it.

I woke up in the infirmary, sick to
my stomach and fuzzy-headed. Some noise was piercing my brain and I just wanted
it to stop.

It was coming from my right. I
turned my head to look. It was Ralph. A monitor beside him was screaming, a
bright green flat line running across the middle of it. A monster came to Ralph’s
bedside, made a note on an electronic pad, then turned the monitor off. He
pulled the sheet up over Ralph’s face. He noticed me watching, then left.

Ralph dead? How? Then I remembered
the car. We were out! What? I was trying to get my brain to function when Dr.
Jenkins appeared at my bed. “Laurie. How are you feeling?”

“What happened?”

“You and your friends tried to
escape.” He took a pad from the monster I saw cover Ralph. “You had your seat
belt on. That saved you.” Jenkins shook his head. “Your friend Edna died on
impact.” He stared into my eyes. “I know you planned this. Now two of your
friends are gone.”

“Mike?” I asked.

“He’s been transferred to another
facility.”

Sadness and grief came over me like
a mountain crashing down on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I could feel tears
leaking from the corners of my eyes and running down my face into my ears. They
were all gone?

“I’ve called for your son.”

A small bright spot of hope. “Stan
is coming?” It was so hard to focus. What kind of drugs had they given me?

“He’ll be here this evening.” With
that he handed the pad back to the other monster and left.

I drifted in and out of sleep. They
brought me a tray, but I couldn’t face the glop that they’d served. My stomach
rolled and I pushed it away. I fell back to sleep. I woke up to voices in the
hall. Was that Stan? I tried to focus on the conversation.

“What happened?”

“She led an escape.”

“Escape? How’d you let that
happen?”

That was Stan’s voice. What did he
mean by that?

“Your mother is very smart. It was
a long-term plan and she and her friends carried it off beautifully. The
training said humans were smart. They were right.”

“How is she now?”

Ah, that was my boy.

“She’s fine. She had a seat-belt
on. Right now we have her heavily sedated.”

“Can she talk?”

“Yes. I told her you were coming.”

“Fine. Let’s go in.

I tried to wake up more. Of course
they’d drugged me. Monsters. I just wanted to see my son. I tried to focus as
they entered the bay. There he was. He must have come straight from work. He
was still in his suit and tie.

“Stan?”

“Yes, Mother.”

I reached out for his hand. “Stan.
Get me out of here.”

“We can’t do that, Mother.”

I looked up at his face. Tears began to flow as I saw at his gray-green skin.

Thank you for reading The Home.

Share this:

Share this: