Them

After a few weeks of continuing to play dumb to the tune of Boris and Lauren’s snide remarks when none of the hospital staff were around to hear them, Janelle Stone made her final escape once she was strong enough to do so. It was terrifying, and she had moments when she didn’t think she would be able to pull it off. Her biggest fear was being shot. Luckily, cops weren’t too eager to be trigger-happy in a large, crowded hospital. She was on the fourth floor of the ten-story building. On her last night in the hospital, a nurse explained to her, as she laid out a simple pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt, and deck shoes, that she didn’t have to worry about a media storm because all she would have to do once she was dressed would be to head down the stairs at the end of the hall, which her room was right near, and out the back door. Again, Janelle Stone was a stupid idiot but even so, even she could tell that it was a test. They wanted to see if she would be brazen enough to run, confident that they could stop her. In reality, their little test was her ticket to freedom, and she was very happy to accept it. She did her best to stay awake as Lauren and another officer who sat in the room with her pretended to doze off—something Janelle figured was also part of the test. They probably assumed she wouldn’t dare try to escape with them awake and glaring at her as usual. Not knowing she was actually awake, Janelle listened intently to her surroundings. She could barely hear the very subtle movements of the officers as they sat in their chairs. The male officer was behind the curtain and by the door, but Lauren was right next to her against the back wall. The bathroom door was between the door and the back wall. Janelle slowly stirred and wasn’t surprised when everything around her went silent as the officers feigned sleep as soon as they heard her move. Janelle got up and headed for the bathroom, determined not to move any faster than usual. Her heart was pounding so fiercely in her chest she wondered if the officers could hear it. She emptied her bladder and quickly dressed and slipped into the shoes. Then she flung open the bathroom door and made a beeline for the door by which the male officer sat right by. Sure enough, and as expected, both he and Lauren suddenly sprang to life. She shoved the male officer backward, and he went down hard on his bum. With Lauren close on her heels, she pushed through the door and barreled down the stairs. “Stone, stop! Stop! You’re not getting away this time! There is a shitload of officers just outside the door!” Down and down they went, with Janelle fearing that Lauren might shoot her or clobber her over the head with her stick or mace her or tase her or something. But luckily, Lauren could never get close enough, and the awkward angles of the scissor stairs didn’t make things any easier. Continuing to ignore Lauren’s shouts, the door to the outside finally appeared, and Janelle wasted no time charging through it. She couldn’t afford to stop and survey her surroundings, especially since it was dark out and visibility was limited anyway. The “shitload” of cops turned out to be just one officer smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee. The area was otherwise relatively deserted, with parked ambulances and a few other vehicles. She assumed most of them belonged to the medical staff. Beyond that was a wooded area. The officer, smoking and drinking coffee, spun around in shock. Janelle easily toppled him over, along with his drink and cigarette, while Lauren continued to bark hopeless orders at her to stop. Janelle ran at a speed most people couldn’t reach or figure out how the hell the large woman could manage, other than by serious, rage-fueled adrenaline, straight into the woods. It started raining heavily a moment later, and Janelle was grateful for that much because she knew it would throw tracking dogs off her scent. She could hear Lauren rustling through the trees, and now other officers had joined her, but she wasn’t too worried with her impressive speed. She was a little worried that a helicopter search might spot her, and she knew they had devices that could pick out warm spots. A human body was certainly warmer than the trees in the forest. She ran until she eventually came up behind a row of houses. Unleashing her former gymnast, she managed to get onto the roof of one house in particular. This was where she used to hide and sleep in the past when she’d been on the run. Nestled closely against the chimney in her dark clothing, she knew she would be very hard to spot from above and would likely also be able to avoid heat detection that way. There she would remain for the rest of the night, determined to get as much sleep as she possibly could to face the day ahead and continue on her journey of escape. Escaping a building was one thing, but now she had to escape the country. And every single law enforcement officer in it would be looking for her. As always, it was them. They were the ones who made most of her adult life pure hell.