Exit and Escape

If you were someone who didn't know why things happen then why do you want to live? Some things are best unknown but for Charles, that's just another story that he wishes he did know. If someone wanted to know why things happen then just wait...the time may come...

*****

"So what are you gonna do today?" asked Charles' friend, Steve. Charles just shakes his head and shrugs in response to Steve's question, "I dunno..." he finally says. The two keep walking down the sidewalk they were on as the buildings above them tower over. The streets are pretty clean and people are always busy no matter what time of the year it is.

Cars whiz by and shouts are heard from the other end of the street. Charles just looks at the ground as he keeps walking with his short shaved beard and side-burns connected to it, stay as still as ever in the wind. His short curly hair is much like anyone else's also.

"I wish I had something to eat...," grumbled Steve. Charles just looks at him and raises an eyebrow, "You ate 10 minutes ago!" he exclaimed. Steve just shrugged and looked around for a cafe or something but no such luck. Charles snickers and straightens out his long brown coat then dusts off his blue jeans.

Steve looks at him and pats him on the back, "You know...," he began, "we need to find a place that can give us tons of money so we won't be hungry all the time." Charles blinks and looks back at him, "You mean so YOU won't be hungry all the time," he replied. With a plain look, Steve shrugged and they continued their walk.

Charles stops at the corner of the street and waits as the cars drive by like mad and Steve stands behind him. "Damn...this sucks...," said Charles, "We'll never get through this traffic!" Steve nodded and sighed as he sat down on the bench nearby. Soon after Charles joined him.

*****

Charles sat down in his big comfy armchair and sighed as he grabs the remote near his chair and turns on the TV. Steve comes in just at that moment, sweating, shaking, and breathing as fast as possible.

"What's wrong!?" yelled Charles. Steve didn't answer. "What's the matter, buddy!?!?" Charles asked with a very worried look on his face. Quickly he got up and grabbed Steve then pushed him into the bathroom. "Take a cold shower to cool off, man...," exclaimed Charles now feeling his heart beat 90 miles a minute from being so worried.

Slowly he sat down and heard the water running from the bathroom then took a few breaths to calm his nerves. He then starts flipping through the channels slowly watching what's on each one before turning it again then suddenly stops on the news.

"Today, a mad man by the name of Steve S. Darter, had escaped the county asylum and was last seen heading on foot to-," Charles quickly turns the channel. "That couldn't be him...," he thought to himself while looking back at the bathroom door.

Charles shakes his head and leans back in the chair continuing to flip through channels as he yawns and keeps the channel set on MTV. Soon Steve come out of the bathroom and finds Charles sound asleep in the chair with the remote still in his hand.

*****

"DAMMIT!!!" Charles shouted enraged at the teller at the bank. "YOU MEAN I DON'T HAVE JACK SHIT IN MY ACCOUNT!?!?!?" he said, raising his voice. The teller takes a deep breath and nods as she winces ready for another yell from him. Charles, about to yell again, stops and looks at her then sighs and puts his hands up, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean scare ya...," he apologized.

He turns around and starts heading for the door then looks back at the teller nodding to him and heads out. He looks around and fiddles around with his keys in his pocket. "Damn...who the hell used up my money when they don't even know my account...not even Steve," he began thinking to himself while walking home.

As he sighs and starts to head home he blinks at the sight of a black car swerving in the street and not stopping. He stands there petrified and notices the car is heading for him. He looks around him quickly then jumps out of the way as the car runs by him and off into the distance as police cars head down after it.

"God damn...that was close...," he said to himself and got up, dusting himself off a bit. He holds his chest and breaths in and out from way too much of a close call then starts heading back home.

*****

As Charles lays there in his bed he sighs and looks up at the ceiling beginning to think of what all has happened to him in just this one week. He rolls over on his side and closes his eyes hoping that Steve asleep in his bed then slowly starts to drift off to sleep.

A loud crash is heard and Charles opens his eyes as he looks around wondering what it was then stands up and runs to the door knowing it came from Steve's room. He slowly opens the door and looks through the crack of it as he sees two men dressed in white uniforms carrying Steve by his arms and legs as he lies there helplessly.

Quickly, Charles pulls the door open fully as it bangs against the wall. "STOP IT!!!" he yelled at the men and glances around trying got find a nearby object to fight with. He grabs a thick dictionary and slowly steps forward with attention of both men now.

The one man holding Steve by the legs drops him and reaches to his belt and unholsters a gun then aims it straight at Charles but doesn't pull the trigger. Charles stands there, stunned and drops the dictionary as it makes a loud thud. The other man nods to the one with the unholstered gun and Charles blinks as the sound of a silenced pistol is fired and he starts falling to the ground seeing the surroundings blur and fade out...

*****

Slowly, the surroundings of Charles fades back in and squints his eyes as bright lights are shown above him and tries to cover his eyes with his arm but can't then notices he's strapped to a table and begins to panic. He starts kicking his feet and everything trying to get free but no such luck.

A loud metal thud is heard as a man in a white uniform, just like the ones he saw before he went out. The man walks over to a table full of doctor's utensils then picks up some rubber gloves and puts them on as he grabs a scalpel and looks to Charles sternly.

"Well?" he asked in a deep voice while tapping the scalpel in his palm. Charles raises an eyebrow at the question and replies, "Well, what?" The man gets a very aggravated look on his face and slashes the scalpel across Charles' right arm, drawing blood and letting it spill among the pearly white floor from the gash.

A yelp of pain escapes from Charles' mouth and looks to the man with a very concerned face. "Don't play games with me!" the man yelled, almost spitting on Charles' face. Charles looks around him quickly and shakes his head, "I don't know what you're talking about!!!" he yelled back then winced as another strike was taken to his arm almost in the same spot.

The man looks at Charles for a long period of time and sighs, now frustrated with him and unshackles his legs and arms. Charles holds his bleeding, right arm immediately. He glances around as the man grabs him by the shoulder and opens a metal sliding door with the push of a button on the panel near it.

As the man and Charles walk down a white hallway, the lights give off low hums as they walk under each one and hallways galore before the both of them. Before Charles had a chance to examine the whole surroundings he was shoved into a white room with nothing inside but a light and white pads on the walls.

He sighs and the gray metal door is shut behind him as he sits down hear the padding and holds his arm tightly wishing he had his jacket right now, shivering some. "Why is this happening to me?" he began asking himself while hugging his arm against his chest trying to stop it from hurting so much.

"What did they want? Where am I? How did I get here?" he started asking himself randomly and pulling his knees up to his chest now that his arm was a bit better. He began thinking about Steve and sighed hoping that he's not gone. "What do they want with me...?" he mumbled to himself. A slow but warm tear rolls down his right cheek and drips on his pants then wipes the trail it left, away.

Slowly he stood up and looked through the small view site on his door seeing nothing but pure white hallways and occasionally men in the white uniforms. He turned around and let his back slide down the door until he was sitting at the bottom of it. "I hope Steve's all right...," he said to himself and closed his eyes.

*****

A loud thud is heard and Charles' eyes shoot open. "I must've been asleep," he told himself and got up looking through the view window. He blinked and stared, not believing what he saw. It was Steve, in a white uniform! Charles was about to call to him but stopped. "Will he remember me? They may have erased his memory...," he began thinking silently and decided not to bother him with a deep sigh and walked to the other end of his cell.

As he stood there, up against the wall, he heard another loud thud then quickly rushed to his door to see what it was. Steve was being pushed onward by two men in white. "So they didn't erase his memory!" he said out loud but quiet enough for no one to hear.

Steve was still in the process of taking orders as one of them, sadly. Charles quickly jumped back and ran forward, slamming his left shoulder into the metal door with a loud slam. The two men grab Steve and head for Charles' cell quickly. Charles blinks and ducks then hides up against the bottom of the door so they won't see him.

Sure enough, Charles' plan did work and they opened the door. As soon as he heard the door open he leaped out, tackling on e of the men then leaping onto the other, strangling him madly until he heard a satisfying snap of the neck. Slowly and out of breath, Charles stood up and looked to Steve.

"Don't you remember me?" he asked Steve. Steve just stands there and nods slowly as he takes off the white cap and drops it to the floor. "Yes...I do Charles...," he calmly replied. Filled with joy of finding his friend, Charles makes a dash towards Steve but stops at the sound of a gunshot.

Steve stands there in the same position but with a small blood splotch on the chest of his uniform. Charles starts breathing deeply as Steve falls to his knees and collapses over on his face. A man with his pistol unholstered and smoking stands behind the fallen Steve and smirks to Charles.

Charles shakes his head and tries to say something but fails from the loss of his friend is too much for him. The man puts the pistol up and looks to Charles sternly, "You gonna talk now?" he asked, "We need to know...tell us!" Charles finally gets his chance to speak and does so, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!!" he screamed at him then makes a run off down the hallways.

The light pats of Charles' bare feet are heard down the hallways. He slows to a stop and pants very fast trying to catch his breath and reaches into his pocket then blinks. He fiddles around trying to find his keys and starts searching all of his pants. "They took everything but my life and clothes...," he said to himself as the panting slows.

An echoing clack of shoes are heard as Charles looks around and sees a man walking around a corner and he quickly darts off just before the man can see him. "How do I get out of here!?" he asked himself madly.

Charles feels his muscles aching and slows down to a stop then leans against the wall next to a door. He looks through the view window and sees tons of cargo but not a place from where it came from. He slams his wrist against the panel like mad until the door finally opens and steps inside quickly, almost tripping over the metal stairs leading down into the gray, almost black storage room.

A guy lifts up form behind a huge black box with a clipboard and a pen but something's different about him. Charles blinks and realizes he's wearing normal clothes, some blue jeans, a blue shirt, and a red cap. Excited to find someone not in white, Charles calls out, "HEY!!! You got any money or know the way out of this place!?"

The guy looks up and widens his eyes. He reaches around his belt and pulls out a small blackish green ball then pulls out a pin and throws it towards Charles as it lands near the bottom of the stairs and spins around slightly. "Guess not...," said Charles with a sigh and lowers his head.

Charles quickly starts to turn around and run back up but is too late as the grenade explodes into a fury of chaos, sending Charles back out into the hallway and sliding along the white tile floor while the storage room is smoking from the intense heat. The door is jammed and the stairs are gone leaving a big black streak on the floor and around the door.

Slowly and very exhaustedly, Charles stands up holding his rib cage with his left arm now bleeding in the chest form some shrapnel that hit him but doesn't seem to notice the shard that scraped his cheek causing a big gash as blood spills out of him refusively.

He staggers off down the hallway leaving a thick pool of crimson red blood on the floor where he fell and droplets leading all the way to him. He breathes heavily and very hard trying to stay conscious now looking ahead and behind him at all times. He then starts to run again chanting to himself, "I don't know! I don't know!" repeatedly.

He stops suddenly and lets out a small sigh as he sees a man standing right in front of him with his gun unholstered and a trail of blood under him that looks like the person has lapped this place a few times. He looks back up to the man and smiles weakly then hears a gunshot as he jolts back some and says, "I still don't know...," as he falls to the ground with a pool of blood forming underneath him slowly. The man reaches down and feels his pulse then chuckles and holsters his gun as he walks off leaving the body to lay there for someone else to clean up.