Jesse was almost out of offices to try when suddenly, one of them opened. He breathed a huge – but quiet – sigh of relief as he ducked in and locked the door from the inside. That would give him a few minutes to find a better hiding place; whatever was going on, he didn’t assume he was safe even here, with the fragile cubicle-style walls all that separated him from whatever was out there.
The rumbling was of people stampeding, but also something else, something that sounded inhuman. Scary. Jesse looked around the office to take stock of what his options were. The walls were up to the ceiling in height, but made of the same material as the cubicles outside, so not much cover or protection. There was a solid wooden desk in the middle, with an office chair behind. A few filing cabinets and shelves lined the walls but nothing looked like it would give cover. However, he was near the outside wall of the building. Perhaps that would provide more support in the ceiling. Worth a try.
A sudden sharp scream echoed from somewhere in the distance. Then, suddenly, deafening silence. It was as if everyone in the building had finally realized what he was now sure of – something was hunting them. He had to survive. A faint but frantic rustling sounded amongst the cubicles beyond his office safespace, as a few others seemed to be trying to find somewhere to hide on this floor.
Moving the desk over toward the outside wall as quietly as possible, Jesse climbed up and moved a ceiling tile aside to see what the chances were. Just a little beyond his reach, he could actually see what he had hoped to find – a support beam. If he could get over to it, he would be able to hide on top of it. Pushing aside the small fears of spiders or other things up in the darkness, adrenaline provided him a boost as he replaced the tile, moved the desk over a bit more, and removed one closer to the beam.
He was about to climb up when he realized that the placement of the desk was suspicious and would probably give him away. He didn’t know how intelligent this hunter thing was but he wanted to take no chances. But how to get up into the ceiling then?
A pair of screams in quick succession this time, and some yelling. It still sounded far away so he had a minute to think, but he didn’t want to take long. It was getting harder to think under this pressure though, to be sure.
The filing cabinet might work. Probably heavy – and yes, it was – but moving it over to one end of the desk a bit, and angling things so that the dented spots in the carpet wouldn’t show from the door…. A little finagling and it was done, as quickly and quietly as possible.
A scream sounded closer, and there was a bloodcurdling inhuman roar. That put the wind in his sails, and Jesse was up on the desk almost before he realized it. Moving the roof tile aside, there was the beam…. He climbed up on the filing cabinet and into the hole. He made it onto the beam and carefully replaced the roof tile, almost dropping it for one heart stopping second. But then he was…. Safe? It was time to wait and see.
–To Be Continued!
