led me out of the chair. He brought the chair right below the window and climbed on to it. Then
Anthony was suddenly on his side, expertly climbing the chair too, but landing his feet only on
the empty spaces until he was standing on Drew’s shoulders.
I sprinted to the chair to hold it in place. When I looked up, Anthony was already tugging at the
gril s securing the window. It was now level with Anthony’s chin. How he would climb on to it
was yet to be discovered.
After a few more tugs, the grills finally gave in. The sound of the metal resounded in the room
and we all held our breaths. We heard a scuffle of sounds behind the door.
There were a series of clinks which logically were locks on the other side of the door. When the
doorknob turned, all I could do was close my eyes and brace myself.
“Hey moron! Lunch!” a gruff voice said from behind the door. The room was eerily silent that
even from behind the doors, I could make out the voices.
The few seconds that followed seemed like an eternity for the three of us. The knob turned but
the sound of the clinks told us that whoever was behind it locked it again. Lunch
was that amazing.
When I glanced up again, Anthony was already facing down on us, clearly succeeding in his
climb. Drew was now looking at me, extending his hand.
“Next,” he said.
My eyes were as big as saucers as I tried to digest his word. Me? Next?
Suddenly he was tugging at my hand which was holding on to the chair. I didn’t real y have the
time to debate with him so I just let him drag me up the chair which was surprisingly able to hold
us both. Unlike Anthony, I was a slow climber. I just didn’t know where to place my feet.
Drew was now holding both of my hands, and he was bent toward me so that I could climb up
his shoulders. Adrenaline swallowed my fear of heights. I did what he wanted me to do. As he
was straightening up, I saw that Anthony lowered the rope in front of me so that I had something
to hold on to as Drew stood up to his full height.
Good thing there were knots on the ropes because they turned out to be improvised footholds.
As I was climbing up, Anthony held the rope in place. Only one foot left and I’m good to go. I
saw that the outside window was another building and that its roof was directly next to the
window. It served as a floor once outside. Despite the situation, it was a bit funny that they
forgot to look into this little flaw in the kennel they placed us in.
As Anthony was lowering the ropes for Drew, I positioned myself behind him so I could help him
tug Drew up. Realization dawned on me. Drew was very heavy considering his height.
True to my thoughts, Anthony and I struggled to haul him up. Because of the effort, we heard
the chair from below topple over, causing the sound to echo through the room.
Drew struggled even more, as the sounds of the locks from behind the door grew even more
louder this time, clearly an indication that they were opening it, fast.
Holding on to the ropes as if it were our lives, I final y saw Drew’s hair through the window. A
few seconds later he hooked his elbows on the sill lifting his body.
The door from below swung open. “Hey!”
Anthony and I both pulled Drew through the window. I helped my uncle straighten up, and
Anthony covered the window with the grills. That won’t hold them for long, but it could stil stall for time.
We bolted to the far end of the roof, watching out for ladders or anything that could help us
down.
“Here!”
Drew motioned for us and I saw a dumpster below.
“Oh no! I’m not jumpi---,”
Before I could finish, Anthony was already mid-air and he landed with a thud on the black
garbage bags.
To my surprise, Drew pushed me over the roof. The scream died in my throat and I flailed my
arms as I reached the dumpster.
“You okay?”
I barely looked at Anthony when Drew’s landing made me topple over.
“There!” a gruff voice, undeniably the one who brought the lunch of the guards, shouted from my
far left. Several guys from inside were now dashing toward us. Drew was now tugging me
toward the opposite direction and to our luck, there was a car parked from what seemed like a
few feet from us.
Anthony opened the driver’s side and dodged the attack from the guy behind the wheel. In one
swipe, the driver was outside the car, which gave Anthony the chance to knock him
unconscious. Drew opened the passenger door for me and we scrambled inside.
“Hurry!” the gruff voice commanded and I saw three guys near us, guns drawn.
Without hesitation, Anthony geared the car toward them before they could even shoot. The car
was now facing toward the gate which wasn’t closed yet. I heard a loud bang from somewhere
near me and the guard by the gate collapsed. Instinctively, my hands covered my ears.
“Where’d you get that?!” I demanded from Drew, who was holding the gun. He nodded his head
toward the console just in front of us. There were a series of shots from behind us as Anthony
geared the car toward the gravel road.
“Duck!” he glowered from behind the wheel.
To our dismay, there were no turns which made us a plain target for the guys behind us. I felt
Drew move beside me, and he fired a few shots behind us, making me stoop lower in my seat.
When I glanced up, we were now nearing the main road. Anthony took a sharp left which sent
me awkwardly toppling over. Drew fired one more and he settled beside me.
“I stil have the touch,” he said proudly, clearly panting.
“But you’re out of bul ets,” I prodded.
He shook his head, smiling. He reached forward, got another gun I didn’t notice was right there,
pocketing the bul ets beside it. “They were thoughtful
