Yassa looked at the size of the window, thinking even if he sucked it in, he wasn't going to make it through. Ellie and Kya might have a chance, or even Jon, but the rest of them weren't making the trip through this slim rectangular window. Yassa asked, “So, now that we know where we are going, how in the hell did everyone expect to get inside of this place?”
Joey said, “I thought you were like a thief. You don't know how to pick that lock?”
Yassa replied, “Why does everyone think I was a thief?”
Joey, who probably shouldn't have answered, started listing the reasons, “Well, you have long hair, no offense, you're not in a rock band so you probably didn't need long hair, you walk around dressed in really weird outfits, you hang out in tree stands hunting, it just seems like that thief kind of thing to you.”
“I think you just explained what a redneck is. I wasn't a thief. But I do come prepared,” Yassa smiled.
Yassa turned around, going through his pockets, not stopping, of course, until he found exactly what he had been looking for. Two grungy looking wrenches appeared out of nowhere, making everyone question what else he had hiding in his pocket besides the wrenches.
Jon asked, “Wow, those are some really nice wrenches, Yassa. Here I was thinking maybe you might be pulling out like something that could open the padlock. Preferably something quiet.”
Yassa didn't respond. He already knew what he needed to do. He placed the open end of each wrench on either side of the padlock's bolt that kept it secure and when he was ready, slowly and perfectly brought them together making everyone watch in awe as the heavy-duty padlock popped open.
Joey said, “He's not a thief, he's a magician. He's like Houdini and stuff.”
Yassa took the padlock off the chain, catching it, trying to be quiet about it as well. When he got everything off, he prayed the next door was unlocked and luckily for him and them it was. They entered slowly, looking around, shining flashlights hoping that they were alone.
When Ellie's light illuminated the far end of the halls, she felt like her throat had closed up on her. She stared, not blinking or moving, but trying to anticipate what the next best move would be. She could only think of it like taking a picture with the flash on when there is an animal around and how its eyes would glow as if it was some sort of monster. Always forgetting that it was just the way that God had created them.
Yassa whispered, “I think maybe we need to try a different door.”
“What are we going to do with this door to keep those there? We can put the padlock back on it, right Yassa?” Joe asked
“Now the whole idea of doing that padlock Houdini trick as Joey put it is that you do it knowing you want to go in there. Now if you do it and decide that you don't want to go in there then that is a really horrible mistake which you've just made.”
“You aren't making me feel very much better,” Joe said.
“I wasn't trying to. Back out slowly everyone. Be quiet!”
No one could ever tell how long one of the Turned had been that way, with the exception of their clothes. Normal people would still try to change every so often. The Turned by now had clothes that were frayed around the edges or had torn through them well chasing prey, or like some of them she had seen were practically completely naked since they had walked through fire, uncaring and unknowing what would happen to them if they did. That was when they had learned that the Turned could heal, oh, it was not a day that the Orphan Brigade had marked down as a day of victory. It seemed like each time there was an obstacle presented to them they were able to overcome, the Turned just found some new ways to be the biggest pain in the ass as well as that much more terrifying.
When Joey pushed the door open, the clouds, which had made their trip overcast and without the sun, seemed to have moved on and were now nowhere to be found. The bright light seemed to illuminate the entire hall, and when the Turned saw the group of them, the horde of them raced, blood hungry and ready to kill.
Ellie had zero issues about firing on the Turned. The thing which she did have an issue with, a very large issue with, was the fact that these guns were not silenced. In all actuality, they were loud as fuck, and the very second she squeezed that trigger was going to be the moment that any of the Turned who did not know they were in that building would act like a dinner bell had gone off.
Everyone knew that this is what had to be done. When they started racing in her direction, she just kept her gun aimed on the very quickly moving ghostly eyes coming her way. Yassa and Joe also stepped up, the three of them firing off one after another, the clothes disappearing, thankfully, with each gentle calculated squeeze of the trigger. It felt like everything was in slow motion, even though the entire act had taken less than a few seconds.
When the shooting was over, nobody dared make a sound. They listened, trying to see if they were now truly alone. Their answer came quickly as whatever items were in the path of the Turned seemed to be being destroyed just as quickly as possible
