In
the dark and even with the night vision equipment, the walk to the bathroom
took longer to accomplish moving from the casino to the tucked away restrooms,
which were located a few hundred feet down the hall. The fear of strange
objects behind huge potted plants and trashcans presented an opportunity for
evil to pop up and appear at any moment. Fortunately, it didn’t rear its ugly
head, but its potential presence still scared the trio to the core.
“With
it being pitch black in there, I think we should all go in together and make
sure that nothing and nobody is stirring,” Linda hesitantly said.
“Not
even a mouse, Linda. I promise. When it’s all clear, we’ll excuse the man child,
and he will watch the hallway until you’re done, and when I say ‘will,’ I mean
WILL Joshua.”
“How
long do you expect to be in here?” Joshua asked.
“Why?
Are you scared to be in the hallway by yourself, Tough Guy?” Allison asked.
“I’ll
admit it. Yes, I am,” Joshua said. “The last time I was alone with him, he
threw a shelf full of glasses at me.”
“But
he missed on every toss,” Allison smiled. “You’ll be OK. I’ve got no feeling
right now. If he were here, I’d be goose bumps all over.”
“Not
long, Joshua. Two minutes tops,” Linda added.
“Can
you handle 120 seconds, Big Guy? You’ll hear a flush, water running, and
footsteps. Then you’ll see us. The sooner that we get started, the sooner that
we can get back into the light and the sounds of the casino so you can be
protected by a pair of girls. Are you going to be OK with just you and the infra-red
goggles and assault squirt rifle? Maybe you can pretend you’re Rambo.”
“Well,
when you put it like that, I’ll be fine. I hope,” Joshua mumbled as he
reluctantly smiled.
And
with that, the group walked in the bathroom. Once again, the lights weren’t
working. Not even the emergency footlights were, so they used the flashlights
to illuminate everything. Nothing moved or stirred, so the older woman covered
the main floor of the bathroom while her younger companion went into a stall.
Outside, the tapping of Joshua’s foot bounced along with him singing Band of
Horses’ “Is There a Ghost” very softly and tunelessly for a good thirty seconds
before Linda spoke.
“You
OK out there, Allison?”
“I
think so, but his foot tapping is getting a little off beat. I may not know a
lot of music, but I know and like that song.”
At
that, they both listened to his musical rendition, and then both his singing
and the tapping stopped.
“If
you don’t know any more lyrics, Joshua, I do,” Linda said.
The
request was greeted with more silence as the woman stood up in the stall. As
she did, Allison walked nervously to the front door to see what was or wasn’t
going on.
Suddenly,
as she went to push out on the door, a huge force slammed hard against the
barrier that had created privacy. Immediately, the older woman fell to the
floor. Where once the door provided privacy, now it represented an impediment
to not only understanding what was on the other side, but in reaching a clear
pathway to safety in the open hallway on the other side.
“Joshua!
Quit screwing around,” Allison screamed, but still she heard nothing in reply.
“If you’re screwing with me, I will kick your ass!”
Still
the women heard nothing from him. As she listened, she realized that he was
immature, but this seemed out of place, even for him.
“Rotten
meat. I smell rotting meat,” Linda said.
“That’s
not good, Linda. What’s more, I’m getting that feeling and the goose bumps
again,” Allison said, realizing what was coming for them.
Jumping
out of the stall and running to the sink to grab her Atomic 2000 Squirt
Blaster, Linda stood by her companion’s side. She too held her gun up and aimed
at the door like she had seen Special Forces soldiers do it in the movies.
“Are you ready for
what’s out there?” Linda said, more for a break in the silence than an answer.
They both knew that they had to be.
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