Nathan hummed as he typed on his computer. He worked a decent job in an office complex, which was 20 stories tall. His coworker, David, has left to go get coffee. The fluorescent lights flickered above him as the ambience of keyboard clacking filled the room. Standing up and pushing his chair behind, he yawned, stretching his arms wide. Suddenly, a sharp rain jutted across his stomach as a figure slammed him onto the desk.
Nathan looked back. It was a shadowy figure, wearing normal office attire, jeans, and a checkered shirt. The most notable part about him was a black cloth over his head.
Nathan’s vision blurred, and he kicked the figure back, causing them to trip and stumble into the wall.
He’d fought before. He could easily defeat this person. Going into a fighting stance, the figure stopped.
“ Scared? Come fight me-”
A bang rang across the building.
Nathan’s limp corpse fell onto the blood, a hole in his chest, oozing out dark red blood. The figure closed the lights and slowly walked towards the breakroom.
Eight office workers were gathered on the first floor. They were amongst the other 20 office workers who were confused. Outside, the door was bolted shut. The windows were unbreakable. The building was dark, and you could only hear the hushes and whispers spreading amongst the group of eight.
What had happened? Why was it so dark? Why couldn’t they leave?
So many questions.
One of them, David, had just returned from the breakroom on the third floor. He had tried dialing 911, but nothing worked. His phone was stuck in a black screen.
“Everyone.”
The group looked at David.
“I remember there being an exit to another building. It's on the 10th floor.”
“We’ll have to climb the stairs though, since there's a power outage.”
David walked towards the stairs, and everyone followed him. It was a while until they got to the 5th floor, since the stairs were infamous for being tall and unclimbable.
Suddenly, a bang rang out. A window shattered, and David stopped.
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Everyone was silent.
Slowly, the group walked out, and to their horror, a body was falling from the side of the building.
Then a man wearing a black bag over his head emerged from the stairs, holding a gun and a fire axe.
“ DUCK-”
David yelled as the stairs were illuminated with gunfire and pale smoke. Everyone screamed as they ran down, up, left, right. David looked at the man, who was cutting down everyone in his path. Fumbling through his coat, his hand landed on his gun, for he was in America, the land of the free. Raising the gun to the man’s head, his palms sweat as his finger shook, touching the cold metal of the trigger. His breathing escalated, and the figure stared at him.
He was about to pull the trigger, but the man dashed at him with the axe, missing by a few inches. David collapsed onto the rugged floor, and quickly stood up, gun in one hand. He stumbled as he ran, hearing the loud footsteps behind him.
David quickly turned around and pulled the trigger, the gun shaking wildly. His ears rang as the lights blinded him. Then the gun clicked. He’d ran out of ammo, and the man was nowhere to be seen.
David froze for a second. He saw the shoe of the man behind the corner. Frantically reaching into his coat, he found another magazine. He loaded it into his gun, and slowly walked towards the figure. Suddenly, David violently jerked his shoulder, and clicked the trigger, but to his surprise, it was an empty shoe. An arm wrapped around his neck, and he could hear the figure struggling to hold him. His neck tightened and he gasped for air, kicking the figure, and slowly blacking out.
He gathered the last bit of strength, and jabbed the man. The man stumbled and David fell onto the floor, slowly climbing up and leaning against a wall.
David realized his gun was on the floor. Slowly bending over, he picked it up, and hid it behind his back.
The man went into a fighting pose.
“ Scared? Come fight me-”
David smirked. He pulled out his gun, and pulled the trigger, as the bang rang across the building.
Then he blacked out.
David woke up on a hard, wood bed with barely any mattress. Standing up, he looked outside, and was surprised to see iron bars. In the cell next to him, a man groaned, and slowly stood up.
David was interrupted by a police officer walking up to his cell.
“Why am I here?”
The police officer shrugged.
“None of my business. The sheriff wants to see you.”
David was escorted to the sheriff, and walked across multiple cells, with everybody staring at him grimly.
They soon arrived at a dark office that reeked of tobacco.
The sheriff had a grim expression. He wore a pair of glasses, and had a dark beard.
“Sit down.”
Pulling the wooden seat aside, David reluctantly sat down.
“One count of murder, and a crude attempt to dispose of the body by throwing it down the building.”
“I… wasn’t killing anybody. I was saving… them.”
“Says here that your entire office saw you in blood soaked clothes walking down the stairs, with a grin on your face.”
“But I killed… I SAVED THEM! I WAS- IF IT WAS NOT FOR ME, THEY WOULD’VE DIED! THE MAN WAS A KILLER-”
“The man did nothing wrong. He was worki-”
“SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. Shut up. Shut.”
“This will all be decided in court. But you. You are the most disgusting, vile being I’ve seen before.”
“HOW? HOW IS IT ME?”
David leaned across the table, and the sheriff pushed him away.
“You are dismissed.”
David closed his eyes. His hair was wet, and an officer was fitting a bulky, iron helmet onto him. Wires ran down his iron chair, and he breathed heavily.
He had done nothing wrong.
He had done nothing wrong.
He had done nothing wrong.
David suddenly jerked and screamed, attempting to grab the officer, but his iron restraints held him back, and the officer quickly ran into the control room.
“SHOCK HIM-”
A current ran through David’s head, and he blacked out. His eyes slowly faded away as he lay still, emotionless. The last thing he saw was a man wearing a black bag over his head, polishing a gun while walking over to David. Then, he reached out his hand gently, handing David the gun.
