"Hand me the rifle quickly, I saw something in the distance," I said quietly to Owen. I grabbed hold of the rifle and aimed down the sights and through the scope. I could see the truck stopped at the bank, where we set off the first explosions weeks ago.
"Go get Jeremy and tell him to get the truck and bring it around the front and to meet me here," I said to Owen as he ran back inside, locking the front door behind him. I stood there on the front lawn, completely out in the open. I could be spotted from any and every direction. This feeling came over, realizing what was happening. I lost track of everything that had happened since Rob was hurt. So much was going on, and I never got a moment to process it.
At that moment, Jeremy came racing around the front and whipped the car around. I hopped in the passenger's seat and threw on my seat belt.
"Go to the bank just down the street and pull around back and go very slow once we get close," I said to him as he flew down the street.
"You want to tell me exactly what is happening before we get ourselves killed," Jeremy shouted.
"I saw a truck at the bank on the cameras back at the jail, and I would like to know if there is anyone else alive besides us," I said when we turned the corner. Jeremy began slowing the truck down and easing his way towards the bank. We pulled around back and shut off the car. We sat in the car for a minute, looking around, trying to see if anyone was around. Jeremy and I couldn't see anybody, but I did see the truck still here, so someone was close.
We both hopped out, shut our doors very quietly, and ducked behind our truck. I peeked over the hood and saw nothing. That when we made a run towards the side of the building. I made my way towards the front of the bank with Jeremy right beside me.
"What are you going to do if there are people inside of here," Jeremy said as we were approaching the front door.
"I haven't quite figured that out yet," I said back to him. My heart began racing because of this intense moment. I opened the front door and walked inside. No one was inside and looked like no one has been in here in quite some time. Jeremy and I split up to cover more ground. I went and checked behind the front counter while Jeremy went towards the back to look at the offices.
A couple of minutes had passed before I heard a loud thump that sounded like it came from the back offices. I began to run back there, but as I rounded the corner, I came face to face with something hard because I was out.
When I finally came to, I looked around and saw Jeremy sitting in a chair right beside me tied up. Upon further observation, I figured out that I was tied up as well. The ropes holding us together seemed to be some kind of paracord wrapped around us multiple times. I looked over at Jeremy, and he nodded towards the ground. I then looked down at his hands, and he was getting through the ropes. As I looked back up, I could see a figure standing in the corner of the room. I called out to it.
"What the hell, man, what did we do?" I said, shouting across the room. The figure then stepped out, and he was wearing some kind of letterman's jacket. The guy couldn't have been any older than I am. I looked at him and begged for him to let us go.
"I can't do that for a couple of different reasons," he said as he began walking closer in my direction. By this point, Jeremy was almost free and ready to do something idiotic. I kept on trying to keep the guy distracted. I brought up where he was from, and he responded:
"I did go to Lakeland before this all started, but none of that matters anymore now, does it?" I agreed, but some of it did matter, I thought to myself. At that point, Jeremy loosened his ropes just enough to slip his hands through. I got the guy's attention back on me so that way, Jeremy could strike.
Jeremy stood up and grabbed the chair by the top. He swung the chair around and hit the guy right in the back. Now the guy did fall right on me, but I was able to push him off. Jeremy then helped me get free, and I slipped out. I looked at the door where the guy was standing at the beginning. We both ran over to it and threw open the door. What was waiting on the other side was not very pleasant.
Upon opening, three men were standing there with guns drawn and aimed right at Jeremy and me. We began walking backward until I ran into the guy from before. We made eye contact, and we both stood there in awkward silence.
"Let us restart shall we." the guy said as he directed Jeremy and I out the door and into a bigger room. When I entered the bigger room, I knew right where I was. There were court lines all over the floor and a railing up towards the ceiling—bleachers on the side, as well as the multiple sports balls scattered around everywhere. We were in the gym at the Benson Center, which was just a two or three-minute drive from the jail.
The guy and his so-called "henchmen" sat us on the floor. The henchmen walked away while the guy stayed.