"Move!" Johnny acted as if he had just woken up from a trance. He picked up Charlie and pulled him in the direction he was heading; Charlie felt as if he was weightless under Johnny's grasp.
Charlie was quickly pushed into one of the two empty stalls in just one move. Johnny had always been more robust and faster than Charlie, and it made sense given that he was 4 years older than him. When Johnny was brought into Mr. Meyer's farm 2 years ago, Charlie was delighted. He finally had someone else to play with besides the chickens, dogs, and other animals on the farm.
Johnny was like an older brother to him, now it felt as if he was a stranger.
Johnny quickly opened the door to one of the empty stalls opposite to where they stood. He moved the hay and the mats on the stall floor and revealed a layer of flat rocks. It looked like the barn base was built over a bed of stones similar to a castle wall from the books Charlie had read.
"What are you still doing here?!" Suddenly, Mr. Meyer's 7-foot tall figure appeared behind the stall door. His long gray hair and bushy beard made him look like an old lion "Hurry up and get him out of here." he said while pointing and Charlie.
"Yes sir!" Johnny was trying to lift the stones on the floor without much success, small roots had grown over the stone floor and it was making it difficult to lift.
Mr. Meyer saw Johnny over the stone floor and frowned. "Move over" He quickly moved in front of them and fit a finger between a few stones, his bulky arms put pressure on the stone and after a second a series of cracking sound where heard as the roots gave up under Mr. Meyer's strength. The stones lifted up, revealing some sort of a tunnel with a spiraling staircase going down.
Bzzzz Booooom!
Another explosion shook the barn. Mr. Meyer's expression went blank as he looked back. "The wall is down…" He stood up and turned; Johnny grabbed Charlie and hurried towards the staircase.
Charlie looked back, he was expecting Mr. Meyer to follow, but instead he just stood there by the entrance of the stairs "Mr. Meyer…" his eyes were looking at the man who had cared for him since he could remember. He was about to say something when Mr. Meyer interrupted him.
"Go, it is not safe here. You will understand soon enough. For now, listen to Johnny."
"But…" Charlie couldn't say more before Mr. Meyer interrupted him again.
"You know what to do," said Mr. Meyer looking at Johnny.
Johnny turned around and nodded, looked at Charlie, and continued pressing forward. Charlie could see Mr. Meyer disappear behind the curve of the stairs.
Patom
A loud, dull noise followed a moment of darkness. The Stone door had been closed. Johnny signaled him to wait. a few moments later, Charlie's eyes got adjusted to the dark. The stones around him shone with a dull green light making the steps faintly visible.
"Can you see the steps now?" asked Johnny with a severe face.
"Yes," said Charlie. Johnny seemed odd; everything seemed strange; he didn't know what to say.
"Ok," said Johnny with a faint smile, " Let's go. We need to get as far away from here as we can, as soon as we can" Charlie saw Johnny sheathing the weird long knife by his waist while heading down the stairs.
Charlie had many questions going thru his mind; he was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. While they were running down the stairs, he couldn't find a proper space to ask Johnny about anything. They were running, escaping from some unknown threat. He felt as he was rushing towards danger, and at the same time, this was fun, it was actually quite exciting, suddenly his life was more than the farm, and the chickens and the sheep. Now his friend wielded a knife, and they were escaping from some mysterious attackers.
"I hope Mr. Meyer is fine," Charlie thought; in his heart, he felt a sinking feeling, Mr. Meyer wasn't his father, and by all means, he wasn't a warm and kind figure for him; nonetheless, he had raised him.
Boom brrr
Far behind them, Charlie heard a muffled explosion sounds that shook the staircase. Dust came from the top alongside a few pebbles.
Charlie stopped and looked back with a worried look.
"Keep going" Johnny continued walking down without looking back; he didn't even flinch with the explosion. Charlie hesitated for a moment; he wanted to go back and see how Mr. Meyer was; perhaps he could still get into the tunnel with them.
"Move!" Johnny stopped and took three steps back toward Charlie. He looked a Charlie with an intense stare.
"What part of "move" is not clear to you, Charlie? We need to get out of here" suddenly, his eyes changed, he quickly moved to Charlie and hugged him. "Mr. Meyer will be ok; the big guy can take care of himself." He separated Charlie from himself and held him by the shoulders. "Let's get you to safety, shall we?."
Charlie nodded. He felt reassured, "Everything will be alright," he thought.
"That's what I like to hear," Said Johnny while turning back around, "Now let's speed up. We are already running late" suddenly, they were sprinting down the stairs once more.
Charlie was focused, his heart was pounding, and his head was clear. He was focused on his feed. One step at a time, he was gaining ground and going down the stairs. He was feeling thankful of his time playing on the mountains with Johnny, after having to rush down a mountain being chased by a swarm of wasp the stairs where a piece of cake.
"I hope everyone on the farm is ok." A sudden fear filled his chest "I hope the animals are fine, they are smart. They will know where to go" Charlie reassured himself as he continued to rush into the stairs.