'I have to get out of here.' He said to himself once again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More shots were fired, scaring Theodore the more.
"Come on Theo, you need to get out of the factory. You can do this, you can do this." He chanted to himself, trying to remain rational and not give in to his fears.
Theodore took in a deep breath and exhaled before approaching the door once again. This time he opened the door wide enough for his body to pass. He made sure that he was crouching as a safety measure to not get noticed or even hit by a stray bullet.
After making it to the hallway safely, Theodore had to cross Sky Bridge on the 2nd floor and make it to the stairway. Theodore has never been so scared to walk on top of the Sky Bridges in the steel factory as he was scared of doing tonight.
The Sky Bridges in the steel factory were open, in the sense that they only had thin metal barricades on their sides. Anyone from any floor can see whoever walks on it. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to make it past the Sky Bridge.
Bang! Bang!
"Argh! That hurts like a bitch!"
Theodore heard someone cry out from the ground floor.
"Damn it, He's a Blessed one! The bullets aren't doing much harm to him!" A voice different from the one that cried out in pain exclaimed.
Bang!
"Take cover behind the frozen people!" Another person said. "We need to force our way towards the exit! Rain hell on top of this heathen!" He added.
As soon as this order was given, the sound of bullets shooting out of nozzles increased. Some of the bullets ricocheted as they hit the metal pillars and walls of the factory. It was like they were trying to really make it rain bullets.
Theodore peeped from an opening, looking at the ground floor, trying to get a visual assessment of what was happening. When he did this, he understood what that person meant by frozen people. There were steel millers that he knew on the ground floor and they all looked like realistic statues.
He quickly ducked behind for cover, his muscles involuntarily tightening as he became more afraid of his predicament.
Thud!
Thud!
"What's that?" Theodore froze in his position. He heard the heavy footsteps of someone coming from behind. He wanted to run, but that wasn't a good idea as the way in front had bullets flying through occasionally, and behind was where the sound of the footsteps came from.
'Pretend to be petrified too.' He concluded in his mind.
"What is this? Another petrified person." A deep voice whispered. "Fuck, I wish I was also in this state too. That way I wouldn't have to face reality. These dumbass cultists don't care about our lives." The person whispered again. "How do I make it to the other side of the Sky Bridge?" He thought out loud.
'What, who's this? Isn't he a cultist too? And why is he crouching next to me.' Theodore wondered.
Seconds went by and it was getting harder for him to stay still and hold his breath. 'Is he also like me?'
Unable to continue holding his breath, Theodore exhaled, scaring the person who was crouched next to him.
"Dam-" Matthew exclaimed but before he could utter his word completely, he used his hand to cover his mouth.
"You're not petrified?" He whispered to Theodore.
"You are not a cultist?" Theodore responded with a question of his own.
The two of them paused to confirm if they had brought any attention to their position. After staying silent for a few seconds, they sighed.
"No, I'm not a part of those creeps," Matthew replied. Narrowing his brow almost offended by the question
"That's good to know. Any ideas on how we might be able to cross the bridge safely?" Theodore asked.
"Not a clue, you?"
"I have nothing in mind…" Theodore answered, looking around him. "I'm Theodore, you?" He took the initiative to introduce himself.
"Matthew."
"Nice to meet you Matthew… odd, you look familiar," Theodore mentioned, unable to remember where exactly this familiarity came from. Even though they were both working in the steel factory, he felt as if the familiarity came from elsewhere.
"Weird, I also felt that you looked familiar, I'm one of Massey's assistants. Forget about that, we need to leave here quickly. Perhaps a distraction might help." Matthew said.
Theodore sighed as he looked across the Sky Bridge, at the window that wasn't far from the stairway to the ground floor. From where they were to the window near the stairway, it was only about 90 meters.
"If we fall from the 2nd floor I don't think we'll end up dead," Theodore said.
Matthew paused looking at Theodore in the face wondering if he was joking.
"We might end up with twisted ankles and a few bruises," Matthew whispered, still mulling over a plan in his head.
"But it shouldn't be a fall that's strong enough to kill us…" Theodore added.
"Well, at least not me," Matthew uttered. "Do you suppose we make a dash to the window from here?" He asked.
"No, we might end up like that guy over there." Theodore pointed at a corpse that wasn't far from the window and stairway.
Matthew frowned when he noticed the puddle of blood forming underneath the corpse sprawled not far away from the window. "I heard Massey shouting to search the corpses in the factory." He mentioned and bit his lower lip.
"If only some idiot didn't steal the blueprints that made Massey mad," Theodore said, causing Matthew to gulp, knowing that he was the culprit that stole the blueprint.
"Let's not talk about that-"
"Shush!" Theodore slammed his hand over Matthew's mouth before he could complete what he was saying. Matthew was about to blow his fuse when he saw Theodore pointing at the other end of the Sky bridge.
To their surprise, Massey was squatting before the corpse, searching the pockets and body of the person, unafraid of the people with guns below.
Matthew, wide-eyed, leaned back into the hallway, scared that Massey would be able to see them from where he was.
"Is Massey a devil worshiper too?" Theodore asked, looking at Matthew as his chest heaved up and down.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Aren't you one of his assistants?"
"That doesn't mean I know the man's deepest secrets, Massey drinks a lot, either that or he's locked up in his workshop. He doesn't let us stay in the room with him when he's serious with his work. He has always been carefree and foul-mouthed, heck he enjoys hearing others talk back at him." Matthew rambled in a forced whisper.
"Just 2 of them!?" Massey bellowed from across the Sky bridge, scaring both Matthew and Theodore to silence. They thought that Massey had somehow heard their conversation from where they were, even though it seemed impossible as they made sure to speak with hushed tones.
Unaware that Massey was referring to the blueprints that he found on the corpse.
"Search the other corpses, they must have divided it amongst themselves hoping to escape with one or two! Ungrateful shits!" Massey ordered.
Massey stood up and started walking toward the hallway where Matthew and Theodore were, however, he stopped in his tracks and looked up. Another man, dressed as a steel miller, on the Sky bridge of the 3rd floor was staring down at him furiously. The man had his gun pointed at Massey.
Suddenly, the man on the 3rd floor's sky bridge jumped down, heading for Massey on the 2nd floor.
Thud!
The man landed a few feet in front of Massey. "Hand over the blueprints." The man demanded.
"Piss off, skunk!" Massey replied.
A dim Yellow Halo manifested above Massey's head and a gray one above the man's head, bringing forth a heavy pressure that made the metal below them cry.
"A blessed one." The two of them chorused.
The man threw his gun at Massey, and it flew at a speed not less than what the bullet of a revolver would travel at.
He was certain that bullets could hardly cause good enough harm to a Blessed one if they were well prepared.
Smash!
Massey dodged the gun and it hit the window behind him, breaking it. The cold night breeze seeped into the factory from this broken window, alongside the dim light that the moon provided.
Both Massey and the man charged at themselves. As soon as they were within arm's reach, the man dived at Massey, causing him to fall on the thin metal barricades on the side of sky bridge and break it. The two of them fell to the ground floor, landing on their sides.
Matthew and Theodore got the courage to spy on Massey when they heard an unfamiliar voice asking Massey to hand over the blueprints.
"Go!" The moment Matthew saw Massey and the other man fall from the sky bridge, he sprinted towards the broken window without thinking much. He just wanted to be out of the factory as soon as possible.