The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 16: Help

The three of them went to the side of the room where the door is. After Joshua's approval, Rick turned off the light. They knew that anytime now, one of the guards will come rushing towards the room after realizing that his comrade isn't coming back. Joshua clicked the taser on. To his relief, it was still working. A short buzzing sound and a pale blue light emitted from the taser is more than enough to know that they could still use it.

"Hey, are you alright up there?" The guard asked.

Apparently, his comrade was already slumped on the ground due to the taser that electrified him. Joshua bent his knees, preparing himself to spring up to the guard coming upstairs. The guard, reading the situation, began coming towards the room. The guard must've thought that there's something going on since his comrade has not come back yet.

Apparently, this gives the three of them ample opportunity to escape.

"I'm coming in." The guard said.

Quick as a tiger, Rick did a turn-round kick towards the guards feet. Because he was caught unaware, the guard wasn't able to react at the situation. He  quickly fell towards the floor.

But before the guard hit it, Joshua caught him and give him a quick dose of electricity, just enough to make him unconscious. As he fell into a helpless heap, Joshua put him down near his comrade.

"We're really sorry." Joshua told them.

The three of them got out of the room and went downstairs.

"What do we do now?" Rick asked. "We can't electrocute all those guards."

"Yeah, I agree." Emma said. "And it seems like the only way out is towards the garden."

"Rick, can you jump over the brick wall outside?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Then, this would be our next plan." Joshua began

.....

Joshua looked out the window from the living room. As expected, the guards have been doing their rotation. Two groups of guards rotate around the house, one going clockwise, and the other, counter-clockwise.

"Once both of the group of guards reach the other side of the house, we make a run for it." Joshua said. "That is approximately two minutes from now."

"So, I'll be going first and stay on top of the wall." Rick asked.

"Yup, then Emma will climb on my back and I'll give her to you. Then I will jump over the wall and the three of us will make a run for it." Joshua explained.

"Oh, okay." Emma said. "But, what if you weren't able to jump?"

"Just open the trapdoor in the bush after ten minutes." Joshua said. "If worse comes to worst, that is."

"Okay."

The three of them waited for their chance. After two minutes, Rick headed towards the door and  unlocked it.

Ring!

The alarm was turned on!

"Oops, sorry, I forgot to tell you that that door and all the windows are rigged with alarms." Emma apologetically said.

"It's fine! Just stick to the plan!" Joshua shouted, his voice was drowned by the noise.

As fast as they could, they ran across the yard. The two groups of guards, hearing the alarm, began heading towards the door. Rick was able to jump and land on the wall.

"Quick, Emma!" Rick alarmingly said.

Joshua picked up the pace and went ahead of Emma. Upon reaching the wall, he quickly made a foothold out of his hands to spring Emma upwards. Emma, realizing what Joshua was planning to do,  quickly jumped and landed her feet on Joshua's palms. Joshua felt a tug at his muscled as Emma bent her knees. Still, he was able to haul Emma upwards.

Rick managed to catch her in time, but unfortunately, both of them fell to the outside part of the wall.

Too late!

The moment the tow of them reached the other side of the wall, Joshua was swarmed by at least a dozen guards. The guards surrounded him from all sides. 

Joshua stepped backwards, but all that he was able to feel was the  brick wall right behind him. He gritted his teeth as he clutched the taser from his pocket. No matter how strong he is, he knew that he won't be able to tackle all the guards at once. Then he found it.

An opening!

The guards must've thought that I'll be rushing towards the sides since they shortened their distances between each other there, barricading me from a typical escape route. But, they didn't notice that the guard at the center has more space on both his sides since almost all of them were huddled up at the sides. If I could use one of it's side and push myself through. Joshua began thinking.

Joshua clenched the taser tightly. Disregarding the fact that the guard at the center might be the strongest of them all, he quickly jumped a little bit and pushed his feet towards the wall. After twisting sideways to avoid the gravitational pull for a split second, he then launched himself towards the guard at the center; simultaneously pressing the power switch of the taser. The guards didn't realize what happened for it all came so fast.

With one short click of the taser pointed at the center guard's neck, the guard quickly fell to the ground and Joshua safely landed at him. Joshua then headed towards the house once again. He found his towards the living room and towards the trapdoor beside the stairs.

After pressing his forefinger against the electronic lock, he heard a clicking sound.

The trapdoor is finally open.

From a distance, he could here the sound of the rushing guards and their indistinct conversation. He opened the trapdoor and grabbed its handle before jumping in. The trapdoor clicked shut and Joshua fell down to the dark tunnels once again.

He forgot to use the ladder!

Down and down he went as he was covered in darkness. His eyes hasn't adjusted  and he couldn't see anything around him. He knew that he had survived his first fall but now, he wasn't quite sure if he could survive another one.

Just as his eyes were beginning to adjust relative to the darkness, he hit the base of the tunnel with a thud. He felt his body receive the shock and his breath was cut short for a few moments. His vision began to get blurry but he managed to fight the unconsciousness that was creeping up to him.

For a minute, he wasn't able to feel his body and trying to stand up was futile. But after a while, he was able to stand up. He leaned his arms on the side of the tunnel as he staggered to walk in the tunnel. After a few scuffles, the tunnels began quiet to get quiet again. It seems like they already stopped chasing me. Joshua said to himself as he reached the first branching of the tunnel. Remembering where they had gone through before, Joshua managed to not get lost in the tunnels.

Then, next is the middle one. Joshua thought as he staggered to walk. After a short while, he was able to walk without leaning on the sides of the tunnel anymore. 

Joshua continued walking.