End of Death Week || Self
Juliette had decided that enough was enough.
A week had passed, a whole seven days, and no signs of help were in view. Contrary to what she had been told by everyone else, she knew no call was made. This was something she'd have to do on her own accord if she wanted to be rescued, and boy did she want to be rescued.
She'd been pacing Nicole's bathroom for an hour, weighing her options. Gas Mask's warning replayed in her head as she tried to weigh her options. She could call and risk her family, but everyone in the facility would be safe. Or she could not call and wait it out a few more days. Maybe there actually was a person who was going to call the police - maybe they were just waiting for the right time. She clutched the cellphone in her hand harder as she whispered a "Fuck it." into the silence. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her phone into sight. She clicked on the familiar keypad screen, let her finger linger over the buttons for a brief moment before finally pressing down. Her hands shook so much that he struggled to dial the number. It rings twice before she hears a voice that makes her heart stop. "Hello, 911, what's your emergency?" A woman asks her.
Juliette opened her mouth, but no words came out. Where does she begin? Does she hang up? She could stop, and not take the risk. She could tell the woman that she made a mistake and that everything was fine. She could —
"Hello?" The woman repeated.
She had to do this. For her friends, the doctors, for herself. "There's s-someone here," Juliette finally choked out. She hadn't realized how hoarse her voice had become after all of the crying. It scared her, sounding like a different person. "And h-he has — he's killing people a-and we're locked in."
She could hear typing on the other end. Typing and clicking. Typing and clicking and the low murmur of other calls. It almost put her over the edge. There was no sense of alarm or urgency, just silence and a dull roar of other emergencies taking place. It aggravated her. People were dying, for God's sake, and the woman's tone remained unwavering. Monotonous. "What is the location of the emergency?" she quizzed, although it didn't sound like she cared in the slightest.
The girl ran her fingers through her hair as she thought. What was the address...What was it? There was there a 3 in there somewhere, right? Shit. Shit shit shit. "I-I don't know the address." she replied squeezing her eyes shut. "It's Recupero - the rehabilitation center on Oahu. Wait no. N-No! No, on Lanai. We're on Lanai please hurry."
"Are you in a safe place right now?" The woman asks her. Tillie looks around her. In retrospect, she was in Nicole's bathroom and plenty of patients were there in the room as well. Compared to others, she was safe. But when she looked at the bigger picture, nowhere in the building was safe anymore. She could be dead within minutes if gas mask wanted it, and the thought of that terrified her. But she gave the woman on the line a soft "Mm-hm" to reassure her. "Can I ask just a few more questions? I'm sending help to you, but I just need to ask a few more."
Tillie noded, even though she knew no one could see her do it. "Okay."
"Can you describe the suspect to me?"
She gulps, as all of the memories of what happened to her flood her mind. She doesn't want to talk about it, but she knows she has to."H-He was....He was about s-six feet tall, and he had a long jacket a-and he—" The brunette closes her eyes, on the brink of tears. She sighs before continuing. "He's wearing a gas mask. H-He has a gun, a-and knives, and he's killed people, and we can't leave the building. Please. Hurry."
And that's all it took. Exactly thirty minutes later, a large bang echoed throughout the building. Juliette could tell that this wasn't a gunshot. After a straight week of hearing them, she knew this was different - this was help. Not long after that, groups of both men and women in uniform were running down the halls. They knocked on every door before breaking in, finding patients and guiding them outside. The other half of them searched the building.
Juliette stands outside by herself and watches the mess of patients, cops, and flashing lights from ambulances. She isn't completely relieved, but she can finally breathe. The girl notices a group of officers talking to Wynn. They aren't too far away from her, and normally she wouldn't eavesdrop, but she's curious. She concentrates as she tries to make out their conversation.
"What? What do you mean?" Wynn asks him, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown tugging the corners of his mouth.
One of the officers sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. "We found the room with his things, but we couldn't find - him."
The doctor looked at the man for a few seconds before muttering something Tillie couldn't hear. The officers simply noded and walked away, joining the rest of their coworkers. Wynn is left alone, and his gaze falls to the ground as he paces back and forth. He looks troubled, like something is plaguing his mind. Tillie stares at him, bemused. She's curious as to what he's thinking about, but he quickly shakes his head, and his expression returns to normal. He walks away and into the throng of people, disappearing.
In the midst of this, an officer walks over to her. She's bothered by his presence, but she doesn't say anything. She just stands in silence, watching as more people are carried off into ambulances. "Why didn't you call sooner?" The man asks her, but he doesn't look at her. "What?" she asks. She's happy it's dark outside because the look on her face is mean, but he can't see it.
He turns to her slowly and repeats himself. "I asked why you guys didn't call sooner. Help would've been here —"
"He threatened to kill our families if we told." She told him starkly.
The cop falls silent, unsure of what to say. He makes a small 'o' shape with his mouth, and scratches the back of his neck. "Well that makes you very brave." He says to her quietly.
"No," she says, squinting her eyes. Her head swivels around for a moment, and then she points. "Because you see those people over there?" She asks the man. He turns, eying the crowd of people. She doesn't give him the chance to respond before she speaks."That's my family. And I couldn't — He was already killing them. It had to stop."
