Henry looked up from his rummaging to see another man holding the elevator doors open. If he hadn’t done that, Henry would have smacked dab right into the steel doors. He was about to nod before realizing that it wasn’t a yes or no question.
“Uh...down. Thanks.” The other pushed the button for the first floor while Henry stepped in, finally finding the thing he needed. A simple digital camera. He made a mental note in cleaning up his messenger bag before going on any more trips.
Corey kept his gaze forward though couldn’t help but sneak glances at Henry. At first, he was just going to go on his way without asking the man if he needed to use the elevator but he decided to be nice today.
Starting from the fifth floor, the elevator descended slowly. Just as they have reached the third floor, it suddenly lurched and seemingly stopped. Both men looked around, a bit confused. Only then had Henry looked up at the little screen above.
“Don’t do that,” he blurted out softly as Corey decided to bounce on his heels, making the elevator rock slightly. He didn’t know about him but Henry started to feel a little nervous. Not panicking though he was about to go into that state if this keeps up.
“Why isn’t it moving...” Corey muttered under his breath.
“I don’t know,” Henry replied. That’s when the younger man started to push the buttons. Okay, now that panic was settling in. “Okay. Don’t. Stop it... Don’t...” He stammered, shaking his head. Corey frowned just a tad. “Why not? ...You’re scared?” Henry scowled. “No! I just...don’t want you to make it worse! There have been...deaths like this and more that had to be...hospitalized so...so chill.”
It was clear that Henry was just not having it. He was starting to wring his hands together self-consciously. What a nervous man... Corey looked between him then the panel. “Oh, you are scared. Then I guess I shouldn’t do this...” He stabbed at the buttons. “Or this.” Then he swiped his fingers over them, pushing all of them. So much for being nice. Henry started to protest at that before the elevator suddenly lurched once more, prompting them both to take hold of the railing behind them.
“...Woah.” Now Corey was starting to get nervous but he didn’t dare let that show to the other. “Um...hit the- hit the...” Henry gestured to the fire alarm call. Corey pushed that with Henry nodding. When nothing happened, Henry started to freak out. “P-Push it!” “I’m pushing it.” He started to grow a little impatient with this whole ordeal. “Push, pull, push, pull, nothing’s happening.”
“Pry the doors open! I don’t know..!” Henry flailed his hand forward, gripping at the rail in a steel grip. Corey reached over and tried to dig his fingers between the doors, using his strength to try to pry the doors open. “It’s...stuck, man,” he told him in a strained voice. He pulled away, panting slightly. “Oh no...” He shook his head, pushing the button multiple times.
“No, no. Not today. Not today...”
“Help..” Henry said in a somewhat high-pitched voice.
That’s when the doors finally opened. A few people would see a dark-haired man rushing out and another, almost petrified, man coming out. He looked a bit shaky and almost freaked out. “Was that the fire alarm? You guys okay?” A concerned man, possibly another tenant of the building, asked as he came over. At first, neither of them spoke as they tried to catch their bearings. Henry then managed out a weak “I’ll get you back on that...” as he went to sit down with Corey.
Neither of them used the elevator for the rest of the month.
