Agoraphobia

Day 15 (Chained)

I yanked on the pull handle, and the door opened only an inch because of the chain.

I was so exhausted, I felt like I was wearing a lead vest. I drug my sore body up to the second floor stairwell door (the only other way up). It, too, was chained. "Fuck!"

I slumped down with my back to the wall and started crying. It was a deep, hard cry that lasted until dawn.

I plodded to my wagon, drank a bottled water, and ate an apple pie. I walked wearily to the entrance and took a look outside. The sun peeked shyly from behind buildings. The streets were still wet, but it had stopped raining.

I shambled back to the stairwell door and examined the chains. They were held into place by a combination lock. The handsome man probably knew the combination. But I doubted he'd tell me the combination if I just asked. "Perhaps," I muttered to myself, "...he'd tell me if I swore on my OLDER brother's life." I giggled at the thought. I was getting punchy.

I needed help.

--------------------------------------------------

"Wake up!" I said to the police officer, slumped over his desk. "Unless you're dead. In that case, don't wake up." The officer's head rose lethargically. He had been trapped at his desk for over two weeks and looked awful. The chair was his bed, the desk his pillow, and the waste can his toilet. A nearly empty water cooler was within arm's reach of him. His clothes appeared to be a couple sizes too large, and I surmised he had once been much fatter.

No one else was there, except for the dead man handcuffed to a bench. Maggots were feasting where his head had been blown open by a gun blast. The bloated body was blackened, and countless full-grown flies buzzed above it.

"Hello," rasped the police officer. He cleared his throat and shook his head. I could tell malnutrition and inactivity had taken their toll on his mind. But I was not in the mood to coddle him.

"Here's the deal... I'm in trouble. If you help me, I'll give you food. You interested?"

"Ah... um... y-yes."

"Good answer. Here's a down payment." I plopped one of two bags of food on his desk. "I haven't slept in the last twenty-four hours and have spent six of them running for my life. I'm exhausted. Your first task is to guard me while I lay down and take a nap. You can eat while I sleep. Wake me in four hours." I looked around for a place to lay down.

"There would be good," suggested the police officer, pointing toward a couch. "It's fairly comfortable."

Carrying the second bag of food, I plodded to the couch and collapsed.

--------------------------------------------------

I dreamt I was in a crowded classroom. I felt a chill, looked down, and realized I was naked. My classmates started laughing and pointing. Suddenly my P.E. teacher, burst into the room blowing a whistle.

I woke up with a start. The police officer was at his desk, blowing a whistle. There was a couple seconds of disorientation and lingering embarrassment before I realized I'd only been dreaming. Then I remembered all my teachers and classmates were dead.

"Hey, kid! Wake up!" rasped the police officer. "It has been five hours. You were sleeping so soundly I gave you an extra hour."

I forced myself to sit up. My whole body ached. My eyelids felt like I had weights attached to them. "I'm awake," I mumbled, shaking the cobwebs from my head. I rolled off the couch and shambled over to the police officer. The excrement stench and dead body reek were competing for my attention as countless flies buzzed about. I sighed and briefly contemplated my awful life.