Hey Monday

r e s c u e s

-noah-

"Ellen's been gone for a long time," Logan remarked from next to me, staring at her empty seat. There was a beverage that was untouched, and some mac & cheese that was half gone because I had been stealing from it all night. 

"Yeah," I sighed, leaning back. "You know, I think I'm going to go check the bathroom. Maybe she fell in or something." 

I hopped up from my seat and walked around the restaurant a bit until I found the bathrooms. I poked my head in the girls one and called, "Hello?" 

After waiting a few moments with no response, I headed in. It was strange being in a girl's bathroom- they were different. Not better or worse, necessarily, just different. 

I searched under all the stall doors, and then kicked them open, but there was no one. The bathroom was empty. 

Confused, I left the bathroom. Just as I was headed back to the table, I bumped into Logan. His eyes were wild and he looked frantic. 

"Noah, Noah, look at this text I just got," he panted. "It's from Ellen." 

Need help down the street smaller building red bricks side door downstairs

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, perplexed. "Need help, okay... what from?" 

"Does it matter?" Logan asked. I could tell he was trying- and failing- to stay calm. "We need to get to Ellen. So she's down the street in a smaller building with red bricks, it has a side door, and she went downstairs. I think that's what it means, anyway. Now come on, I already paid for our stuff." 

We rushed out the door and turned left, going farther away from the RV. "Logan," I said, patting him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Shouldn't we grab the RV? That way we can just hop inside and take off, you know?" 

He furrowed his brow, considering it. "Yeah, I guess that's probably best," he said finally. "But we need to hurry." 

We tore off down the street, tripping over sidewalk cracks and shoving people out of our way. Logan would offer the occasional "Sorry!" or "Excuse us!" but I didn't show any manners at all- I think I actually knocked a kid down once or twice. I was going much faster than Logan, probably because  I was more athletic than him.

Once I found the RV, I unlocked it and hopped into the driver's seat, pulling away before Logan was even fully inside. There was a lot of traffic but I still managed to keep my eyes peeled for a smaller building with red bricks like Ellen described. 

"Here, try here," Logan called suddenly. I looked to my left- indeed, there was a building that matched Ellen's words. I veered to the side of the road and fled the RV. 

The road sprawled in front of us was busy and a challenge to cross. I had to run in front of cars that narrowly missed me, amid the yells of passing people and the honks of impatient drivers. Logan was having worse luck than me, though, a car tire barely grazed his left heel. He howled in pain and stopped in the middle of the street, clutching it, but I hollered at him and he moved on. 

"Okay, okay," he sighed once we were safely across. "Let's formulate a plan. Obviously something is keeping Ellen down there, so we're going to have to fight it off. We should probably rely on speed rather than brawn, seeing as both of us are sort of shrimpy." 

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I am not- oh, never mind. We've got bigger things to focus on. Ready?" 

Logan swallowed nervously. "This is probably the riskiest and most dangerous thing I've ever done." 

"Me too," I replied. "But it's for Ellen. Let's go." 

And the two of us, a most unlikely duo, burst into the side door and tromped down the stairs. It was a dingy and disgusting basement, and a dark one at that. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but soon I saw a figure slumped in a chair in a far corner of the room.