Judgment Read Online Free Page B

us.”
     
                  Screams from the lobby and thumps on the door echoed down the hallway. The pounding and creaking of the door was the most disturbing. The angels wanted in, we just wanted out, and needed the back door. Jennifer grabbed my arm. “He’s right, Adam. I don’t want to stay here,” she urged. “There must be cops outside. We can find some help.”
     
                  Joe spoke to the smaller, panicked man. “C’mon Steve, find something over there you can crack a skull with, and let’s get the hell out of here.”
     
                  Steve didn’t look like the fighting type, but he did as instructed, coming back from the workbench with a piece of pipe. The look on his face clearly said using it was the last thing he wanted to do. Joe motioned to Reggie. “How do we get to this loading dock? Is it open?”
     
                  I spoke before Reggie could answer. “Hold on. We should stick together.”
     
                  “Adam, right?” said Joe, now pointing the wrench at me. “You want to stick together? Then you’re gonna have to follow me, cause I’m fucking leaving.”
     
                  “That’s fine. But let’s just stick together.”
     
                  Asshole.
     
                  I looked to Jennifer, whose nod said ‘yes, let’s go’. Then I turned to the other woman, the God believer. “What’s your name?”
     
                  “Margie.”
     
                  “Okay Margie. You’re going to stick with us? We’ll all leave together?”
     
                  She hesitated for a moment. “Yeah.”
     
                  Reggie was the lone standout. “I’m not going. I’m stayin’ right here ‘til the cops come.” He walked over to the TV and started flipping channels.
     
                  “Where’s the loading dock?” Joe insisted. “Can we get out there or not? Is it locked?”
     
                  Reggie turned and held up the magnetic badge clipped to his shirt. “You need the key card.”
     
                  “Alright, then give it to me.”
     
                  Reggie moved towards Joe. He was big man, aging now, but clearly not someone you just pushed around. “If you want to go, I’ll let you out. But I’m locking it behind you and I’m stayin’ here. Don’t be askin’ me to let you back in. You understand?”
     
                  “Yeah, I got it. Just get us out.”
     
                  Reggie walked past me and into the hallway. “Y’all crazy.”
     
                  We followed him down the corridor, the opposite way from the lobby door. Through another door unlocked with the key card, and then down another long hallway we went, all the while listening to the screams seeping in from the lobby door behind us. We were moving through the underbelly of the building, passing rooms with machinery and water pumps and storage. The sounds of the chaos in the lobby slowly faded away behind us. Through another locked door we entered a large garage area with two metal roll-up doors. As soon as we entered we could hear the noise coming from outside beyond the garage doors; sounds of chaos, screams, police sirens and gunfire.
     
                  Reggie turned and looked at us. “What’cha all gonna do out there? Huh?”
     
                  Joe apparently dubbed himself the spokesman for the group. “There’s cops out there. Probably medics. There’s help. There ain’t shit in here but people dying.”
     
                  Reggie spoke directly to Jennifer. “You, pretty girl. You sure you want to go outside?” Jennifer nodded, still clinging to my arm as she had the entire walk through the hallways. Reggie shook his head as he approached the card reader on the wall near the door controls.