Day 4: Bulletproof

Upon entering the office area Nikolai noticed something quite peculiar, and that is that on one of the tables that were placed near the entrance there was food that looked nothing like the spoiled food and full of flies and larvae that he saw in other restaurants. It looked fresh, cold but fresh. So Nikolai alerted the others to be careful as there might be someone inside the place.

As he walked through the rooms he could see that in a small area that looked like a break room there was a table lying on the floor, food lying around and also signs of vandalism to one of the vending machines since the glass of the machine had been broken, on the other hand Nikolai observed three bullet casings.

Something that caught his attention were some blood stains that were scattered on the floor.

"Poor devil" Nikolai commented.

As he left the room he accessed another place where there was a locked door, remembering the key Stacy gave him, Nikolai inserted it, turned the handle and "crack". Kalinic opened the door and saw that inside there was a small room that had the function of an office for private security elements. There were several monitors, some unfinished food on one of the tables and the most important thing: Weapons. Nikolai found some batons in the lockers, clothes in backpacks, fragrances, personal use products and the guns seemed to be kept in the same lockers, others were in plain sight.

Nikolai thought that the security people took what they could, left the mall when they saw the situation and escaped. However that didn't answer why the room was locked.

"Hey, I found some weapons!" Nikolai alerted the members of his group. They all entered the room and Matthew made a whistling sound as he saw the place.

"This might be a good place to hide... but look at this" Matthew pointed to a makeshift bed made out of the couch cushions, some curtains and there were also some dishes that looked like they had food inside.

"Looks like there was someone smart enough to act on their own, find themselves a good shelter and not share it" Matthew scoffed.

"My worst mistake was to share it."

Matthew stopped smiling when he felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his neck. A shiver ran down his back and his voice cut off.

"OH! Oh oh. Dude, put the gun down. Put the gun down if you know what's good for you" Greg pulled out his Desert Eagle and pointed it at the man holding Matthew hostage.

"Bullshit! You guys come here... you steal everything I have left..." The man was dressed in a police uniform. Nikolai noticed that his badge said "Damien" and his uniform had "Mall Security" embroidered on it.

Something in Kalinic "clicked".

"Hey, buddy, we're not here to hurt you. We're looking for one of us... my friend Jason got lost and I was told he was spotted around here. haven't you seen him? A white guy, brown hair and beard, he was wearing a uniform like ours." Nikolai tried to dialogue, making the policeman irritated.

"I haven't seen him and I don't give a shit! Get the fuck out of here!"

"Dude! Friend... Damien?"

"Just because you know my name from my stupid badge doesn't mean we're friends!"

Nikolai was trying to watch Damien and see what he could use to reassure the cop. That's how Kalinic observed how the security guard had three holes in his chest, the same ones that tore shredded his uniform and, underneath it could be seen a bulletproof vest.

In addition Daniel appeared to have been beaten as he had a black eye, dried blood and several bruises on his cheeks, plus his right lip was split.

"You were attacked in the break room, right?" Nikolai was trying to make conversation to at least give Matthew a chance to act when Damien let his guard down.

"A duo of assholes attacked me, stole my stuff and betrayed me. I provided them with a roof over their heads, food... shelter... And they repaid me with beatings! They said how much they were going to enjoy fucking me until they made me bleed like the "so-called pig I am..." They shot me! They left me here to die..."

"And the bulletproof vest saved your life."

"They didn't know I had it on. In one of my pockets I had a red ink pen that broke when they shot me and they thought I was bleeding to death... they left me to my fate... I pretended to die... and it was fucking terrifying to experience my own death. How the fuck did you get in here? The door was locked! Those motherfuckers stole my keys and I had to spend the night sleeping between cardboard boxes and a fucking stinky cushion. Answer me!"

"We got them from a woman! She had the keys..."

"A woman? What did she look like?" Damien lightened the pressure in his body and asked in a calmer tone of voice.

"A white woman, tall and thin. Long brown hair... she was wearing a white dress. Stacy Clinton is her name."

"Her name? Instead of saying 'her name was..." you said... Oh dear Lord... Is Stacy alive?"

"Do you know her?" Greg joined the conversation.

"Yeah... she was Matthew's daughter, and sister to this other guy... Richard. I couldn't protect her... I couldn't protect her smile. When her father was hitting me I could hear in the distance how she was screaming for me to help her... I saw her being dragged into the parking lot and I never heard from her again. I tried to get her out of this place but failed. I heard how her own father... Damn it, she was his daughter! The degenerate said he was going to take turns with his son to have sex with her to bring forth God's new children. ha! Looks like God was high or something if he thought someone like Matthew would be the shepherd of the flock..."

"We found Stacy in a severe state of dehydration and she hadn't eaten very well for days. She told us that a kind policeman saved her life and was very sorry he died..." Nikolai held out the keys with the pink stuffed animal.

"Those keys didn't have that stuffed toy on them... not at first. I put the stuffed animal on them because Stacy mentioned how much she liked seeing such a key-chain in the Spring Plaza gift store. I went there in an attempt to find food and she was so happy to see the teddy bear. She said no one had ever made such a kind gesture for her."

"Why don't you release Matthew and we'll talk about this calmly, buddy?" Greg held out his arms implying some openness to dialogue.

"Stacy's alive, buddy. I'm sure it will make her day to know that you are too." Nikolai smiled and lowered his gun himself.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Things are... difficult today. In my defense I'm protecting my shelter" Damien laughed.

Soon the group closed the door to the room and each of them sat down on a couch to talk.

"I am Damien Daniels. Security guard at Vallimorth Shopping Mall. It's a pleasure to meet you, even if it is under most peculiar circumstances."

Damien Daniels