The Phoenix

Everything was going smoothly. The chains had not been breached and the police were still trying to negotiate with him. When would they learn that you can’t negotiate with someone like him? Someone who didn't want to talk.

Jack shone the flash light left then right, then walked towards the bathrooms. He needed to go badly. He pushed open the doors and was hit with the foul stench of urine. He scrunched up his nose disgusted by what he saw. Toilet paper was everywhere and water had pooled in front one of the stalls. He held his breath and rushed to one of the cleaner stalls. They always say that male bathrooms smell worse than female ones but he begged to differ. Women could be just as nasty as men; maybe even worse.

He unzipped he pants and released the day’s worth of urine in the toilet. Now that he thought about it, none of the girls had asked him to use the bathroom yet. They were probably too scared to ask. Maybe they had already pissed in their pants and were too ashamed to say anything. He snickered at that thought. If they had wet themselves he would have seen a patch on the seat of their pants or at least have smelt it by now. Maybe they had gone while he was asleep. That thought was unsettling. They could have done anything while he was asleep. He was out long enough for it. If it were him in their place he would have tried anything to escape. How could he have been so stupid?

‘You stupid good for nothing asshole’

Here we go again. He never seemed to give up did he?

‘They should have strangled you in your sleep you fucking lowlife’

Jack rolled his eyes at the statement. Even though it could have happened he couldn’t help but be tired of the Phoenix’s antics.

‘Hey Jack-Jack don’t listen to him. You are awesome. A little slow-’

‘Shut the fuck up! He’s the world’s biggest idiot. I don’t know why I wasted my time with you all these years’

‘Because you have nowhere else to go. I actually like Jack-Jack’

‘Who asked you that?’

Jack listened to them go at it for a while more then tried to tune out. This was really getting frustrating and he was sick and tired of it! Sick and tired! He needed to get them out and quickly too. They had caused him nothing but trouble from day one.

He pulled up and zipped his pants, washed his hands and walked back to the library. Why wouldn’t the police just hurry up so his plan could be set into action? If only Phoenix and Worm would shut up.

He pushed open the library door to be met with twelve faces staring intently at him. It was unnerving. They all looked like they were guilty of something; like they were hiding something from him.

Then he made up his mind. He wanted this to end. In the beginning Phoenix was angry that he decided to do this but eventually came to like the idea very much. If only he knew the real reason. Jack had to show them that he wasn’t crazy, that he wasn’t a psycho and most importantly that he wasn’t a fag. But there was one thing he needed to do first.

________________________________________________________________

Jimmy got up from his seat. His mind was racing. He just couldn’t get over the feeling that something bad was about to happen. He had to do something. He walked over to the large cabinet to the end of the room and pulled open one of the draws. He took out the gun belt and strapped it to his waist then put two guns and ammunition in their respective holders.
The other officers in the room watched him curiously.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked him cautiously.

James turned to face him then said, “Fuck Plan A. We need to get them out now!”

“What about trying to get him to release them peacefully?” Jason inquired. “We were just getting through to him. Do you want to risk the hostages’ lives?”

“He raped them,” Jimmy stated.

“Don’t they all?” Jason replied.

“Don’t you see what he’s doing?” Jimmy asked incredulously. “He’s going to go after them all one by one. He didn’t state his demands. He knows he is not getting out if this alive.”

They all looked at Jimmy in awe. They never expected this to come from him. He was always the one who was optimistic in these situations. What if he was right? What if Jack had planned this from the beginning? What if he was too chicken to kill himself so he got the police to do it for him?

“And if you’re wrong?” Jason asked. “We risk the lives of twelve people not including all the officers who are going to be sent in. Think about it Jimmy. Don’t let your emotions get mixed up in this!”

“I just don’t know if I’ll be able to live with myself if someone gets hurt because we sat around and chatted with the guy the whole day, while he was busy fucking their brains out,” Jimmy told Jason.

“What if someone gets hurt because you make rash decisions and burst in there to try to save them? Will you be able to live with yourself then?” Jason reasoned.

Jimmy sighed almost defeated. He couldn’t just sit there and do nothing while Fallon and the girls were getting raped left right and centre. His mentor’s words flashed through his memory.

Rule number one: Never get attached to hostages. The biggest mistake takers make is feeling sorry for their victims. Then they get too careless and make even bigger mistakes that cost them their lives.

Although he meant it more from the point of view of a hostage taker, it could also apply to negotiators like him. It was too late for Jimmy though. He felt a certain unbreakable connection to Fallon. He could not describe it and he didn’t know why it was happening but he just knew that he had to do something. She had to live.

This was not good. Not good at all. If his supervisors knew this, he would be thrown off the case instantly. Jimmy couldn’t allow that to happen. The others on the team were quite capable of finishing the job if he had to leave at any point but he wanted to be the one to save her. He had to be the one to save her.

“Okay hear me out,” he started, “Fallon has the cell phone now. We have no way of contacting him to continue our negotiations. We could call the cell but that would risk her and the students getting hurt for stealing the phone.”

Jason locked eyes with him. He and Jimmy had been friends for many years, even before they joined the squad together. He trusted Jimmy’s judgment but right now he was questioning his reasons for wanting so badly to go in there and save them.

“Our only option right now is to go in and rescue them,” Jimmy continued. “If you can come up with a better option then I’d be more than glad to comply.”

Everyone stared at each other after Detective Sullivan stated his case. No one could come up with a better solution. They had to go in no matter how much they tried to stall the inevitable.