Blackout 2/6
Chapter 2:
Charlie threw himself over Deirdre to protect her, pushing her into his classroom and onto the floor. Once they landed, he covered her with his body and quickly pressed a finger to Deirdre's lips to warn her not to make a sound. For a few seconds he listened, trying to hear what was going on down the hall. He could feel her body quaking under him, and wanted to comfort her, but knew it was more important to keep her safe. That meant assessing the situation before acting.
After a few seconds, he heard the sound of someone trying to force the locked doors open. More gunfire was heard and Charlie guessed whoever was trying to break in was trying to get past the keycarded doors by shooting out the locks.
Moving quickly and silently, Charlie helped Deirdre up and led her over to the far corner of the classroom where several blackboards were propped up against the wall. He pulled aside one of the larger ones and guided her into the empty space behind it. He joined her in the cramped space and pulled the blackboard back to conceal them.
She was still trembling violently so Charlie put his arm around her to try to calm her. She reached for his other hand and put her own hand awkwardly into his. Charlie tried to straighten out her hand so he could hold it properly, but she pulled away and put her hand back into his in the same way, finally smacking her hand silently against his three times quickly, three times slowly and then three times quickly again. Morse code for S-O-S. She then put her hand back into his in the same awkward position only now Charlie understood exactly what she was doing. They could not speak out loud for risk of exposure so she was choosing to speak with her hands. This time he was ready. He tapped out the Morse code for the letter 'C' that she had placed in his hand using sign language.
Charlie hadn't formally studied sign language however he had taught himself fingerspelling. He just wasn't very quick with it. Deirdre apparently knew just enough Morse code to understand Charlie so they could each 'speak' in the method that was easiest for them and still be understood.
'S-C-A-R-E-D,' she spelled out.
'2' was Charlie's abbreviated reply. He was sure she already knew he was scared as well, but communicating with her like this helped to calm him.
They listened as they heard several sets of footsteps come down the hallway. Charlie felt Deidre tense up next to him as they saw swaths of light from a flashlight creep in around the edges of their blackboard corner. After a moment, the sounds continued down the hallway and both let out the breaths they had unconsciously been holding for those heart-stopping seconds.
Finally Deirdre signed to him some numbers: '8-0-2-1-1' and then letters: 'A-B-G-N'.
Wi-Fi? Charlie wondered. She wanted to know if there was a wireless network now? 'Y,' he tapped back.
'P-D-A' was her response.
She had a handheld computer with Wi-Fi capabilities! Using the wireless network Charlie could use it to contact Don, who could alert the police.
'G,' he tapped back, but followed it quickly with 'W-E-P' to let her know the wireless network had security on it.
Even without sight, Charlie could feel Deirdre deflate as if that was bad news.
'P-W,' he tapped quickly to assure her he could get through the firewalls and get them connected.
'U,' she asked.
'Y,' he replied.
She pulled a PDA from her bag and tried to cover up the harsh glow of the tiny screen, immediately lowering the brightness to the lowest level, however it still shone like a beacon in the dark room.
Taking turns, they wordlessly worked the thumb keyboard to get through security, first on her PDA, then the Cal Sci intranet. Finally, they reached the web site Charlie used to send text messages to Don's cell phone. Thankfully, he'd used it so often in the past he had the web site address memorized.
"911 - Blackout/break-in at Cal Sci. Trapped in my classroom. Men with guns. Need help now - Charlie." He sent the message off into cyberspace with a prayer.
He looked up at Deirdre and their eyes met. Although they could barely see each other with only the dim light of the PDA for illumination, he could sense a connection to her, a look in her eyes that wasn't fear, wasn't anything bad at all. Charlie felt a sudden overwhelming urge to kiss her.
Gazing at each other, they hadn't noticed the sound of footsteps coming back up the hallway. Deirdre quickly doused the light from the PDA, shoving it back into her bag just in time. The footsteps entered Charlie's classroom and the flashlight swept over their hiding place yet again. A second set of footsteps joined the first and both moved throughout the room, neither person speaking, but not attempting to be quiet either.
The wait for them to complete their search of the room seemed interminable. Charlie wanted to hold Deirdre and comfort her but knew even the slightest movement might alert the gunmen to their presence.
Please Don... please don't let us down, Charlie prayed in silence.
