If the strange men working at the warehouse were doing something strange, then Kevin had to find out what it was before he could tell anyone about it. The young teenager understood that the police wouldn’t exactly act just because an orphan told them that he was scared in his new surroundings. The police in a Tier-3 town like Slough was usually busy, so they couldn’t just answer any call, especially a kid’s.
The good news was, that at least they were seemingly taking out a few orphans at a time, for whatever purposes they had. This made Kevin believe that time was on his side. Time to figure out what was going on… or if all of it was just his imagination running wild.
Thinking about this, Kevin went ahead with the rest of the kids from his orphanage. There were twenty-three children in total who came from the Black Rock Orphanage.
Leaving the warehouse, they found themselves in what looked like a large white tent which was split off into different sections. Following the instructions, the orphans lined up, patiently waiting in one section, until they would be called forward into the next tent.
“Next!” One of the men called out.
Once the group went in, One of the kids went into the other section of the tent. Kevin managed to briefly make out a photographer with the standard equipment used in a photo shoot. However, none of them returned after taking their photo, at least not into the line with the others.
Noticing the unrest of the waiting orphans, one of the men explained that after taking the photo they would be asked some questions. That way, they could match up the kids’ personalities and wishes to their future foster parents.
‘Since when did orphans like us get the luxury to be picky and choose who we want to be with?’ Kevin didn’t trust that explanation one bit.
“Next!” The same man called out after a few minutes.
Finally, it was Kevin’s turn. He went ahead, sat down on the chair and the camera went off as normal. Still, the orphan was looking around to see if there was anything strange he could spot. Perhaps a hint at what they might be doing.
After the photo was done, it was time for Kevin to walk into the next tent. As he did, he noticed that there was a large table in front of him, but there was nothing on it. No papers or anything, just a man sitting down on the other side of the tent.
‘Maybe it's like an interview rather than a questionnaire?’
Hearing footsteps and sensing someone behind him, the first thing Kevin did was turn around, where he could see a man behind him holding onto what looked like a needle. His instinct kicked in, and he immediately kicked the man as hard as he could in the family jewels.
The man knelt over from the pain, letting the needle fall on the ground, as he covered his nether regions. Hearing the soul-crushing scream that turned into a whimper, the other man was about to get up from the table, but the boy was faster. Kevin kicked the side of the table, causing it to bang into the man before he could get up.
‘I knew something like this was too good to be true. If I wasn't so suspicious of something going on, that guy would have pricked me with that needle!’ Kevin thought as he rushed out of the tent to find himself outside, yet he wasn’t safe yet.
Just as he made it outside, he could see several men standing next to large trucks that were mostly blocking the way for him to run anywhere else. What was the most shocking thing, though, wasn’t the number of people, but in their arms was one of the kids from Black Rock Orphanage. The one that had gone just before Kevin.
His body was shaking, but they were able to hold onto it strongly with their grip and the next second, they threw the kid into the back of the large truck, treating him no better than a sack of potatoes.
‘What the f*ck is going on, what are they doing… are they kidnapping them… did they do all of this to sell our organs!?’ Kevin thought.
All he knew was that these men were clearly up to no good, and he assumed it had something to do with whatever they had intended to inject him with.
“Hey, what's that kid doing?!” One of the men shouted as he spotted Kevin. There seemed to be more people outside than inside, and because the young teenager knew that he had better chances heading back from where he came from.
Entering the tent again, he could see that the second man had gotten up, while his partner was still recovering. Rushing forward, Kevin quickly went to grab the dropped syringe and put it into his pocket, and as he got back up, he could see the man’s face in the perfect position, allowing him to throw his leg forward and kick him with the heel of his foot perfectly, making him lie flat on the ground once more.
Not slowing down, Kevin ran into the photography room he was in just seconds ago, and could see the photographer taking a photo of what would have been the next victim.
“It's a trap! All of it! They’re trying to kidnap us! We need to get out of here, quickly! Let's head to the police station!” Kevin was clearly panicked and frazzled and although the kids didn’t understand what was going on, coming from the same orphanage they trusted him, especially since they saw his tears running down his face as he informed them.
The kids got into action as they began to scream and run right back into the warehouse. The adults and workers themselves took a moment to understand the situation. Kevin quickly ran inside with the others as well, and the panic from those in the Black Rock Orphanage spread to the others.
“Kevin!” Birdie called out, as she ran up to him. “What's going on? Is everything alright?”
“No, these guys... I don't know what they're doing, but they were trying to inject us with some shit! I saw them throwing one of my friends into a van! We have to get out of here!”
Just as he said those words, the workers had blocked off the exit of the warehouse and had closed the doors firmly shut. One of the kids tried to push the adult, but the next second a fist hit the kid right in the face, knocking him on the back and blood poured from his mouth.
It made the situation that they were all in very clear.
“You little brats, we tried to do this in a peaceful and most convenient way! You just had to mess things up, didn’t you?!” A man shouted from behind, and Kevin could see that one of the kids had been grabbed and was being held from the back of his shirt. More men were seen behind him as well.
“How... how do we get out of this situation?!” Birdie asked.
Looking at how the kids were being treated, Kevin wanted to go over there and fight. Attempt to knock the person out and free the kids. Innu had taught him a few things, but he didn’t feel confident in his ability to take out adults. Not to mention, a lot of them looked to be well-built. At the same time, there was only one of him and many of them.
‘I have to get out of here! I still have the syringe! The police will have to do something if I show it to them!’ Kevin clenched his fist, and ran to the side of the wall that he had seen from before. He bolted as fast as he could, and Birdie was following right behind him.
One of the men saw him running and attempted to grab him, but sliding across on the floor, Kevin slid down as if he was going for the home plate, and managed to just avoid the man's fingers. Unfortunately, Birdie wasn’t as lucky.
“KEVIN!!!” She screamed, as the man put her over his shoulder, and it looked like the adults were gathering all the children and tying them up.
“I’ll come back, I’ll get help, I promise!” Kevin shouted back, taking all his will to turn around. He hurried to the panel he had seen earlier. Lifting it up he quickly crawled and was out of the warehouse.
The orphan knew he couldn't stop there, so he continued to run further and further. Kevin didn't have any phone with him, so he needed to find someone who did before the men could get to him. Fortunately, it didn't look like there was anyone following him just yet. They were far too busy dealing with all the orphans inside the warehouse.
Eventually, Kevin reached the metal fence. Not seeing any easy way, he climbed it up, sticking his hands and legs in whatever gap there was. Reaching the top, he jumped down, and continued to run forward.
‘How could this happen? …we were all happy and then... and then I told Suzan... I told her to sell the place. Everything that's happening... it's all because of me!’
Running out of breath, he put his hands on his knees and was panting hard, wiping the tears away until.
“Kevin, is that you?”
Looking up, the young teenager couldn't help but break out in a sobbing mess as he recognised the voice.
“Suzan... ”