The moment the roof closes, leaving all six of us in the plastic hallway of Julia’s dollhouse, is muted insanity.

                Brian and Kelly throw themselves down on the ground next to Anna, who promptly bursts into continued screams of the labor pains she’d apparently been holding back just to avoid Julia’s prying eyes upon her for as long as possible.  Her cheeks are flushed purple with the strain.

                The father of her child puts his hand in hers, allowing her to squeeze it, while Kelly feels Anna’s profusely sweating forehead.

                “Anna, my God, you’re… you’re…” Brian cries out happily, running a hand through her hair and kissing her forehead tenderly before giving her proper space again.  “You did it.”

                “I know,” she huffs through the pain.

                He doesn’t have to say it: that she lived long enough to get to this point.

                Everyone present knows he was about to say that, and we’re grateful for it too.  In the back of our minds, I think all of us had doubts.  Anna’s body has clearly taken the worst beating out of all of us due to the additional life she has to provide for, with her arms and legs drained painfully thin, and her cheeks sunken in.

                “Is… is everyone okay?” Gina asks with tired relief, looking around the area dimly lit by cheap Christmas bulbs as we remain standing next to one another.

                “Fine,” Brian says mindlessly, his focus entirely on Anna.

                “Living,” Kelly answers, shooting Gina a quick glance and an impossible smile of reassurance.

                “Just peachy,” Charlie chuckles, coughing weakly.

                Gina’s hand reaches for mine and I clasp it, our fingers intertwining with all our strength.

                I didn’t know it was possible to feel joy so pure amidst so much chaotic hell.

                But it is.  I feel it right now.

                Safe and perfect, I never want to let go of Gina’s hand again, and the thought of having to do so soon makes me want to cry, but there’s no time for that now.

                “What about you?” I whisper into her ear, comforted by the feeling of her hair against my forehead.  I know the answer can’t be good, but I need to hear it anyway.

                “I’m fine.  I’m making it,” Gina says with a nod, her face solemn but her voice truthful.

                “I’m so sorry,” I choke out after a stinging moment.  I don’t know how I could possibly say it well enough to make up for she just went through.  “I’m…”

                “Don’t,” she adds immediately, giving my hand another squeeze.  “Don’t do that.  It wasn’t your fault.  You know it was a test as much as me.  None of what you just did would’ve worked if I hadn’t done that.”

                “But-”

                “But nothing.  Stop it.  It’s okay, Jack,” she reassures quickly, gently shushing me as she tightly wraps her other arm around me.

                I have to bite my lip to keep it together.  Gina’s the one that just got physically tortured, not me, and yet she’s the one helping me keep my composure.  Where does she find it within herself to do that?

                Despite my unique leverage point over our captor, I’m reminded of how truly fragile I am without these people.  Especially her.

                “It’s happening,” Anna screeches suddenly, tears rolling as she clenches Brian’s hand.  Everyone’s attention is pulled back to her.

                “Kelly!” Brian croaks desperately.  “You have to help her.”

                “I… I d-don’t know if I…” Kelly stutters, drawing her hand away from Anna again.

                “How much do you know?  You can do it, can’t you?”

                “I… I can d-do it.  I’m an EMT.  Or… I was,” the former nursing student answers, shuddering with anxiety.  “I… I m-mean, I remember, I think I can d-do it, b-but…”

                “But what?”

                “I haven’t done it myself before, okay?” she cries, starting to break down as she holds her hands together to keep them from shaking.  “I don’t know for sure!”

                “Whatever you know is gonna have to be enough.  We’ll help you,” Brian continues, swallowing hard and placing a hand on Kelly’s shoulder to calm her.  “I know you can do it.”

                “Okay.  Okay.  Help me prop her up against this wall,” Kelly instructs, stiffening her upper lip and wrapping her arms around Anna’s shoulders for support.  “Gina, the hankie in that room…”

                “On it,” Gina replies, clearly still sapped of strength, but given impetus from the dire need of the situation, and darts into the room to collect the blanket from one of the leftover matchbox beds.

                In the haze of the moment and fear for Anna, I finally shift my gaze over to Charlie, who’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed.  Out of everyone, he appears to be in the best health.

                That won’t be lasting for long if I have anything to say about it.

                “Here!” Gina says, bundling the blanket-sized handkerchief down against the floor to give Anna a place to lie down while Brian and Kelly help shift her onto it.

                “Brian, talk to her!” Kelly orders, having fully fallen back into her training, as she positions herself at the end of the cloth in front of Anna, whose legs she gently parts to make room to work.

                “Anna.  Just look at me.  Please.  Squeeze my hand again,” Brian pleads, clearly not sure of what to do but frantic with fear for the woman he’s fallen for in the middle of our enslaved existence.  He tries to brush the matted hair off of Anna’s sweating face, but she still has a hard time focusing on him.

                Gina backs up again next to me, her gaze fleetingly shifting over Charlie, who remains leaning silently against the plastic wall.  Hugging me closer to her again, this time she presses her lips to my ear.

                “What about him?” she whispers, then turns to face the delivery group again, trembling each time Anna releases a blood-curdling scream.

                “Julia was drunk.  Told me it was him who told her about Beth,” I answer back into her ear.  “He just wants to get with her.  That’s it.  He believes everything she’s fed him.  Doesn’t care about getting out.  Doesn’t care if we die.”

                “What are you going to do?” Gina hisses back to me.

                “I’m gonna break his face,” I grumble.  “Maybe the rest of him too.”

                “What?”
                “I saw a hole in the wall.  Under the flower stool outside.  Just big enough for us to fit through.  But we can’t tell the others with him still listening.”

                “Be careful,” she whispers back with concern.  “Do it quick.  If he catches you, he might hurt the others.  Anna can’t move right now.”

                “I know.  Nothing to hit him with, though.  Walls are too thin to work either.  Have to do it myself.  Fast.”

                “Okay,” she says.  “I’ll help you.”

                “Are you sure?”

                “We’re this far,” she whispers confidently.  “He won’t get away with it.”

                “All right,” I say.  “I’ll hit his head in the wall.  You kick his groin.  I’ll grab his neck.”

                She nods, squeezing my hand a final time as we finally move apart and casually take a few steps closer to the doorframe Charlie is standing in.

                Things turned ugly in the hallway quickly while Gina and I talked.  The cloth is already soaked with blood, and Anna is in full-fledged hyperventilation, but things seem to be going well, all things considered, as Brian and Kelly do their best to ease the opening.

                Our chances would be infinitely better if we had the time to wait for the baby to arrive before confronting Charlie, with the help of everyone.  Unfortunately, I know time is slipping through our fingers as it is, and Julia will eventually will recover from her binge drinking, return to collect me, and see how willing everyone is to bow down to her undeserved might.  I’ve at least relayed the information to Gina, but that may not be enough.

                I shoot Gina a final glance as we come to stand next to Charlie, signaling to her, and then I act before I have the chance to second guess myself.  Caving my hand against Charlie’s head, I slam his skull against the plastic wall as hard as I can.  It’s not much, but it brings on a loud enough smack to at least disorient him.

                Gina is quick, swinging her leg back and kicking straight forward with the might of a striker directly between Charlie’s legs.

                “What the fuck!” he groans out, instantly crumbling to his knees, hands around his crotch.  I double back behind him and wrap an arm around his neck.  I’m skinny, but wiry, and pulling as tight as I can against his windpipe, I can hear his breathing constricting almost instantly.

                “Jack!” Brian cries out, turning to see the commotion.  “What the hell are you two doing?”

                “He’s the one!” I grunt, struggling to stay latched onto Charlie as he fights to remove my arm from around his neck.  Gina nets him a solid punch to the gut, though, slowing his progress as we wrestle.  “He told Julia about Beth.  He’s the reason she’s dead!”

                “What are you talking about?” he shouts, rising to his feet, Anna’s blood on his hands as Kelly continues to work on the screaming mother-to-be.  “That’s not possible.”

                “Yes it is!  She told me he did, right after we told him about it.  I got her drunk, and…”

                “You what?”

                “Just LISTEN!” I demand, but at that moment Charlie manages to wriggle away from me and swings his elbow back into my stomach, knocking the wind cleanly out of me.

                “Get the fuck off me, you little piece of shit,” Charlie growls, rising to his feet and nursing his reddened neck before kicking me hard in the ribs.  “Swear to God, climbing up inside that pussy so often is getting to you.  You think you can say shit to me?  You with your getting to live in the lap of luxury while she has the rest of us living in fucking jars?”

                “God damn it, STOP it, both of you!” Brian yells.  “You’re not doing this right now.  Anna is…”

                “If you want to help her, you need to help me stop him!” I manage, trying to pull myself to my feet again.  I see Charlie rearing back to kick me back down, but Brian grabs him under the elbows and wrenches him backward.  This ends with Brian getting a swift uppercut to the chin that forces him to release the scruffy newcomer.

                “Everyone STOP!” Kelly bellows out, still entirely focused on Anna, but understandably confused by all this.  “Don’t touch each other.  Just talk.”

                “Afraid that’s not possible, hon,” Charlie says, rolling his neck and popping it while clenching his knuckles together to ease them after punching Brian.  “Julia’s best boy decided I haven’t already sunk low enough and is trying to take away the last good thing I have: my name.  I’m not about to let that happen.”

                “Then we’ll make it possible,” Brian answers, putting an arm in front of Charlie from behind and shoving him hard down to the floor, kicking his legs out from under him.  “Stay down until we talk this out.”

                “I have no beef with you, ass-wipe.  You let me alone, and let me fix up Jackie-Boy’s face for all the lies he’s throwing at me, and then maybe we’ll have a nice little chat after,” Charlie threatens.

                “You’ll talk now, you piece of shit,” Gina snarls, stamping a foot down once again without mercy onto Charlie’s crotch with a sickening thud.  Body convulsing, the defeated man resorts to cradling his damaged goods.

                “Anna!” Brian gasps, swiveling to check up on her at the sound of another scream.

                “She’s doing it, Brian.  The baby’s coming now,” Kelly calls out without turning around.  “Push, Anna.  Push!”

                “Jack, what was it that you think you heard her say?” Brian asks, turning back to me.  “I… I mean, I’m not doubting you, but…”

                “She said he loves her.  That he wanted her to take him out of here and play with him too, and that he couldn’t wait to tell her about Beth,” I repeat back, the words told to me by the drunken Julia melded painfully into my memory.

                “Think about it, Brian,” Gina pleads.  “The way he was when he got here, and then the day we told him.  About the plan.  The next time we were outside.  That was when…”

                “He wanted to talk to her alone,” Brian finishes dryly, nodding his head, his gaze glazed over.