Free A Necessary Kill by James P. Sumner

turn back around. Some groan, some yell, others stay worryingly silent. But they start walking toward us, this time with more purpose.
    The one with the keys makes his way to the front of the pack, re-opening the metal security gate halfway along the corridor. I’m actually a little relieved they’ve ignored the guards I left on the floor…
    “Adrian, we need to go. Right now,” urges Ruby.
    “Yeah… I think you might be right…”
    The crazy man charges forward, shoving other inmates out the way. They regain what little focus they had to begin with and chase after him.
    “Oh, shit!” I grab Ruby’s hand and we set off running down the stairs, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the two rampaging gangs of maniacs as they meet in the middle.
    We quickly come to the circular hub. Ahead of us, the door to the reception area is closed. I see another large group of guards assembled behind it. I have a key, but it won’t do us much good if we’re mobbed the moment we open the damn thing.
    I hear a noise behind us and look over my shoulder. My new stalker standing at the top of the stairs with a smile on his face and the shank in his hand, which is dripping blood all over the carpet.
    Ruby takes the lead, dragging me off to our right. “Come on—this way.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “Anywhere that isn’t here!”
    We run down the corridor, frantically glancing at either side for an open door, but every one we try is locked.
    This is bad. Five security guards, I can handle. They’re slow, predictable, and poorly trained. But close to twenty crazed inmates loose in an asylum who have no issue with self-harming as well as killing—that’s a different thing altogether. I know a lost cause when I see one, and we absolutely would not win that fight.
    So we run.
    But, unfortunately, we seem to have headed down another dead end…
    Shit.
    I look over my shoulder and see the inmates stop about halfway down the corridor. They shift back into their slow, demented shuffle. Blood is still dripping on the floor from my stalker’s blade. And from his head wound.
    “This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done,” says Ruby.
    I shrug. “You gotta admit, given you’ve only known me twenty minutes and I’ve only done two things, for both of them to be the dumbest thing you’ve seen me do is pretty impressive.”
    I feel her turn to look at me. “You’re crazier than anyone in here, you know that?”
    I smile, not taking my eyes off the inmates. “Thanks.”
    “Not a compliment…”
    “So you say…”
    I take a step back drawing level with a door on my right. I glance through the porthole window and see it’s a therapy room of some sort. I reach for the handle and try it.
    The door opens.
    I grab Ruby’s arm and drag her sideways into the room after me. I slam the door, turn the lock, and pull the table immediately to my right in front of it.
    “Okay, that should buy us some time. We need to—”
    She hits my arm, interrupting me. She’s standing at my side facing the room. I look at her and see she’s staring blankly behind me, transfixed by something.
    I close my eyes and sigh. “What now?”
    I turn around and look at the room. It’s a perfect square, maybe fifteen by fifteen. The wall opposite the door has two windows behind metal bars, stretching up from waist height to the ceiling. There are plastic chairs positioned in a circle on one side, and opposite is a row of cupboards running the full width of the room. I’m guessing they have activity equipment stored in them or something.
    In the far corner, staring at us with a vacant expression, is a man standing awkwardly and clutching a teddy bear. He’s wearing white coveralls and has to be close to seven feet tall. He’s an absolute fucking mountain…
    “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me…” I mutter.
    12:07 EDT
    If he were my height, he’d be incredibly overweight, but because he’s so tall, it stretches the fat, spreading it over a larger area,