Trapped in the Theater

Grandfather and I entered the darkened theater. The previews were already showing. Colorful lights flashed on and off the screen reflecting onto the moviegoers’ heads and the industrial carpet creating shifting shadows and optical illusions that screwed up my depth perception. It made it a tricky task to walk, not to mention find an unoccupied seat. I could imagine how difficult it was for my 88-year old grandfather to keep from tripping while we walked down the stairs then back up the slanted aisle.

We found two seats together, near the center of the auditorium, not too close to the screen so we wouldn’t get stiff necks from looking up or get blasted out by the sound system. I noticed that other people were still trickling in and searching for seats. “Good, we haven’t missed any of the movie,” I said.

Gramps and I settled back into the velvety corduroy seats, hoping we picked ones without spilled pop or too many buttered popcorn smears. I wriggled out of my coat to get comfortable. Two strong-looking men wearing heavy jackets were walking up the aisle on the left. Instinctively, I glanced to the far right. Two men dressed similarly were walking up that aisle, too. Two more were in the middle as well. ‘Strange I thought.’ They gave the distinct impression that they were working together. I did not think they were there to watch the movie.

Sidetracked, I watched the six men instead of the movie previews, to see where they were going to sit. They didn’t. Rather, they posted themselves at the ends of the auditorium and continued to stand. Alarm signals began ringing in my head when six more men dressed alike entered the three aisles and began retracing the footsteps of the first six.

“Grandpa, we’ve got to get out of here!” I whispered. “Something’s up. Those men are here to make trouble – either rob us or worse yet, kill us!”

“What?” Grandfather was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Those men standing in the aisles, they have guns and are going to kill us. We have to get out of here!” My voice sounded pinched.

I don’t know if Grandpa really understood what was going on, but he followed me nevertheless. We walked as causally up the middle aisle as we could looking for an exit. It was then that I realized that in order to get out we had to go to the front of the auditorium first then up the side aisles. We were trapped if we stayed where we were.

I said, “Grandpa, give me your wallet. I’ll hide it in case they’re here to rob us.”

“No, I can put it in a locker.”

I said, “Okay, but hurry.” I wondered where in hell he was going to find a locker in a theater.

I stepped toward the man closest to me in the middle aisle to distract him if need be. He was focused on the crowd of intent moviegoers who paid him no mind whatsoever.

A quiet cry of pain and surprise brought me spinning around searching for grandfather. As I did so, he stumbled forward, falling into my arms. I caught him. He gave another stifled groan of pain and died in my arms from a heart attack just as several more squads of soldiers ambled into the killing zone.

“Oh shit!” Holding my grandfather in my arms, I looked frantically around for a way to escape.