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the first one to climb up this time.
    Dahlila:
"Just don't fall."
    Joe:
"I won't.  I can see a little light up there though."
    The climb
to the top was short, and Joe found a metal door with a latch on it.  He pulled
the old latch towards him and pushed the little door.  It budged only a little.
    Dahlila:
"Is that all you got?  You're really going to let a little door end your
hopes for escape like that?"
    For some
reason, that got right under Joe's skin, like when his friend Jonathan used to
tease him about his height or basketball when they were little.  He pushed and
pushed with all he could muster until he almost fell off the ladder rungs. 
Dahlila managed to do some quick acrobatics to climb up past Melissa to help
him out.  They both pushed together until they moved whatever was atop their
exit and opened the latch door.  They emerged into a room filled with
construction equipment and Joe saw it was a large workbench that had blocked
their exit.  There were old dirty gray tarps covering nearly everything in the
room.
    Dahlila:
"Come on, no time to waste!"
    They
raced through the room and found themselves suddenly right near the football
field.
    Joe:
"Oh no..."
    Ahead of
them near the sidelines they spotted a group of men fervently talking.  It was
mostly a group of the black-suited men and the security guards.  All of them
seemed to be focused on the man in the center.  He stood out from the rest by
the sharpness of his style, and projected an air of importance as he gave the
men orders.  He was dressed in a crisp gray suit that was about two shades
darker than his hair.  He looked sort of familiar to Joe, but he couldn't
remember where the heck he would've seen the man.  Melissa looked at him with
terror in her eyes.  She whispered something under her breath.  Joe barely
heard it.
    Melissa:
“…Grabas…”
    Suddenly
the commanding man was looking right at him.  His eyes were pale blue and
hunter sharp.  Joe knew the man wouldn't turn away no matter how much he wished
for it.  When his stare intensified, the men around him took note and looked
over to what he was staring at.  With all eyes on them, Dahlila took off with
Melissa on her back, yelling.
    Dahlila:
"Run the other way!"
    She
darted up the stands and out of sight.  Joe followed her orders, but was sure
he would be caught.  He ran as fast as he could up the stadium aisles and out
as soon as he found the nearest exit to the lobby.  There, he saw a bunch of
security and knew the jig was up, but now he felt daring.  He remembered the
thrill of running from when he used to play football.  He was never good at it,
but it was fun, and now … was this fun?  He ran and ran, and when a security
guard tried to grab him he dodged and ran some more.  He saw his exit, but
after his brush with the security guard the rest now saw him.  He was almost
out of breath but he’d curse himself if he got caught.  He’d at least distract
these guys until the girls could get free.  He was good for that.  That’s when
he noticed something odd.  There were no police inside the stadium, only
security and the men in black.  All the cops were on the outside.
    With one
final push, Joe raced to the doors leading to the outside.  This was the most
exercise he had gotten in a long time and it was killing him.  He pushed and
pushed and pushed and knew that after it all he would pass out and die.  With
no breath left and no options available, Joe leapt and crashed into the
awaiting security guard, sending both of them tumbling through the stadium
doors to the outside.  Joe tried to get up, but the man was on top of him.
    “Aye, get
offa him!  Come on, move—move!  We’ll take it from here, meathead.”
    Joe
remained on the ground even after the security guard grudgingly rose off of
him.  Joe looked over and saw a young officer approaching.
    Joe:
“Ouch!”
    He was
flipped over and made to sit up.  The young officer roughly grabbed his arms
and