The Wooden Horse

Chapter Seven

Step One

Walt rolled himself to the nurses station.
“I’ve had about enough of your shit, Shirley! I need my fucking pills, now!”
Nurse Shelly looked up and closed her eyes at the same time. Not now, she thought. Her shift was almost over and she was almost done charting. Why now, why me?
“Mr. Odell, I just gave you your meds, not even twenty minutes….” her words abruptly stopped and were replaced with a surprised gurgle as the contents of Walters water pitcher hit her in the face.
“NOW can I have my pill, bitch!?” his face was red and serious. The wetness was followed immediately by the water pitcher itself as it smacked poor Shelly right between the eyes and bounced to the floor. Luckily, the container was made of plastic. It still smarted, especially when it came out of the blue like that. She jumped to her feet in shock.
“Goddammit Walter!” Her cool was totally out the window.
She grabbed the phone and hit the intercom.
“I need any available personnel at the East Nurses Station, STAT!”
A light stampede brought six aides and four nurses. They found Walter Odell screaming at Nurse Shelly. She was wiping her face with a paper towel.
“Watch him! Watch his hands! He’s violent, and I’m getting a sedative!” She disappeared into the med room for a brief moment, returning with Walter’s “leveler”. It was nitey nite time for Walter.
The angry old man took his pill and the entourage of staff escorted him to his room. He didn’t even fight back when three aides changed his clothes, slapping a pull up onto his privates, and put him in bed. He just rolled onto his right side and pulled thecovers over his head like he always did. An aide stood by the door for a few minutes, making sure the old man was done for the night. Satisfied, she left. She left the door open about a foot, so they could check on him as they walked by.
Under his dark covers, Walt fished the two pills out of his cheek. No vivid dreams tonight, he thought. Now he just had to wait. The hour went by slowly. The old man listened for any voices, or footsteps, then unlocked the side rail in front of him and let it down gently. He slid out of the bed like an ancient ninja. He shuffled to his closet and retrieved a heel protector pad. It had a hump of padding on both ends, and was about two feet long. He placed it in his bed and covered it with his blanket. He tucked it in, and adjusted it. Okay, close enough, he thought. Shuffling back to the closet, he reached into the back and got out a set of scrubs. These he donned quickly by the dim light shining in from the hallway. The green scrubs felt strange on his skin. Too thin, even with his undershirt and pull up still on. He pulled out a pair of black tennis shoes, which he slipped on quickly. He stopped and listened as two aides walked by, casting their shadow into his room, but not stopping. Now for the hard part.
He went to the window and unlocked it. He pulled it to the left, opening it half way. He took a look around. The parking lot was empty and dark, save for a few staff cars and a lone street light. Walter raised his leg up and climbed through the window. The screen pushed aside easily, as he’d cut it with Sonny’s pocket knife along the right side and bottom on a previous visit. He’d used a couple pieces of medical tape to secure it at the corner so it wouldn’t be noticed flapping in the breeze. Outside, the light breeze gave the old man a chill. He pushed the window closed, leaving it a crack open so he could get a grip on it later. He turned and walked the short distance in the yard to the sidewalk that circled the facility. He stayed facing the parking lot, and reached into a pocket for a cigarette and a lighter. He fished out the two pills he’d been given and tossed them into the grass. He lit a smoke and stood as tall as his old back would allow him. He walked around to the back of the nursing home, nonchalantly, smoking and watching.
Step Two

Martha liked trolling the halls at night. It was quieter, if not completely so. People left her alone for the most part. Sometimes a chatty aide would break into her bubble, but she allowed it with a feeble smile. She passed the West Nurses Station slowly. She looked up at the clock by the med room. Two minutes past one a.m. I’m late, she thought. He’ll be there, anyway. He’s not the kinda fella that gives up that quick. Plus, he knows I’m a slow old lady. She grinned to herself.
She rolled past Ann’s door, shut as usual. Nice to have a sitter and a big room, without folks going in and out all hours of the day. Money’s good for something. Makes a difference for a lotta things. Her mind was wandering, but that was normal. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a second. Door. Got to open the door. One o’clock. The door was just ahead, but she meandered to it without a care. She finally made it to the back door and turned her chair slowly, stopping next to the key pad next to it. From her nightgown pocket she retrieved the little button sized thing that Walt had given her. She placed it exactly as he’d told her. The magnetic dime sized thing latched onto the pad and then she pushed the door’s entry bar just enough to open it. No alarm went off. She reached up and put her hand onto the window for just a second. She left a bit of a hand print on the glass. Then she rolled back down the hall like she did every night. Mission accomplished. She smiled to herself. That squirrel ain’t the only one with a lotta nuts, she thought.

Out in the back parking lot, Walt finished his smoke from his vantage point behind the trash dumpster. It felt good to be outside, in the shadows. He’d always loved being in the shadows, invisible. He saw Martha’s hand on the glass, grateful for the inside help. She was a good friend. Crazy old coot, but a good friend. He scanned the back of the building one more time. Nothing. He could hear a couple of people at the smoke patio, on the other side of the fence, but they couldn’t see him. He headed for the door, staying at a casual pace. He made it to the door, but stayed off to the side until he could look inside, down the hallway. Clear. He went straight inside, careful to not let the door shut behind him. The device Sonny had brought him would keep the alarm from going off until he removed it. He walked confidently to Ann’s room and turned the knob slowly. He stepped inside, closing the door without a sound.
The room was dark, except for the tiny blue and green dots of lights of the monitors next to the bed. Ann lay sleeping. Her eyes were closed and her breathing nearly silent, as the ventilator was top of the line. Walter took a long look at her, then snapped to the task at hand. His eyes adjusted to the dark slower than he was used to, but the monitor lights helped guide him. The passageway to his left was the anteroom where the VR equipment was located. He walked carefully across the tiled floor, pausing at the entry. No lights were on, as in Ann’s room, but the equipment’s lights gave off a soft glow. Enough to work with. He located the correct drawer. He opened the third drawer from the top, revealing rows of quarter sized disks. He chose the disk in the third row, second from the left, and gently held it out to the meager light of a monitor. Each disk was marked with four digits and a letter, and this one read “F1001”. Bingo. His hand slipped into his scrub pocket. The tiny box Sonny had brought him was there. He set F1001 down on the computer desk and opened the box. The disk inside was identical to F1001. He set his disk in it’s place and closed the drawer, putting the original in his pocket. Done, he headed to the door. Ann lay there, eyes still closed, as he passed by. He resisted the urge to stop. He gave her one last glance before he turned the knob carefully. Pulling it open just a crack, he looked and listened for just a second. The nurse and an aide were walking in the other direction, way down the hall. He waited. They entered a room, and he stepped out into the hall as quickly as he dared. He closed the door without a sound.
Step Three

Martha was way down on the opposite end of the hall, meandering as always. Walt suspected she was just curious, but didn’t wait to find out. He headed for the exit door. He kept his head down, like he was looking at a cell phone, and stayed right up against the wall on the right side as he walked. The camera angle was worse on that side. He made it to the corner, under the camera, and was just about to exit when he saw the call light come on two doors down. Shit. From down the hall he could hear the phone chime that warned the nurses desk that someone needed help. Down the hall he saw Martha wheel herself into a doorway.
“Hey, I thank somebody wants you down there.” She hollered into the room in a louder than necessary voice. Martha was parked halfway into the doorway, however.
“Back up, Miss Martha, and I’ll go check.” The tired nurse waited while Martha fumbled with her chair, checking the brakes and taking a full minute to give her room enough to get out. By that time, Walt was standing beside the dumpster again, fumbling with the second cigarette he’d brought. He grinned to himself as his trembling hand lit the Pall Mall. He took a deep drag and enjoyed the vice for a second.
He pulled the tiny box out of his pocket. He retrieved the original F1001 disk from inside, and looked at it thoughtfully. It was a very expensive piece of work, Sonny had told him. Probably worth fifty thousand bucks, or more. Tech people could reverse engineer it’s innermost secrets and make the patents worthless. That was probably worth millions in the long run. Walter flicked it into the trash dumpster without a second thought.

Step Four

Walt strolled casually back around the building, smoking. The parking lot was still empty. He had only been gone for thirty minutes, but it felt longer. He headed to the window and tossed his smoke after dragging it to the butt. A quick glance into the room showed no sign of danger, so he pulled the window open and climbed inside. Closing the window, he stripped the scrubs off and stuffed them into the back of the closet with the shoes following. He pulled back the covers and put the pad back into his closet. Satisfied, he crawled into bed. His old body was stiff from the effort, but he didn’t care.
He’d been on plenty of missions at night, in the service. He’d stalked other men, reconnoitered targets, and even ambushed groups of terrorists chasing him. He felt a familiar thrill in this mission that he’d never felt before. Maybe because this mission was more personal. It meant everything to him. It was the end game. Walt closed his eyes and tried to sleep. It was an hour before he finally dozed off. Maybe he should’ve held onto those pills, after all.