Breakout

by Annalise Clark

  Athena was a Valkyrie, a born warrior. And when I had wanted to get away from it all for a while, she couldn’t walk away from her calling. It is what she was born to do, and I had respected that. Still, not a day passed that I didn’t long for her. Being in here did not change that. In fact, it only made the longing stronger.

  Chapter Three

  Another day waking up in this hellhole. Another day fighting to hang on to the will to survive and to get out of here, whatever it takes. But as long as I got another day, I’d keep going until the day I didn’t.

  I woke before the morning roll call these days, almost always with the sun shining through the little barred window at the top of my wall. My internal alarm clock was set and that meant I woke at the same time, no matter what. Not that there was much to wake up for around here. I scratched another day marker in the wall, just to keep track.

  I guess the powers that be had decided we were going to do manual labor and other odd jobs for them now because one day the guards just stormed in and dropped this news on us. We were assigned “duty stations” but they mixed them up sometimes, so one person wasn’t always on the same job, day after day. I don’t know if that was by design, or just coincidence, but it kept the boredom at bay, so I’d take it.

  Prison labor wasn’t a new concept. It had a long and controversial history in the United States. Before the Great War, it was a legal form of slavery. See, the Thirteenth Amendment forbade slavery and involuntary servitude, “except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”

  And it was that little exception that had been exploited for many decades. Once a person was convicted of a crime, their constitutional rights, at least in that regard, were gone. We had used prison labor for everything from producing license plates to call centers to military gear.

  While I’d never been in prison before, I knew enough about the crooked system to know that it was the most underprivileged people who ended up being charged with crimes they may or may not have even committed, and then locked up working for pennies on the dollar to keep our economic system going; a system they would never benefit from because they were the disadvantaged group.

  This time of injustice and civil rights violation was one of the things that had precipitated the Great War. In the end, new laws were passed, and the outdated ones abolished.

  But none of that seemed to matter here at Oblivion. What a perfect name for this imperfect place!

  Today I was assigned to some kind of textile assembly line. We were making shirts of some sort, I think, although I couldn’t be sure from my phase in the line. All I knew was that I did my part when the pieces of cloth came in front of me down the line, and that meant I didn’t have a smelly mouth-breather in my face cursing me out. And every day that I could check that off my list was a good day.

  Today, I just happened to be working right beside a familiar face – the sexy vampire from the rec yard. Even in this awful place, she still managed to look amazing. Must be those vampire genes!

  As we worked on the line together, we often chatted, and today was no exception. It made the time pass a bit quicker. If we kept our voices low and didn’t have one of the super jerky guards on watch, they usually turned the other way and left us to it.

  “So, do you have a prison girlfriend?” She asked, winking. What was it with this vamp? She was constantly flirting!

  “Are you applying for the job?” I teased.

  “I might be. Can you cook?”

  “Well, if we’re gonna get that friendly, I might need to know your name.”

  “Vontessa.”

  “I’m Cale,” I said, extending a hand that she didn’t take.

  “Yeah, I know,” she said as she smiled and folded the piece of material coming down the line in front of her. “So, come here often?”

  “Not if I can help it!”

  We both laughed and despite her often-sarcastic, always-flirtations attitude, her laugh seemed genuine. It was nice to connect with someone in this awful place, no matter how briefly. Apart from Kallisto, I didn’t have what you would call friends in here, but I had a feeling we were all going to need some if we wanted to survive. This was the kind of place that could suck all the life right out of you, and those connections were the only thing keeping us going.

  Working this sweatshop life was definitely easier with her by my side.

  If this had been a different time and place, I might have pursued the flirtations with Vontessa to see how far this could go. I’d never been with a vampire before (as far as I knew) but they were supposed to be the best lovers, and there was no denying her breathtaking beauty.

  Part of me wondered if she was gay or just “prison gay”. Bored? Playing with my emotions? Eh, not that it mattered. This probably wasn’t the time or place to think about relationships, but it’s nature, right? Nature’s call could make you feel some crazy things when you were locked up like this.

  Gay, straight, good, bad… inside here, those labels don’t matter. Who you were on the outside no longer mattered, either. Inside these walls, it was a different world. I had seen a touch of this in my old job, but it wasn’t the same as living it. The longer I was here, the more I came to realize this. And if flirting on the assembly line was what got Vontessa through the day, who was I to judge?

  Right now, it was getting me through the day, too.

  ***

  After our work shifts, we had lunch back in our cells. I wasn’t sure if this place had a cafeteria, but they definitely didn’t let us go to eat in any kind of dining hall. No that it mattered – this garbage they fed us could hardly be called food anyway. I doubt they even needed a real kitchen to rustle up this gruel.

  I had a theory that they were trying to keep us separated. If we gathered together in big groups, we would talk to one another; figure things out. We might even team up against our captors. The more they kept us apart, the less likelihood of this. And that was precisely the reason I was trying my best to talk to every inmate here.

  Everything they did here had to be by design. Who they brought in, how they brought us in, those stupid implants in our arms, and even the guards chosen to oversee us… all of it was calculated. It was all part of a greater, master plan. If I could figure out what that plan was, or who was behind it, I had better odds of getting out of here.

  I pushed my slop away after forcing down a couple of bites. As horrible as it was, I did not want to die of starvation in here, either. For the next couple of hours, I spent a lot of time lost in my own head, pondering over all the facts I could remember since I got here, trying to make the puzzle pieces fit in my mind.

  Later that same day, a new guard arrived. He was as green as they come, and it was easy to pick up on in his timid stance, his meek voice, and the way the other guards razzed him every chance they got. I guess they were equal opportunity assholes.

  So, new guy was hired to be our new physical fitness instructor, because apparently, we needed that, although no one knew why we were here or how long we would be here. No one ever explained anything to us. They barked orders at us when they needed us to do something and ignored us the rest of the time.

  But there was something different about this new guy. I had my suspicions about what he was really here for, but it seemed like Rookie here actually believed in his new role at Oblivion. He was beaming from ear to ear and looked as proud as pie to be here. My guess was this was his first official professional role.

  Our cell block got to meet him just before evening “chow” was served. They had called our cell block out to an open meeting area for him to talk to us. This was the type of area you might see being used by general population in a regular prison, but they never let us come in here, or freely walk around like this. Getting the chance to do so now was a real treat.

  By the looks on the faces of some of these women, seeing the new guard was also a treat. He didn’t have the right chromosomes to be my type, but he was cute, obvious nervousness aside.<
br />
  “Uh, hi,” he said nervously, standing at a podium on a small platform at the front of the room. Lots of women whistled and cheered and jeered, and I could see his cheeks turning a beet red. The poor guy was clearly not cut out for this. “I’m uh, I am Agent Jones and um, I’m here to teach you, well, to lead you, in physical fitness.”

  “I will fitness you physically!” someone called from the back, followed by more whistles and cheers. Oh boy… these women were going to eat him alive.

  “Yeah, you can physical me any day, baby,” another shouted, causing both cheers and laughter from the other women in our block. He was facing a tough crowd today.

  He spoke briefly more about training and qualifications, but I don’t think any of the women were listening.

  “Okay, um, if you could all follow me outside through the doors here, we are going to do our first lesson.”

  Agent Jones was going to need to grow some thicker skin if he wanted to survive long in this place. For now, I was just grateful for something to break the monotony, and also incredibly curious about why they thought we needed physical fitness when they had never seemed to care about our health or well-being at any other point since I’d been here.

  Something was up…

  I could tell by the look on Kallisto’s face, she was thinking the same thing. For now, we followed the line out the door to see what ‘ol Jonesy had in store for us. If nothing else, at least it meant more time outside. You would not find me turning that down.

  We had exercise in the rec yard across from the men. A chain link fence separated us and their side. From the looks of it, they had a new fitness instructor, too. Theirs was a stark difference from Agent Jones and was leading them in a military-style drill exercise that looked far more intense that what we were doing over here.

  Taking care to show I was paying attention to the exercises Jones was leading us through, I also focused my senses on the men’s side of the rec yard. I had a gut feeling that they were also a key to why we were here and how to get out of here. What I would give to be able to talk to some of those guys and find out their stories!

  There was one guy who always caught my eye when we came out here. There was something about him… I could not put it to words, but I also couldn’t shake the feeling. Even though I was certain I had never met him before in my life, there was something awfully familiar about him.

  He was tall and muscly, with dark skin and equally dark eyes. His long, brown hair was pulled back in braids that fell nearly to his waist. His body and his face had strength written all over them. There was a stillness about him, though. He was a fighter, but not an instigator.

  I had been watching him for some time now. He didn’t seem to speak much when his cell block was outside. But he was watching, listening, feeling, and seeing with all of his senses. He was taking in everything around him in a manner that was quite familiar to me.

  He was like me, possibly even trained under the same program. I suspected he might be even more like me than just those observations disclosed. But to know for sure, I needed to talk to him. Who knew if he would admit to it, or even be willing to communicate with me given the situation, but I had to try. We needed allies on the other side of the fence.

  My intuition told me they were wanting the same thing. They were just as confused about being in here as we were, and just as anxious to get out. If we work together, collectively, we might be able to create an escape plan. I just needed to find a way to talk to them.

  “Now we’re going to Jumping Jacks,” Agent Jones called from the front of our little group and moving into the position himself. I’d say that for the greenie – he was doing the full workout with us! All the other guards in here seemed like lazy bums.

  “I’ll jump your Jack,” someone muttered, and all the women snorted and giggled. I know Jones must have heard it, but he kept his composure and continued the routine.

  “One and two, and three and four, and five,” he counted us through them, for sets of 20 of each exercise.

  I jumped and I counted, but all the while, I looked around me. Look with all your senses, I said to myself. I knew it was here; something was here, even if I didn’t know what yet. All I had to do was pay attention and the answer would reveal itself to me.

  Think, think, think!

  I needed a way to get a message to that guy on the other side. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, he turned his head in my direction. For the briefest of seconds, we locked eyes, and I know he saw me watching him. I tried to will my thoughts into his head, but I didn’t think my powers were working in here. That’s what those things in our arms were for. But just in case…

  We need to get out of this place. We need your help.

  He stared for a few seconds longer, and I may have been just imagining it, but I sensed he understood the message I was trying to send him. It was probably just wishful thinking… it’s not like this guy was a mind reader. Unless he was… ah, that was impossible. There were so few of us left in the world now. What would the odds be that we’d end up locked up in here together? Probably less than winning the lotto.

  I had been here too long. Fantasy was starting to blur with my reality. There was no way he was one of us. My wishful thinking had taken a dive down into Wonderland.

  Suddenly, I found what I was looking for!

  Agent Jones had a clipboard with him. On it there were several sheets of paper and a writing pen. It wouldn’t take a lot; I only needed a small piece and to get my hands on that pen. I didn’t even need to keep it – surely, he would miss it – I only needed to use it quickly and put it back.

  To do that, I was going to need some help… a bit of distraction would do. Looking around at all of these women just itching for a reason to fawn over the rookie guard, I think that distraction might be a bit easier to get than I first thought.

  Yes! I had a way to communicate with the men. Now all I had to do was write a message and get the long-haired man to find it. Thing may have been topsy-turvy in here, but my gut still told me he was the one. If we wanted the men’s help, we needed to get through to him first.

  Beside me, Kallisto was giving me a side eye, while still following along with this exercise routine.

  “I have an idea,” I said to her, huffing and puffing my way through the exercises.

  She chuckled, her own voice hardly showing exertion, “That’s what I am afraid of.”

  “I need you to distract Jonesy so I can get his clipboard.”

  “You’re gonna what now? Girl, those guards will tear you up. They ain’t gonna let you keep his clipboard.”

  “No, I’m not going to keep it. I just need his back turned long enough to write a short note on a small piece of paper. Then, I’ll put the pen and clipboard back and he will never know.:

  She shook her head in disbelief and amusement but agreed to help me. “How exactly am I supposed to distract him?”

  “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” I said smiling. “I believe in you!”

  Shortly after, we finally finished this workout session and I wondered if this is what it was going to be like every day. I did not find it too grueling, but I had been working out in my cell every day. Some of the women looked like they might keel over at any moment.

  “Great job today, ladies! Uh, inmates. Good work.” Agent Jones stuttered from the front. “Does anybody have any questions for me?”

  I nodded at Kallisto. This was her shot.

  “Are you single?” One of the girls shouted out. Again, everyone laughed and Jonesy blushed.

  “Does anybody have any questions for me about your physical fitness?” He said, clarifying his earlier question and ignoring hers.

  I nudged Kallisto. It was now or never.

  “Excuse me, sir. I have a question,” she said, raising her hand.

  “Yes?” he asked, a look of concern spread across his face.

  “Since they got us in here locked in these little cages, how are we supposed to be wo
rking on our physical health?”

  Relief spread across his face and he looked genuinely excited to answer a fitness-related question.

  “I am so glad you asked that!” As he turned to the group of women crowded around him and began to explain, I slipped just slightly behind him and edged my way closer to the clipboard. I would need to be fast. Secretly I hoped Kallisto could think of more fitness talk to keep him going.

  He seemed really into his explanation of how we could get physical exercise in the small areas we had to live in when I slipped the clipboard off the folding chair he had it on, flipped through to what look like a blank sheet near the back, then scrawled something very quickly onto the paper.

  “But what if I don’t have no weights or anything?” I heard Kallisto asking, knowing full well she already knew the answers to these questions, but she was doing just what I needed.

  As I scribbled the note onto the paper, I had the overwhelming feeling that I was being watched. Other guards, maybe?

  I looked up into the guard towers, but I couldn’t see anyone. There wasn’t anyone who I could see in any of the windows on this side of the building either. Then, I looked back toward the fencing. The man with the long hair… he was staring right at me.

  He had definitely seen what I was doing. Carefully, but quickly, I tore off the piece of paper I had written on, then slid the pen back into the clipboard and the clipboard back onto the chair.

  I folded the paper and slipped it into the waistband of my pants. Next, I would need to find a place to put it where the long-haired man could get it from his side of the fence. That didn’t leave many options.

  However, since they obviously wanted to keep us apart, there was a line of bushes in between their fence and ours, making it impossible to walk directly up to the fence. The bushes formed a hedge line that came out about three or four feet from the fencing, so that was as close as you could get.