Fighting to Survive

by Rick Pine

  In the corner of the room, next to the bed, was a wooden chair. Strange for a cell to have a chair like that, he thought. It isn’t bolted down. A broken chair leg could make a nice weapon. Casey couldn’t help thinking of all the things he could use to his advantage when he tried to escape. He sure as hell wasn’t going to just sit here and wait to be taken to the Genovese, where his chance of survival was, in his best estimate, zero!

  “Hey, you,” a voice said. Casey turned to look where it was coming from. He didn’t have to look hard. In the opposite cell stood a young girl. It was the girl he’d seen fight the other night.

  “Are you the guy I saw upstairs last night?” Alex asked.

  Casey stood and approached the bars. He tilted his head in both directions to look for signs of a patrol or guards, but saw nothing in the immediate vicinity. “Yeah, we met after your fight. Why are you in a cell? Aren’t you their prized Warrior?”

  “You fucking joking?”

  Casey was confused. What am I missing?

  “Just because we fight for them, it doesn’t mean they treat us any different. We are still prisoners. We just get a few more perks, that’s all.”

  “Like what?” Casey asked, genuinely curious.

  “We get good meals. Keeps us strong, I guess. And we get to go down there a few hours a day to train.” Alex nodded her head towards the door marked GYM. “Otherwise, we’re stuck in this cell like the rest of the fuckwits.”

  Casey’s thoughts suddenly went to Billy. He was sure he had to be down here, too. But he hadn’t seen him on the way down to his cell. Casey counted that his cell was fourth down on the right. So there were another six to eight cells on each side past them and towards the gym. He had to be in one of those.

  “Why are you here?” Alex asked.

  Casey was unsure how much to tell her. He didn’t want to endanger anyone else with his secrets, but he had to find out where Billy was, and she was currently his best hope.

  “My best friend’s boy was kidnapped by the lowlife that put me in this cell. They wanted him to fight in the pits. I came here to bargain with them. I failed. Now I’m here too. Have you seen him? He would have come in two nights ago.”

  Alex remained silent. He looked at her, and she was appeared deep in thought. Something was clearly bothering her. Casey decided not to push it.

  After a few moments, Alex replied. “Yeah, I saw the new boy. He …” Alex seemed to struggle to find the right words, but settled with the blunt truth. “He was crying a lot the first night. At least he hasn’t had to fight. They didn’t even train him yet.”

  Casey noticed how her tone had become more somber. Something he had said had affected her. He knew he wasn’t there to make friends, but something about her now screamed vulnerable to Casey.

  “I’m glad they stuck to their word. That was part of the deal. Not that it matters now.”

  “What happened? Why are you in the cell?”

  “I made a deal with Mr. DeLuca: he wouldn’t make the boy fight if I did something for him. It didn’t go so well, so they locked me up.” Casey conveniently didn’t mention the real reason for his incarceration.

  More silence followed Casey’s words. Alex was now sitting on her cot and staring at the floor. Something was troubling her.

  Alex broke the silence once again. “Why you? Where’s the boy's father?”

  “He had his ear cut off and was beaten. He would have been no use here,” Casey replied. He was expecting some sort of reaction from his bluntness, but nothing came. It didn’t shock her. But then why would it? She would have seen and done far worse to lesser men.

  Alex continued to stare at the floor, deep in thought. Casey grabbed his chair from the corner of the room and placed it in the opposite corner against the bars. He sat down and tried to look relaxed. There was something she wasn’t telling him. Casey had no idea if it was pertinent to his survival or not, so he had to at least try and find out what was bothering her.

  “How long have you been here?” asked Casey.

  “Just over a year.”

  “That’s a long time. You’ve been undefeated all that time?”

  “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

  She had a point. Casey was never good at small talk, just the wisecracks.

  “Yeah, I guess. Sorry...” Casey paused, wondering if she’d talk or clam up. Only one way to find out. “So how did you end up here? Did you owe them?”

  Alex lifted her head and shot him a stern look. Her face said, How dare you ask, but her lips remained sealed. Casey tried a different tactic to get her to open up, speak a language understood.

  “Did you hear I got to fight the other night, too? Not long after I watched your fight, actually.”

  “Yeah? Must have done alright, don’t see any marks on you. Who’d ya fight, some little five-foot tall bitch?”

  “No. One of Mr. DeLuca’s goons. The big one… Lou, I think? He’s a friend of yours, right?”

  “You fucking bitch! Why did you get to fight that big ass ugly motherfucker? I’ve been asking for a chance to smash his teeth in ever since he brought me here. Cock!”

  Casey held his hands up. “Hey, wasn’t my choice. I didn’t get any say in the matter. I had to beat Lou in the ring just to get a chance to earn Billy back. If it’s any consolation, I heard he’s in the hospital now eating with a straw.”

  Alex laughed, wickedly. Casey could tell she found some enjoyment from that fact. Foul mouth aside, she was angry, she was in pain. Casey could see through the “hard man” image she was trying to present to the world. She was hiding something.

  “Why did you want to fight him so much?” asked Casey.

  “I didn’t want to fight him. I wanted to kill him.”

  Casey remained silent in the hope she’d further her explanation in the uncomfortable silence. It paid off.

  “He’s on my list. He was one of the three motherfuckers that came to my house. He didn’t pull the trigger, but he was as much to blame as the others.” Alex’s closed her fists so tight her knuckles turned white. She punched down on the mattress of her cot. “Those fuckers killed my dad!” she screamed. Tears started rolling down her face as her face turned red with rage. “It wasn’t his fault, it was hers. She did this. It’s her fault they came. Why couldn’t they have shot that bitch? Why dad? Why!?” Alex sobbed uncontrollably.

  Casey now understood why she was so aggressive. She was still grieving for her father. In a strange way, carrying that pain with her had helped her stay alive. Without it, she would have lost in the Pits a long time ago. Being tortured like that was no way for a young girl to live, though. Just a few moments ago he saw her as some kind of rebellious teenager. Now he saw her for what she was; a young girl grieving the loss of her best friend, her father.

  “I’m sorry. Honestly,” Casey said in a comforting tone. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love at the hands of the Mafia.”

  Alex removed her tear soaked hands from her face and looked at Casey with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”

  “How old are you?”

  “What? I’m seventeen, why?”

  “My daughter would have been sixteen-years-old this year. She looked a little like you actually, same brown hair at least.”

  “They took her?”

  “No. They murdered her, and my wife. They took everything from me in one night. They were supposed to kill me, too, but that part didn’t work out too well for them.” Now tears started to form in Casey’s eyes. He fought it, like always. Now was not the time to be vulnerable. He had to keep his head clear. If an opportunity to escape presented itself, he had to take it, quickly. He rubbed his eye to clear the few tears that had spilled down his cheeks.

  Alex was silent again, processing what she had heard. “I guess I’m sorry, too,” Alex said. “So why didn’t they kill you?”

  “Back then, or now?” asked Casey.

  “Both, I guess.”

  “Back then, I kille
d their hitman before he could kill me.” Casey purposefully avoided telling her he used to be in the Cosa Nostra, and that the only reason he’s alive is because they couldn’t send their best hitman because he was their best hitman. If she found out he was one of them, she might start to hate him, too. Casey had to assume she was more fragile than she appeared. He wasn’t looking to make friends, but he was sure he had enough enemies already. And her skills would probably come in handy in his escape effort.

  “So why did they lock you up instead of killing you now? I don’t understand?”

  “Well, until very recently they didn’t know who I was. Apparently, in the ten years I’ve been in hiding, the Genovese family put a price on my head. I guess Mr. DeLuca wants to present me as a gift to Genovese family himself.”

  “So they asked you to do something for them, even though they didn’t know who you were? Dumb fuckers. How come they’re in charge? Didn’t they just scan you?”

  Casey smiled. Her innocence was starting to show now her guard was down. “I don’t have an ID chip anymore. And I made sure their scanners didn’t find that out. I’ve been around a little while, and have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  “Fair, enough,” Alex said. “So what now?”

  “I don’t know yet, I’m still figuring that out. I don’t intend to go willingly. I can trust you to keep that to yourself, right?”

  Alex laughed. “Yeah, I won’t snitch on you, man. Hell, I’ll even help if you take me with you?”

  “Where would you go if I did?”

  “To my brother. He’ll be fifteen now. He’s left with my mom, you know, the bitch that got my dad killed? He’ll need my help now dad’s gone. She won’t be much use, that’s if she’s still alive.”

  “You know that’ll be the first place they’ll look, right?”

  “Maybe. But I have to try. Plus, we lived in the Bonanno territory. They won’t be able to come get me without Don Santora’s permission.”

  Casey knew she had a point. If they wanted to come get her from another territory they’d have to make a deal with them, give something in return. These days that meant crude oil or gasoline. Given what had just happened to a shipment a few hours ago, that was unlikely.

  “I’ll sleep on it,” Casey replied.

  “What if they come get you before then?”

  “They won’t. The Genovese family won’t trust Mr. DeLuca to deliver me to them, in case I escape on-route. They won’t risk that. They’ll drive down themselves and collect me in armored cars. That’ll take some time. The drive alone will take at least ten hours. No point in staying up all night and being too tired to run, right?”

  Alex seemed to agree with his assessment. Now all Casey had to do was figure out how to escape and if Alex would be a help or hindrance in that effort. Casey lay down on his cot bed looking at the ceiling. He stared at it for a while, as if waiting for the answers to magically appear in the cracks above.

  Chapter 25

  “Psst, Casey. Wake up,” Nicolas whispered for the third time.

  Casey heard him this time, and rose from his deep slumber. Rubbing his eyes, as he sat up on his cot bed.

  “What do you want?” Casey asked in a far from pleasant tone.

  “I’m here to get you out. Which cell is the boy in?”

  “Wait, what?” Casey was confused. Maybe he was still dreaming? “You’re letting me go?”

  “No, dumb ass. I’m breaking you out. My cover is about to be blown, anyway. We don’t have time to chat as I’ve just sent the guard for a quick cigarette break. So we need to hurry,” Nicolas said impatiently.

  “Well, in that case, you better start explaining, quick. Why are you doing this?” Casey was glad he was being broken out, given his current plan for escape was nothing short of suicidal. Casey was trying his best in his groggy state to analyze the situation. Could they be setting him up? To what end? He didn’t understand.

  “Look, I’m the IA leak. My real name is Captain Nicolas Johnson of the Independent Alliance. I’ve been undercover here for years. After what happened today, even Ciro will figure it out eventually. If they hadn’t been distracted by dealing with you, they probably would’ve figured it out already.”

  “Why risk coming back to help me? How does that help you?” asked Casey.

  Nicolas smiled as he answered Casey’s question. “I knew your father, Casey. Frank was a good man. He was helping us. We owe him. The least we can do is help his son escape the same fate.”

  Casey didn’t know how to feel. At first, he felt anger, but then the confusion kicked in. He thought he’d gotten over his father's death. Maybe not. Was he angry at the IA for getting him killed, or at the Mafia for doing the execution? The lines were blurred. “So, that’s it? You’re just letting me go. No questions. Just—”

  “Well,” Nicolas interjected, “I do this for you, and you’ll owe me. Our paths will cross again, you can be sure of it.”

  “I don’t do favors.”

  “Well, time’s ticking. We go now, and you’ll owe me, or you stay, and wait to be executed tomorrow. Your choice.”

  Casey hated being put on the spot. He hated it more that he didn’t really have a choice. “Fine, let’s go. Billy’s down the end near the gym, I think. Not sure which cell, though.”

  “What about me?” said a third voice. Even though Nicolas was standing right in front of him and blocking his view, Casey knew exactly who it was.

  Nicolas spun around looking for the voice. Alex was standing in front if her bars with her arms folded. “Take me, too,” said Alex.

  “I haven’t got time for thi—”

  “She comes too.” Casey cut Nicolas off. “She could be useful.” He’d decided the night before, while staring at the cracks in the ceiling, that he’d help her get home if he got out. He hadn’t told her yet, as he was still trying to work out his escape plan. He was still unsure himself why he’d made that decision. The more of them escaping, the more likely it was for them to get spotted. It made the ordeal harder, for sure, but he found himself wanting to help her. He had been more reluctant to help his best friend of ten years, George, than he was her. Why was that?

  “What?” Nicolas exclaimed.

  “Open her cell, too. You said yourself we don’t have time to chat about it.”

  “Fine! But now it’s two favors.”

  Casey nodded, despite his urge to negotiate. Time was very limited.

  Nicolas ran down the row of cells, and Casey watched as he searched each cell for Billy. He stopped in front of the second-to-last cell on the left, and looked to be speaking to the occupant. They were too far away to hear what was being said, certainly too far to lip-read, one of Casey’s many talents.

  Nicolas turned around and ran back down past Casey’s cell to the entrance, disappearing out of view. A few seconds later there was a big clunk as the cell door unlocked and slid open. Casey stepped out and looked up and down the hall. Billy had stepped out of his cell, too, as had Alex. Billy saw Casey immediately and ran to Casey. Nicolas jogged back down the hall to them.

  “Let’s go. Follow me,” Nicolas ordered as he ran straight by them and into the gym.

  The gym was larger than Casey had guessed from the outside, with both the left and right walls covered in mirrors. There were two sections to the gym; weights and bags. The weights section looked just like every weights section for the last one-hundred-and-fifty years. The bag section had mats covering the floor, with heavy bags and speed bags randomly hanging from the ceiling. In the far corner was a sectioned area that looked like a makeshift ring for practice.

  No sooner had Alex bought up the rear and closed the gym door behind her, they heard the unmistakable clunk of the prison door unlocking.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Casey pushed Alex aside and peered through the small window in the door, and saw a prison guard walking through the gate. Casey spoke softly. “Get low and stay against this wall,” he said, pointing to the wall adjacent to the door. E
veryone did as they were told, except Nicolas, who had already exited through the back door of the gym.

  A loud clang echoed down the hall as Billy tripped over the leg of a weight bench, causing the erroneously placed weights piled next to it to topple.

  Casey watched as the prison guard jumped, startled. Casey ducked to avoid being seen and carried on watching through the old-fashioned keyhole in the door.

  The guard grabbed his rifle, which he’d placed on his desk just a few moments ago, and looked around. He began to walk slowly down the line of cells, with his rifle held in front of him. As he cautiously made his way down the line, he froze when he came to Casey’s cell. The cell door was open. The guard left Casey’s sight as he stepped into his old cell, rifle raised and ready to shoot on sight.

  “He’s going to call for backup, so we have to go!” Casey said urgently. Alex and Billy started to run towards the back door. “No, wait!”

  It was too late. The guard had finished his search of Casey’s cell just in time to spot Alex and Billy through the small gym window, and was now running straight for them. Alex and Billy froze, not sure what to do. Casey stayed low and swiftly moved to the other side of the door, picking up and raising a twenty-five-pound plate above his head.

  The door burst open. Alex and Billy were now directly in front of the guard, who had aim at Alex’s head.

  “Get down on the floor!” yelled the guard.

  Before they could react, Casey, who was behind the open door, booted it closed again, and without pause, he swung the weight down on to the back of the guard’s head, who fell limp and hit the floor with a sickening thud. Casey looked at Alex and Billy. “You okay?”

  “Hell, yeah,” said Alex.

  Billy didn’t speak. Casey could see he was afraid for his life. Which wasn’t an unreasonable response at this point in time.