by Nate Phelps
“Derecha.”
We turned right and had to pass through another gate.
“Another right,” said Ricky. “And then two lefts.”
We followed his directions and passed by the cafeteria. The sound of the inmates laughing and shouting was a muted roar. Food splattered on the window in the door. I got the feeling they knew exactly how short of staff the prison was.
“The computer said he was in his cell,” said Sarah quietly, nodding at several more guards.
“How much did you do while I was distracting Brunhilda?” I murmured.
“Where are you now?” said Ricky.
“Library,” replied Sarah.
There was a string of angry Spanish.
“Did you have the map upside down?”
There was silence for a moment. “Maybe.”
“I have a copy,” said a new voice in my earpiece. “Head south of the library. Take two rights, and then a left.”
“Mama Charles!” complained Ricky. “You’re stealing my job.”
“Just helping. Why don’t you have a cookie? I left some on the table.”
“I’m not hungry,” he grumbled. Several moments later we could hear chewing sounds over the line.
We followed Mrs. Charles’ directions and soon found ourselves in the opposite wing.
“His cell should be connected to an observation room,” said Sarah. “We can talk to him from there.”
When we turned the last corner, we came up to a much larger security gate. A big guard with a thick beard looked at us suspiciously through the bars—he definitely wasn’t a newbie.
Sarah flashed her stolen ID. “Department of Health and Fair Treatment.”
The guard buzzed us in, but then stopped us on the other side.
“Department of Health and Fair Treatment?” he said tiredly, rubbing at his eyes. “That’s a new one.”
“Yes, it is,” agreed Sarah. “We’ve received several concerning reports about the living situations in these cells.”
“What about my living situation? I’ve worked three twelve-hour shifts in a row.”
“Not our department,” said Sarah. “Can we proceed?”
“Yeah, fine,” he shrugged. “Do whatever you want.”
Sarah let me catch up and then whispered, “When we get in there, I need you to take care of the camera. It’ll be in the corner by the door.”
She reached into the purse, which had been tucked under her arm and handed me my foam pistol. I took it and slid it awkwardly into my belt, not daring to look back and see if the guard had noticed.
There were large metal doors, painted white, that were labeled with big blue numbers. Next to each of these was a smaller black door. I assumed that these must be the observation rooms. Sarah led me to cell number eight and pushed on the black door next to it. It didn’t open.
We stood there awkwardly for a moment. There was no doorknob or anything. Was the guard supposed to let us in? I glanced his way and saw that he was watching us closely, his arms folded.
Sarah took out her stolen ID and slapped it against the door around the area the doorknob should have been. Nothing happened. The guard unfolded his arms and started to walk towards us.
“Hurry!” I hissed.
“Shush.” Sarah moved the ID around in small circles and then up to where a deadbolt might be. There was a beep and a click. The door popped open. I pressed forward, eager to get out of the guard’s sight.
“Hey!”
I jumped and turned as he pointed a thick finger at me. “What’s going on with your mustache? Why is it lopsided?”
“Whose mustache?” I felt at my fake facial hair and noticed that it was indeed slipping off.
The guard came to a stop with hands on hips and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
“It’s… uh…”
“He was recently diagnosed with a rare disease called Alopecia Beardicus,” explained Sarah so matter-of-factly that I almost believed her. “It’s a specific sickness that deteriorates the facial hair over time. He’s very self-conscious about it, so thanks for bringing it up. Why do you think he wasn’t called to the wall?”
“Oh!” the guard balked, completely taken aback. “Is it painful?”
“Incredibly so,” agreed Sarah. “Not to mention rather contagious. You brought your mask, right?” She bumped my arm.
“Oh… uh… no I forgot it.” I patted at my pockets.
The guard put a protective hand to his beard and backed away a step. “Yes, well…”
“Oh no, there it goes! Augh!” I made a big deal of the mustache falling off, breaking it into chunks in my hands.
The guard backed away further, horrified.
“I’ll wait over here,” he muttered before rushing back down the hallway.
“Nice,” Sarah nudged me with her hip as we turned back to the door.
We entered the small, dark room and Sarah directed me to stand in the corner. She pointed up and I saw that the camera was just above us. I extracted my pistol and aimed at the front end. I tugged the trigger ever so slightly and a small glob wrapped over the lens.
“Perfect.” Sarah flipped on the light, illuminating the room we were in as well as the cell behind the window before us.
There was a toilet, a cot, and a small desk with a few books. The figure laying on the bed didn’t look much like the man I’d seen those few weeks ago. He was clean shaven, his grey hair buzzed, and his face was a mass of bruises and cuts.
As we watched, he sat up and looked towards the window. “What do you want now?”
I realized that he couldn’t see us. The window was only transparent from our vantage point. Sarah moved over to a button on the wall and pressed it. “Are you Leon?”
His head snapped up. “Yes! Who’s this?”
“My name’s Sarah. I’m here with Kleiner who you met a little while ago.”
Leon jumped out of his cot. “It is about time! When were you thinking about getting me out of this dump?”
“Huh?” I glanced at Sarah. “What are you talking about?”
“I gave you guys a great tip, early in advance. But you went and screwed it up anyway, it sounds like. Can we go now? We have lots of work to do.”
“Go where?”
“To get Thirteen.”
We looked at each other again. It was as if he knew exactly why we’d come.
“You know where he is?” asked Sarah.
“Not exactly,” he admitted. “But I can figure it out if you get me some fresh air.”
Sarah let go of the button. “I’m confused, how well do you know this guy?”
“We talked one time. Right after he punched me in the face.”
Sarah pressed the button again. “Yeah, no, we’re not getting you out. Couldn’t, even if we wanted to. What would be great is if you told us what you know.”
Leon slammed his fist against the window and we backed away. “That plan would have been great, if you’d come two weeks ago! All they sent was Gruber’s men and I trust them about as far as I can throw them. Now Thirteen’s plan is too far along and I can only find him if you get me out. Not to mention, the idiots who did this to my face will be back to finish the job, so forgive me for being a bit anxious.”
Sarah released the button again. “He could be lying.”
“Yeah,” Ricky chimed in. “He sounds like a liar.” I’d forgotten he was listening.
“I don’t know,” I said, staring at Leon’s face. “Why would he have warned me in the first place? What motivation would inspire that unless it was to help us?”
Sarah scratched her head. “Well, it’s a moot point anyway because I have no idea how to free him.”
“What do we do then?”
“Let’s try this…” She pressed the button. “Look, I’m a good friend of Dr. Henry. If you tell us everything you know, we can talk to him and see about getting you released.”
“That’ll be too late,” said Leon. “I doubt this prison will
be standing by tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“What I said. Look, you know I was right before. This is your last chance. Get me out now, or everything you know and love will be gone.”
“Nope,” said Sarah, pulling her hand away. “This guy is full of crap. We’re not idiots. Maybe we can threaten to extend his sentence.”
I grimaced. “Maybe we should just leave.”
“Look,” said Leon. “You need…” He paused. “Oh… never mind, I think my cell door’s opening.”
“What?”
We rushed out of the observation room in time to watch as each and every one of the cells popped open. No alarm went off.
“Kleiner…” Sarah took my arm.
“I didn’t touch anything, I swear.”
Chapter 18
The inmates came out of their cells, glancing around curiously.
“This wasn’t us,” said Sarah. “This must be what Leon was talking about.”
“Told you,” said Leon, appearing next to me.
I recoiled in alarm.
“Sorry I got angry.” He grinned. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” Sarah pulled me away. We ran down the hallway towards the exit.
“What’d you do?” bellowed the guard. He’d found a surgical mask somewhere to cover his beard.
“We didn’t do it!” said Sarah as he buzzed the door open. “Maybe you did it by accident.”
“I don’t have remote access, that’s in the main office.”
We rushed through the gate.
“Hey! Get back you!”
Leon had followed us. The guard pulled out a baton. It had a blue tip, the kind with the electric nub on the end. He took a swipe at Leon, who sidestepped and pulled him forward, causing him to stumble.
“I’d worry more about the other ones,” he said, sliding through the gate and pointing back towards the vicious-looking men and women in orange jumpsuits that were running towards us.
The guard slammed the gate shut. There was no sound of the lock clicking into place. He slammed it again, without success. When he tried to twist the lock manually, it wouldn’t budge.
“Run!” yelled Sarah.
We turned and fled down the corridor. There was a loud rattle as someone hit the gate and then the crackling of the baton.
“Ricky,” yelled Sarah. “Get us out of here!”
“Go back to the big building!” he said. “The main entrance is closest.”
“Won’t that be the best guarded?” I asked.
“There aren’t enough trained men,” Sarah explained. “The new ones are gonna bolt. That’s why they waited till now. I should have seen this coming.”
“They’ve been planning this for a while,” said Leon.
“Stop following us!” Sarah growled at him.
“You need my help!”
“No, we don—!”
She was cut off as we rounded a corner and two orange shapes crashed into us. I hit the ground hard and strong hands grabbed at me, pulling me up and then slamming me back down, knocking the air out of me.
“Give me your clothes, Mid!” the man on top of me shouted. “I’m getting out of this crap hole!”
There was a gurgle and then the man fell off. Leon pulled me to my feet, just in time for me to see Sarah throat-chop the other prisoner and then knock him to the ground with a beautiful right hook. I’d never been more attracted to her.
“Thanks!” I said to Leon. He gave me a thumbs up.
“Where are you?” Sarah’s mom asked over the radio.
“Can’t explain it,” said Sarah, pulling me along again. “I think I can find the main building.”
“Be careful, hon, there are several gates on the way.”
“Not a problem. They’re all open.”
The prison had devolved into mayhem. More and more inmates were making their way out into the hallways, looking for an escape route. Several guards had managed to lock down the cafeteria, but as we passed it, I could see the doors bulging outward, about to give way. Any guards that we came across were running for it, like us.
“There it is!” Sarah led us around a corner and we could see the entrance down a large corridor. My chest heaved in relief.
It was short lived. Five or six prisoners burst out of an adjacent hallway. They were screaming and laughing. Sarah leaned away from them and tried to lead us around, but they noticed us and kept pace.
“What’s this?” the leader of the group asked. He was a weaselly little man, covered in tattoos with a narrow face and huge nose. They hooted and whistled as they ran beside us. He eyed Sarah. “Here’s a pretty one. How about a kiss, girly?”
“Kiss this!” Sarah rammed into him with her shoulder. He slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor.
“Hey!” Two more grabbed at her. That was a mistake.
Leon grappled with a third and the last two came for me, probably realizing I was the easiest pickings. Or was I?
I whipped out my foam pistol and caught the first guy in the chest. He went down in a flurry of shocked curses, gluing himself to the floor as he struggled. The other one, a blue-haired girl, dodged my next shot and rushed me, grabbing my arm. I spun her about and broke her grip, just as Sarah had taught me. She stumbled away and I wrapped her legs in foam.
“Nice!” said Sarah who’d already finished her opponents and had come to help.
Leon hit the last man in the stomach and shoved him to the ground.
“Hurry,” he said. “They’re going to seal the gate soon.”
We ran towards the entrance. It was only manned by two guards. Other employees were rushing through the doors. Everyone was running, not even trying to stop the prison break.
“Freeze!” The guards pointed their rifles at us.
We stopped and raised our hands in the air.
“Let us through,” said Sarah angrily.
“Why do you have a prisoner with you?”
We looked at Leon. “He’s not with us,” said Sarah.
“Sorry,” I murmured to him.
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
Leon snatched my foam gun from my hand, pulled my arm behind my back, and placed the nozzle to my head. Sarah took a step towards us and the guards trained their weapons on Leon.
“Let him go,” she said, icily.
“I’m just one prisoner,” said Leon to the guards. “Let me out, or I shoot this nice young man with this mysterious weapon.”
“What is that?” asked one of the guards. “It looks like a toy.”
“It’s dangerous,” said Leon. “Don’t test me.”
I winced, terrified he would accidentally pull the trigger and suffocate me. Sarah seemed to understand the danger too as she didn’t make a move to break me free.
“I’m not buying it,” said the guard.
“Let him go!” barked Sarah, moving closer.
“Easy…” I tilted my head away from the pistol.
Suddenly, Leon took it from my head and fired at the guards. His aim was terrible and foam slopped out wildly. Luckily, it caught them by surprise and hit them before they could fire. They were knocked to the ground
“You idiot!” Sarah grabbed Leon and shoved him against the wall, releasing me. “Who’s going to stop the other prisoners?”
“Nobody’s stopping them. Trust me, I’m saving lives.”
We didn’t have time to argue. I helped Sarah drag the guards outside.
Raucous shouts rolled down the corridor as prisoners burst around the corner and came for the entrance. We shoved the doors closed.
“Give me that,” I said, taking my foam pistol back from Leon and firing several shots at the doors. The foam creeped up the wall and pushed towards us, blocking the way nicely.
“Good work,” said Sarah. “That should hold them for a while.”
“What about him?” I asked, glaring at Leon.
“We take
him.”
There was a screech as Sarah’s mom drifted in a wide arc through the parking lot, stopping just before us.
“Shot gun!” I called, moving to the front seat.
Sarah’s mom held the butt of an actual shot gun towards me, through the window.
“Oh, no I meant…”
An explosion rocked me forward before I could pull the door open. It set my ears ringing. I spun back towards the entrance. It had been blasted open and a figure was coming through the gaping hole.
The creature?
I lifted my pistol and fired. Only one shot came out before it was empty. The smoke cleared and I saw it was Thirteen, not the monster. He twisted to the side and the glob of foam smacked into an inmate behind him. His fine suit and hat were pristine, contrasting the chaos around him. He locked eyes with me and pointed. Dozens of prisoners rushed through the opening and ran towards us.
“Is that Thirteen?” asked Sarah. “Let’s get him!”
“Are you nuts?” asked Leon.
We got in the car and Sarah hesitated for a moment before following. Her mom spun us away, just missing one prisoner that dived at the back window. She ripped out of the parking lot and back onto the main road.
Chapter 19
“So, how’d it go?” Ricky asked.
Sarah and I slumped onto the couch in her basement.
“Not great.” I motioned to Leon, who stood in the corner.
“Sup, bro?” Ricky nodded at him.
“Hi,” Leon smiled. “These two don’t like me very much yet. I’ve been a bit of a jerk.”
“No worries, man. I don’t judge.”
“We should have gone back,” growled Sarah. “He was right there!”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But can you take on a hundred people by yourself?”
“Yes.”
I laughed. “Well, maybe we should have gone back, then.”
“It won’t be so easy to catch him,” said Leon. “He has a network of spies, and it looks like he just freed every prisoner Johnny and the Enforcers put away, probably doubling his head count.”
“So how do we…?” Sarah began. She stopped, looking at something on the stairs.
I followed her gaze and my eyes widened when I saw Dr. Henry standing there, watching us.