Deliverance (25 page)

“And the prisoners,” I finish.

He nods and we rush to the windows. Chaos has broken out across the courtyard. There are more prisoners than guards, and these aren't just any prisoners—they're prisoners who have been trained in the art of fighting to the death, and now they know exactly why they're here and what they're being sent to. They know about the Free, and they know there are others who are revolting. These are people who had already been exiled to Lesser City 4, have watched their loved ones taken from them, and who have been doped up on pills and left to starve. This new information is all the push they need to join the rebellion.

I swallow hard and clasp my hands to keep them from shaking.

If Supreme Moon wasn't ready for my head before, then he will be now.

 

 

 

 

40

 

Guard Nev busts through the medical room door and glances between Fischer and me. He doesn't question our relationship or anything he had to have heard over the speaker system. His face is ragged and a deep gash oozes blood over his left eyebrow. “We have to go. Now!”

His words kick us into action.

Fischer grabs a pack hanging on a hook nearby and begins shoving any medical supplies and water he can fit inside. “Help me,” he says.

Guard Nev grabs another bag and we work to put in towels and Tech Meds.

“It will only take minutes for the guards to come,” Guard Nev says.

“Don't they have their hands full with fighting the prisoners?”

“That's not what I mean,” he says. His eyes are grave. “I meant the guards from Greater City.”

Oh.

It only makes sense that the warden would notify Supreme Moon immediately that there was a riot at the prison. “How will we get out? The only way across the lake is the bridge.”

“That's the only way if you're going to Greater City,” Fischer says. “But we're not going there. We can go west. The land goes on forever.”

My heart thunders in my chest. We're leaving and Fischer is coming with us.
Thank you, God.

Guard Nev nods his approval and we finish packing the bags. He takes one and Fisher takes another. We step toward the door, but Guard Nev stops us. “It's bad out there. Once we step into the crush, I can't promise any of us will be able to stick together. Get outside and head west. Whatever you do, head west. We can all meet up eventually.”

The thought of getting stuck in the riot makes my blood run cold, but I don't have time to dwell on it. Guard Nev opens the door and pulls me into the hallway with him.

Prisoners have just emerged at the top of the stairwell. Their eyes lock onto us and it's like the calm before the storm. The hatred in their eyes is searing and deep. At first, I'm confused. We're here to help them! But then I realize what they see—two guards and the prison medic.

Before I have time to blink, Fischer has grabbed my arm and we're racing down the hall in the opposite direction. The prisoners don't hesitate and their footsteps reverberate against the stone floors. The entire building seems to shake

“Hurry!” Fischer says, tugging my hand.

“You filthy liars!” a prisoner shouts.

I want to scream out my innocence, but I'm too busy running for my life. Besides, I doubt the prisoners are in a listening mood.

We reach a different stairwell. “This way,” Guard Nev says. He heads down first, but at the third step a group of prisoners emerges at the bottom.

“Back!”

Fischer shuffles backwards with Guard Nev and me following. We reach the top and have just enough time to run before the first group of prisoners reaches the stairwell. We pass rooms full of weights and exercise equipment and my brain goes into overtime. If the prisoners start grabbing those weights for weapons, we're all in trouble, but what about the weapons downstairs?

“Are there real weapons in the training room I saw downstairs?” I ask Fischer as we round a corner. The hallway is empty so far, but my lungs are beginning to burn.

“Some,” he says. “There are Tasers and night sticks, but the swords are only for fencing and the guns shoot blanks.”

Thank you again, Lord.

We round another corner and Guard Nev dashes inside an open door. We follow him and he shuts the door moments before the prisoners follow us into the new hallway. He puts his finger to his lips and motions for us to stay below the window in the door. The riot continues past us with prisoners beating the walls and bashing everything in their path.

“How are we going to get out of here?” I hiss.

Guard Nev turns to Fischer. “You live here. You tell us. How do we get out?”

Fischer's nostrils flare. This shouldn't be hard for him—he always has a plan. “The second stairwell we came to leads straight to an outside door. It's our best shot.”

Guard Nev takes a long, deep breath and blows it out through his nose. “Then we have to get to that stairwell. It's only a matter of time before someone finds us in this room, and if it's not the prisoners it will be the reinforcements.”

I'm not sure which would be worse. “Should we wait until the din dies down?”

“There's no point in waiting,” Fischer says, shaking his head. “There's no waiting out angry prisoners. The only thing that will subdue them is the guards, and we don't want to get caught by them, either. Don't forget, they heard what we said, too.”

“Let's go,” Guard Nev says. He stands and looks out the window in the door. “It's now or never.”

I take a deep breath and work up the courage to follow him into the hall. Guard Nev opens the door and we peek outside. It's clear, for the moment. We rush around the corner and make a mad dash for the stairs. A single prisoner jogs up the steps. He pauses when he sees us, but the panic on his face turns to rage and he screams, barreling toward us.

Guard Nev growls and shakes his head. It isn't his wish to hurt anyone. I know him well enough to know that. But he has no choice. When we reach the prisoner, Guard Nev gives him a hard shove with his shoulder, and the man tumbles backwards, flying through the air until he hits the cement floor at the bottom with a thud. Dark blood puddles at the back of his skull.

My stomach twists at the sight, and I turn my eyes away. The best I can hope is that he isn't dead.

The door at the bottom of the stairs is in sight. It's maybe ten feet from us, but a small group of prisoners is coming toward us. They must have been drawn by the other man's screams. These prisoners won't be as easy to get away from. They each carry guard sticks, and by the looks on their faces I'd say they're eager to use them.

“Run!” Fischer shouts. I don't hesitate and I'm the first to reach the door and push into the outside. The scene stretched out before me stops me for a moment, but I get ahold of myself and keep moving. Guards in the courtyard hit prisoners with guard sticks, prisoners electrify guards with Tasers, and bodies litter the blood-stained ground.

“Go left,” Guard Nev says.

Left is as good as any other direction. I turn left and head for the fence. Barbed wire swirls at the top of each row of fencing, but I can't let it frighten me. Scratches will heal, and I can't help anyone if I'm dead or caught.

I immediately leap onto the fence and shuffle toward the top. A bang echoes through the air and I freeze.

“Keep going!” Guard Nev says. He hasn't begun climbing yet, but his hands are on the chains. “It was a gunshot. It's the guards shooting at the prisoners. You're one of them. They won't shoot you.”

A commotion on the ground catches our attention and we turn. Three men race toward the fence. Two are prisoners with Tasers, and one is a guard chasing the prisoners. I don't recognize this guard, and so he can't know I'm the one who set this riot off. As far as he knows, I'm helping. Maybe between him and Guard Nev they'll be able to fight the prisoners off.

I scramble the rest of the way up the fence, and I only pause for a moment before I barrel over the top. Pain slices through me as the barbed wire snags and rips my skin. I can't hold on for the intense pain and I fall from the top, hitting the gravel on the other side with a thud. I give myself five seconds before I force myself to begin climbing the second fence. It's only as I reach the top that I realize I never saw Fischer come out of the prison.

 

 

 

 

41

 

By the time I get over the fourth fence, my guard uniform is torn and bloody. My hands are raw, like the scrambled meat we sometimes used to buy to make stews with back home. My cheeks sting with sticky, bloody wounds, and I'm pretty sure I left a wad of hair behind on one of those fences. A few prisoners have also made it over, but they are much more interested in escape than in catching me.

I lie in the grass, moaning in pain, and I watch four men running in the distance.
Keep running!
I want to shout.
Go as fast and as far as you can!

But I'm in too much pain to yell anything.

Minutes pass, maybe hours, but I finally gather enough courage to move. Pain burns through my entire body. Each step shoots pain up my legs. My back hurts, probably from each time I tumbled over a fence top. When I'm ten yards from the fences, I turn back. Two men are lying on the ground on the other side of the very first fence. Both are prisoners and both moan in pain. Where are Fischer and Guard Nev? I can't leave them behind. I'm nothing without them.

You are never alone.

But I feel completely alone. I need someone, so I change directions. We were supposed to meet in the west, but neither of them has made it over a fence, and the only other way out is across the bridge. I have to find them to see if they need help. Or because I need help.

My legs tremble as I make my way back. The grass here is uncut, and it grows in a tangled mess. The scratchy stalks brush against the open skin on my legs, and I wince with every step. At the first fence, I hold on just to keep myself from falling and I peer inside, looking for a sign of Guard Nev.

I see lots of guards, some standing and some not, but none are him. I inch my way along the fence line, scanning the area for a sign of Fischer. He's nowhere to be seen. I have to find him. I have to! I just got him back, and now he's gone again. It can't end here. I have to find him.

As I make my way toward the front of the prison, I round a corner and my breath stops. Part of the fences have been torn down—all four rows. A few bodies lie between the prison and freedom, but men run in the distance, making their break for unpatrolled lands. They're obviously unfamiliar with the area, though, because they head toward the bridge and Greater City. Don't they know what brought them here? But they keep running.

Trucks rumble in the distance and a cloud of dust moves across the bridge. The reinforcements are coming. I watch the trucks approach, confident for now that I'm safe. Most of the prisoners who are left are making a run for it, and the guards don't find me a threat. Unless I run into the warden.

If only I could find Guard Nev, I could figure out the best course of action. I'm useless going into the wild on my own.

I've almost made the decision to take my chances going back into the city when the chain link fence behind me rattles.

I spin around, hoping it's a friendly face but prepared for an attack. A prisoner lunges for me, fingers drawn like claws.

“Monster!” she screams.

Her voice is recognizable instantly. “Ava! Ava, it's me, Hana!”

Her face twists into a scowl and she snarls. “You're a filthy, stinking guard! And a liar!” She lunges again and I barely get away before she barrels into the fence. Her eyes are wild and crazed.

“I'm not lying. It's me, Hana Norfolk, from Middle City 3!”

My face burns as my mouth moves to speak. It's no wonder she doesn't recognize me; my face likely looks as bad as I feel.

She throws herself at me again and I dart away just in time. She stumbles into the fence. After pulling herself up, she comes at me again, screaming insults the whole way. She isn't going to stop unless I force her to stop. I turn, looking for a way out of this mess. The few prisoners left in the courtyard look our way, watching Ava's fight. They spot me in my guard uniform and they begin jogging toward us. They're still a good way off, but it won't take them long to reach me.

My adrenaline goes into overtime, hammering though my veins. I have to think fast.

She lunges again and the other prisoners draw closer.

This cannot be happening. I can't hurt Ava. I can't. Hot tears burn my eyes and my throat swells.

A small boulder lays half-buried in the grass. Getting away from her would be easy. All I have to do is hit her with it, but I can't do it. It's Ava. She's my friend. She was unfortunate enough to get caught in the Greater's trap just like me.

Tears stream down my face. “Ava, stop. Please!”

She lunges again, this time scratching my already tender face.

The prisoners are a few yards away now, but I can't get around Ava to get away from them.

God help me.

I lunge for the rock and spin around quickly. The rock makes a terrible, sickening, earth-shattering thud when it connects with her skull. Her eyes roll back and she falls to the ground. I leap over her body as I run, and I pray she's OK as I bolt through the high grass toward the bridge. The guards in the trucks won't know I'm any different from the other guards. If I can get close enough to them to get away from the prisoners, then I might have a shot.

As I race across the front of the prison, I'm separated from the others by the fence rows that are still standing. Injured guards are already being loaded into the transport trucks that have arrived. As I near the gate a thought hits me. What if the warden communicated the reason for the riot? What if Supreme Moon has already discovered I was on this transport and the new guards are looking for me?