Excerpt - Prison
Before we’ve even left the corridor I’m wheezing, out of breath. Maddie loops her arm around mine, towing me towards the door. I’m only managing to keep up because she’s practically carrying me.
We pass more cell blocks, these ones empty. All except one. As we streak past, I catch a glimpse of a white-covered figure.
“Stop,” I tell Maddie, coming to a halt. She lets go of my arm and I wobble, almost losing my balance. Everything swirls around me. God, I hope I don’t pass out.
“What?” she demands.
I point to the cell. “There’s someone in there. Let’s get them out.” Down the hall, I can hear the Liberators. They’ll be on us in minutes. I ignore the queasy feeling in my stomach and approach the cell, peeking past the electrified bars to try and get a good look at the person inside.
A hollow face stares at me. His dark skin is greyish and blotchy, with dark circles around the eyelids. Long black hair hangs in greasy sheets – it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks, no doubt. His eyes, eerily blank, are nearly colourless.
“Shit,” I hiss, “He’s really drugged up. I’m surprised he’s even conscious.”
Beside me, Maddie shivers, shrinking away. I don’t blame her.
I swipe the stolen ID over the sensor, and the electric bars fizzle out. Now there’s nothing between us and the guy.
Maddie, still hanging back, puts a hand on my shoulder as I walk forwards. “Be careful. If he’s drugged you’ll be fine; but if he’s going through withdrawal, he might try to hurt you.”
I nod, but don’t say anything. What could I say, that wouldn’t sound empty or forced? ‘It’ll be okay?’ Because I can’t promise her it will be. Nothing that’s happened recently has been okay. I inch closer, hands up to show I don’t mean any harm. I don’t know if he can even register my existence – he’s staring at me, but I know by his eyes he can’t see me. Even if he could, I doubt he would be lucid enough for my body language to mean anything.
“Hey, I’m here to get you out of here,” I whisper, kneeling down beside him.
He tilts his head in my direction, but it’s the only recognition I get. Now that I’m closer, I can see the marks on his arm where the drugs have been injected. They’re swollen and bruised, the skin peeling. He’s painfully thin, too.
The authorities really don’t care how the Liberators treat us, as long as they’re keeping us off the streets. I always knew it was bad, but not this bad. As the realisation sets in, I feel bile rise in my throat. I take a few breaths. I won’t throw up. I have to stay strong, for Maddie and myself.
“Hey,” I say again, trying to catch the man’s attention. It doesn’t work – he’s gone back to staring into space again, a blank yet somehow pained look on his thin face. “Can you walk?”
No response.
I turn around and gesture to Maddie. “Help me carry him. He’s not going to move by himself.”
She’s shaking as she kneels beside me, eyes wide and damp. I think she’s going to cry. “Is this what could have happened to us?” she mutters, sniffling. “Reduced to just… just shells.” She reached out a hand to his face, as if to touch him, but quickly draw her hand back as if afraid he’ll bite
. “He doesn’t even know we’re here, does he?”
I shake my head.
I can hear shouting now, angry and loud. The Liberators.
“Come on, we have to go,” I hoist the man to his feet. It isn’t hard – he weight virtually nothing, and doesn’t try to resist. He’s almost like dead weight.
Maddie takes him by the waist and heaves his arm over her shoulder. Together, we manage to half-drag him away, the sounds of the Liberators following us.
“Where do we go?” Maddie gasps, stumbling over her own feet.
“This way,” I lead her towards one of the thick metal doors that separate the cells blocks from the regular corridors. I pause just long enough to slam it shut again, swiping the ID. Hopefully the Liberators on the other side won’t have any. If they do, I’ve only saved us a few seconds.
At the end of the corridor is an exit, its fluorescent green light shining. Briefly, Maddie and I share a relieved smile before dashing towards it. The man stirs in our grasp, but I push it to the back of my mind. We’re nearly there!
I shove the door open with my elbow, and light streams into the corridor. I blink, eyes stinging. We’re in a gravelled back area, ringed with a tall, barbed wire fence. I pause to catch my breath. Suddenly I’m exhausted.
“Garret? We gotta go.” Maddie starts walking, forcing me to move too. “If we go around, we’ll come out front. The others will be waiting on us.”
I nod, forcing my feet to move, even though I feel as if they’re cemented in place. “If the others are even alright,” I mutter, not intending for Maddie to hear.
She whips around to look at me, small hands balled into fists. “They will be,” she replies with complete conviction. “Cameron and Eva can take care of themselves, Zach’s abilities are insane – he could probably kill a dozen Liberators without breaking a sweat, and Adrienne and Fiona are safe now that Cameron’s got them out.”
We move in silence, trying to shamble as fast as possible with the man hanging off our arms. It seems we’ve lost the Liberators, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. We’re not safe until we’re far away from here.