ＢＲＯＫＥＮ

ᴘʀɪꜱᴏɴ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ

You wanted to run. You were going to run out of time, this was your only chance before backup was called in and more soldiers arrived.

But you had to do something first.

You practically dragged yourself over to the still, limp body of the doctor, shards of glass cutting through your feet. You looked down into his eyes, they were cold, distant. Dead.

You searched his lab coat pockets, looking for anything useful.

Anything he had on him that might help you to understand why you were captured here in the first place. You just found a big, brown A4 envelope, folded in the inside coat pocket. And, you grabbed it, preparing to run. But right before you left you spotted a ring. A black band on the mans right ring finger.

You plucked it off, as a souvenir. Something of your enemies to keep, to remind yourself that you had won.

You slid it onto your finger as you limped and dragged yourself through the door, through glass and over bodies. To the right of you, you spotted a window. There were stairs to the left that would take you to a lower level, to an exit.

But guards were now running down those stairs, you had no chance.

So you hauled yourself and hopped towards the window, groaning in pain, your right leg unable to walk on. With your right arm you punched the window, again and again, the envelope still in your left hand.

Whatever the ring you stole was made of it sure helped to crack the glass.

Tears were running down your face, you were shivering cold and wet, your fist was covered in blood.

You punched one last time, with all your might, a scream coming out of you as the glass finally broke around your fist.

You didn't give yourself time to comprehend the drop, it was about 2 stories, still high but hopefully wouldn't kill you. You didn't want to die here, escaping the facility, especially in the same way that you tried to-

You threw yourself out of the window, falling for about 3 seconds. As you landed you screamed out in pain, everything on your body seemed to shatter on impact. You landed on concrete, your head slapping against it hard enough to give you a concussion.

You looked back up towards the window, the soldiers would be there soon, you had to move.
There was a forest nearby, through countless gates. You just had to make it there, then could find a spot and be safe for the night.

You rolled yourself over and pushed up on your hands, screaming in agony, your body protesting.

Just lie here and accept it, there's no way you can make it now.

Your head was banging as you crawled towards the first gate. The guards there were with guns, they were already running towards you. You realised you stood no chance, but you carried on anyway, hauling yourself towards them and the gate.

Better to die trying.

As you approached them, they shouted in Russian and aimed their guns. You stuck your hand out, you didn't know why, it wasn't like your hand would be of use to deflect a bullet. And they fell to the ground in front of you.

All 4 of them, on the floor. You stared at shock and then looked at your hand,

what had happened to your powers?

What you were doing right now wasn't them.

You staggered towards the first closed gate, face still painted in shock and spied a booth to the right. Likely where someone would sit and unlock the gates for people. Your head was pounding as you crawled. Ears ringing so loud you could barely hear.

When you reached the booth you grabbed the ledge and used it to heave yourself up, crying as you did so, the envelope you stole still clutched in your hand and with all the strength you had left to pull yourself up, you found yourself staring into the booth.

The guard inside was passed out, dead maybe, against his chair. You saw a big green button in front of him, surely that would unlock the gate. So you reached even further, your body straining, and pushed the button in.

Sure enough you heard movement to the side of you, and when you finally turned to look the gate was open.

Thank god.

It took every last ounce of strength you had left to haul yourself towards the next and last gate. It was tall and made entirely of vibranium.
To the right there was a key pad.

There was a pad, that on first glance looked presumably like it was for a thumb, for fingerprint recognition.

Your heart sunk for a second.

But it wasn't shaped like that, to fit someone's finger. It was just a small circle.

In a moment of pure hope you took the ring off your finger. If anyone had access to this gate, it would be the doctor you met. You pressed the ring to the pad, and for a moment it didn't do anything. You knew you'd been wrong. You were ready to sit here and wait for them to find you.

But just as you were about to lift the ring away, a buzzing sound filled the air. And you found the wall you were leaning against was moving.

You pulled yourself and the ring away and stared in disbelief as the walls before you opened. You let out a small chuckle. But you heard footsteps behind you, in the dirt.

More guards were coming.

You slid along the floor, through the dirt and the sand, your cuts rubbing up against the thin grain and your ripped trousers.

And until your legs were clear of the door, you lifted your hand to the identical key pad on this side, and pressed the ring to it.

You lay your head down finally and watched as the soldiers ran towards the door. But it closed in front of them.

You laughed.

You laughed and laughed and laughed yourself hoarse.

You smiled. Big and wide.
You cried, in disbelief.
You'd escaped.
You'd - really done it.

And you turned your face one last time towards the sky, and felt the breeze kiss your face as you stared at the endless blue sky above you, content with your victory. You closed your eyes.

And you didn't open them even as you heard voices and footsteps around you.