Incarcerator

Prologue

The guard drops onto the concrete. The prisoner crouches down and snatches the keys from the guard's belt, his belly bulging against it. He casts a glance over his shoulder at another thump and footsteps behind him. He feels his heart quicken in his chest even though he has nothing to worry about. I could take them down with one punch, he reminds himself as he rises to his feet, gripping the keys hard in his hand. Hurry up, Jacin! If he could shout at him, he would.

He looks down the other end of the hall, empty prison cells along the walls. He never thought he'd get out of them - he'd never thought he wanted to.

Clomp, clomp, clomp. The prisoner looks back over his shoulder to see his friend hurrying towards him. He might as well be wearing shoes with alarms on them. "Keep it down!" He hisses at him, panic and anger rising in his voice.

Jacin stops beside him, breathless. Beads of sweat shine on his dark, bald forehead. "My bad, Gar," he says, patting his friend's back. "Man put up a fight."

He internally sighs and glares at him. "It's not Gar -"

"It's Garren," Jacin drawls, bobbing his head around. He rolls his eyes. "I know. My bad. Can we fucking get outta here?"

Garren turns his head to the end of the hall, the way out. So much for recreational time. "Okay," he exhales, trying to ignore the pounding of his pulse. "Let's go. Be quiet." He reminds his loud friend, who still slaps his orange prison sneakers against the grimy stone floor as they sneak down the hall. No point in telling him to shut up. He never will.

Garren goes ahead, stopping at the end of the hall and peering into the lunchroom. Empty. He stresses out a breath. "Come on," he urges, hurrying across the room and to the personnel-only door near the canteen.

"Where are we goin' again?" Jacin asks, standing too close for comfort and glancing one too many times at the double doors to the court. He better know what he's doin'. 

Garren shoves the keys into the lock and jiggles them around. His hands shake. I shouldn't be nervous. He's thought about this for far too long, planned it but never planned on doing it. "Through the back of the kitchen," he answers, despite having told him this a hundred times.

Boots clap against the concrete somewhere nearby. They both freeze, searching for the sound. Focus, Garren scolds himself, trying the key again. It clicks and clacks but doesn't open.

Jacin bounces on his feet. "Yo, you better hurry up, Gar," he prompts, shuffling slightly closer to him like he's about to sprint off.

He inhales sharply. "I'm trying," he grunts, also trying to keep his patience.

Click. The lock pops open like a corkscrew from a bottle of wine. Except it's not time for celebration yet. Garren pushes the door open and they both slip inside, not bothering to close it. There's no point - they'll know they've escaped either way. It'll make headline news. They walk through the kitchen, the smell of watery mashed potatoes and boiled vegetables drifting in the air.

Can't wait to have a good, not cold-ass meal, Jacin thinks as they move past the food shelves and to the backdoor. Another personnel-only sign. He watches as Garren reaches for the handle, seeing the tremor of his fingers. They grip it and pull it open. Bright, white natural light shines on them. All they see is the sunlight and more dirty concrete, but they're out.

"We did it," Jacin half-gasps, half-chuckles. "We fucking did it."

Garren sets his jaw and looks over at the court to their side, all the prisoners roaming around in it - and the guards. "That was the easy part," he replies, staying low by the large bins by the backdoor. "Now we need to get out."

They both stare at the large stone walls surrounding them, barbed wires curling like spiked ivory at the top. The gate is all the way at the other side. We'll get caught if we try that, Garren thinks, but he already knows what he's going to do. 

"We're going to run to the wall," Garren says in a low voice, craning his neck over to see the court again. I have to be quick.

Jacin's shoulder rubs his, again too close for comfort. "What?" he exclaims in a whisper, his hot breath blowing against his friend's face. Goddamn, this dude's gonna get us killed. Why did I say yes to this shit?

Garren suppresses a sigh. "Trust me," he tells him, even though his own heart is hammering like mad. "Just stay beside me."

"Wait -" He kicks off. Jacin starts sprinting after him. Their sneakers clap hard against the ground. "This is fucking mad!" he screeches, his legs straining to keep up with his friend.

"Oi!" A voice calls from the court. "Someone get them!"

An alarm goes off, blaring and loud. The two prisoners run to the wall, hearing the chaos and cries of the officers and guards.

"Get beside me," Garren orders his friend as they stop at the wall. He does as he's told, snapping his head behind them to see guards rushing out the backdoor.

Shit! "We have to hurry the fuck up, Gar!" he growls, his voice shrill and strained.

Garren follows his gaze. Five guards grabbing at their guns, scrambling towards them. "Get slightly in front of me."

"Stop!"

"Stop or we'll shoot!"

Jacin stands beside him, staring with wide eyes at the oncoming guards. Garren brings his fist against the wall, hard. Crack. Splits appear in the stone. Bang! A bullet bounces off it.

"Shit, shit, shit man!" Jacin curses, flinching and fumbling closer to his friend's side. I'm gonna fucking die. Fuck this -

Garren flings his fist at the wall again, ignoring the protests of his friend and the guards. Another crack. His fists begin to sting. The sound of boots gets closer. "Fuck," he cusses, curling up his bloodied fist again. One more. Focus. He launches another final punch, and the stone explodes open. Rubble rolls onto the ground, light breaking through. "Go, go!" he shouts, shoving his friend through.

"What the fuck?" A guard yells from behind them.

"Stop them!" Bullets burst into the air.

The two prisoners sprint out onto the dead grass. The sounds of shouts and bullets get further away. All that can be heard is the desertedness of the area and their heavy, rapid gasps for air as they run. They hurry down and across the road, both pumping their arms and leg hard.

Jacin felt his lungs and heart burning. "Where we going?" he manages between breaths.

Garren tosses a look behind them, the prison shrinking. He can just make out the gate slowly grinding up and open. "Into the bush," he puffs, and veers off the road into the treeline. Branches and leaves catch his face.

His friend crashes in after him. "Then where?" he demands, exhaling and inhaling hard. Too quick. My goddamn legs, he thinks, are on fire.

Garren keeps a swift, sustainable pace. His pulse still goes wild. "We find a road, town," he replies, trying to tame the tremor in his voice. If his fists weren't clenched hard, they'd be shaking even harder. "Change clothes. Find a car."

Jacin gulps, his mouth dry, the fire spreading from his lungs to his throat. "Do we have to keep runnin'?" he asks, hoping he says no as they continue to tear through the forest.

Garren swats a branch from his face, only to hit his friend. He keeps running, his mind following - going somewhere else. Escaping. His friend gathers the thick saliva in his mouth and spits it out. "I'll take that as a yes."