CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 41: ESCAPE

The gem didn't shatter, but broke into a few chunks. It was still glowing though.

"Well, it broke, but I'm not sure it's going to stop it from working."

"Let's see if Blade can use his power now," Marceau said.

I gathered the pieces.

"It didn't work," he told me.

"Thought so," I said. "I'll have to physically move the pieces away from the prison."

"No. Abort the mission."

"Why? It shouldn't be hard to hide the pieces under my uniform."

"We need you to be inside the prison to destroy the wall. The plan won't work if you leave."

"I'll get Rockie to move the pieces then."

"He's known as a prisoner now. It's too risky. Leave Rockie and abort the mission. We'll come back later with another guy to carry the pieces out."

I knew this would be our only chance. The administrator would see that someone broke into his drawer and suspect that it was me. He might even check the basement and see that the gem was broken. They would be very careful about who they allowed inside the prison after that.

I took my earpiece out. I was going to do things my way going forward.

I shoved the gem pieces into my uniform and cracked the trapdoor open to make sure there was no one around and then I climbed out. I sprinted to Rockie's cell and unlocked it.

"Thanks for coming back for me," he said.

I stripped my uniform off. "Put this on," I told him. "You're gonna hide these pieces."

"Are you sure? Marceau said to abort the mission."

"I know. We don't have much time. Take these as far away as you can. Don't stop until you see the explosion."

"Okay, but only if you do my job for me."

"What's your job?"

"Set the prisoners free."

"These prisoners?"

"Yeah. Marceau told me it's our best chance at getting away. Otherwise, we will be the cops' biggest target."

"Okay. Just go before we get caught," I said.

Rockie ran to the elevator and I went back to the desk to see if I could find a weapon to defend myself if a guard came. There were no weapons hidden in the filing cabinet so I had no choice but use the only other weapon I knew of.

I grabbed a pile of keys and found their matching cells. I couldn't believe what I was about to do, but I saw a guard coming through the door down the hall.

"We're friends, right?" I asked the prisoner.

He just looked at me in silence.

"You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" I unlocked his cell and let him free.

"Hé!" the guard shouted.

The prisoner attacked the guard as I let free a few others so they could help take the guard down, but a bunch of other guards came in so I had to let free even more prisoners. A few of the prisoners went to the desk to grab more keys and let their friends out while others headed for the elevator, but the elevator wouldn't open for them because it recognized their prisoner collars so they started desperately trying to break their collars off while others fought off the guards. They had no idea I was about to blow a hole in the wall.

An alarm was going off as we stampeded down the hall which led to an open area like a cafeteria or battle arena. I stared at the wall straight ahead and tried to use my power, but it didn't work. I kept trying. I knew any moment Rockie would get far enough, assuming he didn't get caught.

The prisoners started throwing themselves and each other at the wall, trying to break it down, but none of their efforts even left a dent. It left a few bloodstains though.

"Ce chien n'a pas de collier ! Emmenons-le à l'ascenseur !" one of the bigger prisoners shouted as he lifted me up in the air.

The other prisoners cheered and started to head back down the hall.

"Wait! Guys! I'm trying to help you!" I told them, hoping at least one of them understood English. "Don't go that way! The wall is about to come down!"

None of them seemed to hear me over their own roaring. I had one last shot. I tried my power on the wall again.

BOOM!

It finally worked! The prisoner dropped me and they all sprinted toward the large gap, trampling me in the process. Every time I got up, I would just be shoved back down again. The prisoners were so desperate to finally be free, they didn't care if they trampled their savior to death.