The Long Dark- A Journey Through Frozen Hell

Battle plans

Miho sat in her cell, staring at the wall.

Vachon approached the cell, holding out the bear.

"You found him!" Miho said quickly, running up and grabbing him.

"Thank you!" She said.

Vachon smiled.

"You remind me of my niece." He said.

Miho didn't respond, touching the toque fluff.

Vachon stared ahead briefly before walking away.

"Miho, come here." Franklin said.

Miho stood up on the toilet, peering down into his cell.

"I'm here." She said.

"Did you find anything at the power plant?" He asked.

"No, but I did what the mystery person asked." Miho said.

"Which is what?"

"I smashed some steam pipes leading to solitary."

"Good girl." Franklin said, smiling at her success.

"Whoever this person is, they don't like Donner."

"We have to do more."

"Like what?" Miho asked.

"Keep doing what you're doing. We have to slow Mathis down."

"It's hard to do in this cell."

A loud banging caught their attention as Miho junped down and sat on her bed, hiding Boko in her pocket.

Miho looked up as Mathis stood by her cell door, holding up a lever she smashed off.

Her heart sank as dread filled her.

"Well, well, well, look what my guys found when investigating the old parts of the prison. Someone is seriously fucking with me. Someone who knows more about this prison than they should. Know exactly what to sabotage to keep us from getting into solitary."

Miho looked away as Mathis banged on the bars.

"Know anything about this commander?" He asked, handing the lever to Vachon, who looked down the whole time.

"I-I don't." Miho said.

Mathis looked away, biting his lips in frustration.

"Sure, I figured as much. Whoever did this took a big risk and went through a lot of effort for nothing."

Miho's eyes widened as she held her knees up to her chest.

"A big ass key that will unlock the door to solitary or any other door we want."

"Damn it, Mathis, haven't you done enough to my prison?" Franklin said, getting Mathis's attention.

"Shut your mouth. I'll deal with you later."

Mathis turned to Miho.

"Listen Up Commander, it's time to get back to work."

"What is it?"

"Detonators. Can't do shit with this dynamite without detonators. Since we have all this dynamite we found in sheds, the detonators should be around somewhere. Of course, we can't find them. I sent a few guys out, and they got killed. So we're sending you. I'll probably have to go a few more rounds with my fiend the warden here right find out where they are. You just sit tight. And I'll tell you when I'm done."

He pointed his finger at her.

"You may want to plug your ears." He said, walking to Franklin's cell.

Heller and Vachin stood by the doors, looking away.

Vachon glanced at Miho as she stared in fear.

He frowned and looked at the wall.

"Now Mathis, there is no need for that."

"Come on warden. Don't ruin my fun."

"We don't have any detonators. That dynamite is old. We kept it in storage because we didn't have a safe way to get it back to the mainland."

"That's a nice story."

"Wait! Wait! I know where you could find some. "

"I'm listening."

"The old mine in the hills just above the prison. It was shut down for safety reasons but after the quakes, most of the old gear was left behind up there. I bet there are some detonator caps up there."

"Interesting. You heard the man Commander! Get going." Mathis said.

"Yeah, dog, get back out there." Heller said.

A loud thud and Franklin groaning caused Miho to run by the cell wall.

"Mathis, leave him alone!" She said.

Everyone was quiet as she realized her mistake.

"I'll do it, I'll be quick!" Miho said.

Heller gained his composure and crossed his arms.

"You better get going tanker. Mathis wants to let off some steam." He said.

Mathis stormed out of Franklin's cell, unlocking Miho's and grabbing her by the arm.

He dragged her outside and threw her onto the snowy ground and slammed the door so hard, the wood split by the hindge.

Miho looked around as the storm slowly began to pick up as she stood up, and walked to her safe room.

...

Yukari and Jace stood by a map of the prison and the local area.

"And that's how we get into the prison." Jace said as Yukari nodded.

They both looked outside as the storm began to pick up, obscuring their view.

"Hopefully, this will be over by tomorrow." Jace said.

"I hope so too." Yukari said, thinking about Miho's wellbeing.