Ptolemaea | Henry Creel

The Easy Way Out

YALL THIS IS THE ESCPAE CHAPTER FUCK YEAHHHH!!! WOOOO!!!! This one is fun i think i hope you enjoy!!

I just had to move forward.

One unsteady foot in front of the other. Night had only just fallen. The dayshift guards slugged off to bed with cigarette-stained fingertips and emptied out styrofoam cups. I didn't acknowledge them as I passed. Escape had never felt so close. I could taste it in my mouth, feel it in my joints. All the privileges I'd been denied emerged in the back of my mind with growing clarity-- soon I would have them all.

I felt Henry, too. At first, I wasn't sure if it was him, but then there was that surge in the back of my mind confirming his presence. It made me angry, but perhaps I was better off angry-- if something was gonna fuel my abilities, then Henry would make potent kindling. I tried not to think about the pit in my stomach that came with him, nor the possibility of seeing Beau's face down a metallic hallway.

It was all said and done now. My mind was made up.

But of course, there was still one person I had to consider. Eleven's sleeping quarters were not far from that storage room she, Beau, and I had visited a few days prior. First, I'd go back to the storage container piled high with guns-- pistols, if my Laymen's knowledge of firearms could be trusted. My entire plan relied on the presumption that they were still there. If memory served, I had fitted the lid of the storage container on well enough, but I still couldn't be sure.

The closer I got to the storage room, the fewer and farther between came the guards. I gave them the best 'nothing going on here' smile I could manage, and thankfully no one seemed the wiser.

Soon confidence had faded into anxiety. I was angry-- angrier than I had been in a long time, but my that made me nervous. Anger always lended to impulsivity. I couldn't afford any slip-ups. My pace picked up, feet slamming into the ground as deja vu made grated floors seem like white tiles all over again.

I wasn't there anymore. Things couldn't possibly end as badly as they did before.

Both Project Nina and Hawkins lab had been a pillow covering my mouth and my nose. I had suffocated between four walls-- whether they were metal or tile-- one day at a time. Having more liberties here didn't save me from the knowledge that I was just as stuck as before. Owens had promised me the opportunity to leave if I liked, and though I trusted his words, Brenner had the power to overrule him.

Just like before, I had to take matters into my own hands.

And so I stopped at the storage room door and glanced down yellow and grey hallways. They were blissfully empty, but I knew that could change in a moment. So I made quick work of the lock, closing my eyes and urging my abilities to the surface. They were unusually active, sensing danger in the air and acting accordingly.

There was a soft click of a lock, and then I pushed the door open. Just like before, the storage room smelled of rotting wood and mildew. I didn't dare waste more time than what was necessary. I closed my eyes for a moment, tried to gather my bearings, and pressed on in spite of the ever-looming fear which twisted in my gut.

My eyes zeroed in on one of the wooden boxes in the corner of the room. It was seemingly untouched, which I took as a good sign as I pressed further inside. The floorboards creaked beneath my steps. Barely noticeable, but in my mind they may as well have been bowls of thunder.

I pulled the lid off unceremoniously, more than glad to find it hadn't been drilled shut. I searched the contents of the container, my chest swelled with a breath I didn't dare release.