Tattooed

XXIV

For the next few hours the band of secret rebels prepped for breaking Wes out of prison. I couldn't dream this up in my wildest dreams. It was dark outside, and everyone, including Corinth, were wearing black spy like outfits.

"Wait, you're going too?" I asked Corinth. "You can't leave me alone here!"

The older man threw some clothes at me. "You're not going to be alone. You're coming with us."

I gaped at him, looked down at the clothes, then looked back up. "You're kidding." I couldn't break into a prison. I would get us all caught.

"We need as many people as we can for this plan to work." called another girl as she ran out to a truck. No one was standing still, everyone had something to do. I looked at Corinth.

"What exactly is the plan?"

Corinth tugged my arm and pushed me behind a divider. "Change, and then I'll explain everything in the truck. We don't have time Cecil. Wes is in danger of having his whole memory erased."

That got me moving. Soon I was dressed, the truck was packed, and we were moving. Murmurs filled the empty space.

A map was spread out on Corinth's lap. "Here's the blueprints for the prison. It's only a few minutes from here, on the border. They keep prisoners from all stratums there. Lila," she gestured to the girl who was on the computer, "is going to override the security feed in this back section. She and Robert are going to hang here and keep an eye on security while we slip in. We're not sure where Wes is being held so we all have to split up."

Corinth handed me a small ear piece. "We can all communicate using these, but stay quiet."

My stomach turned. This was by far the scariest thing I've ever attempted to do. I wasn't put in Courageous for a reason. "What if we get caught?" I asked.

A random guy answered, "Well, we would fight, but you? You just need to alert someone and try to run." His answer didn't help at all.

Soon we arrived at a small wide building with ten feet high wire fences. The prison. There were no lights and the truck went off the road to the back. Then it was put in park.

"Okay let's go let's go!" Lila opened up her laptop and began typing away furiously while everyone else jumped out. We were fifteen yards away from the fence. I ran behind Corinth, ducking low, blending in the tall dry grass. Someone cut a rip in the fence and then another one picked the lock on the heavy door. We were all in.

"Can everyone hear me?" Echoed Lila in my ear comm. I heard everyone's whispered responses too.  Each hallway we passed a member split from the group. Some went upstairs as well. I thought that it had to be impossible the place wasn't crawling with guards. My pulse thundered in my ears. My muscles burned as I ran up the stairs as lightly and quietly as I could.

"Cess, go down that hallway, I'll go down this one." Corinth whispered. She fled before I could protest. I stayed still, fidgeting for a second before deciding it was better if I wasn't a sitting duck. There were actual cells here, but again no guards. I wasn't sure how I could find Wes, there were no names or windows or anything I could use to identify the prisoners being held.

At the end of the hallway I turned left, and was blinded by the sudden change of light. Here there were glass windows, like in a zoo for animals on display. Squinting, I peeked inside each cell before moving on. There were sleeping prisoners here. I didn't understand why they were being held here versus the metal doors others had. I looked ahead and audibly let out a strangled noise.

Up ahead leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead was a guy with long matted hair covering his torso like a blanket. His eyes that I knew so well looked glazed over.

Wes.

"Um, everyone? I found Wes, uh, third floor, left hallway, go all the way down, turn left..." I started rambling. I ran to the glass and fell to my knees.

"Wes?" I whispered. It had only been two days, why did he look so...dead? Like they killed him inside.

His head slightly moved and his eyes met mine. He moved forward a bit. "Cecil?" I could see him mouth. I put my hand on the glass and he slowly crawled over and put it over mine.

"What did they do?" I could feel my heart being physically ripped from my chest.

His chapped lips were about to form a word when all of a sudden a piercing siren blared. Both of us jumped back. I looked around wildly.

"Everyone GET. OUT." Lila screamed. I hesitated, looking helplessly at Wes until I could hear him shout "Get out!" through the glass. He didn't want me to get caught and end up like him.

I didn't want to leave him, but I had no choice. I turned and ran, knowing the chances of me escaping were slim.