BLACK INK SOCIETY {Sci-Fi Thriller} #Wattys2016

Part 12,2: Blind Disobedience

Lupin and the others were wrangled up the stairs and onto the basement floor. He had memorised the facility enough to know that they were heading out of the building. Was this part of the plan? For goodness' sake, Irene, couldn't you have shared the details for once, and set aside the drama?

He heard additional footstep from his left and right. Apparently prisoners from the other cells were joining them. The air was thick with the stench of melting plastic. The fire had begun to spread. They were moving the inmates, but where to?

The constant shouting of the guards mixed to a hectic rush of commands. Lupin was chased up another staircase. It became hotter. "Move, move!" He could feel smoke in his lungs. A prisoner next to him tripped and almost fell, but Lupin managed to hold him up. They went further up. The heat was increasing with every step, sweat formed on his neck and forehead under the dense polyester of the black hood. They had reached the ground floor. The guards opened the front door, and cold, fresh air flooded inside.

Now would be the perfect time to stage a dramatic escape, Irene.

He stopped walking, but one of the guards pushed him back in line. A car door opened.

Irene?

Should he try to run? Lupin considered the possibility for a second. He wouldn't get far. As soon as he would remove his hood, the guards would be there. He was lucky that no one had noticed the extra prisoner they had picked up along the way.
As he was still employing this line of thought, someone shoved him into the back of a van. His kneecaps collided with the coachwork and he was quick to crawl forward before someone stepped on his hands.

The door was slammed shut behind him.

Lupin leant his back against the inner surface of the car. The motor started.

Too late.

She'd missed her chance. The van was set in motion. Lupin held onto the metal handle next to the door as the car took a sharp turn to the right. He kept hoping for an explosion, for a fallen tree on the road, anything that would cause it to stop, but the van had reached the main road and the driver floored the gas pedal. With screeching tyres, the vehicle accelerated.

Too late.

What had the plan been anyway? To sneak him out while the guards were evacuating the building? Even Irene must have known how reckless that was. But what should she have done?  Lupin pressed his lips together. Maybe Irene and Dante had managed to cut off Frye and decided not to come back for him, not to compromise the mission. That's what I would do, wouldn't I.

That would teach him. Everyone he ever worked with had ratted him out at some point, and now he was being hauled off to another secret prison with no way of escape. What would they do when they realised he wasn't one of the inmates? Certainly not send him off with a parting gift.

Lupin decided to make a run for it as soon as they left the van. His chances of success were minimal, but Lupin really did not fancy ending up as an undiscovered corpse ten metres below ground level.

The van took another sharp turn. The wheels bumped into a roadhole, then they rumbled over what seemed to be a gravel path. Suddenly the breaks squealed. Lupin was thrown forward and collided with the person in front of him as the van was slithering to a halt.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said a voice from the driving seat.

The sound of a taser, followed by a scream. A limp body fell between the kneeling inmates.

"We are currently in the London Borough of Havering. If you follow the road ahead of us, you will find yourself in a steel industry complex. From there you can reach other parts of London relatively easy. I would advise you to take off your hoods," said Dante, "and run for your lives."

Lupin removed the black bag from his head and stared at Dante and Irene, who were climbing from the front seats into the back of the van, pointing stun guns at the guard laying on the ground. "Well, it took you long enough," he said after a moment of silence.

"Always welcome," said Dante, waving the car keys.

The prisoners removed their hoods one after another. Irene unlocked the back door and they jumped out, scattering in every direction. Lupin grabbed Frye by the arm as he passed by. "You're coming with us," he said, "can you  walk?"
The chemist shook his head. "Don't know."
"You can lean on me," Lupin replied and Frye obeyed, putting one arm around his shoulders for support.

Another van pulled into the gravel path. The doors opened and a dozen of heavily armed, very familiar unmarked special forces stepped out and took position.
"We need to go!" Irene jumped out of the van, "Dante, now!"

Dante turned around and fired his taser one more time. The guard on the floor groaned in pain. "Kind regards, fuckbag," Dante spat and proceeded to follow Irene, but not before adding a hefty kick into the guard's ribs. Lupin raised his eyebrows. Someone needed to let off steam.

A bullet smashed into the back door of the van.

They ducked and started running. "Was that really necessary?" Irene exclaimed, "The poor guy had a concussion from my gun anyway."

The attackers fired again. "Freeze!"

"You know how it goes," Dante shouted, "and eye for an eye..." He fell to the side to evade the bullets flying past over his head, "And a rib for a rib... Or something like that."

They had left the path and were running through the forest. Lupin was pulling Les Frye after him, breathing heavily. He was trying to keep up with his associates but that proved to be more difficult than he had expected - for a man that short, Frye was surprisingly heavy.