A Prisoner Of War

Chapter Four : The Plan

Pru and I watch Alex as she paces back and forth. We share a look that says, What on Earth is up with her? 

But since we value our lives, we decide not to ask. God knows what else she's got in the pockets of that jacket of hers.

Finally, she stops subjecting the floor to her constant stomping and turns towards us.

"Let me consolidate. Jacqueline - you saw a red line tracing a path from here to your country. Right?"

"It's Jackie. And Yes."

"You do know that this place is full of explosives and nuclear energy, don't you?"

"Yep."

"So that could mean that Sterling's planning an attack. What you saw was a nuclear missile.  If it explodes, especially in the capital, it will blow up everyone within a fifty- mile radius. Everyone will get vaporized, and there will be a radioactive haze which will sweep over the rest of the country. This can't be happening!" Alex is nearly tearing her hair out in frustration.

"Well then, what do you suggest we do?" Prudence calmly asks.

Ah, Prudence. Always the sensible one.

"We need to stop Sterling." responds Alex.

Well, thank you for stating the obvious.

"And I have a plan."

Now you're talking.

_

We decide to carry out our plan within a few days. It will be insanely dangerous and might result in us being captured and straightaway executed without a trial. Alex and I chart out the plan carefully, recording the times we get our meals, where the sensors and cameras are located, and where the ventilation ducts open. Based on my short, horribly unpleasant field trip to the General's extremely claustrophobic planning room, we work out the route through the passages, although Alex seems strangely familiar with them already.

I wonder why.

There's something strange about Alex, something a little....off.  Prudence and I find it excessively suspicious that Alex did not lose any of her belongings when she was arrested.

Unlike us, who were stripped of every single material object we owned.

First, Alex had her weird magical ointment. Well, not exactly magical, really, but you could tell that it was the expensive kind, the ones manufactured only in the army laboratories. And, when we were measuring the time to the door stayed open while delivering our lunch, Alex had not - so - discreetly pulled out a digital watch from her jacket, which recorded hours, minutes and seconds, showed the date, day and year, and was equipped with a stopwatch/timer.

Well, if that isn't curious, I don't know what curious is.

Back to the topic.

After our careful observations, we discovered that when the soldiers give us our food, the door remains open for exactly six seconds, after which it closes. The door requires an identification card to be opened, like the one Hunter used while entering the General's Planning Room. There are twenty - two cells on this floor. The ventilation ducts open in two places in each cell : the area next to the door and a small place in the corner of the ceiling. 

The General will be launching an attack soon. Alex and I believe that he will be planning to use the very same nuclear missiles. It is most likely going to be an aerial drop, but Alex says that he had constructed remote - controlled missiles. Whether they are nuclear or not, I do not know.

I might not look like much, but Dad did teach me to shoot. He was a soldier, and he strongly believed that everyone should know how to defend themselves.

Of course, we had done it behind Mom's back.

Mom, she was always the timid type. To her, all that mattered was the family and her bakery. Whenever Dad and I discussed the war at the table, she would always joke that we would give her a heart attack one day.

I don't know what happened to her, whether she made it out alive or not. Dad's not around, and without Mom I don't know what I'm going to do. 

But for now, all that matters is getting out of here alive.

_

End of Chapter Four.

I know, I know.

I've been missing for a while. Please don't kill me.

Good news : I have now resolved to update as much as possible over this Summer break. I will also be posting a short horror story which I wrote, so you can check it out if you want. If you like it, I might post some more short stories! 

This chapter is dedicated to @agneslovesjane for being overly excited for this story!

Vote, Comment, Follow, et cetera.

Adios, amigos!

~T.J.