A Way Out

Part III: Freedom

Lights out! Fred shouts as he turns off the lights in the cell block. My eyes open, staring at my dark black ceiling. I sit up, rubbing my eyes so they adjusted to the dark. I open the toilet, pulling the knife out of the water, wiping it with my shirt. I flick the knife out, walking to my cell door and jimmying the lock. With a small crack sound, my cell door opens with ease.

I stick my head out, looking both ways, seeing no guards. I step quietly over to Macs cell, jamming the knife into the cell lock. Mac sits up from his bed and looks over at me as his cell lock breaks and the door opens slowly. I wave for him to follow. We step quietly down the corridor, heading for the cafeteria.

How do we get to Shawn? Mac asks in a soft voice as I push the cafeteria door open.

Reach the other door, that leads to cell block A. I say, pointing across the cafeteria as we move slowly. I could hear guards in the distance, I was guessing it came from the kitchen. We reach the other door, my hand touching the cold metal in the dark.

Fuck. Mac says pulling me behind a food cart.

What? I ask, hearing footsteps getting closer. I then saw a flashlight come from the kitchen. Two guards walk out of the kitchen, one heading to our cell block and one heading to A. I gesture to Mac for us to follow the guard as he opened the locked door into the block. I inch close behind the guard as he swings the door open and walks down the hall. As he turns the corner, I stand and grab his mouth and jam the knife into his throat. Warm blood coats my hands and I lay him down quietly.

I look back to see Mac close behind. We head down the main staircase to reach Shawns cell. There were no guards in sight, all tat could be heard was snores and the creak of beds. We reach Shawns cell, his snores covering our steps. I jam the knife into the lock and crack it, Shawn waking up.

Shawn, lets go. I whisper into the dark as he sits up. I slide open his door and he stands up, smiling.

You sneaky bastard. He says to me as he walks over to Mac and me.

Im Mac. Mac shakes Shawns hand as he steps in front of us.

Im Shawn, follow me, we have to get to the wardens helipad. Shawn leads us ack up the stairs and down a different hall. 6

We reach the wardens office and stack up next to the door. Shawn puts up a hand telling us to wait. There were two voices in the room as I place my ear up to the door.

So, tell me Fred, where is the knife? The wardens voice says quickly. I could hear what sounded like punching in the room.

Fuck you. I could hear Freds voice as he spits, what I was assuming was blood. Fuck, please god forgive me.

Thats a shame Fred. The warden says, then silence. Shawn still has his hand up, Mac shaking his head. A loud scream pierces the cold dark night, and my mind breaks. What have I done? I stand up and push open the door, the warden sitting in his chair. Freds cold limp corpse sits in the chair across from him, blood pooling on the floor.

So, it was you huh? Disgusting. The warden smiles and sets his knife down.

You scumbag piece of shit, youll burn in hell for this. I say to him, Shawn picking up the knife and pointing at his gun. The warden sighs and hands it Shawn. Mac stares on, a shocked look on his face.

You think Im going to burn? Look at yourself Leo. The warden chuckles. Shawn punches him, knocking a tooth out of his mouth.

Wheres the helicopter key? Shawn says aggressively. The warden points to a key ring on the wall.

You wont make it out alive, youre all going to die. The warden laughs, blood sputtering out of his mouth. I walk over to him, my breathing heavy as I look into his eyes.

Ill see you in hell. I grab him, making him stand up. Blood still coats my hand as my rage boils. I slam the knife up into his jaw, blood pouring out as I push him through his window. The glass shatters as his body falls. I stare outside, thinking to myself. Poor Fred, he didnt deserve this. Ive seen so many good men die. Please forgive me.

An alarm echoes through the prison, a spotlight shining on me standing at the window. Some guard must have seen that miserable pricks body fall from the window.

I feel a hand land on my shoulder, Shawn standing next to me. Mac stands next to the helipad door.

We got to go Leo. He says, holding the keys to the helicopter. I nod my head, holding back tears as I take one last look at Fred. We walk over to the door, Mac leading us onto the pad.

You can fly this right? I ask Shawn. He gets into the pilot seat, smiling.

Of course, I can. He says sticking the keys in and starting the helicopter. I could hear guards busting in and firing shots at us. Mac and I hop in, closing the sliding doors on each side. We lift off, rain beginning to smack the windows. Freedom, but at what cost?