Breakout

Little droplets of blood trailed behind us as far back as the front door, I observed as I looked back on the burning building. The black smoke rising out of the windows of the crippling brick building was a stark contrast to the reflective white show, which covered the area around the prison in three or four feet. I was shining deep in that snow, squinting my eyes against the sun-reflecting snow at the fire. I wondered how many other prisoners had been trapped by the fire… It was just our luck that our room has been on the outside wall, and the window had bolts that had been frozen off which made it easier to kick open.

“Hey! W-what are you doing? Are you stuck?” His voice echoed across the canyon and I turned my head quickly to give him a disapproving look. His teeth were chattering, his jaw was vibrating trying to hide it. “What? They aren’t going to find us!” I scowled at him and shook my head, giving the prison another glace before beginning to plow through the snow again. The fire alarms, ironically, were still going off and also filling the canyon.

“You know what Barry? I think we should get up this hill then call in a night.” I said dully, and looked up to meet his eyes. He had an amused look masking the pain I could only imagine he was in. Barry had torn the side of his calf off with one of the steel bars that had been sticking out the side of the collapsed wall. The muscle had been spilling out of the skin in knotted bunches which slowed down our escape tremendously. We were forced to stop at the edge of the property, in the open, because he couldn’t continue walking and I had to stuff the bundles of muscle back into his leg and wrap the whole mess in my shirt.

My stomach churned the whole time and I could barely believe that I had even made it through the sound of flesh being mashed back into someone. I grimaced as the sound replayed in my mind, as I had never actually looked at it fully and felt my way around it, and marched up another ledge of snow. I stepped around the puddles of blood Barry had created behind him, and I silently hoped that the wardens wouldn’t release hounds on us. His blood would be a direct path to us, no matter how much we tried to hide it.

“I-I think that would be a good idea…” His breath labors for a moment as his leg brushed against a log hidden in the snow. We had nearly crested the large hill to the east of the prison, and then all we had to do was pick a comfortable cave of the thousands that weaved throughout the mountain. “You grabbed the medical bag right?” He questioned after a beat, giving me a slightly worried look.

I nodded quickly and pulled it out from the torn black bag hanging by one strap on my back. His face instantly filled with relief, and he took the last steps up an irregularly shaped boulder. “I’ll go try to find some firewood when we find a place to settle.” I promised, and crawled up next to him. We stood at the top of the hill now, and I craned my neck down the slope of the backside of the hill to spot a few promising caves.

We slowly went down feet first to the small cave we saw, and the billowing smokestack disappeared behind the cover of trees and rocks. I flung my bag onto the cave floor, establishing our home for the night and concluding that this space would keep the snow and some of the bitter wind off of our backs. Barry eased himself down onto the stone floor of the cave with a sound of agony, and I winced before grabbing the medical supplies out of the and hobbling over to him.

Although Barry had been the most unfortunate of the two of us in acquiring injuries, my own muscles ached and screamed at me to stop moving for a moment. My back felt tight and my jaw hurt from clenching my jaw through the pains, my head pounding as well to add to the list of issues. My skin was covered in frost and goosebumps from the exposure, due to my missing shirt.

The bright sun that had been setting to the north had now disappeared behind the mountains to light up another part of the planet, and the canyon was swallowed in darkness. It was a new moon tonight and the moonlight that I had hoped for was gone. I was staring out into the blackness of the forest, barely able to discern the tree line from the skyline. The only thing I could hear was the howling wind that rushed over the entrance of the cave and added to the already eerie feeling. The wind brought even colder, more unbearable temperatures. The hair on my arms stood on end and my ears strained for anything other than the wind. I didn’t want to be surprised but anything coming out of the darkness which resulted in anxiety bubbling on my chest, imagining a wendigo with his skull face or a chupacabra to appear.

I sucked in a breath and looked to Barry, who seemed to be in a restless sleep under the blanket next to the smoldering fire, and clutched the knife closer to my chest. His face was glowing faintly with what little light the charcoal provided. My mind entertained itself with images of a dying guard that I had driven a pipe from our toilet into when he tried to take us out of our cell. What kind of bumbling idiot would want to not only stay in the building as the fire grew, but run back into the flames and bring others with him? I brooded some more and shifted uncomfortably. I had raided the guard of the medical supplies and his black, serrated, foldable knife, which as I had ruminted, I began to think that it was less moral than I had first thought when I committed the act.

There was a pool of blood in the corner of the cave where I had uncovered the shirt and tried my best to squish the rest of the muscles and fat back into his leg to best resemble the regular shape of a calf. The snow had absorbed the pollution of the planet so I wouldn’t pack any snow to help with the burning. The smell of the rotted blood made me rub my nose every so often, but didn’t make me gag as much as it had when it was only a few hours old. I guess some of the smell had faded into the woods….been absorbed by the snow.

I turned my head back to the woods, pausing mid-chew on deer jerky, I tilted my head towards the door. My heart leaped in my chest, and I jumped up slightly. There it was again. I looked up to the ceiling and listened more closely. Little dust particles shuddered and fell from the cave top.

I flipped onto my hands and knees, and keeping the knife from scraping the ground, I crawled to Berry. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him aggressively while cursing under my breath. He didn’t budge. Not a muscle moved. He just shook like a piece of jello on the ground. I bit back a frustrated wail and resisted the urge to smack him. I pushed him onto his back with a grunt and grabbed his head in my hands, patting his cheek. “What the heck?” I groaned quietly, and ruffled his jacket. Nothing at all…

I thought on my feet and turned to kick the rest of the fire out so that we were engulfed in complete darkness. I patted around him until I found his shoulders again and hooked my arms under his, hoisting him up to my waist and dragged him back as far as I could into the cave. So they had sent people after us, I concluded and bit my lip while listening. There was some rustling at the entrance again. I could only hear a single pair of boot steps.

“God dammit.” I mumbled, shifting against the back wall of the cave. I squatted down next to Barry, slapping his face with one hand and holding the knife in a tight grip in the other. I picked up footsteps so quiet someone would have never heard if they had not been listening. I knew that I couldn’t get both of us out of here without being heard… it was impossible. I stopped messing with Berry, making up my mind that he was either dead or in a coma. Preferably just in a deep sleep but gods man, we all wish we could sleep that well.

“Sir, we spotted some movement in a cave not far away!” Someone shouted at the end of the cave. It was a familiar voice which caused me to frown. The footsteps paused… and there was a long silence.

Their footsteps rapidly advanced in what was probably a dead sprint away from us and to the entrance of the cave. I could hear the crunching of snow fade away into the woods, but I stayed completely still and listening. I had to be sure that no one else was here. The wind was now the only thing that howled again.

My shoulders slumped and I let out a large sigh, dropping the knife to the ground and falling back on my butt. I put my head in my hands and tried to breathe properly again. I hadn't noticed that I had been holding my breath almost that whole time. I jumped when Berry placed his hand onto my leg, and had to cover my mouth to prevent a scream. I cast him a terrible look, not that he could see, and I could hear him laughing quietly.

“Are they gone?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m going to murder you.” I snapped quietly, and smacked him up the head.

He was still laughing quietly, even as we blindly navigated the cave to gather what little we had. That included a cup, my bag, and the paper-thin blanket. We would definitely make it on these three things alone, I thought to myself and stuffed the cup and blanket into my bag. I glanced to the entrance while doing this and saw some purple light casting through the tree, giving evidence that a sunrise was not far away now.

Our boots crunched in the snow once again, and although the bitterly cold wind had died down the even more terribly bitter frostbite took over both my feet the more we walked on. Me and Barry had thought that maybe if we followed the blood that the warden had, we could sneak back to the prison and see if any rescue was available. It sounded smart, but I was wary about it still. The smokestack would have exposed the location of the prison to either the government or some independent clan perhaps, or the prison had gotten it under control before anyone noticed and we could be ripped apart as soon as we arrived.

But I was willing to try for the sake of Berry’s leg and his life. I glanced back ahead to him, following after to make sure he wouldn’t get too far behind and we wouldn’t lose each other. His limp was much worse than yesterday. I could tell that each step was painful for him, and it made it almost unbearable to watch.

“It must have snowed again last night.” Barry observed with dismay as he looked ahead. I went to stand next to him and saw that the trail of blood slowly faded into what looked like fresh white snow. I glared at the fresh blanket of white, not that it could feel my frustration, and kicked some of it away.

“It’s okay.” I said after a moment, noticing Berry’s forlorn look. “ We were on the right track… if we just keep going straight we’ll get there.” I swallowed and rubbed my frozen hands together. He slowly nodded and started through the snow again.

I knew what we both were thinking. This place didn’t look familiar at all, and we should’ve come up over the side of the hill already. It filled me with a despairing feeling and made me drag my feet. Everytime I panted, my breath rose up into the air.

“This sucks Graham. Seriously sucks.” Berry said, and looked back at me with a ghost smile. My lip twitched and I staggered to a stop.

I couldn’t help it and I started to chuckle, then Barry started too. My laugh picked up and in a matter of minutes I was full on howling like a hyena. My lungs seized with pain. I couldn’t help but laugh. Berry couldn’t either, and almost lost his balance with a fit of giggles which made me laugh even harder. I think we were going crazy with the cold. Our breath shot out of our mouths in clouds.

“What is so funny?” Someone shouted, and my laughter slowly died while I looked to the top of a large boulder. But my lungs were still seizing with a laugh and my body shook silently. “You all look lost…”

“No way!” I shouted, letting out a cry of amusement and began plowing through the snow. I threw my hands up in the air as if I had a victory. No one else would consider this a victory I'm sure.

“Karlon!” Berry shouted, just as joyful, and limped after me and up the hill to meet Karlon on top of the boulder. I attacked him with a gigantic hug, and was engulfed by Berry not long after for a big group hug. “What are you… how? What’s-” Berry asked breathlessly. Our body heat steamed the air around us, and both our bodies were shaking: Mine out of laughter and Berry’s from an attack of sobs. His face was filled with nothing but relief.

“You guys are some of the thousand or so that survived the night and the fire, ya know? When the fire had died down, the Southeast Faction sent a few battalions to search the area! They found a group of us in a cave and set up camp. Some more started showing up after that, then more. They were following a trail of blood from last night back to the prison. ” He announced and held both of us out at arms length, looking us over. “It’s good to see you two alive. We need a little bit of leadership in the rescue camp.” He said with a smile then nodded to Berry’s bandaged and bloody leg.

I looked down and kind of felt embarrassed about my dressing of the wound because so much blood had leaked through. Some undetermined emotion made my body vibrate and shiver, but I figured it was relief as well. I cleared my throat, “I did the best I could with it, but he needs someone professional to look at it.” I explained, and Berry nodded in agreement. Karlon hummed at me and patted Berry’s shoulder.

“Well then we better head over to the medical tent, my friend.” He nodded, and helped Berry around some boulders before we broke the tree line to a large clearing. Smoke was rising from hundreds of white medical tents and people in blue camo weaved through them carrying medical supplies or papers. Some spared a glance at us, and then others dressed in solid navy blue coats rushed out to meet us with a few stretchers. I waved my hand at them to reject the stretcher, signaling I was fine to walk and observed as they gently loaded Berry onto one and grouped around saying things in a language I didn't understand and migrating back to the camp. Karlon walked a little bit slower than the hoard, and paused to turn back to me for a second.

“Eli didn’t make it. The warden caught him not too far from where I found you two.” He must have been the one to call off the warden from our cave, I thought to myself and mourned quietly. I nodded to Karlon, squinting at the bright sun that was emerging over the mountains.

Berry craned his head and through the blue coats he caught my eye… and he smiled and me with a thumbs up, shot up as high as he could extend his frozen arm so I could see it.

My eyes crinkled with a growing grin, and I pushed away my sadness for the meantime. I put my hands on my hips, and rested back on my right leg to watch them disappear into a tent, shaking my head. I ignored the intense pain that caused my back, and bounced one of my legs slowly.

“Onto the next part…” I laughed quietly to myself, somewhat sarcastic, and crunched the snow under my boots while walking towards the tent after them. Towards the white tents with charred remains of the black brick prison looming in the background.