Chapter 8 Pete
CHAPTER EIGHT
PETE
SEVERAL DAYS EARLIER
The other three are completely silent behind me, surprising me with their stealth as we quietly make our way out of our cell and down the hall.
At the end are two layers of doors that lead to the yard.
I know they’ll be locked, but I reach for the handle anyway, and that’s when I hear the lock click.
Anticipation flows through me as I pull my homemade shiv from the back of my pants and slowly turn the knob. I try to contain my excitement when it gives no resistance.
Ever so slowly, I open it wider, making sure it doesn’t creak and alert the guards or other prisoners to our presence. I quickly move across the ten feet of empty space to the final door separating us from the yard, and once again, the knob turns with no resistance.
What idiot forgot to lock the doors?
I plaster myself to the outside wall as I wait for the others to exit.
Jagger closes the door just as slowly as I opened it, keeping our presence out here completely silent.
We head around the back, away from the entrance where most of the guards will be, as I toss my shiv back and forth between my hands, ready to get stabby with any guards that pop up.
A tap on my shoulder stills me, and when I glance back, Sly points to the side. I squint, trying to figure out what he’s pointing at, but my night vision is shit, and I shake my head, not understanding.
He motions for us to follow him along the back of the building until he holds up a hand to halt us. After thirty seconds of waiting, he points to the back fence, then starts dropping his fingers one at a time.
He’s doing a countdown.
Once he closes his hand, he starts to run toward the back, and the rest of us follow, trying to step as quietly as we can while still moving quickly.
When we reach the fence, we squat down and survey the yard, finding it quiet with no one else in sight.
“Plan?” I whisper to Sly, who led us in this direction.
“I think we have to dig, unless any of you know of a better way?”
“There’s the gate to the outer section just that way,” Dex points to his left. “It’ll be locked, but maybe you can pick it?” He turns to me in question.
“Beats digging,” I say with a shrug before we all start creeping toward it.
“Where are the guards?” Sly asks after a couple of minutes.
“What? Our company not good enough for you?” I ask with a grin.
He ignores my comment. “This can’t be normal for the night shift. There should be guards constantly roaming this area.”
“Hell if I know the guards' schedule,” I say as we reach the gate and I take a look at the lock.
“You should,” he says, but I ignore him as I stare at our death sentence.
“It’s digital,” I tell them, my hands clenching into fists.
“What does that mean?” Dex asks, looking over my shoulder.
“It means I can’t pick it. It has to be opened with a code or—”
Dex reaches around me, and before I can stop him, he presses 1-2-3-4.
CLICK
My eyes widen as I watch the gate unlock and sway open an inch.
“How did you…” I shake my head in disbelief, unsure if I’m more surprised that the passcode was that simple or that Dex is the one who guessed it.
Dex reaches up and grabs the edge of the door, but Sly places his hand on his shoulder before he pulls it open. “Wait, it could be a trap.”
“Why do they need to trap us? We’re already in prison; opening this gate doesn’t help them trap us,” he says as we all stare at the empty yard beyond the fence.
Sly drops his hand, and slowly Dex pulls the gate open. When no alarm sounds, we quietly step through and pull it closed behind us. Looking around, I notice there are no guards here, either.
Jagger points to the tower in front of us. There might not be any guards patrolling this outer section, but the guard up there will certainly see us. We squat down low from the shadows and watch as he slowly moves around his little tower, giving him a 360 view around him.
We watch for a couple of minutes, but he doesn’t maintain a steady pattern, walking in one direction, then suddenly stopping and reversing.
“Damn it, we’re going to have to make a run for it and hope we make it before he turns this way,” Sly says in frustration.
We watch as the guard picks up his radio and listens, then moves to the opposite side of the tower. He pulls out his binoculars and stares off into the forest, with his back to us.
“Now!” I whisper, and the four of us sprint across the open field, only stopping when we’re at the base of his tower. I take a second to look around and see there’s another locked gate, leading out into the forest.
“Why are there so many gates here?” Dex asks the same question I’m wondering about.
“It’s so if anyone escapes, they don’t have to run to the front to follow them,” Sly says as we hover around the gate.
“I don’t suppose this one is going to have the same code?” I type in the code Dex used, but nothing happens.
Dex bends down and whispers against the keypad, “Abra cadabra.”
CLICK
“No fucking way that just worked,” I hiss out as I watch it pop open an inch. I grab it and pull it open just enough to slip through. Being so close to escape has me less nervous about alarms, eager for my freedom.
I start to step toward the forest, not believing I’m actually free, but Jagger grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me back. When I look at him in question, he points up.
Oh, right. The guard in the tower. Any chance he’s still distracted?
I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to do this. We had about a hundred feet to cross before the forest began, but from here, we can’t even see if the guard is looking this way.
Sly tugs my sleeve and motions for me to follow him along the fence. We all step slowly, backs to the fence as we move away from the tower, keeping our eyes on it.
When Sly stops, we all shrink down low and look back up. We’re just far enough away to see his head now, and as soon as he turns back toward the prison, Sly motions for us to follow as he jumps up and starts running.
I’ve never had so much adrenaline pumping through me before, not even when I took on four guys at once. It takes everything I have not to laugh at the thrill of escaping.
When we hit the tree line, we don’t stop; we just keep going and going.
Darkness surrounds us but the moonlight is enough to keep us moving. After ten minutes, Dex starts to slow, so we all stop, taking a second to catch our breath and listen.
“I think we made it,” I whisper.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Sly says, and I huff out a laugh.
“So you do have a sense of humor.” He just blinks at me, and I shake my head. Maybe not.
“Where to now?” Dex asks as we gaze around.
“I say we keep going this way. There should be a road within a couple of miles,” Sly says before turning and heading in that direction. With no better idea, we follow.
After a couple of hours, the sun starts to rise and I let out a long groan. “How much longer? I’m tired and it’s so hot!”
“I’m not sure. I thought we should have hit it by now, maybe we’re not exactly where I thought we were.”
“This forest could go on forever!” I groan, dropping to a fallen tree trunk to rest my feet.
“Hey, I’m open to suggestions here. We have three choices. Straight, left, or right.”
As I look at all our options, Dex just points the way we were going. “Straight. It’s a crap shoot either way, so I’d rather be putting as much distance between us and Stoney Creek as possible.”
“Agreed,” Sly says, before turning to Jagger, who nods in approval.
“Fine, fine, lead on, Sly,” I grumble, pushing to my feet.
He nods, and I watch as Dex stops to pluck a yellow dandelion from the ground, scrutinizing it.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I start to follow Sly through the trees.
“I want some flowers to give to Wren.” He picks up another yellow weed, then pushes them both into his pocket, no doubt crushing them.
I shake my head as I try not to laugh. A girl like Wren doesn’t need flowers or jewelry to impress her. She’d want something more personal, something that shows my obsession with her.
My mind starts to come up with ideas as we march through the forest. Eventually, the sun begins to rise, as does the temperature, and my stomach rumbles with hunger.
“Anyone know if there’s anything safe to eat out here?” I ask as I trudge through the forest. “Isn’t Arizona supposed to be all desert, anyway? Are we sure they didn’t take us out of state?”
“There are forests in Arizona,” Sly says with a sigh.
“How do you know?” Dex asks, clearly thinking the same as me.
“Because we’re walking in one right now.”
“That doesn’t—” Jagger grabs my arm and makes a shushing motion with his finger over his mouth.
“Guys!” I hiss. They both turn to us, immediately going on alert as they scan our surroundings.
Jagger points ahead and to the side, and I squint to figure out what he’s pointing at.
“Looks like the trees thin up ahead, it might be a road,” Sly says, and we move a little quicker until we step out onto a quiet road.
“Finally, I ain’t made for hiking, especially in this heat,” I say as I tilt my head up toward the sun. August in Arizona was no joke.
“Sorry to break it to you, Pete, but we’re not done walking yet,” Sly says as he turns to the right and starts moving.
“Hey,” Dex says, with a slap to my back so hard I stumble forward. “At least you won’t trip over any more roots!”
I narrow my eyes at him, and he just smiles back, probably not even realizing that he’s insulting my stealth by bringing it up. In my defense, the woods at night are fucking dark.
We walk along for about fifteen minutes before we hear a vehicle approach, quickly moving into the trees to hide until it passes. This continues on for another twenty minutes, until we spot a vehicle up ahead, parked on the side of the road.