Snake stood and peered out the small window in the door. The hall was empty and dark as far as he could see. It really wasn't that far in either direction. The dark hall was suspicious. Usually it was lit up like the sun outside his darkened room, not today and not since yesterday afternoon.
"Shit." Snake growled returning to his place on the bed. He spent most of the time sitting still to conserve his energy. He'd been like this before though never in a prison on American soil. It told Plissken the last thing he wanted to hear in his mind. America was falling to the low point their enemies had crashed to years ago.
The silence was getting to Plissken even more than the hunger. His own boredom would drive him insane in here. Snake was about to stand again when a smell came to his attention. It was a familiar smell, the stench of insanity. He was hyper aware of the fact there was a crazy nearby. The thought made Plissken's skin crawl. He had thought the police killed them on sight. Since when had they started imprisoning them, especially in a place other than New York Max?
Knocking on the door pulled Plissken from his thoughts. Curiosity and the desire for mental stimulation enticed Snake to return to the small window in the door to see what was outside his confined space. Plissken wiped the window and took a gander at the dark beyond. There was nothing but the sound was real. He could feel the door vibrating with the knocks. Plissken glanced mistrustfully at the door handle rattling. There wasn't one on the inside but the bolt on this side was twisting. His mind tried to grasp the situation through hunger and the terrible stink. Nausea was coming in double waves now. Snake pushed it down and went back to the window.
He pressed his eye to the glass to try and see what was below. Unexpectedly, a face pressed to the glass with a thump. Plissken instinctively stumbled backwards in fear. It was the only thing Snake was afraid of, the crazies. The distorted face disappeared leading to a more vigorous shaking of the metal door. Why were there crazies loose in the prison?
The desire to survive overtook the fear and Plissken once more inched toward the door. There was a torch outside bobbing through the dark. It gave Plissken enough light to deduce his predicament. 6 crazies were outside banging on the door. They crawled and shoved one another to get closer to the opening that was still blocked. Snake knew what that meant. He could still hear Maureen in the back of his mind, "Crazies, end of the month. They're out of food." They were hungry just like he was. Only they were different. The crazies were interested in this room because of his presence, he was to be dinner.
Snake backed away again looking around the dimly lit room. There was one window if you could call the 5 by 10 inch slit a window. There wasn't much else in the solitary cell. The bed bolted to the floor, a urinal and a blanket was all he had at his disposal. Metal groaned bringing Plissken's attention back to the door. The hinges were working out of the stone. The cannibals outside were starting to wail with anticipations. The sounds were unnerving. Plissken sat on the bed gagging until he regained control over his body in the face of the sounds and smells assaulting him.
Once more in charge of his body Plissken returned to his task. He needed a weapon but that wasn't any at his disposal. The door was groaning again. Plissken caught sight of the fingers wiggling between stone and metal frame. Snake threw his weight into the door. His shoulder burned with pain as the frame jolted back into position. Fingers dropped to the ground and the monsters outside roared in pain. Plissken wanted out just as much as they wanted in but given the choice he'd rather stay in than have them in here with him.
The door was instantly pushing back in. There wasn't much time. Snake took the blanket in hand. It would do as a net and buy him some time to fight them off. Plissken stepped up on the flat metal platform that formed the bed, faced the door and waited. The door shuddered and faces started pressing up over the top. Snake wanted to run. He was terrified, an emotion he wasn't use to feeling.
The loud crash echoed painfully in the small room as the humanity rushed him. Plissken threw the blanket over the first of his attackers. They fell twisting and fighting with the tangled fabric. He kicked his next victim full force in the head. The crazy bounced off the wall and slumped to the floor. Suddenly the others looked at the fallen man. Their wild eyes moved between Plissken tensed and ready to fight and the slumped unconscious or dead member of their own raiding party. The laws of food acquisition ruled out and the madmen fell on their own.
Snake didn't even flinch. His feet were already pushing him out the door into the hall. It was pitch black in both directions but he could hear more. Crazies were coming from the left preceded by the wall of gut turning reek. Plissken threw himself into the dark in the other direction. He would take his chances with the unknown rather than deal with what he knew was coming. It wasn't long before Plissken found the wall and started looking for a door, any door. He knew there was one for stairs on this wall. He just had to find it. His hand came into contact with a bar and he pushed with all his strength.
The whole building exploded with sound. It was a fire door. Plissken reached up to cradle his head. The noise went straight to his eye pushing pain as red as the flashing lights that dazzled his sight. Snake rolled back against the wall trying to fight the pain and increasing nausea that was building from every direction. His eye took in the flashing hall trying to adjust to the light. There were bodies moving in the red strobe like light. They seemed to be moving unnaturally fast and in his direction. Others fled randomly around. The light might be a godsend for the fact that the craziest of the crazies had trouble with light. Their eyes were as bad as his left one was but the half sane were truly the most dangerous. Those were the ones coming across the hall in a hurry.
His head was still pounding but he didn't care. Snake turned and disappeared into the stairwell. The smell was less here. That meant the cannibals were all behind and this maybe clear. A quick glance up and down the spiraling stairs was all he risked before hurtling down he steps two at a time. This was more than a race for freedom, t his was a race for life. Snake panted, dizzy at the bottom of the stairs. The door was closed before him but he could hear the howls above. They were looking for him, coming down like bloodhounds on the trail of a criminal.
Snake approached the door and opened it to just a slit. The hall beyond was milling with madness at the far end. There were gunshots from among the crazies. The glass and metal detector half way between his position and the insanity meant that was the guard area and the way out. There was no time to stand and wait. Snake moved out into the hall and took in both directions. A door lay open at one end and a closed one on the other. He had to take a side hall. Plissken made for the open door.
Plissken was plunged into the dark again on the far side of the doorway. The sound still assaulted him along with the flashing of the left over red light effect on his eye. Hazy patches flashed in the dark that confronted Plissken. He didn't need to see to know where he was. The smell of diesel smoke and engine oil was all he needed. This was some sort of underground parking area. If they got the cars in here there had to be a way out.
Plissken walked among the vehicles randomly testing them as he went. He couldn't pass up the chance of having a car but as he approached the upward spiraling ramp it became clear he was going to be on foot for whatever was waiting outside. If the inside was any clue it wasn't going to be pretty. Snake started up the ramp slowly listening to the sounds filtering down from above. Light was shining down the ramp leaving Plissken to wonder if it was sunrise or sunset. With no way to orient himself he couldn't tell east from West. If the sun was rising his best bet would be to hang tight and wait for the sun to drive the crazies underground. Though if that was sunset sitting still would be suicidal.
Snake debated his options as he walked out into the orange and red dappled light. There were swarms of crazies by the main prison building but few out in the parking area. That was a relief of sorts but the wind was blowing toward them. They could catch his scent at any moment and turn his way. Plissken surveyed the open pad of concrete. It was mostly ringed in a fence. The orange and black signs were clear on the chain link. Climbing was not an option.
The gate house was half way between the pad and the milling beasts that had once been civilized humans. Plissken started walking. At least with the wind blowing in the direction it was he didn't have to endure the smell. It was a godsend for calming his fluttering stomach. To his surprise the crazies were intent on the building. Plissken knew why but didn't want to think about it. In the long run though it would mean less competition should some of his competitors become midnight snacks. The thought brought a wicked grin as well as a wave of intense nausea.
Snake stopped inspecting the ransacked gatehouse. He pocketed the gun from the chewed skeleton. Snake felt the gag bringing bile with it. Blood didn't bother him, neither did death but the look of a stripped body that had been chewed to pieces by another human was too much. Plissken forced himself to step over the corpse and check for anything he could use. His eye darted between the crazies across the road and the desk he was searching. He came across keys and his eye instantly bolted up, searching for the vehicle. There was a pickup outside and Snake looked between the key and the truck. They were the same make. It was worth a try.
The disarray of humans howling by the building seemed to be acting differently now. Snake hurried unsure of what that meant. The door was open and he threw open the door and climbed in. The key fit but the grinding sound that accompanied the key turning wasn't good. Snake glanced in the rearview to see the crazies staring in his direction.
"Come on sweetheart!" Snake begged the truck to start. He was too tired to outrun the animals he could see starting to trot out toward him. He turned the key again as he pulled the door shut. The light was fading. Plissken frowned at the darkening sky it was sunset.
"Come on." Snake gave it another turn. Reluctantly the truck sputtered to life. He shifted into gear and took off ignoring the bodies he was dragging along. They would let go eventually or die. Snake relaxed taking a long deep breath but it was choked off as a hand came through the back window. It took a hold of his throat and squeezed, seeking to end his life. He reached out for the gun but the mad swerving caused by his reaction to the choke had tossed it to the passenger side floorboards.
Snake reached back desperate to get his hands on his attacker. His fingers felt the face and he hesitated, fearing the madman would bite off his fingers. The need to breathe threw caution to the wind. He patted the face until he discovered the eyes. Plissken drove his fingers in and squeezed. The crazy yowled and released its grip. Plissken gasped for air briefly before reaching down to grab the gun.
Hands were grabbing at him
again as he sat up but this time he had the element of surprise. He
lifted the gin over his shoulder and sprayed the back with bullets. One
quick glance in the mirror confirmed that the back was clear of
anything alive. Plissken sighed with relief. For a moment back in the
prison he was sure he was a dead man. Luck had held out and this was
one more daring escape for Snake Plissken.