Chapter 6

Prison Break

Luca and Sam sat at the back of the cage, studying the piece of paper the stranger had left them while Wasser sat by the bars to both hold them shut and watch for the flash that would signal the time to run.

For being so sudden, everything seemed to fall into place. The piece of paper was a highly detailed map. As long as it was accurate, anyone could follow it out. There were also details about which doors would be open and the codes for the doors that were locked. He had even gone so far as to mark where to hide when guards would walk by.

For the first time since they'd arrived, the fear of being stuck in prison began to abate. But it was soon replaced by a fear of what would happen if they were caught. She tried not to focus on that as much; instead, she put her whole mind towards their escape route. They hoped to have the entire route memorized by the time the signal came.

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Braun stepped into the dark room. Every light was off except for the computer screen, where his assistant sat. "Ready?"

"Almost," Phil answered without turning. "I've got every camera on time loop standby except for the ladder."

He checked his watch. Fifty-three seconds before the shift change. Hopefully they were ready. If they weren't, it didn't really matter, he supposed. He just wanted to make Roth suffer.

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Roth removed the vial from the analyzer. It was only their first batch, so it was far from complete. But compared to the other thousands of samples, this one might as well be right on the dot. He was so close…

The door behind him burst open. "Sir, the files are gone!"

He set the vial into a holder. "Which files?"

"The Shaiya samples."

A moment of surprise tore through him. "Who was the last to access them?"

"You, sir."

That had been several hours ago, he noted. Anyone could have gotten into them since, and they were simply smart enough to hide themselves.

Roth had never been one to get overworked with emotions. He was always a thinking man. So he began to think. Who had a reason to turn on him? He hadn't made anyone mad recently. Or more mad than normal, anyway. And no one was brave enough to go against him.

No one except Braun.

He turned and walked through the door. "Come with me."

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"Activate the time loop."

Phil pressed several keys. The images on the screen flashed momentarily. A second later, the lights outside the hallway gave a quick flash.

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Wasser saw the flash. But it took a second to register. "That's it."

Luca and Sam both looked up from the map. "What?" But he was already out of the cage. He grabbed the map and they hurried after him.

As Sam hit the floor, she noticed that all of the other shaiyas were watching them silently. None of them screamed or begged to be taken as well.

A hand grabbed her arm, surprising her. It was a Scizor. "Please, come back for us," he begged with a tear in his eye.

She felt a pang of sympathy. She patted the hand "I will."

He smiled and released his grip.

They checked the hallway outside before quickly rushing down the left hall.

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Braun checked his watch again. One minute elapsed. They were just getting to the first air duct. In his mind, he had a running scenario of where they should be. They weren't lagging far behind, but if they didn't keep their pace, they might not make it.

"Sir, we have a problem." Phil pointed to one of the camera feeds. It was Roth walking through the halls, one of his scientists in tow.

He knew without asking where they were going. "How much time do we have?"

"About a minute before they get here."

"Can you clean up that fast?"

"I'm going to have to." His fingers started to fly. Timers assigned to each camera feed began to tick down. The race instantly took on new stakes, both for the captives and for them.

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Luca pushed himself up through the vent and into a metal crawl space. This should take them the rest of the way before they hit the long climb up. As soon as he got up, he turned to help the others.

Wasser's hands were still bloody, and a bit slipped onto Luca's hands. He wiped it off before helping Sam.

They were moving again in no time. Speaking of time, Luca had no way of telling how long it had taken them to get this far. The man had told them exactly two minutes and thirty seconds. So how much time did they have left? A minute? It was impossible to tell.

He looked around as they crouch-ran. The space was tight, but there was just enough space beside the walkway to fall off the path. Beside the metal boards they were walking on, it looked like there was nothing but insulation and sheetrock. The map had warned not to fall here. There wasn't enough support to hold someone. Whoever fell would land in the room below with a loud and painful crash.

But that wouldn't happen. He shook his head lightly to reassure himself. They'd get out of this.

"Ah!" Something banged behind him.

He spun just in time to see Sam begin to teeter. Her shoulders and chest were already over the edge, and the rest was following.

"Sam!" Luca jumped forward, reaching one of her flailing arms, and dropped to one knee. His fingers wrapped around her wrist just as her legs slipped over the edge. Her weight jerked his arm to the shoulder and he grunted and cringed at the slight pain. She nearly took him down with her, but he pushed back with his legs and just managed to keep himself balanced. A moment later, he felt her hand grab his wrist. "Hold on!"

Her other hand quickly reached up and grabbed onto the ledge. Together, they managed to pull her up to the ledge. It all happened so fast, she was sitting next to her before he even realized he was pulling her up. All he was focused on was "Pull."

After it was over, they sat for a moment to just breathe. Luca felt something slimy on his knee. A quick wipe brought up a red palm. She had slipped on Wasser's blood. He swept it onto the walkway as best he could before pulling her to her feet. "We need to keep moving. Watch your step."

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"Come on, Phil."

"I'm trying." He was still cleaning up the hard drive. Several camera screens were still open. One of them showed the impending danger of Roth, now only three halls over.

Braun had already come up with his excuse. His pistol was stripped to bare parts on the table with the appropriate tools. It was maintenance that he needed some help with. Nothing strange about that. Except that Braun was an expert, he shouldn't need any help. Hopefully that note would slip Roth's mind.

His wrist came up for the thirtieth time in the past three minutes. "Go faster, Phil."

The man didn't reply. He just kept working.

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Roth stepped around the corner, bringing his destination into sight. Another ten steps, and he was pushing the door in.

"Pass me the wool." The sounds found him before the actual room did. Inside, Braun was sitting at a table, his pistol in pieces before him. Phil was handing him tools, one at a time.

The two looked up as the scientist entered. "Can I help you, sir?" Phil asked, a piece of steel wool in his hand.

Roth's eyes searched the room for only a second. "I need to take your computer." He pointed and the other scientist moved for it.

"Of course, sir."

The equipment was gathered quickly and they left Braun to his work. That seemed a bit too easy.

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Braun let his tools drop to the table with a heavy sigh. For all his training, that ten seconds rattled his nerves. "Please tell me you finished."

"They won't find a thing."

Braun surprised himself by smiling. "Good man, Phil."

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Wasser looked both ways quickly. "Go."

Sam slipped past him and through the door across from the hall. A second later, it was empty again.

Another quick check, another "Go." Luca went this time.

And then he was through. When he stepped through, he looked up. Just as the map had said, a single ladder went straight up. Sam was already climbing, with Luca just getting started behind her.

So far, no one had noticed their escape. Or if they had, word of it hadn't reached them yet. All they had to do was climb this ladder 300 feet or so and they would be in the clear.

He glanced at his bloody hands before reaching for the ladder. He forced the pain from his mind and climbed.

A/N: Why does no one review? (thanks to those that actually are)