Chapter 8

The hallways of the prison were eerily quiet and seemingly devoid of life with the exception of the three figures that crept stealthily through the darkness. Edwards was leading the small group, using his knowledge of the prison to guide them through the maze of passages, with Murphy in the middle, focusing mainly on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other, leaving Connor to bring up the rear, keeping one eye on his brother's stumbling form and the other behind them, protecting their backs.

Holding up a hand, Edwards signaled for them to stop before bending down and inspecting something on the ground. "Check it out." He motioned for Connor to come forward.

Murphy remained where he was, leaning heavily against the wall, as his brother brushed passed him and stepped up beside Edwards.

Kneeling down, Connor focused on what had caught the young guard's eye. "Is that blood?"

Edwards nodded, "I managed to get him in the leg before he ran off and I would be willing to bet that this is his trail." He took a few steps forward, pointing out more spots as he went. "It looks like he made a turn here, heading toward the cafeteria." He pointed to a bloody handprint smeared across the wall next to them.

Connor set his jaw resolutely, "Then that's where we need to go."

Inclining his head in agreement, Edwards stood from his crouch and continued down the hall.

"Why is it so quiet?" Murphy asked through panted breaths as he pushed himself away from the wall and followed Edwards around the next corner. "I expected more chaos than this, where the hell is everyone?"

Edwards glanced back briefly before returning his attention to the front. "Both A and B blocks are locked down, the inmates were unable to breach the control room for those areas, however, prisoners from both C and D were out of their cellblocks and in the main building when the riot started, which means we have approximately eighty inmates running loose around here. As for where they all are, I am not entirely sure. The last communication I had said that a large number of them had overtaken the infirmary, but that was hours ago. Honestly, I expected to meet more resistance than this."

As if on cue, loud voices rang out from behind the next corner and Edwards quickly backed them up to duck into an alcove of another doorway. Putting his finger to his lips, he requested silence from the brothers.

The voices grew louder as they drew closer and Connor tensed when he was able to make out what they were saying.

"If we find them first then I get to have my fun before we bring them back."

A second voice snorted in laughter. "Yeah right, Maddox would beat you senseless if you touched them before he was done."

"Why the hell are we listening to that asshole anyway?" a third voice whined. "He had his go at them and he fucked it up. Time for him to share."

"Because he owns half the inmates in this place, he organized this whole thing, he's in charge. If you don't like it you are welcome to bring your complaints to him."

The three men passed by their hiding place, unaware of their presence, and Connor shared a look with his brother as he adjusted his grip on his rifle. Murphy read what his twin was thinking and gave him a nod before pushing off of the wall, intending to step out from the cover of the shadows.

Edwards's hand shot out in surprise, catching Murphy by the elbow. "What are you doing?" he mouthed silently.

Murphy didn't speak as he gently but firmly, removed the guard's hand from his arm and moved out of the recess with his brother in tow.

The three inmates continued their discussion as they walked down the hall, oblivious to the two men trailing behind them.

Nodding to Murphy, Connor signaled his brother to raise his weapon as he did the same. Once they had their aim he spoke up, giving away their position. "You boys looking for somone?" he asked, his tone dark and taunting.

The group of convicts jumped and quickly spun to face the unknown presence behind them. They didn't have a chance to get over their surprise before the sound of gunfire sounded and all three men dropped to the ground, dead.

Silence fell back over the dark hallway and Connor and Murphy made eye contact, sharing a satisfied smirk.

"Holy shit." Edwards muttered the words as he stepped out from his hiding place and took in the bloody scene in front of him.

He held no illusions about what the Saints intended to do once they found Maddox. He knew they were out for blood, but he had expected to rely on stealth to sneak through the prison and remain under the radar until they found him. The brother's boldness had caught him by surprise and he found that, despite being fiercely supportive of the Saints and their mission, he was unprepared for the ruthless display of violence he had just witnessed.

"Jesus," he mumbled again as he ran a shaking hand through his hair and tried to steady his nerves.

Connor and Murphy turned to look at the shock written across the young man's face before exchanging glances with each other. They had seen that look before. They knew that their intense form of justice took some getting used to, but they didn't have time to coddle anyone. Edwards insisted on coming with them and they had to hope he could handle it.

Bending down, Connor began crossing the arms of the dead and said a quick prayer as Murphy stepped over to Edwards and laid a hand on the young man's shoulder. "It's not too late, you can still leave."

Shaking his head, Edwards met Murphy's eyes and quickly pulled himself together. "No, I'm with you on this, you just caught me off guard. I'm good."

Murphy gave him a pat on the back as Connor stood from his prayer and joined them. "We need to keep moving, half of the prison probably heard those shots." As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of shouting drifted to them from the direction they had just come from, adding a sense of urgency to the situation.

Sparing one more glance at the bodies on the ground, Edwards nodded and hurried them down the hall as quickly as they could move. They made several more turns, still following the blood trail left by an injured Maddox, before he stopped them and peered carefully around the next corner. After taking a quick look he turned back to the brothers and rested his back against the wall.

"I can see the front entrance to the cafeteria and it looks like he has two armed men posted at the door. If he's in there, you can bet that he isn't alone. We need to use our element of surprise, or what's left of it, if we're going to pull this off and still make it back out alive."

Murphy wiped at the sweat that was dripping down his pale face and quirked an eyebrow. "Great. Any ideas on how to do that?"

"What about the kitchen?" Connor asked thoughtfully. "It has a separate entrance but still leads into the cafeteria. If we can manage to sneak into the kitchen, it would provide us with enough cover that we could take out a good number of guys before they even realize we're there."

Edwards seemed to be considering the plan. "That is assuming that the kitchen is clear and you don't run into any resistance that would give away your position." He kept his voice low to avoid detection by the men around the corner.

"Aye," Connor nodded seriously and appeared to be deep in thought.

Murphy noticed the expression on his brother's face and smiled to himself. It was a look he had come to recognize over the course of their lives, and it usually meant that his twin was in the process of creating some brilliantly-stupid plan that was guaranteed to either get them in serious trouble or, by some miracle of God, actually work out in their favor.

"A distraction." Connor said after a few moments.

Edwards tilted his head. "A distraction?"

"Aye, a distraction. Something to draw the attention of anyone in the cafeteria away from the kitchen long enough for us to make it in." The young guard nodded and Connor continued. "I want you to go with Murph. Head for the hall entrance to the kitchen and I will give you a couple of minutes before I-"

Murphy opened his mouth to protest but Edwards beat him to it. "No, you need to stay with your brother. I know this prison better than either of you and after I get their attention, I will be able to navigate my way back around and come in through the kitchen, behind you."

Connor stared hard at the young man, clearly not comfortable with him taking the most dangerous position upon himself. This was his and Murphy's debt to settle and he didn't need anyone else getting hurt or killed on their behalf. His conscience couldn't take any more. "What would you plan to do?" he asked skeptically.

"I'll think of something," he stated simply, not backing down to the other man's intense gaze.

Connor turned to look at Murphy, consulting silently with his brother for a few moments before turning back to Edwards. "Fine, but be wide and don't get yourself killed. If you find yourself in a bad way and can't make it back to us, then leave, find a way out and get to safety. Don't wait for us, and don't try to come back, got it?"

Edwards considered him through narrowed eyes before consenting with a nod. "Understood." He of course had no intention of abandoning the brothers. As he had mentioned before, he wasn't leaving this place unless they were all together. But he knew that arguing was pointless and would only waste time that they didn't have.

Connor appeared satisfied. "Alright then, once it's done and that motherfucker is dead, we will need to get out as fast as possible. We don't have the strength or firepower to face down eighty-some inmates so we better make for the exit real quick-like."

Murphy nodded in agreement. "So how do we get past the two fellas' guarding the door down there?"

Edwards pointed in the opposite direction. "Head back that way. Take your first right, then the second right after that, follow that hall like you are headed to the visitation area but make one more right before you reach the doors. That will take you directly to the back entrance of the kitchen." Pulling up the sleeve of his shirt he exposed a leather-banded watch strapped to his wrist. "I'll give you three minutes to start working your way around before I make my move. Hopefully, by the time you reach the kitchen, enough of them will have been drawn away that you don't encounter any problems."

"I would feel better knowing that you have some sort of plan worked out." Connor was still unsure about letting this young man, this kid, put himself into such a vulnerable position. He needed to know that Edwards was going to be able to handle it.

"I have a plan. I promise. But we don't have the time to talk through it. Someone is going to discover us if we linger much longer, and we need to get this ball rolling. I still have every intention of getting you both out of here tonight."

Connor hesitated briefly before agreeing with a curt nod and turning back to where Murphy was leaning, hunched over, against the wall. His brother seemed to be sliding closer to the ground with every passing second and he resisted the urge to reach out and help support him.

"You need another minute, Murph?" he asked, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

With a suppressed groan, Murphy straightened himself back up and shook his head. "We don't have another minute. I'm fine, let's go." Without waiting for his brother, he started off down the hall, one hand skimming the wall for support, the other wrapped protectively around his ribs.

Connor looked back at Edwards. "Be fucking careful, and don't forget, if you can't make it back, leave us and get out."

The young guard nodded and looked back down at his watch. "Three minutes, you better get going."

Connor gave his shoulder a pat before removing his hand and turning to follow Murphy.

Edwards watched the two men until they disappeared around the first right hand turn, then turned and leaned his back against the wall. Resting his hands on his knees, he gave a deep sigh. It was going to take a crazy amount of luck to pull this off.

Chapter revised 10/19/17