This chapter is the killer. D8 It could make you cry. While I was writing some of the scenes in this, I was thinking, "Am I really writing this?" All part of the story to come. If this stuff doesn't happen, the future cannot progress. Sorry. :/
Read it if you dare. I'm not stopping you. XD
Oh! Almost forgot. This is the second to last chapter! Next is the final and after that is the epilogue. And after the epilogue comes the prologue for "Desecration", book 2 of the Frontlines trilogy! Yay. :D
Aaaaand this is another split chapter. Three parts this time! I don't want to hold you back from an update long enough for me to type the remaining 20 pages in this chapter, cause you've all waited long enough! Expect the finished product in either late November or early December!
Frontlines Chapter 8- Prison Break (PART 1)
The news had been a shock. Six more Fighters were dead due to the night's fire, and Ginger's body had been found at last. When she had been found, she had been in the strangest position. Her hands were wrapped tightly around her own neck. "We think she might have been forced to strangle herself," one of her finders had told Danny. The leader had quietly thanked them.
With nine dead altogether, the Freedom Fighters numbered forty-four. "If we keep losing people at this rate, the Freedom Fighters will become extinct," John had said.
"No," Danny had replied. "We will never be extinct or defeated. We can overcome this."
That had been several hours ago. Now Danny was alone in an alley near FentonWorks. He had made it his mission to follow the gray peacekeeper truck to wherever his parents were being held. He no longer felt like Carpathan was keeping them in his sparkling mansion; their clothes were too tattered and they looked too worn out. If Danny's instinct was correct, they were being held in some sort of prison.
While he waited, he occupied himself by scratching patterns in the concrete with a rock, humming a song to himself, nibbling on little bits of food he found in the alley, and plotting possible courses to stay hidden from the truck. He waited for hours.
Finally, around sunset, a sudden slamming noise startled Danny into looking up. He peeked around the corner of the building to see his parents being led to the truck once more. His mother looked around at the peacekeepers surrounding her. For a few seconds, Danny was sure Maddie had been looking straight at him. But he had no time to think about that, for his parents were in the truck and ready to go seconds later.
Danny ducked out of the way and watched the truck speed away. He ran to the other side of the street and darted behind the buildings as fast as his skinny legs would take him. He kept sight of the truck through the alleyways as it turned and passed in front of him. He chased it for countless miles on pure adrenaline and a little bit of furious determination. He wasn't about to give in yet; this was for his parents.
,.~*~.,
The truckride was always bumpy, but it was even less enjoyable due to the peacekeepers that shared the trailer area. Maddie put up with them now, and even ignored them. Especially now.
She had, for about two seconds, seen a teenage boy. And he had seen her. Observed her, to be accurate. He had been watching Jack and her intensely. It didn't take any more than a mother's intuition for Maddie to know who that boy was. Just a glimpse of that messy black hair and white-and-red t-shirt told her all she needed to know. Danny was alive- and worried.
Maddie worried, too. He looked like he hadn't had a bath in a long time, or a proper meal. He looked quite a bit thinner. Danny had always been slender, but now he was outright skinny. Most notably, however, was the bandaging that covered the entire right side of his face and part of his left arm. He was barely recognizable. But he was her son, and he was alive.
Maddie would divulge the information to her husband once they were back in their cell. Right then, the truck screeched to a halt.
,.~*~.,
Danny was panting for breath as he stumbled into an alley across from the building the truck had stopped in front of. He sat down and held his stomach, trying to keep it from expelling what tiny bit of food he had managed to eat. He tried to steady his heavy breathing and slow his pounding heart.
He would have loved to have a good, long drink of water, but he had not a drop. At least he had succeeded in part of his mission, right?
The truck was parked outside of a prison. But it wasn't the same prison normal criminals went to. This one was special. Judging from the looks of it, Danny deemed it a "torture prison". And when his parents were forcefully led into the heavy metal doors of the prison, Danny had to swallow back a surge of rage. He hated seeing his parents treated in such a way.
He swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat and crept out from his hiding place. Looking both ways, the teen made sure no one was watching. Seeing nobody, he breathed a sigh of relief. With legs that felt like spaghetti, Danny jogged across the street.
He collapsed onto his belly in the grassy area next to the prison and breathed heavily. He was still experiencing some nausea from running too much. He began to seriously regret skipping out on gym class when he was in school. He shut his eyes and lay on the ground for a few more minutes, if only to stop his stomach from lurching. He couldn't afford to vomit anything up now, but the blazing hot summer sun wasn't helping him feel any better.
Swallowing one last time, Danny dared to open his eyes. Finding he wasn't dizzy any more, the teen slowly and shakily began to lift himself off the ground. He found his legs were extremely sore, but he managed to stand on his own two feet. His stomach was still weak, but it felt better altogether. He dusted the loose dirt and grass from his t-shirt and took slow, steady breaths.
He was looking for an entrance to the prison other than the front door. A wire fence surrounded the sides of the building, but it wasn't barbed. That meant that it was highly unlikely that prisoners would escape, therefore lessening Danny's chances of finding a secondary entrance.
Mustering up some extra energy, the boy began to scale the fence. It wasn't a very high fence, and the Fighter had climbed it in a heartbeat. He took care to land gently, but his weak knees nearly buckled beneath him the moment his feet hit the concrete. He caught himself by grabbing the fence from behind. He slowly let go of it.
Finding he was stable on his feet once more, Danny approached the cinderblock walls of the prison. He began to walk around, searching for some kind of entrance. He was so intent on this goal that he didn't notice the cameras watching him...
He turned the corner and gasped. An air duct. It was by the ground, too. Danny crouched down next to it and messed with the vent cover. It was loose. A rough cackle came from Danny's throat. He pried at the vent cover and managed to pull it off.
He poked his head into the duct. Finding his head fit well, he wriggled his skinny shoulders in. He fit quite well due to his small size, and it seemed like ample space to move around inside it like a tunnel. He smiled and backed out of the air duct, then quickly replaced the vent cover. His mission was successful.
Danny jogged back towards the fence and climbed it again, anxious to give Sam and Tucker the news.
,.~*~.,
Carpathan watched the boy as he climbed back over the fence and casually walked away. What kind of boy is this? he thought, frowning. Not a massacre nor a killer fire has deterred him from his foolishness.
"I'm glad you showed me this, Baker," the mayor said. "That boy is Daniel Fenton himself."
"Should we send some peacekeepers after him, sir?" asked Baker.
"No," Carpathan replied. "Let him think he got away with this unseen. I want to find out what he's up to and turn that into his worst nightmare." His voice lowered. "And to have that nightmare, he must be alive."
Baker nodded. "Understood, Carpathan, sir," he said.
Danny Fenton was some sort of freak of nature to Carpathan. Though a cruel sadist most of the time, the mayor had learned that learning the opponent's game was an efficient strategy in bringing him down to his knees. Once the game had been discovered, manipulation became the key strategy. And Carpathan was a master of manipulation.
"Tell me the next time he shows up," said Carpathan. "Keep watch. If you are quick to deliver the information, I may consider a raise."
Baker grinned. "Yes, sir," he said.
,.~*~.,
Jack and Maddie had been returned to their cell. They were both dog-tired and very glad to be back in a place where they could rest. But Maddie had no peace of mind. She had seen her son and she needed to tell Jack.
"Jack," Maddie said.
Her husband looked at her. "What is it, Maddie?" he asked.
"When we were leaving FentonWorks, I saw something."
Jack looked attentive. "What was it?"
"I'm sure I saw Danny peeking around the corner at us from an alley," said Maddie.
"You saw him?" asked Jack, his eyes widening.
"It was definitely him," the woman continued. "But he was raggedy and looked like he'd been trying really hard to survive... he had this really big bandage on his face."
"So you didn't get a good look at his face?" Jack's hopes seemed to drop dramatically.
"No," Maddie replied. "But I know it was him. I saw him, Jack-"
She was cut off by the opening of the cell door.
,.~*~.,
Masters walked down the hallway of the prison toward the Fentons' cell. He had a plan in mind, and recent events made that plan all the more doable.
He stopped in front of the cell door, unlocked it, and entered.
"- Saw him, Jack..." Maddie was cut off by Masters' entering the room. Both Fentons turned to see the frowning man looking at them. Maddie narrowed her eyes. "What do you want now, Vlad?" she asked.
"I just want to talk to you," Masters said, shutting the door behind him and sitting down on a bench. "About your son."
Jack and Maddie looked at each other. Masters continued, "Carpathan saw him hanging out around here, and I can only assume he's found out where you are and is looking for a way to break you out of here.
"I assume you're going to try to stop him?" Maddie questioned, her tone bitter.
Masters smirked smoothly. "Oh no, quite the opposite, my dear," he said. "How would you feel if I, behind Carpathan's back, helped your boy get you out of prison?"
Jack and Maddie stared at Masters. "You would?" Jack asked, eyes brightening.
Maddie was still suspicious. "How do we know you're telling us the truth?" she asked.
Masters narrowed his eyes, still smiling. "You don't. All you have to do is trust me. Do we have a deal? I help Daniel get you out of prison."
The Fentons shared glances. Then Maddie turned and looked Masters in the eye. "It's a deal."
,.~*~.,
Danny stumbled into the alley Sam had chosen to live in, panting heavily. Sweat poured down his face and soaked his shirt, his face red and hot. "Water," he rasped.
Sam tossed him a bottle of water. The boy caught it and thirstily chugged it down to the last drop. He sighed and collapsed down into a sitting position next to Sam. "Thanks," he breathed, shutting his eye. "I just need to rest for a minute..."
Sam set some fresh leaves in Danny's lap. "Eat these, Danny. Nature's food. Plenty more where these came from."
Danny opened his eye and skeptically looked at the pile of greens on his lap. "Until winter," he said gravely. He rolled up a couple of leaves and ate them. After all, it was a terrible idea to drink so much water so quickly without food. Plus, he was actually hungry enough to eat leaves.
Sam was eating her own leaves like potato chips. "Was your mission successful?" she asked.
Danny smiled weakly, blinking. "Yeah. I found an air duct in the side of this 'torture prison'. That's where my parents are," he finished, frowning. He suddenly turned serious. "We need to be more prepared this time, so nobody dies." Danny chomped on a leaf stem.
"It's impossible to prepare enough so that nobody dies or gets hurt," said Sam, eating another leaf.
Danny gave her a dark glare. "Well, I'm at least going to try," he said. "More practice fights, more bonding, more meetings. And action."
"I agree with you there, Danny," Sam said. "Can't be too prepared out here. Anything could happen."
Danny chuckled morosely. "Yeah. Anything," he rasped. he finished off his leaves.
Finding he felt a bit better, the teen stood up. "You see if you can find Tucker and tell him my results," Danny told Sam. "I'm going to take a walk." The young leader left the alley. Maybe taking a walk in the summer moonlight would clear his head for a little while.
Along the way, Danny came across a group of Freedom Fighters hanging around an alley. He came closer to them and began to pick up on their conversation.
"Oh, man, I'm starving," Dash complained.
"Me too," Kwan added.
"We're all hungry," Danny cut in, walking up to the group. "And once summer's over, we'd better be used to it."
"Aw man," Brent sighed.
John frowned angrily. "I get extremely bad-tempered when I don't eat," he growled, crossing his arms.
"Take advantage of it and train," Danny suggested. "You can work off some steam and take your mind off your hunger."
"I'd rather smash some peacekeeper skulls, if that's OK with you," John huffed, kicking a pebble.
"Not now," said Danny, though he secretly wished to do the same thing. "We need to prepare and get stronger first. Take out your temper on me." The raven-haired teen tightened his headband and crouched into a defensive pose. His blue eye sparkled with determination.
The other Fighters looked on with interest when John accepted the fight. He stretched and cracked his knuckles. "You're on," he said. Then the older teen rushed at his leader.
Suddenly, Danny darted to the side, leaving his opponent to skid to a stop.
"Hey!" John turned and lashed out at Danny with his foot.
Danny nearly tripped over it, but steadied himself quickly and easily avoided John's next move. John growled and swung harder and faster punches at his opponent.
"Not so hard, John! It's only a training session," Ivan called from the growing crowd.
"Keep your jets cool!" shouted a girl named Sarah.
There was a brief pause in the fight. "Yeah... keep a cool head about it and think," Danny advised. Then, with a devilish smirk, he added, "I don't want to say I beat you without even lifting a finger."
John smirked back, wiping his brow and rolling up his short sleeves. "I wouldn't count on that," he said. He threw another swift punch at Danny.
To everyone's surprise, Danny caught John's fist in both hands with a tight grip. Just as quickly, he yanked John to the ground, effectively ending the fight.
John stood up, dusting himself off. "That's a killer move!" the teen commented. "Where'd you learn it?"
"I didn't," Danny replied, shrugging. "I just thought of it for the situation."
"Hey, check it out, guys!" Chris Morgan, the younger brother of Brent Morgan, exclaimed. He was grinning from ear to ear. The Fighters turned to look at the 12-year-old. "I caught two squirrels!" The boy held up two furry brown bodies by the tails.
Brent stared at them, his mouth watering. "We should cook those. Now," he said.
"You're right," Danny agreed. "Cook those for this little group. Go on." He slapped John on the shoulder, grinning. Ivan whooped.
Danny smiled, watching a number of his team members enthusiastically grabbing sticks and stones and piling them up on the sidewalk. Griffin rubbed two sticks together and started a fire, then got to work on skinning the animals.
The leader watched his team at a distance for a while, heart bursting with pride for his team, sharing what little they had with enthusiasm. He looked at Ivan and Dash, talking and joking with each other- two people who would have never become friends if it weren't for Danny and the Freedom Fighters. And then he saw John and Sarah, a fast-becoming couple who would have never even met if it weren't for Danny's efforts.
He felt such happiness at the scene unfolding before him that he was outraged by his next thought. I'm going to have to see them die. Every single one of them. He shoved the thought out of his head as quickly as it had come, wanting this time of happiness to last as long as possible.
Tucker arrived at the campfire, which was now a steady blaze. he grabbed a piece of squirrel and looked up to see Danny watching him from afar. Tucker smiled and ran to his friend. "C'mon, Danny, we're having a squirrelfest over here," he said. "You should join us."
"No thanks, I already ate," said Danny. "Um... leaves."
"Bleh," said Tucker. "I can't believe Sam talked you into that."
"I wasn't really paying much attention to the taste, honestly," said Danny. "But really. You guys need the squirrels more than I do." He smiled gently. "I can always eat leaves if I want to."
"You need some meat, man," Tucker said, shaking his head. "Socialize with us, if nothing else. Ivan's got some great jokes."
Danny chuckled. "If you say so," he said, still slightly hesitant. He didn't want to grow any closer to people who could die very, very soon. But they were his team. His Freedom Fighters. He was proud of them. Why shouldn't he let them know that? Laughter in his baby blue eye and a grin on his face, the boy followed his best friend to the campfire, where he was warmly greeted by the others.
Sam looked on as Danny joined Tucker and the others at the squirrel party. She smiled, happy to see a bit of her brave Danny returning. She admired the courage she had seen in him the day he had first put on his headband and asked how he looked. She had told him he looked brave. And then Danny had told her that he felt brave.
She remembered how new and confident he had looked. Now, after a long period of anger and misery, Danny's confidence was back. That made Sam the optimist for once. She believed the future rescue operation might just succeed.
And inside, so did Danny.
,.~*~.,
Part 1 is done! This section of the chapter spanned from page 86 to half of page 93. I'm not sure when part 2 will be up, but I'll hopefully have it by Thanksgiving! ^^
Hope you enjoyed this part of the chapter! And I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope this was worth the wait. :)