{.chapter 11.}

why hasn't anything gone to hell yet?

Thursday, August 14th, 2025; the day on which we fled like a bat out of hell

And indeed were we busy.

The building was definitely much more busy now that the Future Warden seemed to have a plan in mind. He was actually a very good and decisive leader when it came down to it - everyone seemed to have a task set for them that they were expected to accomplish. And they worked.

As Future Warden put it? "We're going back to Superjail, and I'm hellbent on getting there as soon as possible."

One week. We had had one week to get everything together and go.

We were making good progress, too. Very good progress. The Future Warden had basically put himself in charge of everything - some of the soldiers were moving equipment into the aircrafts we planned to leave in. Chemicals were being moved out, along with medical supplies and other such things; on the other hand, most of the staff was busy supervising everything - that, or keeping watch to make sure that we wouldn't be taken by surprise by any rebels that may have been coming to attack us. And then there was the Future Warden, who was also busy training some of his best soldiers for who knows what.

I, myself, didn't have anything to really do, so I just kind of... helped. Half of the time I was just busy hauling things into the aircrafts. The other half of the time, though, I was trying my best to keep watch and just.. whatever I could do. It was kind of difficult, but... I tried to do everything when possible.

For the most part, I think I was just trying to keep myself preoccupied. I was... well... not worried, not really concerned, just...

...anxious, I guess would be the word. Unsure, for sure.

We'd been lucky that we hadn't been attacked yet. I guess we really had made the rebels think twice, but if I were them, I really would've just struck right away. I mean... they knew we were getting weak. I guess they didn't exactly know for certain if we would have backup {technically, we will? I guess?}, and I suppose that that would be quite the deterring factor, but still.

Shadow of a doubt, right?

At that moment, I'd been keeping watch. I was in some fairly abandoned area of the subsidiary, and as I had already suggested, it was a fairly empty room. A sniper rifle, a good deal of ammunition in some open box just beside it, and then pretty much nothing else. Just a sparse, boring room.

Really, I should've left and let someone else take over. I didn't have any point to being there. No one was going to come - we were making good enough progress that we could leave today if we hurried a bit - we were perfectly fine, at least, for the most part. I think. I didn't entirely know, actually; I hadn't seen the Future Warden at all during the week after we'd contacted the Mistress. He was just... very busy, with everything.

I frowned, leaning over the railing separating the 'room' from a rather long drop, glancing around the area. Even with a scope, I couldn't see anyone. For once, though, I didn't feel any real sense of foreboding. So far as I had been concerned, we had just done a really good job of keeping the rebels away.

Well, that was before I heard an explosion.

...and that was also before I felt the explosion.

At first, my initial reaction was to simply brush it off. It could've been the Future Warden screwing around with... I don't know, C-4 or something. We probably have that lying around somewhere, actually...

...I'll have to look into that later.

Er, anyway.

Then I actually tried to think about it.

Something must have been going wrong. Explosions don't happen without reason, except for in the case that they do. I had no idea as to what could've been going on - I just figured it was a good enough idea to not think it over too much - but I turned around, grabbing the rifle and some ammunition before running off, loading it as I ran.

Smart idea? No, of course not.

I wouldn't have been able to brood on that, either way, as I heard a voice behind me. Following me?

"Warden!"

I glanced back, stumbling as I did so, but the other had grabbed a hold of me before I could continue to run off. I turned around as the older male would allow me. "Future Warden? What the hell is-"

"Can't explain right now," the other replied hurriedly, "We need to get out. Right now!" He must've ran off long before I had - he was panting, and seemed to be panicking.

Something was very wrong.

"But what is-" I started to ask, but once more, I was interrupted.

"Are you even listening to me?" He yelled, grip tightening significantly. "Quit asking questions and follow me!"

I blinked, and then nodded slowly, and immediately thereafter, the Future Warden was back to running, now having let go of me. "What-" I shook my head, following him.

~.x.~

The Future Warden dragged me into one of the aircrafts, becoming increasingly nervous now. He'd been muttering to himself, and as soon as we got inside, he glanced over at me. "If you really want to know what's going on, take a look outside when we leave. Meanwhile, as for myself..." He shook his head. "I'll be back."

I watched him rush off, and I frowned, waiting for a few moments before I decided that my curiosity would win out over my better judgment.

With a sigh, I disappeared over to one of the windows on the side of the aircraft, fidgeting. "Warden to all crafts; Warden to all crafts. Prepare for launch."

And, not even a few seconds later, all of the aircrafts had been lifted into the air. The lift into the air had not been calm, I could say that much. But once the shock was over, we were high enough in the air for me to grasp the scale of the situation.

Now I knew why I hadn't seen any rebels.

There was a sea of rebel troops surrounding the subsidiary we were now far above. They were intent on destroying the entire area - they had set up bombs around the Superjail subsidiary, and a few of the rebels were rushing inside, possibly hoping to kill any stragglers and ransack the place. I shuddered - I knew things had been bad, put simply, I just...

...I never knew how bad.

"There's little we can do about it now."

There he went again. I spun around {before berating myself that I should really get used to the Future Warden's sneakiness}, and found myself glaring at the Future Warden. "God damn it! Do you have to do that?"

The other gave me a half-assed, lop-sided grin for a second or so before it disappeared. "Yes." He frowned, glancing down at the large amount of troops. "...it shouldn't have come down to this. Not this early."

The Future Warden was quiet, and I backed away, only a little bit away. "...you didn't know they would attack?"

He tensed up, hands curling into fists. "Of course I knew," he growled, glaring at me out of the corner of his eyes {or so I assumed}. "They would've come eventually. I was just hoping that they would come to destroy the place after we left." The Future Warden pulled out some device, pressed something on it, and something down below blew into a spectacular mess of laser-induced flames.

"There is no way that this could've been a coincidence," I said after a few seconds of silence, and the Future Warden glanced over at me.

"If this has anything to do with the twins again..."

"...yeah... it does..."

"...I don't want to hear it. I just don't."

With that, he turned around and walked off, leaving me behind as I stared at him, somewhat surprised. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact. I could recognize that much.

But I had more important things to think about. Like Superjail.

~.x.~

I guess I must've really irked my future self, because I didn't see him at all after that.

Then again, I never left my new spot at the window unless if I absolutely had to do something, but that was fairly rare, so I mainly stayed put, waiting for something to look familiar.

That was likely something that was too much for me to ask, because I immediately remembered that the only thing I could go by was a volcano inside a volcano, and that Superjail was surrounded by plenty of illusions or whatnot. To, you know, keep the secrecy of the whole place.

So much for that, though. Either we were nowhere close to Superjail, or the secrecy of it all was now gone. I didn't actually know - and, for that matter, I had no idea where exactly Superjail was in the world.

...huh. That kind of made me feel very, very lost. So. Uh. Just very lost?

However, I did know that it took at least five hours for us to leave the now presumably obliterated subsidiary and get this close to Superjail. Or this far. But then again, there was plenty of math that went into that sort of thing.

I wasn't nearly as interested in that, though. I was still on the lookout for Superjail - so far as I was concerned, the situation would certainly be less stressful as soon as someone {preferably me} was in or on familiar territory.

Luckily for me - and someone's sanity - it only took a few more minutes {likely half an hour, but nonetheless} for two volcanoes to appear out in the distance. Instantly, I became more attentive, standing up straighter and keeping my eyes fixed on the 'doubla-volcano'.

~.x.~

It didn't take all that long, in comparison, to land within the confines of Superjail, either.

It's great to be back on familiar ground, had been my first initial reaction, but then as everyone that had been on board filed into the construct, I glanced around. Superjail looked just as I remembered it being fifteen years ago... but now it had an eerie vibe to it now. Kind of like I wasn't supposed to be here. Besides the obvious fact that I really wasn't supposed to be in the first place, it just seemed... different.

Colder.

Call me crazy, but I built this place. I of all people should know when something's off about it.

I turned around as soon as I heard the Future Warden walking out of the ship, and for once, I wasn't angry with him for whatever reason or another. "What happened?"

"...what happened?" He seemed to not understand me, or what I was asking. I frowned, glancing around.

"To Superjail. It doesn't seem... right."

The other shook his head. "I haven't come here since the war started. So, it would be no wonder that it doesn't seem right." He walked in front of me, in the direction of one of the many entrance-ways into Superjail, motioning me forward. "Come on. You can go be nostalgic and I still have work to do. Okay?"

I frowned, glancing around. "...sure." The other was leaving without another word, and under my breath, I muttered, "That's just fan-fuckin'-tastic."

On second thought, maybe I'd try to look for his time machine plans. Maybe. It seemed better than any of the other plans I had.

{.end of chapter 11.}

-your Warden