Chapter Twenty-Five

"Everyone ready?" Sarah asked, pushing down on a button that was on the earpiece she was wearing. She was seated in a car in the prison parking lot, with a pair of binoculars in hand. She was keeping watch of the front to make sure no one unexpected arrived.

"Ready." Alex and Catherine said in unison. They were on the hill, watching over the prison with snipers. Their escape car was right below them at the bottom of the hill.

"We are in position." Mitchell said as he tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel of the pickup truck and bobbed his head. Sarah nodded to herself and leaned back in her seat.

"Everyone be ready. We don't know when this is going to happen." Sarah said, a huge feeling of nervousness building up inside of her.

Carlos sat in his bed while Allen leaned against the wall. Carlos bounced his leg over and over while Allen bit the inside of his mouth waiting for the cell door to open.

"Didn't Donny say he could get this open for us?" Allen asked.

"Patience." Carlos answered.

"Oh cause you're one to talk." Allen said rolling his eyes. He looked down at the ground and the cell door slowly began to slide open. Carlos quickly stood up and the two watched as the door was now fully open. The other prisoners didn't seem to notice as they were all still sound asleep. Carlos and Allen walked out onto the balcony that was the second floor and looked down at the ground level.

Robbie and Donny, who now shared a cell, stared up at them as their door slowly began to open as well.

"If anything goes down. Don't forget, everyone is going under the bus." Robbie whispered to Donny who just stared forward. Maddog and Tank stepped out of their cell which was at the end of the row. To everyone's surprise a fourth door began to slide open which was right next to Carlos' cell. Out of it walked Jared Davis, the brute that belonged to Maddog's gang.

"Officer Larry owed me a favor." Maddog said smiling at Robbie. Carlos, Allen, and Jared made their way down the stairs so all seven members of the escape were in the same spot.

"Why didn't you mention this?" Carlos asked.

"Everyone loves a little surprise." Maddog said with a smirk. "Let's get the fuck out of here amigo."

"Yeah yeah." Carlos said rolling his eyes. The group slowly walked towards the door that led to the main halls of the prison. Waiting on the other end was Larry who smiled at them. He unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open so it wouldn't make too much noise.

"Hello there jailbirds." Larry said as he put the keyring back on his belt. "I'll head up to the watchtower. You are on your own here on out. Don't kill anyone! Knock out people if you have to but if I know someone died, all of you will be back in your cell by tomorrow night." Larry threatened. He walked away and Robbie let a small smirk form on his face as the group slowly walked down the hall. They had to choose to go left or right and Carlos led the group down the left hallway. The courtyard, medical room, and cafeteria were down that way and that is where they needed to go.

Carlos stopped in his tracks as a guard walked out of the cafeteria, his back right to the small group of escapees. Carlos held his hand up and the guard had earbuds in, blasting music.

"Some of them want to abuse you." he sang to himself, his tone deaf voice nearly making everyone's ears bleed. He twirled the keys around his finger and turned around, coming face to face with the prisoners. His eyes went wide and Robbie pushed his way through the pack and smiled at the man.

"You're gonna forget you saw anything." Robbie said. He grabbed the guard's head and slammed it into the nearest wall. He then punched the man across the face and watched as the man dropped to the ground. Allen continued to lead the group down the hall while Carlos bent down to grab the spare key ring.

"Do you have what you need?" Carlos asked Robbie. Robbie answered by sliding a shank out of his prison jumpsuit sleeve. Carlos nodded and Robbie walked away, towards the group, with Carlos right behind him.

Officer Larry Jones made his way up the stairs to the guard tower that overlooked the courtyard. Along the way he had passed many of his fellow prison guards and was sweating nervously. Sure he had "laid down the law" to the convicts but he was committing a crime as well. His palms were filled with sweat and he continuously rubbed them against his pants and shirt as he opened the door to the guard tower. There was already someone up there however, sitting in a chair watching a small TV.

"Hey Jim." Larry said as he faked a smile. The man, Jim, looked back and smiled back at Larry.

"Oh hey Larry. What brings you here?" Jim asked.

"Just here to relieve you. You can go home now. I got this covered." Larry said nervously.

"You sure? On the schedule it says I have the whole night shift." Jim said standing up and walking over to a calendar that was hung up on the wall. "I'm not one to complain but with a baby on the way, me and Deb need all the money we can get."

Larry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He pulled out the nightstick from his belt and whacked it over Jim's head, knocking him to the ground. Larry quickly ran over to the spotlight operator for the tower and turned it off.

Carlos and the rest of the prisoners stood at the entrance of the courtyard as the lights began to slowly die down. They looked around and saw that the coast was becoming pretty clear. Donny looked up at the watchtower and saw Larry standing there, staring down at them.

"It's good." Donny said. He looked back up and saw that Larry was gone and the sound of power returning filled the air. Tank began walking out into the courtyard as the lights slowly began to turn back on. Allen ran out and grabbed Tank, pulling him back inside the safety of the prison, ironically.

"What the fuck?" Tank asked. Carlos looked at the guard tower and thought he saw two people in their fighting.

"We have a problem." Carlos said.

Larry looked down at the group as the lights slowly turned off. He smiled to himself and turned around to a punch in the gut from Jim. He then switched the lights back to on and threw Larry onto the ground. Jim looked down at Larry and then out to the courtyard and saw multiple men in jumpsuits standing there.

"I can't believe you." Jim said. Larry stood up and held his hands up, showing he didn't want a fight.

"Listen Jim. I can get you cut in on the deal. Enough money for the baby." Larry said.

"I don't want your dirty money." Jim said. Of course he had to be the one cleanguard. Larry was punched right across the face and thought that was it. The line was crossed. He fired back with a punch of his own, and the two fell onto the ground, arms swinging at each other. Larry was kneed in the stomach during the tussle and rolled away from Jim, who quickly got onto his knees and slammed his hand down onto a button, causing red lights to flash and an alarm to go off.

"Jim…" Larry said. Jim turned his head and saw Larry had a pistol held to Jim's head.

"You wouldn't." Jim said.

"Turn the alarm and lights off Jim." Larry said.

"The alarm is stuck until deactivated in the maintenance room with a key." Jim said as he stood up. He slowly began to walk towards Larry whose hands were shaking. Jim continued to walk and soon reached out. Larry didn't know what overcame him but he pulled the trigger, multiple times in fact. Jim fell forward, multiple bullet holes now in him.

"Fuck." Larry said to himself as he flipped the switch to the lights. He ran out of the room as a puddle of blood formed underneath Jim.

The group stood there, waiting for the lights to go out again. A few minutes passed and instead of the lights going out, a brand new red light started to flash all over. An alarm sounded throughout the prison and everyone looked around in confusion.

"What's going on boss man?" Maddog asked. He, along with everyone else stared at the flashing red lights.

"An alarm smart guy." Robbie said. The lights soon began to die down again but running could be heard from inside the prison. "I'll see y'all on the other side." Robbie said as he sprinted out into the courtyard. Donny and Tank were right behind him as the three did a mad dash for the opposite end of the courtyard where the manhole was.

"Go!" Carlos yelled as men in swat gear rounded the corner inside. Maddog and Jared ran together while Allen waited for Carlos to shut the two large doors to the prison. The four sprinted across the yard as shots were fired at their feet, the first three waiting for them.

"I got a visual!" Alex shouted as he watched Carlos through the scope of his sniper rifle. He went over the other faces with him and recognized two, two faces that weren't a good sight. "Catherine…"

"What is it?" she asked, looking through the scope, watching the guard towers.

"It's Donny." Alex said. Catherine turned her head away from the sniper and stared at Alex who nodded at her.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Allen shouted as the swat team pushed through the closed doors. Robbie and Jared lifted up the manhole and threw it to the side. Carlos looked around and saw a red dot sight right on Donny's forehead. He tackled Donny to the ground, as the shot went right into the wall behind him.

Maddog and Tank flipped over benches that were near them and took cover while the SWAT men lined up in a firing range position, making it so there was only one way out for the group of escapees.

"We really need to get the hell out of here." Allen said as he took cover next to Maddog. Carlos and Donny just laid there, not wanting to move in fear they would be fired at.

"One at a time then." Robbie said. "You can go first." he said, looking at Tank. Tank raised an eyebrow and crawled over to the manhole in the ground. He slowly climbed down the ladder that was bolted into the wall and waited for the next person.

"I missed the shot." Catherine said as she stared at Carlos and Donny on the ground.

"Maybe those two are necessary. So they can get out." Mitchell said over the earpiece.

"We ain't rescuing either of their asses." Leo said.

"Just wait for Carlos! That's all we are looking for." Sarah told them all. Alex and Catherine looked at each other and went back to watching over the prisoners, while Tank was now gone and Donny could be seen exiting next.

Allen was next down the manhole as Carlos crawled over to the bench where Jared and Maddog were hiding. Robbie waited until Allen was down before signaling for Carlos to go. He gladly accepted the offer and climbed down quickly so the rest could get out of there.

"You next buffy." Robbie said looking at Jared. He just let out a grunt and went down quickly while Robbie stared at the back of Maddog's head. "And how could I forget the king of the prison."

"Man stop the ass kissin and let's get out of here." Maddog said. He quickly climbed down as Robbie was next, the benches covering their escape for who knows how long. The gunmen will definitely get tired of just waiting there and will go past the shields eventually.

Once everyone was down in the sewer system, Robbie let the shank he had drop from his sleeve to his hand. He stared down Maddog who was right in front of him while everyone else was up ahead. He swung the shank and his arm was caught mid swing by Jared. Looks like not everyone was up ahead!

"Unhand me you ape!" Robbie yelled at Jared. Maddog turned around to see Robbie with the shank and he smiled.

"This is why I brought my boy Jared along." Maddog said. Jared punched Robbie across the face, causing Robbie to fall to the ground and hold his jaw. The shank fell onto the ground as well while Jared stared down at him. Donny looked back and ran backwards, punching Jared in the back of the head. Jared only took a step forward before turning around and staring at Donny.

"Oh shit." Donny said. He ducked a punch and punched Jared in the stomach, only to get no reaction from him. He pushed Jared against a wall while Robbie screamed and slammed the shank down into Jared's chest. He then pulled out and did it again. And again, and again, and again. Blood splattered across Robbie's cheek and Jared slowly slid to the ground.

The two then looked over at Maddog who sprinted away. He pushed past the others who were stuck to choose between three paths. Forward, left, and right. Maddog ran to the right, leaving everyone behind.

"This is where we say goodbye!" Donny said to the others as he and Robbie ran out through the left path. Carlos and Allen then looked at Tank who seemed shocked that they were looking at him.

"Aren't you gonna follow Maddog?" Allen asked.

"I ain't about that life now. Don't wanna be involved with that." Tank said. Carlos and Allen looked at each other and the former shrugged. The three began to walk down the middle path.

Maddog made it out, train tracks waiting for him on the other side of the manhole. He looked around and saw a train coming towards him. He backed up and as the train went by him he ran at it and jumped, catching onto it. He sat down in the empty boxcar and stared at the prison that was slowly becoming out of view.

"Now it's time to take back my city." Maddog said, clapping his hands together and then rubbing them.

Robbie and Donny made it out of the left path. Donny pushed the manhole cover off from where they got out which was near the highway. Waiting there in a jeep was Larry who looked terrible. Donny and Robbie hopped into his car and he drove, no one speaking a word. Robbie smiled to himself as he looked at the shank covered in Jared's blood. Donny looked back at the prison and smiled while Larry's eyes were pink and puffy, like he had just got done crying.

"Home free." Carlos said as light was on the other side of the tunnel. They reached an area where it was metal bars with large spaces in between the bars. The three walked through the bars and saw a pickup truck not too far from them. A shot was fired, hitting the ground right next to Tank, who jumped.

"Run!" Tank shouted. The three began a sprint, as shots came at them from the prison. Covering them was shots from on top of a mountain. Tank was outrunning the other two, while Carlos was keeping up with Allen who was running slowly. All of a sudden, Allen fell to the ground and Carlos stopped moving. In front of Allen was a small splatter of blood and Tank turned around to see the two stopped.

"Fuck man. God dammit!" Allen shouted as he held a chest, a bullet hole causing him to bleed. Carlos picked him up and put an arm around his shoulder. Tank stared at them and then looked back at the open road. He sighed and ran over to the two, helping Carlos carry Allen to the pickup truck. When all three were in safely, Mitchell started driving.

"I ain't gonna make it. Damn." Allen said with a laugh and then he began to cough up blood. Carlos looked down at him, a hand on his head. Tank stared at the road behind them.

"I told you I'd take you to see your daughter and wife." Carlos said to him. "I can still keep that promise."

"No no. My wife would want nothing to do with me." Allen said coughing. "But my daughter, she needs to know I'm sorry for not being the best father I could be. Making stupid mistakes. Tell her I'm sorry for me." Allen said as he closed his eyes.

"How do I find her?" Carlos asked.

"She's the…" Allen said quietly.

"What?" Carlos asked.

"Chief. Of. Police. She's the chief of police." Allen said before shutting his eyes again. His body went limp and Carlos looked around in disappointment.

"Almost perfect break out." Tank said, still staring at the road.