CHAPTER 54
Finn crawled out of his tunnel at exactly the spot he wanted: Bellick's office. The office was empty, as planned, because Bellick was outside with the Pope. What was in the office, however, was a computer, and from that computer, Finn could access the whole prison camera system. First thing's first, he needed to find Lincoln. Although Finn could probably escape now, unseen, he made a promise to Lincoln that he would get him out and he intended to honor him. When Finn hacked into Lincoln's cell footage and saw he wasn't there, his eyes widened. He flipped through the camera footage until he saw footage of an alley just outside block A. His heart dropped. Lying lifelessly on the floor, clearly dead, was Lincoln! Finn put his head in his hands. He couldn't breathe. He promised that man an out! No, he swore! He gave him his word, and he wasn't able to make true to it. Finn took deep, calming breaths and just as he was about to escape the jail himself, his hand accidentally hit the mouse and the video feed changed to the infirmary. He saw the gang of men smashing the windows of the storage room, and Dr. Trancedi cowering in the corner. He gritted his teeth and practically sprinted out of the tunnel. He need to get to sickbay! FAST!
The sickbay was in B-Wing and in essence, there was no way from A to B wing. However, Finn knew better. He used his tunnel system to make it out of the window on the roof of the wing, slamming it down behind him. From there, he could see the window into the infirmary and he could see Dr. Tancredi trying to open it but failing. Finn clenched his jaw. He needed to move! He then climbed into an air vent. It was the only way to make it from A-Wing to B-Wing. Just before he stepped in, he saw a dozen Humvees drive in with several National Guard members in each one. Finn groaned. More reinforcements meant more trouble.
Pope walked over to one of his guards.
"Any word from the governor?" Pope asked.
"Not yet, boss." He replied. Pope made it to Bellick and he glared at him.
"Bellick! Get those guys in formation!" Pope shouted. Bellick nodded.
"We going back in?" He asked.
"Not yet. We cut the water off about an hour ago. The stink alone should drive them out of there."
"You think that's gonna work?" Bellick scoffed.
"No, but it's protocol, and we're all gonna do this by the book." Pope replied. "It's the best chance we have of everybody getting out of there without any of them getting hurt. Suddenly, one of the prisoners opened one of the prison windows and shouted down to the warden.
"HEY!" They shouted. Pope grabbed a megaphone and looked at them.
"This is the warden. What do you want?" Pope asked.
"We have some demands!" The prisoner yelled. "We need the air back on. And don't you dare screw us! We got a hostage. That girl doctor!"
Pope's eyes widened and he dropped his megaphone.
"The doctor?" Pope murmured to Bellick.
"There's only one." Bellick groaned. It was the governor's daughter. That was NOT good.
"How the hell did that happen?!" Pope shouted at Bellick. "How did they get their hands on her?"
"I thought she was safe. She was in Sick Bay in Wing B." Bellick replied.
"We've got to get her out of there. Somebody's got to go in there NOW!" Pope demanded. Bellick shook his head.
"We can't do it, sir." Bellick said.
"Why not?"
"It's not by the book." He spat, before walking away. Bellick HATED the Pope. The Pope was his boss, and the only person preventing him from ruling the prison. If he had a chance to ruin the Pope, he would.
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"HEEEEEELLLPPPP! HEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPP!" Dr. Tancredi screamed out the window but because she was on the highest floor of the prison, and because of the wailing alarms, nobody could hear here.
"It's only a matter of time, Doc! It's only a matter of time!" One of the inmates shouted. They were so close to getting in!
Finn crawled silently through the air vents, thanking his rigorous Army training for the billionth time. Eventually, he made it to the vent right over the Sick Bay…
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The governor pulled up to the prison moments later, ignoring the floods of press who were eagerly waiting outside. The Pope saw his limo drive in and he turned to Bellick.
"That's the governor. Whatever happens, don't say anything." Pope stated to his deputy. They walked over to the Governor. "Governor, I appreciate your coming. Now, you should know, since our conversation, the situation has escalated. But not to worry, we're making good progress with our contacts."
"Just cut the crap, Warden, and tell me where my daughter is!" The governor spat. Pope took a deep breath.
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A couple of seconds. A couple of seconds and the inmates would burst into the room and there was nothing Dr. Tancredi could do but pray. She was helpless against the tens of inmates who were ganging up on her. Suddenly, a hand tapped her on the shoulder from behind. She screamed and spun around but there was nobody there.
"Hey. Up here." A voice whispered. Dr. Tancredi looked up, incredulously, to see Finn peering out of the air vent.
"Hudson?" She stammered. Finn held out a hand to her.
"Come on!" He shouted. "Grab my hand!"
Without hesitating, Tancredi jumped up and grabbed his hand. Because she was pretty light and Finn had herculean strength, Finn pulled her up and into the vent with ease, saving her from the gang of inmates who had just burst into the room. Finn closed the vent behind him, leaving no trace of them, before turning to a hyperventilating Dr. Tancredi.
"You all right? It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." Finn said, softly. She looked at him and slowly nodded.
"Okay. What's the plan?" She asked.
"See these pipes?" Finn asked, pointing at the pipes beneath them. "We're going to stay on them. They go through the wall and over to the hallway, and they're going to get us out of here. All you have to do is follow me. Okay?"
She nodded.
"Okay." She replied.
"Let's go." Finn said and the two of them started crawling through the vents once again. One peculiar thing she noticed as they made their way through the prison was that the vents were extremely clean. For a prison that was probably among the filthiest places on Earth, this was clearly out of place. It was almost as though someone had cleaned them thoroughly themselves. Well, not someone… Finn. He clearly knew what he was doing, too well for someone who spontaneously decided to enter these vents. He had obviously been planning a break out.
They travelled through various air vents and piping systems for nearly 15 minutes before Finn slowed down, not for his benefit but for the doctor's.
"Are you all right? We can stop if you want, catch your breath." He asked.
"I'm okay. I'm fine." She murmured. Finn nodded and they kept going. A couple of moments later, she stopped. "You know what? I need a minute."
Finn nodded.
"Sure. It's not much further anyways." Finn said. "Things should be winding down around now. Pretty soon, the powers-that-be will break in and… it'll all be over. It's just a matter of time."
"What's happening in A-Wing?" She asked. Finn sighed.
"All hell is breaking loose." He replied, simply. "But I think if we stay up here, we should be okay."
"I can't believe this is happening." She whispered, still slightly in shock.
"You ever been to Baja?" Finn asked, suddenly. He was attempting to distract Dr. Tancredi from everything that was going on. "Mexico?"
"No."
"There's this great place down there. 20 bucks a night, hammock on the back deck. Beers are 50 cents. 25 cents at happy hour."
She didn't respond so Finn kept trying to distract her.
"What about Thailand? You ever been to Thailand? Thailand's great."
"Finn, if you're trying to calm me down, you're doing a terrible job." Dr. Tancredi remarked. Finn chuckled.
"But I am trying." He replied. She giggled.
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Finn asked.
"Crawling around in the ceiling, risking your life?"
"I was in the Army. Being a horny-for-death jackass is in the job description. I was imprisoned here, wrongfully convicted. That doesn't mean I don't still have my values."
"How did you know where to go?" She asked. Finn looked at her.
"When everything went off in A-Wing, Bellick left his office. I saw you on the monitor. One of my first assignments in P.I., we were up here, cleaning out toxic mold. It took days. So, I'm kind of familiar with the layout." Finn replied, lying about the last part.
"I hope you wore a mask." She said.
"Excuse me?" Finn asked.
"To prevent inhalation. Mold can be really dangerous." She stated.
"Yeah. I wore a mask." Finn murmured. "Let's keep going."
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"Yes sir, I understand. Believe me, Sarah is our top priority." Pope stammered to the Governor.
"The hell she is! I ordered a state of emergency an hour ago! Soldier, get me your commanding officer!" The governor ordered one of the National Guard members. "Now, Pope, what the hell is going on out here?"
"Negotiating, sir. They can't hold out much longer." Pope replied.
"NEGOTIATING?!" The governor yelled.
"They're almost out of water. We are trying to avoid doing anything extreme!"
"Look, I don't care if it takes a massacre to get her out of there! Do you understand me?! Now, if you're not gonna do it, I am!"
"Sir." A commanding officer of the National Guard members walked over to them.
"Captain. Spread the news. You're going in." The Governor ordered. "It's time to do this my way!"
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Finn and Dr. Tancredi eventually made it to their exit of the vent. Finn jumped out and landed on all fours like a cat, before catching Dr. Tancredi as she jumped.
"I got you." Finn said as she slowly fell. Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind them.
"Hey, Fish, you think you can keep that nurse all to yourself?"
Finn spun around to see a 6'10, absolutely MASSIVE inmate with a wicked grin on his face. Uh oh. That was NOT good. Not good at all. As the inmate advanced, Finn shoved Dr. Tancredi behind him and he lunged at the 6'10 man. Because Finn couldn't use size to his advantage against this behemoth, he had to resort to his speed and agility. He somehow managed to grab the inmate in a vicious choke lock and squeezed until he was unconscious. He then turned back to Dr. Tancredi, who was even more terrified at this point.
"Let's go." He murmured and the two of them kept running. They eventually made it to the front of one of the open cell blocks and they could see a couple of inmates in the distance. They hid from them. Dr. Tancredi started to turn left but Finn grabbed her and held her back. "We can't go this way." He stated.
"We have to. There's no other way to the exit." Tancredi replied. "This is it."
"No, it's not." Finn murmured. He knew every nook and cranny of this prison, better than anyone. He had scanned every single blueprint before he arrived, and he had spent the past month or so reinforcing his knowledge. "It's back this way." He said, pointing a different direction.
"This won't help." She shook her head.
"Trust me." Finn murmured.
"Finn, if you're wrong…" Tancredi stammered.
"We don't have time." Finn growled. Tancredi reluctantly nodded and followed him down an abandoned hallway.
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"Captain. What's the news on Sara?" The Governor asked as the C.O of the National Guard officers walked over.
"We're still trying to find her, sir." The soldier replied.
"You don't even know where she is?!" He shouted in disbelief.
"We're on it." He replied. "Soon as we do, we'll let you know."
He then walked away, leaving just Pope and the Governor.
"You should've listened to Deputy Bellick and gassed the whole block." The Governor spat at Pope.
"Captain Bellick?" Pope snapped.
"He's right on the front line. He knows what these guys can do. You better pray that Sara gets out of there in one piece!"
"I do, Governor, but this is still my prison." Pope replied. "Whatever happens, I take full responsibility. Excuse me." He said before walking away."
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Finn and Sara ran through an abandoned mess hall in the prison before coming to an abrupt halt when Finn turned left.
"It's this way." He said, pointing in that direction. She nodded and followed him. After all, he was her only chance of getting out of this alive.
A couple of minutes later, they made it to a side door.
"There it is." Finn said. Sara nodded.
"What now?" She asked. Finn shrugged.
"You go out, your life is saved. I go out, my misery is ended. It's a win-win for both of us." Finn replied. Sara's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Your misery is ended? What does that mean?" She asked.
"Oh, come on. This place is crawling with not only security guards but the frickin' Army. The minute they see you safe, they're pulling the trigger on me."
"But… you'll die. They're sharpshooters, Finn. They won't miss." She stammered.
"That's the plan." Finn muttered. "I can't spend my whole life here. I can't."
Sara looked him in the eye and for the first time, she saw actual emotion in them. She realised something now. Something she should have realised long ago.
"You are innocent, aren't you?" She remarked. Finn sighed and nodded.
"Yeah. Doesn't matter now though." Finn murmured before swinging the door open and stepping out into the sunlight with Finn. The second they stepped out into the gardens of the prison, there was an eruption of shouts, bellows and yells. Every security guard out there converged on them quickly, assuming that Finn was holding Sara hostage for some demands. Finn could feel at least 10 sniper crosshairs on him. The second Sara took half a step away from him, the guards had an angle and one of them fired a bullet into Finn's chest.
Finn collapsed to the ground, lifeless…
