Chapter 6 - Escape

Daniel figured out that the water was drugged. He recognized the loopy feeling from enough times in the infirmary at the SGC. So, he didn't drink the last cup of water they gave him at night. When they left, he dumped it out and they guards never knew. He was very thirsty, and dehydrated but he figured he could do with out that last cup at dinner time if it meant staying alert.

He had spent the morning chained to a pole of the torture chamber, stripped bare. One of the guards had whipped him until the skin on his back was raw. This guy put everything he had into each swing and he knew exactly where to place the lashso that it did the most damage. Daniel's face was bruised from crashing into the pole with each hit, his body involuntarily jolting forward. He remembered hearing someone screaming and realized it was his own screams he was hearing but before long his voice was totally gone. He hung from the manacles, his body quivering from shock and the skin on his back burned so bad that he had a hard time catching his breath. Not that 'Bruno' gave him a chance. On the contrary, the lashes came swiftly and with enough force to rip his back wide open. Blood ran down his back, sides and front toward his legs and puddled on the floor as he finally passed out. They unchained him and let him drop to the floor like a rag doll with no bones. The crumpled heap on the cement moaned but didn't wake as they dragged his limp body to the sarcophagus so that they could start all over again.

He woke up on his mattress, sure that if he didn't get out of there soon, he would definitely go insane.

Kinsey came into his cell and leaned on the door frame, watching him with his cold stare.

"Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, according to the forecast. I think we'll take a walk on the grounds." Kinsey smiled but it never reached his cold, dead eyes.

"Why?" Daniel was confused by this change of direction. Something wasn't right. Outside? It could only mean he had some other kind of torture in mind that couldn't be done indoors.

"Let's just say the dogs need some exercise." With that, he grinned and then turned and left.

Daniel's blood ran cold as he heard Kinsey laughing as he walked away. He was horrified at what he knew was coming. Kinsey was going to set the dogs on him. A chase, by the sounds of it. A hunt, maybe. He closed his eyes and tried to swallow but his throat was dry as he contemplated what he knew was coming.

He had seen the guard dogs. Big German Shepherds, probably 120 pounds each. And trained to kill. Once, on the History Channel, they had televised a program about the history of dogs, guard dogs in particular. They showed footage of how the dogs were picked, what particular traits were deemed necessary for a successful outcome, what breeds were the most aggressive and smart. And they told how much pressure the bite of a very angry and agitated dog could put on a victim. They measured it with certain electronic devices and talked about what kind of damage the bite would cause.

And he knew what he was in store for him in the morning. 'Just when I thought it couldn't get worse...' Daniel laid back on the mattress and closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn't sleep at all tonight. The thought of what he had to look forward to made him nauseous.

'I've got to get out of here!'

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He spent a sleepless night on the floor of his cell, cold and alone. He was hungry and weak and knew he wouldn't get far before the dogs got him. Soon after the sun came up, Kinsey arrived. 'He's not wasting any time.'

They gave him a pair of sneakers to wear and stood by as he slipped them on and tied them. Why the shoes? For traction and speed? He knew he wasn't going to get far. The guards escorted him out of his cell, through the tunnell and down the hall to the door leading outside. They grabbed their coats that were hanging on pegs by the door, but nobody offered him one.

They walked out into the chilly morning, a cool breeze was coming from the north but the sun was out. Daniel didn't care. The fresh air was nice for a change but his spirits were too low for him to really appreciate it. He heard the dogs in the distance as the trainers were hooking up their leashes. He shivered but it wasn't from the cold and Kinsey noticed and laughed.

"What's the matter, Dr. Jackson? Cold?" He laughed at his own humor.

The sound of dogs barking grew louder as Daniel watched the two teams of dogs, four in all, come around the back of the building holding the kennels. The handlers definitely had them worked up this morning. Each man had a towel that they had used to wipe off Daniel's' face in the last few days and the dogs were sniffing and growling. 'So, that's what that was about. I knew they weren't wiping my face to be nice.' Then the dogs turned toward Daniel and pulled on their leashes, knowing that their prey was standing right in front of them. Oh, they were eager to hunt!

Daniel's mouth went dry and he had noticeable tremors shaking him from head to foot. He looked at Kinsey and the old man could hardly contain himself, being so excited about the chase.

"Daniel, we're going to give you a 3 minute head start. Let's see how far you can run in that much time. Hey, maybe you'll break an olympic record!" Kinsey had a stop watch out and said, "Ready?" The dogs were straining at their leashes and it looked like the guards were going to have a hard time hanging onto them.

Panic flooded Daniel's mind as he scanned the estate, looking for the nearest trees. Even without his eyeglasses he could see that they were too far away and in his weakened state, he didn't think he'd get very far.

"Go!" Kinsey cried out and giggled like a demon possessed mad man!

It is amazing what a body can do when it's pumped full of terror and adrenaline. Daniel took off at a sprint, heading for the trees at the back of the estate as fast as he could. He could hear the dogs getting hysterical as they watched their prey run away from them. He was surprised how fast he was moving but within a minute or so he felt his strength waning and was out of breath. Spots were floating in front of his eyes and his strength was quickly running out. He kept going though and made it about half way to the trees when he heard the dogs change their bark. He knew they had been let loose and that spurred him on but he also knew he wouldn't make it. About 30 yards from the nearest tree, he tripped and fell head first onto the cold, wet ground. He tried to remember to roll into a ball when he fell but he landed on his right knee and heard a crunch as the impact turned his knee to a bruised mess and left him flat on the ground.

'Oh, God! Please help!' His desperate thoughts were soon interrupted as the first of the four dogs lunged at him. He tried with everything he had to fight it off but it was no use. Within seconds, the four dogs were on him and it was all over soon after that. The last thing he remembered was seeing the faces of four maniacal German Shepherds at close range as they jumped on him.

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He woke up sometime later back in his cell. His sweat suit was ripped apart and still wet with blood. When he was aware of his surroundings and remembered what had happened, he threw up on the floor and then laid back on the mattress, tears forming in his eyes. 'Just kill me. I can't do this anymore. I can't live like this.'

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The rest of the day went much like the way it started. Kinsey took a break while Daniel recovered and then he set Daniel up for another session of 'Chase the Rabbit.'

The third time he tried it, Daniel refused to run. He had decided enough was enough. He wasn't going to play anymore. He thought, 'Why should I run? What's the point except to give Kinsey the thrill of the chase. Forget it. I'm not moving.' So, he stood right there in front of Kinsey and let the dogs come at him, as he watched Kinsey's eyes. Just before he died, he saw the look of disgust on Kinsey's face. The game was over and he knew that Kinsey was tired of it, too.

He made up his mind. Tonight, he would make his escape.

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It was well after dark and it was time to go. He'd noticed that the guards would leave him in his room and then disappear down the hall until the next morning. Evidently, they didn't think they had anything to worry about. Their confidence that he was too weak to get very far made them careless. He hoped they weren't right. He found he was light headed almost all the time but he had to try.

He knew that his torn sweat suit wouldn't offer much protection from the cold but he didn't have anything else. Maybe he could grab one of the coats that he had seen hung by the back door. He knew the sneakers were by the door each time he went out so he figured they would be there again.

He had been working on the door every night with a stiff wire he'd found in the mattress and he thought he had it figured out. By morning he planned on being miles away.

He waited until it had been dark for a while, when it was quiet, and took the chance that Kinsey was already asleep. He figured he had nothing to lose. If he got caught, what's the worst that could happen? He's already experienced the worst so it didn't scare him anymore.

He worked the lock on his door and slipped quietly into the hallway, making his way toward the tunnel and the steps leading to the exit. He knew the outside door was to the right. He approached slowly and looked through the window. Not a patrol in sight. Good. After grabbing a jacket and putting on the sneakers, he quietly slipped outside and stopped to listen. He didn't hear anything so he headed as fast as he could to the back of the estate. He made it as far as the tree line when he heard a shout and then barking and looked back. Flood lights blinked on and 2 large dogs were gaining on him fast, their handlers right behind them, giving the dogs their leads. He turned around and saw a wall ahead. 'Damn! How am I going to get over that!'

There was a large tree about 10 feet from the wall so he decided he'd try climbing it and see if he could get across the long limb to the other side of the wall. One of the guards was on a cell phone so he knew he didn't have long.

Once over the wall, he ran as fast as he could through the woods and across a field toward a river. When he jumped into the water, he immediately wondered about the logic of his actions as the water was ice cold! It might be springtime but the cold water took his breath away and soon he could feel his hands and feet starting to go numb. The current was very swift and it didn't take long before he was downstream, climbing up the bank on the opposite side. The cold night air combined with his dripping wet clothing convinced him that he better start running to warm up. He took a few minutes to rest and realized how truly weak he was. His feet felt like stumps so he took a few minutes, sitting on the ground, stomping his feet before he could feel the circulation returning. Teeth chattering, he took off across the fields at a slow, staggering lope, heading west, hoping to find a safe place to hide.

Nobody was around, probably most people were home in their beds. A few dogs barked as he went past but no one bothered to come out to see what the commotion was all about. He had to stop frequently to rest but he was warmed up and miles away from the estate when he decided to head south toward an old farmhouse with a barn. He snuck past the clothes line, grabbing a blanket on the way by, and stepped inside the barn, found his way to the loft where he burrowed under a pile of hay and then promptly collapsed from exhaustion.

He woke up just before dawn, wet, shivering, thirsty and having to urinate. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and quietly climbed down the ladder in the dark. There was a door at the back of the barn that opened onto a well worn tractor path. Perfect, some place he could pee without anyone finding him. After finishing up, he took in his surroundings. The sky was just light enough to see that there weren't any houses nearby, just fields covered with stubble from last year's harvest. He went back inside the barn, intent on getting back up into the loft before anyone found him, and was near the top of the ladder when he lost his footing and fell to the floor with a crash, yelling on the way down. He landed on his side, twisting his ankle and he felt a sharp pain in his knee. The roof started pin wheeling and he passed out.