Chapter XIII: Jail Break
The white prison bus looms silent against the dark night sky. A row of about twenty inmates, all wearing their signature orange jumpsuits, are methodically lined up just inside the south exit of Deathridge Gate Prison. Each one of the twenty prisoners is a hardened and violent offender serving either a life sentence or on death row. At the very back of the line, Marcos waits, his ankles and wrists handcuffed and joined by a chain in the middle. As the prisoners are ordered to start marching out by an overseeing guard, Deidre Lundy stands at the side of another guard who is stationed at the entrance of the bus. In his hands is a large rifle which he holds with authority.
"Are you and Officer Jackson ready?" asks Lundy in a whispered tone.
"We know what our duty is and we consider it an honor to give our lives in service of great Cthulhu." says Officer Cobb.
"Your sacrifice will always be remembered." she says as she brushes Cobb's shoulder as she slowly walks back towards the barracks and disappears through a side door.
As the line of inmates approaches the front of the bus, Cobb speaks up "Alright listen up! You'll board in a timely and orderly manner, no shoving or pushing, you should know the drill by now. As soon as you reach your designated spot, you'll take a seat and you'll shut the fuck up for the duration of the trip! It's about a four hour drive till we reach Whatley Island Correctional, so I suggest you make yourselves comfortable. Board up!"
As the inmates begin to board the bus slowly, Marcos is steadily making his way towards the doorway in order to exit with the others. Just before he walks out he hears a faint whisper "Colonel…"
He looks over to his side and is forcefully grabbed by two men, who jam a black hood over his head and drag him to a dark back room. Before he even has time to react, Dr. Lundy injects him through the arm with a syringe after which he immediately falls unconscious.
"Alright, go! Your clear to make your exit through the prison's westbound checkpoint. Father Emmett will be waiting." says Lundy as the two men drag Marcos' limp body out through another door where a black car awaits. They dump the man in the trunk and one of the men quickly climbs into the driver's side.
"How long do we have till he wakes up?" asks the second man.
"The dosage of Etorphine was high enough that he should be out for the next three hours at least." says Lundy.
The second man just nods as he enters the passenger's side, and the car quickly peels off into the night.
As the white bus steadily makes its way down the dark and winding roadways, an hour had elapsed from the time it had departed from Deathridge Prison. The inmates were in a state of calm. Some had fallen asleep, their heads resting against the seat windows. Some engage in light but hushed banter, while others just sit quietly and stare outward onto the darkened landscape.
A convicted serial rapist and murderer named Monroe Chalice, casually looks around with a confused expression. He slightly stands up to get a better view of everyone on board and smirks in inquiry.
"Sit down Chalice, we still got a long way to go." says Daunte Meadows, another inmate sitting across from Chalice.
"That's fucking weird." responds Chalice.
"What?" asks Meadows.
"Where the fuck did Morales go? I coulda sworn he was ridin with us."
"Maybe they pulled him last minute. Paper work didn't through or some shit." says Meadows in a matter of fact like tone.
"Quiet it down back there!" shouts Cobb from the other side of the steel grate that separated the correctional officers from the inmates. As soon as the talking had ceased, Cobb walks up to the driver's cage "I think it's time." he says to Jackson in a hushed voice.
Jackson looks at Cobb and just nods before planting his eyes back on the road. Cobb slides down three heavy metal sheets from overhead that completely seal off the driver's cage from the rest of the upper bus cabin. He then retrieves a distorted looking gas mask from a small compartment and dons it.
This is noticed by Chalice as he squints his eyes "Get a load of this." he says drawing attention to Cobb.
The corrections officer takes a moment to look out at the prisoners "In your death, you will serve the greater purpose of The Old Ones!" he shouts just before releasing another heavy sheet of metal that slams down from on top over the steel grate, completely sealing off the front cab of the bus from where the prisoners were seated.
"What the fuck is going on! Hey!" shouts Meadows as the rest of the prisoners are all alerted to what's going on.
A foul and noxious gas starts to seep in from under the floors and quickly envelops the entire back half of the bus. The inmates scatter out of their seats and start to bang and kick at the front steel grate. But before too long, they begin to choke and vomit as one by one, they drop dead. Their bodies piled up at the front, a testament to their futile attempt at escape. On the other side of the grate and the metal partition, Cobb just stands with his rifle, listening to the muffled screams without showing the slightest hint of emotion. He just slowly breathes in and out through his gas mask.
Jackson continues driving as he squirms in the cocooned off driver's cage. His face betrays that he's clearly not as comfortable with what's happening as Cobb seems to be "I will not question you great Cthulhu. All in service for the better world you bring us." he whispers to himself.
When the inmate's screams die down and eventually stop all together, Cobb flips a lever which springs the heavy metal partition back up, revealing the piled up bodies on the other side of the separating grate. Cobb opens the door of the grate and slowly begins the arduous task of dragging each prisoner's body back to their original seats. He then opens all the windows on the bus to expel all the lingering gas present. The entire process takes almost two hours, but finally when the bus is clear and all the dead prisoners are back in their seats, Cobb carefully removes his mask and exhales a sigh of relief.
"Who would've thought that you bunch of worthless fuckers would be a thousand times more valuable in your deaths than you ever were in life. The universe is definitely funny that way." he says before making his way back towards the driver's cage.
Cobb then flips up the steel sheets that had encased Jackson and the driver nonchalantly looks at his fellow officer "All done I assume?"
"All done. How far away is the impact spot?" asks Cobb.
"About twenty minutes. You'd better get the accelerant ready if we're gonna do this." says Jackson in an almost disapproving way.
"What do you mean if Brother Jackson?" asks Cobb, the menace rising in his voice.
"Nothing…" says Jackson.
"Your not having second thoughts, are you brother?" asks Cobb as he haphazardly points the rifle in Jackson's direction "Because if you even think about betraying the Church…"
Jackson narrows his eyes "So what are you gonna do? Shoot me while in route, sending this bus careening off the side of the road while in turn sending the Church's entire plan for the Eldritch Prophet right off the rails?"
Cobb brings the gun closer and firmly presses the weapon to his chest as he looks directly down it's sights, aiming the barrel at point black range to Jackson's head "I'll take my chances."
Jackson doesn't flinch "My loyalty is just as unwavering as yours Brother. I would never betray The Church and certainly not Cthulhu. Now get ready to pour the goddamn accelerant if you don't mind. We'll be reaching the impact site in just a few minutes." he says all without once taking his eyes off the road.
Cobb steadies the rifle, but doesn't get the gun off his colleague. After a few seconds, Jackson once again casually turns to look at Cobb, his expression one of arrogant confidence as if he knows that the man wouldn't shoot him "Are you gonna get the fucking gasoline or not?" asks Jackson.
Cobb finally does lower the gun and goes to retrieve a large gasoline container from the same compartment he found the gas mask. He then proceeds to thoroughly douse the dead inmates as well as the rest of the back-end interior of the bus until the can is emptied. He walks back up to Jackson and the two men just give each other a telling nod.
A short while later the bus pulls up to a remote bend in the road surrounded by large trees. On the shoulder sits a black van with two men sitting up front. The bus stops in the middle of the road next to the van and the two men exit the smaller vehicle, whilst Jackson and Cobb get off the bus.
"Right on schedule." says the driver of the van.
"All went without a hitch." says Cobb as he hands the other driver the gas can.
"Is the Quintulpa ready?" asks Jackson.
"Indeed it is." says the passenger of the van.
The van's occupants then unload Macros' Quintulpa double, which is dressed in a duplicate jumpsuit, out from the back of the van and drag it into the bus followed by Cobb and Jackson. They place the dead creature in the middle of the isle.
"That's incredible, although I have to say, the damn thing doesn't look like Morales at all." comments Cobb.
"The fucking thing is going to be burned to a crisp by the end of all this, so it won't matter. No one's gonna be the wiser. Blood type, dental plates, even fingerprints…every single genetic marker they need to identify. He's got em all." says the van driver.
"It's unreal to think what the Necronomicon is capable of." remarks Jackson.
"It'll be dawn soon Brothers, are you both ready?" asks the van passenger.
Both Cobb and Jackson look at each other, than back to the other two men when Cobb answers "Yes, we are."
"Be blessed both of you in your journey to the realm of the Star Spawn." says the van driver.
The van passenger than lights a match and tosses it directly onto the Quintulpa, which than instantly ignites the surrounding gasoline setting the entire bus ablaze. The van driver and passenger rush off the bus as Cobb and Jackson run to the front. Jackson turns the key and grabs the wheel. He looks over to Cobb and smiles "Praise be to the Old Ones."
Cobb closes his eyes and responds, "Praise be to the Old Ones."
Jackson steps on the gas and drives the flaming bus directly into one of the large surrounding trees in a tremendous crash that results in the tree being knocked over and a small explosion bolstered by the already blazing fire onboard the bus. The van's driver and passenger rush over to the crash just a few yards away and discover that the staged scene has had the desired effect. Jackson is slumped over the steering wheel bleeding from a large gash on his head and Cobb has smashed through the windshield, his shredded body landing a few feet in front of the flaming wreck. All the inmates bodies as well as the Quintulpa are left to burn inside.
"Mission accomplished." says the van driver as both he and his companion rush to their vehicle and hurriedly speed away from the scene.
As his eyelids slowly start to creak open, Marcos catches the slightest bit of light. His breathing becomes more intense as his senses are starting to fully awaken. His eyes fully dilate as he slams right back into reality. But instead of seeing a wider vision of the world, all he can make out is a dull shade of faint light that manages to pierce the thick black cloth over his head. Without warning, the hood is ripped off and the harsh shine of the overhead lamps momentarily overwhelms his sight, causing him to squint severely.
"Welcome back Colonel, so good to see you again." says Father Emmett, who is standing just a few feet away.
"Are you ok Colonel Morales, breathing fine?" asks Lundy who stands beside Emmett.
Marcos takes a long pause before responding before he says "What the fuck just happened?"
"Not a lot is going to make sense to you at this moment Marcos, just know that your safe and your now in the custody of the Church of the Sinking City. You don't know it, but you will soon serve a great purpose in the restructuring of the world itself." says Emmett.
The former Colonel looks down and finds that he is still handcuffed and strapped very tightly to a chair. Quite unexpectedly, he starts to emit a laugh that conveys his feelings of the absurdity of his situation. He looks back towards Lundy "Just an old family friend whose a bit eccentric huh Lundy?" he says with more laughter "You gotta be shittin me."