CHAPTER 51

"I totally misjudged you, Hudson." Pope said as Finn stood before him in his office later that afternoon for punishment after the fight. "I didn't think you were the agitating type. Behaviour like that will not be tolerated in my prison. 90 days in the SHU! That ought to be enough time to convince you of that fact!"

The SHU was the solitary confinement unit of the prison and it was pure hell. Built in the deep, dank basement of the prison, it was a 3 by 3 cell with no natural light, the only light getting into the room being a single loose light bulb. Prisoners were isolated for 24 hours a day in the SHU and many went crazy after long stints. After all, it was the punishment of the prison.

"90 days?" Finn asked, astonished. Even for a maximum security lockup, that seemed like a bit much. Also, if he was in the solitary confinement unit for 90 days, Burrows would be dead by the time he was out, making an escape impossible.

"That's right." Pope muttered. "Something you want to say?"

"It's just… I'm not of much value to you in the SHU."

"Value?" Pope asked.

"The song. It'd be a shame for your marriage to collapse because you didn't do enough for your wife."

"How much work are we talking?" Pope asked.

"Well, you want it by when? June?"

"Yes."

"Then we'd better get started, wouldn't you say?"

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"You had a full ride to Princeton?" Dr. Tancredi asked Finn, incredulously, as Finn got his insulin shot the next morning.

"You've been checking up on me." Finn remarked.

"I like to get to know my patients. I went to Columbia. Not too far."

The doctor studied the forms in front of her.

"Hmm." She murmured, confused.

"What?" Finn asked.

"Your blood glucose is at 50 milligrams per deciliter."

"So?"

"That's hypoglycemic. Your body's reacting to the insulin like you're not a diabetic. You sure it's Type 1 diabetes you've got?"

"Ever since I was a kid." Finn lied.

"All right. Not experiencing any tingling sensation, cold sweats…?"

"No, nothing." Finn replied. Suddenly, the infirmary phone rang and when the doctor moved to answer it, Finn stood up and walked to the window which connected to a broken electrical wire, which connected to the top of the wall of the prison. It was his way out of the prison, he knew it for sure. He just needed to spend as much time in the infirmary as possible to find the perfect opening for him and Burrows to escape, and that would mean that he needed to do something to heighten his glucose level.

The doctor hung up the phone moments later and turned back to him.

"I'd like to run some tests next time you're in." Dr. Tancredi said. "Last thing I want is to be administering insulin to a man who doesn't need it."

"Yeah, sure." Finn nodded.

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The next day, Finn walked across the yard when he scouted out the man he wanted to see. Someone who would be his only chance at fooling the doctor and increasing his glucose levels, and his name… was C-Note.

"Martinez tells me you're the local pharmacy." Finn stated. C-Note slowly nodded.

"What you need, man?"

"PUGNAc." Finn replied.

"I only speak English, white boy." C-Note snapped.

"It's an insulin blocker." Finn explained. "Standard over-the-counter variety. You can get it at any pharmacy."

"You can get that at medical." C-Note remarked.

"I can't get it at medical." Finn muttered.

"Why not?"

"Because they're already giving me insulin shots."

C-Note laughed.

"Wow, you're one mixed-up crack-head, you know that?" C-Nate said, assuming that Finn wanted the drugs for recreational purposes.

"Can you get it for me, or not?" Finn snapped.

"Only if you tell me why is it you want to keep going back up to medical to get an insulin shot for which you don't need." C-Note retorted.

"I like the ambiance." Finn stated. "Now, are we in business?"

That night, Finn heard a rap on his cell door and Guard Bellick stood in the doorway.

"Hudson!" He spat. "I don't know what you did, but Abruzzi wanted me to give you this P.I. card. Congratulations. You just joined the ranks of the employed."

Finn took the card from Bellick and smirked.

"Thank you." Finn replied, pocketing the card.

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The next morning, Finn was among the P.I. inmates and was painting the walls of one of the prison cell blocks. He felt Abruzzi slowly walk up behind him and Finn scowled.

"Kudos, Fish." Abruzzi whispered into his ear. "You got spine."

With that, he walked away and shouted down the corridor.

"All right, cons, break it down!"

The inmates put down their paint rollers and for a brief moment, Finn got to be face-to-face with Burrows once again.

"You mean what you said earlier?" Burrows asked.

"I'm not here on vacation; trust me. Getting outside these walls, that's just the beginning. You're going to need money."

Finn glanced down the hallway, where Charles Westmoureland was stroking his cat.

"I'll have it." Finn replied.

"And people on the outside; people that can help you disappear."

"I've already got them. They just don't know it yet." Finn murmured, this time looking at Abruzzi. Burrows noticed.

"Look, whatever you got going on, fill me in 'cause I'm in the dark here."

"Chaparral Associates got the contract to retrofit this place in '99. A 4 million dollar contract. Head partner couldn't crack it. So, he subcontracted out, an under-the-table sort of deal with a former associate. That guy was my cell mate in my last prison. He basically ghost-wrote the whole plan, crossed the t's, dotted the i's, grouted the tiles. When we were told I was transferring here, he basically taught me every inch of the prison."

"You've seen the blueprints. Haven't you?" Burrows asked. Finn nodded.

"I might have seen a screenshot or two." Finn murmured cryptically. Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw the blueprints. They were practically seared into his memory.

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The next morning, Finn and Charles were sitting in the yard, playing a game of chess.

"You're anticipating 3 moves in advance." Charles remarked as Finn took another one of his pieces. "You're a hell of a strategist, Fish."

"You ever think about Boston?" Finn asked. That was where Charles had supposedly stolen the 1.5 mill.

"Sure." Charles replied.

"Think you'll ever see it again?"

"I'm a 60-year-old man with 60 years left on my ticket. What do you think?"

"I'm thinking about going."

"Well, there's going and there's goin'. Which one do you mean?"

"The one you think I mean." Finn murmured. Charles chuckled.

"Three days inside, and he's already thinking about turning rabbit. Well, it'll pass. It always does. There's bigger things to worry about at the moment. I've been in here long enough to know it when I see it. The calm before the storm. Whites and Blacks are going at each other real soon here. Everybody chooses sides and a lot of guys bleed."

"There a reason?"

"Same reason you don't put cats and dogs in the same cage. They don't get along."

Finn nodded and studied the yard. He could see that tensions were palpable between the two factions, both of whom preparing for an all-out war.

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That afternoon, Finn and Martinez were in their cell and Martinez was taking a piss in the in-cell toilet. He tried to flush the toilet but it wouldn't work.

"Hmm. Toilet won't flush." Martinez remarked.

"So?" Finn asked.

"Means only one thing…"

Suddenly, the doors to Cell Block A swung open and an Army of guards stormed in.

"Shakedown, ladies! Shakedown! All contraband will be confiscated!" The guard exclaimed. Immediately, all of the inmates went into panic, dumping their contraband out of their cells and onto the floor.

"The guards shut off the water, so you can't flush your contraband."

"We got nothing to worry about." Finn said. Martinez flipped Finn's mattress, revealing his PUGNAc.

"Says you!" Martinez shouted over the panic. "Under the table!" He shouted.

Finn reached under the table and pulled out a shiv. His eyes widened.

"What the hell is this?" Finn snapped.

"It's insurance, white boy! Now dump it!"

As Finn headed for the cell doors, his path was suddenly blocked by none other than Guard Bellick. Bellick stared daggers at Finn and noticed the shiv in his hands. The cell doors buzzed open and Bellick stepped inside.

"So… tooling up for the race riot, are we?" Bellick snarled. "Hand it over."

Reluctantly, Finn passed him the shank. Bellick chuckled.

"Now, which side are you on in this upcoming battle?" He asked.

"That would be neither, boss." Finn muttered.

"Oh, so maybe you're planning to go extracurricular with it, then. Stick a C.O., maybe."

At that moment, the Pope walked over to them.

"Is there a problem?" Pope asked.

"Found a shank, sir." Bellick replied. Bellick took it and looked at Finn.

"Is this yours?"

Finn nodded. Pope scoffed.

"You're not a good liar, Hudson. Come on, Martinez, you're going to the SHU. Move along now, Deputy." Pope said to Bellick.

"I'm not done shaking his cell though." Bellick stated.

"I said move along!" Bellick snapped. Bellick growled and looked at Finn.

"In the old man's back pocket, are you? Well, I got news for you, Fish. He may run this place during the day, but I run it during the night..."

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"How are we doing it?" Burrow asked quietly as he and Finn sat together at chapel later that day.

"The infirmary." Finn replied.

"Infirmary?"

"It's the weakest link in the security chain. As long as I get that PUGNAc, I'll get all the access I need." Finn murmured.

"What the hell's a PUGNAc?" Burrows asked.

"It lowers my insulin levels to the point that I'm hyperglycemic. As long as the good doctor thinks I'm diabetic, I'll have plenty of time in there to do what I need to do."

"Which is?"

"A little work. A little prep for your arrival. That's the idea anyway."

"The idea?"

"There's a little hitch in getting the PUGNAc, that's all. They don't exactly stock it at the commissary."

"You're telling me this whole thing's riding on a bunch of pills?"

"Someone's working on it as we speak." Finn murmured, pointing at C-Note, who was sitting a couple of rows away. Burrows surreptitiously turned around and looked at him. He sighed.

"Now's not the time to be trusting a black inmate, Finn." Lincoln murmured.

"Our relationship transcends race." He argued.

"Nothing transcends race in here." Lincoln snapped. "I can't let you do it. This can't be done. Can't be done, Finn. No one's ever broken out of Fox River."

"Every single step has already been mapped out. Every contingency."

"Every contingency? You may have the blueprints of this place, but there's one thing those plans can't show you… people! Guys like Abruzzi. You so much as look at these men the wrong way, they'll cut you up."

"As far as these guys are concerned, I'm just another con doing his time." Finn replied. "Staying out of trouble."

"You don't go looking for trouble in here. It just finds you."

"And when it does, we'll be long gone."

Burrows sighed.

"This is madness!" He whispered, furiously. "You can't even get out of your cell."

"Not true."

"What, you got a key?" Burrows chuckled.

"Something like that."