2016 August

Act I - The Early Days

California

Growing up, Dad was hardly ever around. He'd been in the military a long time. In one of the advanced groups. Spec-Ops.

The only holiday that he could be home for, with some amount of certainty, was Christmas. And even then, there was no guarantee. Other than that, there was no telling when they'd deploy him. And he would get deployed often.

It'd been like that all the way up to mom's death. After she died, he didn't get deployed as much. And then he started training Logan and me. We learned from him, and it made us better. He'd given us the skills required to survive anything.

Leonid Zhaetsev

Leonid was a Federation security guard for the prison.

Not really, but he looked like one.

Which was good enough for his well-orchestrated plan.

After becoming one with the inmates, Leonid had gotten started on his plan right away. It'd been going smoothly at first. Which was to do nothing at all until Monday morning. Monday was the day that the security forces would be the least attentive in their daily duties. Which meant that Monday would be the best day for him to initiate Act II of his pre-designed plan. His timetable had been carefully crafted down to the finest details.

But the recent events had thrown a wrench into that plan. In a sense, it'd made Leonid's job both easier, and harder.

Easier because Leonid had taken full advantage of the miniature uprising that the Logan boy had started. He'd followed the mass army of inmates in their blitzkrieg across the prison. On the surface, it'd looked like Leonid was a part of the assault. But in reality, Leonid had been far from it. The reason why was because Leonid had been hunting for a suitable security guard. So that he could take the gear and equip it on himself. Due to Leonid's higher-than-average height, finding one hadn't been easy.

"Secure the mess hall!" Leonid shouted to the team of security guards behind him.

Foolishly, the Federation guards had assumed that Leonid was one of the high-ranking officers of the prison. Of course, Leonid wasn't - but the Federation didn't know that. He was using his temporary status of power to the fullest degree.

The security guards rushed past him down the long hall leading to the inmate mess hall. They resembled an army of ancient soldiers, with their shields raised up and their electric batons. A hurdle of heavy footsteps pounded down the narrow hallway, bursting into the mediocre dining area at the end of it.

With that distraction out of the way, Leonid swiveled around and did a mental scan of the prison.

First, he went back to the day he'd gotten processed in. He'd mentally recorded all of the turns and pathways that he'd taken before arriving at his cell. Next, he recalled his first trip to the inmate mess-hall on his 2nd day in the prison. They'd gone down a long hallway, much like the one that he was currently standing in. A series of lefts and rights. And then a steep stairwell. And then, finally, the mess-hall itself. In total, it'd taken 13 minutes and 39 seconds to get there, from the time that Leonid had left his cell. After that, Leonid began checking the mental recordings he'd made during all of his other brief trips around the prison. Finally, Leonid ran a quick calculation through his head.

Through all of the walking he'd done, not once had he come across what he assumed to be the HQ of the prison - which he figured was the warden's office. From his experience in prisons, Leonid wasn't even entirely sure that he'd even come close to getting near one. The hallways would look different once you got within range of it. There wouldn't be as many security guards. Things would look cleaner. All of the critical signs. Leonid hadn't encountered any of them, yet.

Meh.

Leonid had covered roughly 75% of the prison before the mass uprising had started. And he'd covered an extra 15% since then. That added up to a total of 90% that Leonid had registered in his mental recordings. Which meant that only 10% of the prison was still unaccounted for. Leonid knew what that 10% was - where that 10% would be located. And if his mental calculation was correct, it would take him roughly 5 minutes and 17 seconds to get there. Which was hopefully more than enough time for him to locate the warden's office before the Federation caught onto his little act.

Once located, Leonid could easily gain access into the Federation files stored on the computers inside the office. It would be nothing for him to reroute all of that data to Alena's computer. And just like that, they would have gained a sizable advantage over the Federation. Alena could gain secret access to the network.

The only snag in the process would be Logan and David. Elias' boys.

No matter. He needed to work his way to the uncharted region of the prison ASAP. The Federation weren't the smartest bunch, but they couldn't be fooled for long.

Leonid started off at a reasonable pace. 'Reasonable' meant faster than average. He needed to look the part as much as possible. A leisurely stroll in the middle of a prison riot looked suspicious. And Leonid had to mentally keep track of his accent. He could mimic a perfect North American accent - or any accent, for that matter. But it isn't easy.

He made a left turn up ahead. This hallway was different from the last. Doors lined both sides, and several of the lights were beginning to flicker. Leonid didn't know what was down this hall, so he decided to find out. He twisted the cap on his head slightly as he began his march. The timer in his head told him that he still had a few minutes to kill before the Federation began actively looking for him. The riot was still ongoing, but most of it had been defused over the past hour. They were beginning to take names. The only groups that still needed to be dealt with were the prisoners who'd set up a perimeter within the courtyard, and it wasn't many. On top of the fact that an officer was missing, and Leonid was wearing that officer's uniform.

A pair of Federation security guards emerged from the hall up ahead on the right. They were running at a reasonable pace, rushing to get somewhere. Leonid looked down and messed with his hat as they came his way, hoping to keep unnoticed. To help, he moved over to the right side of the hall, giving the guards plenty of room.

At first, he thought that it'd worked. Their footsteps hadn't made any signs of slowing down or anything. But then Leonid felt a hand slap him on the chest, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hey!" The security guard shouted. In Leonid's peripheral vision, he could see the guard's partner stop in his jog as well, wheeling around to face him.

Leonid grabbed the guard's arm that was on his chest, twisted it hard, and pulled. At the same time, he swung a hard blow with his left elbow. The hit connected perfectly, and Leonid heard the crunch as the guard's nose was shattered. Leonid grabbed the guard by the collar of his shirt and shoved him into the wall on Leonid's right.

Without missing a beat, Leonid twisted and ducked down low - narrowly escaping the heavy-handed blow thrown by the second guard. He threw 2 straight jabs in rapid succession at the guard's belly. As the guard doubled over, Leonid stood up. He put his right foot behind the right leg of the guard, and then shoved. The guard stumbled back and hit the ground. Leonid kicked the guard in the head, twice.

He spun back around to face the first guard. It wasn't over. The security guard who'd put his hand on Leonid was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, holding his face and wailing. Leonid crouched down in front of him and shoved his head into the wall. There was a loud smacking sound, and a spot of blood. The guard slugged off to his side and laid on the floor at an awkward angle, unmoving, and Leonid took his p226 Sig Sauer. Now it was over.

Leonid stood up, brushed off his stolen uniform, arranged his cap a little bit, and then started back marching down the hall.

The timer in his head had dropped by about 15 seconds. So Leonid was still good. He made the right turn that the guards had came from, and found himself standing in front of a set of double doors. He waited a beat, and then two, and then opened the set of doors.

Logan Walker

Logan had miscalculated. It didn't happen often, but it did. And whenever it happened, it happened in the most crucial of situations. Logan needed to fix that. He relied on calculations and shrewd guessing and maneuvering. If he screwed up on any one of those three, it threw his entire game into a mixture of glitches and bugs.

The problem facing Logan now was the fact that the Federation had caught up to him and David, much quicker than he'd expected.

"This way! Hurry up!"

Logan ducked beneath a low tree branch, leaped off of the ground, and slid down a long, steep hill. David was in front of him, guiding the way through the thick of the forest. A trio of bullets sizzled through the air just above Logan's head. Leaves and dirt kicked up behind David, and Logan was catching all of it in his face. The slide wasn't anywhere near as smooth as it is at the playground. Logan felt as if he was getting torn apart.

David hit the base of the hill first and rolled with the momentum, rising back up at full sprint. Logan did the same and caught twigs and broken pieces of wood in his hair. He dodged around the side of a tree and kept pace with David. Stthu-stthu-stthu - rounds were slamming into the ground and trees just behind Logan. This wasn't good. If they didn't duck the Federation soon, it would all be over.

"Up ahead - we'll lose them in the waterfall!" David shouted over his shoulder.

For a brief moment, Logan considered the alternative, which was surrendering. Jumping down a waterfall was certain death. There was no way they'd survive the fall, let alone the massive rush of water. With surrendering, at least they'd have a chance of getting away with their lives.

David emerged into a clearing, and Logan followed suit.

"Go!" David shouted as he hopped off of the cliff and into the falling stream of water. Logan did the same.

Leonid Zhaetsev

On the other side of the door was a room holding 3 Federation prison personnel. Two of them were behind computer desks, pounding away at their keyboards, giving orders through their microphone headsets. The third one was standing over their shoulders, directing them on what to do. The rank on his uniform was that of Colonel.

The brains of the operation.

Leonid aimed his P226 directly at the head of the Colonel. All three of them froze in place, staring wide-eyed and quiet. One of the computer guys glanced up at the Colonel briefly.

Leonid dug into his pocket. He moved neutrally, taking his time. His hand found what he was looking for - the stolen flash drive he'd taken earlier shortly after he'd first gotten out of his cell. He tossed it across the room without letting the P226 waver, and the Colonel caught it.

"Everything you have on those computers - I want it on the flash drive. Now." Leonid said, taking a few steps closer to them. He kept the gun aimed directly at the face of the Colonel.

"I can't do it." The Colonel said, shaking his head. "A breach in authorization will get this entire prison shut down -"

"Well," Leonid said, cutting the Colonel off. "You can't transfer some files... I can't keep you alive." He tensed his arm and adjusted his aim slightly. "Last chance. Don't be stupid."

"You must understand, Command will shut down this entire prison if I do that. We'll never be able to control these prisoners. They'll be running rampant! It'll be a -"

Bang. Leonid pulled the trigger, sending a round straight through the head of the Colonel. A plume of blood ejected from his head as he snapped backwards. Half a second later, the Colonel crashed to the ground in a bloody heap. The other 2 Federation guards jumped back in response.

Leonid pointed his weapon at the guard on the right. "Pick up that flash drive. Get everything there is to get."

Without saying anything, the wide-eyed guard nodded briefly and rushed to get the job done. The only sound in the room was the mashing of buttons on the keyboard. The guard made a quick glance back at the dead Colonel, and then started working even faster on downloading the Federation operational files. Leonid kept his weapon aimed in their general direction. From his experience, soldiers did one of 2 things when their leader died. They either routed, or they got desperate. Neither of these 2 guards could rout, which left only one option - get desperate. They didn't know whether or not Leonid would keep them alive after he got what he wanted. The guard on the left was probably trying to think of a way to get the jump on Leonid.

But Leonid wasn't worried. He rounded the side of the desk on the right so that he could see the computer monitor, and took 2 steps back to put himself further out of their range. There was no way either of them could try to attack him. Well, they could try. But they'd probably be dead before they even got half the distance to Leonid. He wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if either of them made a wrong move.

"Ohkay, it's done." The guard on the computer said.

"Put the flash drive on the floor, and then kick it towards the door." Leonid said.

The guard moved slowly and carefully. He sat the small stick of data on the floor, and then gave it a small kick. It slid across the floor and stopped about 2 feet short of the doorway. That was good enough.

Leonid stepped back around the desk, making sure to keep his weapon carefully aimed at the 2 guards. He knelt down and scooped it up. Then he placed it back into his pocket. And then he paused at the door. "You'd best get out of here while you can. If you still can." Leonid told them. Then he slipped out the doorway.

Hmm. A partial success.