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Now on with the fic!
Ch 15
Everyone was tense. Wufei could feel it in the air and he could help, but let a small amount of nervousness enter into his thoughts. What if they didn't make it out? What if the guards were picking up on the mood as various pockets of men were tensing with excitement and actively trying to calm themselves?
They had to make it out. Forget them. He had to make it out. There was no other option. It was necessary for his survival. Not physically. There was no way he would ever be taken advantage of physically, but mentally he needed this to work. If today failed. If today landed him back in solitary... he couldn't face what he would do then.
He glanced up at the clock. Twenty minutes to go. They wouldn't move till fifteen minutes to go. He had to force himself to wait. To be calm, to focus and reject the crushing pressure of possible failure. He went over details quickly and counted heads. Trent was gone, still in the infirmary. He was supposed to be though, had been since Monday and he was sorry to realize he missed the distraction the twenty year old offered. He squelched that thought as soon as it popped up.
The two men from Eckpo's group and two from Donovan had also been moved to the infirmary for something that could be only termed explosive diarrhea. It was distasteful, but necessary and the pills were doing what they were supposed to. It was quick but steady over the last three days. Now it was Thursday. The guards started thinking that they may have an epidemic on their hands. No one had caught sight of the new guards, but they were probably in low security zones. Three minutes to go.
They all should have stopped taking the pills last night, which meant that their symptoms would have stopped. Two of Marcus's men were supposed to have started an altercation with each other. They were notably absent. They must have needed stiches as Wufei planned, right before lunch.
Fifteen minutes to. He was on.
Wufei glanced over at Ulvric and nodded minutely. Wufei felt eyes on him as Marcus watched. They knew what would happen; everyone that knew what was going to happen knew the plan and the importance. Even Donovan had been watching for the move. Only the inner groups knew the full plan. The rest would pick up on the action as soon as it happened. He got up and gripped his stomach, schooling his stomach in a hopefully convincing wince of discomfort.
He began flexing his stomach muscles as hard as he could internally for the correct ripple. He walked straight up to the guard at the entrance and said, "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Sit down Chang I'll take you after lunch is over." The guard said gruffly. The security were always eager for lunch to be over; they got their breaks immediately after. Wufei flexed and projectile vomited on the wall next to the guard. He was almost ready to clench his stomach again in case he needed to go another round or dry-heave when the guard said, "Shit! Fine. Alicia will take you" and let him pass into the hall.
Wufei walked in what was not his usual confident strong manner as best as he could, willing himself to project weakness as he walked slowly out into the hall with the female guard Alicia next to him. She was competent and not the one he wanted with her, but it would work out fine. As they approached the infirmary hall Wufei heard quite a few voices in the room. It sounded as though the doctor was arguing about a patient's release.
Wufei straightened up as they passed into the door. He immediately spotted Trent and moved towards the open bed next to him. They were all here and one of Eckpo's men, Dravus, was arguing with the doctor about being released into gen pop. He felt fine; there was no reason to keep him longer. Good.
Wufei sat and waited. Alicia stepped out to wait in the hall. Excellent. He waited. The cameras went out. Their normal movement and indicator light had stopped. Wufei reached blindly at Trent who deposited a hand full of tranquilizers in his hand. He tucked them into the waistband of his underwear by his back and nodded towards the others. Trent tapped his fingers twice on the bed frame. Yes. He had distributed the tranquillizers. He had been placed in the ward earlier than the others to steal the tranquilizers at opportune moments, when the cameras were not facing his way or when the doctors were out of the room. It was a job that would have taken patience and large amounts of stealth. He did well.
The doctor turned from Dravus and went to Wufei, "What seems to be the problem?"
"I threw up."
The doctor frowned and muttered. "Another one." She ran a thermometer over his forehead and she looked at it. "Well you seem normal."
Wufei nodded, "I think the food just did not agree with me today. I'm ready to go back." Her eyes narrowed. She was a smart one. This could be problematic.
"All of you seem to want to go back." Shaking her head, she looked over all the men in the ward. "Not one of you had a bacterium I could stick to any of your symptoms." She exhaled loudly as Wufei started contemplating silencing her. It looked like one of Donovan's men wanted to as well with the whitening in his eyes. "Fine. I will call the guard to escort your release. They will just be leading the rest of the inmates back from lunch.
She left the room and Wufei exhaled. There was sense of relief from all of the men in the room.
Five minutes later four guards arrived at the doorway and a technician. The technician was unexpected. The doctor came out and frowned again, "I called for an escort for eight prisoners. This is subpar."
The lead guard glowered at her. He did not like being told how to do his job, "Yes, I know we normally have two guards per escort, but the guys wanted to get to lunch break and I was inclined to let them. We came with semies to counter it and we'll even cuff them, if it makes you feel any better. Now can we escort the prisoners?" Indeed each one of them was more heavily armed then with semi-automatic hand guns. Normally it was only tazers. Unless it was an external escort.
She did not like the patronizing tone, "What's the tech for?"
"The cameras went out, but only in the medical ward. He's here to figure out what's up." He looked bored and ready to go. As did the others, they were not at any sort of attention. In fact they were relaxed in posture and focused on the doctor instead of the prisoners.
But Wufei saw it. There was an edge in her stance. The doctor knew something was up. It was too much coincidence. Patients who were sick with no identified cause, all getting better at the same time. The cameras going out. Gen-pop being placed back into their blocks, to prep for their work shift. The guard being smaller than the normal escorts. And as she looked around at all of the patients in her room she realized this was the crew that Wufei was training with in the yard. She had treated them for cuts and other minor injuries for quite some time now.
Wufei had a brief minute of panic when her eyes landed on him, calculating. And she looked back at the guard who had just insulted her intelligence. "They're all yours." She said with a half smirk.
As they filed out of the room two by two with a guard between each, Wufei heard the distinctive click of a lock on the medical ward. That room was supposed to stay unlocked throughout the day. Wufei looked back and saw through the window, the women was holding a gun and checked the drawers. She must have noticed the tranquillizers were gone as she shook her head. Wufei couldn't fault her for the gun or the lock. If there were going to be criminals on the loose she may find herself in a compromised position.
They split off to their cell blocks with the escorts.
This was it. Each group had their objectives and designated meet up. He knew which inmates knew the plan and which would riot until they found out there was an escape going on. He had distributed the EMPs as he was supposed to.
He and Trent were approaching their cell block door. Wufei quelled his nerves, striving for absolute calm. He stood close to the door with his cuffed hands in front of him Trent standing just behind him also waiting. The guard, it was Alicia again, nodded to the person in the control bay who opened the first door to the cell block. Wufei could see Ulvric just on the other side ten feet off waiting, but tense.
She turned to remove Wufei's hand cuffs. She turned to unlock Trent as he rubbed his wrists and stretched his back hands sinking closer to his waistband...
The alarms blared echoing in the hall. He grabbed a tranquillizer and slammed it into her arm before she could react. She dropped like a brick within seconds. Wufei immediately sank and grabbed her gun; Trent went for her tazer, badge, and keys.
He turned to the red locked signal on the controller room's door, placed the EMP on it and pressed. The lock light shut off. Deactivated. He wrenched the door open and faced the man inside gun pointing at him. "Release the inner door or die."
The man nodded and Wufei hauled the unconscious guard in as the man pressed the button.
It was like a slow surge. Ulvric and a few others who knew immediately ran out of the double doors that were wide open. There were general shouts of exclamation as the entire block now knew what the alarm was for and began surging out as fast as they could.
Wufei, Trent and Ulvric were already far ahead and keeping low. Swat had yet to show up and if they did this right, they wouldn't be there when they did. At the first meet up join on the way Marcus's men and Marcus were there and Eckpo with his guys. They had to wait. "Where's Donovan's crew?"
"They haven't showed yet." Marcus said. "We need to leave now."
"We have to wait."
"There's no time!"
Wufei growled at the Marcus and the group of fifteen or so men behind him. "We have to wait!" He turned to those he trained. "Split up ahead. Take the east corridor and the north on the way. Hold it." They nodded each checking what weapons they could.
Another minute ticked by. And gun shots fired in the corridor behind them Wufei turned, Donovan's crew was moving rapidly towards them with wire clippers. "Now."
He turned and bolted. That's what they need. Donovan's crew had access to the tools in the machine shop. He ran ahead to his two waiting teams. They had been exchanging fire with security, by the bullet holes littering the wall. It looked like one guard that had been surprised was unconscious via tranq. "Move on!" He shouted. They were so close to the visitor's room he could taste it.
That was their weakest point in security. There was no other way out.
Turning the corridor Wufei took out the last EMP he had and placed it on the red lit lock. He turned to Ulvric. "You ready." He nodded, getting low. Wufei pressed, the lock shorted he Ulvric kicked in the door and took the guard closest to him hand to hand. Wufei saw another inmate go down with a tazer. He bolted in and got real close to the guard that had used the tazer and backhanded him across the face. Wufei pointed to the chain-link fence that he remembered from eight and a half- no nine months prior, "Start now!" Donovan's crew moved through.
Wufei turned back to the guard that was now moving at his feet and he kicked him in the stomach. He grabbed hand cuffs off him and wrenched the man's hands behind his back and looked into his face.
He inhaled sharply and froze in place.
It was a new recruit for sure, but it was the brilliant green eyes and face of Trowa Barton that looked up at him. Trowa Barton was in the jail as a new guard recruit and starring up at Wufei in shock.
Wufei punched him in the face. Then did it again. Trowa was unconscious in cuffs at his feet. As a new recruit.
"What are we gonna do with him? I saw some inmates really ripping into one of the guards in a hallway back there." Donovan whispered in his ear behind him.
"You die now." Wufei turned, gun in hand.
Wufei heard the ratchets of several guns pointing at him. "If you kill him we kill you." It looked like his men were loyal till the end. Even when they were four wire cuts from freedom.
Wufei dropped his gun to his side. Giving in, "Hurry up!"
They went back to work quickly. Donovan moved towards them and Marcus came over, "That is who I think it is, isn't it?" Wufei glared, but nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"I won't leave him here. Not with these animals running loose." Marcus looked like he was going to protest. "I'll drop him as soon as I can." Wufei saw the other inmates, the less focused ones beating on the other guard.
A final click and the gate was open. They rushed through and Wufei hauled Trowa up over his shoulder and stepped out of the chain link. Donovan and his men had rushed through first and were fast on their way to freedom. Wufei yelled over his shoulder at Marcus, "Which way for evac?"
"North. Helios will find us."
Wufei saw the double doors at the exit and a body flash out of them. He heard guns firing again. Must be the guards on the walls.
He peaked out the door and saw three men on the ground one gripping his shoulder. Donovan and his crew were running as fast as they could out of the open parking lot into the light cover of cornfields beyond. Wufei hauled Trowa's body upright in front of him. If the shooters were using snipers they would see the guard's uniform.
He pressed forward out the door and heard a gunshot, but it missed. "Hold your fire! Echoed from the roof above him." It was a small enough break He turned and shot. Head. The man fell. He spotted two more and shot twice, either stumbling or falling dead out of sight. He hauled Trowa's body over his shoulder again and ran.
Not thinking, not feeling. Just ran. He knew Marcus was behind him and he heard the noise of helicopters before he saw them. Three dropped from above and Marcus's men jumped into them. Wufei and Ulvric made it in along with Marcus. They lifted up and Wufei looked back. The swat vans were pulling up. There were hundreds of trails through the corn field as inmates scattered as fast as they could. Wufei could see tail lights of Donovan's vehicles and Eckpo heading in the other direction. He would kill Donovan one day. He swore it.
Wufei looked at the limp body of Trowa next to him on the floor and turned to look at Marcus. "Find me a lake."
They moved rapidly away each helicopter in different directions to attract less attention. And Wufei started breathing in and deep. He felt pressure lift from his spine and allowed the buzz of adrenaline run over him.
He was free. He exalted in it, smiling broadly without hesitance. He looked around. All of them were. Trent was grinning ear to ear. Marcus nodded to him. "Good work."
Nine months locked up, caged like a criminal, like a menace to society. He laughed at the thought. They couldn't contain him. He didn't know what he was going to do. But he was free and cared for no one.
But Trowa had infiltrated.
He crushed the erroneous thought. No they had abandoned him long ago. The pilots had left him to rot. No hope, no thought. Marcus motioned to that they were nearing the lake that Wufei requested. He turned and looked down at the teen lying on the floor. Trent was watching him closely. Wufei slapped Trowa across the face on the other side where his cheek wasn't forming a bruise.
Green eyes started fluttering as he came back to consciousness. Wufei grabbed him by the front of his uniform and hauled him towards the side of the aircraft sliding open the hatch door. He looked out. They were fifty feet up and hovering over a blue lake. Wufei looked at the land around him a site he did not know he would see again. He hauled Trowa out over the edge holding him by his shirt. His green eyes went wide as he realized what was happening and tried to move his hands futilely. They were still cuffed.
Wufei glared down at him, and Trowa protested, "Wufei!" It was a plea. For mercy, for logic, for sanity, for aid.
Wufei shook his head once. Short and crisply. He pulled Trowa closer, till their faces were two inches apart, "You left me to decay, with only my abilities to free me. I give you the same."
And he let go, watching Trowa fall into the blue water below.
He turned not bothering to see if the boy surfaced. "Let's go."
TBC...
Well there you have it! Wufei is free! And Trowa is drowning? WHAT?
Hmmm. I must consult my plot bunnies. Which means I need to feed them reviews. Please!
No one likes an angry plot bunny.
Thanks!
Silverserpent