OK I know I promised this chapter by the end of May, but I'm only 1 day late! Enjoy :)
Hiccup shielded his eyes from the sun, the assault of its rays causing him to squint. He paced the yard leisurely, attempting to pass the time until he was required to return to the concrete cube he presently inhabited. He could have just stayed in his cell, however he figured at least he would get some fresh air and vitamin D.
As he walked, he noticed others working out on the rusted and aged equipment, and others sitting around in small groups. He tried not to look at any one group for too long, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He didn't bother trying to make any friends, knowing that most likely he would be out of here sooner rather than later. He trusted Toothless already had a plan cooking.
Unfortunately, the invisibility he had partially despised a few years back did not entirely return, and as he was walking he was abruptly stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder. When Hiccup turned around, he was greeted by a six foot something, bald muscle head with far too many tattoos that looked rather angry.
"You the guy who changed the channel yesterday night in the TV room?" The other inmate demanded, breathing heavily. Hiccup had to think for a moment, but then he realized what he was talking about.
"Yeah, I changed it to Elementary." Hiccup didn't know why he told the truth but it was too late now.
"Oh thank goodness! Nick always puts on Sherlock but Elementary is so much better!" Hiccup was a little confused by this statement, seeing as how whoever this was had seemed mad at the beginning, but now their voice had evened out and they even seemed, dare he say it, happy. Not wanting to ruin the mood, Hiccup kept the conversation going, discussing the better parts of each show, and the conversation continued for a solid ten minutes.
The conversation ended when a guard walked up to Hiccup and told him it was time to return to his cell. Technically Hiccup had another twenty minutes, but he didn't want to cause any unnecessary problems. He wanted to fly as far under the radar as possible, so he bid the other prisoner (Andrew, as it turned out) farewell and followed the guard back to cell block C.
The guard was silent the whole way, as the guards normally were, but with most of the inmates out in the yard, the interior of the prison was oddly silent for that time of the day. Hiccup focused to the rhythmic clicking of shoes on concrete as they walked, arriving at the cell after a few short minutes. As Hiccup entered, the guard slipped him a plain white envelope. Hiccup was a little confused at first, but then he realized that this must be the plan from Toothless. He nodded at the guard as he released the letter, sealed the door, and turned to leave.
Hiccup opened the letter and read it in record speed when the guard was out of sight. It was in a code that he and Toothless had created in case they needed to communicate secretly via the written word, and while they had never had to use it before it came in quite handy considering the current predicament.
To the unknowing eye, it looked like a letter telling Hiccup about Toothless' visit to his mother. To Hiccup, however, it was an explanation of the escape plan. It would start at exactly midnight that night, and Hiccup was supposed to do nothing until someone came for him. He should expect alarms and gunshots, but that was all the letter said. Hiccup wasn't a fan of the conspicuous approach but he didn't have much of a say given his present situation.
Hiccup set down the letter on the ground and returned to his bed. As he lay there, the first thing that went through his mind was that when this plan worked, he wouldn't have to spend another night on this horrible bed. He had been driven crazy by sleepless nights for only three days; he could still only imagine how people got any rest sleeping on these things for years on end. For now, however, there was no better option. So, Hiccup waited.
Without a clock readily available, Hiccup could only estimate that he had started his pacing at around 11pm. As time moved on, he swore that his pacing started to pick up speed, but he couldn't tell. In such a small space though he eventually got dizzy and had to lie down, turning his attention to the cracks in the concrete ceiling. If there was one time when he couldn't afford any distractions, it was now.
Hiccup very rarely got nervous anymore. Being nervous was a luxury he quickly learned he could no longer afford several years ago. It had almost cost Toothless his life in the form of a pause before a gunshot that would have saved Toothless some serious pain and hospital time.
A few more minutes of sitting, deep breathing, and focusing himself, and Hiccup was semi-startled by a sudden, sharp wailing sound. While Hiccup could hear the other prisoners grumbling in confusion as they were startled from their slumber, he knew exactly what was going on: it was midnight, and the plan had started.
Not many details had been included in the letter just in case of the off chance that someone would be able to crack their code. So, Hiccup's senses went into overdrive. He noticed that the alarms in cell block D were going off, but nowhere else. Naturally, as that was the cell block housing the worst criminals, an entire mob of guards came running. Hiccup couldn't count exactly how many but it was an impressive number considering the hour.
As the guards reached the other end of C block, where the gates to D block were, they paused and waited for them to open. They did so almost instantly, and right after the guards rushed through, they closed and sealed with a buzz. Hiccup could hear the yelling of prisoners in D block but he was focusing the other direction.
A few minutes later, Hiccup grabbed the bars of his cell in excitement as three individuals casually walked in to C block from the direction of B block. They were dressed in guard uniforms and had guard hats on, but Hiccup would recognize them anywhere. It was Stormfly, Toothless, and Hookfang.
They walked slowly and with their heads down as to attract as little attention as possible, but when they stopped in front of the cell Toothless flashed Hiccup a smile before inserting a key into the lock. With a subtle click the tumblers fell into place and the door creaked open ever so slightly. Stormfly grabbed it and opened it the rest of the way, but before she even had it halfway open Hiccup had run out and jumped onto Toothless. It may have only been three days but he missed being able to touch Toothless more than words could even explain. He planted a firm kiss on Toothless' lips, both of them becoming lost in the moment.
After a moment, Hoofing coughed to bring their attention back to the present situation.
"Could we save the reunion until after we get out of here? I don't know about you, but I'd rather not extend my stay here," Hookfang said quickly with an unimpressed look and a head gesture towards the exit. And as much as she hated to admit he was right or to interrupt the happy couple, Stormfly couldn't help but nod in agreement. She of all people believed that there was a time and a place for everything, and this was not the place for a full reunion. Now if only she could explain to Camicazi that it was not always the right time to swipe a watch off of someone's wrist.
As they started to walk back towards B block, other prisoners started to take notice. The first was Andrew, asking what was going on, but Hiccup ignored him. It wasn't that he really wanted to, it's just that they couldn't afford any extra weight and Andrew might have a false sense of hope that maybe he could be busted out too if Hiccup paused to explain. Some were quiet, whispering requests to be let out too or asking what was going on (one actually asked Toothless for an autograph, a request Toothless pretended not to hear), but a few others were not so quiet. Then all hell broke loose when it seemed like everyone decided to scream at once. As the volume increased, so did their pace towards B block and eventually, freedom. As they reached the gate to B block though, they were greeted with another problem: the guards had realized there was nothing wrong in D block and were starting to make their way back when they spotted them.
The group was alerted when a gunshot whizzed so close to Toothless' hair it made it sway. When they turned around to see where it came from, and angry mob of guards was closing in on them.
Breaking into a sprint, Hookfang took a radio out of his pocket and said, "Barf, Belch, open the gate between B and C immediately and close it in exactly 10 seconds." There was some crackling over the radio, followed by a confirmation from Barf and some muffled groans from Belch.
Sure enough, the gate slowly started to open as they approached. To buy some time, Toothless spun around and fired off 4 shots into the army of guards, who quickly dispersed and dove for cover. Hiccup gave Toothless a look, but before he said anything Toothless assured him they were rubber bullets and they were just unconscious.
They squeaked through the gate as it started to close, locking them in B block and the guards in C block. The commotion from C block seemed to have moved to B block, but the group ignored it as they ran all the way through to A block and the guard's office.
"What the hell was that?" Hoofing demanded when they met Barf and Belch in the command centre. Hiccup noticed the two guards tied up in the corner for just a moment before he returned his attention to the conversation. "Why did you let them out of D block?"
"Sorry, we knocked the button," Belch explained, and he and his brother started to laugh. Stormfly just rolled her eyes. She, like the rest of them, was pissed, but they would deal with that later.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Toothless said, opening the door for them to leave. They all walked out silently, and Hiccup had to remind himself a few times that the guards on the floor were only unconscious. They walked through the mess hall and visiting rooms without having to fight a single person, and Hiccup had no problem with that. Clearly they had planned this escape extremely well. Or so Hiccup had thought.
In the lobby, some of the guards had already started to come to, and there were a lot of them considering this was where the original point of entry for Toothless had been. Naturally attention would have been drawn to the area. The six quickly ducked behind walls and tables to take cover as the guards that had fully recovered started firing at them once more.
Hiccup became concerned for a moment, fearing that the guards behind them would catch up and they would be surrounded. That thought quickly vanished when Hiccup had a gun thrust into his hands and the sound of gunfire from their side rang out.
"Toothless," Hiccup started, "These are still rubber bullets, right?"
"Don't worry Hiccup, no one is dying here today," Toothless reassured. At least it brought a little comfort to Hiccup. He may have had no problem handling a gun, but that didn't mean he didn't have reservations about using it against cops and innocent people.
Fortunately by the time Hiccup joined in the shooting there were only about two guards left. He quickly picked them each off with two shots to the gut each, and then continued to advance.
"Hopefully that's the last of that," Stormfly huffed as she stood up and made for the exit along with the others.
"Great shot Hiccup," Toothless complemented with a smile. "I see sitting behind bars hasn't affected your aim."
Hiccup, always ready with a reply, quickly responded saying, "Nope, but it seems to have affected yours. Some of those shots were awful."
"Why you little," Toothless starting, grabbing Hiccup playfully, but he stopped when Hookfang cleared his throat and walked past them. They really needed to hold off until they were at a safe distance.
From the lobby they reached the parking lot without issue, where they found Meatlug waiting and watching in a van without windows in the back. They climbed in quickly, but not before Meatlug could flash Hiccup a quick wink. Hookfang climbed into the front with Meatlug and everyone else jumped in the back. They heard a faint, "hold on!", before the van jolted and took off. Meatlug may be a sweet woman but she was a vicious driver. Hiccup wondered if they would get pulled over just because of her driving.
They had been driving for maybe thirty seconds before Hiccup could hear the faint wail of a siren behind them, and Hiccup started to panic. What if they got caught? Everyone would get thrown in prison and it would be entirely his fault. The guilt that would bear on him would be even worse than when it was just him in prison. His nerves were calmed only marginally when Meatlug called back that there were no cars following them, it was just the prison sounding the alarm but they were already out of range. Hiccup wasn't in the mood to calm down however, and his brain immediately jumped to the next potential issue.
"Toothless, where are we going?" Hiccup asked first, not wanting to assume that Toothless didn't have another plan already going that he didn't know about.
"Back to the condo. Why?" Toothless replied casually, cocking an eyebrow at the seemingly obvious answer.
"But won't that be the first place they'll look for me? I mean it seems like the most obvious place to go."
Toothless smiled and turned his attention back towards the front of the cabin as he pondered his response for just a moment. Looking back to Hiccup, he said, "Don't worry, it's all taken care of."
Hiccup may not have liked that answer or being kept in the dark, but if there was one thing he had learned over the past several years, it is that you ALWAYS trust Toothless when he has a plan.
OK I'm sorry that after that wait and that last chapter this was all I had for you...probably should have watched Prison Break or something before writing this or something, but sadly I don't have that kind of time (or attention span XD). I am going to try and make the next chapter better, especially since it will be the last chapter before the Epilogue! And oh, look, look what I'm about to do:
Next chapter: On or before June 20
That's right, I'm guaranteeing a date again! Whoop! And it's not even that far from now (all things considered). Even if I have to give up sleep I will get the chapter out by that date! I feel like it has been FOREVER since I set a date for a chapter...feels good to do that again.
See you soon my lovelies!
Throw the police off of the gang's scent by leaving a review to distract them!