Chapter 14
As I step outside onto the dirty field where our recess is held, I scour the many faces for Mara and her red hair. The sky is mostly clear-- not blue; more of an ugly grayish hue, but not as sickening as when it was a horrid yellow color right after they had gassed the plains. I ponder about when, or even if, the sky will ever be blue again, but that’s not important right now-- I need to find Mara.
My feet tingle as I walk, weaving through all of my inmates. Perhaps it is an aftereffect of my episode last night, but yet again I find myself becoming unfocused.
Finally I spot a chunk of red hair maybe ten feet in front of me. I pause for a moment, thinking up how I’ll break it to her about my plan and the whole mess I’ve gotten us into, and then I continue forward.
Her back is turned to me and I tap her shoulder to get her attention. She turns around and I can tell she’s been through hell. Her eyes are red from crying and it looks like dark purple bruises are forming up and down her face. It looks like she’s been slapped quite a few times. A blood-stained bandage is wrapped around her left arm and that really makes me wonder how they’ve been trying to get information out of her.
She looks sad, yet strangely understanding as she speaks.
“Aidan, you’ve got to help me. I’m sorry I’ve gotten you into this mess, but we need to get out of it. I found out where Devlin is. He’s in the cell block opposite ours. I think we can make a plan and get out of this place.”
She begins to ramble and she looks as though she’s going to cry. I don’t enjoy seeing people fall apart, so I interject.
“Mara, take a deep breath. You’re not the only one in trouble.”
“What do you mean?” She looks concerned.
“I told them that Taylor hasn’t been told anything. I’m sorry if it was a stupid thing to say, but I couldn’t just sit back and watch you guys be taken to the gallows. They think I know what it is they want to know, but I wouldn’t tell them anything.”
She looks down and smiles to herself. Her eyes are sad, but I can tell she’s glad I stood up for them.
“Thank you. And no, I don’t think it was foolish. Well I do think it was foolish, but it was very brave of you. It was brave of you to just throw yourself in the way of a bullet that was meant for someone you hardly know. I’m glad I know you,” she flashes me a bright smile and hugs me tight.
As we pull away I bring out the folded piece of paper from my pocket and hand it to her.
“I’ve been scheming up how we can get out of this mess, but I didn’t really factor in getting Devlin out too-- we can figure that out later I suppose.”
She unravels the paper and looks down at the words that I had written on it the night before. She smiles a brilliantly evil smile and folds the paper back up again.
“I think we’ll be able to go through the doors that lead to the cell block that Devlin is in to get out of our cell block. I think it may be that easy,” she says.
“Do you think we could inform him of the plan?” I ask.
“Yes, I have a friend who’ll do that for us. We’ll also have to take him too when we’re breaking out.”
I don’t ask who he is, but I’m guessing he’ll be around where Devlin is. We wouldn’t want to have to make a detour in the chaos we’ll be creating shortly.
“We should begin preparations as soon as possible. And I have an idea what our distraction can be,” she says as she hands the plan back over to me.
“What?”
“A great fire.”
So, apparently Mara has friends in a lot of strange places. She knows the men who keep the furnace and boilers in check, and she also knows that they aren’t big fans of their current employers. Which means that on the night we decide to break out, these friends of hers will rig an explosion to take out the furnace-- and all of the government offices above it.
Chaos will ensue, guards will not know how to react to such disorder, and we will get out. Hopefully.
The whole plan will take place while we’re having our dinner, so we’ll be already half-free. All we’ve got to do is make our way through that massive iron door, find Taylor, get back out of the massive iron door, get to Devlin, and then get out. Easy enough? Let’s hope so.
As Mara and I discuss our plans, I spot the rat guard. He’s one person I wouldn’t mind dying in the furnace fire. I can just imagine him curling up in a withering ball of evil and dying. I can’t imagine anyone missing him. How could you possibly love a monster like that?
But suddenly, an idea hits me like a bulldozer and I smile to myself. Mara can’t help but notice I had stopped listening to her.
“What are you smiling about? I wasn’t done telling you my idea!”
“I think I’ve got quite a plan. You may have friends in high places, but I’ve got a secret weapon,” I say. I can’t help but smile an even more evil grin.
“Are you going to let me in on this, or are you going to surprise me? I don’t think I would mind either way. By the looks of that grin of yours, it may be the greatest idea of all time,” she says. She flashes a bright smile back at me.
We sit there giggling like two school girls who played a silly prank until I notice the rat guard walking towards us with a scowl on his face. I abruptly stop laughing and look down. Mara stops laughing as well, she can tell something is coming our way.
As he shuffles his way over to our table, I notice he’s clutching his left arm in pain-- a weakened target. I smile to myself. Once he gets to our table, he notices the grin on my face and he’s obviously not thrilled to see me happy. He smacks the table with his right hand and suddenly everyone stops and looks over at him.
The shock that ran through his right hand obviously caused some discomfort in his left. He cringes and hugs his left arm to his chest.
“There’s nothing to see here, everyone back to your business,” he says through gritted teeth. He looks down at us, obviously noticing the connection between the two of us and Taylor. The smile that spreads across his face makes me feel nervous- it’s a look that a child would wear if they were about to run off and be a tattle-tale.
“Well girls, I suppose it wouldn’t be right for me to tell you this now, but I will anyways.” He takes a seat in between us and rubs his left arm with his right hand.
“Guerra’s going to kill the both of you, whether you’re useful or not. He’s not the kind of man who would risk keeping a bunch of misfits alive just because he said he would,” he smiles and looks over to Mara.
“But if you really want to live you could just come with me; I’d let you out. But you’d have to do a couple things for me,” he says evilly. You can tell those things he’s talking about weren’t things any woman would want to do with a man like him.
Mara’s face turns into a picture of pure disgust. She cranks her head around and won’t even look at him.
As she speaks, she doesn’t look anywhere near him.
“Sorry, but I think I’d rather die,” she says, putting extra emphasis on the word “die”.
I look over at him and see him sigh in disappointment. Could he actually believe someone would fall for that?
“Fine then, I’ll be sure to tell Guerra to make your death as miserable as possible,” he spits. He gets up and shuffles away, still clutching his left arm.
Mara turns back to me and smirks a little.
“Even if we didn’t have this plan of ours, I think I still would’ve chosen death,” she says with a distracted smile.
I look around and scan the many faces around me. I turn back and see Mara studying my face. She looks like she has something she wants to say, but I beat her to the punch.
“I think we should carry out the plan tomorrow. I think Mr. Rat Guard wants us dead ASAP, and I honestly think he’ll try to go speak with Guerra as soon as possible,” I say.
“Then tomorrow is the day we get out,” she says.
The sky behind Mara has changed to a beautiful blend of red
and yellow. The change must’ve occurred within the twenty minutes we’ve been sitting here, and I wonder how it has occurred. I know the yellow is most likely an effect from the gas, but nonetheless I can’t stop myself from looking at it in awe. She smiles and we both get up as the dinner bell rings our meal to an end. After we return our trays and walk back towards our cell, Mara pulls me aside.
“I’ll contact my men tonight, and tomorrow they’ll rig the furnaces to blow during our dinner hour,” she says as she picks at her teeth in an attempt to rid her mouth of the bony meat we had for dinner. “And then we’ll get out.”
“You promise?” I ask.
“I promise,” she says as she wraps her arm around my waist as we walk back into our cell block. If anyone had seen us right then and there, they would’ve expected us to be talking about a boy we like or maybe about a girl’s night out on the town. Nope, we’re talking about blowing up a prison.
As I reach my cell, I walk in and look out as Mara makes her last farewell wave. Perhaps by tomorrow night we won’t be barred from each other. Maybe I have a chance to make another best friend. Maybe I even have a chance at a nearly normal life, considering all of the circumstances.
I sit down on my bed and feel something in the palm of my hand that I hadn’t noticed before. Mara must’ve slipped into my hand as we parted ways. The dry yellowed paper looks like it’s been through hell. It nearly breaks in two as I open it up.
It reads:
“My dear Mara,
We all struggle, we all love. We all learn. We all fail. We are not perfect, not even close. You are strong, and I have complete faith in you.
You are a beautiful girl, & one day you will be a beautiful young woman. Your grandfather and I will always love you and we will always have faith in you. Please always remember one thing: That you cannot give up and we will always watch over you from heaven. They cannot break you, and they cannot weaken you. Only you can allow yourself to become broken.
Love always,
Gran
A determined silence fills the room. A sense of strength burns through me like a blow torch, and a lonely tear falls on this incredibly powerful little piece of paper. I can’t just do this for me. I have to do it for everyone. Everyone I’ve ever known, everyone I will know, and everyone I’ll never have the chance to know. Every human being has a story, and I am finally beginning to write an awakening part of mine. I fold the little piece of paper, being careful not to break it in the process, and tuck it into my pocket.
Mara must really care to have given me this. She really must trust me. If I had a letter from my family, I would cherish it and never give it away. I thank her silently for letting me getting a glimpse into her old world.
I lie down on my uncomfortable little bed and wonder if it’s even possible for sleep to come tonight.
Now I truly feel like this plan of ours is going to work. No turning back now.