Jameson tried again to pick the lock on his cell door.
One more time, one more try, he thought.
Such a crude lock should not be this hard to pick. He knew the Jouth guard would begin his patrol again, maybe 15 minutes. Jameson had figured out the guard's schedule. They patrolled constantly during daylight, every half hour after sundown till midnight. After midnight the guard would not come again until 2:00 AM, and then not until 4:00 AM. After four another long stretch till around sunrise it was not an exact schedule. Sometimes the guard would come earlier, sometimes later.
The lock clicked! It was open! Jameson knew he would be free! He turned to wake his cellmate soldier that had been sleeping.
" Nelson, Nelson I did it - wake up, lets get out of here."
Nelson rose from his sleep. Jameson heard the crunch in the sand of four different feet coming in his direction. It was the 4 footsteps of the guard. Why? It was not 2:00. The guard was early. Jameson and Nelson slumped down and pretended to be asleep.
Maybe the guard would not see the lock.
I hope he walks on by, Jameson mussed to himself.
The guard did walk by, but just as he stepped on his 3rd leg, he turned abruptly and pulled hard on the lock with his lower arms. It slipped open. The guard jerked open the wooden door. He stepped inside the cell. The Jouth guard held, with his upper arms, his rifle upright and spoke.
Jameson and Nelson began to rise slowly. They did not understand Jouth, but they knew the Jouth guard's statements were not friendly. The Jouth yelled something and swung the stock of his rifle into Jameson ribs, the rifle still held in his upper arms. Jameson slumped in pain. The Jouth raised his rifle and slammed the stock on Jameson head. Fortunately the stock slid off the side of his head or the force of such a blow would have killed him.
The Jouth raised his rifle for another blow.
Before he could Nelson retrieved a shank he had buried in the dirt. He lunged at the Jouth, driving the shank deep into his chest. The guard grabbed Nelson with his lower arms and threw him against the cell wall. Nelson held onto the shank all the while he was thrown and the self made knife was pulled from the Jouth's chest by his own force of throwing Nelson against the cell wall, blood spurted on Nelson covering his hands and shirt. Nelson had a lot of Jouth blood on him.
It was hard for Jameson to stand. The pain was still with him. But stand he did. Blood was spurting from the Jouth guard, but before he could recover Jameson picked up a table leg he had removed weeks earlier, and hit the jouth hard at the base of his skull. He grabbed the Jouth's rifle as he fell into the colorful dirt floor of the cell. Jameson reached down and checked his pulse. It was rapid. He knew the Jouth's main heart and 2 auxiliary hearts would continue pumping blood on the cell floor until his body was empty.
The soldiers left the cell looking in all directions, keeping close to the buildings in the dark shadows. They proceeded to creep out of the prison camp. A watchful eye was maintained in all directions.
As they came around a corner of the last building four Jouth soldiers confronted them. One was an officer.
So close to freedom, Jameson thought. Another 50 feet and we could escape into the woods free. It was 4 against 2. One gun against four. Should we just give up, resign to prison? No, No.
It is every soldier's duty to escape.
Without another thought he lunged the bayonet of the dead Jouth's rifle into the officer's chest, pushing him into the soldier behind him all the time driving the steel deep into the officer. Jameson had placed it so deep he could not extract it. Thus he discharged the rifle. The recoil of the rifle dislodged it from the officers' chest and drove a bullet into the soldier behind him. Nelson quickly placed his shank into the 3rd solder's neck, severing several blood vessels. Jameson aimed the rifle at the last soldier and fired accurately.
Just before they slipped into the woods to freedom Jameson took an incendiary grenade from one of the dead Joutheans' and lobed it at the cell building from where they had been confined. "And that is for your hospitality you blue 4 legged Jouth."
They then disappeared into the tall Tsongas grass surrounding the camp.