Breakout by Paul Herron (notion reading list .txt) 📕

the future worms its way into my mind. I can maybe live again. Once I’ve gotten rid of Wright and Tully, I can start over. Let Amy rest now that she’s had justice.

It would mean living off the grid. Getting my hands on fake ID, a new Social Security number, that kind of thing. Shouldn’t be too hard. You get to know people when you’re a cop. People who can help with that kind of thing.

’Course, all that depends on me surviving the night.

I bring myself back to the present. Water trickles down the walls, forming small rivulets and streams that add to the rising floodwater. It’s above my calves now. I do a quick calculation and I don’t like the answer.

“The water’s rising fast,” I say.

“Hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s gone up a foot in the past half hour.”

Ramirez doesn’t say anything.

“If it carries on like this, we’ll be under six feet of water in three hours.”

“Lucky I’m six-five.”

“Seriously, man. This place is flooding fast.”

“Look, just shut up, okay? Castillo says we gotta get the guns, so we get the guns.”

“You always do what you’re told?”

Ramirez spins around, his freakishly small teeth bared. “The fuck’s your problem, man? You want me to just cut your throat, tell Castillo you got taken down?”

I raise my hands in the air. “Hey, man. Chill.”

“Don’t fucking tell me to chill!” he shouts. “I don’t like it when people tell me to chill!”

“Jesus. Okay! Fine! Just… lead the way.”

I gesture ahead, hoping he’ll just turn around and carry on walking. He doesn’t. He stares at me for a long-drawn-out moment.

I watch warily. I can almost see the thoughts running through his head, trying to decide if it would be easier to just get rid of me now. Finally, with a muttered “Prick,” he turns and sets off again, kicking through the water like a spoiled kid.

I need to be more careful. Especially if there’s a chance I could get out of here.

Ramirez throws a look over his shoulder. “What the fuck are you waiting for?” he shouts. “You want me to come back there?”

I set off after him. Ramirez shakes his head in disgust, then turns and wades through the water again.

We’ve been walking for another few minutes when Ramirez snarls suddenly and rushes into a side passage. He moves surprisingly fast for such a big guy. It reminds me of the burst of speed a hippo puts on when it attacks.

I follow him, wondering what’s set him off now, and am shocked to see him dragging Henry through the water by his leg. Henry’s the old guy I work with in the maintenance shed, fixing all the broken shit in the prison. He’s coughing and spluttering, water washing over his face, going up his nose, into his mouth.

I rush in and shove Ramirez. It’s like trying to shove a house.

“The fuck are you doing?”

“He was going to attack us.”

“He’s like a hundred years old!”

Ramirez looks down at Henry and reluctantly drops his leg. I help him up. Henry is almost comically pleased to see me. He grabs me by the shoulders, squinting shortsightedly into my face.

“Jack? Is that you?”

“It’s me.”

He pulls me into a hug. “Oh, sweet Jesus. I never thought I’d be happy to see your ugly face.”

“What the hell are you doing out here?”

“Yeah.” Ramirez frowns. “You sure you weren’t attacking us?”

Henry glares at him. “What’s your problem? Does it take a while for the blood to reach your brain? I’m seventy-seven years old.” He glares at me. “Not a hundred.”

“Not really important right now, Henry. What are you doing out here?”

“Trying to stay alive.”

“And you think walking around the corridors of Admin is the best way to do that?”

“I’m looking for a place to hide. Anyway, Admin is probably the safest place in the prison.”

I frown. “Explain.”

“Admin is… no-man’s-land. As soon as you get into the units, it’s fucking insane. The gangs are going at it, Kincaid’s doing his thing, acting like Emperor Nero. Fucking Preacher and his psychopathic followers are running around everywhere cutting people’s heads off. The Kings, the Bloods, the Crips, the Ñetas, they’re all set on proving to each other who’s the strongest.”

Wonderful. Sawyer, Felix, and I have to find our way through all that. “So do you have somewhere in mind? Or are you just going to wander around until you see something that catches your eye? I mean, if you don’t know where you’re going, you can come with us—”

“No he fucking can’t,” growls Ramirez.

Henry ignores him. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t really like the company you’re keeping, Jack. I think the best thing for me is to stay as far away as possible from you and your pet gorilla.”

Ramirez takes a threatening step toward him. Henry yelps and runs back along the corridor. Ramirez watches him go with a look of disgust, then turns and starts walking again.

About five minutes later, we’re approaching the corridor and sally port that leads into Unit 1, the first of the four General Population units.

We pause outside and listen. I can hear screaming. A lot of screaming. And objects hitting against metal, the sound echoing out along the passage.

It sounds like Henry was right. It’s chaos in there.

We move on, heading deeper into Admin. According to Sawyer’s map, the armory’s only a few corridors away now. Our pace picks up. I don’t know about Ramirez, but I want this over and done with as soon as possible. I feel totally exposed walking around like this. Kincaid might have sent his other goons to look for me. In fact, I’m sure he has. It’s just a matter of time until they find me.

As we turn into yet another featureless corridor, Ramirez freezes and throws a hand up for silence. I open my mouth to ask what he’s doing, but his glare causes the words to wither and die on my tongue.

A moment later, I hear it. Approaching footsteps slapping through the water, accompanied by a lot of voices.

The