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

Sawyer or Felix. I check the door into Unit 3. There are three members of the Bloods smashing something into the glass, trying to force their way out. The door is still locked. Which means Felix and Sawyer can only be in one place.

I move along the sally port leading into Unit 4. I can hear talking as I approach. Low voices. I press myself up against the wall and peer through the door.

Sawyer and Felix are seated opposite each other at one of the tables. Kincaid watches them with an eager look on his face. Cassidy and Veitch stand to one side. They’re both holding guns.

And then Sawyer lifts a gun to her head and pulls the trigger.

My heart almost stops, but the gun doesn’t go off. There’s no bullet in the chamber.

She drops the gun onto the table. Kincaid turns to Felix, and Felix reluctantly picks it up.

There’s no time for thinking things through. I sprint back to Unit 3, give the guys smashing the glass the finger, then use the key to unlock the door.

I run as the door slams open behind me. I hear excited shouting as the Bloods realize they’re free and spill out into the prison.

I burst into Kincaid’s unit. He turns, a surprised look on his face. Felix still has the gun against his head. He sees me coming. His eyes widen in surprise and he lurches to his feet.

“Move!” I shout.

I keep running. Felix turns the gun on Kincaid and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. He tries again, but Kincaid is already moving, rushing toward Veitch and Cassidy. Felix keeps firing. The gun eventually goes off, but the bullet misses Kincaid and slams into the wall.

Felix throws the gun away and sprints after me. Sawyer is already moving. I hit the door and shove it open, glancing over my shoulder to see the Bloods streaming into the unit. Veitch and Cassidy start shooting.

Felix makes it through the door. Sawyer is still about ten feet away, some of the Bloods close on her heels. She rushes past me. I follow, trying to push the door closed behind me. Too late. The Bloods are already here. They slam into the door, sending me stumbling back into the corridor. Felix hits the closest guy in the face and shoves him into the others, then grabs me and pushes me ahead of him.

“Go!”

We sprint into the sally port and then straight through the door into the Transitional Care Unit.

It’s not like the others. The door doesn’t lead straight into the rec room, but rather into a corridor that splits left and right. We head right, the sounds of chaos and shouting close behind.

The health and security units are much bigger than the previous blocks we traveled through. They’re entirely self-contained, like mini versions of the admin building. They have office wings, their own infirmaries, cafeterias, changing rooms, the works.

Hopefully that’s enough to lose ourselves in. We turn left into the next passage, then take another random turn and just keep going until the sounds of pursuit finally die away.

We slow down, listening intently.

“I think we lost them,” says Felix.

We keep walking, trying to find our bearings. The unit is dimly lit. The lights pulse and fade, the generator struggling to do its job. I’m not sure of the exact layout in here, but I know we have to head north to the door that leads out of TCU and into the Mental Health Unit.

I glance at Sawyer as we move. She looks like she’s taking strain.

“Are you okay?” I eventually ask.

She shakes her head, but doesn’t say anything. Her face is tight, cold. Her eyes glisten. She’s trying to stay in control. Trying to keep it together. She needs a breather. A couple of minutes to take stock. I think we all do.

I check the closest door, but it leads into a storeroom. The next one is the bathroom, then a few offices.

“The hell are you looking for?” asks Felix.

I don’t answer. A couple of doors later, I find what I’m after. A staff break room.

“In here.”

I usher the others in and take a quick look around the room. I sigh with a small amount of happiness when I see a coffee pod machine.

“Constantine? What are we doing?” asks Felix.

“Taking a break.”

I cross the room and put a pod in the machine, then grab a mug and place it beneath the nozzle. Sawyer slumps into one of the chairs around the small table.

Felix looks at me like I’ve just stripped naked. “Seriously? We’re running for our lives and you want to stop for a break?”

“Don’t you feel like a cup of coffee?” I hold up one of the pods. “Real coffee?”

He hesitates. He’s been in here a lot longer than I have. I know he’s craving something better than the shit we get from the commissary.

“I don’t know, man. We should keep moving.”

I nod subtly at Sawyer. He glances over at her and his face clears. He mouths, Oh… and winks at me. Good old Felix. As discreet as a brick to the face.

“I know what you’re doing,” says Sawyer without looking up. “And I’d like you to stop it. I’m not a child.”

I hear the coffee trickling into the cup behind me. “No idea what you’re talking about. Milk?” I turn around and grab a milk pod.

Sawyer doesn’t answer for a moment. “And two sugars. Actually, make it three.”

“Coming up.” I swap the full mug for an empty and insert a new capsule, then pour in the milk and sugar. I pass the mug to Sawyer and wait for the next one to fill. Felix stands at the door. No one speaks.

I put two more mugs down on the table and sit opposite Sawyer. Felix joins us and we all stare contemplatively into our mugs.

“Well…” says Felix. “Isn’t this nice?”

I nod. “We should do it more often. We never get a chance to just sit down at the end of the day and check in