“Right.” He thought a moment, then said, “I’m not sure there’s a guard out there.”
“I’ll call—”
“But if there is, and he pokes his head in the door, you and I are going to ram this log in his face.”
She didn’t reply, then said, “What if there are two guards?”
“There won’t be.”
“Scott… we’re actually chained to this log.”
“He’ll have the keys.”
“Please. Let it rest. Think about what to say to Kyle Mercer.” She added, “We could be seeing him in ten minutes.”
“Right.” He stood, then crouched and looked at the chains, which were long enough for them to get the log up to waist level and still have freedom of movement with their legs. “Stand up.”
She hesitated, then stood.
“Okay, crouch, and on three, lift.”
“Scott—”
“We need to see if we can do this before we get too weak from hunger.” He asked, “Do you remember what you were taught about escaping early?”
“I do, and I also remember that you forget everything you’ve learned except what suits you.”
“Right. Okay. Ready?”
She took a deep breath and crouched, and they both dug their hands into the palm fronds and under the log.
“One, two, lift—”
They lifted, and the log rose from the floor; they were able to get it up to hip level. It was heavy, but not as heavy as Brodie had anticipated. “Okay?”
She nodded.
“I’ll swing it around. You just hold.” He took small steps, swinging the log so it was pointed at the door. “Let’s step forward. Ready?”
“Okay…”
“Step.” He took a step toward the door, which was less than four feet away. “Okay, if I charged that door—or someone standing in the door—could you keep your end up and follow?”
“I think… it’s getting heavy.”
“Okay. Good practice run.”
Brodie moved his end of the log back to where it had been, and Taylor held on as he positioned it. “On three, we drop it. One, two, three—”
They let go of the log and it dropped to the ground, making a dull thud, and the chains rattled.
“Sit.”
They both sat with their backs against the wall and their shackled feet up on the log.
They waited to see if a guard had heard the noise and came in. But there was no sound outside the door.
Brodie drew a deep breath. “Okay… that is a weapon in our arsenal.”
