I had to squeeze my chair against the wall to get past the body of the guard. My wheels rolled through the blood puddle, leaving a path behind me. Shit, I was so fucked if anyone came down this way. I placed the compass in my lap and kept glancing down at it to guide my movements through the tight hallways. The needle tilted slowly, giving small motions this way and that.
I got to the end of the corridor, and stopped before I turned the corner. Fear crawled up my flesh when I heard a conversation between two guards standing watch in the middle of the hallway.
“The Warden’s been moving everyone out all day. The last of us leave tonight. We need to be ready when we’re given the order to move out.”
“Did he inform Captain where we’re headed?”
“He hasn’t told anyone. The Warden’s not giving any details until the Institute’s been cleared.”
A knot formed in my throat. What the hell were they talking about?
“Almost feel sorry for all these poor bastards.”
“They had their chance to join The Mission. Anyone left behind is a lost cause, at this rate, and in my opinion these kids deserve to die.”
I glanced down at the compass again. I wanted to go a different way, but the compass needle stubbornly pointed in their direction.
I felt a bead of sweat form at my hairline. I couldn’t take on two guards at once. But I had to pass them, and there was nowhere for me to hide if they came down this way, which, eventually, they would. They’d see me in mere moments, which meant I needed to come up with a plan to take them down.
Ancestors, I hoped this worked. Silently, I got down from my chair and hid around the corner. I grabbed the sides of my chair, then pushed it as hard as I could around the opposite corner and down the hallway, away from the guards.
“What was that?” I heard footsteps as both guards turned around. They began walking in the direction of my wheelchair to investigate the sound. My body tensed as they grew closer, and I knew I’d only get one shot at this.
“Go check that out,” a guard ordered, and both of them hurried toward the wheelchair. Just as they walked past, I reached out and grabbed his ankles, yanking backward so that he was tripped off his feet. The guard stumbled into his companion, and both of them went down. I crawled on top of the first guard the second he went flat, then immediately went for the pistol holstered to his side.
His mouth dropped open, but I pointed the pistol and pulled the trigger before he had time to give another reaction. Blood splattered against my face, and I heard the thick crunch of bone shattering. The other guard reached for his gun, but I fired a second shot, and it was so close range that my aim didn’t miss.
My hands shook as I lowered the pistol. I reached for the other guard’s gun, taking out the bullets so I had some remaining ammo. I didn’t know how to load a gun, but because I had to, I’d learn. I didn’t pay attention to the brain matter streaked across the floor, or the cracked skulls. I just did what I had to do and hefted myself back into my chair so I could continue onward.
I laid the pistol beside the compass in my lap and forced my quivering fingers to push me faster. I had to get out of the area. Someone might’ve heard the gun go off, and if they did, the time I had to find my friends was even more limited.Please, let them be close.
The guards I’d shot looked like they were shifters. I guess it was lucky I’d run into them, and not others, because a bullet wouldn’t take down an angel or a vampire.
But something was off. Where were all the vampire and angel guards? I’d run into other races down here, but the Warden’s favorite lackeys were nowhere to be found, and I figured they’d be crawling around Cellblock 9. This was the highest security area in the prison, and yet, the entire cell block seemed to be empty.
My mind ventured to the conversation I’d overheard moments ago. The guards had said the Warden was moving everyone out… but by everyone, I was certain it only meant the people who had agreed to do whatever he said without question— teacher, student or otherwise. The Warden’s favorite guards weren’t here because something big was happening. Now that he had our demigod magic, the Warden was concocting another plan, and he was going to set it in motion… tonight.
I needed to get myself and my friends out of here before whatever he was constructing went down, because it was happeningright now, and by the sound of it, the Warden didn’t plan for anyone to get off Institute grounds who wasn’t following his orders.
I took a look at the compass again, and it stubbornly pointed forward, to a thick metal door over a hundred feet away that only had a small window. I guessed that was where they kept the inmates in solitary.
I wondered why the Warden hadn’t placed me down here, until I realized he’d ordered me tossed me into one of the cells they didn’t use anymore, because in the hallway I’d been in, no one would notice me starve, not even if I cried for help. There was no chance of anyone rescuing me but myself, and the Warden thought that would be impossible.
He really needed to learn nothing was impossible for Ava-Marie Wahkin.
When I got closer to the metal door, I was able to work out more details. There was an entry box on the handle, but when I pressed the keycard to it, it denied me access. Must not have enough credentials to go in.
I couldn’t lift myself high enough out of my chair to look through the window, so I had to take a gamble. I took a shaky grip on the pistol, then banged on the door as loudly as I could, acting like I was knocking. I lifted the keycard and pressed it against the window.
“Godsdammit, Barry, I told you before! You can’t come back here until the Warden—”
The door opened—Bang.The gun went off again, then a second time. I gave a quiet yelp and nearly dropped the gun as the body of the guard sank to the floor, crumpling beside a desk.
A couple of tears shakily made their way down my cheeks, but I reminded myself that I wasn’t supposed to feel anything, so I shoved my emotions down and moved on. I pretended like the body of the guard wasn’t there… didn’t exist… as I maneuvered my chair around it and surveyed the room.
It was some sort of security holding that had access to all the cells in solitary. There was a circuit board inside that had buttons to open the doors to each individual cell in solitary confinement. Right now, only four of the cells were full. I checked the names in the logbook beside the guard’s desk, and nearly gave a cry of relief. I pressed every single one, then pushed open another door to venture down solitary’s hall.
It was just like any other cell block, except the doors here were actual doors, and not barred gates, ones that were made of metal and reached from the floor to the ceiling. The doors creaked open, and three figures stumbled out, wincing at the brightness of the lightbulb suspended from the ceiling.
