Artificial Willpower

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Yancy felt horror fill him. Everything he had tried to distance himself from. Everything he tried not to be, was right there in front of him.

Monster.

Murderer.

Heartless.

He took a few steps back, his eyes swelling with tears. Even if it was just a random guard or worker, more blood on his hands would be painful. But this was so much worse.

Benjamin was the only one who showed him any humanity. The only one who even tried to understand.

Benjamin's body was slumped against the wall, as blood stained his white lab coat. Yancy wondered what he had been saying... He could only guess the young doctor was trying to reason with him...

And Yancy had told him not to be afraid. Yancy had told him he wasn't a violent monster.

Yet here he was.

Yancy realized he had no time. He couldn't morn. He had to run. He took a breath and shook his head. Benjamin wouldn't come back no matter how long he stared. He started to run again. There were no guards for a bit.

He had to assume they were searching other areas because they had already 'thoroughly searched' this area. He knew how fast they had to move, so it was hardly as thorough as it should be. He noticed the same thing back in jail whenever there was contraband or a runner.

He prayed to whatever might care, that he wouldn't run into anyone else. He clearly didn't know how strong his new limbs were, and he didn't want anyone else to die...

He was able to use the clearance card. He noticed many of the same architectural patterns as the prison. He knew he was close to an exit when the security doors were more frequent. He heard voices near, but not too close.

His heart pounded. He was so close... he couldn't fail... as he rushed along he noticed an occasional window. He knew he was no longer in the middle of the building, but the outer edge. A door had to be near.

He ran along the wall but lost his patience. Typically he wouldn't even attempt to break the glass. They were made to withstand everything. He'd seen prisoners throw heavy chairs at this type of glass and it just bounced off.

But he had to wonder if this new limb would have better luck. He skidded to a stop in front of a window. He took a breath and brought his fist back.

It was a risk, he knew. The crash would alert people, but he wasn't finding a door he could quietly go through. He could keep looking, and possibly be found, or break the glass and run for his life.

He made his choice, and punched the glass with his metal fist. It shattered, as he had hoped, but didn't expect. He felt an electric pain from his shoulder that caused him to let out a shaky gasp. He didn't allow himself a moment to recover. He could already hear people running closer and shouting.

He quickly climbed out of the window, primarily using his metal limbs to reduce his risk of getting cut.

He heard guns firing. He knew it was to kill. He had gone too far. He ran as fast as he could in a slight zigzag pattern, in an attempt to not make himself an easy target.

The area surrounding the facility was an empty field, but surrounding the field was a forest. On the border of the forest and field, there was a fence. He guessed it was about 7 feet tall.

Yancy had no clue how large the forest was. He could be hours away from civilization or minutes. He knew he couldn't run forever. They would find him eventually if he didn't get far enough fast enough. Now that he thought about it, they probably put a tracker on or in him just in case. He'd have to find that as soon as possible.

He heard a bullet hit metal, right to his side. He flinched harshly, before realizing it hit his mechanical arm. He didn't have time to assess damage or even look at it. He would have to wait till he was in a space where he could hide and could breath.

He saw a parking lot near the edge of the field. He knew no one would have left their keys in the cars and he didn't have time to search. He had hot-wired a few cars when he was in the gang, and he had been pretty quick at it too. He just had to hope he remembered.

He ran to the parking lot, trying to tune out the shouting, the bullets, the sirens. He ran to the fence without slowing down, before jumping, and climbing up the rest of the fence. One at the top he jumped to the ground. He was met with an earth shattering pain from where his bionic leg met his skin. It slowed him down for a second before he forced himself to get over it. There wasn't time. He could feel the pain later. He could remember the fresh blood on his hands later. But right now there was no time.

He made it to a small blue car. He knew how to pick most locks, but there wasn't enough time to even try. He thrust his metal elbow through the window, and it gave way as if it were a brittle sheet of ice. The arm still seemed fully functioning, and he couldn't even see any damage in the split second.

He reached in and unlocked the door. He didn't bother to look back at the people running over. It would only distract him. It was a miracle that he was this far, but a single distraction could stop him. He pried off the panel covering the wires quickly and got started.

He didn't let himself think about it, sticking to muscle memory. Around 20 seconds later he heard the engine come to life.

Relief filled his chest, and even a little hope accompanied it. He wasn't even sure if he had expected or dared to hope he would have made it this far. He clambered in and quickly pulled out, before stepping on the gas. He shot off down the small road leading away from the isolated facility.

Doctor Pitch stood in a room with monitors. He stood with his hands on the desk staring at the cameras facing the road. He had been trying to find Daniel Jones through them, but for some reason, he couldn't find him till he got to the exterior. None of the security cameras could seem to catch a single glimpse of him. Even the tracker that they had in the mechanical leg had seemed to go offline. When he was informed that the prisoner had made it outside, he checked the cameras and sure enough, there he was, running through the field.

His fists clenched against the desk as he stared at the car disappearing into the forest. That was tens of thousands of dollars, and far too many government secrets escaping. How he managed to not show up on the cameras, and how his tracker wasn't showing up was unexplainable to him. He heard the radio buzz, and a guard speak " He's out of our sights- what's the read on the trac-"

Pitch hit the transceiver button " There is no read. The tracker is offline."

There was silence. Everyone knew the risks of one of them escaping. Not only could the public find out, but the prisoner was physically dangerous, and there was even possibilities of the murderer selling the secrets to enemies for refuge. They had to get him back, no matter the cost.

And Doctor Xander Pitch-Markova was ready to pay whatever price it took.

Authors Note- Guys, my heart is pumping. I don't think I've ever been too great at writing action. there's so many factors, possible places to slip up, and moving parts. So maybe it's not the best bUT BOY WAS IT FUN. Anyways, have a lovely day!