Falling From Escape

Concrete Jungle

 
  With only the little information Dan had, he decided to work with AJ to construct a plan of sorts to leave the hellhole he trapped himself in. On the way to the yard to find AJ he walked the halls quietly looking around certain halls and as AJ had said one guard in hall three and one in the library. Of course they were guarding the only door straight out of the building. Well not exactly straight it still has the fence blocking his freedom but it was too risky. They'd have to go through the yard
  "So you think we could waltz out of here with no harm done to ourselves?" AJ asked, putting the weight back in place "Where the hell would we go?" They whispered while walking over to dan. "I mean how would we get past the fence? It's electric." AJ laughed waving their hand to the fence a little ways from the yard.
  "I have a degree in engineering and coding. I can turn it off. And for where to stay there's a small town not far from here called noodle." Dan said as they walked back inside.
  "What about money? We're gonna need money if we want somewhere to stay, or for food to eat." AJ hissed at Daniel
  "My aunt left a house there for whoever in the family to use. I know where we keep the key." Daniel said stepping to the side away from AJ
  "Freeman! Aren't you supposed to be talking with your psychologist." Jamie shouted at Daniel. "I suggest you start heading there." He said as they got closer to him
  Groaning Dan left AJ to go find the psychs and guides place. Once he arrived he opened the door and was greeted almost immediately with a soft voice "what's your name?"
"Daniel Hardison." He sighed sitting in a black chair nearby. After what seemed like a millennia an older black woman with bouncing gray curls pulled back by a hair tie. "Hardinson?" She shouted she was looking for Dan without a doubt he was the only one in the room just simply around the corner out of view, but he decided to be petty towards the woman for a mispronunciation so he remained in his seat
"Daniel Hardinson don't you make me say it again I will call an officer to throw you in solitaire for disobedience!" She threatened. Dan was not willing to test her no longer he walked to her hands behind his back defeated
"Finally, come in and let's begin" she said, stepping out of the doorway waving a hand for him to enter first.
"Isn't an officer supposed to be in these sessions? You know, in case I lash out." Daniel said sitting in the chair in front of the desk watching her walk to the one behind it
"No. The people in charge un-surprisingly don't care about us and would rather not have to pay us either." She droned
"That isn't my problem let's just gets this over with and I'll be out of your hair" he hissed leaning forward in his seat
An hour passed and it was soon lunch, they had finally finished with the session and Dan left for the cafeteria. He looked around a bit and cut behind Harlem. They soon both got their lunch and sat with 
"You understand that the fence is too high to climb. there is no damn chance either of us would make it over in the middle of the night without falling off." AJ
"We could cut it." Dan offered
"With what we don't have access to any tools." AJ hissed.
"What are you chatterboxes arguing about?" Harlem laughed and AJ and Dan ended their conversation to plan an escape. They sat in silence, which was an item of worry. The cafeteria doesn't hush for just anybody, but yet the room had fallen into such a hush. Daniel looked around to find a man in a blue suit, with a cowboy hat, hands in his pockets looking around for something or someone.
"Well well well the warden finally arises from his ash filled office. How's it going, smokes?" Gun jokes waving his hand for the 'warden'. The warden walks over AJ straightened up, and the warden speaks, nothing scary or inspirational, just a few words telling Gunter that he would be able to set up a visit with Allie and that if he wants he can take someone with him, then he turned around and left.
"Who are you going to take?"  AJ asked, relaxing and leaning forward onto the table, almost as if the warden's presence was exhausting.
"I think Dan should meet her." Laughed Harlem waving her spoon at Dan.
"Why? Just so the poor kid has something to make her even more upset? She's a looney and new people would scare her." AJ mumbled, they slowly stopped though because Gunter was glaring at them fuming ready to scream bloody murder to protect his child. No matter how much she can do wrong he still loves her as a father should. AJ sat up, stared at Gunter for a moment, squinted and began chatting with Harlem about how similar Jamie and the warden look.
"So are you up to meet Allie Schafer? Or do you also think it's a bad idea?" Gunter started excitedly then slowly his voice dropped in the second sentence it was low, gravelly, and deep. He wanted to scare Dan, they all wanted to scare him, so he nodded and said he'd join Gunter to meet Allie. Because Dr. Freeman is scared of nothing.
The hall smelled of rotting blood and vomit with screams to match the strength, screaming of laughter, screaming of fear, anger,and sadness. The sound was too much to bear. The screams were louder the more cells they passed. Dan and Gunther followed behind the officer, leading them to a room at the end of the hall and taking them to a separate room with a window to her. There she was, Allie. Gunter's daughter was paler than snow, with bits of her dusky hair on the floor around her, her black eyes wide though she sat calmly in the corner on the rickety bed until the mic chimed on. She quickly got up and turned around as if she was looking for the disembodied voice.
"Allie, your father and a friend of his are here to talk to you." The officer said letting the button go and motioning for them to get closer. "Press the button to talk." He backed up some, allowing them to get close to the mic. Gunter was first to talk to her pulling a chair over towards him. "Hi kiddo. I know you can't see me but I can see you and you're looking even prettier than last time I saw you." Gunter lied, last time he saw her she had all her hair in and was being shoved to the ground after she bit him.
"Liar. You coward, you are a liar!" Allie hissed, getting closer to the mirror "you're not my father. He hated me, he thought I was worthless just like my mom. Not even his friends thought I-"  she cut herself off, she stepped back, sitting down and laughing. She laughed for some time, Gunter simply stared he was in tears. He removed his hand from the button a while ago and a few moments later, he told the officer they were done with visitation.
The officer took Daniel and Gunter to the library and left, and same as always on the red chair at the farthest end of the library sat AJ, well more-so they laid but who's to pay that any attention. Harlem was nowhere to be seen but she was heard quite close.  She jumped onto Daniel's back causing them to both land on the floor while Gunter stopped in his tracks to turn around, only to begin curling over in a fit of laughter. AJ set down the book they were reading and got up from the oversized red chair that they were sprawled across and walked over to the three fools on the floor. They crouched down to Dan
  "Somebody came by a moment ago looking for you. Does the name Antonio Margolin ring a bell?" They said, "Say yes because he's here and I don't mess with gang members."  AJ whispered looking over their shoulder. "He's in the calls room I'll go with you but I can't go in. have fun." they finished picking him up and practically throwing him across the room.
  It took a while to find the room, and when he finally came across the room there was a guard, and a man with a polished silk black suit and combed back hair. Daniel immediately recognized him as Antonio, one of the so-called 'brothers' of the men he killed. He knew he could walk in there with his normal sly confidence, but in the same way those men were like his brothers as well, just the same for Antonio, maybe more. They grew up together, in the same neighborhood, same street, same school. He was Daniel's best man and Daniel his. But there always comes a price for love isn't there. Daniel walked in head down and sat in front of Antonio.
  "For a man who demands trust, you sure don't like keeping others' trust, do you?" antonio quipped sharply his words hit dan like a knife
  "I don't demand it, I admire it. And all I was trying to do was find who was responsible for Andreas's disappearance." Dan hissed at him "They were going to talk about some work with their boss, and never came home I wanted to know."
  "You always want to know, never understand, didn't they cry for their lives, for their family's, for no harm to be done? No remorse at the least? You put them in jars, you burned them! Their families didn't even get anything to bury." Antonio cried tears welling in his blue and green eyes, something that has never happened in the dozens of years they've known each other.
  "And I swear to the fallen if you ever get out. Mark. My. Words. I will find you and torture you and never admit you to the sweet release of death." Antonio stretched the words he grimaced, wiping the tears from his eyes. Daniel got up and left; he didn't like acknowledging Antonio's empty threats. But he did like the idea of leaving so of course he decided he would find AJ and tell them they were to put the plan into motion.
  "AJ! I think we should put the- oh shit, where are your clothes?" Daniel wavered, he was on a high from the nerves of what could go wrong, but he walked in on AJ without their shirt on snapping him back to reality. They just stood there in front of him, their shirt in their hand that sat by their side. They were skinnier than Dan guessed and had scars where their breasts once were, not to mention the ones on their shoulders and burns scars on their hands and arms.
"What are you staring at, perv." AJ laughed putting their shirt on
"Not much to look at whore." Dan began, "What I was trying to say was that I think we should begin the plan. But we need cutters; it's too tall to climb in one night." Dan finished leaning against the bars of the cell.
"That's a nice idea but cells lock at curfew. We need keys to get out of them manually."AJ shook their head, while sitting on their bunk.
"I'm not stupid I already got it." He hissed, taking a key ring with a dozen keys out of his pocket he had taken the key ring from the guard when he left from seeing Allie.
"Well, shit." AJ sighed under their breath running their hand through hair to think. "Do you even know which one it is? There's like, forty keys on that ring?"
"We have ninety minutes till your psychiatry meeting. I think that's the perfect amount to find which it is." Dan stated as he began walking over to the cell's locked door.
"Ya' know you're stating everything like it's some sorta' fact it's getting real annoying. But as long as you keep quiet and the both of us out of trouble I'll suffer. Good night." AJ remarked while covering their face with a thin paper book
What felt like hours but couldn’t have been Dan finally got to the key that works, joyous about the find he wakes AJ up after taking the key off of the ring. "Hey! About those cutters, where would we find them?" Dan whispered, creeping to the edge of Aj's bunk. Which was replied to with a swift fist to his face, knocking him back with a new crack in his glasses. Aj got up groaning, swiping the children's paperback off of their face.
"The shed." AJ grunted looking over to Dan, shifting their legs off of the bed to face him. “But it's nearly impossible to get into the shed without permission but you aren’t apart of the gardening group, so looks like you won’t be getting out any time soon danny-boy” they sighed
“Do you know anybody who is a part of the group?” Dan asked, putting his glasses back on. Dan stood up and waited for the answer
  “No.-”AJ said. “No I won't help you die, because I don't know if you know this, but once we leave we’ll have everyone looking for us and I mean everyone. And the only reason I haven’t reported you to Jamie is because I know how terrible solitaire is.”AJ snapped at Dan now standing over him.
  “You don’t have an ounce of hope do you. Don’t you want to see the people you care for? Or did you kill them too, heartstopper.” dan jeered staring into AJ’s cold eyes
  “Alright Aj it’s your turn to visit your psychiatrist.” a perfectly timed entrance from the guard unlocking their cell. The guard stood to the side waiting for AJ to leave. “If you need new glasses, kid, you can do some work to ‘buy’ some new ones, just talk to Jamie in the morning. I’m sure the garden always needs help.” the guard quipped walking away with Aj
  This couldn't be anymore perfect, almost like he had everything set perfectly in front of him. AJ was the last psych visit of the day, so as soon as they came back to the cell the supper bell rang. Everyone of the them waited for the halls to clear, Dan had found the group of no-goods were called the them, but aside from that when everyone had finally left their cells the them left theirs as they walked Dan spoke to AJ. "Did you hear what the guard said, this plan is almost too perfect. Then again anyone could hear us talking and could tell the guards." Dan babbered on about his nonsense Gunter and Harlem talked with Aj far behind him.
  "Is he on something? He keeps talking like Jerry with the psychosis meds you know, he never shuts up and acts like he's better just tell Jamie and he'll leave us alone finally."  Gunter failed to whisper, causing Dan to stop in front of them.
  "If you three don't like me stop replying to my pries into your lives, stop inviting me to meet people, and by god stop telling me jokes, if you don't like me leave me alone. Also i'm not on any meds yet, and the meds i will be taking are not anti psychosis meds, they're anti-hallucinatory meds and antidepressants for my night-terrors and sleep paralysis, even then the symptoms of taking them are headaches and extra sweating, which I won't be getting till next month, so quit it.
  "So that's why you smell weird." Harlem laughed
  "Shut your trap for a sec Harlem. Why do you want to leave so badly? Who would want to see you again after what you did? You killed, I don't know, half a dozen men and women. What is so important you'd do that?" AJ asked  laughing slightly
  "My spouse. I did it to see them again." Dan stated hands in a fist by his sides "I know the wirely gang back home took them and I intend on finding where they are." He looked up at AJ then left, and AJ couldn't stand there after that they felt too bad for what was said so they followed. It didn't take to long for them to catch up when they did they grabbed Dan's shoulder
  "I'm sorry I'll do it. I'll help you. Go. To your spouse, I mean." They apologized, they had a soft spot for love, maybe it was all of those rom-com manga's. Soon after Harlem and Gunter came up to them as well as a guard
"I'll take you four to supper you where you need to be or I could tell your cell block guard and warden" the guard threatened putting his hand to AJ's back to push them along
They were close to the cafeteria doors but the warden stood in front of the four mostly Aj and looked to the guard "leave AJ with me, I wanna talk with 'em." aj accepted and followed behind him, and as dan watched them leave together he was a bit annoyed by them laughing together but he couldn’t put a reason to it as he walked he thought to himself he hated aj he thought aj and their friends were plotting to kill him or anything such as it. After all, it was what he deserved. He has killed dozens, what if he killed someone important to them. And in truth he hated himself for these worries of such nice friends.
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  "You know I wouldn't randomly ask to have dinner with you right? I wanted to ask you if I might pull some strings to get you on parole. Maybe we could go on some dates?" Warden spoke, sitting at the table with two seats, and two plates of food. "I'm a little tired of having dinners here together, I love you a lot." The warden sighed, pulling a cigar out and lighting it.
"That's why you did this, Lane. These were dates? I told you I'm married, I'm sorry but I don't feel the same way." AJ coughed smoke filling the room they had spoken with worry and anger. Anger from the wardens' ignorance, such a significant part of them ignored because, because who knows why. There was silence for the rest of the meal, that is until AJ had finished the warden called a few guards in. They were there to take AJ to solitary. "Maybe you should've taken me up on the parole deal AJ would've been so much easier. You'll be staying there for forty nights. I think it's a fair time to let you think my offer over." The warden laughed, waving goodbye to AJ and the guards. AJ didn't make things like that easy for them it wasn't to hard to get the guards to the ground. The only thing they would be doing was going and telling Harlem.
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The intercom came over with a new message
"Every to your cells there is an escaped asylee please avoid halls four and three for your safety" the only usual part of this was that it repeated in different languages. It didn't take to long till multiple guards began shoving everyone out of the hall and towards the two cell blocks that people had came from four and three. Dan and Harlem were able to sneak away from the crowd Harlem told Gunter he couldn't come, for unspoken reasons Gunter probably understood, sadly but understood none the less.  "We're going to get in trouble you know" Dan chimed at Harlem who looked like she was on a mission. Dan received no answer and continued to follow out of curiosity, hoping he wasn't going to get in trouble. They reached the library which is usually locked after all of the cell blocks recreation time, but the doors were open. They walked in Dan attempted to hide behind Harlem.
  "If you're scared go to your cell, but if I'm right I know who the asylee is." Harlem spoke "And another thing stop using me as a shield you're acting ridiculous." She hissed at Dan turning quickly towards him.
  Which her hissing seems to have caught someone's attention, because the sound of a book falling came from near by. They look over to see AJ standing over the chair at the end of the library. Harlem seems to almost fly towards them, Dan walks over to Harlem checking AJ for possible injury.
"What'd you do, bonehead?" Harlem tried laughing but she was to shaky to do so.
"I'm sorry. I'm married and I don't want to leave you three so soon and I..." AJ quivered head dropped low "I don't know what to do Harlem."
  "Where are you going?" Dan said looking towards AJs hands behind their back, no matter how strong they were they couldn't break the cuffs. Dan walks away from them and lounges in the chair, with a grin on his face. Harlem whisks around to hiss. "Do you not care. They won't be back for some time their going to solitary, for whatever damned reason."
I suggest you go back to your cells guards will figure out you're missing and I don't want either of you to go to solitary." AJ sighed, they were uncomfortably calm for the situation, there was a feeling of dread washing over the two as AJ walked closer to them. "Tell me you'll visit me?" AJ laughed, there wasn't any way to lighten the mood.
  "I won't visit." Dan followed sitting up in the chair "I'll get you out and we'll finally get out of the hellhole, because you said you'd help me find my spouse." Dan finished AJ started chuckling quietly
  "Just don't involve me or Gunter in any of that, I want to have a chance with Jamie, and he don't like bad girls. As for Gunter he would never leave his daughter here alone." Harlem laughed at Dan leaning over the back. "So how many days were you given to be there?"
  "Forty days and forty nights my friend." AJ laughed.