Reclaim

Crimson

                                      Aslan
              The prison bus
          12/19/26
The road was long and desolate.
So beautiful and vast, yet so eerie in the shade of the night. It was dark as hell, but any peace I could get next to bug eyes was good peace. The bus was quiet, it wasn't too full, so I guess it made sense, but where I was at was almost a party area for a good minute earlier. Some guy in front of me started singing, hoping to get our spirits up for the ride, and maybe get a sing-along started up. Too bad the guy next to him and in front of him threatened to bash his teeth into his skull if he kept on.

There were at least 12 of us, and I had all of them in the back of my mind. I'd be ready if anything stupid happened, even though not a lot of anything could happen with these shackles keeping us in our seats. There were two in front of me and one ahead of them. Bug Eyes was by me, and the two guys from my prison were behind me, along with the four across the aisle, leaving the last three in the very back. The only thing that stood out was the matching tattoos of the ones we picked up from the station. Other than that, everyone else seemed pretty ordinary.

The bumps were big and unpatterned, coming at the moments you wouldn't think to brace for, so sleeping was a dumb idea, especially on a prison bus at night. The only thing I didn't expect to happen on the bus happened, and it happened right as I shut my eyes for a few seconds.

Me and everyone else on the bus were thrown to right, pushing me straight into Bug eyes, practically crushing him. Then the bus turned over, throwing us to the left as it tipped over, nearly flipping upside down.

When I came to my senses, I was dangling from the shackles inside of a torn up bus on its side. The shackles were attached to the bus walls so Bug Eyes and I were hanging out in the aisle with everyone else from the right side.

Outside, someone was screaming in a different language. There was a bright red light shining into the bus, accompanied by the sound of an engine. The front of the bus was totaled, almost completely ripped apart.

The bus doors smashed open, and two guys with shotguns that could kill mountains jumped in. They aimed their guns at a prisoner, and a loud shot that left my ears ringing blew out.

But there was no screaming. They just said something in a different language, and the one they aimed it at just said, "Huh?!"

They shook their heads, then continued down the aisle, shooting out the chains of other prisoners in front of me, letting them fall into the empty seats across from them. They got up to me and shot me and Bug Eye's chains off before saying something in their language sternly.

Neither of us knew what he meant.
Him and his friend grunted, then continued down to the next seat, saying the same thing until two of them responded in a similar dialect.

They pulled him up and escorted them both out, and sure enough, it was the riot guys we picked up at the station.

Bug eyes peaked over the seat as the red lights faded and the sound of the truck engine drove away. We were plunged back into total darkness. The three prisoners in front of me jumped over their seat and scrambled out the door, each quiet as chainsaw in a china shop. Bugs got out next before I felt a pat on my shoulder. I looked back to see the Puerto Rican guy from earlier.

"Go fool."
He said, darting his eyes at the door.
I got up over the seat and climbed out, hearing yelling behind me from the prisoners that were still shackled, begging to be let free for all they had.

I made my way to the front, the windshield was splattered with blood, the guard driving us was more than gone, with nothing useful but his handgun left. I grabbed it, and as soon as I did, the bus exploded in a fit of screaming and begging.
"PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP US, JUST SHOOT THE SHACKLES, I'LL HELP YOU I SWEAR, PLEASE!"

My prison buddy was right behind me, shaking his head.
"You free those lowlifes, I'll bury you. They'll only make finding us easier."
He seemed sure of what he was talking about.

"They won't do us any good, come on, let's get the hell out of here."
The prisoners still shackled to the bus begged as if the purgatory would swallow them if I let them stay here, but considering the fact the closest person I had to an acquaintance said otherwise, and our time was blowing through the more we waited, I just pocketed the gun and jumped out of the bus, with my new prison pal following close behind.

I could hear their screaming from outside the bus, but all I could really do was pray karma wouldn't kick in later in life. I felt bad, but not bad enough to go against reason. He jumped out and walked up to me, patting my shoulder.
"You better not get us killed, I'm having a hard time trusting you with a gun. You hesitate like that again, and I'm leaving you, got it?"

I couldn't think to do anything but nod. He cracked his neck, then waved for me to follow him downhill, away from the highway and into the woods.

He could run fast, and he was pretty agile too, nothing I couldn't keep up with, though, but a lot more than I expected to keep up with at all. He hopped ditches, leaped over logs, and dodged branches like he knew these woods firsthand.

I had lost my breath at least a mile ago, but I kept going to keep up.
When he finally slowed to halt, catching my breath seemed almost impossible, especially quietly.
"What's wrong, kid? Can't keep up?"
"Me?...nah...I could run... At least another mile or three."
He laughed, taking a moment to let me catch my breath, leaning against a tree.

"Well, get ready to, we still got a couple miles before we're out of the search areas for the pigs, get your quick breaths in, then get ready to push on twice as hard."

"Twice?" I said, still panting like a dog.

"Twice is goin' easy on you, Squinty."

"Squinty? That all you got?"

He smiled, raising his hands defensively.
"Not tryna be derogatory here."
"Surprised you even know what that word means."

"Woah woah, calm down, don't make me dust you in a race out here, I'll leave you sucking down air like a fat kid in a smoky room."

I felt like I was gonna like this guy, I would be forced to whether I liked it or not. He's all I could trust right now.
I lent out my hand for him to shake.
"Aslan. You?"

He just looked at me dodgey, like I just asked for money, then got up.
"I know you, Aslan, you ran your mouth to Dije when he did what again?"

"Messed with the new guy. Never even met him before that, never saw him after either. I was pretty stupid then."
He nodded, effectively avoiding the question as I put my hand away.

"If it weren't for me, you'd be messier than the food they served."
He pulled himself up, wiping himself off before looking down at his shackles.

"Reckon we're far enough to shoot these things off, should make getting around easier. Then we gotta find a river to shake our scent. After all that, we head off and find a small town, take off our jumpsuits to seem less conspicuous. Sound like a plan?"

I reached my hand in my pocket, then opened my eyes wide, pure horror leaving him with the same expression.
"I... Dropped it."

He stood up and balled his fists, ready to beat me to a pulp.
"You...what?"

I couldn't help but smile as I pulled out the guard's gun.
"Funny. Shoot these damn shackles off before I break your jaw."
I like my jaw, so I did as he asked.