Faces, Names, and Memories (completed)

Chapter 41 - Way out

The LEs uncuff me and shove me to the floor, locking the door behind me, but I can only look at my friends in horror. 

They're all beaten and battered, covered in bruises and welts as if the LEs had come in and started beating them with their rods. Dried blood that they couldn't wipe off with the tattered cloth in the bathroom stains their clothes and areas of their face like, their busted lips, or bloodied noses, where they'd bled too profusely. I can't see what damage has been done to the areas concealed by the dank gray jumpsuits. 

They know I remember the blueprint; it's the only explanation. It's my fault the LEs hurt them. If I don't fill out the whole thing tomorrow, they'll kill them, or turn them into BZs, one by one and make me watch. I have to help him now; they did this to send me warning. Zuke was very clear. I don't help Jaz; my friends die. 

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen to you guys. I thought I'd have more time, but they must have figured it out. Or, they've known all along -" I ramble. 

"Jade, stop," Cale cuts me off. "This isn't on you." 

"Yes it is, they tortured you because they know that I know," I say. 

"That's not what happened Jade, not even close,"  Deen tells me. 

I look at him confusedly. 

Tressa stiffly crawls over and sits next to me, wincing as she leans against the wall. "They figured out we looped the audio. They came back right after they dropped you off to teach us a lesson." 

"You can't blame yourself for something we decided to do while you were zoned-out," Spenzo adds. 

"Yeah, you couldn't have stopped us anyway. When you came to, we were halfway through the process," Kinnie supplies. 

"They can hear everything we're saying," My eyes widen. 

"No, Kinnie, Tressa and Deen looped it again," Tammie replies. 

"They'll kill you in the morning when they find out. Why would you do that again?" I ask. 

"Because we need to plan without them hearing us," Cale answers. "Assuming you did come up with a plan during all those hours you spent staring at that blueprint." 

"And, we can take a few more bruises; they won't kill us. They know that if they kill us you'll have no motivation to continue working," Tressa says. 

"Just tell us you have a plan," Deen says. 

They all look at me expectantly. 

"Does knowing what we have to do count?" I ask. 

"Only as long as the answer isn't 'escape,'" Spenzo replies humorlessly. 

"No, to get out of here alive, there are four things we need to do: get a keycard: get the passcode; knockout the cameras; find an exit," I say. "The problem is, I have no idea how to do any of this." 

"That's what we're here for," Deen points out. 

"It's not a problem at all," Cale tells me. "It's much more than we could've come up with." 

"Yeah, seriously," Tressa says. "You're the only one who's been outside this cell."

That is a good point. They've been locked in here this whole time. If I left the planning to them we wouldn't even be able to get out of the cell without LE's ambushing us. 

"The security guards can't remotely unloop the audio feed, can they?" Cale asks Kinnie. 

Kinnie shakes their head. "Not the way they designed it. This mic is completely manual. I guess they're relying on no one noticing it because it's so small.  Only way they're going to unloop it is if they come in and fix the wiring."