Prisoner

Chapter 7

Adaryn

The day had finally come. By tonight, I would be home free with Venia and Danya.

I clutched my makeshift lock pick tightly in my hand, waiting for the calm and quiet of night to pass over the prison. I figured nighttime would be the smartest- if there was a smartest- time to put my hastily planned escape plan into motion.

In his cell, John was quietly readying himself. Few words were spoken between us.

Frustrated, I tried to imagine the layout of this prison, as well as where the guards would likely be stationed, in my mind. Since our cells were on the first floor, I figured the way out would be a straight shot home.

Around midday, I heard footsteps outside my cell. Since they came quickly and suddenly, breaking the dead silence, I jumped in surprise. The footsteps halted in front of my cell door.

"Feeding time, convict." Came the guard's deep voice. The guard slipped a small sack through the bars, which fell quickly to the floor in front of me. My heart kept within me.

After the guard moved on, I snatched the small parcel from the dirty cell floor and opened it. Inside, a chunk of thought, grainy bread and three strips of dried meat welcomed me. Inside was also a medium-sized vial with a stopper containing goats milk.

I first took out the bread with my trembling fingers and ripped off a mouthful. The food was hard and tough , and it made my jaw sore to chew, but this did not stop me. I had eaten nothing but a thin rat in weeks.

After eating most of the bread and storing the rest for later, I scarfed down a strip of meat. Finally, I unstopped the vial and gulped down the goats milk, which was growing slightly warm, but tasted fresh. All this food sat uneasily in my stomach after not eating for so log, but I did not mind much. After finished, I sighed with pleasure, already feeling a little better. My thoughts then turned to John.

"John?" I called.

"I'm here." Came the quiet reply. He sounded quite weak.

"Did the guard give you a sack of food?" I asked.

"No. Did he give you one?"

"He did. You must be terribly hungry, I imagine."

"Yeah, I am." John said. I sighed and looked down at my leftover bread and meat strips. I tore off some of the bread and pulled out a piece of meat, then went to the cell door.

"Here. Eat this." I said slowly. I put the food through the bars like he had done with the spectacles. His hands appeared and snatched the food.

"Thanks." John said. I heard him begin to chew the food.

"You are welcome, John. We will both require strength for our journey tonight." I replied.

"Journey?" John asked over a mouthful of bread.

"Breaking out of here is only the beginning of our troubles. Afterwards, we must run as far as we can from this dastardly place." I explained. Even I was not looking forward to the long night ahead.

Long hours past. John and I sat, silently thinking and praying, in our cells. Finally, the guards changed shifts for the last time of the day, signaling soon the would make their rounds to count everyone. After count, the time would be right to leave.

"Everyone up! Time for count!" One guard, who was in charge of the first floor, shouted. There was the quiet scraping and moaning of prisoners as everyone stood to their feet. As I stood, a shooting pain shot from my feet to my head. I wobbled slightly before grabbing the bars of my cell to stabilize me. I felt dizzy so I rested my head against the bars in between my hands and closed my eyes.