Outlaws (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 2)

Chapter 11

After the ordeal of the hotbox, Nolun had been studying his cell carefully when the guards weren't around. When the time came for lights out on that same day, he used his pillow to create a fake him sleeping in the bed. Then, he stood in one of the blind spots to test out his theory. Sure enough, it worked like a charm, and the camera didn't seem to notify anyone that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He looked around his cell, searching for anything that could be of use to him. The only thing that was in range of the blind spot he was currently in was his sink. He crouched down and crawled over to it. It was a stainless steel sink, with no seeable way of breaking off anything. Then, he looked underneath. Although everything else in the prison was always kept in top condition, he noticed that the ring surrounding the small bend in the pipe that connected the drain to the wall was slightly rusted. Nolun touched it, and found, with some effort, he could twist it. It took him almost half an hour, but he finally managed to unscrew it all the way, and found the pipe was wide open, and he could look down into the drain below, which most likely lead to the plumbing system that ran through the entire base. He couldn't obviously just fit himself in there, and he had no idea how he could use the plumbing to escape, but it was another piece of information to add to the mix. He screwed the pipe back on, hoping it wouldn't come off, and then slowly crawled back into bed, avoiding the camera. He closed his eyes, and fell to sleep, his mind already turning.

He was woken up the next morning at the usual time, but instead of receiving a beating, the guards simply just forced him out of his bed and activated his restraints. He didn't resist, and instead chose to focus on the several pipes coming out of the walls and moving across the ceiling. The ones that came out of his cell block lead to a bigger one which lead into the ceiling. At least he knew it went somewhere. He was taken to the out-of-place brick walls that lead to Caligula's home, and the wooden door opened again. This time, it appeared that Nolun was the one who was late, as Andress was already sitting on the couch opposite from Caligula, who was in his armchair sipping tea again. But this time, there was someone else with them. As Nolun looked to the right, he saw the large scar-headed man that he and Andress had fought yesterday, albeit with a broken nose, sitting to the left of Caligula, and he looked particularly nervous. Normally, seeing such a scared expression on the face of someone so massive and muscular would be comical, but Nolun guessed he wouldn't be laughing about it later. He sat down next to Andress, and Caligula cleared his throat, putting down his tea. "Now then, Nolun, Andress, Francis. I understand we had a bit of an altercation yesterday, correct?" He looked at them, then continued on, having apparently answered his own question. "Now, you all know the rules of this establishment. No fighting between prisoners. I know you already received your punishments in solitary, and we wouldn't want that to happen again, so I'm just going to let you all off with a warning this time." He smiled, as if everything had been cleared up, and sipped more tea. Then, the large prisoner with the scar who Caligula had called Francis, stood up. "These morons kick the crap out of me, and I get punished? What kinda drakking sense does that make?!" He had shouted at Caligula, who had simply carried on sipping his tea. Then, he suddenly smashed his teacup on the edge of the table, and with the speed of someone half his age, leaped up and drove the jagged edges of the teacup into Francis's throat. Francis gargled and gasped, then collapsed to the floor, dead. Caligula simply straightened his uniform and wiped the blood off of his hands with a napkin. "Shame. That was my favourite cup. Escort them back to their cells and burn the body." The guards took Nolun and Andress away, the shocked expression still on their faces.

In the middle of the day, the entire prison had recreation and exercise time, where they could run around a small indoor yard. Nolun and Andress were sitting on a bench away from everyone in the yard, so as not to draw attention to themselves, even though everyone who was smart enough knew not to mess with them after the fight yesterday, and hearing about what happened to Francis. Nolun leaned forwards and put his chin in his hands, looking forward in deep thought. "So, your cell has a rusty pipe. I don't exactly think we can beat them to death with that." Andress said, leaning back against the wall. Nolun gave a tiny chuckle, and sighed. "It's a start. Maybe if we work something out, a way to get something into the pipes..." Andress looked at him with a sympathetic stare. "Nolun, we have less than a week before Gottlieb gets here. When he does, it's over. We're gonna need more than just a pipe." "She's right. You two are gonna need a miracle." Andress and Nolun looked up to see who had spoken to them, and saw a much younger girl with short-cut brown hair sitting next to them on the bench and staring at them. "You're the two that beat up Francis yesterday, right? The people that took the Dorado Pieces?" Nolun looked surprised. "How do you-" She gave a sly little smile. "Don't act so shocked, lovely. News travels fast in this system. Especially when you know where to look." She extended a hand, a toothy grin on her face. "Tracy Delarose. Everyone just calls me Trace." Andress hesitantly reached out her hand and shook back. "Andress. That's Nolun." Nolun nodded, and Trace continued in her speech. "You two want to get out of here and away from this Gottlieb fellow in a week, and all you have is a rusty pipe." Nolun sighed and put his head in his hands. "I know. It's a stupid plan, but it could work if we figured out what the hell we're actually doing." Trace gave a little mischievous giggle. "It's a decent plan, lovely. But you forgot one more important thing that'll make it work." She leaned in, smiling her toothy smile. "You've got me now."