Sam and Colby: The Penitentiary

77

            "We don't have to do it again, princess," Colby said from the other side of the bars.

"What?" I asked, looking up to see him and Jake standing in front of us.

"We're back. The place is empty. The cells are shut but not locked," said Jake. Colby reached out and pulled our cell door open.

"W—but—I," I stuttered.

"You're serious?" Sam asked.

"Yes, brother. We're back. Now let's go get Corey," said Colby.

I hesitated to even walk out of the cell. It felt weird to do anything without a guard's permission.

"It's okay, baby. Come on out," Colby said, holding out his arms. I slowly stepped out and looked around to see that the jail was, in fact, empty. I dove into Colby's arms and immediately started to sob. "We made it. We're okay," he whispered. He hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head.

"We did it," I whispered into his shirt.

"We did it," he replied softly.

"We'll go get Corey," Jake said. He and Sam left and I heard their footsteps clank down the metal stairs. Colby held me for another minute before pulling back.

"We're alive and we're in our own time," Colby said. "Now we've just got to make up a story to tell everyone."

"No we don't. Sam woke up with the camera and all the tapes. If it's here then I'm guessing it saved," I said.

"Wait, really? We have the footage?" Colby asked excitedly.

"Yes, yes. We have it," I smiled.

"Thank fucking god," Colby said. "Stop crying. It makes me sad." He reached up and wiped my tears away with his thumbs and I couldn't help but laugh. We made it. It took three tries and Colby literally died, but we made it back.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I just started to think that we'd really never make it out of here," I said.

"I know. Me too. But we did it. And we couldn't have figured it out without you, baby girl," he replied. "Now let's go get Corey and get the fuck out of here."

I ran down the stairs and barreled over to Corey, running into him and wrapping him in a giant hug. The other guys joined in and we all stood there for a minute, just hugging each other.

"Well that was weird," Corey said.

"Weird? Nah, brother. That was fucking insane," said Jake.

"Let's get our shit and leave. I don't want to be here for another second," said Sam.

"I second that," said Colby. We made our way out of the cell block, all of us letting out a sigh of relief when the door wasn't locked. We were free to roam the prison. We were free to leave this place. We were free.

We all ran, literally ran, up to the warden's office. We didn't say anything, but let out laughs and whoops of joy.

We made it inside to see Jaz holding her phone up to her ear.

"There you are! I wondered where you guys went," she said, hanging up her phone. "I was trying to call Sam but his phone is in here. And where'd you get those uniforms? Those are very accurate to the ones prisoners wore here. They're the 70s and 80s style uniforms."

"Found them in the laundry room," I said.

"The laundry room? That's not in the prison anymore," Jaz said.

"Uh... we just got them, I guess," said Corey.

"Hm. Okay then. Well, I'll let you guys pack up your stuff. I've got some paperwork to fill out at the front desk. Just leave your keys on the warden's desk out in his office across the hall and you'll be all good to go," said Jaz.

"Okay, thank you," I said.

"Of course. Did you have a good few nights? Get some good footage?" asked Jaz.

"More like a bad few months," said Jake.

"Yes, we got some pretty... unique footage to say the least," said Sam.

"Good, good. Well, I'm going to run. Remember to leave the keys for me and thank you guys for choosing Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary," Jaz said. She flashed us a smile and shook all of our hands before leaving the room.

"Alright, let's pack up and get the fuck out," said Jake.

"Sounds good to me," said Corey.

The clothes we'd been wearing before we left were all in a pile together by the side of our beds. I fished my key out of my shorts pocket and Sam grabbed his from the table we'd set all of our cameras on and he went out to put them on the warden's desk.

"Oh my god, I get to change my bra," I said.

"Ew, you were wearing the same one that whole time?" asked Jake.

"Not like I had a fucking option, genius," I said. "Blaze got me some when we were in for the first few months, but they were shitty thin sportsbras. I get to put on a real one. Now get out and let me do so," I said, waving them all out of the room.

I took off my dirty, stiff uniform and opened up my suitcase. I'd never been so thankful to see normal clothes. I put on a nice new outfit and my Birkenstocks before opening the door to let the guys back in.

"Okay, I want to change too. And then we can go. Our flight's in a few hours. We've got to leave, like, now to make it on time," said Sam.

I left the room to let all the guys change and looked around the warden's quarters. I was so thankful that we'd been able to make it back. That we were all here, all alive, and in the right time period. The door opened a few moments later and the guys all emerged, Colby handing me my things.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," said Jake.

"Please," I agreed with a laugh.