Rising: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction (8 page)

Cell Block Blues

“Jed.  First things first.  We need to get you out of there, if your going to help me.  How do I open your cell?”

Jed pointed towards the guard office.

Leekasha went to the tied up guard that was still alive.  He was looking at his partner still bleeding on the ground.  The look in his eyes was a mix of fear and panic.  Fear for himself, and panic for what he had done.

“Alright buddy, I need your help getting my new friend there out of his cell.  You’re going to open his door for him.”

“I shot him,” he said as his lower lip trembled.  “I’ve never shot anyone.  Not anyone, or anything.  I don’t even hunt.  Everyone around here is a hunter, not me.  I just started last week.  Is he still alive?  Maybe we can save him.”

Leekasha looked back to the guard lying in a pool of blood with a gaping hole in the back of his head.  He wasn’t moving, and from where Leekasha stood he didn’t seem to be breathing either.

“I don’t know,” Leekasha lied.  “Maybe we can help him, but I need your help.  I need you to get this cell door open.” She indicated Jed’s cell.  The guard couldn’t take his gaze off his fallen partner.  “Hey, c’mon now listen to me.  I’m gonna try and help your partner, but you need to help me first.  We need to get the doctor.  Let’s get back to your office.  From there we can call for help OK.”

“Yea, OK. Call for help.  That’s what I need to do.”

“Great, let’s do that.”  Leekasha grabbed the guards arm helping him up.  As he stood, he raised his tied hands and pressed the radio mic pinned to his uniform.

“Shots fired in Z block.  Officer down!  Officer down! Send assistance urgently.”

“Ah hell!” Leekasha looked to Jed in his cell.

Jed just raised his hands and shook his head. “I Didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“Well, control him now.  Make him open your door damn it.  I can’t do everything.  Those extra guards will be here any second.”

Suddenly, a loud piercing alarm sounded, and red lights above the exit doors started flashing.  Leekasha looked to Christa, who was now shivering on the floor.
Oh crap.
She thought. 
Christa, don’t do this now.  What are your doing?  Is that shock?  Are you going into shock now?

Jed was doing his best to control the guard.  The guard entered the office, sat in a chair and picked up the phone. 

“Jed!” Leekasha called over the sounds of the alarm.  It was piercing.  Between the screams in her head, the alarm and the flashing lights, Leekasha wanted to just bolt.  Instead, she looked to Jed, and said, “Control him damn you.  Make him open your door. Get him off that phone.  We’ve already got enough trouble coming.”

Jed focused his control, and the guard put down the phone.  He turned to a panel on his right and pressed a series of buttons.  Jed’s door popped open, but as it did another door opened at the end of the block. A half dozen guards in full riot gear came charging in. Behind them, were two paramedics also wearing riot gear.  Leekasha grabbed Jed by the hand, and they fled into the guard office.  There was a door on the other side of it, that led to the adjoining cell block.

“Jed, make him open all the doors.  We need to slow down those other guards.  Quickly.”

Jed did his best, and the guard opened every cell door in the block.  The advancing guards had their hands full making it through a mob of drug addled zombies, while Leekasha and Jed made their escape into the next cell block.

Cellmates

Jed and Leekasha raced through the deserted cell block, past rows of open cells.  The smell of too many people living in too small a space still permeated the air, but neither of them paid much attention amidst the sounds of alarms and flashing lights.  They passed all the cells and reached a dead end at a locked door leading to the yard. They’re only available route was stairs leading to the upper row of cells in the block. 

“Up the stairs.”  Leekasha said. 

Up top wasn’t much better.  There was still no way out, and moving past these cells would take them closer to what they were running from.  All the blocks led back to the central guard office like spokes on a wheel.

“In there.”  Leekasha said motioning to one of the empty cells.

They  ducked into the cell, which was sparse.  Nowhere to hide.  It had two bunks anchored to the walls with tattered green mattresses.  A small work table also attached to the wall and a stool missing a leg were the only other fixtures. 

“There’s hundreds of cells in here.  It’ll take them a while to search all of them.”  Leekasha said.

“Not long enough.”  Jed replied.

Leekasha frowned.  “I know.  I know.  Give me a second to catch my breath.  I’ll figure something out.”

Leekasha sat on the lower bunk, while Jed peered out the cell down the block.

“Get your head back in here.  What do you think your doing?  They’ll spot you from the other end of the block.  Don’t bother watching for them.  We’ll hear them coming long before they get here.  This place is quiet as a tomb.”

Jed sat himself down at the wobbly stool across from Leekasha. 

“Sorry, this is all new to me.  I’m not used to making decisions on my own.”

Leekasha smiled.  “Welcome to the world of grown ups.  You’ll get used to it.  I was where you are a few months ago.”

“Really?  You don’t look like it.  Your like me?”

“Yea, just like you.”

Jed looked Leekasha in the eyes. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For getting me out of that horror.  I felt like I’d been trapped for years.”

Leekasha turned her head.  “Hate to tell you this, but your right.  The Pacize drugs have been controlling you for years.  Ever since the war ended.”

“Damn.  That long?  What about my family?  My wife.  We just had our second kid, what happened …”

Leekasha interrupted.  “Look, I feel really bad, but we don’t have time for a trip down memory lane.  My best friend is back there all messed up, and we’re about to be found by a bunch of pissed off prison guards looking to avenge the death of a fellow guard.  We need a plan.”

“Right.”  Jed answered standing up.  “That was your best friend we left behind?”

“Don’t give me that.  I know what I did, leaving her there.  I didn’t have a choice.  There was too much screaming, too much blood, and too much damn noise.  Christa can take care of herself.  She’s not as helpless as she looked.”

Leekasha punched the mattress.  “Shit. Shit. Shit.  Your right. I shouldn’t have left her back there.  She wouldn’t have done that to me.  She would have figured something out.  She’s smart that way.”

“It was a friggin’ mess back there.  You did the best you could.  The paramedics will take care of your friend.  They’re not just going to let her die or anything.  They’ll want to talk with her.”

“Right.  I know.”  Leekasha smiled at Jed.  “Look at you being all calm and collective.  Waking up from the big sleep just minutes ago, and already your making more sense than I am.  I don’t know what happened to her, and I freaked out.  We could still use some help though.  How well do you know your fellow inmates?”

“Know?  I’ve been doped out for years according to you.  I can’t even remember what I did yesterday.”

“Don’t worry.  It comes back.  Give it time.  All the horrible details come back, and you’ll wish they never did.”

“Great.  I can hardly wait.”

“If you saw the other inmates again, would you like … hate … trust any of them?  Try to think what it was like just before I helped you across the bridge.”

“The bridge?”  Jed thought for a second.  “Yea I remember a bridge.  You fixed the bridge.  I remember that.  It was foggy, but I remember that.”  Jed closed his eyes for a few seconds thinking, then opened them.  “Maybe, I might remember some of them.”

“Good, you work on that.  I have a plan.”

The sound of the guards office door closing echoed through the block, followed by the sound of military boots moving down the block.

Locked Up

“You hear that?”  Jed asked.

“Of course, I hear that.  Those boots are loud as hell.  I guess they’re not trying to sneak up on us are they?”  Leekasha answered.

“They know we’re trapped.  There’s no way out, except back where we came from.”

Leekasha stood up from the bunk.  “You remember what you did back there with the guard?  The way you had him shoot the other one.”

“I didn’t try to make him shoot the other guard.  I just remember you helping me, and getting me out of that horror.  Then, I saw them coming up behind you.  I just wanted them to stop.  I didn’t specifically tell him to shoot, I just didn’t want them to hurt you.  It was you I was thinking about.  The other guard knew what his partner was going to do.  He decided to shoot, not me.”

“Good, so you remember.  That’s good.  Pretty sloppy the way you handled it, and more than a little lucky but good enough.  You’ll get better at it.”

“Better? At what?”

“You have abilities that humans don’t.”

Jed looked worried. “I am human … what do you mean abilities?  What are you saying?”

Leekasha put her hands on his shoulders.  “OK, look, we don’t have time for a history lesson right now.  Let’s just say your different.  You’re kinda improved in ways you may not remember.”

“That’s crazy, I …”

Leekasha gripped his shoulders tighter. “Shh!  Stop.  Just listen to me.  Right now we need to deal with those guards coming down the block.  They’re gonna be here fast.  I need you to think about me just like you did back in your cell.  These guys coming are pissed.  One of their colleagues is dead, and we had something to do with that.”

Jed covered his mouth with his hand.

Leekasha continued.  “That’s good you feel bad about it, believe me that’s a really good thing.  Not everybody reacts that way.  Still, we need to deal with them.  I’m going to need your help.  I can manage two maybe three of them at a time. If there’s more of them, you’re going to have to help.  Got it?”

“Yea, yes.  I can do that,”  Jed said nodding his head in agreement.

The guards had finished sweeping the lower floor, and were moving up the stairs.  There were two guards on the upper level and two below watching above and the far exit.  The two above leapfrogged from cell to cell, and looking inside.  Leekasha could hear them at the cell next to theirs.

The muzzle of the first guards weapon inched into view, followed by the guard holding the gun.  He raised the weapon to his shoulder, aimed at Jed and applied light pressure to the trigger.  Jed raised his hands, while Leekasha suggested the guard move his finger off the trigger.  The guard did.  The second guard came into view, took aim, and Leekasha convinced him to put his safety back on. 

Leekasha could hear the footsteps of the other two guards racing up the stairs.  She looked to Jed.  “There’s two more coming.  I need your help.  Ready?”  Jed didn’t look happy, but nodded in agreement.

Leekasha directed the first two guards to enter the cell and secure the prisoners.  They did and placed tie straps around Jed and Leekasha’s wrists. 

The third guard appeared and said, “What are you doing?  We had orders to shoot on sight.  These two are dangerous.  They killed Kenny.”

The first guard replied, “New orders.  The warden wants these two locked up and interrogated.”

When Leekasha tried to focus on the third, the second guard reached for the safety on his weapon.  She brought her focus back to him, and lowered his hand.  She started alternating between the three guards in rapid succession.  The strain was apparent on her face, as the fourth guard appeared.  Leekasha looked to Jed pleadingly.  Jed stared the fourth guard down, but the guard raised his weapon, flipped the safety off and placed the muzzle square in the middle of Leekasha’s forehead.

Jed pushed harder in his head, and the guard lowered his weapon.  Jed pushed harder still, and the guard backed out of the cell.  He backed up right up to the railing overlooking the lower floor.  Jed’s face turned red as he strained to keep him there.  The guard tried to take a step towards the cell. Jed raised his restrained hands clenching them in fists.  The guard turned to face the railing and threw himself over landing with a thud and a crack on the concrete floor below. 

“I’m sorry.”  Jed whispered, his fists still shaking. “I couldn’t hold him.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

“No time for regrets,”  Leekasha hissed at him.  “I need help here.  Just a little.  Distract one of them for a second.” 

Jed tried, but barely kept the guard from raising his weapon.  It was all the break Leekasha needed.  She focused on the guard with the sergeant stripes. 

The sergeant ordered Jed’s guard.  “Call the medics, and get down there to check on Frank.  Make sure he didn’t break his neck.  Move!” 

The guard called for medics on his radio as he double timed it down the stairs.  He called from below.  “Franks OK, but I think he broke his leg.  He can’t stand.”

“Stay with him till the medics get here.  We’re taking these two back to Z block for lockup.”

***

Leekasha had convinced the guards to lock both her and Jed in Jed’s old cell.  The sergeant informed the guards on watch, that the warden would be down later to deal with them.  For the time being all prisoners were to be kept in their cells.

“It’s time.”  Leekasha said to Jed.  “I’ve had enough of this.”

“What about your friend?  Christa?” 

“All in good time.  Right now, we need to make some changes around here.  You feel OK?  Can you hear the others?”

“No, what do you mean?”

“I can hear the pain from every other zombie in this place.  Trust me, it’s good you can’t hear them.  I need your help again.  I want you to send some suggestions this time to the guards in the control room over there.”

The first thing Jed did, was suggest to the guards, that his cell door should be open.  After they opened the door, he had them restrain each other hands and feet with tie straps.  Leekasha had a good chuckle watching the one guard figure out how to put straps on the other while he himself was restrained.  Jed then instructed both of them to lay on the floor and take a nap.  They bot got a chuckle out of that. 

“I still don’t understand why you let them lock us back up in here like you did.”

“Sometimes, it’s important to know when your beat.  Right now, we’re a little short staffed.  What do you say, we recruit some help?”

Recruitment Drive

Leekasha and Jed started working their way down the cell block.  The first occupied cell had a zombie chewing on his last remaining fingers.  Only the thumb and index finger remained on his right hand, and it didn’t look like his index finger had much time left.  He was missing the pinkies off both feet as well. 

Leekasha’s look of disgust said more than her words.  “This one’s not likely a good candidate for recruitment.  I prefer my helpers to have opposable thumbs.”

“I don’t understand.”  Jed said.  “Helpers for what?”

“That much I haven’t figured out yet, but I need to revive some zombies from the drug.  I only want the good ones though.”

“The good ones.  How do you know they’re good?”

“That’s where you come in.  I was hoping you’d remember some of them.  Maybe you had some sort of interaction with them under the drug.  A connection.  Maybe just a feeling.”

“I don’t know, I can try.”

“Anything would be helpful Jed.  It’s a bit exhausting for me to revive them, and I’m not sure how many I need.  The more the better.”

“For what?  What exactly are you reviving them for?  We can get out of here now can’t we?  Just make the guards let us out.”

“There’s the matter of my friend Christa.  I’m not deserting her to this place.  Secondly, I don’t think you quite understand the gravity of the current global socio-political environment we currently find ourselves in as a planet.”  Leekasha tried to hide her smile.

Jed looked totally confusion.

“I’m just messing with you buddy, but suffice it to say, Christa and I didn’t just break into here for the thrill of escaping.  That, would be a waste of effort don’t you think?”

“Yea, sure I suppose.  So why exactly did you break in here?”

“Um, we’re taking over the planet.”

This time Jed cracked a smile first.  “Your pretty funny.  I get it this time.  You break into the Louisiana State Prison so you can save the planet.”

“I may be smiling Jed, but I am totally serious.  We are about to spark a revolt here the likes of which even God hasn’t seen.  And you my friend are lucky enough to be at ground zero.  So, help me figure out which of these zombies are destined to join the revolution.”

Jed didn’t really remember much from his time under the influence of Pacize, so Leekasha was forced to pick zombies based mainly on their current behavior.  Going was slow, but within a few hours, she managed to revive a dozen good zombies.  There were another five that were stark raving mad freaks.  As soon as they revived, their skin began to decompose and they nearly tore their own limbs off trying to get out of their cells. 

It took it’s toll on Leekasha.  Between reviving zombies and blocking the screams of the doped out ones, she could barely stand. 

“I need a break.” She said.  “Just a few minutes, then I can do some more.”

“I don’t know Leekasha.  You don’t look so good.  Isn’t this enough?  How many do we need?”

“Probably all of them. I’m not sure.”

“You can’t do all of them.  There’s no way.  You need some sleep, and some food.”

“What I need is another thousand revived zombies.”

“Can’t I help?  What about the others you’ve revived.  Can’t we do what you do?”

“You will, just not yet.  You need time to get stronger.”

Just then, the alarm siren and lights went off for the second time. 

“Damn.  We need to keep moving.  I was going to wait till I was sure, but we need to let the good ones I revived out of their cells now.  We’re sitting ducks with me in this state.  Go to the control room, and make those guards show you how to open the cell doors.  We need the revived zombies freed.”

Jed made a frantic dash for the control room as violent zombies in their cells clawed at him through the bars.