Cops n' Robbers (2)

Meanwhile, at the prison cafeteria, Deadlox was sitting alone, a plate of bread and an apple untouched in front of him. He was looking down at the table, and did not notice a silent figure slipping into the chair opposite. The figure cleared his throat, and Ty jumped. “Oh, Sparklez, it’s you. You scared the shit out of me.” The Captain chuckled, “Lost in thought, I see.”

Deadlox sighed, looking away once more. Sparklez took the apple from the table and took a bite. “So, how did the session go?” Deadlox shrugged. “Nothing much, just a few lashes for a starter. He didn’t do anything interesting, though." “Pity.” Deadlox rested his chin on his hand, “How was yours?” Sparklez smirked. “Better than yours, anyway.” He leaned back, a smile still playing on his face. “A few cuts to the arm as usual, a bite at the shoulder, blah blah blah. Let me give you a small tip.” He stood up, dusting his hands on his pants. “He’ll be up to something soon.” Ty’s eyes grew wide. “What do you mean, ‘up to something?’ Jason wouldn’t try that, would he?” “You’ll see. Here,” Sparklez tossed him something small and black. “You’ll thank me for that later.”

Jason saw that the two had already dug a hole beneath the stone floor. Sky had smuggled some supplies from the courtyard, and Ant had mapped out an escape route. “There’s a boat dock just West of here. But it’s too risky if we head straight to the boat. Ty may be mad, but he’s no fool. There should be some defenses around it. So we’ll run through the forest and shake him off. After he loses track of us, we’ll swim to the docks. Simple.” Jason, who was still rather scared, suggested timidly, “We could try to escape the normal way, though…” But Ant cut through his words. “This isn’t a game anymore, Jason! It’s been days since we started this. We are going to win this once and for all.” Jason looked down at the floor. Ant was right. This wasn’t just a game. It became a struggle for freedom. But did he really want to do it?

Every night, they quietly set to work. Two would dig the hole, and the other would keep watch. Once, they flooded the tunnel after accidentally digging through a nearby pond. They had some trouble trying to explain their sopping clothes, and Jason had to wildly invent that they had fallen in the toilet.

“Guys, he’s coming!”
Sky’s voice echoed through the walls, making the two inmates jump. “We’re coming!” They stacked their supplies on the ground and raced back. Trying not to show their sweaty faces, they stood in a line in front of the cell door. Deadlox walked into view, his eyes meeting each prisoner’s frightened gaze. He glanced at Jason, and he swore that he saw the warden wink at him. Jason blushed, the dim light somewhat covering the red cheeks. “I see that everything is well.” Deadlox was about to leave, but raised an eyebrow when he saw Ant’s hand, still covered in dirt from the digging. “Antvenom, why is your hand filthy?” He asked, pointing his baton at him. Jason almost panicked, but Ant answered rather calmly. “I was dared to put my hand into the toilet, sir.” “Right….You three seem to have something with toilets.”
Deadlox turned around again, twirling his baton as he rounded the corner. They heard the door click, and sat down one by one. “That,” Sky breathed, “was a close call.” Ant rubbed his hand on his shirt, and checked the clock hanging outside the cell. “Today’s schedule will start in two hours, so we might as well take a rest before it starts.”

Two hours later, Deadlox emerged from his office. This time, he had his diamond sword and the enchanted bow in his hand. He clanged his sword on the iron bars, arousing Jason from his sleep. He immediately stood up. “MinecraftUniverse, reporting for duty.” Ty said nothing, but he blew a silent kiss towards him and pointed to his inmates. “You will go to the library in 10 minutes, so make sure that you are all ready when I return.” “Yes, sir.” Deadlox left, and Jason turned to his inmates, still curled on the ground. “Guys, it’s clear. We only have 10 minutes!” The bodies still lay unmoving, but the bricks underneath them were pushed aside. Sky and Ant clambered out, both shirtless. “Thank Notch we found these old skeletons.” Sky said, as he picked up his shirt from one of the skeletons. “Guys, do we really have to do this? It’s not the most comfortable sleeping spot in the world.” Jason pouted. “Sorry, Jason, but there’s no other choice.” Ant sincerely apologized, and patted the boy on the back.

When Deadlox came back to lead them out, he saw that they were all awake and at attention. The prisoners had pushed the skeletons into the hole they had dug. The warden unlocked the door and led them in single file to the library. The library was a two-floor room, filled with hundreds of books. A cozy fireplace, slightly unmatched with the draughty prison, provided warmth around the room. The three delinquents were to organize the books into subjects, and then in alphabetical order. They had been doing it for quite some time, and since they were always organizing supplies, their hands were very nimble. In less than 3 hours, most of the books were in place. Deadlox was rather surprised at this, and sent them to the showers. He wandered amongst the vast collection of books, when something caught his eye. Behind a bookcase a little distance away from the main aisles, was a rose. It was wedged between some book pages, evidently used as a bookmark. He flipped it open to the marked page. The book was an atlas, an atlas of this prison. He thought for a moment, and snapped it shut. He threw the book into the fire, which was soon reduced to ashes.

That night, Sky and Jason were digging once more. According to Ant’s calculations, they had to dig a few more meters, and they would meet open air. Sky’s shovel went through the dirt with a crunch, and when he pulled it back out, a breeze lifted his brown hair. “Wind,” he whispered, his eyes brimming with tears behind his sunglasses, “We made it!” He dashed back down the tunnel, trying hard not to yell at the top of his voice. “Ant! We’ve done it! There’s the outside!” Ant jumped down the hole excitedly, carefully sliding the bricks back into place. Sky cleared the last of the dirt with his shovel, and the dim moonlight fell upon the three escapees. Jason now also felt to cool night air on his face. “Now we just have to-” But his words were silenced by the sound of breaking string, followed by a loud wailing siren.

“Trip wire!” Ant yelled, and bolted towards the forest. The other two followed suit, but another pair of footsteps were closing in on them. An arrow whizzed past Jason’s ear, embedding itself on the ground. A second arrow pierced Ant’s thigh, making him stumble. He gritted his teeth and continued running. They heard Deadlox’s voice, loud and clear. “There’s no getting away, boys!” “As if,” Sky muttered, as they dashed through the thick trees. They took a sharp turn and saw a clearing up ahead. They collapsed onto the ground, gasping and panting for air. Making sure that they were no longer followed, they all slumped down onto the ground, exhausted. Jason was about to say, “That was close,” when someone grabbed him from behind. The attacker put a cloth over his nose and mouth, making his body limp. ‘N, no…I won’t….’ His struggles ceased, and he was dragged under, his eyes barely making out the figure now standing over Ant. Then all he saw was black.

When Ant finally got his leg bandaged, he looked up to tell his friends it would be fine. To his horror, he saw them both slumped against the trees, and a familiar figure standing over him. “Sparklez….” The Captain’s face was stretched into a grin, his eyes fixed hungrily on the wounded man. “Lovely night, don’t you think?” He asked matter-of-factly. Ant tried to crawl away, but Sparklez quickly stepped on Ant’s pierced thigh. “Nuh-uh. You really should take more care of yourself, Ant. After all-” Ant screamed with pain as Sparklez put his weight on the leg. “-I can’t stand it when I see my little pet injured.” Ant swallowed hard, recalling the times when they had their little “private time.” Sparklez was mad, but he now realized that there was nothing he could do about it.