Jack

Chapter Eleven: Fight or Flight

Jack awoke to his father shaking him. Looking into his father's face in the dark, he almost forgot who it was and stopped himself narrowly from screaming in surprise. His father just looked into his eyes with a knowing expression. He motioned for Jack to come closer so he could whisper something to him.

"We're inside a room along the hallway where our jail cells were. We've gotta bust the hell outta here, but there's two guys standin' outside. I don't see weapons on 'em, so here's what we gotta do.

"When I say go, you're gonna run out and down that hallway like a bat outta hell-"

Jack cringed at the expression.

His father half-smiled and said, "come on, Jackie. That's done with for now. You're never gonna see that beast again...well, unless you drag behind me far enough when we're escaping."

Jack stood up straight like a soldier and put as serious of an expression on his face as he could. He would do his father proud, and he would not be put back in that cavern if he had to lose his leg for it.

"Alright, Jackie, here's what we gotta do," his father said. When I say go, you're gonna run out and down that hallway as fast as you goddamn can, and those two men I bet are gonna start chasin' ya back to yer cell. I'm gonna run out and tackle 'em. I figure with them distracted like that, you can grab the rope one of 'em's got on his belt and we can toss 'em in with Mr. Bat."

Jack smiled evilly. He figured he knew exactly who these two men were.

His father nodded with a low chuckle, as if sharing the same sentiments; he undoubtedly was, to some extent. He guided Jack to the edge of the natural doorway. Jack could see torchlight reflecting smoothly off of the walls to his left. With a deep breath, he steeled himself to start running.

In his ear, he heard his father's words tickle the skin: "three...two...one...go."

On the last word, Jack sprang up and sprinted around the corner, veering hard to the right as he heard two surprised shouts. The cold wind rushed past his ears as he ran, his legs pumping hard. He dodged outcroppings, pitfalls and stalactites with ease, pushed on step by step by his fear. He could hear the men behind him panting hard, their heavy steps trying to bear down on his. He didn't know how much longer he'd last before their longer legs caught up to him.

Suddenly, he heard a loud thump and the breath whooshing out of someone's lungs. He wheeled around on his heel and looked behind him. His father was sprawled across none other than Yert and Bert, keeping them pinned under his thick limbs while they thrashed and squirmed.

Jack could hear words muffled by the dust of the tunnel floor that sounded very, very angry. He quickly reached for Yert's belt and pulled the rope off, tugging harder when it caught momentarily. He handed it to his father with that evil smile shining again on his face.

In no time, the men were roped up together on the ground. Jack's father stood back with his hands on his hips, looking satisfied. He was closely inspecting a knife he had found on Bert's belt. Meanwhile, Jack was kicking Bert's head in with all the gusto he could manage, loving every crunch of bone.

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They were as shadows creeping along the passage, making no sound, alerting no one. When an enemy approached, the knife would greet their neck and a hand their mouth to send them to the other side. They dragged the corpses into hidden spots and kept going.

The tunnels seemed to stretch on into labyrinthine infinity. Torches offered brief respite from the stinging black, yet there were some spots where Jack had to cling to his father as they stalked through complete darkness, barely able to see the slimy walls around them.