The Vesuvian Prison✓

Chapter 4: Flames

I sit on the ground and try to think. My head starts hurting and I use both hands to hold the sides of my face. Gritting my teeth, I sit down again. It gets worse when I hear an explosion from outside. I stand up but feel very dizzy, which makes me fall on my face.

"Aaaaah," I cry out when sharp pain strikes me. Thankfully, I don't bleed. I turn around and look up. A cackling sound draws closer and I think the building is on fire. If Vicenta doesn't appear in a few minutes, I'll be dead. My family will never see my remains.

I don't know what happens after that because when I regain consciousness, I'm in Vicenta's arms near the prison's main door. My head doesn't hurt anymore.

"Finally," Vicenta says, putting me down. She supports me to stand on my feet. I look at the crowd trying to get out and the flames following us, wondering what happened.

"I'll tell you what happened," Vicenta tells me, as if reading my mind. "We need to first get out of this place. Have you seen the mountain?"

I just stare at her. She grabs my wrist and we weave our way through the thick crowd. Since everyone is trying to do the same, it's hard to get through. While some people can't stop yelling and sobbing, others are completely mute. After a seemingly endless struggle, we get out of the prison.

Instinctively, I look towards Mount Vesuvius. A black cloud is swirling over it and spreading slowly. It's expanding as it goes up. As everyone runs, Vicenta starts coughing and wheezing so we sit on the grass outside the gate. After everything we've been through, we need to catch our breath.

"Gabo ordered a jet but it struck the force field that's over the prison, causing the fire."

"There's a force field?"

"Yes," Vicenta affirms. "Thanks to the fire, we were able to get out. The security technology got messed up. It's a pity that bastard is not dead."

"Where is he?" I ask.

Before Vicenta can answer, we hear terrifying screams as the main building collapses. Getting back on our feet, we sprint as fast as our legs can carry us. We stop near an abandoned car in an almost empty road. The prisoners have scattered to different directions, each of us hoping that the direction we're taking is the safest. We've gone a short distance and my lungs feel like they are about to burst into flames. My feet ache so I go towards the car and lean against the trunk. Heavy ash begins to fall again and I know our death is imminent. I open the passenger door, grab the small floor mats, giving one to Vicenta. We use them to shield ourselves from the hot ash.

"Let's go," Vicenta says when the air becomes more concentrated. With every passing minute, it's getting harder to breathe. Without saying a word, I follow her. We both know that we're just prolonging the inevitable. The cloud of gas is spreading allover the atmosphere and the wind is moving at an abnormal speed. Even though we run, we'll never be able to get out of the red zone in time.

"Do you know the direction of Misenium?" A male inmate asks as he runs past Vicenta and I. "We have a chance of survival if we get there before the lava starts flowing."

We shake our heads and follow him, hoping we'll have some luck. As we're running, we hear the sound of an aeroplane. I look up to see if it's an evacuation plane. It's a helicopter that looks new. It slowly descends and passes right over heads. A Hispanic man looks out. When Vicenta sees him, she grabs my hand and leads me into an abandoned clinic. The other inmate continues to run.

"What's going on, Vicenta?"

"That's one of Gabo's men," she says with a panicked expression.

"What if he wants to help us?" I ask.

"If there's one thing Gabo wants, it's to give me a slow death or make me suffer. You know I'm partly the reason he was captured."

"Yes but-"

"But nothing," she says. "We have to find somewhere to hide. I'd rather get killed by the Volcano."

Just then, I hear a rumble which seems to come from the Volcano. We glance at each other and run out of the building. The helicopter is still flying around.

The helicopter starts to lower after the man catches sight of us. Looking at the mountain, I see red lava shooting up and starting to roll down the slope.
At this point, I make my decision and look at Vicenta expectantly. She needs to decide quickly. There are two options; a quick death or a terrible life leading to a slow death?

Suddenly, Vicenta puts her arms around me. She's crying and I think she's going to chose to go with our "rescuers" but she does something completely unexpected. She pulls back and as I shout her name out loud runs back towards the volcano. For a moment, I think of following her but I decide to chose life no matter how tough I know it's going to be as a slave of El Monstruo. As tears stream down my cheeks, I hold on to the rope that is lowered down from the helicopter.

I know I'll never be happy and I'll never forget Vicenta but what I know is that there's a possibility of seeing my family again and that's what will keep me going.

THE END

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Love, C.G. Hope