"I never understood why lunch comes so early." Diaz said as he shoveled the food into his mouth. The dragon tattoo ran up his arm making his tan skin shine bright against his red jumpsuit.
"And dinner comes even earlier," Jesus commented and then leaned over toward Major. "You'll have that stuff coming in next week."
Major silently nodded. His mind was wandering. The idea was to acquire as much contraband as possible then sell it for these two gentleman and make enough profit to acquire the tools and bribes necessary to get the hell out of this place. If what the new guy says is true then all that may not be needed after all. Farfetched though. Almost laughable. What the new arrival had approached him with this morning would have been altogether thrown out if it wasn't for that man's eyes. It was as if he knew that something was going to happen and he had the inside scoop. The Asian had rattled off longitudes and latitudes and in no specific order. He said things would happen in those areas and that he needed to get out of here to meet a friend. If Major wasn't dumbfounded he would have dismissed this erratic character as part of the common rabble. Major told the guy to meet them at this table this afternoon. There was something to what he was saying. If he was a common criminal then how would he have known these coordinates or even correctly guessed. In his cell Major had pulled out his atlas from the few books he was allowed to keep and set off to find out their locations. Every set of coordinates that Major could remember had matched almost every major U.S. city. Things would happen in these locations. That was all he had said. If something was to happen then he would hold his cards close or maybe the guy had only a minor role in what was to happen and was made to be ignorant or perhaps it is all a fabrication to gain Major's favor and make the mistake of trying to get something for nothing. Today Major was going to get to the bottom of it. His mind ached like in his old military days from sifting through all the options and possibilities.
Word has gotten around that there were no goodies to purchase from the table of hierarchy-like criminals. The random hand washing slowed and lunch was going by normally. The only thing out of pace was the Asian. Was he antsy because Major hadn't yet addressed his demands? Major couldn't figure it out. He was nervous, constantly looking around and tapping his foot. He was expecting something. In his fit of jitters he snapped his gaze upward and the two men locked eyes. Was this something that he warned of happening? Or going to happen?
"You gonna finish that"? Harley asked from the end of the table. Food was one of the occasions that the old biker would speak up on.
"Take it." Major slid his tray down a few feet. Suco handed it over purposely elbowing Jesse in the face which gained a chuckle from the table. With the exception of Major. He had noticed that the guards by the entry doors were whispering to each other. Then in a flash two others ran by. In curiosity the others followed. Perhaps the women were fighting again. They were often as ruthless as the men. Radios buzzed on nearby guards. Black boxes were pressed to their heads awaiting instructions. They pressed the mechanisms to confirm and soon they were off and running as well. Something big must be up. Several hundred inmates were now left alone with five guards in total. By this time the nervous fellow was practically jumping out of his skin. Many of the other inmates had no clue of the jailers disappearance. Many at the table had taken notice of Major watching the room and they too noticed the absence of authority.
The Asian kept fidgeting. "Too late... already happening..."
"Sit the fuck down and quit jumping around. For fuck's sake!" Suco grabbed the newcomer by the arm and forced him down. Suco's arm out stretched revealing his dark lined tattoo. Jesus and Diaz looked relieved to have the little man shut down. He was starting to draw attention.
"Hey," Major snapped his fingers to get the jittery man to look his way and at that same moment he seen one guard come from the kitchen and out of the door. The last remaining guards slowly walked toward the cafeteria doors and were seemingly nonchalant about doing so. This worried Major a great deal. "What is your name?"
"Toni Oh. I need to get o-" Toni was cut off by the Major. Which seemed to agitate the irritability of the little man even more.
"What you said yesterday... Is it about to happen?" The last word rolled of Major's tongue and the entire table had been looking and listening for an answer.
The man gave a solemn nod of the head as a bead of sweat dropped from his brow crinkled with the wrinkles of distress. The table fell silent. What the hell was going on? Major was trying to put together a damn puzzle and the pieces just wasn't fitting together. "Well?"
The man stared back with grim silence as his response.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?" Major stood to his feet as he shrieked out his question. Furious with the lack of detail the Major watched as the last four guards closed the cafeteria door with the lock clanging shut. Miraculously many of the inmates have not even noticed any these events transpiring as they are complacently preoccupied in their daily routine. This place has turned them into sheep. Major charged at the Asian and grabbed him by his orange suit. He pulled him nose to nose. "What the FUCK is going on?
Again nothing but silence. The old ex military man pulled his fist back and hammered back upon the bridge of the nose. Instantly blood gushed from the small nasal cavity and the man crumbled in a heap upon the floor. Major kneeled down with the entire cafeteria now his audience. He grabbed the man once more. "Tell me."
"Bombs..." Toni wiped his nose and repeated the word and then commenced to talking in his native tongue. Fright filled his eyes. He rambled on in incoherent words.
Major rose and stepped away from the miserable Toni feeling nothing but anger. He didn’t want to believe him. Why did this have to happen with him locked in here? This is going to be a hard job to orchestrate. Time to get to work.
Almost everyone including the cooks were standing and watching what was happening. Fewer inmates had realized that there were no guards in the entire cafeteria. Major moved to the entry doors. He knew they were locked but he gave them a shove anyway. Nothing. They were trapped in here. No telling when they would get out. Many inmates were starting to react to their situation. Inmates stood on top of tables, kicking their food into the floor and throwing chairs at the glass all the while yelling uncontrollably.
"Diaz, Jesus. Control your people. We need to stay focused if we-" A great shake in the ground forced every man off his feet. Some inmates toppled four feet from the top of tables. The walls trembled for a moment and then everything became still. The shaking only added to the chaos and confusion. Major stood up and by pushing others out of the way he cleared a path back to the entrance doors. He had seen a flash of blue prison guard uniforms. One man stopped and doubled back.
"Hey let us the hell out of here!" The Major demanded as he pushed a gap between the door. They had chained it from the other end. Half a foot was open. No one was skinny enough to fit.
"Sam, it’s you. Just let us out," Major had his head pushed into the crack of the door. "What the hell is going on?"
Sam was out of breath. "The orders are to let you out when all the guards have been evacuated."
Major didn't like what he was hearing. He wanted out of this cage and soon. On an impulse he quickly squeezed his arm through the gap in the door and snatched Sam by the collar. He pulled the guard so hard and with such force that when Sam smacked his head against the door and instantly fell unconscious. Major struggled to keep ahold of the limp man while still managing to reach for his keys. Major turned around with the guards whole utility belt. Major had removed Sam's gun, baton, pepper spray, and taser. By this time Jesus was corralling most of the prisoners and Harley had his few people in a corner engaged in serious conversation. Diaz and Suco had pushed their way through to the Major just as he had unlocked the chain from the cafeteria doors.
"Something serious is happening and I don't want to be stuck in here while shit hits the fan. Suco take this pepper spray and Diaz here, is the baton." Major opened the door and silently slippe
d through under the cover of all the chaos. He grabbed up the fallen guard's pile of zip ties. Diaz and Suco followed Major through the door and down the hallway. Several times they had to duck out of sight when guards were rushing by to get out of the prison. At one point they were spotted along the mentally unstable prison cell block. They decided to split up. The Major and Diaz went the intended way and Suco remained in the unstable block to take care of any guards. The guard had soon caught up with him. Suco and the guard were alone. Suco was free. He hadn’t killed in quite awhile. Suco paced back and forth with a smile planted across his face. The muscle bound guard lunged after Suco and the stealthy man ducked under and simply snatched the guard's keys from his belt. The guard turned unaware of the theft and commenced to attacking Suco in attempt to subdue and relocate the prisoner so the guard himself can be evacuated. Suco had no intention of ever being held in captivity again. He dodged as many hits as he could while backing towards the cell. Suco kneed his attacker in the groin doubling the guard over in pain. Suco swiftly turned around and unlocked a cell door. Inside a man sat against the wall slamming his head into it over and over again. The blood had already been pouring from his head. Bloodied words sprawled the walls. His prison jumpsuit was in tatters. Feces littered the floor giving off a gut wrenching odor. The trained killer shoved the guard in and locked the cell behind him. With the window slot covered all he could do was listen to the screams and shrills coming from the other side of the door. The excitement and commotion must have the other unstable prisoners irritated. Moans and screams were coming from all around. Suco decided to catch up with the others. His hunger had been satisfied. It had been so long since he had made a kill. They ran several halls over until they arrived at the main offices that control all the doors, locks, and security systems in the entire prison.
"Look guys, this main office most likely has a couple people left in here. We need to take them out quick and fast. Here are some zip ties. Suco you go in first. Take your guy out and then we will take the next closest two." Major was sweating. This was exhilarating. Almost as if he was back on the battlefield with his blood pumping and his adrenalin rushing the aging leader pushed the door open and Suco almost appearing to be a shadow, slipped in quickly and silently. Diaz held his baton at the ready while he watched Suco spray the room with pepper spray immediately crippling the entire room sending all those affected reeling with agony. Suco broke one's neck making a crunching sound as the victim went limp and Diaz pummeled another mercilessly. Major drew his taser on the last two and pulled the trigger. One man went down and the other started at a run. A dead sprint with his eyes locked on Major. The guard didn't get very far before he was greeted with Diaz's baton.
Everyone was either dead or incapacitated. The three men looked around and finally Major spotted a television. The men stood in awe of what they were reading on the screen. Suddenly everyone knew what the rumbling was and what Toni had been talking about. Things seemed all that more urgent now as they watched most of the guards running out of the prison with a few prisoners on their heels. Multiple cameras caught all the action. The parking lot was full of cars squealing off. Hallways were a storm of footsteps with the occasional battering of a guard by former prisoners. If it is really that bad beyond the prison walls then Major needed to act fast and get a leg up and establish a footing.
"Suco, get that guard I just shocked the hell out of and show us how to work these controls. We need to close the exit doors and open all cell blocks." Major instructed
"Sure," He bent over and slapped the man awake. " Just as long as we don't open the mentally unstable block."
"Diaz, go back to the others and have them get weapons. If there are any guards around who don't listen or comply then just kill them."
"Okay but when my cartel members decide to come up here to get me then i'm gone. My brother Jesus too." Diaz stood stern on his word.
Major had fire and ambition in his eyes. "After we take this prison we can all part ways. I could care less. But anyone who stays...After this here prison then we take the town. Our own patch of land to to take for our own. Expanding will be the key for survival my friends. If what is happening is true and widespread then now is our chance."
Part Two
Chapter Seven
No Time To Mourn
"Breaking news, A North Korean Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was fired and landed in the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side of Japan only five miles from the shore. Japanese officials are rallying the U.S. for retaliation however North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un quickly stepped forward and has said that the missile launch was only a test and there was a malfunction which caused the missile to land so close to shore of Japan." The newscast had been full of recent North Korean activity however Marilyn could care less. She only turned on the World News for Jack when he came down for breakfast.
Soon the sound of sizzling bacon drowned out the ranting of the newscast and Marilyn was soon in her element. All the stovetop burners were on with some sort of breakfast food cooking, dishwasher was full and washing, a sink full of dishes were tended to in between stirs of scrambled eggs and flips of sausage. Scrambled eggs came off the stove and soon pancakes, one at a time, went into the skillet all the while Marilyn slowly kept washing the dishes in the sink. She turned up the radio and while doing all this, Marilyn Steel began to dance back and forth from the dishes to the food slowly tending to each while singing the parts of the song she knew and dancing to the rest. Her long blonde hair swung back and forth, and her long legs kept her striding from one side of the counter to another never skipping a beat. The kitchen table was already set, breakfast was almost served, and Marilyn was in full bliss.
Rubbing his eyes and in nothing but boxer shorts and a tank top, Jordan came down and around the staircase. He loathed passed the kitchen island and sat down at the table. His light brown hair a mess, his dark deep set eyes half open, and with his exposed shoulder slumped he asked "What's for breakfast?"
About that time his mother sat before him a plate spilling over with eggs, three pieces of sausage, a mound of bacon, and pancakes on a side plate. Jordan's eyes lit up as if he were dead and brought back to life. He sat straight up looking around in search for the syrup and once he grasped the bottle he drenched both plates with the gooey mess. Jordan, with knife and fork in hand commenced to devouring the food set before him.
By the time she had turned from her son she was greeted by a kiss from her husband. He was buttoning up his forest green work shirt. She turned off the radio so Jack could hear the news. Jack took his seat at the table. It was often the chair facing the television. Marilyn soon had his plate fixed and sat before him.
"Good morning," Marilyn greeted her husband while still slightly dancing to the music that she had turned off. "Korea fired one of those missiles again."
"You mean North Korea?" Jack asked taking a of the eggs that she had sat in front him.
Marilyn shot him a look as if to say she could care less. A repeat of the same news cast came back on the television. Jack listened intently as Marilyn began to scoop food onto her own plate. She sat and began to eat. Jordan who had already filled his stomach excused himself making grunts through a full mouth which they understood as he had to get ready for school.
"So how many tours do you have to give before you can come home?" Marilyn asked, taking a bite of her scrambled eggs. She smiled at Jordan as he passed.
"Well there are three scheduled and then I have to teach a survival class and by then Michael should be done and I will be home by three o'clock." He scooped the last bite of food off of his plate but saved a small piece of bacon which he held in his hand as if he were ready to eat it.
"Well good you can help me with the garden this afternoon." She smiled and took his plate.
“Yeah, maybe i’ll finally put that tire swing up.”Jack hung his head and gave a small chuckle He leaned out the window to admire the view of their little garden full of various vegetables and flowers.
When she turned away he fed the piece of bacon to Jake their dog who had appeared next to his legs unseen for the whole morning but next to his master every day for his morning bite. Jake walked away happily wagging his tail. Jake, a German Shepard, had a light brown coat, with black covering his ears and nose, he was faithful and as loyal a dog Jack could expect a dog to be. Jake was given to Jack once he broke his leg and had to retire from the K-9 unit. He took a long while to warm up but Jake had been part of the family for two years now.
He grabbed his park ranger hat off the back of the chair and stood up. He started for the front door after giving Marilyn a quick I love you kiss. Jack passed the front door and dashed upstairs to grab his belt and holster, which he usually forgot. On his way out of his and his wife's room he thought he heard Jordan.
"Dad!" Jordan slightly called out from his room. Jack crossed the hall and opened the door. "Yeah, what is it?” He closed the door and sat on Jordan’s bed. He thought that he knew why he seemed so somber and distant. Jordan didn’t want to go school, they had the talk before. Jordan was sitting on his bed fully dressed with his backpack next to him. His head hung low. "I don't want to go to school."
"Why not?"
"The Cody Hilgras kid," He saw his dad's eyes roll, so before he said anything Jordan continued. "And I did what you said; he pushed me into the locker again yesterday really hard. So, I pushed him back extremely hard only he didn’t back down. He pushed me down and began to stomp on my back. It hurt but I go away quick, one of my friends helped me." Jordan lifted up his shirt to show a medium sized bruise on his back shoulder blade. A small rage built up inside of Jack. He also sensed a lesson he could teach his son.
No Time To Mourn Page 7
