Saving John

by Gabe Sluis

Chapter Nineteen- Breakout

  “…Think of it this way, your whole life, all you are ever told is how people are going to have it out for you. Your great-grandfather was treated like a dog, and your grandfather not much better. They had to work to gain the respect of everyone else. They had to fight for their rights, literally in some cases. It gets passed down, each generation, the stories of oppression and hate. And then you experience this first hand. Maybe it wasn’t outright racisms; maybe it was just some white asshole. Assholes are everywhere and that’s just their nature. But it sticks. So its no wonder that it’s the blacks who are the first to bring it up. We are more aware of it because we know its face too well.”

  “I guess I understand it when you say it that way,” Donny said. “It’s just, I feel no animosity against any other race. I just take everyone at face value. Skin is just skin. It’s just hard to believe there is still racism in our country when we fought a civil war and now everyone has the same rights.”

  “Oh, don’t bring up the Civil War, son. That was about states rights and keeping this country together. Not just about freeing slaves,” Daniel said. “It is the fact that young white boys like you don’t believe there is still racism that is the problem. You can’t just forget all we have gone through.”

  “But you weren’t a slave. And I wasn’t a slave master. I was just born, how am I at all responsible? My family came over from Germany only a hundred years ago.”

  “Like I said. It’s the stories you were raised with. As a people, we carry them. It’s in our blood. You don’t think racism exists the way we do because your perspective is not ours. Let me show you. You grew up in a small town, right. Like this place, not like a big city.”

  Donny agreed.

  “And you had middle class parents who did well for themselves, probably even went to college. They had you when they were ready, after they were married?”

  “Yeah, except for the college part.”

  “At least they had to have finished high school and were off drugs. Well then, you got more than ninety percent of this country, probably ninety percent of this planet. In the race and status lottery for becoming a member of this planet, you got very lucky, son. So you can’t even fathom the outlook that a young black child faces, growing up in an overpopulated, under served city, with parents who were probably young themselves. They were probably under-educated themselves. It’s a vicious cycle and it creates the problems we see in our communities. You can’t tell me that the reason why this cycle continues is not because racism is alive in this country. It is under the surface, hidden from the front thoughts, but it’s there.”

  “Then why don’t these people just leave the big cities? Get out of the cycle. You are obviously smart and live in this small town. You must have done something right or got lucky, or something. I just don’t get it. I just don’t believe that once you are a peasant, you are always a peasant. If you want to become a knight bad enough, background shouldn’t matter.”

  “But it does. Attitudes have to change in a major way to get the oppression of the minorities to end so that we can break the cycle. It’s this cycle that holds you down. Without proper education, the youth won’t know any better. Without social programs to give opportunities, the smart ones will never get out. I was a lucky one. I’m not special, no more intelligent than anyone else. I just got lucky, like you.”

  Donny sat in silence for a moment and let the ramifications of the argument sink in. He was lucky, he guessed. He always considered himself poor, working minimum wage jobs and living in apartments, but compared to the rest of the world, stuff didn’t seem that bad. He started to feel bad about himself, the way he had just put the least amount of effort into bettering his life when there were others out there that didn’t get close to the same opportunities he was given. Instead, he complained and wasted his able body and mind on menial tasks and having a good time.

  A light was now beginning to shine on a corner of his brain that had been in the shadows too long. Excuses seemed to become irrelevant. The man sitting in the cell next to him had made him think about more than the topic of their time passing conversation. He felt like he was acquiring so much, so he didn’t let it go.

  “My problem is, I’ve heard stuff like this before, never as to the point, but it is always lacking a solution. You can tell me all day that this stuff is happening, but what is the answer? How do you break the cycle? How can you know all this and not do something?”

  “I’m no prophet or public leader. I do what I can. I live my life, not adding to the negative, but to the positive, in my own way. Making people aware of the problem is the best solution for someone like me. Becoming aware is the first step.”

  “But that is so passive. It’s almost not a solution at all. Shouldn’t you…”

  “Hey, Donny! Is it safe?” Jakes voice whispered from the other side of the wall.

  “Yeah! Finally you guys are back. I was starting to get worried! What took so long? Was the key hard to get?” Donny said, meeting his friends at the barred window.

  “Naw, man. Not too bad. We were just doing as Daniel suggested. We planed our ex-fill route very carefully,” Jake said.

  “Lets see it, then.”

  Chris held up the key for Donny to see, and slipped it back into his pocket. The look on his face became serious.

  “Hey, man,” he said to Daniel. “I appreciate you telling us about this thing, but we need to know something before we start. Cuz, once we spring you guys, we came up with a plan, and well… we need to figure out how you are going to fit in to it.”

  “Awe, kid. Don’t get all nervous. You have nothing to worry about. I ain’t going to slow you down, in fact, I’m going to sit right here until Sheriff Zale comes back. I have done nothing and I ain’t getting my self in any deeper. You boys can do as you please, but I plan on having Bob Kirkwood’s badge for this mess. I gotta do the long suffering thing to do what’s right. I know you boys have business up north, now listen up, and I’ll tell you how to use that key.”

  Chris and Jake both looked relieved, nodded to each other and went to Daniel’s window. They started to hand the key across when he put up his hands.

  “No, no. You are going to use it, not me.”

  “How can we use it out here, your cell door locks are in there,” Jake said.

  “You have it all wrong. That key can open doors, but just not in the way you are thinking. When you are ready, go over to the wall of your friends cell, and press the key against the wall. But be ready, I only think I know what may happen.”

  “So, we are not going out front? Okay, that makes no difference, we will go right to checkpoint two,” Jake said to Chris.

  “Whoa, Whoa! Checkpoints? What is the plan, guys?”

  “Don’t worry, Donny. We will fill you in as we go, we don’t have time to explain it all right now. All you need to do is run as soon as you are free. Follow Jake and me. We will lead the way. We have got some tricks up our sleeve,” Chris said, ending the questioning for the time being.

  “Son, it has been great talking with you. But right now, you might want to step away from that brick,” Daniel said to Donny.

  Donny complied and backed up against his bars. Jake stood back from the outside wall and gave Chris the nod that the coast was clear. Chris swallowed hard and rotated the key in his hands. Taking a deep breath, unsure of what to expect, he pressed the toothed end of the key against the wall, as if a keyhole was waiting.

  The ground shook. Vibrations traveled up Chris’s arm and rattled his teeth. The ground rolled, but Chris stood firm with the key in his hand. The old red bricks seemed to hold for a moment, but after the mortar that held them in place turned to sand, the wall collapsed inward, leaving a hole the size of an elephant.

  Donny was wide eyed and covered with dust, having wilted to the floor during the quake. Hardly believing it, Donny sprang to his feet, ready to run when a thought struck. “I have something! My flute, they took it!”

&n
bsp; Chris, looking down at the powerful object he held in his hand, looked back up at Donny. “Where is it?”

  “Right there,” he pointed to the desk on the other side of the glass windowed wall. “Use that thing again, and I’ll grab it! I can’t leave it behind.”

  The same feeling of compulsion that had swept over Chris many times before came on again. He took a single step inside the ruined cell, dropped to his right knee and jammed the earthquake key into the ground. Chris concentrated on the cell door and the ground again shook. A violent cracking echoed around the room as the bars separated from each other and the dividing window shattered to kernels of popcorn safety glass.

  Donny kicked hard on his cell door, which had been separated enough from the jam to be opened, and ran over to the former window. He reached across the waist high wall and snagged his pan flute that was still sitting on the desktop. With his prize in hand, Donny ran back into his cell and followed Chris out the hole and to freedom.

  The first quake awoke the deputy on the watch desk, causing him to look at the clock. Being almost midnight, he was the only one in the station and expected to be flooded with calls by the town citizens, wanting to know what happened. He got up from his desk, and was about to take a look outside when the second quake hit. He felt the vibrations much closer and heard the window looking into the cell room break. Running back to check on the two prisoners, he was shocked to see all the damage that had occurred in such a centralized area of the structure. And that’s when he saw the figures felling from the hole in the side of the building.

  Running into the rubble in the cell, the deputy attempted to see which way the figures were running. After they disappeared from view, he turned and was surprised to see the remaining prisoner sitting in his cell. With part of the collapsed wall in his cell, he could have escaped, but rather sat on his bunk, back against the bars.

  “What the hell? You stay put!” he shouted, lopping back to the duty desk where his radio was located.

  “Attention all units! Attention all units! We have a prisoner that has escaped. I say again, there is a prisoner on the run. Be advised, the escapee has at least one, possibly three accomplices. They were last seen heading northwest onto Carter Avenue.” The deputy paused to catch his breath and think. “Whoever is on bridge watch, keep your eyes open. All other deputies, recall to the Sheriffs Center immediately. I say again, all deputies, recall!”

  Four blocks away, Bob Kirkwood was awoken by the second tremor and sat up in bed. Getting up, he walked over to the window and pulled the curtains and sheer back, to look out on the moonlit streets below. Down the street, he watched three silhouettes go running past his building. Beginning to think it was just kids excited by a little earthquake, his thoughts were interrupted by the crackle and frantic message of the sheriff’s radio he kept on his nightstand. Bob yanked on his pants and jammed his gun belt around his waist. He snatched the radio off the charging base and thundered down the stairs. Lights from other residence switched on as he keyed the radio transmit button.

  “Negative, Negative! This is Kirkwood! Jerry you fool… All units! Suspects sited now moving on foot east on Conifer. I am in pursuit! Fall in with me, I will give location updates,” Bob transmitted and was on the street.

  “Halt!” Bob shouted to the figures in the distance. “Stop where you are and get on the ground!”

  He pounded after the three down the middle of the two-lane road and watched them turn left on a side street. Bob rounded the corner and pulled up his radio when he received a shocking surprise that brought him to an abrupt halt.

  “Shit! Well, there is the tail we expected. I guess the double back worked pretty well!” Jake heaved after they heard the command from the Sheriff to stop.

  “What are we going to do? What is the plan? We can’t just keep running like this forever!” Donny said in a panic. His heart was racing faster than the time he and Jake had ran away from the fire they had accidentally set. Never in his life did he think he would be in this situation, running from the law with his two best friends, in a dream world that felt so very strange. He looked over at Chris and saw him grinning.

  “Oh we have a plan. We told you, a great plan. Jake and I thought this all the way through. All the way. It’s going to knock your sox off. That’s why it took us so long to get back with the key. We had to check out the whole town, plan the route, get some supplies and set stuff up. Here is checkpoint three!”

  They came around the corner and the two planers in the lead stopped. Donny turned around, nervous about stopping, peering down the street at the approaching authority. When another came to join him out of a side street, he turned back around to warn his seemingly oblivious friends.

  “Step back this way, D.B.!” Jake hissed. “You ready, Chris?”

  “On three! One, two, three…”

  From either sides of the street, walls of flame came and met in the middle, throwing an orange glow on the already silver night. Donny’s eyes went wide and he took a few more steps back. A second and third wall went up, right behind the first, cutting the street off from passage. The roadblock was set, and the two grabbed Donny and took off running once again.

  Deputy Monahan ran up on the stationary Bob Kirkwood, again shouting over the radio. “Suspects northbound on Evergreen. I need a fire squad out at Conifer and Evergreen to put out a surprise they left for us!”

  “Sheriff! Who are those guys? That kid I caught down in the waterworks?”

  “Looks that way. Probably his rooster-haired friend with him, too. He said he was meeting people up in the redwoods,” Bob spoke, more to himself than the recent arrival. “But, they are going the wrong way to use the bridge. They must have a raft or something waiting…”

  He got back on the radio as another two sheriffs deputies joined him beside the flames. “All units! My contingency is continuing northeast in pursuit of suspects. At this point, don’t count on them using the River Bridge, over.”

  “Come on boys, lets move!”

  “This is one hell of a plan!” Donny half-shouted to Jake. “Care on filling me in? Where the hell are we going? How many more of those ‘checkpoints’ are there?”

  “Yeah, I told you we got this. It’s a pretty straight shot to the last checkpoint, why don’t you fill him in, Chris.”

  “Well, we had to count on the worst case scenario. We thought the key would open your cell or something. So we made a series of diversions, just incase we got chased. And it turns out it was a good plan; look at us running now.” They turned down another street, southeast in direction, and the huge cement frame of the unfinished skyscraper was ahead in the darkness. “That is the last checkpoint!” Chris breathed.

  “What? That? Are we going to hide out there till tomorrow?” Donny guessed. He looked behind them and saw the light from flashlights. “I was thrown in a cell by these guys, and they are paranoid as hell. I don’t think they are going to give up so easily.”

  “We figured as much. That’s why we are going up the building. We checked it all out, it’s perfect for our escape,” Jake said. They were close enough to the building now that Jake pealed away from Chris, who motioned to Donny to follow him. They climbed a chain link fence and onto the unfinished building grounds when Jake hit the power switch on a metal junction box. The three met up at the front entrance to the building, which was now illuminated by buzzing yellow florescent construction lights. “Come on, to the roof!”

  “We are going to be trapped up there! They for sure know where we are after you turned on the buildings power! It’s lit up like a lighthouse saying, ‘come find us!’” Donny said.

  “Donny,” Jake said, grabbing him by the shoulders, “Trust us. We got this. We planned this all out.”

  “Did Renault give you this idea?” Donny said.

  “Actually, no. We haven’t seen him since this morning when he told us where you were. I wonder where he is… oh well, we gotta move. Time to climb some stairs. Chris and I have already done thi
s twice today. Thirteen flights of fun!”

  “Alright then, what are we going to do when we get to the top? I thought we were going to go across the river. Daniel said the main bridge was not going to be an option, but I figured you guys would come up with another way.”

  “Okay, Okay,” Chris said, getting tired of hearing Donny whine. “We figured we’d tell you last minute so there was no backing out or changing of the plan. We also had to make sure this route was only going to be used by us three. Three is the max. Here is the deal,” Chris paused, breathing hard going up the stairs. Jake took the lead, followed by Donny and then Chris. After two flights, they were forced to walk, exhausted from the chase that had lead them here.

  “So we got the key from the clocktower…”

  “They just turned on the lights to the Sisko Tower, Sir,” The youngest deputy said to Under Sheriff Kirkwood.

  “What the hell is wrong with these kids,” Kirkwood said to his group. There were now fifteen deputies in the group pursuing the boys across town. Off-duty men answered the radio call for assistance and now their number was many. They all jogged, big flashlights in hand, metal equipment jangling on pistol belts. They were hot under the collar, and determined to stop the madness that had been seemingly infectious the past few days.

  “Dumbasses will be trapped up there!” one deputy said.

  “No one said criminals were smart,” another replied.

  They reached the chain link fence and found the gate. Bob pulled his service revolver and aimed it at the padlock. “We don’t have time for any more of their games. Stand back!”

  A shot rang out from the base of the tower, making Donny’s eyes bulge.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jake said. “But that means they are almost on top of us.”

  The night air was pleasant as the boys picked up the pace up the stairwell. Large unfinished openings where glass would be installed let a breeze in, and with it the smell of blackberry bushes. The summer night would have felt so calm and relaxing had the three of them not know that armed men were chasing them. Chris continued his story.

  “…So we got the key from the clock tower and then had to make an escape plan. Jake said the element of surprise would not be enough, because they had home field advantage. So we came up with a route that made it look like we were going for the main bridge, but then turned away from it, in case we were being trailed. That’s when we set up that napalm roadblock.”

  “Gas and Styrofoam work wonders!” Jake added.

  “Then we decided we would go up this tower. We saw it on the way in and it was perfect. If we were followed, they’d come up after us and have to climb all the way down before they could come after us across the river. If we made it here alone, it wouldn’t matter, its still a good place to take off from.”

  “Wait, what do you mean, ‘take off from,’? We aren’t using boats to cross the river?”

  “Well you see,” Chris continued, “When we were making our plan, we happened to be outside a sporting good store. They had all kinds of useful things inside for escape. They had rafts, but they also had other stuff. Like rock climbing gear, kayaks and…”

  “Wait,” Donny interrupted. “So we are going to repel off a thirteen story skyscraper and then cross the river by kayak? I don’t know about that. And how did you get the money to buy that stuff?”

  “Oh, its worse than that,” Jake grinned.

  “Would you believe the ol’ wait-in-the-bathroom-till-they-close trick actually worked? Jake here kept trying to convince me we should just tie the shopkeeper and his employee up! But they had no alarms and we could unlock the doors from the inside. The place was ours by nine!”

  “Hold on!” Donny said. “What do you mean by worse?”

  Jake reached the door leading to the roof and stopped. He again had a crazy grin on his face as he flung the hollow-core metal door open. The moment that Donny saw it, he knew what it was. He was stunned.

  The gaggle of lawmen reached the lobby of the building and stopped, circling around their leader. Going the construction area, they had seen figures ascending stairs. Bob Kirkwood laid out their plan of assault. With confidence, sensing a panicked and trapped prey.

  “You two, go down to the rivers edge, make sure there are no boats waiting, incase by some miracle, they slip by us. Everyone else, we will split into a group of two and each take a stairway. One man split off at each floor to clear it. My group will start on the second floor, and the other group takes odd floors. Once you quickly clear a floor, get your ass back up the stairs with the rest of us. I have a feeling they are going to the roof, so lets take ‘em down quick.

  “Alright boys! Lets get these little pricks!” Bob re-drew his pistol and took off for the nearest staircase. The group split and the tower was alive with movement.

  The dark green hang glider sat near the edge of the roof like a gargoyle. Its lightweight parachute fabric rippled with the gusts of the cool night air. Donny took two slow steps out onto the roof and stood still staring at the large delta wing in bewilderment.

  “They had a hang glider? In a sports store?” he said.

  “Yep. Hanging from the roof like a display,” Jake said running past him and grabbing stashed bundles from under the frame. “Here, put this harness on. Chris will show you how it works as he puts his on.” He threw the clump of nylon to Donny, which got him moving.

  “You actually weren’t too far off our original plan. But when we saw this thing was built for two, it just hit me. They will never expect us to be totally gone and across the river this way,” Jake said.

  “Wait, two person?” Donny said, almost fully strapped up with the help of Chris. “What about you?”

  “See, this is why we waited to tell you. If we spilled the whole plan down at the station, you might have protested or made a fuss. So we kept it from you for all of our good,” Chris said.

  “That’s not cool! You guys treat me like a kid. I can follow a plan!”

  “I know, D.B., and I’m sorry. But we are rescuing you, remember? We just decided it would be best to do it our way.”

  “Fine, Jake,” Donny said hotly. “But still, what about you?”

  Chris and Jake lead him over to the hang glider and started hooking up the harnesses to the frame.

  “Listen, buddy. We read the weight specifications on this thing. It can carry all our weight, not a problem. But there were just two harnesses, so one of us was going to have to hang on. It’s not ideal, but I’m going to do it.”

  “Are you sure?” Donny asked.

  “Not a problem,” Jake replied. He pulled his gloves from his back pocket and slid them on.

  “You think you are going to need those?” Chris asked.

  “No, but it can’t hurt,” Jake replied.

  “I think it’s a good idea. Keep your hands from getting rope burn or something,” Donny said.

  “Oh, they can do a lot more than that…” Chris said, finalizing their rigging.

  Donny gave Jake a questioning look. “Long story, we need to get in the air.”

  “Right! Now, these bags that are hanging off our butts, we stick our legs in them as soon as we get situated in the air. As soon as we are airborne, we have to go vertical. Jake is going to be hanging on in between us on our mid-body straps, so we have to go flat to give him room,” Chris instructed. “I’m not sure how to steer this thing, but I think we have to turn this control bar and probably shift our weight. When it comes time for landing, your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Just pull your feet out of the bags and I guess we will try to walk it off,” Jake added. ‘I guess I’ll drop free first to avoid getting you two tangled. Are you guys ready?”

  “I guess so… I just wish we knew what we doing on this thing. Lessons or something…”

  “We can take lessons after we take care of Golden,” Jake said, standing behind the other two. They faced the river side of building and would have to take a six inch step up to the ledge that
encompassed the roof. Once the construction was complete, there would most likely be a rail, but for now, the roof gave way to the open air just beyond. “Now, lets keep the wing level, and run. Let’s GO!”

  Renault stood on the edge of the building, giving the launch plenty of distance. In fact, the boys never even saw him appear and watch their brilliant escape. As they sailed away, the wind hit their ears and they never even heard the door to the rooftop kicked open. Bob Kirkwood came running out.

  The Sheriff was baffled by the sight of the cluster of bodies beneath the enormous green rippling monster, sailing away from the artificial light of the building and into the moonlight. When it came to him that he had been tricked, evaded by a young delinquent, he grimaced and raised his pistol.

  The yet-unnoticed Renault turned toward the Sheriff and the emerging company, launching himself at them. His clothes changed as he blinked in and out of existence, each time appearing closer and closer to the gun wielding man. Sensing the impossible movement out of the corner of his eye, Bob Kirkwood instinctively turned his aim toward the incoming missile. A second after he began his movement, Renault, now wearing the uniform of a sheriff’s deputy, came to a halt about two paces from the barrel of the gun.

  Startled by the quick movement the whole group cringed backward. Renault widened his eyes and let out and unexpected sound.

  “Boo!”

  “You son of a bitch…” Bob grumbled and let a bullet fly at Renault’s uniformed chest. Shocked by the sudden offhanded violent display, all the deputies lowed their guns, forgetting all about the escaping aircraft. Their tunnel vision was now all on the man still standing after the shot.

  Renault laughed, and was back in his original clothes. He walked right toward the stunned men and passed through them as if he was nothing but an illusion. Reaching the doorway to the stairwell, he simply disappeared, leaving the posse alone on top of an unfinished concrete building in the middle of the night.