James Axler – Freedom Lost

“Try it and see, Ryan. Open the portal and let us see what awaits,” Doc added.

Ryan took the handle and pulled. Then he pulled harder, feeling the veins in his arms start to pop out against his tan skin.

“Try pushing, lover,” Krysty suggested.

“Getting to that.” Ryan pushed, and the steel door swung inward.

“Not used to the old-fashioned doors with hinges.” He chuckled, annoyed and amused at the same time. “Spending too much time in redoubts, where you press a few buttons, and the sec doors slide away.” Ryan’s good cheer was interrupted by a sudden cacophony of a clanging alarm bell.

“Shit!” he cursed. “Where’d that come from?”

“No idea,” Krysty said. “You must’ve missed some sec turnoff switch.”

“You’re the one who told me to push,” Ryan retorted.

“Well, other than being annoying as all hell, I don’t think it’s going to bring sec men running this way,” J.B. drawled. “They’ve got more important things to deal with now than a child’s jailbreak.”

Ryan turned to the Armorer. “I agree.”

Doc spoke up. “Still, I shall remain back here, in case we do have visitors.”

“Good idea, Doc,” Ryan said, speaking loudly to be heard. “Hate to see all of us trapped or locked up alongside Dean. That’ll be some poor bastard rescue. Krysty, you want to hang with Doc, too?”

The redhead nodded. “All right. Be careful.”

“Always.”

“I’ll close the door. It might cut down on the racket back here,” Mildred said. “That alarm bell is somewhere out front.”

Ryan led the way inside, his own blaster drawn and ready. To his left was a blank wall with a wooden desk and metal rolling chair. On the desk were papers, a book of mug shots and an ashtray filled with the remains of a score of hand-rolled cigarettes. To his right was the cell block proper. Six cells, three per side, separated by a narrow walkway painted a chocolate brown. All of the cells appeared empty.

As promised, Mildred pushed the door shut and the clanging sound became much softer and bearable. The alarm was apparently meant to alert those outside of the cell block in case of a break.

“Dean?” Ryan yelled over the now muffled clanging. “You in here?”

“Dad!” Dean yelled back, rolling out from beneath the bunk of the last cell.

As Ryan jogged down to the last cell in the long block, J.B. examined the other, empty cells, eyeballing their sparse furnishings in case another inmate had taken Dean’s lead and decided to hide in plain sight.

“You’re supposed to sleep on those beds, Dean, not under them,” Ryan said as he looked down fondly upon his son.

“I know. Things been going triple strange. Once that alarm kicked off, I figured I’d hide until I knew the score.”

“Funny,” J.B. mused. “All the other cells are unoccupied.”

“Another batch of jails on lower level,” Jak said.

“Heard talk when I locked up earlier. Almost separated me and Dean. Didn’t.”

“Morgan promised me Dean wouldn’t be hurt. I made it clear I didn’t want my son having to deal with horny pervs wanting to get at his ass. Guess Morgan listened. Kept this group of cells clear,” Ryan said as he stared down at the locked cell door. The cell was primitive, the metal bars obviously brought in from an old police station and welded into place. The back wall was solid concrete stone, and so was the windowless left, the front and right sections being made of the bars, which were painted black.

“Been nobody here but me for days,” Dean confirmed. “Boring as hell. Three meals and no conversation. What’s going on? Where are the guards?”

“They’ve got bigger problems on their hands besides keeping watch over a kid. Freedom’s under attack by some angry stickies. Guess they wanted to participate in a blue-light special with the rest of us,” Ryan said with a wicked smile.

“Never did find out what those specials were supposed to be about,” J.B. groused.

“Probably for the best. Want to see if you and Jak can find some keys around this dump?”

“On it.” The two men went back and began looking through the drawers of the desk at the back of the cell block.