Vrrrrrrrrr” “Hummmmmmmm” The sound of the powercat kept Crosby somewhat entertained as he sat on it like a mindless lump of clay. It was go day for breaking the powercat and he was anxious to do so. When should he break it? He wondered. He looked out over the land and took notice at how much progress they had actually made on flattening these hills. To his surprise it was quite effective, just boring. That’s probably why the guards outsourced the project to him. He had seen another powercat out here but didn’t ever get the chance to communicate with the inmate because of their set paths. Crosby planned to break it with just enough time left to where he had to walk back and make it about an hour before quitting time. That would give him enough time to inform the guard, and see if he needed to help the guard get it to maintenance, etc. He had to make sure the powercat made its way to the maintenance shop. Dillon was a smart man, and he didn’t want to disappoint him with a failure. With nothing but time to kill until the planned assault on his loyal machine he began to pray.
“Dear Heavenly father, I pray to you for counsel. I have not felt your pull or influence as I usually do. I seek guidance on how to find your warmth and light in full view. I quote, Hebrews 10:35-39 therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Lord I shall try to receive your gospel and influence, I pray you bless my mission tonight so that I may please you once again. I know you have a mission for me or you would not have sent me here. I do not know if it is your wish for me to escape, but for now it is the path I will try. If I can preserve my life and further provide service to you I will but be complete in the eyes of the lord. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.” With that Crosby raised his head and surveyed his surroundings to make sure he wasn’t being focused on for sleeping or making sure his machine was doing what it was supposed to, well, for at least the time being. He relaxed and took in a deep breath, exhaling beautifully and staring up at the great big blue sky. There were only a few white clouds in the sky, the kind that are thin and resemble a smear of paint. Crosby longed for freedom from this place, and hoped that was what the lord designed for him.
He had always tried to do the right thing even when no one else cared or no one else was looking. Crosby thought back, looking out over the scenery sweating like he was in a sauna from the sun pounding above. When he was a child he remembered his parents taking him to therapists and talking to them about the way he focused on things, and he membered just wanting to play. It was hard to focus on things sometimes when the classes were boring, so they gave him a medication to make him focus better. He had taken it all his life, because that’s what his parents wanted. He must honor thy mother and father, and even if he was living out of the house when he was eighteen years old he would still follow their lead. The gospel and the word of god is law, he thought back applying to his first couple of jobs and knew the lord would pick which one he would get accepted at. Though he didn’t like the job as a park counselor he knew he had a mission there, and he tried to impact as many lives as he could. It hurt him to see the people at his Christian summer camp forced into being there, the ones that didn’t truly believe. It was his mission to make sure they knew about the Lord and found the right way to him though. He tried even harder for those individuals trying to spend as much time praying for them as he did working with them.
Crosby was a huge fan of video games growing up but that too angered his parents and he didn’t understand why at first but later cut them out of his life as much as possible to make room for studying and playing outside. It’s strange to graduate high school and begin thinking for yourself and having to make all of these decisions for your own. If he had children would he make them see a psychiatrist too, and have them become a second generation of children taking medication for focusing? Surely that if that is what the lord wants he will give me a sign when the time comes. It was so hard to maintain a girlfriend. Every single one he ever had wanted to have sex before marriage and he just couldn’t understand it. How could these good Christian women he loved not follow the very principals that made up who he was? He would never disobey the lord’s word and that caused him much grief with dating. He gave up on it for a while, even though he was a handsome man it was so difficult and it pained his heart so greatly when he experienced a breakup he couldn’t stand it. He prayed for hours and hours, hoping the lord would send a light his way and take her back in to his life but it never happened. Surely, the lord’s plan for him would come to fruition and he would someday discover the right woman for him.
When he loved, he truly put his whole heart into it and would defend his girlfriend to the end. Every single one he had he had imagined a future with and getting married, to starting a family. Though it seemed more passionate in the moment, he would tell the world about his love for his heart was truly in the right place. It just never seemed to work out. He sighed, the sun passing over quickly when he got lost inside of his mind thinking about past events. He had no idea how he survived this long after this many days of sweating out in the great plane of hills and dirt. It was hot and sticky, there was never a good breeze, and he hadn’t showered in who knows how long. Crosby kept his cramped hand on the gas handle
Time passed and ticked by, and he casually saw the sun hit the right mark in the sky. A marker he had memorized to determine the time left, two hands lengths. If you take your hand sideways and put it on the horizon, and use that as one increment, you could vaguely use that as an hour to approximate how much sunlight was left. He had two hours. Crosby’s friend had told him how to disable the machine, though he didn’t know if it would work or not because this was the first time testing it. He proceeded to hit the bottom menu icon on his navigation screen seven times, next he leaned down under the dash and driving console, and withdrew a stick from his pocket. He used the stick to hold a tiny button for five seconds, and a login appeared. “Wow.” Crosby paused “How’d he figure that out?” and Crosby entered the appropriate code still set at the default “123456789” this enabled the operation of the machine for guard use.
Here Crosby navigated the various options until he found what his friend had described. It was pretty difficult navigating these unfamiliar menus and he was sweating bullets the entire time. This not because of the sun but because he felt like he was One, being watched and about to be shot, and Two because he figured he would be caught immediately. He found the setting that was simple enough, restore to factory defaults. He clicked yes and watched the machine turn itself off before his very eyes. Crosby looked around as his powercat main engines shut off and the laze blade plow came to a halt. His cat hovered to the ground and the operating safety lights went off. Crosby hopped off of it and stretched.
Waving to the guard tower in a gigantic motion to signal something was awry, he began his walk back to the tunnels. Crosby started off stiff, legs and knees cramped up for sitting all day, hand as well. Everything was sore it was hard to differentiate between what sucked worse. He kept walking, and had a very long ways to go. The tunnels were probably about a mile away he guessed. Stepping carefully onto the freshly plowed dirt and packed down level ground he heard his feet stomp on the cracked earth. The earth was just as thirsty as he was, if it wasn’t sand and freshly moved ground it was solid cracked dirt below his feet. A very dry and unique terrain to him. He focused on the tunnels in the distance and squinted as he walked towards his destination. Up ahead he actually saw someone walking towards the tunnels too. Who would be walking out in the middle of nowhere back to the tunnels?
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
He was a skinny man who had long hair down to his shoulders, and he walked with a certain grace to his step. Upon second glance Crosby raised his head to shout “Immanuel!” The hollow cheeked man turned around and smiled, tilting his head to signal Crosby over. He picked up speed and jogged up to meet up with his friend. “What are you doing out here?!” Crosby said, exhausted from his short move over to him. “I am walking. How do you fare today young child?” Crosby exhausted and covered in sweat “I reset the machine but I’m not sure that’ll make it break. I’m walking back now to tell the guards what is going on.” They walked in unison towards the tunnels, still far away. “When any machine arrives to this place they code in a basic login of 123456789. However that is not the factory code, so they will no longer have use of the machine without a proper code from whence it came from.”
Crosby nodded slowly “That makes sense. You sure know a lot about this place. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? Dillon is a smart man, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind one more. You’ve helped us so much.” Immanuel shook his head and laughed “There is no need for that. I am with you now.” Crosby mistyped, catching himself “You can escape with me Immanuel. Just think about it, we’re going to make our move tomorrow. Okay? I know you are a man of god are you not?” Immanuel responded calmly “I am a man” he paused and looked over at Crosby out of the corner of his eye “Of god indeed.” Crosby smiled “It’s hard to find good Christians now days. There are so many non-believers I try to spread word but its very time consuming. Now I’m not complaining, I’m just saying it’s becoming difficult and frustrating to get followers who are true to their beliefs.” Immanuel nodded “So it has always been the case.” They walked in silence for a few moments, getting close to the tunnels now.
“Crosby. You must know, soon they will move you to the other phase of this prison. There are three phases, and you will not make it past the third. If you...” he paused to take in a deep breath “If you focus on the task at hand you will find success before that day. Be wary, by then you will have grown weak and the trials you face will become greater.” Crosby thought a moment “You talk like you’re older than you are. But I enjoy the advice. I hope someday you’ll tell me more about you. I’d like you to meet Dillon and Belle. I do hope you will join us tomorrow. All you have to do is tell me.” Immanuel smiled, and they approached the tunnels. Grim was waiting outside with his hand on his hip, scowling. “You’re here, where’s my cat?” he booted out. Immanuel walked passed and fluidly entered the tunnels, turning his head back to look at Crosby for a moment as he disappeared. Crosby spoke “It just-just stopped working! I walked back as fast as I could” Grim stomped his foot “What” He stared at Crosby cross eyed for a moment “Do you... Mean. Stopped?” Crosby looked down at his feet, he could tell this could go badly for him.
“It just stopped sir, I knew I needed to get you right away.” Grim smiled, and crossed his arms staring at Crosby for a long moment. “I will have…they take the machine. If you broke the machine.” He stared up at the sky, foot above Crosby’s head as he spoke to him in a creepy tone. Crosby compared it to that of an old farmhouse creaking door. “I will bury you.” Grim smiled and tilted his head. “Now go.” And he waved Crosby into the tunnels.
Crosby panicked about the situation until it was time to talk to Dillon. Even face to face with him now, sitting in the barracks after chow and a hard day of work he still did not feel at ease. Dillon looked at Crosby “Well?” he was biting his lip
“I ended up working in the tunnels for the last bit of the day.”
“Did you succeed?”
“I got the machine reset and it should be at the maintenance area by now... But Grim said something about burying me if I broke it.”
“I don’t think that’s so. Let us focus. Quickly now.” Dillon motioned for Belle and him to come in closer.
“Tomorrow is important. We will have to work late” He pointed at Crosby
“Now Belle, when you are on the way out of the chow hall I will be coming by with my red cart of bodies. Your job will be to hop on the cart without being seen, and I will take you to the cat. We will start the cat.” He looked at them both, quite seriously “Listen to me, I will make the cat work like you have never seen before. We will break through the wall and I will steal a van for us. Got it?”
Belle was distraught, and her shaky reply reflected how her day had been. “My guard today, he stepped me out and pushed me against the wall...” She began crying profusely. Dillon pulled her in close “Now dear. We’ll get you out of here okay? Do you need anything? I can’t do much but I’ll try darling.”
Belle gathered herself “He didn’t go so far. But if I have to endure it another few days... I think he might.” She sniffled “I’m not usually like this. I’m so sorry guys.”
Crosby frowned, he felt terrible about the situation. He hated people being hurt. “I’ll pray for you Belle. I can’t say much, but I pray the lord guides you through your work day tomorrow without harm.”
Belle took in a choppy breath “I can’t take another day. I swore to myself I would never let this happen again. I will get out of here tomorrow. I have to...”
Dillon reaffirmed his confidence “I swear to you darling, I will get you out of here. You have my word.” He said holding both of her hands, committing to her gaze with his heart.
She softly spoke again “I think the symptoms are anemia, and that’s why we’re losing energy. Possibly a fluoride positing, something like auteopetrosis, or auteopetrosis. I can’t say but some of the...” she gathered her composure entirely “Some of the people on the ranged exhibit symptoms I’m very familiar with. It’s that of elderly people who cannot produce red blood cells. If they use a lot of fluoride or… something I can’t put my finger on...”
Dillon interjected “Do you think that’s why they check our vital signs?”
“It’s possible... That from the beginning the whole thing takes a while to get into our system.”
Crosby nodded “My friend said the same thing. He mentioned that the people in your unit” pointing at belle “Are one’s who don’t show the proper symptoms and they”
Belle interrupted him “Must be monitored! That’s why it looks like they are treated so well. They’re being studied!”
Dillon, wide eyed spoke “Well, look around us.” They both examined the barracks full of sick, dying and pale looking people half alive on the floor. “We are miles ahead of these inmates in terms of health. Our little filter and Belle’s food... With my extra clothes, we stay in better spirits. I think we need to be careful that we don’t end up in that unit.”
Belle replied “But we won’t. We’re getting out of here Evan. I believe in you.”
“You have my word. Let’s get some rest. Quickly now.”
