Alexander Smith - Lockdown

I hid the gloves underneath the mattress at the base of my bed while Donovan kept watch. I wasn't too happy about the idea of going up in flames in the middle of the night, but we had no choice. It was either there or in the toilet cistern, and the thought of being blown up while taking a dump was infinitely worse.

Once the miniature bombs were secure we set off to find Zee, bumping into him halfway along the third-level platform. He was red-faced and sweaty with a nasty-looking burn on his neck.

"Gary," he hissed as an explanation. "Had laundry duty with him today. He wanted me to do his share while he napped on the clean bedding. I won't be saying no to him again, he's a psycho."

"Well, we've got something that will cheer you up," I said.

"It must be something big if it's pulled you out from that mother of all sulks," was his reply. I clipped him softly on the ear then started walking, waiting until we were in the clear before we filled him in on the plan. He just about danced a jig on the spot, the excitement too much for him.

"Holy Mother of Jesus," he said, clutching his hair in his hands. "You pair of crazy, wonderful nutters. The gloves, of course!"

I clamped a hand over Zee's mouth while Donovan held a finger to his lips.

"Don't want the whole prison to know," he said.

"Yeah, that's essential," I went on, leaning in and whispering to Zee. "If this is going to work, then we can't tell a soul. It's got to be us three, nobody else. I trust you guys, no questions asked, but I wouldn't trust anyone else in here as far as I could throw them. One word to anyone and it's over, we'll end up in the hole, or crapped out the backside of some dog."

"Word of honor, boss," said Donovan, holding out his hand palm down. Zee nodded and placed his hand on Donovan's.

"Feels like the three musketeers," I said, adding mine to the pile. Zee laughed.

"All for one and let's get the hell out of here," he said.

I know it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn there was some sort of electrical pulse charging through our linked fingers. Maybe it had been so long since I'd gripped someone else's hand, so long since I'd felt that contact with anyone. But I sensed it, a force that united us right there and then, a bond of trust, of friendship, of hope.

I guess that's why it came as such a huge surprise that out of the three of us, I was the one who broke the vow first.

IT WAS AS we were heading down to the yard that I heard someone shouting, pointing to the platforms above our heads. I looked up into the shadows of the upper floors, scanning the cells and the walkways. At first I couldn't work out what had caused so much consternation, but then I spotted them-two bodies clinging to the railings on the eighth level.

"Jumpers," said Donovan. "I wouldn't watch this if I were you."

There were three blacksuits in the yard, but none of them moved. They simply gazed up at the two boys as if watching a movie, their booming chuckles audible even from where I was standing. The inmates around us were similarly unconcerned, shouting and jeering as they ran from the place the boys would hit if they let go of their perches.

"Why isn't anyone doing anything to stop them?" I asked.

"Like what?" said Donovan. "Put up a safety net? It's their choice, just let them go."

"No," I whispered, then without thinking about what I was doing, I bolted back up the stairs. I leaped up the first flight three at a time, bounding round the corners so fast I nearly toppled over the side. I made it up the second and third flights in seconds, by the sixth level I was gasping for breath, and I almost didn't make it up the eighth set of stairs, tripping on the last one and sprawling out across the landing.

I pulled myself up, desperately gasping for breath. The lights were off up here, the cells unoccupied and shut tight. But by the weak glow that rose up from the yard I saw the two pale figures twenty or so meters down the platform. They were standing on the other side of the railing, only their trembling fingers stopping them from spilling into the void.

Both boys were eyeing me nervously, and I could finally see who they were. It was the new kids, Toby and Ashley.

I stepped slowly toward them, hands up to show I didn't mean any harm. Ashley shuffled on the ledge, looking ready to leap at any time. Toby was a little more secure, his eyes locked on mine, pleading for me to help. Behind me I heard two more sets of footsteps and knew that Donovan and Zee had my back.

"Toby, right?" I said. "And Ashley?"

The first boy nodded, the larger of the two marking out his landing site eight stories below. I stopped walking when I was an arm's length away, and realized I had no idea what to say.

"Don't jump," was the first thing that came out of my mouth. What a great help that was-I should have been a Samaritan. "I know it's bad down there, but you don't have to do this. There's people who'll look after you, you can get by."

I reached out toward Toby but quickly pulled back when Ashley started screaming at me.

"We can't get by. Every day it's the same, every day we're pushed and punched and spat on. Some guys even wet my bed the other day."

I laughed, which only seemed to incense him further.

"No," I explained hurriedly. "It happened to me too, not long after I got here. It probably happens to everyone."

"I didn't even kill him!" the boy screeched. "I shouldn't even be here."

He leaned backward, his arms straining with his own weight. Donovan and Zee rushed to my side, ready to grab for the boys if they jumped.

"Come on, Toby," said Ashley. "Let's do it."

"Wait, Toby," I said, turning my attention to the smaller boy. He was young, maybe eleven. He looked nothing like the Toby I'd known, but when I stared into his sad eyes I saw the same boy, the friend I'd let down, whose death I'd caused. He looked like he was going to jump, and I didn't blame him. I'd been thinking the very same thing until this morning.

I thought about our plan, our way out. I thought about our promise to keep it secret. I thought about my friend Toby, lying dead on a stranger's floor. I thought about this kid, the way he'd soon be lying in a pool of his own blood as well. I couldn't let it happen again, not when I had the chance to save him.

"Look, there's a way out," I said as quietly as possible. I felt a hand grip my arm and turned to see Donovan staring at me, the tendons in his neck strained with anxiety.

"Don't," he said. "We made a deal. One word, remember. That's all it could take."

"There's a bunch of us," I went on, ignoring him. "We know how to escape."

Both boys jerked their heads in my direction.

"Really?" said Toby. It was the first time I'd heard his voice, a musical lilt with an accent I couldn't place. "A way out of Furnace?"

"It's a lie," spat Ashley. "He'll lure us down and then they'll kill us, turn us into one of those things. There's only one way out."

I extended my hand again and nodded at Toby. He returned the nod, and his dark eyes suddenly glowed. He started to climb back over, but Ashley loosened his grip from the railing and snatched his clothing.

"I can't go on my own," he snarled, then with a noise halfway between a snort and a sob he fell. Toby lurched out over the yard and I threw myself toward him, grabbing his outstretched hand an instant before he dropped. The weight of both boys pulled me into the railings but I held on tight, refusing to let go.

The pain in my arm was unbearable. Looking down I saw Toby holding on to my hand with everything he had. Clinging to his waist was Ashley, wailing and tugging on his captive to try to pull them both loose. Far below, several hundred inmates were watching from the yard, cheering for us all to drop.

I screamed to Donovan and Zee to help, but they didn't move.