Alexander Smith - Lockdown

"That should be enough," he said, his head popping out from the stone. "The explosion will probably set off another cave-in and kill us all anyway."

"Better that than any more time in the cell," I replied, struggling to squeeze another glove into the packed rift. "Especially with your farts."

Donovan laughed as he made his way back over. He looked at the bulging crack in the ground, then at the twenty or so gloves we still had left in his overalls.

"Spares?"

"Looks like it," I said, grimacing as I tried to stand up. "You want to just scatter them around?"

Donovan scratched his chin, then shook his head.

"No, I got a plan." He picked up his overalls. "Let's get back to the tunnel."

"The tunnel?" I asked, but he just grinned at me and set off across the cavern. I followed, my limbs screaming at me with every step, and arrived at the passageway to see Donovan wedging the remaining gloves into the crevices in the ceiling. He wasn't having much luck in the dark, as they kept dropping to the floor with a wet slap.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for this," I whispered. The equipment room was dead ahead; deserted, but you never knew when the blacksuit was going to return. Donovan managed to cram a couple of gloves into a particularly big crack above his head, then turned to me.

"What if we have to leave in a hurry?" he asked. "The guards'll be on our tail like rats after cheese. If we demolish this tunnel after we've got through, then we'll have all the time in the world to blow the floor and get into the river."

"Makes sense," I replied, nodding. I picked up a couple of gloves and looked for suitable holes in the ceiling, stretching up with considerable pain to fit them all in. By the time we'd finished, the top of the tunnel looked like the underside of a mutant cow-all bulging udders and no legs.

"Moo," I said, as Donovan unwound the last of the fuse, jamming it between a glove and the wall, then running it down and out into the cavern. There wasn't much string left, but hopefully enough to give us a bit of distance before the tunnel collapsed. He tucked the lighter flint under the end of the fuse so he'd easily find it again.

"So," he said, climbing back into his overalls and rubbing his hands on the material to get rid of the pungent smell of lighter fluid. "We're done."

"Finished," I added. "All we've got to do now is get everybody here without anyone seeing us, blow a hole in a solid rock floor, and jump into a raging underground river."

"Easy," he added, laughing quietly. I couldn't really see his expression in the dark, but he suddenly fell silent, and I could sense an intense gaze in my direction.

"You don't just wanna go now?" he asked. I stared into the shadows where his face was.

"And leave the others?"

"We might never get another chance," he went on. "What if something happens?"

"Donovan," I said gently. "I know you don't mean that. You risked everything to save me the other day. I know you're not the kind of guy to abandon his friends. I know it."

"What did I tell you when you first got here, Alex? You don't have friends in Furnace."

"Yeah, right," I said. "Play the hard man all you like, but I know you're not going anywhere without Zee and Toby."

There was a moment of silence, then Donovan laughed.

"Jeez, look what you've done to me. You've turned me into a sentimental old fool!"

"Come on," I said, leading the way back to the wooden boards. We'd left the tunnel so many times it was almost automatic now, and we returned to the chipping room without incident. It was only when we'd started hacking at the walls with our picks that Donovan winked at me.

"So… tomorrow then?" he asked.

I rested my pick over my shoulder and nodded.

"Tomorrow."

AFTER HARD LABOR WE showered and ate, then retreated back to our cell. Toby and Zee were already there, chatting excitedly about something or other when we strolled through the door. Their heads jerked up, their faces creased with anxiety.

"So?" asked Zee, drawing the word out.

"Guards caught us," Donovan answered. "They destroyed the gloves, sealed off the room, and took Alex and me through the door. They turned us into monsters, and now we're back to eat you."

He threw himself at the two smaller boys and they jumped back to avoid him.

"What's got into him?" Zee asked as Donovan fell onto the bottom bunk, giggling. "Did he inhale some gas or something?"

"I'm not sure," I answered, pushing Donovan out of the way and sitting on the foot of the bed. But I did know: he was drunk on hope, on excitement. We all were. "Everything went to plan, though. It's all ready to go. Tomorrow's the day."

"Tomorrow?" Toby said, turning pale. Zee grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Don't cave now, Toby old boy," he said gleefully. "Too late to back out."

"I just didn't expect it to be so soon," he replied as the color slowly returned to his face. "Are you sure we're ready?"

"Nope," I said. "You're welcome to wait here for a couple of years, but I'm going now, ready or not."

"And me," said Zee, adding a soft little whoop as he punched the air.

"So what are you gonna do when you're out?" asked Donovan. "First thing I'm gonna do is grab the biggest burger I can find, all relish and onions and bacon and-oh mamma, my mouth is dripping."

"I just want the air," I said. "Give me a beach and a sea breeze and the sound of seagulls and I'll be the happiest man on earth."

Zee budged me over and sat down.

"I'm going to head home, sleep in a proper bed for once," he said dreamily.

"And wait for the police to arrive?" I asked. "Come on, Zee, as soon as we're out of here, they're going to be looking for us. If we go home, they're just going to cart us straight back here, and straight into the hole."

Zee's face fell, as did Toby's.

"So what do we do then?" asked the new kid, sliding down the wall and drawing his knees up to his face. "I've got nowhere else to go."

"We're all kids, Toby," I replied. "None of us do. We just have to stick together. We'll be okay."

"Long as I get my burger," added Donovan, smacking his lips.

"What about this place?" asked Zee. "I mean, do we tell anyone about it? About what goes on here?"

"Yeah," I offered. "We have to. We can file an anonymous report to the police or something."

"Like they'll ever believe it," said Donovan.

"We have to try," I added. "What about everyone else here? We've got to do something to help."

"Feel free," the big guy said. "You go off and be heroes while I sit and eat my burger."

"Enough about the burger!" I yelled, laughing. "There's more out there than fast food. Come on, D, we'll be free, we can have anything we like."

"Free?" came a voice from the door. I snapped my head around so hard I thought I'd broken my neck. Standing there was Jimmy, the beanpole kid that Zee, Monty, and I had ridden down to Furnace with in the elevator. He was even skinnier now, his overalls hanging off him like a tattered shroud on a skeleton.

I'd hardly seen him at all since that first day, he'd been hanging out with a group of kids that kept themselves to themselves. He'd walked past my cell a few times, but never stopped to say hi. I guess he'd never heard us talking about escaping before. I mentally kicked myself. Anyone could have been outside, even the guards.

"Where are you going?" he went on. "You getting out of here?"

"Nowhere."

"No," Donovan and I said in tandem.

"Just dreaming," added Zee. "Talking about what we'd do if we ever got out. You know, you must have done it."

Jimmy stared at us like he could see right through our lies.

"Everyone knows you guys have been acting weird," he said. "Rumor is you know a way out and you're not saying. Figured you'd tell me though. We got here together, we can leave together."