Alexander Smith - Lockdown

"Levels one to three, Room One," bellowed the blacksuit, waving his shotgun toward the portal. "Rest of you into Room Three, you know the drill."

We headed into the chipping room, our hearts in our mouths. Every few steps, I'd look up and meet the eyes of Zee or Toby or Gary. It was like there was a line linking us, one that only we could see. Or maybe it wasn't that invisible-the looks from the other inmates were growing increasingly hostile, like they could sense how close we were to making a break for it, to leaving them to rot.

We positioned ourselves near the front of the cavern, pulling our visors down to conceal the sweat that already ran freely down our faces. We started attacking the wall the same way we always did, Zee keeping an eye on the shadow that sat fat across the equipment room floor. As soon as that shadow disappeared we would make our move.

It seemed to take forever. We chipped and we hacked and we sweated, and all the time our blood pressure rose, our tempers frayed. Much longer and I felt like my heart was going to implode.

"Come on," hissed Gary in between swings. "We gotta move now."

"We wait," I said, my voice heavy with an authority I never knew I possessed. "We leave when I say."

He gripped his pick so hard that his deformed knuckles went white, but he didn't argue, just kept swinging and cursing.

"Alex," hissed Zee a few minutes later. "The guard, he's going."

I looked to see the black shadow sweep across the floor of the equipment room as the guard disappeared into the first chipping hall. I turned and nodded to the three expectant, terrified faces in front of me, and after checking that nobody in the room was watching us, we walked calmly toward the door.

So far so good, it was all going to plan. Until I heard a voice call out from behind us. I swung around to see Jimmy legging it across the cavern floor, his face twisted into a mask of panic. He didn't even wait until he was in earshot before shouting out.

"Don't you dare," he yelled. "I know what you're doing."

"We're not doing anything, Jimmy," I replied as calmly as I could. "Just working."

He ran right up to me, then grabbed my collar with his bony fingers. The other prisoners in the room were turning to watch, looking at us like we'd stabbed them in the back.

"I knew it," he spat. "You're doing it now. Take me with you or I swear I'll scream my head off."

He never got the chance. From nowhere Gary moved in, jabbing the handle of his pick toward Jimmy's face. The wooden pole made contact with one of the most sickening sounds I'd ever heard, and the boy crumpled, groaning.

"Let's go," Gary said. "No time."

I looked at Jimmy, struggling to get up and hold his broken nose at the same time, then I turned and fled toward the equipment room. We rounded the corner to see that it was deserted, and it was all I could do not to cry out with joy. I skidded to the floor and yanked on the loose board, pulling it away from the wall. Zee went to climb in but Gary shoved him out of the way, diving through the gap headfirst. Zee followed, and it was just as Toby started climbing in that all hell broke loose.

I heard panting behind me and turned to see Jimmy standing there, the front of his overalls drenched in blood, his whole body shaking. He pointed at me, his eyes full of the strength that his body lacked.

"Escape," he said. His voice was weak, but the word hit me like a slap in the face. I saw him take a deep breath, then he repeated it with more force.

"Jimmy," I called out. "It's not too late, just come with us."

But he wasn't thinking clearly. The blow to his head had scrambled his thoughts. All he cared about now was making sure we didn't leave. He called out again and again, each time the volume of his cry escalating until it became a shrill shriek that echoed around the equipment room.

"Get in," I said to Toby. "Now."

He hesitated a moment longer, then scrabbled past the loose board, vanishing into the darkness. Jimmy was still screaming the same word over and over again. I had seconds until the blacksuits appeared.

Not even that. As I bent down to climb through the hole, I spotted the guard emerging from the first chipping room. The giant paused, his silver eyes squinting in the light as if he didn't quite believe what was happening. It was all the time I needed. By the time he'd raised his shotgun I was halfway into the tunnel, the shot kicking up the dust where my feet had been an instant before.

Toby was waiting for me on the other side of the boards, his eyes so wide I thought they were going to fall out. I looked back into the equipment room to see the guard charging toward us, his vast body a blur. Behind him, coming through the door from the yard with equal speed, was another blacksuit.

There was a sparking sound ahead, from the other end of the tunnel.

"Oh no," I said, my heart sinking. Gary had found the fuse, and was trying to light it. "Run!"

We sprinted up the tunnel just as the blacksuits smashed through the boards behind us. They just charged right through the massive wooden planks, sending splinters flying into the air as they raised their shotguns again. I hurled myself to the ground as the guns fired, pulling Toby down with me, the shot slicing the air above our heads.

Ahead there was a hiss as the fuse lit. I watched the flame hurtle along the string, up the wall toward the gas balloons that were right above our heads. I hauled myself up, grabbing Toby's hand and throwing myself along the tunnel. Only a few more steps and we'd be free.

But the blacksuits were too quick. Just as I saw the end of the tunnel ahead, I felt an iron grip around my throat, hoisting me from the floor. By the squawk from my side I knew that Toby had been caught too. It didn't really matter now anyway. I watched the thin blue flame travel along the ceiling, almost brushing the first glove. We were going to burn.

The blacksuit turned me around to face him, narrowing his silver eyes at me. It was Moleface-the same guard who had tormented me ever since that first day in the house so long ago. His face split open into the shark's smile I knew so well.

"Got you," he said. Over his shoulder the flame flickered, almost went out, then burned fiercely as it reached the first glove. I willed it on. At least if we died here we'd take some of them with us.

"No," I replied, grinning insanely back at my captor. "I've got you."

The first glove swelled and burst into a ball of light and heat. Then the world exploded-darkness into a radiance that burned my eyes, silence into a thunder so intense it felt like my body had been crushed to dust. The rest of the balloons followed suit, the resulting fireball sweeping down the tunnel like the fist of God, a shock wave that catapulted us all into the cave.

I blacked out for a moment, the sound of ringing in my ears the only thing letting me know I was still alive. That and the pain, so agonizing that it forced me to regain consciousness. I snapped open my eyes to see the tunnel in ruins, slabs of stone and a curtain of dust and flames where there had once been a passageway. Somewhere in the distance I could hear a siren and the sound of people shouting, but Donovan's plan had worked, there was now a wall of rock between us and them.

I tried to get up but I couldn't move. Fears of paralysis flooded my mind, the thought that I would have to lie here until the guards clawed their way through the demolished tunnel. But looking down I saw a huge weight slumped across my legs. It was Moleface, although he was no longer a man in black but a man of black. He had caught the brunt of the blast, the fire burning off his suit and leaving his body a charred mess. I realized that he'd probably saved me, shielding me from the flames, and I smiled at the irony of it.