Day Six: Sparks Fly

Today was a different type of day; it was quiet and there was no drama or torture of any kind. It relieved me, but it also worried me. The disappearances of the guards I killed were stirring up suspicion, plus the doctor was dead, adding more fuel to the fire, but today it was quiet. Too quiet. Since it was normal, for once, I started to work on the bomb again. The time for escape was approaching, so I had to make sure the bomb was going to work for sure with no problems.

There was no need to worry about anything, because I think the reason why today is so calm, is because I killed all the guards, making this escape a lot more easier. When I'd sneak out of my cell from now on, I wouldn't have to worry about a single guard, but I knew that there was still one person here that is heavily guarded; the warden. He is probably sitting in his quarters, smoking a cigarette or cigar, eating gourmet meals, and drinking an alcoholic beverage, while the rest of us are starving and wish we were dead.

Who was the warden? This was one question I couldn't answer, unless I saw the face of him myself. In my mind, though, I call him the leader of hell itself; Satan, because this place to me was hell on earth. The end of this Satan would come soon enough, other then the real Satan. Satan will be struck down to the pits of hell for eternity during the end of days, but the Satan here will burn to nothing but ash, along with this place the day everyone escapes. The time was nearing closer and closer.

I continued working on the bomb for the next hour, making sure the wires were sturdy. I also started to make the bomb's top, which I will push down to activate the circuit, creating a spark and then the fireworks will start. The fuel source still needed to be found, so soon I would have to find it, so my plan can succeed. I had decided to search for it, once the bomb is finished, which would take me one more day at least. I know I promised my ally I would have it done in two days, but I had to make sure it would work. It's just like that saying “you can't rush perfection.”

After another two hours of working on the bomb, I decided to stop for a bit, and figure out what I need to do next. If I was going to sneak out of my cell, I would have to wait until night, so I decided to just stay put, until night came. I had yet to give the medicine that gets the nanobots out of the body to the rest of the prisoners, so that when they escape they will be unharmed from the nanobot's ability to be able to shock the hell out of them.

However, I would need more of the medicine, because I was only able to grab twenty other tubes of the medicine. I don't know the exact number of prisoners that are in this place, but from the look of the cell room's population, I would say that there was at least over a hundred. Therefore, I would grab every single one, just to be safe. Everyone here was counting on me, so I couldn't afford to fail them.

Nobody showed up at my cell to take me to lunch, so it was only obvious that I had killed every guard that deals with prisoners. Now, I knew for sure that it was safe to sneak out of my cell, but was it safe during daytime? If that was the case, I would be able to get so much more done then I do at night. Should I risk it? If I'm caught, they'll for sure search my cell and find the bomb, and then possibly, kill me afterwards. Then again I was great at defending myself, and I wasn't afraid to kill one of these bastards, so maybe, it was worth giving it a shot.

What else was I going to do today? There was nothing going on, so sneaking out was better then sitting and doing nothing. I decided to sneak out, because if I was going to get out here as soon as possible, I needed to get things done fast. I walked to my door and opened it. How I opened it was, because I left it slightly open, to where none of the guards could see the door was opened. I walked out the catacombs to the long halls again.

I followed the same route as the I did every time I snuck out, and went to the doctor's room. As I went to enter, I froze, because the entire room was surrounded by guards, and there was one person in the center of the room, standing in the spot where I killed the doctor. It looked like the guards were having a memorial or something, and the person in the center was the warden himself.

There was no way I could take that many guards on alone, so I moved away from the doctor's room, and hid in a dark corner, where I couldn't be seen. I could overhear the warden speaking.

“Tonight, I want extra security! First, two guards go missing and now, a murder! Someone in this place is doing this, and I want the fucker found! If you catch them, you are permitted to eliminate them! Do I make myself clear!?”

“Yes, warden,” said all the guards, in unison.

Fuck! Now, I was in a tough situation. How in the world was I going to get by extra security? It was a game of cat and mouse now; getting out of here was going to be a bitch, and I didn't know if it was going to be possible to do anymore. This pissed me off, and I was starting to lose hope, because if there are extra guards, there's no way that I can sneak out of my cell, find the fuel source, disable the power, interact with my ally, and most importantly, escape.

How was I going to be able to get back to my cell, because now that security with was higher then a skyscraper, they would go to my cell and see I was missing, making me the prime target. I knew I couldn't, so the fight for survival was about to begin, and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. However, if I was going to survive, I had to have hope, even if it took killing every guard in this place one-by-one.

Less then five minutes later, an alarm started to erupt, meaning that they had discovered that my cell was vacant. Now, I was the prime target, because they all knew who was behind everything that had occurred recently. They knew that I, 174920, was out of my cell and hidden somewhere in the entire facility, but they would never find me. I was hidden in the shadows, out of their sight, and the only way to find me was to search this place up, down, and inside-out.

Even if they did manage to find me, I would let all of my rage out and do all I could to survive. It would be easier if I only had to kill one guard at a time. Otherwise, I would have one hell of a war on my hands, which I would go to any measure necessary to win. Freedom was at my fingertips, and I couldn't give up now; not after all I've done to get to this point. I stayed in the shadows, awaiting my first victim.

There was no activity for over an hour, so I continued to rest back in the shadows. My eyes were trying to close, but I couldn't fall asleep anymore. The risk would be too high, and they will hear me snoring then kill me, ending the one chance that would free everybody stuck in this eternal hell. There was only one thing on my mind; getting out of this place, but it was going to be hard as hell, because I still had to find a way back to my cell, where the bomb was.

Hopefully, by tomorrow, I can kill every guard, so I could get the bomb, and get the hell out of this place. If I could get it to where the only person I would have to deal with is the warden, I will be able to get out of here. One man against over a hundred prisoners that want to kill him is enough to make the leader of a hell on earth seem like nothing other then a nuisance. If he were to get in my way, I would not hesitate to put the bastard down.

This was personal. If the warden wants a war, then I'll give him a war he'll never forget. I knew in the end, if I succeeded, it was going to come down to me vs. the warden, and may the best man win. One for freedom. One for years of torture. Only fate will decide the winner, and all I have to say is “bring it on, warden, because this is one war you cannot win. This I assure.

The ultimate war had officially begun.

Day Seven: Elimination

I had remained in the darkness the entire night, and in all that time, no guards had passed by. I had to patient, because if I went barging out into the open, I would be killed for sure. The day started off with nothing but silence, but I knew that this place was far from quiet, due to me sneaking out during daytime and ending up here, stuck with no place to go. It didn't matter to me anymore, because this was war now, and in order to win, I would have to do all I could to stay alive.

Surprisingly, I wasn't tired; I was more focused and in a mode of vengeance and rage. I had many things in my life worth fighting for. I had my wife, my son, my rights to live a free life, and freeing innocent people who don't deserve to be stuck here. In the time that I have been here, I always thought of what would motivate someone to even think of locking away the innocent. There had to be a reason, because I just have a feeling that the reason has something to do with military agents.

My ally had been in a previous war, and I was involved in military activity, so could the reason's of putting these people through hell for no damn reason have something to do with military-related targets? Plus, I caught just a small look of the warden in the doctor's room, and I swore I recognized him. There was more to this place's purpose then most of these people think, and somehow, I was going to find out the reason why this place ever came into existence.

A few hours passed, and finally, I was starting to see some action. I could hear guards talking to each other, and the sounds of their heavy combat boots as they walked, which meant that soon I would have to start killing the guards that passed. I stood up slowly and prepared myself for combat, because I could hear a guard nearby.

The guard was whistling a tune that I didn't recognize and was carrying a high-caliber rifle in his hands. The rifle was I would guess a automatic 273 caliber, but I could be wrong, but I had been in the military for a long period of time before, so I could identify a gun easily. His gun didn't matter anyways; what mattered was him falling dead at my feet. This gave me another idea that would help me get these bastards out of the way faster, but I immediately put it aside.

The guard drew closer to where I was hidden and was acting as if he wasn't worried the slightest. He had his eyes shut and was whistling, but little did he know that his whistling would soon be silenced forever. From the darkness, I lunged out and grabbed the guard and dragged his body back into the darkness. I covered his mouth so he couldn't make a sound, held him hard against my body so he couldn't struggle out of my grasp. As much as I enjoyed hearing him struggling, I snapped his neck and watched him fall with a hard “thump.” One down, a lot more to go.

The sound of the guard falling to the floor alerted some of the other guards nearby. I stuck the guard out in the middle of the hall, but before I did, I took his knife and rifle. I wanted to kill these bastards as fast as possible, so alerting them with the sound of a rifle being shot was the perfect bait to lure my prey in. “Come and get me, bastards.”

Just as I expected, it didn't take long for guards to show up and see their fellow comrade dead on the ground. Both of them raised their guns, because they knew where I was hiding.

“Come out, you son of a bitch! Face your fate!”

I didn't show myself, so they began to fire bullet after bullet at the opening, hoping to hit and kill me. The gunfire erupted for over a minute, until finally the rifles ran out of ammo. Both of the guards started to laugh.

“We did it! We killed him! Just think of the promotion we will be getting from the warden!”

“Sorry. There won't be any promotion for you,” I said from the other side of the hall.

“No way! You can't possibly be alive!”

“Wanna bet?” I fired one bullet at the guard and struck him in the head, killing him instantly. The other guard panicked and rushed to reload the rifle, but I killed him before he could. Both guards fell to the ground and started to make a pool of blood around themselves. I could hear more guards approaching, so I hid myself again.

Each guard that showed up to see their comrades' dead, I killed quickly with the rifle. In an hour's time, I had killed over fifteen guards. I had to be getting close to eliminating all the guards that inhabited this place, so to make sure of it, I started to make my way further back to my cell, so I could retrieve the bomb. I remained cautious, looking behind me as much as in front of me, because I know very well how easy it is to get assaulted, due to it being the way these bastards were able to drag me into this hell in the first place.

I was at my cell door in less then five minutes, with no trouble along the way. I kicked the door in, causing it to break off the hinges and fall to the ground. I didn't hesitate and quickly grabbed the bomb from under my bed's mattress, and rushed out of the catacombs. Now that all of the guards were dead, all I needed to worry about was the operator of this entire place; the warden. However, he was just a single man and nothing more.

The field was even now, only this time it was a million pissed off prisoners versus him. The ball was in my court, and soon this war would end, and surely, it was going to end with a “bang.” I came back to the bodies of the guards, and grabbed the radio off of one of the guards' uniforms.

“Hey warden, if you can hear this, listen carefully. All your resources are dead; I killed them all and you're next.”

“I can hear you you bastard! How dare you kill my guards! I swear I'll find you and kill you myself!”

“It's a big building, and since I extracted that nanobot, you can't track me. There's only one way to find me, warden, so come find me.”

I dropped the radio to the ground then smashed it into bits. Night was approaching, so I found somewhere to hide, but I didn't rest at all, for I would need every bit of strength for tomorrow. “Come find me, warden. Come find me."

Day Eight: Breaking the Chains

It was around 9:00, which is the time that the guards start getting the prisoners up, so I rose from the ground, for today was the day that I would prepare for the finale that was approaching quick. All I needed to do was kill the warden, then destroy this place by finding the fuel source in this place; easy enough. I also needed to meet up with my only ally in this place, seeing its been over three days since I saw him. I had promised him two days, but due to the small detour, its been five days, or counting today; six days. However, he said he could last as long as it took, which I can believe due to the fact he's been stuck here for over a hundred years.

Today I needed to find the power grid and shut down every bit of electricity, so that when everyone escapes, we will have no problems. I grabbed the gun next to me, and reloaded it using a clip from another rifle the dead guards had. Once the gun was loaded, I rose from the darkness and walked out into the hall, being cautious. The warden was still here and was probably looking for me, therefore, if I could find him before he found me, all of us could escape today, but I knew it wasn't going to be that easy, so I continued on.

I had no idea where to even to look, because I had no idea where the power grid was, which meant I was in a giant maze, and only one person knew where the power grid was, and was probably protecting it. Despite getting lost, I wasn't going to stop, so I continued to walk down a hall.

While walking, I kept my eyes peeled in every direction. Never again was I going to let my guard down for a second, because the last time I did, I was put here. Even though I had a weapon, I wasn't taking any chances, so I stopped thinking about the past, and focused more on the present. However, the more further I walked, I just kept coming to more and more long hallways that go on for what seem like miles. I had to find another way, so I stopped and started to think of other ways to find the power grid.

I tapped my foot while thinking, like most people do, because some people say that doing it helps to bring something to mind. That must've been true, because I came up with a way to find the power grid; the same way I found my only ally. There was a map of this place not to far from where I was, so I raised the rifle higher and started walking down a hall to my left.

The hall was long and extended; same as the others, only this time I knew where I was going. Instead of walking anymore, I decided to speed-walk. Speed-walking is the same as walking, except you walk just a bit faster; I used this tactic when I was still in the military. Using this technique helped me reach the end of the hall faster, where I came a five nights ago, but I was shock by what I saw. The map of the entire facility was gone and ripped from the wall.

Shit! The warden knew I would come here, so he removed my only chance of finding my way around this place. This was bad, but it was good I knew where to find my ally. I kept my guard up, because the warden could be nearby, seeing the tearing was fresh. I wasn't taking any chances of him hitting me with something like a tranquilizing dart and being forced back into a life of hell.

“Remember who you are,” I said to myself, as I walked down the hall to my left other than the one to my right. The right hall leads to where my ally was being held, so once again, I didn't know where I was headed. I just hoped that it led to the power grid, and hopefully, the warden would be elsewhere.

I speed-walked down the hall, making sure to not let my guard down, because and could happen. There was no activity in the hall, except me, but I knew that there could be someone in the shadows, like I was when I killed the remaining guards. The hall was starting to come to an end, and all I could see was something gleaming from the light, plus a buzzing noise, like when you get close to electric circuits. My confidence went up like a rocket, because I knew that I had finally, found the power grid.

With caution, I rushed forward, toward the power grid and prepared to get ready to disable all the power in this place. I was only a few feet away from the power grid, when suddenly, a person jumped from nowhere, and fired a bullet at me. I somehow, managed to dodge it, but immediately, I fell to the ground and retreated toward one of the barricades against the wall. The person continued to fire his firearm, but came to a stop to reload the clip.

I peeked from behind the barricade and rose my rifle outward, aiming at the person. Once I had full aim, I pulled the trigger and shot at the person, who I knew was the warden. Before the shots could hit, the warden ducked behind the corner he was against. To save ammo, I released my finger from the trigger, but kept my rifle out in the open.

“So nice to see you, 174920. I see you have come to disable the power, but you'll have to do better then that.”

“I knew it! I recognize your voice perfectly. Hello, general.”

“How do you like my facility? Isn't it grand? I worked my ass off just to keep it up and running.”

“This place you've constructed is just nothing but a hell on Earth! Why is this place even in existence? Tell me that, asshole!”

“It exists to remove pests like you from the world. You were nothing but trouble in the military.”

“I served your sorry-ass for twenty years, what have I done to deserve something like this!?”

“You only survived in the military, because I let you survive. If I wasn't there, you would have died the first day you arrived.”

“I did more then you ever did in those twenty years!”

“No. You were a nuisance from day one. Trouble with a capital “T.” I was the one who was basically, your caretaker.”

“Bullshit.”

“No. It's true. Remember the time all of our troops came down with that sickness.”

“Yes.”

“I was the one who nursed you back to full health. You were too delusional to remember.”

“Why would you lock up someone you cared for?”

“You never showed any respect for my doings. All you did was act as if you were indestructible and needed nobody. My temper was growing over your ignorance, so I was able to construct this place in secrecy. It took time, but at long last I was able to locate you, and now, you are getting what you deserve.”

“Why are all the others locked up in here then, if the only person you wanted in here was me?”

“I have my reasons. Reasons you don't need to know about.”

“Just so you know, I'm sorry I was such a jackass, but one way or another, all of us are still escaping from this place.”

“Think what you might, but as long as I'm here, you can't run, hide, sleep, or escape. You're going to pay for your wrongs, so get used to this place, because you are not going anywhere.”

“I beg to differ, because all I have to do is kill you, for good, then this game of living in hell will end.”

“You won't kill me. I can assure you of that, for you are limited on ammo, while I have over twenty clips over here. You can't win this war, so face it. Your efforts of escaping this place, were rendered useless.”

“We'll see about that. You don't know me very, general.”

“Oh. What is it that I don't know about you?”

“That a gun isn't the only way to kill someone.”

“Please. What do you plan on using?”

“Come at me and find out.”

“Very well. If you wish to die, be my guest.” The warden started to fire at me, which is what I wanted him to do.

“He fell right into my trap.” I grabbed the knife that I stole from one of the guards from my pocket, and threw it toward the warden. The warden saw the knife, and stopped firing his gun to dodge the knife.

“You son of a... Before he could re spawn, I fired multiple shots straight at the warden. The bullets hit him in the vitals, causing blood to splatter all over the walls. I released my finger from the trigger, knowing that the madness was over, and I had won.

The warden fell to the ground, and started to slowly, die. I rose to my feet, and made my way over to the warden, gasping for breath. He looked up at me with his gray eyes, and started to laugh.

“What's so funny?”

“You think you have won? You haven't won, you've just delayed your downfall.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you seriously think that this is the only facility in existence?”

I paused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Even if you manage to escape this place, you'll just be hunted down again. They'll just keep coming for you. You'll never escape.”

“Where are the other facilities?!”

The warden didn't answer, so I shoved my right foot on his chest and started push down in the chest. He let out a yell of pain, and coughed up blood. “Where are the fucking facilities!?”

“They're all over the world, and you'll never find them all.”

I was angry for a moment then I spotted a fancy device on his belt. I grabbed it from the belt and held it up to my face. It was no bigger than a cell phone, and could fit right in my hand. I tapped the screen, and it came to a password authentication screen. I looked down at the warden with anger in my eyes. “What's the password?”

Once again, the warden didn't respond, so I pressurized my foot further in his chest, causing him to yell in pain. “What's the fucking password!”

“You'll figure it out, for now, I bid you farewell.” The warden took one last breath then his eyes went blank, showing that he was dead.

“Burn in hell.” I was trying to figure out what the warden meant by you'll figure it out. What could it mean? Was it something I knew of and just wasn't seeing? That was when it hit me; back when I was in the military, all generals were marked with a six-digit number like the one on my arm. I got on my knees, then I pulled the sleeves of the warden's uniform up, until they revealed a six-digit number. There was no numbers on his left arm, so I pulled up the sleeves that covered his right arm. Just as I suspected, on the warden's right arm were the numbers, 875420.

I entered the numbers in as the password on the device I retrieved from the warden, and immediately, the password was confirmed. The screen now showed a 3D image of the earth, with small blinking spots in certain areas around the world. “My god.” I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I needed to free all those people, and destroy every facility like this one in existence. That was in the future, so for now, I needed to focus on getting out of this facility.

It took me awhile to disable the power grid, but finally, I was done. All I had to do now, was find where all the fuel was being stashed, which will be easy, now that all of the guards and the warden were dead. After that, I can get more of that medicine that helped me extract the nanobot from my body, and give it to the other prisoners. Without hesitation, I started my search for the fuel source, and had an idea of the area it might be in.

I figured it has to be near the entrance, because the serum they use would be easier to produce if it was more closer to the doctor's room, so I rushed through the halls, toward the front, ready to end this place forever. I knew that I was going to be able to hold my wife again, play with my son, sleep in a comfortable bed, and finally, have real food. I smiled from just the thought of those things.

I was at the front of the building in less than ten minutes or so, and immediately, started searching for the source. I didn't use my instincts, only my nose for this search, so I sniffed for the scent of fuel, hoping I could find it. It didn't take long for me to catch a wiff of the smell of fuel, and find where it was coming from either. Right at the entrance of the building, on the floor was a round door. “Bingo.”

I opened the small door, only to be blasted with the smell of fuel. My eyes were watering, and my nose hairs were singed, but I didn't care; my mission was accomplished. “Time to get out of here, for good.”

It took me about twenty minutes to get all of the serums out of the doctor's room, and get to the room that held my allies, without breaking a single one. I opened the door to the room, and rushed over to my ally's cell. He was surprised to see me, alive.

“What's all of this?” he said.

“All of the guards and the warden are dead. We're all getting out of here.”

“Are you serious! You managed to kill all of them?”

“Yes. Everything is all set.” Some of the prisoners overheard me and started to cheer. “WE ARE ALL GETTING OUT!” My voice echoed, but it was soon replaced by cheers. “Everyone just has to do one last thing.”

“What is that?”

“You need to get the nanobots out of your bodies, so drink this blue stuff.”

“You sure it works?”

“Positive. That's how I was able to get mine out.”

“Okay. Pass me one of those tubes.”

“Alright, but you might want to get next to the toilet, because it works fast.”

“Thank you, youngster.”

“Your welcome. Now, drink up.” I handed one tube to him, and with no hesitation, he gulped the serum down. It didn't take long for him to start puking his guts out, and for the nanobot to fall into the toilet.

“You've caused me nothing but misery for over a hundred years, goodbye, forever!” He flushed the toilet and turned to me with a smile. “Let's get out of here.”

“We will, but first, I have to give one to each prisoner.”

“Okay. Do it.”

“Right.” As fast as I could, I handed every separate prisoner a tube of the blue stuff, and listened to the sound of vomiting as I did. After about ten minutes, every prisoner had ridden themselves of their nanobots, and were ready to escape. “All of you can just push your cells open, because I disabled the power.” Every prisoner pushed open their cell doors, then gathered together in a group, awaiting my instructions. “Follow me. I'll take you to freedom!” Everybody cheered then I led all of them to the entrance of the building, where everyone can be freed at last.

At the entrance to the building, everybody was rushing out of the front opening, into the courtyard taking deep breaths of fresh air. All of them were saying things like “free at last” or “fresh air.” All of them were cheering with joy and happiness, but I wasn't finished. I still had to do what I planned to do all along; burn this place to the ground.

Once everyone was out, I grabbed the bomb I had constructed, and walked over to the opening, where all the fuel was stored. I stood over the hole and stared down into it for only a moment. With one last glance, I armed the bomb and dropped it down into the hole. With no hesitation, I ran as fast as I could outside. “THIS PLACE IS GOING TO BLOW! EVERYONE GET DOWN!” Everyone immediately, fell to the ground and shield their heads with their hands; I followed their actions and fell to the ground, ready for whatever came.

It was quiet for a second, then a huge explosion erupted, destroying every bit of the facility to nothing but debris. My ears were ringing as the explosions continued to erupt and destroy every last bit of the building. The sky above us started to fall as well, meaning it was just a simulation, and revealed moonlight, and a cool breeze. It was over. The nightmare was finally, over.

Everyone rose from the ground and turned their heads to see the sight of the facility burning to the ground, and the fire that filled the sky. Cheers filled the air, as everyone rose their arms in the air. My ally stood next to me, smiling. “After a hundred years of living in hell, I've always wanted to see this sight. This place burning to nothing but ash, and it's all thanks to you, my friend.”

“I have only been here eight days, and I am the only one who ever dared to take on the effort to escape.”

“For that I am thankful. I thought that I was going to be stuck there for the rest of my life, and there would be nobody who would ever try to escape. Also, you weren't in there for eight days.”

“I wasn't?”

“No. It is around midnight, therefore you were in there for nine days. Today, is the ninth day, since you arrived.”

“It seemed longer then that.”

“It seemed like eternity for me.”

“I managed to escape, because I was able to remember who I was.”

“So, the nanobot had no effect.”

“No. It didn't.” I smiled, then looked at the night sky; the real night sky.

For the rest of the ninth day, all we did was walk miles, hoping to see a city or a helicopter we could signal, but nothing came.

Day Ten: A New Mission

Over the ninth day, many victims of the facility had died of heat exhaustion, but they didn't die in vain. At long last they could be free and not have to worry about anymore chaos in their lives. As for me, I was being as strong as I could, so that I could make it home again. It was now, day ten, and I was begging that soon all of us would see a helicopter or city today, otherwise we all will die.

Every once and awhile, we'd stop and rest for about an hour then we would walk another two or three miles, and stop again. We all had to find civilization soon or we'd all die of either heat exhaustion or dehydration. None of us had slept since the night before the facility was destroyed, except me; I hadn't slept in over three days, so I was tired and groggy. The heat and lack of hydration were not helping either, so I was struggling to stay awake and barely had enough energy left to walk less than a mile. My ally would try to help me push forward, telling me that I had a reason to stay alive, which was true. I wasn't going to stop until I was home again.

I sat down next to my ally, and stared at the sky, almost dead. “Hard to believe that the reason I got into this mess in the first place, was because of me being an ass to the general in the military.”

“What do ya mean by that?”

“The warden, all along, was my general in the military.”

“No way!”

“It's true. He's the reason I'm here.”

“Well, if you didn't ever come to that place, all of us would still be eating scraps.”

“That's true, so I guess it was a good thing that I was put there.”

“Yes, and all of us will find a way back to civilization.”

“My time is drawing near, because I haven't ate or drank anything in days, and I haven't slept for two nights. My energy is very low, while yours is higher. Truly, I don't think I can make it any further.”

“Don't say that. Come on! You didn't go through all that shit, just to succeed then not survive long enough to see your family again. Unlike you, my spouse and children are all dead by now. I can die out here with no complains, despite this place not being the best resting place. I'll die soon anyways, because my body can't survive for any longer.”

“How can I survive any longer? Unless a plane or helicopter were to show up right now, I'll never make it. The heat is too much to bear, and as much as I try, I can't force my body any further then it can go.”

“Be bold and strong, just like you were in the facility. You wasn't going to give up at all. You set a goal on escaping, and look at what you accomplished. In just nine days, you were able to annihilate all the guards, and even the warden on top of that. You escaped from hell, and destroyed it as well, therefore you have what it takes to make it back to your family.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so. Now, become that bold and indestructible badass that you were in the facility.”

“You're right! I can't give up!”

“That's more like it. Now. Go to your family.”

“What about you?”

“I'm finished. I am glad to have met you, my friend. Thank you for freeing all of us from that place.”

“It was my pleasure. Good bye, friend. Rest, peacefully.” He grabbed my hand, and shook it as a symbol of friendship. I released my hand from his grip, then rose from the ground and began to walk out into the unknown. “Rest in peace, all of you.” I moved on further into the terrain.

I had walked about a mile or ever further then that, when I decided to stop for a moment to catch my breath. The midday sun beamed down on me, causing sweat to shed from my glands. How could I possibly be sweating, when I hadn't had any water in my system for days? At this point, I could care less. All I wanted to do was find civilization, which had to be close, seeing I had walked over thirty miles from the facility.

Once I caught my breath, I moved onward into the rigorous terrain, which was unknown to me. As I walked, I just kept thinking of what my friend had said to me, to keep me going. He inspired me to not give up, even when the odds are against you, and to not stop, until I had reached my final destination. It was his final effort, before he passed away, and I wasn't going to let him down. I wasn't stopping for anything. The only time I'll stop is when I find my way back home.

I had walked over twenty miles, since I stopped last and felt like my bones were made of Jello. My breathing was starting to weaken, causing me to start coughing, and each time I coughed, blood came up. My body was reaching its breaking point, and starting to shut down. Despite my friend's last words pushing me further, I was done. I collapsed to the ground, and slowly, my eyes started to shut to an eternal slumber.

My eyes peeked open, only to be blinded by lights. What the hell? Where was I? I opened my eyes wide open, and saw that I was in a bed. Next to me was a heart monitor, which was monitoring my heartbeat, which was strangely, normal. An IV was in my right hand, and my mouth was covered by an oxygen mask. I was in a local hospital, but where was I, exactly? Was I in my hometown's hospital, or was I somewhere completely different.

A doctor entered my room, with a needle in his hand. He didn't notice I was awake, until he turned toward me.

“You're awake. That's good, because we thought we had lost you.”

“Where am I?”

“Brickmore Hospital, and you are very lucky to be alive.”

“How was I found?”

“A local resident was walking along the Shara Desert, taking pictures for a magazine. He noticed you on the ground, and immediately, called 911. You were nearly dead, but we were able to revive you.”

“How bad was I?”

“You were in critical condition. Your blood pressure was dangerously low, your heartbeat was faded, and your organs were starting to shut down. We have been hydrating you through your IV, and cooling you down with ice packs.”

“That's very bad.”

“May I ask how you ended up out there in the first place?”

I paused. Wondering if I should tell him the truth or make up some excuse. “If I told you the truth, you would never believe me.”

“Why were you out there?”

“I was locked up in a secret facility underground and went through hell to escape.”

“Are you a convict?”

“No. I served our country for over twenty years.”

“I was forced there for dumb reasons. I was able to escape, and destroy the place, along with other victims of the facility.”

“There was something on the news about the discovery of a facility that had been demolished. Also, bodies were found throughout the desert.”

“That's it.”

“Thanks for letting me know. Get some rest.”

The doctor exited the room, then shut the door. I went to close my eyes, but immediately, stopped. “How could he know about the facility? It was built in secrecy, so he couldn't know.” I could hear chatter outside my room, and heard something that shocked me.

“It's him. The one that escaped, but this time he won't get away.”

I knew now that what the general said, was true. You'll never escape. You will be hunted down. I removed the IV from my hand, and removed the oxygen mask from my face. I jumped out of the bed, and quickly, looked around for something that I could defend myself with. The only thing I saw was a couple of needles on a table on the far side of the room, so I rushed to the needles and grabbed them, and waited at the door, so I could strike the doctor.

The handle of the door started to turn, so I readied myself for the worst. The doctor opened the door and walked in. “Okay, Mr.... Before he could speak again, I shoved both the needles in both sides of his neck, and injected whatever was in the tubes into his bloodstream. He fell to the ground, and died instantly. I went to exit the room, but was stopped by two men dressed just like the guards from the facility. Before I could react in defense, I was shot with tranquilizing darts. I fell to ground, and as my eyes started to shut, I was dragged out of the room.

I woke up in the back of a truck, and rose to my feet. I was being as quiet as possible, which was no need, because the radio was up so loud, I could barely hear myself thinking. There was no doubt of where the truck was going. They were taking me to another facility to be locked up forever, with no hope of escape. “No. I refuse to go back!” Out of my frustration, I rammed my body into the side of the truck with all my strength, which alerted the driver of the truck. However, before the driver could speak a word or threat, I rammed my body into the side of the truck again. This time, the force from my body caused the truck to tip.

I braced myself for impact, as the truck collided off the side of the road. The truck rolled at least three times, causing the back of the truck to break to bits. The truck rolled two more times, then finally, came to a stop. I rose to my feet, and walked to the back of the truck, where the door was located. With all my might, I kicked the door open, causing the door to go flying outside the truck. I exited the back of the truck, and started walking to the front of the truck, which was tipped on its side. The driver was dead and his blood stained the entire cockpit.

I grabbed the driver's gun and knife, then shot at the gas line under the truck, until it started to leak. I placed the gun in my pocket, along with the knife in the other pocket, and started to walk down the road farther and farther. Behind me, I heard the truck explode, but I just kept walking. Once I was far enough away from the truck, I stopped.

“I can't trust anyone. Not even my wife, because I know she's the one who told them where I was. This war will end with me as the victor, no matter what it takes. In memory of my friends from the facility, I'll destroy ever single one.” I walked down the road, ready to end the madness once and for all, no matter the cost.