Page 46 of The Way We Rot
Like we were in some alternative dimension.
“I unlocked the door earlier, parked a rental round the back so it would be invisible,” Adrian told me. “You’ll need to hide in the back, under a blanket just in case, but we’re almost there.”
“You planned this?” I asked, wanting to pause and think for a second. Hang on.
But Adrian Darling pulled me toward the door, and the promise of freedom grew too tasty. “We need to move now.”
And we did. We stepped outside, past the broken vending machine and curled up magazines, into the fresh night air.
It was raining, and though it hadn’t been too long since I had been out in the yard, the air seemed so much crisper. Delicious, almost. I looked up into the rain and grinned, but Adrian didn’t give me a second’s pause, dragging me into the shadows by the perimeter fence I’d spent so many years staring at a different section of. I was full of disbelief, mixed with that relief.
“Here,” he said, all business, opening the backdoor of a car I didn’t notice until we were on top of it. “Climb in.”
I obliged, sinking down onto the passenger seat behind the driver, my eyes roaming around everything.
Adrian jumped in and started the car, instructing me to lie down in the footwell and throw the blanket over myself. I was too bewildered to refuse.
“Shit, they’ve started a fire,” he commented as the car rolled along. Who did? What fire? I was desperateto peek out from under the blanket and look, but escaping was so much sweeter than the drama left behind. That apathy infecting me in solitary was long gone; all that remained was a nosy bitch. A little niggling.
“What’s happening?” I asked. “How is this possible?”
“A fucking prison riot, is what,” Adrian grunted, a hint of laughter in his voice. “It was too sweet an opportunity to pass up.”
“Right,” I agreed, but my mind kept snagging on something. Too much adrenaline coursed through me, and lying this immobile wasn’t helping it to dissipate.
“I had a feeling. Things have been bubbling. I’ve been waiting… We’re almost at the exit. Stay silent and still,” Adrian warned, and the car rolled to a stop. I heard him talking to someone, explaining why he had to leave in the middle of a riot, but my mind was still catching on the events that had happened.
I could almost believe I hadn’t left isolation and my mind had snapped. Maybe this is what I wanted afterall. Maybe I would be fed through a tube and live in this la la land.
That would be fine.
“We’re through,” Adrian said. “Don’t get up yet.”
The radio turned on, and music filtered through, tinny pop flooding my ears. New music was another special treat. A band I didn’t recognize, a beat unfamiliar. I smiled.
Freedom.
We were doing it. I was outside the walls of the prison for the first time since my trial, and it felt good. Even if I were tucked up under a blanket, stifled and hot. Tears threatened again, a wash of overwhelming happiness.
Fuck the blanket, I wanted to see the world.
I popped up with no warning, making Adrian cuss and swear as I straightened up and climbed over the middle, sinking my ass on the front seat, orange outfit shining bright.
Out here, it felt even worse, even uglier. I pulled at it.
“There’s a bag of clothes in the trunk; as soon as we’re far enough away, we’ll stop and change,” Adrian told me.
“Where are we going?” I asked, still parsing all of this out.
It was dark out, and we were on a main highway, so the world wasn’t that interesting yet. Just flashing lights and passing cars illuminated Adrian’s tense face every so often.
“I really wish you were in the back,” he said, frowning. “We’re not far enough away from the prison.”
“Ah,” I sighed, stretched out. “Live a little.”
He met my eyes for a split second, and I gave him a big, wide grin. He rolled his eyes and focused on the road again, jaw tense, expression tight.
We drove for maybe ten more minutes before he pulled over, driving right into some trees until they surrounded us. Oh, shit, I wanted to touch them.
