Sister, I'm Feeling Pretty Safe, Dead in a Home-Made Grave

How long had I been in this dreadful place? I felt like it had been years, but now that I knew I would be getting out of this place, I felt like it had all gone by in a flash. I was so happy that I would finally be getting out of here. It was quarter to two in the morning. All the guards had gone to sleep. No lights fluttered around. However, I knew that Gunner had a flashlight in his socks that he had robbed off of a guard. He told me he would help me shine my way out.

"Gunner?" I called out, softly but audibly at the same time. I didn't want to wake anybody, but I wanted Gunner to be able to hear me when I spoke to him.

"Yeah, Faye?" he replied.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" I asked him. I was nervous. I kept picking at my fingernails as I rested on the bed (a rather uncomfortable one, at that).

"I'll make sure of that," he said. I could see him wink when he illuminated his face with his own flashlight. It made me smile. "I'll distract the guards if they come by. That way, you can get out."

I nodded. "Thanks." I looked at him. "You know... Gunner?"

"Yeah?"

I looked over to his face, all lit up in the flashlight. "I'll come back one day... and I'll come back for you," I said, smiling. He smiled back.

"Don't worry about me. I'm already working my way out of here."

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "How?"

He grinned and put a finger to his lips. "That..." he paused. "I'll never tell."

I laughed silently, and I heard a tap above the loose ceiling tile. Gunner and I looked at each other and nodded. That was the signal. It was exactly two in the morning. I stood up, Gunner lit my way to the tile. I stood on my tippy toes and poked the tile up just enough for Gerard to pry his fingers underneath it and slide it off. He looked at me and he smiled. He looked radiant. I looked over to Gunner who was shaking his head and laughing. He gave me a wave goodbye.

I tried to reach for Gerard's hand, but he couldn't get his hand into the room. "Sorry, doll, but you have to get your hands into the open for me to grab them..." Oh, that was right. He couldn't get in here. I reached as best as I could, and I was almost there...

"Anyone awake?"

I froze stiff. I almost fell off the bed, but Gerard managed to grab my hand. Gunner shut off his flashlight immediately, and I looked at Gunner frantically. Gunner wasn't worried. He knew what to do.

"NO!" he screamed, grabbing his head and falling onto the floor. "GET AWAY FROM ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

He was screaming at the top of his lungs, and the two guards patrolling the hall rushed over and immediately had all their attention on him. This left me the option of getting out. I saw him flash me a wink as he continued rolling around on the floor and screaming. "THEY WANT TO KILL ME! THEY WANT ME DEAD! THEY WANT ME DEAD, I TELL YOU!" he screamed.

Gerard was laughing under his breath as he pulled me up from the opening in the ceiling. We carefully slid the tile back onto the roof, and we quickly kissed. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. "Well, I can't drive right now... so you would have run, but it's kind of cold... so I'm gonna take you with me. Just don't move at all... it could hurt if you do."

I nodded, and in an instant everything heated up and felt warm... and we were gone.