Silence Falls

Jack slowly let out a breath he’d been holding, his nerves beginning to corrode his bones as he was coming to terms with the fact that he was most definitely aiming to be a recruiter in Bert’s escape plan 100% from here on out. Screw his religion. Screw his co-workers. Screw his job. He had to stand up for what was right for once in his life! “Yeah I-I guess so.”

Bert could tell Jack was noticeably uneasy with the concept of abetting their breakout from the Psychiatric Hospital, but deep down inside he somehow knew that Hermanni was going to keep Jack in line in his choice to join them. “Hey, it’s okay to be scared, man. I was scared the first time doing this shit too. It took a tough little cookie to give me the strength and support I needed to keep pushing onward to freedom, not to mention a group of incredible friends to keep you company along the way.”

Jack nodded, inwardly feeling nauseous about the whole thing. Bert’s words gave him little solace, and so he was trying to gather himself as best as he could. “So uh, w-what’s the plan for escape then?”

Bert scratched the back of his head as he expelled a defeated sigh. “Honestly? I don’t really have any plans that don’t involve ALL of us making it out of here alive since I've been pretty fucked up on medication all the time to think clearly. I still haven’t memorized the layout of this place, so beyond this ward…we’d be winging it from here.”

Jack felt a wave of shame engulf him, knowing it was all his fault for ripping up the Psychiatric Hospital’s blueprints in the first place before they even had a chance to peep at it. If he hadn’t done that, they’d have a concrete game plan by now that could categorically save more lives. “Fuck, Bert. I’m so sorry for destroying the Hospital’s blueprints. It was uncalled for even then when I was brainwashed.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We can’t change anything. It’s like you said, you were brainwashed.” Bert chucked it like it wasn’t a big deal when it truly was. The medication he took numbed his true feelings over it. Deep inside, he still hadn’t gotten over it, but there was no time for brooding. Perhaps later, after they flee this place he’d exchange a couple of words with Mr. White, but until then, duty called.

“Look if we’re about to try and forge a prosperous plan out of thin air, then there is one action that we can’t consider.” Jack spoke up after a while of silence.

Bert arched a brow inquisitively. “And what would that action be?”

“We can’t all dress up like Nurses and Orderlies and walk on out of here. That would never work! Some members of our staff have been here since the ice age and know EVERYONE that works here. To get past those living fossils will be problematic. We would have to outsmart them somehow, and I can’t see how that’s possible.” Jack clarified further on that hazardous approach.

Bert cursed before looking around the cell in deep meditation. “Okay…how about this…what if only one or two of us dress up as Orderlies alongside you, and we smuggle the rest of us out of here unnoticed?”

Jack frowned and then ultimately shook his head in rejection. “There’s no way we can find anything big enough to smuggle all your friends out of here at once! Unles-”

“The Laundry Carts!” Bert exclaimed, reading Jack’s mind as his eyes brimmed with hope.

Jack thought it through carefully. The laundry carts were once small canvas carts used to transport loads of laundry every hour of every day. It became such a hassle and a time exhausting duty that the staff members all pitched together to procure dozens of improved laundry carts. These carts were much larger than their former counterparts, and could ferry dozens of loads at once. They were built with a flat piece of wood beneath the white canvas material to prevent tearing and dragging overtime. For a week staff members lined up in excitement to enlist for laundry duties, until they all began to despise it again.

“You know what…I think that might just work!” Jack returned in astonishment, his eyes beaming back.

“You mean it?!” Bert whispered excitedly, wanting to squeal like a teenage girl being asked to prom by the hottest guy in school. He couldn't believe it! They actually produced a decent plan!

“Yeah, I mean, you’re all pretty light enough, I guess. Except for Connor’s extra weight due to him being the biggest. He’ll prove to be a problem.” Jack shared, expressing his concern. Out of all of them, Connor stood out to be the tough guy of the group, the resilient protector, someone you didn’t want to cause any trouble or offense even in the slightest.

“Seriously? You think he’s too big?” Bert questioned more to himself with a frown. It was hard for him to get a crystal clear memory of Connor’s size. Everything just came to him in blurry images now that were impossible to deduce.

Jack gave Bert a weird look before recalling he was medicated. “Well yeah, haven’t you seen him? There’s no way in hell we’d be able to fit him AND everyone else you want to take in those carts!”

Bert rubbed his hands over his face. “Not unless we wanna enlist the others to portray themselves as Nurses and Orderlies alongside you.”

Jack shook his head quickly. “No, we can’t have too many unfamiliar people, it’ll draw too much attention to us like I said before. We need as few people as we can, so it’s best Connor comes with me. We can use his strength to navigate you guys through the Hospital.” Jack paused before locking eyes with his patient. “Look, Bert, I’m really thinking that these laundry carts could work here to export everyone. The thing is though that the laundry room is down in the basement. So how are we going to get out of here if we’re meant to be going straight down into the basement? I mean, we can't exactly roll you out the front door with all those people working in the front.”

Bert wasn’t about to accept defeat now. Not when they’re finally so close “There has to be a way to distract them then. Like…an explosion, or an elephant stampede, or something!”

Jack scoffed at Bert’s last comment before the idea suddenly came to him. “Wait a goddamn minute! I forgot downstairs in the basement is the water heater and generator! Maybe if I trigger it somehow and it'll explode! EVERYONE in the whole damn hospital will come running as soon as possible!”

“I swear to god Jack, I’m this close to kissing you right on that mouth of yours if you come up with one more brilliant plan!” Bert threatened Jack cheerfully, slapping an affectionate hand on his shoulder for brainstorming their escape on his own.

Jack didn’t hear Bert’s threat because he was so proud of his additions to the plan. Nevermind that he had a better advantage than Bert since he knew the layout of the Hospital and wasn’t under medication. “I can steal a gun from one of the guards if I drug the morning coffee in the break room, then sneak down into the basement and fucking shoot the water tank. Then BOOM! Explosion, right?”

Jack was taken by surprise when Bert cupped his face in his hands and brushed his lips in a fleeting kiss. There were no teeth, no tongue, no spit swapping, just the skimming of lips. It ended before Jack could knock Bert off of him, but he still reacted to it with a shriek. “DUDE! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, MAN?!”

Bert innocently shrugged, solely putting the blame on Jack for getting kissed. “Hey, I warned you.”