Free Grendel Unit 3: Fight the Power by Bernard Schaffer

still yelling that none of them were real, and Monster pressed his face against his furry chest to muffle the sound and said, "You two had better not have come this far just to blow the operation over dead scanner batteries."
    Bob looked at Frank stiffly and said, "We don't have the power to open the hatch. We're stuck."
    Frank looked up at the closed hatch, drenc hed with fear, but he found himself uttering a command anyway, saying, "Use whatever is left to send a message to the General. Tell him he either finds a way to open the hatch, or we're done."
    Bob punched in the message and sent it, holding the scanner up to the ceiling as if it would make a difference. As he held it, the light of the screen began to fade, leaving them all in complete darkness.
    "We'll find another way," Frank said.
    "Thousands of inmates have tried to escape since this place was built," Monster growled. "None have survived."
    "Well they're not us," Bob said.
    "You sound brave now, because you have not lived here and slept here and been forced to eat the rot here," Monster said. "You have been free, and you cannot fathom being anything other than free, but in time, you will see." He looked up at the dark hatch once more and then said, "I will show you where I sleep. After tonight, you will have to find your own cells, though."
    "I can't believe it," Bob whispered. "We came this far."
    "Just hang on a second," Frank said.
    "Even if the hatch opens, the guards will be mobile soon. We'll be fighting a squad of Sentinel armored guards. It's over," Bob said simply. "It's…just..." his voice grew quiet as the ceiling creaked above them and the magnetic locks bracing the hatch began to vibrate and snap open.
    "Unbelievable," Monster sighed. "Thank the gods and goddesses."
    "Go, go!" Bob shouted, grabbing the ladder with both hands and scurrying up it like a monkey.
    Frank was right behind him, laughing as he climbed, saying, "You should have seen the look on your face. You were scared as hell."
    "You're damn right I was scared," Bob said as he dove out of the hatch onto the floor, taking a deep breath of clean air. He reached into the hatch to grab Frank by the arm and heave him up. "I was terrified I'd have to spend the rest of my life staring at you."
    Frank rolled his eyes and said, "You'd love it in prison. A bunch of guys who always work out, no tempting foods to mess up your diet."
    Monster passed Vic through the hatch to them and both Bob and Frank grabbed on, pulling the Captain up onto the second floor. Frank tapped Vic rapidly on the cheek and said, "See? We're out of there. Smell that clean air? It's time to snap out of it, Vic. Come on, man. We are not out of this and we need you! Grendel Unit needs you!"
    Vic blinked several times as he looked up at the lights on the ceiling and the color began to return to his face. He stared at Frank, but still did not speak, but when Monster had finally forced his bulk out of the hatch, Vic was able to walk on his own and followed the rest of them as Bob shouted, "If I remember the map, there's an elevator down that hall."
    They raced past the food processing room where Frank had immobilized the guards and saw that some of them were starting to move. They were flexing their fingers and inching their armored torsos sideways to try and look at them. The one with the open face mask, Corporal Slavish, cried out at the sight of Vic and Monster and screamed, "Help! Help! Prisoners are escaping! Ring the alarm."
    "We still have time," Bob said triumphantly. He clapped his hands and started to run down the hall, when he realized Vic had broken away from the rest of them and was staring at the guards through the glass. "What the hell is he doing? Monster, grab him again."
    Before the Mantipor could reach him, Vic suddenly snatched Frank by the collar and yanked him forward, forcing him into the office. Frank tried to pry Vic's fingers away, shouting, "Get off of me! We have to get the hell out of here! What are you