Free Rising: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction by Norman Christof

sounds of the alarm.  It was piercing.  Between the screams in her head, the alarm and the flashing lights, Leekasha wanted to just bolt.  Instead, she looked to Jed, and said, “Control him damn you.  Make him open your door. Get him off that phone.  We’ve already got enough trouble coming.”
     
    Jed focused his control, and the guard put down the phone.  He turned to a panel on his right and pressed a series of buttons.  Jed’s door popped open, but as it did another door opened at the end of the block. A half dozen guards in full riot gear came charging in. Behind them, were two paramedics also wearing riot gear.  Leekasha grabbed Jed by the hand, and they fled into the guard office.  There was a door on the other side of it, that led to the adjoining cell block.
    “Jed, make him open all the doors.  We need to slow down those other guards.  Quickly.”
     
    Jed did his best, and the guard opened every cell door in the block.  The advancing guards had their hands full making it through a mob of drug addled zombies, while Leekasha and Jed made their escape into the next cell block.
     
     

Cellmates
    Jed and Leekasha raced through the deserted cell block, past rows of open cells.  The smell of too many people living in too small a space still permeated the air, but neither of them paid much attention amidst the sounds of alarms and flashing lights.  They passed all the cells and reached a dead end at a locked door leading to the yard. They’re only available route was stairs leading to the upper row of cells in the block. 
     
    “Up the stairs.”  Leekasha said. 
    Up top wasn’t much better.  There was still no way out, and moving past these cells would take them closer to what they were running from.  All the blocks led back to the central guard office like spokes on a wheel.
     
    “In there.”  Leekasha said motioning to one of the empty cells.
     
    They  ducked into the cell, which was sparse.  Nowhere to hide.  It had two bunks anchored to the walls with tattered green mattresses.  A small work table also attached to the wall and a stool missing a leg were the only other fixtures. 
     
    “There’s hundreds of cells in here.  It’ll take them a while to search all of them.”  Leekasha said.
    “Not long enough.”  Jed replied.
    Leekasha frowned.  “I know.  I know.  Give me a second to catch my breath.  I’ll figure something out.”
    Leekasha sat on the lower bunk, while Jed peered out the cell down the block.
    “Get your head back in here.  What do you think your doing?  They’ll spot you from the other end of the block.  Don’t bother watching for them.  We’ll hear them coming long before they get here.  This place is quiet as a tomb.”
    Jed sat himself down at the wobbly stool across from Leekasha. 
    “Sorry, this is all new to me.  I’m not used to making decisions on my own.”
    Leekasha smiled.  “Welcome to the world of grown ups.  You’ll get used to it.  I was where you are a few months ago.”
    “Really?  You don’t look like it.  Your like me?”
    “Yea, just like you.”
    Jed looked Leekasha in the eyes. “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “For getting me out of that horror.  I felt like I’d been trapped for years.”
    Leekasha turned her head.  “Hate to tell you this, but your right.  The Pacize drugs have been controlling you for years.  Ever since the war ended.”
    “Damn.  That long?  What about my family?  My wife.  We just had our second kid, what happened …”
    Leekasha interrupted.  “Look, I feel really bad, but we don’t have time for a trip down memory lane.  My best friend is back there all messed up, and we’re about to be found by a bunch of pissed off prison guards looking to avenge the death of a fellow guard.  We need a plan.”
    “Right.”  Jed answered standing up.  “That was your best friend we left behind?”
    “Don’t give me that.  I know what I did, leaving her there.  I