Free Will of Man - Part Four by William Scanlan Page A

come storming in to rescue me, however he never came. I wondered if he was safe. I feel guilty for not trying harder to find him before I jumped overboard.
    We didn’t travel long till we reached a dock on the bank facing an island with an old prison on it. The river had widened to a fairly large lake. We boarded a boat which shipped us to the island where the prison was. Judging by how old it was, I assumed it was more of a museum than an operable prison (kind of like Alcatraz is today). I heard one of the captured say it was an old Civil War military prison. The pirates have made it their fortress and I predict this will be my home until I escape. Because I will escape.
    Judging from previous races I’ve done in large lakes, I guesstimated the distance to shore to be about eight-hundred meters. If I were to swim that distance (in calm conditions), I could make it in roughly thirteen minutes. I don’t have my wetsuit to keep me afloat, so I would have to pace myself. It’s mid August so the water is warm. If I am to escape by swimming, I will need to do it within a month. September water temps will be too cold without a wetsuit.
    We arrived to the island and were shuffled down a gravel road to the entrance of the prison. The prison seems mid-evil, with a high brick perimeter wall and a huge rusty gate at the entrance. Guards line the walls and occupy the watch towers. They’re armed with crossbows and spears (remember guns are useless now).
    There are torches and lanterns all around lighting the perimeter. The guards not only seem to be looking for people escaping, but also people trying to attack from the outside.
    All of the pirates are TAKERS since I get the instinctual feeling of disgust by all of them. They are pushy and seem to enjoy being jerks.
    When I arrived at the mid-evil prison, they ran me and five others they captured through a processing line. One-by-one, we were marched through a gauntlet of guards. Each guard had a different job to do. They mostly checked us for weapons, stripped us of our shoes, and put locking metal collars on us.
    Once I was done being processed, they escorted each of us to a waiting cell. One-by-one we were taken and placed in a cell with a cellmate. I tried asking what was going to happen to me, but the guard only told me to shut-up and that my cellmate would fill me in. He then jabbed my new cellmate and said, “Fill em in.”
    My cellmate’s name was Jeff. He was an older man, shorter than me, with a kind face. He looked wore down and tired, but did his best to make me feel welcome.  He was on my side. He was a GIVER.
    Jeff introduced himself and gave me a blanket to warm up with since I was still damp from the rain and river. He said he was a middle school councilor before the LAST DAY, and had a family of five – one wife and four adopted kids.
    He had been separated when the pirates caught him foraging for supplies too far into the pirate’s domain. He asked me a lot of questions about myself and I could tell he was trying to help me forget that I had just become a prisoner.
    He told me to call him Jeff, but it was awkward since he was an adult and former councilor for a school. I wanted to be polite and call him by his last name with a Mr. in front.
    Jeff had supplies in our cell that he’d been gathering and the guards let him keep. Among those supplies, was a notepad with a pen. I asked if I could use it. He let me have them.
    I asked Jeff what was going to happen to me. He said that I am now a slave to the pirates. He said, most likely I will work in the fields with him mending to the crops. Jeff’s job was to make sure the crops were growing well and will be ready for harvest.
    He said, things will go smooth for me as long as I comply and don’t cause trouble. He said trouble makers are dealt with harshly and repeat offenders are taken away, never to be seen again. I don’t want to be a trouble maker. But I will break out of here. I will make it back to my