Sam and Colby: The Penitentiary

66

"So, change your mind yet?" I asked.

"Not sure I can do much with my mind for the time being," Ray said, looking up from his spot on the ground against the fence.

"Perfect, then let me just tell you what to think," I said. "We're coming with you."

"You're quite the woman, you know that?" he asked.

"I may have heard that a time or two," I replied.

"Not that I'm pleased with you or anything for feeling the need to bash your head against mine after only speaking for thirty seconds, but that took some guts," he said. "Maybe I will consider bringing you with me."

"And them," I said, pointing back over to the court.

"Why do they matter so much to you?" asked Ray.

"What, like you deeply care about the other six people you want to bring?" I replied.

"If I'm bringing anyone else, I'd rather it be someone I... can tolerate than some complete strangers," said Ray.

"Tolerate, huh?" I asked with a laugh.

"For lack of a better word, yes," he replied.

"You're aware of the power I have here, yes?" I asked.

"Sure," Ray said with a small shrug.

"Then don't piss me off," I said. Ray sighed again, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. You can bring them. What are they anyway, your friends or something?" he asked.

"Yeah. Friends," I said. An extremely small smile flashed across Ray's face for just a second. "So we have a deal? You take us and not the others?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever. Deal," he replied. I reached my right hand out and he took it in his for a firm handshake.

"Hey, Ness. How's it going?" Colby asked, walking over.

"Good, good. We'll be leaving on the tenth with Mr. Ray over here," I said.

"Yeah?" Colby asked, looking down at Ray.

"Anything for her friends," Ray said, smiling stiffly.

"Yeah. Friends," Colby chuckled. "Come on, it's almost time to go." He held his hand out to me and I took it, then trailed after him as we walked toward the door a little bit.

"Inside. Now!" Jinx yelled across the yard. Colby glanced behind us, waiting for Ray to get into earshot before saying anything.

"Aw man, cell time already?" he said.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Well then," Colby continued. He looked over at Ray and gave him a sly smile before turning to me and pulling me into a kiss. I kissed him back, but couldn't help but wish to see the glare I knew Ray was giving us.

"Woo, hoo," Jake cooed from across the yard. I smiled against Colby's lips before pulling back.

"See you tomorrow, princess," he said.

I turned around and smirked at Ray.

"Deal's a deal," I said. I laced my fingers through Colby's and we made our way through the door over to our cell block.

"So I see you spoke to Ray," Sam said as our cell door loudly clanked shut behind us. "And that Colby decided to interject."

I plopped down on the bottom bunk and Sam took a seat next to me.

"So?" he asked.

"So I decided to be a little more blunt this time. And like I said, I don't want to risk fucking with history or our own timeline. You know. If we actually get to go back," I said.

"Good," Sam said, nodding. "We leave day after tomorrow then?"

"Yup," I replied.

"Is Blaze already cool with it?" he asked.

"Blaze isn't coming this time," I said.

"What? But we need to stockpile everything," Sam said. "And six people are supposed to come with him."

"We've been through it before, it'll work just fine with one less person," I pointed out. "And if this actually works, we should only have to make it 58 hours out there."

"Ness, we still need food and stuff to make it and still be alert enough to escape," Sam said.

"No, I know. I'm working in the kitchen, remember? Tomorrow Mandi is going to offer me a chance to shower in the women's bathroom out back. I'll find a way to sneak some food back there and tuck it behind the building. The kitchen leads straight out past the eighth guard post. We can swipe it on our way into the woods," I said.

"Okay... and how are we going to make sure Ray gets caught and stays alive without letting ourselves get caught along with him?" asked Sam.

"I... I don't know," I admitted. I ran my hands through my greasy hair and sighed. "This is just a mess. At least we know the escaping part will work."

"Hey, it's not fair for us to be expecting so much from you. This is just an impossible situation that no one would ever be prepared for. You're doing crazy good at handling this. How about we go along with Ray to where he gets caught and find a way to keep him there while we leave? Did they find him at night or in the morning?" asked Sam.

"In the morning. They said he was still sleep, though. I think it was 5 or 6 in the morning," I said.

"Perfect. Then we stay awake and leave when we know he's asleep," said Sam.

"I really hope this works this time around," I said.

"At least we know we'll get another chance if we need one," said Sam.

"Do you think we can even die in here?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean, Ray died. And you and Colby got seriously hurt. I hope if any of us die, it'll just reset. I don't see why it wouldn't," he replied.

"Yeah. I really hope you're right," I said.

"Do you know exactly where he got caught?" asked Sam.

"There was a picture of a topographical map in one of the articles I read about him. I'll look in the library tomorrow to see if there's any books that might have any sort of maps of the area," I said.

"Okay, yeah. But Ray will honestly probably lead us right to the spot. It'll be good to know where, though. Just in case something happens this time that makes him change his mind," Sam said.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Well, tomorrow's a new day. Sort of. Let's get some sleep and we'll get to work in the morning," said Sam. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Night, Sam."