Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (30 page)

Lee
spoke
reassuringly,
“It
doesn’t
really
matter
right
now,
all
you
need
to
know
is
that
I
am
and
we
are
getting
out
of
here...”

Tom
looked
down
at
Lee’s
feet
and
laughed,
“Where
are
your
shoes?”

Lee
glanced
behind
him
at
the
door
lying
busted
into
pieces
and
a
large
chunk
of
wall
missing,
then
pointed
to
Tom’s
bare
feet
and
replied,
“Eh,
where
are
yours?”
The
two
men
laughed
then,
Tom
turned
and
grabbed
his
boots
and
hurriedly
stuck
his
feet
into
them.
Running
down
to
the
cell
where
he
had
made
his
entrance
and
grabbed
his
own
boots
and
began
to
put
them
on.

Lee
popped
his
head
out
through
the
door
to
see
where
his
brother
was.
He saw
Tom
down
at
the
security
desk
searching
for
something
and
called
down
to
him,
“Hurry
up
Tom,
come
this
way…”

Tom
glimpsed
down
the
corridor
at
him
confused,
“That’s
just
a
cell…”

With
a
frustrated
look
on
his
face
Lee
asserted,
“Look
I'm
the
one
that
just
broke
in
here,
will
you
trust
me
to
get
you
out
and
not
argue,
come
on!”

Tom’s
eyes
were
still
scanning
the
desk
when
he
exclaimed,
“I
can’t
see
it.”

“See
what?”

Tom
continued
to
look
and
with
a
muffled
roar
he
shouted
out,
“I
can’t
see
the
release
for
the
other
cell,
we
can't
leave
without
McKay.
He's
in
the
cell
next
to
mine…”

Lee
instantly
gazed
over
at
the
middle
cell
and
saw
a
face
pressed
up
against
the
glass
watching
everything
unfold.
Lee
turned
to
his
brother
and
with
an
exhaustive
tone
instructed
Tom,
“Just
kick
the
damn
thing.”

Tom
replied,
“I
might
alert
the
guards.
It's
too
risky
to
do
it
again.”
With
that,
Tom
flicked
a
switch
on
the
desk.
“It
doesn’t
matter,
found
it…”
and
the door
to
McKay’s
cell
opened.
From
the
shadows
emerged
the figure
of
the
man
Lee
was
trying
to
identify
through
the
darkness.

This
was
the
first
time
that
the
two
had
met
or
even
seen
each
other,
but
each
knew
about
the
other
from
stories
Tom
had
told.
Tom
introduced
the
two.
“McKay
this
is
my
brother
Lee…”
then
turning
to
Lee
he
said,
“Lee
this
is
my
brother
in
arms
McKay…”
Lee
offered
McKay
a
subtle
nod
of
his
head
in
acknowledgment
of
his
presence.

McKay
scanned
around
the
room
declaring,
“Man,
you
can
certainly
make
an
entrance…”
Lee
didn’t
like
the
vibe
th
at
McKay
was
projecting;
sensing
a
certain
amount
of
passive
aggression
in
the
way
that
McKay
carried
himself.
The
way
he
looked
at
Lee
did
not
sit
easy
with
him,
it
was
as
if
McKay
was
aggressively
scrutinising
him,
analysing
him,
but
trusting
his
brother
and
wanting
to
make
hast
with
their
escape
Lee
instructed
the
men
.

“Follow
me,
we
don’t
have
much
time...”
and he turned
in
the
direction
of
the
cell
that
he
had
used
to
enter
the
compound.

Lee
made
Tom
climb
up
the
rope
that
he
had
left secured
to
the
top
of
the
ventilation
shaft
and
told
him
to
wait at
the
top
for
him.
McKay
followed
close
behind;
lastly
Lee
entered
the
shaft
and
carefully
closed
the
vent
behind
him,
being
careful
to
screw
back
in
the
cover
he
had
previously
removed.

McKay,
with
a
muted
voice,
called
down
the
shaft
to
him,
“They
are
going
to
notice
we
are
not
there,
especially
as
you
two
decided
to
destroy
the
cells.”

Lee
looked
back
over
his
shoulder.
“Well
at
least
they
won't
know
how
we
got
in
or
out.”
Lee
slowly
pulled
himself
up
the
rope
and
into
the
vent.

The
three
men
made
their
way
back
along
the
shaft
with
Lee
guiding
them
to
where
he
had
entered.
Lee
climbed
out
of
the
shaft
and
into
the
night
air
followed
by
Tom
and
then
by
McKay.
The
three
men
were
now
hidden
behind
the
unit
that
Lee
had
hidden
behind
before
he
made
his
entrance.

He instructed
Tom
to
watch
him
make
his
escape
out
between
the
fences
that
he
had
entered
through
earlier
and
to
await
his
signal
to
follow.
Lee,
showing
Tom
a
dull
red
flashlight,
told
him,
“This
light
is
the
signal;
the
fog
will
affect
the light
so
it
will
appear
even
duller
and
mask
it.
When
you
see
it, trace
my
steps.
Be
careful
to
stay
out
of
sight.
The
light
shouldn't
appear
too
obvious
to
the
patrol
guards…”
Once
again
Lee
made
his
way
to
under
the
guard
tower,
timing
his
exit
by
the
position
of
the
light
and
the
distance
of
the
guards
to
him.