CHAPTER V – Prison Break

It was 1am. Usually at this hour, most high-school teenagers were already in their beds, thinking about what they would do during their Summer Vacation. Going out camping, traveling to Europe, going to the beach… Some of them maybe even were already preparing for college. But not the Rosevalley’s team. Nor their cheerleaders. Instead of a cozy bed, what they had was a hard, cold plastic floor. And instead of Summer thoughts, a sense of desperation and dread. Most couldn’t sleep. They were sitting, laying on the floor, crying to the point that their tears dried out. Sobbing, lamenting.

Ashley was in a fetal position on the floor along with two other girls, still bawling. Madison was sitting with her head around her knees. Her head hurtled. She couldn’t stand Ashley insufferable crying. Many others were crying too, but Ashley’s howling was maddening. Even though she and Ashley were always along with Jessica, deep down she couldn’t stand them. Especially Ashley, with her high-pitched whining. But she knew her position gave her privileges. Advantages. So she endured them, always with a fake smile on her face. But no more. There were no more privileges. And no more Jessica.

“Hey Greg. How are you doing, man?” Robert put his hand on his shoulder. Kyle was behind him, not really knowing what to say. They were both concerned for their friend. He didn’t say anything since the two giantesses descended from the attic. He just looked up at one of the corners, with a worrying silence.

“Fuck it. I’m doing it”

“Greg? Doing what?” Greg’s sudden break of silence surprised Rob and Kyle.

“I’m getting out of here. I’m going to make those bitches pay.” Greg seemed eerily calm for someone who just witness the brutal murder of his loved one.

“Greg, you’re not thinking straight. We can’t get out of here. Come on, go try to get some sleep…”

“Of course we can.” Greg turned towards his two friends. They could see his red eyes, still dry from the crying. But there was something else. A look of confidence.

“Do you see that tube?” Greg pointed towards a black tube that was dangling on one of the corners. It traveled up to the aquarium roof. “I have an aquarium tank on my home. That’s the oxygen tube. When that girl put the roof back on its place, it must have fallen off.”

Kyle and Rob looked at each other, and then back at Greg. “Greg, you’re not seriously thinking what we’re thinking?”

“Yes, I am! I’m going to climb that tube and get out of here.  I do wall climbing, I’m used to it.”

“Are you insane? Do you see how tall that tube goes? That’s a 6 stories fall!” Rob said.

“Yeah. And even if you do make it, what are you going to do? At this size, you’re going to either be crushed, or eaten by a bug.” Kyle added.

“AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO US WHEN THESE TWO BICHES COME BACK TOMORROW!!! DIDN’T YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID TO JESS?!!!”

Rob and Kyle were caught by surprise by Greg’s sudden explosion. He was panting, a mixture of sadness and anger was visible from in eyes. Everyone in the aquarium noticed that outburst and turned their heads towards Greg.

“I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry guys. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay Greg. It’s okay. We know” The two friends were trying to comfort him.

“Look, I want to do this okay? If there is a chance that I can catch someone’s attention, no matter how infinitesimal, I’m taking it. Fuck those two. There is nothing you can do to stop me. They’re going to pay. But I’m going to need your help.”

“Huh, Greg, I mean…”

“No, I’m not asking you to come with me. But you’ll have to help me grasp the tip of the tube.”

Rob and Kyle looked again at each other.

“All right, Greg. We’ll help you. For Jessica”

“For Jessica”

As they approached the dangling tube, Rob and Kyle kneeled as they were ready to catapult Greg towards the tip. At their size, it was a 13 foot jump, which was not small feat.

“You know, it’s usually the cheerleaders who do this…” Kyle said jokingly, trying to ease the mood.

“Well, there’s always a first for everything, right?” replied Rob.

“All right guys, one… two… Three!” Greg was projected upwards, approaching the tip of the tube very fast. A little too fast in fact.

“Oh shit!” Greg was projected way higher than he and his friends expected, surpassing the tip of the tube. Surprised by this unexpected result, Greg tried to awkwardly grab the black plastic. Thankfully, at his size, the ridges and roughness of the tube’s plastic were big and exaggerated enough so he could have some sort of grip.

“Hell, yeah Greg!” The two friends rejoiced.

Greg started carefully climbing the tube. His small size meant that he was also more light, so he was not getting as tired as he though. It was also probably why he was catapulted way higher than planned. However, grasping at the right imperfections of the plastic was essential to properly climb, as he learned during his climbing lessons. One false move and he was set to get a broken bone. The higher he was getting, the costlier the mistake. Unfortunately, this climbing section did not include a safety rope.

As Greg was at the middle of his climb, the rest of the shrunken teenagers who were watching the three friends started approaching.

“What are doing?” asked Jeffrey.

“What does it looks like, idiot? He’s climbing the fucking thing! Holy shit!” replied Daniel. Daniel Watson was the most arrogant guy in the team. He wasn’t really liked by the rest of the team, especially due to his hot temper. “What are you guys waiting for, come on! Help me jump!”

“Uuh, what? Dan, I don’t think that…” Kyle and Rob did not have time to argue with Daniel, as he raised his tone. “I said, help me jump, dammit! Come the fuck on!”

“Dan, you don’t get it, Greg is used to climbing, he had…”

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK!!! I’M NOT GOING TO ROT IN THIS FUCKING PRISON!!!” Daniel was starting to become red. “Fine, you don’t want to help?! Jeff! Mark! Help me jump!”

Daniel’s friends approached Rob and Kyle, and pushed them back. They didn’t try to fight back. “Hey, if you want to break your neck, be our guest!”

“Fuck you. You want to stay here? Be my fucking guest too.” Daniel put his foots on top of Mark and Jeff’s hands and was catapulted upwards. However, unlike Greg, he did not know how to properly grab the plastic wall, and has he grabbed it, started slipping and fell.

“Ouch! Fuck” Thankfully, the fall was not that high, and adding to the fact that he was way lighter at his size meant that he didn’t break anything. But it sure did hurt like hell.

“Shit! Fuck! Mark! Jeff! Again!”

“Dan, stop it, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Some of the teens tried to convince him to stop, but they knew it was hopeless.

“Uugh, whatever, let it break his ass!” Madison said has she was the only one sitting away from the crowd.

After a second attempt, Daniel managed to successfully grab the plastic tube.

“Holy shit, look!” Kyle pointed towards the sky.

“I know, right?!” Daniel started laughing as he looked down to the crowd. But they weren’t looking at him. They were looking upper. Way upper. As he turned his head towards the roof, he saw Greg approaching the end of the tube and disappearing through a small aperture.

“He did it, he fucking did it, Kyle!” Rob grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him.

“Look!” Greg, appeared again at the edge on the roof. He was using the white cloth that was covering the aquarium to climb down the glass wall. Climbing down using the fiber of the tissue was a piece of cake compared to what he had just done. Rob and Kyle ran towards the bottom of the glass wall, so they could say goodbye to their friend.

As they arrived near the wall, Greg had just finished climbing the tissue, and looked at his two friends. They started talking, but could barely hear each other. Greg simply put his hand on the glass wall and then proceeded to crawl below the white fabric, disappearing once and for all.

Meanwhile, Daniel was still at the middle of his climb and seemed to have stopped.

“Fuck, were do I grasp know? I’m stuck!” He started to realized that he probably should have been listening to his colleagues. Being an inexperienced climber, he was already tired midway, and was starting to panic. “Ok, ok, maybe this one…”

*SLIP*

“FUUUUUUUCK!” Daniel fell, to everyone’s horror.

*CRACK*

“AAAAAAAAAHH!!! FUCK!!! FUCK ME!!!!” the crowd quickly surrounded him. The fall was not high enough to mess him up like it had happened to Jessica, but he did break a leg, a wrist, and a few ribs.

“Fuck man! We told you! We fucking told you!” Mark and Jeff tried to help their friend.

Rob and Kyle looked at each other. At least one thing was certain. Nobody else was going to try to pull off that stunt.

“Yep, as expected…” Madison said to herself, as she played down and tried to sleep.