It turns out that ‘Our Rooms’ weren’t the lavish guest suites we had been privileged with, but rather damp, underground cells with iron gates. All the comforts of home.

Knowing better than to resist, we allowed the guards to grab us by the backs of our collars and search us again for anything that could be used as an improvised weapon, including my precious mechanical pencil and Kevin’s hidden blade in his tube socks. They threw Kevin in a cell as he landed with a big “Ouff’, and threw me in the cell next to him.

The guards, seeming content with their hostility, slammed the doors and left without comment. As the guards footsteps disappeared around the corner, Kevin gave me a look. It wasn’t a facial expression I recognized, it was full of anger, disillusion and resent. He seemed ready to defend any sort of sardonic statement I threw his way, and I knew that during times like this, it was best not to poke the beast.

Kevin nonchalantly examined to the hinges. “Rising-butt barell hinges” he grunted.

I didn’t bother to confirm, I just agreed with a simple impassive “Yep.”

“Any way to break them?” Kevin asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope.”

We heard the guards slam he door to the corridor and with that, we were left in the complete dark.

“Kind of them.” Kevin said acerbically.

*  *  *

We sat in quiet speculation. Questions flew across my mind like a swarm of locusts. Were they talking about us right now? Were they going to exalt us? Were they going to make us martyrs? Would we just ‘disappear’ the way Sandrin did?

Finally, it was itching to much: “Well that…” I stopped myself. I was going to give my two cents about Kevin’s attempt at the oil power-play, but there had been a degree of tension in the rapport between Kevin and I ever since we got to the Hub, and I didn’t want to instigate. “Well that was unexpected.” I left which that I referred to ambiguous.

Kevin thought for a second. “You think they’ll keep us here long?” He sounded gloomy.

I had heard horror stories of the Hub’s torture tactics. If they wanted information, they would get it or kill us trying. “No, I think they are just making us tired” I said hopefully. “They might just want to talk about it, oil is enticing.”

“Not my idea of a fun sleepover.”

“I think they may starve us, actually. They think we’ll exchange information for food.”

“Not a particularly bad way to  go.” said Kevin. Was he being glib?

“I think I’d rather take a bullet.” I said all to honestly.

“Too messy. Bullets are too expensive, they won’t waste them.” Kevin retorted, considering all of the other options.

“Drowning”

“Not for certain.”

“What’s not for certain?” I asked.

“Drowning may not finish the job.” said Kevin.

“Electrocution?”

“Nah, how?”

“Poison?”

“Not enough spectacle. They won’t let it look accidental.” Kevin’s cynicism was dripping.

“How about fire?”

Kevin thought for a second. “It would draw a crowd. Also, it smells like shit. No one, not even the Hub, wants the smell of death looming in the air.”

“True.”

A soft, feminine voice came from the darkness. It was confident, but with repose: “They’ll probably just beat you for talking so much.” The voiced echoed around the long hallway, cloaking it’s source. We hadn’t realized there was another person among us.

“Who are you?” I asked the vacuum of dark.

“I’m Lacey”

“Are you in a cell?” Kevin asked.

“No, I just hang out in dark hallways at my leisure.” Everyone was a comedian. “I’ve been here for two days.”

“In the dark?” I asked,

“Yep, no food or water either.” Her tone was surprisingly light, considering the circumstances.

“What did you d….” I began but was interrupted by another sound. Footsteps approached down the hallway, accompanied by the warm, orange glow of a small cigarette lighter. It was David, and inside I rejoiced at this realization.

He was panicked, and spoke in a rushed whisper: “You guys, we have to go. They are coming. They are putting you to death!” He was succinct and terrified.

David quietly fished in to his pocket and produced a large ring of keys. Selecting the appropriate key, he slid it as quietly as possible in to Kevin’s door, and with a sharp clank, the door freely swung open. He turned to my door and did the same, and I saw the fear in his eyes. “Hurry.” Panic almost overtook him as he shooed us towards the other end of the hallway.

“Lacey, where are you?” still not able to determine the source of her voice.

“Turn around” the voice suggested with hint of sarcasm. All three of us looked over our shoulders as the faint orange glow of David’s lighter cast a wash light on a womanly figure inside the cell across from Kevin and I. She was sitting in the rear of the cell, hugging her knees. Most of her features were camouflaged by the dark.

David held the keys in his hand for a second considering the notion. He apparently wasn’t familiar with this prisoner. The woman could see the consideration on his face, so she spoke up, “I’m here for the same reason as you. The council has no sympathy, only power.”

David leaned in close to the bars and whispered. “You are a rebel, eh?” Was David taunting her?

The woman slowly unraveled her limps and stood up. She approached the cell door and grabbed the bars with her very delicate hands. She leaned in to meet David’s penetrating gaze. “I am no rebel. Don’t make accusations.” The flames from David’s lighter reflected off of the woman’s dark brown eyes.

David was still rushed. He backed away from the cell, we followed suit. “We don’t have time for this.”

Lacey’s hand flew through the bars and struck my arm like a viper, her fist clenching my wrist. “They will kill me too” she said with more prudence than plea.

David was already trying to shoo us down the hallway, but something inside of me manifested, a feeling of regret. Some qualitative response to Lacey’s plea had made me hesitate and I couldn’t move my feet. I’ve always been plagued by the fear of making decisions I would later regret, and I knew I’d regret leaving Lacey to be killed by the same thugs that had intended on killing me. I grabbed David by his sleeve and stopped him.

“David, let her out. No person deserves what the Hub is going to do to her.” I pleaded with little tact.

Kevin was already moving down the hallway. “Nick, shut up, we don’t have time for your heartfelt bullshit.” Kevin was being the the typical id to my superego, forcing self-reliance in a manner that he often described as ‘pulling one’s head out of their ass.’

Davis stood with the key ring in one hand and shrugged as he lost his words. I put my open palm out as if to say ‘give the keys to me’. He considered but yielded and a moment later I had unlocked Lacey’s cell door. Kevin cursed at me, but we all fell silent as we heard a door creak at the other end of the hallway.

David’s voice fell to the quietest of whispers as he pulled all four of us in to a circular huddle. “Shit, they came quick. There is a carriage out back, go jump in. The driver knows what to do. I can’t be seen with you” With that he turned around, extinguished the lighter and disappeared in to the black.

We felt our way down the hallway as we heard the jovial guards approach from the other end. They were laughing about some crude joke one had told, and were utterly unsympathetic of their duties to bring an individual to their execution; heartless as the council themselves.

Moments later, we found an unlocked but very narrow door at the end of the hallway. From behind, I pushed Kevin’s massive frame through the door to the exterior and pushed Lacey ahead of me as we landed in the next room. We closed and locked the door behind us, hoping the guards hadn’t heard.

There was a little light in this room and it appeared to be foyer. We felt the warmth on the next door, excited knowing that the late summer daylight was on the other side. We quietly made our way in to the burning sunlight, our eyes painfully meeting the sun and the gaze of a large brown horse, a small carriage and a tall driver with a bowler hat.

The driver said nothing, only smiled and opened the carriage door as if he were a refined, cavalier chauffeur. He seemed surprised to find a third fugitive in our group, but the sunlight had revealed that Lacey was surprisingly alluring. Her dark eyes and freckled nose were bordered by her jet-black, straight hair, all on top of her lean but curvy frame. Her gray denim overcoat and jeans had blotches of oil and dirt, reminding me of a very sexy mechanic, but her face was soft with delicate features.

I think even Kevin was pleasantly surprised by Lacey’s beauty despite his fervor for getting far away from the Hub. I cherished these brief, fleeting moments where Kevin seemed human. His experience with war and diplomacy had made him in to such a machine that I often wondered if a grease-pump had replaced his heart ages ago. But he was still my friend and I relished seeing him break facade one in a while.

Needless to say, the driver wasn’t opposed to the beautiful addition to our party, and we crammed in the back of the carriage. The driver started the horses before we could even get the door closed. “Duck down!” Kevin whispered as he pulled a blanket over the three of us, now crammed in the foot wells of the passenger compartment.

The carriage swayed and rattled over the cobblestone alleys for over 15 minutes, rocking back and forth with tranquility and in my weariness, I almost feel asleep. I was abruptly plucked from my haze as the carriage slowed to a stop. I began to stretch my limbs, but Kevin grabbed me by the hair and forced me back to the carriage floor as we heard muffled voices.

Though mostly indistinguishable, I heard the words ‘fugitive’ and ‘escape’ very clearly and I surmised that the man hunt for us had already begun. The driver appeared to sound calm and play dumb. A few panicked moments later, the cart began to move again. We all breathed an audible sigh of relief which was short lived as Kevin’s foot was lodged in my back and Lacey’s shoulder was burrowing in to my stomach as we all crammed in the small foot-well of the carriage.

After another short period of the carriage rocking back and forth, we felt the it come to a halt. We held our breaths in anticipation of another checkpoint, but instead, the tall, lanky driver with an impressive mustache turned around and pulled the blanket off of us. “We’re here”.

‘Here’ wasn’t terribly descriptive, but we were definitely in a covered garage. Kevin rolled out of the cart, his legs having fallen asleep. He shook them vigorously, trying to call them back in to function. Lacey followed suit from the other side with a little more grace than I, and I rolled out on to the floor much as Kevin had when he was thrown in the jail cell an hour ago. The driver closed the carriage door with a certain level of chivalry and broke the silence: “Go inside and make yourselves comfortable. ”

“Where are we?” Kevin asked.

“This is Mr. Shield’s private residence. His wife is ready to receive you.”

“Are you his personal driver?” I asked.

He nodded. “Of sorts.”

The door from the garage led to a modern-style kitchen with white tile floor and aluminum counter tops. At the kitchen table sat Joy and her son Davey. We had met before.

“Nick, you look tired.” she approached me and gave me a hug. Davey ran up to me and looked up. I put my hand out and he jumped for a high-five. I was genuinely happy to see them, they were long-time friends. I was informally Davey’s godfather and although I never felt cut-out for fatherhood, I always shared a special bond with Davey.

“Joy, you’ve met my partner Kevin?” I asked.

“No, I don’t believe I have, but nice to meet you.” They exchanged a firm, diplomatic hand shake. “This is my son Davey.” Kevin gave Davey a warm, masculine nod. I rolled my eyes, the machine was back online. Joy looked over at Lacey, who was still stretching her limbs as she recovered from our journey. “Who might you be?”

“I’m Lacey.” The exchanged an awkward handshake. “The man that rescued those guys rescued me too.”

Joy smiled. “That man is my husband, David. He’s the Secretary to the Grand Council.” Lacey had a brief moment of fear flash across her face. Joy gave a motherly smile. “Don’t worry dear. He’s one of us. How did you get wrapped up in all of this?”

Lacey took a moment to phrase herself. “Suffice it to say, I’ve had some grievances with the council.” she said with humor but with conviction.

Joy laughed comfortably. “Haven’t we all, dear.”

I finally introduced myself to Lacey. With little reservation and great gratitude, she threw her arms around me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for the rescue.”

“Twas my pleasure.” I gave an awkward smile, realizing that I sounded more like a limerick than the sophisticated Victorian poet I was channeling. We exchanged a smile at the awkwardness, and I appreciated her tolerance. She felt oddly comfortable.

Kevin found no need to a polite introduction. It was clear that he already saw Lacey as unnecessary baggage. Avoiding any more discomfort, I pointed to him. “That’s my partner Kevin.”  The machine nodded, but he was, if nothing else, civil.

Joy poured a round of coffee and we all sat down at the kitchen table. Coffee was rare these days, usually reserved for guests, and we all appreciated the gesture. Kevin and I sat at the end of the table. Lacey hesitated, and then pulled a chair up next to us. I supposed that in her head, she was committing to whatever battle Kevin and I were fighting. “That will be all Joe, thank you very much” and with that, the driver left through the door to the garage. Joy continued: “I don’t know how much David told you.”

Kevin sipped is coffee, finally relaxing a bit. “He said we have been sentenced to death, we didn’t get much else out of him.”

“David thinks they are doing it to send a message, but they are doing their secret motions, so it’s anyone’s guess.”

“Well, us not showing up in a few days back at the Roadhouse will send a message itself” I said with a degree of threat. I always counted on Mike and Adam to be my pocket aces in dangerous situations.

“True, but there are some things you don’t know about.”

“Like what?” asked Kevin.

Joy sipped her coffee, “I should let David explain them.”

“Fair enough.” No reason to prod. “They’ve started to search for us, so how do we get home?”

“We don’t know. It’s only a matter of time until they come search here. We have to get you out somehow. David already wrote a letter to your pals.”

“Michael and Adam?” She nodded. “Well, hopefully we’ll get out of here long before there’s any need for them, we can’t risk your family like this. Not with Davey here.”

Joy smiled, “Nick, some of us still believe in doing the right thing. Even if it means a little danger.”