Will of Man - Part Four Read Online Free PDF Page A

get past him. They ran out the door and were heading to the perimeter wall. They didn’t get far though. They cornered themselves against the wall and were quickly captured. Jeff and I were the only prisoners to witness this since the garden is off and away from the main barracks. Jeff pointed them and as I looked closer I saw him. It was Balow!
    Balow was fighting, but looked weak and lethargic. It didn’t take much to bring him down, re-collar him, and drag him back to the dungeons. He didn’t see me, but I saw him. For some reason, I didn’t let Jeff know that I knew Balow. But I knew then my plans had changed. Once I get Jeff to safety, I will come back for Balow. I know he would do it for me.
    Jeff and I returned to the garden. I chose to work on the other side of field away from Jeff. I needed time to myself to formulate a plan. A plan to come back and rescue Balow.
    I will have to do it all in one night. There will be no hanging around once they realize Jeff is gone. They will scour the area until they find our tunnel. I will need to get Jeff across the lake, then make my way back to the cabin to fetch my wetsuit. The wetsuit is too small for Balow, but I can wear it and keep both of us afloat as I back stroke holding Balow in my arms. He looks way too weak to swim on his own, and who knows if he can swim in the first place. But how will I get Balow past the guards? I can’t overtake an adult guard and I’m not going to kill anyone with a sneak attack.
    In the movies you always see the bad guy get hit over the head with something and get knocked out. But in reality, one of two things would probably happen, I would really make the guard mad after hitting him, or I could kill him. Either way, striking someone over the head is a bad idea. So I guess I will have to figure it out as I go.
    Worst case scenario, I fail and I’m stuck here playing Yahtzee with Father Patrick for the rest of my life. Maybe we can get matching “I’M WITH STUPID,” t-shirts and have them point at each other. Ha!
    Tyler's
    Journal Entry: 425
    Date: September 19
    Day: Thursday
    Weather: Sunny and warm
    Miles to go: 580
    The time came and Jeff made the decision to leave. The guards did their final check for the night and Jeff worked the lock open. We scurried to the outside and crawled along the ground to the outside garden tools shed.
    I was relieved once we were inside the shed and out of any guard’s vision. Jeff pride the broken cement up and revealed our tunnel. The tunnel was dark and damp.
    We didn’t light any candles to avoid exposing ourselves. Jeff grabbed our stored food and placed it in with the corn seed he was going to use for a floatation device. I tide the rope around my waist and looped the remaining rope over my shoulder.
    We crawled to the end of the tunnel and whispered good luck to each other. After a quick fist bump, Jeff and I slunked to the water and through the cattails to open water. Jeff looped the rope around his shoulders and chest and rolled over on his back grasping the bag of corn seed. I swam ahead of him slowly until I could feel the weight of Jeff pull on the rope. Once I found myself in a rhythm, I sped up the pace and headed towards the other side of the river.
    The sky was cloudy and made visibility hard. I could barely see the shore and worked hard to swim straight. I checked back on Jeff a couple times to make sure his head was above water.
    I think Jeff was petrified with fear. He had a look of shock and was white-knuckling the bag of seed. I can’t imagine crossing a lake under these conditions not knowing how to swim. It must have been terrifying for him.
    It was very dark by now and we were nearing the shore. Between strokes I would sight the shore. As I got closer though I noticed something was not right. Between me and the shore rest a couple dozen canoes. They were painted black and camouflaged. Each was filled to the max with men (also dressed in black) holding weapons of all sorts. I