Chapter 26
Dani tried to cry or she would go mad. She tried to think of all the sad moments. Still,the tears refused to come. They just remained within, killing her slowly.
She picked the necklace he had once given her,as if he knew this day would come. On her sofa,she put the piece of jewelry round her neck and felt the pearl. Now the tears came,rolling down her cheeks like flowing honey,still no sound.
The house was uncomfortably quiet. No brother to discuss grocery with. Or Andrew to keep her feeling angry always.
She suddenly screamed into the silence,"No! Why!"
Getting up,she began one of the little things she had learned from him whenever he was angry. She pushed everything off their stands and shattered the glass.
Surrendering down to the floor,she sat and buried her head in her bent knees,"You have no right to leave me like this. You have no right Andrew Stephen." Rocking slowly in that position,she repeated,"No darn right."
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Andrew sat in jail. First thing the next day,he was going to be hanged, killed. The thought of him hanging down a rope like that made him shiver. He knew he did not deserve this.
Then he remembered Dani. Only God knew what she had done to him. How could he have been so careless and vulnerable to have forgotten everything that had happened in the past. Putting his head down, he gulped in his fear as the seconds crawled into minutes.
Footsteps startled him and he looked up; Davis.
Davis chewed on a sandwich he held and motioned with his other hand which had a ketchup in it. Afterwards,he snarled,"I'm as good as childless now, aren't I? It took me forever to get over the loss of my daughter. Then finally,I did. I did all I could for Alex who I had left. Then you killed him Andrew. Alex was not the best undoubtedly but... Why? He was still my son."
The words escaped from Andrew's lips without his knowledge,"I'm sorry."
Davis chuckled,"Sorry my foot. Alex wouldn't come back would he Andrew. You also had the balls to kill your brother. What then is the difference between the both of you? Well except he's dead and you're alive. But that is soon going to change. And your body will rot,just like his."
The policeman guarding watched Davis closely and shook his head in pity.
Davis held out the tomato ketchup he'd been using on his sandwich,"You know. I can't even use ketchup anymore. It reminds me of Alex's blood when I saw his corpse." He then squeezed the contents of the bottle into Andrew's cell and tossed the container aside,"Your blood will flow, just like that. You would die a very miserable death. Maybe then your father will know what it means to lose two kids."
Afterwards,he walked away, leaving Andrew in a state of pain and regret. And for a moment,just a moment,he wished he hadn't killed his brother.
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The doctor watched Angus, is wounded and helpless. He knew somehow that he was not going to make it.
Just then, a nurse came in with a tray of syringes,"Doctor, the injections."
Sighing,he picked up the bottle of glucose water,"What's the use. His right lung is badly damaged. Ever heard of that kind of a miracle?"
The nurse stated dryly,"I know. But we can't stop until the heart's stopped. It's just Dani I pity. Andrew, now Angus." Sighing,the doctor gave him the injection.
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About midnight,Andrew was still awake. He looked up and studied the cop on guard faraway and the light that flickered at the corner.
With  pain in his eyes,he dragged his weary gaze to the ketchup smeared on the floor; Davis.
He tried his best to understand his pain. But was it worth it,when Alex had claimed lives?
Sighing,he buried his head again. Then he mused Davis's last words,"Your blood will flow,just like this."
Humph, his blood! Such melodrama. That was something rarely seen. Only a fool would think that was blood. Which was somehow what he thought these cops to be; fools.
He stared at it again and frowned. The frown gradually faded and changed into a dirty smirk. A smirk of... He wasn't sure. Maybe that smile of shame you get when a big trick had been played on you and you fell for it,badly.
Raising his gaze to the ketchup again,he laughed out and felt like killing himself for falling for Davis's crazy act of hate,felt like killing himself even before the next day.
Oh! He forgot. He was not going to die the next day. He still had plans for himself in his mid-ages. And maybe, a little translation into his old age,seated in a rocking chair,a mug of coffee in his hand. And most especially,beside Daniella.
And as long as he had those plans,he was not going to die. He would escape.
He had not always known Davis as foolish enough to act sentimental in the presence of Justice. But why did he have to put up this entire charade? Con! Ketchup, blood! What a link! But Davis had played it so well,even he was fooled.
Thanks Davis,he mused. That was one big cunning act!
The guard examined the cells one by one. Every prisoner looked sound asleep, then he looked straight.
Something flinched,no! Someone moved and by God he was going to check it out.
Tiptoeing to the specific cell; Andrew's cell. Andrew was bent low,moaning and whispering sepulchral words. He slowly lifted his hand from his stomach, blood. The guard wondered where the cut had come from.
Andrew snarled painfully,"Help me. Please." The cop gasped and got the key from his waist hook.
He fumbled impatiently with it and put one key into the keyhole,opening the cell to help Andrew out.
Andrew gasped and moaned,"Thank you,thank..." Suddenly,he stopped and grabbed the cop,pulling him hard against the bar door so he fell unconscious.
When he locked him up in the cell,he smirked,"Hah! Only fools would believe ketchup is blood."
He stuck the guard's gun into his belt and pulled his shirt over it. He has an escape to make.
Crouching,he scurried through the corridor, careful not to wake the prisoners within.
The second guard heard footsteps and turned around suddenly,aiming at nothing. He counted his steps steadily as he pointed his gun out, a fearful look on his face. A hand came over his mouth and a gun hard on his head. Last thing he saw before he passed out was Andrew Stephen over him,seizing his weapons.
Andrew ran through the building, knowing the risk he was taking was deadly. He stopped now and then whenever a handful of guards made their way past. But when one did,he handled him himself.
The next threat for him was not a squad of cops. Darn it,it was his fellow prisoners. Prisoners who clearly hated him like death hated life.
Cruise,on night duty for cleaning along with others, sighted Andrew's disgusting motive.
Andrew stared at them and felt his heart stop. They would tell on him and he would not be going anywhere. He was going to be killed.
Cruise eyed the sergeant on supervision duty. After making sure no eyes were on him,he marched up to Andrew. Smirking mockingly at him,he spat,"Running away huh?   How was the trial?"
Andrew found himself replying to this maniac,"Against me. I meant to be hanged tomorrow."
Placing a hand in Andrew's shoulder,Cruise nodded,"Well, you wouldn't be going anywhere..." Watching Andrew's unreadable expression,he continued,"if you are planning on doing it alone. Trust me bro, we've all tried,singly. And we failed big-time,badly. However,you do not deserve to die and I think I painfully agree with that. So... We'd help you out. These cops stand no chance against us."
Andrew snickered and stared at him,"I almost thought you'd stop me."
Cruise stated as a matter of factly,"More or less,but we are the criminals here,not you."
Turning,he signals to some of his co-workers,"Why don't we take a break, #save a soul#."
They hesitated and suddenly plastered a smile. Andrew could not help but smirk.
He was making it out and they would help him. But there was one itsy bitsy problem. He would land them all in trouble. Well unless...
Andrew looked up at the floor with the sleeping prisoners,"Why don't we make this a little more fun."
Cruise understood immediately and laughed out. They were all leaving.
Andrew ascended the stairs again and stared across the long corridor, aligned with prison cells. He made a race towards the end,shooting at each lock on the bar doors and swinging them open,from the beginning tillnthe end.
The gunshots alerted everyone,even awakening the sleeping prisoners who jumped out of bed,angry and confused.
Andrew however, screamed an order,"Everyone out! Out now!" The entire prison was a hulabaloo. Even the once confused prisoners did not care to know what was happening when they heard his offer to help them escape. They cheered and made it downstairs.
Andrew handed the cell keys to one of them who immediately rushed to other floors to release the rest, even creating more disorder than previously.
Policemen had arrived now from all sides of the prison and picked up their weapons. But experienced,heartless criminals compared to them? There was a better chance of hell freezing over.
Andrew shot at the fire detector, making water come pouring down the whole station.
The swarm of criminals made it through the station till they were outside of the building. However, they still had the enormous gate before them. In the meantime,they grasped and knocked down the opposing policemen that came their way.
Andrew in his own way,had something to do. He,Cruise and two others walked towards Carter's office.
Breaking the door down,he pulled the sleeping cop up from his chair, holding his collar.
Carter stammered,"Andrew, you..."
"It's all a dream,"Andrew whispered,"it would be over before you know it."
Andrew's food thief was in lead of the swarm of prisoners who made their way to the gate. Before them, armed policemen were lined,aiming at the daunting criminals. The cops feared the oncoming number of prisoners. Even with their weapons, they knew that number would end them if they shot at anyone; brothers' keepers.
Consequently, they tossed their weapons to a corner and got their fists ready as the criminals roared at them.
Reynolds opened the door to Carter's office and found the constable tied upside down to the ceiling fan, a tape on his mouth, hands tied to his back, no one else.
Whoever did this to him had beaten the hell out of the cop with something that looked like a whip. But he was still alive, mumbling through the tape as he saw Reynolds.
Reynolds panicked and untaped his friend,"What's wrong? The noise... And who did this to you?"
Carter sighed and rushed the words,"Andrew's escaping, along with the rest of the prisoners, go!"
Reynolds raised a brow,"Andrew you say?"
Carter nodded and somehow felt the tape come over his mouth again; Reynolds too?
His friend walked calmly out of the office, then paused," I never saw you okay, and I never knew Andrew was escaping." He laughed and jammed the door. Be free my boy, Andrew, he mused.
Carter shook in confusion. Reynolds did not just do that.
Andrew and Cruise joined the rest to find an ongoing clash between police and criminals,"Bummer! The gate!" They headed fo it, just to find their own badge of uniformed opponents.
Andrew took their choice of no weapons as a belittlement, taking two at a time.
Cruise on the other hand, began exchanging fists with another.
Andrew was between his two opponents. Having being angered enough, they raised fists at him from either side, roaring as they stamped to him.
He glanced at the cops coming from both sides with a fist ready to strike. Then he bent.
The sight of the men hitting each other instead of the squatting Andrew gave the rest of them a tip of anger. He spun and kicked one on the face then grabbed a gun and shit another on the leg. He then noticed a cop with a gun approach Cruise from his back as he was distracted by the scenario.
Picking up a taser from one of the unconscious policemen, Andrew shot it at him, sending him unconscious as well with the spark of electricity.
Cruise turned in surprised and nodded," Thanks bro."
Andrew gave a light smile and grabbed the arm of the one coming for him, bending it beyond it's hinges. He turned his gaze to the unsightly clash and found an intimidating number of more policemen approaching with weapons which the time, they meant to use. He then looked back, the gate was locked. The whole prisoners stood in total fright and surrender. They were so going to be in big trouble.
Just then, Andrew heard something, a faint voice from outside the gate saying," Everybody, go back!" He recognized the voice instantly and supportively added," Everybody, go back now!" The prisoners somehow obeyed, rather confused because they were decreasing the distance between the approaching cops and them. But Andrew knew what he was doing right?
Then, a missile,shot from outside violently bombed the gate open.
Cruise opened his mouth in surprise, so that was why Andrew said they should go back. But who shot it?
Andrew looked through the smoke and found his crew; Matthew, Alfonso, Janet, Rollins and Alan. He had a big, wide smile. That had become something usual for him these days right; surprises!
His black jaguar car was parked behind them, epic! He faced the cops again, then Matthew,"Can I borrow that missile launcher."
Matthew threw it to him and grinned,"I like your car."
Andrew caught it and snickered,"And here I was thinking you would miss me. You can keep it, after I'm done with it today."
Andrew faced a construction above the cops and shot. It crumbled steadily to the floor and made them rush back, until it blocked their path, separating the cops from the prisoners.
A cheer was heard from all sides.
Cruise declared,"At a point I thought we were through!"
Andrew agreed and gave a shrug, "Yeah true! What are you guys doing here?"
Alan faked a smile,"You're welcome."
Janet answered,"Davis called us. You know I was shocked. Among all, he still helped you."
Andrew gave a small laugh,"Yeah. He even gave me the ketchup I used as blood."
Rollins frowned angrily,"What! Only a fool would think ketchup is blood."
Andrew widened his eyes,"I said the exact same thing!"
Davis looked down from the watchtower at the gathering of prisoners alongside Andrew and friends and smiled in delight. At least that had worked and luckily, Andrew had understood.
He sipped his coffee and noticed Andrew turn and give him a smile of thanks.
Andrew's food thief contributed, "You could change your identity and go away but they still got all your files and information. They might track you down."
Andrew smiled," They have no proof I'm Andrew Stephen, do they?"
Alfonso spun his hat in his hand,"I wish. But they can prove you have identical fingerprints and DNA like him. These people are literal monsters."
Andrew pitched in,"They have them in a file right?"
"And computer,"Alan added.
Andrew nodded and rubbed his neck tiredly,"Yeah, I think everything got mistakenly spoilt by water."
Matthew then grinned at his best friend,"Mistakenly huh?"
Alan walked up to him and placed an arm across his shoulders,"I tried to imagine a world without you Andrew."
Andrew snickered again,"There would be, one day. But for now, I have people to deal with."