I was a plumber, so knew a thing or two about
putting in plumbing. . . When we came back that
first day, everyone else was gone.
The escapee falls silent. Finally sighs and continues.
We learned what happened when the guards
bragged about it. Who shot how many and all.
They liked it, the murders.
The escapee sits up straight, looking Finegan in the eye, as now the
story is getting personal.
They were drawing straws for who was gonna do
me, last night. The long straw gets to do it.
So, ya know, what’d I have to lose? . . I went
over the top and ran like hell.
Finegan asks,
The whole base is like that? Wanting to shoot
civilians, kids?
The escapee realizes he has left out part of his story. He waves his
hands in the air, as though to say “wait, wait, I missed a part”.
Oh no, no. Most ran off to see about their
families. Went AWOL long before the troubles
hit. They saw what was coming. We’d see ‘em
walking by, through the woods, every day,
sometimes in bunches. Those that was left
became the guards, and if they objected to the
plan, then they got put in the work camp too. .
. New rules. . . I think it was the plan all
along.
Finegan asks,
So how many people left in that camp, and how
many guards, you recon?
______________________________
Finegan and the escapee are preparing to take the canoe to shore. The
canoe has been loaded with a couple backpacks and the rifle. Finegan
says,
Joey, you know what to do. I expect I’ll be
back in a day or so, but if five days pass and
you ain’t seeing me, you head off back down the
coast the way we came. Stay to deep water, and
only at night, and keep Barney muzzled. . .
Look up that woman taking care of the old
folks.
101
And hey, they do eat rats, and there’s nothing
wrong with it. . . Them folks in Memphis
weren’t too bad either.
Joey says,
Yes sir.
Finegan and the escapee have pull the canoe up on shore on the rocky
coastline. They both put on a backpack, Finegan carrying the rifle.
They set off through the woods, picking their way carefully, the
escapee in the lead.
______________________________
Finegan and the escapee peer out from the woods at the edge of the
internment camp. The wood frames of the new homes for the wealthy can
be see in the background. There are no lights, but dogs are guarding
the edges of the barbed wire internment camp, staked to the ground. Two
guards are sitting around a fire at one corner of the yard. Finegan
says,
Here’s the plan. I’m setting this dynamite off
under the guardhouse. That takes out most of
‘em. When that happens, those two are going to
be looking in that direction. You shoot good?
The escapee nods his head.
Never missed, hunting.
Finegan continues,
OK. You take this rifle and shoot them dogs
right off. Those guards ain't gonna be looking
your way, they’re gonna be running to the
guardhouse. If they’re looking your way, stop
shooting, so’s they can’t place you. If it
comes to you or them, shoot them guards too,
because that’s what I’m gonna do. Send ‘em to
hell. We sure can’t leave them roving loose on
the landscape, and I ain’t inclined to run a
prison. . . Here’s a wire cutter. When the dogs
are dead and the guards are gone, you open that
yard. Use these if you have to. Let everyone
out.
______________________________
The guard house explodes. Dogs are barking, rifle shots, dogs are
yelping, then more shouting, then more shots. The work camp prisoners
are streaming out of a cut in the barbed wire, running in all
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directions. Some of the prisoners are looking over their shoulders back
at the melee. They pause, then turn around, seeing they are not being
chased, the dogs are dead, and the guards are all on the ground,
