Shattered Freedom, Chapter Nine
#24 of Decision & Sacrifice
BIKER MICE FROM MARS** IN *SHATTERED FREEDOM* by: Whipblade ** ** Chapter 9** The way to the exercise yard was down seven stories of stairs. All twelve inmates from Top Side waddled their way with hands and ankles locked to the waist, via a long chair from each limb. A guard lead the group, followed the group and one stayed in the middle of the small group. Just to keep the peace. Although short and rather cute, the stocky koala guards held the reputation for most physical. Even the Roos didn't mess with these guys. Alley watched and waited as each of the twelve were stopped, unchained and let free into the yard. With everyone locked inside the yard, Alley made his rounds. "Colt, I don't want you to be in the thick of things when this goes down." Alley's lowered voice whispered to the teenager. "Al, I'm 19, I think I can take care of myself." crossing his arms Colt turned his back to his dark furred bro. "Besides, I want to see my sister too." "I know. But I promised her you wouldn't get hurt." Alley sighed, his eyes narrowed looking around the yard. "Okay, fine, you can take part in this." Colt turned around with a sly grin. "But." Alley held up his hand. "But, you're going to do what I tell you to." "Like what?" Colt asked warily. "When the brawl starts, I want you to try and grab the guards key, without getting into the fight." Snorting Colt rolled his eyes. "Bro, that's like asking me to steal from a baby. No problem." "Good." Alley turned, walked away. Sidebar and Scooter stood by the only door in and out of the prison yard. They kept their eyes on Alley as he made his rounds to each participant of this gig. As the three guards came to haul them back to their cells, they could feel a strange electricity in the air. Something was different. Shaking off the feeling, they opened the door. "Line up!" a Quail called. "Line up this!" Scooter snapped cracking the bird in the beak. Sidebar's tail flipped the birds gun into the air, he caught it. "Squawk and your dead." Sidebar snarled at the other two, gun aimed at them. Blockade Grabbed a hold of the Roo and the other bird, pulling them into the room. "Roo's got the keys!" He hollered in his metallic voice. Scooter kept the door opened. Others hurried out, almost free. Auto and Thread, two rats, danced with the Roo who refused to just hand over the keys. Colt's skilled tail snatched them without even being noticed. Auto and Thread however kept the Roo occupied until the exercise yard was empty. "Toss!" Sidebar yelled at Colt. "I'm in the lead." "Catch!" Colt yelled pitching the keys to the older mouse. Catching them in one hand, Sidebar hurried to the exit for the other male prison wards. "Colt!" Alley called as soon as the youngster was out the door. "This way!" Colt followed. "Where to?" "Up." Thunder called as he pushed Scratch ahead of him. "The only door is this way!" Scooter waved leading them. The seven of them raced up stairs. Sirens erupted all around, guards shouting and the excited hollers of mice being freed by Sidebar. As well as the rest of Top Side just being a pain to the guards who tempted to catch them. Huffing the seven didn't pause. "This is it!" Thunder called as he raced along the hall. The exit to the female prison was far from a clean run. Eight heavily armed guards stood in riot gear, guarding the lone gate that connected the two prisons. "Al!" Colt yelled as eight guns locked onto them. "Turn! Turn! GO! GO!" Al screamed as he dodged a stream of laser fire. "I'm Hit!" Scooter screamed in pain as he fell behind the six running. "HALT!" "Hands in the air!" "on your...." The group raced out of ear shot. "Now where?" huffed Scratch, his ears flapping as he ran. "The ships! We have three minutes before their inaccessible!" Thunder yelled, slamming open a door. "Where's the docks Thunder?" Alley yelled as he spun around once the last of them ran through the door. Grabbing the emergency fire extinguisher behind the door, he barricaded the door shut. "That won't last, let's hurry." "Docks are three flights down and almost at the other end." Thunder hollered as he jumped steps. "Fuck!" Colt screamed as he skidded to a stop. "UP! UP!" he backtracked up the stair. "Down Colt!" Thunder yelled as he and Alley, the last two. "Guards! UP!" Colt screamed passing Scratch, Fox turned pushing Thunder and Alley up the steps. Scratch turned too slowly. "FREEZE!" "That door!" Fox thudded against another door, it bounced opened. The guards occupied securing Scratch. "Where?" Thunder asked looking at the three halls. "That way!" Colt yelled running down the left corridor. The others followed, they could hear the guards gear rattling as they raced up the stairs. Sliding around a corner, Alley slipped and fell on his rear, scrambling to get up, he watched his bros slow. "GO! KEEP GOING!" he yelled, they listened, hurrying towards the space docks. Getting to his feet, he continued running. The trio ran hard and fast. "Only one exit boys! Let's get there." Fox yelled over his shoulder. Thunder skidded to a stop in front of the door. "Security locks." he huffed. "I'm on them!" Colt yelled as he skidded into the wall beside the panel. reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of cooking flour. Blowing white powder onto the buttons, he waited a beat before blowing on the security panel. "Five numbers." he hummed studying the wear patterns on each button. "Looks like... five, two, eight and six...zero." he pressed the buttons, the doors opened. "Hurry!" A voice down the hall called. "Al!" Colt turned as Fox and Thunder hurried through the doors. "GO! GO!" Alley yelled as he appeared running. "Their on my tail!" Spinning, Colt ran through the doors, Alley right behind. The doors slowly closed. "Take a right!" Colt hollered to his bros ahead. The four raced down a flight of stairs, then ran as fast as they could down a long hallway. "What door?" Thunder asked looking at all the similar airlocks. "I don't know!" Colt cried as he looked at the different ones. "What's on the other side of them?" Alley asked. "We could try each one until we get it right." "Big vast universe bro. We'd be sucked out and explode within seconds." Colt frowned. He ran down the corridor looking at each air lock. "I think we missed it bro." "Isn't all you missed." A voice boomed. "Hands up! On your knees!" Guns clicked as more guards stopped, raised their weapons. "Crap." Alley raised his paws, he knelt on the spot. Colts' ears fell. "So close, yet so far." Fox and Thunder did as told, keeping quiet. ************************************************************** Water jug in one hand, full glass in the other, Vinnie watched the planet Neptune fade into the distance as Duo Scythe continued her route out of the Milky Way solar system. He turned in time to see Charley waddled into the sitting area. Awkwardly leaning back until she dipped down enough to rolled into a sitting position on the couch. She swore she could hear the soft down cushions scream in agony at her weight. "Baby, when you're born I am going on a diet." "Aww, don't do that sweetheart." Vinnie smiled turning from the window. "You look beautiful and radiant all pregnant." He took a sip of water. "Right." Charley smirked knowing he was right. "Only if the bathroom scale would stop screaming at me to get off of it, I would believe you." "You're not fat Charley babe. That baby is 9 pounds of stranger getting a ride." Vinnie's smile never faded as he sat down beside Charley. He passed her a glass of water. "Thank you Vinnie." She smiled taking a gulp of the fluid, she set down the half empty glass and picked up a note pad. "What's that?" he pried trying to see the writing. "List of names." "Mine on there?" Vinnie asked with a wink. "No, Modo doesn't fancy having two Vinnie's running around." Charley smirked, she playfully nudged him. "He's more afraid of all the girl friends." Laughing Vinnie nodded. "Yeah, that was my moms fear too." "I'm making a list of names for the baby." Charley smiled shaking her head at Vinnie's musing. "Yeah? Any good ones?" "I don't know. Modo and I have to go over them all. But right now I'm just collecting ones I think are nice." "I think Vinnie is a great name." Vinnie struck a proud posture. "Again, back to the too many girl friends." "okay, well, what do you have?" "Boys or Girls?" "Boys first." He paused looking at the lists. "Do you know what it is yet?" "Not yet." "For boys, I got Zack, Logan, Kajar, Cody, Seth and Luke." "That's it?" "So far, rattle off a few names." she suggested. "Okay, Jack?" "Right, like I'm going to name my baby after Jack McCyber." she rolled her green eyes. "try again Mister big shot." Vinnie flushed slightly. "Forgot about him." thinking for a moment. "What about Hayden?" "Hayden, I like that." Charley smiled writing down the name. "Any more in there or is your head taken up by ego?" "Har har." Vinnie chuckled. "Diego, Sol, Daemon?" "Diego? Like that cat off Ice Age?" With a shrug he smirked. "Still a cool name." "Not exactly what I'm looking for." "Sol means sun and Daemon.... is uh..." "Is an evil entity from some old horror movie." "Never mind." "Cole?" "Cole is a nice name." "Ethan?" "No, too popular." With a nod he sighed. "Well, that's all the ones I can think of that are any good. Human wise, at least." "What about Mars wise?" She pried. "I don't know." Vinnie confessed. "I'm not fond of names that have to do with bike parts and war." looking around like it was a huge secret Vinnie leaned closer to Charley. "How many times have you used another name for a throttle when he's in the room?" Charley studied the white mouse. Giggling she dropped the pen. "Too many!" she confessed covering her mouth with her free hand. "far too many times." "see." Vinnie shrugged his white shoulder. "What do you have for girls?" "Hanna, Hailey, Ellie and Charlotte." "Charlotte?" Vinnie quirked a brow. "And you don't have Vincent on there?" "Charlotte and Charlene are different." Charley smirked. "Besides, I think that's a nice name." "it is sweetheart, it is." Vinnie flashed a endearing smile. "Joesy?" "It'll be shortened down to Joe." "Don't want the male reference doll?" "Not really." "What about Rose?" "I like that name." Charley smiled. "It's Modo's moms' name is it not?" "Might be, sounds similar if it isn't." "I like Hanna, I knew a Hanna back in high school." "Really? What was she like?" Vinnie scooted closer. He hadn't heard much about Charley before they met. "Well, she was very slight, shy, wore glasses, but very friendly to everybody. She was my best friend. She also had a knack for computers and could draw anything by memory or sight perfectly." "What happened?" Charley put down her pen and paper, turned to Vinnie and clasped his hands onto her belly. "We just turned seventeen, she got her drivers license first. It was spring break, she headed off to see her boyfriend in Aura County. She never made it. What her parents told us... well... a van was broke down on the side of the highway, she didn't see them till the last moment, a transport was passing her, the trailer hit her new Thunder Bird, it bounced, hit the vans nose, flipped her car over the median, she was hit by another car. Five vehicles were destroyed, three people including Hanna lost their lives." Without a word, Vinnie grasped Charley in a tight embrace. She had tears in her eyes, but he knew the horrors of war, a car wreck was just as bad, maybe worse. No one ever expects not to return home. "I like the name Hanna." he smiled taking in the smell of her hair. A scent he knew too well, but just the little things like comfort was all he could ever hope for now with her. ******************************************* Modo sat with Throttle in the library they found. It was a small room filled with books and four chairs. Throttle had a 'baby's first year' in his lap. Modo was looking at a similar book 'Birthing and baby's first days.' "You know bro, this is my child." Modo said casually. "I know bro." Throttle sighed marking his spot in the book. "You want to say it then?" Modo knew that hurt look Throttle was trying to hide. "No, no bro. I want... we want you and Vinnie in our lives. In the child's life. I'm just saying..." Throttle smirked. "I should get my own?" "Well there's that bro." Modo sighed. "Rimfire never had a daddy, I had ta be his Daddy, brother and Uncle all at once." Throttle gave a weak nod. "You can teach him all you can bro, but baby isn't going to know any grandparents. That's what Vinnie and I have to roll in along with dotting uncle and helping friends." Modo smiled. "Ya know bro, ya always know what I'm trying' ta say." "We've known each other too long Modo. Four years separation isn't going to change that. I get your point. I understand it too bro. I only with I could have a family like you." Throttle confessed looking at the book in his lap. "One day." Modo lightly tapped Throttle's leg. "Chin up. You got Vinnie and me till then." Throttle chuckled. "Yeah I do." he smiled. ************************************************************************\ To Be Continued* In ***Chapter 10*
Whipblade [email protected] May 5th 2006 (Happy Birthday Aza!!!!!!)