Inside a dark hallway, two prisoners are being led forward by a guard. As they move through, the old man leans closer to the young man, lowering his voice to avoid the guard hearing, yet loud enough for the young man to catch his words.
"So what do you have planned so far? Kiddo?" Frode whispered, careful enough so the guard couldn't hear them.
This is the fourth day since the young man first awoke here, and it is also their first day planning the jailbreak. Besides, today is also the day Isaak received permission to return to the yard again after three days of being banned because of the chaos he made.
Upon hearing Frode's question, Isaak glanced cautiously at the guard ahead of him, considering his plan a bit before responding to the old man.
"Well, I don't really have a solid plan in mind yet. But I figured the first thing we need to do is gather information." He said, his tone thoughtful.
"How exactly?"
Isaak pointed at the guard ahead of them while he wasn't looking, and continued.
"For example, we need to learn the prison's daily routines. That might include the guard shifts, dog feeding times, yard schedules, and more."
Frode thought for a moment before giving his reply. "I was thinking the same. By doing so, we will learn the prison's weaknesses and be able to exploit the guards' routines. Not a bad choice at all." He looked up and glanced at Isaak.
"However, I don't think that's enough." His voice was careful and proficient. "We need to do more than that in the first phase of the plan."
"First phase?"
"Exactly."
They soon approached the heavy metal gate as it creaked open; the musty wind hit Isaak, but unlike the first time, he had gotten used to this kind of air.
"If you dare to cause trouble again, this time, you won't just be banned, but you'll end up DEAD!" The guard threatened, mainly aimed at Isaak before shoving both of them into the yard.
Isaak helped the old man to prevent him from falling as he glanced up, looking around the yard. The sky was still cloudy with almost no sight of sunlight, just a dim, hopeless light. Dozens of prisoners wandered around aimlessly like living undead, gangs stood in their territories, and finally, last but not least, the guards with their rifles stood on those watchtowers.
Nothing had changed so far, except that people now were looking at Isaak warily, avoiding both him and Frode as much as possible. They likely don't want to get close or be associated with The Sinner of The Empire, especially after he caused a chaos just days ago.
"Ah, home sweet home…" Isaak muttered sarcastically as he gazed at the mountains beyond the high walls. "I suppose I should change the 'sweet' to something else."
Isaak looked around and recognized some faces Frode had mentioned earlier. These included Viktor 'the Bear' Ivanov from the Wild Panthers and Nadia of the Bloody Nightshade. Fortunately for him, there was no sign of Mikhail; otherwise, there might have been another chaos due to that damn guy's beef with Isaak.
After looking around, he turned back to Frode. "Old man, you alright now?"
In response, Frode adjusted his back with a groan before standing up straight. "Damn my back, old age is such an annoyance, for real."
Frode looked around as he continued their earlier discussion. "Anyway, a plan should have multiple phases. Especially when we're organizing a jailbreak, a detailed and steady plan is essential for success."
Isaak considered what the old man had just said and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, after all, our main goal is to escape this hellish place. Everything must be prepared thoroughly, and no mistakes should be made."
Both of them carefully moved through the prisoners, trying to avoiding another trouble might happened as they continued discuss.
"How many days do you have left before getting executed?" Frode asked as he glanced up at the guards above them.
Isaak recalled Prince Nikolai's words before responding. "Well, if what that person said is true, then I have about a month before I'm executed. And since it has been four days since I arrived here, I have roughly twenty-six days left." His voice trailed off as he muttered. "I wonder why I have so little time left…"
As they reached their usual spot, Frode leaned against the wall, carefully contemplating before explaining to Isaak. "I think I know why."
"Why then, old man?"
"As we already know, you committed a heinous crime by committing genocide against your family and many innocent people. From a normal perspective, you are nothing but a monster, a living devil without any emotions." He said.
Hearing this, the young man couldn't help but sigh heavily. Although the old man stood by his side now, he was still being framed for Isaak Semenov's crimes. "Yeah, yeah… So how much of this impacts my execution date?"
Frode held his chin as he continued. "The Veridia Empire is currently suffering from the damage left by the last Emperor, and the current Emperor is also on the verge of dying due to illness. This has left the Empire in a chaotic state, with two candidates: Princess Irina and Prince Nikolai fighting for the throne. The competition between those two is so intense at this point that a civil war could explode at any moment."
"That why my execution date is so little?"
"Compared to other prisoners here, yes." Frode nodded as he continued. "Prisoners often have some months or even years before their executions take place; however, this is Moroznaya Bashnya, a special prison designed for executing prisoners, not for containing them. Additionally, since you come from a well-known noble family, you will likely be recognized widely for your heinous crime. Therefore, combined with the ongoing intense political race, executing you as soon as possible is—"
"Inevitable." Isaak interrupted Frode with a contemplative tone. "It benefits them in the race for the throne, am I right?"
Frode nodded in agreement, his expression solemn. "Whoever gets their hands on you first will gain a significant advantage in the race."
"I already knew this…" Isaak looked down, thinking about his remaining time left and the reality that if he failed to escape, he would face his death in a brutal way. It would be terrible, very terrible.
"But don't worry, old man. I have someone to back up our plan." Isaak reassured Frode with a thumbs-up gesture. "You don't have to worry about the princess or the prince.
The main thing we need to focus on right now is our plan."
Hearing this, Frode chuckled slightly and said. "Good to hear so, we do need some help to get out of this hellhole."
Frode leaned closer to Isaak to whisper in his ear, making sure that no one nearby could overhear their conversation. "Now let's return to the planning part. You mentioned that you want to gather information, right?"
Isaak nodded. "Correct. Any useful information about the guards or their daily routines,… might help us a lot."
"The first phase is gathering information, which is a good initial move. However, it lacks something that is also really important in planning our jailbreak."
"What do we lack then?" Isaak tilted his head in curiosity.
Frode chuckled as he pointed at the two leaders of Wild Panthers and Bloody Nightshade. Viktor 'the Bear' Ivanov was sitting on the bleacher, arm wrestling with another big black man who appeared to be on the verge of losing to Viktor. On the other side, Nadia, the old hag just like Frode, was talking with the muscular women doing bench presses next to her, he could tell that she seemed to be plotting something just by looking at her devious smirk. "Them."
Isaak glanced in the direction the old man was pointing before looking back at him. "What about them?"
"Dumbass." Frode knocked on the young man's head, causing him to let out a small squeak before responding to Isaak's question. "Don't you understand? We need an alliance."
"Alliance?" Isaak clutched his head as he glanced at the two leaders. "Why do we need them? I thought we were good enough on our own?"
Immediately, another knock landed on Isaak's head, making him groan again.
"Dumbass!" Frode explained in an annoyed tone. "Do you really think the two of us will make it out without help from the other prisoners? Oh sure, I've only been here for roughly two weeks and know some basics, but that's it! I don't know nearly as much as those who have probably survived here for around a year."
After hearing Frode's explanation, Isaak let out a long sigh. He looked warily at the two leaders and the muscular members next to them, wondering how badly he was going to get beaten when he tried to interact with them.
"Alright, I got it. So basically, in the first phase of our jailbreak plan, we not only gather information but also make allies?"
"Yes." Frode nodded at the foolish idiot in front of him. "As I said earlier, the Wild Panthers, led by Viktor 'the Bear' Ivanov, is a group where we can offer them goods in exchange for their services such as beating someone up to death. And Bloody Nightshade, led by Nadia, is where we're mostly going to gather our information and perhaps even acquire some additional supplies."
Isaak considered about his worries for a moment before deciding to bring them up to Frode. "But you know… my reputation is pretty much really… bad? I'm going to get beaten up! Besides from that, do you think they're going to agree to be our allies in this jailbreak?"
To his surprise, Frode merely let out a small chuckle, as if he had anticipated it.
"Of course I knew your reputation is bad. But trust me, they won't care about your reputation too much if you bring them what they want," Frode said, as if he understood everything. "Besides, do you really think they wouldn't agree to be allies? Let me remind you, this IS Moroznaya Bashnya, one of the worst prisons to ever exist in the world; no one is foolish enough to want to stay here and die."
"What if they betrayed?"
Frode sneered as he continued. "The real question is why they would want to do that, though. Remember the second rule of the playground?"
"Hm… Don't snitch?"
"Exactly my point." Frode snapped his fingers and pointed at the muscular gang surrounding Viktor and Nadia. "It doesn't matter if you're the leader of the gang. If you snitch, you'll immediately lose respect and standing within the gang, ultimately leading to being overthrown by your own members. Besides, what do you gain from snitching? Probably a better meal, but that only lasts a few days, and they still can't change their fate of getting executed.
In this prison, dignity and reputation are two important things to avoid getting beaten up. Power here also meant nothing unless you had somewhat ridiculous overpower."
After hearing Frode's explanation and plan, the young man held his chin, leaned back against the tall wall, and glanced at the two gangs as he considered his choices.
What Frode said made sense; if they snitched on him, he would definitely be dead, but their fate would also remain unchanged, perhaps even worse due to snitching. It was a lose-lose situation for both sides. However, if they agreed and done the plan well, there might be a chance for all of them to escape, turning it into a win-win situation.
Also, having them on his side would provide him access to crucial information for planning their next phase and carrying-out tasks like acquiring tools for himself.
This is a gamble where the chance of success was much higher than failure, and the rewards are too inviting to ignore.
So the question is…
Should I take the risk…?
Absolutely.
"Old man." Isaak moved from the wall, his voice unwavering.
"Hm?"
"You're really a wise person, old man." Isaak said as he stepped out of the corner where they staying and began moving through the prisoners in the yard, heading straight toward Viktor. "If we succeed, then the jailbreak should be much more comfortable."
Noticing the young man's strange behavior, Frode immediately stepped out of the corner and followed Isaak, trying to call out to him without drawing too much attention from other prisoners and the guards.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, kiddo?!"
"What do you think I'm doing then?" Isaak paused briefly before continuing walking, his voice daring. "I will do it. Right now, and right here."
"What?! But we haven't planning properly on how—"
But before Frode could continue or stop him, Isaak was already standing in front of Viktor 'the Bear' Ivanov and his gang, the Wild Panthers. They were all sitting on the bleachers, playing cards or arm wrestling.
As Isaak approached them, they all ceased their activities and turned to face him. Some looked at him with confusion, some with disgust, and others with calm.
However, Isaak didn't flinch; he stepped forward and glanced directly at the strongest among them, Viktor. A black man likely in his mid-30s, he had a well-built, muscular body and a faint scar that cut across his dark cheek like a lightning bolt.
"Hello there, Viktor." Isaak opened his mouth, his voice shifting to a mischievous tone, copying someone he knew and met just a day before.
"Would you care for a deal?
A really… really… interesting deal."