4 Dallas Escape

Several months before,

Before the war that divided America, the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex was a huge sprawling metropolis that developed around two branches of the Trinity River. The whole city was nearly 100 miles wide from west to east and 45 miles from north to south.

When the war happened the area avoided the initial conflicts. Houston, San Antonio, and Austin took huge hits due to their military or technological significance.

It didn't take long before the city got dragged into the war and people started to divide up. The far outskirts faced it first before fighting moved into town. And before long urban fighting happened inside the major cities.

Between Dallas and Fort Worth, lots of suburban cities popped up with houses for families. It made urban fighting difficult as they had to hide between and inside people's homes. The fighting destroyed whole towns and now those suburban sprawls were wastelands where very few people lived.

The government buildings had withstood the battles and the prisons were full. After the fall of Austin to nuclear bombs Waco became the capital. Later it moved to Dallas where there was more infrastructure to support the state when it reverted back to its own country. Slowly during the war, the Republic of Texas was reborn.

The Lew Sterrett prison was the largest prison in Dallas and in the northern tower was general pop. Generators kept the lights on and the mag-locks operational.

At a table, in the middle of the open general floor two men were playing cards. One of them was an Olive skinned muscular man. The other was a short man with gray hair and a round body.

"So what's the plan?" The short man laid down two cards and drew two more.

"Tomorrow Pudge. We get out of here and back to our gang." The large man shuffled his cards around and picked one out of his stack before discarding it and drawing another.

"Ants, the gang is waiting on us in Reno. The job in California isn't going to wait on us to sit out this sentence. You got another 6 months in here." Pudge looked at his cards and put two on the table face down.

Anthony Filoni moved his last cards before taking two and laying them face down. "I know, the guards are going to be distracted with A block. I got a gang coming, you will know what is happening when it happens. Turn your cards."

They both turned over their cards and Pudge groaned before Anthony laughed and took the cards.

Two days later after lights out the attack came. A gang of 25 men had come across the old I-30 highway and used Molotov's to disrupt the generators that kept the power going in the building.

The lights flickered for a second before the red colored emergency lights kicked on. The mag-locks stayed engaged but they were no longer forced into the locked position.

Anthony pulled a long bar of flattened steel out from his bunk where it had been hidden inside a bar attached to the wall. He used the bar to force the two large steel locks from inside the coupler that normally kept everything secure. Anthony tried to shove the bars back into the resting position before he lost his chance and got the power running.

Finally, with a clunk, the bars slid back and the door swung open. Anthony's two cellmates were dead in his cell. He had killed them both before opening the door. One bled out of a stab wound to the neck that nicked his jugular. The other had his head bashed in again a wall.

Anthony walked quickly down the wall to Pudges cell. He shoved the bar into the lock and jimmied the bar backward until the door opened with a soft groan.

"I told you you'd know when it was time." Anthony stood in the door like a demon. The red lights backlit his shadow making him even more ominous.

"You arranging a jailbreak?" A man in the back of the room tried to shove towards the door.

Anthony reached forward and grabbed the man by the throat after he shoved Pudge out of the way. "Show some respect. They are all getting out of here. You are getting out in a body bag." And he shoved the bar into the man's eyeball. A death rattle escaped his lips as he fell to the floor.

Anthony led the rest of them out of the door after they all acknowledged who was in charge.

They all rushed the main floor and pushed through the door into the holding cell. Anthony had Pudges cellmates shove the door in and get past the guards. If they died it was no loss as Pudge was the part of his crew that he really needed.

When the holding cell was theirs they got through the door into the regular hallway. The guards were running around checking doors and trying to make sure that no one was getting out. The surprised look on their faces told Anthony that the hadn't really expected anyone to make it out of their cells in such a short time.

The first guard they ran into died when a prisoner shoved both thumbs into his eyes and pulled. He then pulled his night stick and shoved it against his throat. They took his weapons and passed them out among the 4 of them standing in the hallway. The second guard died when Anthony crushed his windpipe with his foot.

They ran down the stairs and disabled or murdered any guards they came across as quickly as possible.

After a short 10 minutes, they made it to the ground floor and then out into the motor pool. The police and rangers were the only ones guaranteed to have a working car. They lucked out and saw the transport van had the doors open and guards were distracted trying to keep the fire around the building from getting to the valuable van.

Anthony made his way around the shadows into the blind spot of the van. He ran up behind the first guard and used a zip-tie as a garrote. The first guard grabbed his throat trying to pull it apart as he choked on his own tongue. The second guard turned just as his bar went into his neck and down. Anthony had aimed for the jugular again but missed when the man turned. The sound of him gurgling on his own blood running down his throat into his lungs. Anthony went around the front and signaled to Pudge and the remaining cellmate.

Anthony turned around and grabbed the first guard by the collar and lifted him up off the ground. Anthony put a sinister smile on his face. His eyes twinkled at the thought of watching his life end. He put his neck in his hands and Anthony enjoyed the look as the life passed from his eyes and his body went limp. The guards had no ambition to really fight back. They had been trained to submit in the event of a breakout, which normally meant you went home alive. They had never expected to face pure evil that night.

They all piled into the van and smiled at the good luck that the key was in the ignition.

"Get yourself strapped in," Anthony shoved the van in drive and slammed on the gas. The van peeled out of the garage and headed towards the chain-link gate. It slammed through the gate with a shower or sparks before it bounced onto the street.

A motorcycle down the street blinked its lights before it fired up. This was a sign to the attackers and Anthony what direction they needed to go to escape.

Anthony followed the motorcycle away from the jail as a few guys stayed behind to throw more Molotov and keep the police busy fighting fires instead of chasing them.

They made it several miles away before they ditched the van and swapped over to another van that had been prepared for them. The last thing they saw was a local hood paying cash for the van before they drove away. A good running vehicle sold for a lot but its parts were worth a lot more.

They lucked out and avoided the cops as they made their way into the old state of Oklahoma. Most of the highways were in a horrible state of repair. The best option was to take the old farm roads out of town. The cops couldn't patrol every old farm road heading out of the state.

Anthony smiled to himself as they pulled away from the state.

The group cruised along the backroads until they got to a safe distance away. Anthony watched the road and let his mind wander over the job ahead. The California job was their largest planned heist yet. The California Federation was going to leave themselves open on this one day only and the possible payoff was huge. Almost a year of planning went into this job. The only reason something this large was possible was because California thought the risk for robbing them was too large to be worth the risk.

While his mind wandered around plans and possible effects the driver of the van pulled off in a small clearing. The road they pulled into was hidden and unless you knew it was there. The tree's hid the van and its occupants from anyone driving on the road. It was the perfect stash point.

When the van finally squeaked to a halt the driver turned the key off and opened the door. The lights inside woke up the two men sleeping in the back and the gang leader.

Anthony got out of the front seat and walked around to stretch his legs. The driver stood by the front door and lit a cigarette. Pudge and their accomplice got out of the van and walked off behind it into the tree line to take a piss. The last to exit was the leader of the gang that broke them out.

Anthony pulled his arms up over his head and turned towards the leader. "You completed the job as you promised. You will get a bonus when I get back from California." A dozen yards from the van was the shell of an old burned-out car. Anthony walked over to the trunk and opened it. He reached in and pulled out a box with a biometric lock on it. Anthony put his thumb on the lock and then looked at the face scanner. After a second the box clicked open and he turned it around for the other man to see.

"Your payment. Two hundred rounds of FMJ Nato. And 100 Troy ounces of Silver. I will bring you something special when I get back this way again." Anthony smiled, this was a cheap price for the risk involved. He was very willing to part with this in exchange for what he was getting soon.

The leader smiled and shook his head. "We keep our word. The problem is I only negotiated with you." He reached behind his back and pulled out a pistol. Before Anthony could react he pointed the gun at Pudge and shot them both in the back.

Pudge fell first, the second man tried to zip up his pants before his brain died. As the two bodies fell Anthony's face changed from surprise to unbridled hate. He knew that a normal person would feel something, anything, remorse for the death of a friend. All he could think of was how this affected the job.

"What the fuck man." Anthony cursed as the gun quickly swung around into his face. "That was a big mistake."

"The agreement was only one man transported. On top of that, I had an epiphany. You are going to be a very wanted man in the morning. I have legitimate employees who could turn you in for the reward." The man smiled greedily.

Anthony yelled and jumped forward. The leader thought he was acting out of misguided revenge. Inside Anthony was just letting the urge to kill take over.

Anthony grabbed the gun and twisted as hard as he could. The hot barrel stung his hand but he ignored it. The leader screamed as his fingers and wrist bent at an unnatural angle. Finally, Anthony tore the weapon from his hand. He had the option to shoot him, instead, he opened the front passenger door and shoved his head into the van's foot well.

"You fucked my plans," Anthony started slamming the door as hard as he could. He listened to the sound of bone breaking and blood squelching. He slammed until the body went limp and the face was almost unrecognizable. "You cost me more than you know."

Anthony grabbed the corpse and tossed him away from the van. He slammed the door shut in rage when he heard a whimper from the other side.

His vision was still blurred red from anger when he saw the body of the driver crouched against the wheel. "What are you hiding from boy?" Anthony grabbed the slender young man by the neck and pulled him onto his feet.

The scream that came from the young driver as he was pulled into the air surprised Anthony. "Well, what do we have here." He grinned sadistically. "He really had the balls to bring a woman along for the ride."

Anthony grabbed her shirt and ripped it off. Her young body was covered in tattoos. She turned her head, she knew how to fight back against any normal man but she just saw him crush a skull with a car door.

"I think you are going to pay me back for the loss of my men." Anthony carried the driver toward the passenger rear door and threw her in. "Too bad your boss didn't shoot when he could. You are going to wish he had." He closed the door and the light turned off in the van as the young driver wished she had run when she had the chance.