Parchman, стр. 36
He went back inside the cell and searched around for a cigarette. He remembered an argument with his father telling him that cigarettes couldkill him. ‘Not since The Cure you old fool,’ he said. He found an old rollup and lit it up. It shook in his hands as they trembled. He took a drag, butthe cigarette dropped from his lips onto the floor.
Xander started to weep. Tears so heavy they dropped to the floor and onto the cigarette, drowning the cherry red end. Another deep breath.
‘What kind of a man do you want to be?’ he heard his father’s voice.
‘One that doesn’t leave his wife in thisworld to die,’ replied the nine-yearold Xander.
His father slapped him around the face. ‘Some son you turned out to be. Ishould have left you to die with her,’ he said.
Xander dried his eyes and stood up straight. ‘I’ll show you what kind ofman I want to be,’ he said preparing to go out and face whatever wasawaiting him behind the doors.
A bright light shone through the small cell window and blinded himmomentarily. He stepped out of the beam of light and watched the lightdance around on the wall behind him. As he went to walk out he turnedback. Something seemed strange to him.
The light was moving, but at that time of day the sun wouldn’t be movingaround at that rate. It was obviously shining off something outside.
Xander moved the bedside cabinet to under the window and climbed up tolook outside for the origin of the light. The light struck him again. Xandermoved again and looked to see what could be shining the light onto theprison. Binoculars perhaps?
In the distance a high-rise block way behind the Commander General’s army stood overlooking Parchman. Xander scanned the windows of theblock. ‘There!’ he exclaimed. ‘I see you.’
He looked behind him at the wall. ‘Goddamn. It’s Morsecode,’ he said.‘Finally some benefit of a military school.’
He jumped down and scrambled around for a pen and some paper thenback up to the window. Waiting for a pause in the code he started writing down the message from the high rise. ‘Dot dash,’ he said. ‘Dot dot, dotdash dot, dot dash dash dot, dash dash dash, dot dash dot, dash,’ he saidout loud. Then nothing.
He jumped back down and started writing letters next to the dots anddashes he had written downon the piece of paper. ‘A-I-R-P-O-RT,’ he said puzzled.
‘Airport, airport, airport,’ he repeated over and over. ‘The prisonairplanes?’ he said. ‘It has to be.’
Looking around the room he went out the cell and into the cells either sideuntil he found what he needed. A mirror. It smashed as he threw it to theground and picking up a large enough piece he ran back to the window.
Catching the sun on the mirror he moved it to spell“OK” in Morse codeand waited.
The light came back again,and he wrote out the response “N-O-W”.
Xander jumped down and rush along the gantry and down the first set ofstairs, then the second and jumping the bottom three steps, down the next,missing four this time until eventually he was jumping from one set ofstairs to the next.
He ran down the corridor towards the back of the prison. Thankfully theprison was now completely empty. Crossing one of the Savages neveronce came into his mind. He knew he had to get to those airplanes.
Xander pushed open the gates and ran out into the open grounds at theback of the prison. Just as he remembered, the glorious airplanes from pastand present littered the plot. ‘Hallelujah,’ he said, just as a huge explosionerupted from the front of the prison. He cowered expecting debris to flydown on him, but the explosion was confined to where the fighting wasgoing on. Out here it was completely vacant.
He had only needed to run down the stairs and whoever had been sendingthe messages had a longer expedition from the block of apartments. Alsowith the added pressure of going unnoticed by the Commander General’stroops. ‘They may not have even made it,’ he thought gloomily.
Xander sat and waited, listening to the noise in the distance of the warringsides fighting. He even thought he heard Logan’s voice at one point. Werethey all getting massacred while he was potentially sat out here waiting forno-one? Then he started questioning his own mind. Had he even seen alight at all, or had it just been his brain playing tricks on him.
Just when he was about to give up and go back into the prison a smallgroup of people came scurrying around the corner led by Hod. Xander hadnever seen such an eclectic mix of people in his life and all being led by aone-eyed dwarf.
‘Come now Xander, no time for being idle,’ said Hod, as if nothing hadhappened. ‘Up, up, up.’
Xander jumped to his feet.
‘Follow me,’ said Hod.
Xander followed the rest of the group to a biplane at the far end of theairstrip. Hod looked at Xander and Xander looked back, waiting for eachother to speak. Hod lifted his head upwards.
‘Oh,’ said Xander, realizing Hod was expecting him to give him a bunkup into the cockpit.
‘Thanks a lot,’ said Hod, sarcastically. The rest of his followers clamberedup and started filing into the back of the plane. ‘Don’t ask,’ said Hod,preempting the multitude of questions Xander had for him. ‘Right, letsshoot some bad people. Oh, and if you fancy it Xander, Mendez has a tankin his car lot,’ Hod chuckled and started up the airplane. ‘Tally Ho!’ andoff he went.
Xander watched the