“Holy fuck,” Harelip shouted, and came running out of her guard post. “What the hell is that thing?”
“I tried to tell you,” Caxton said, losing some of her patience. She jumped up and ran over to stamp on the crawling hand until she broke the finger bones and stopped it from moving. “This is not just a riot. This is not just an escape attempt. The prison is under attack by unnatural, evil creatures.”
Harelip stared hard at her. Her nostrils were flaring.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “There are no exceptions. During emergencies prisoners must remain in their cells. The warden will send special teams to remove us when it’s safe, and get us to a secure place.”
“Special teams. You mean teams of COs?” Caxton asked.
“Yes, stupid,” Harelip said, scowling.
“You mean—like Murphy? Maybe like the one who gave us this?” she demanded, stamping again on the hand, which was still trying to wriggle around her bare foot. “He was wearing a CO’s uniform, too.”
Harelip might have responded with a curse, or by hitting Caxton with her baton. She didn’t get a chance, however. The buzzer sounded again, and the reinforced door started to slide back open on its rails.
15.
What’s happening?” Caxton asked, as the main door of the SHU inched open. She could hear the half-deads on the other side beating on it and laughing. At any moment it would be wide enough for them to squeeze through. She had no doubt there were a lot of them, and they would all be armed.
Harelip ran back inside the guard post and slammed the red button with her palm again. The door didn’t stop in its tracks. She hit it again, still with no result. Caxton could see her cursing inside the guard post. She came running back out with her baton drawn.
“They’ll have knives,” Caxton said, staring at the CO’s truncheon. “They’ll outnumber us. We have to get the door closed again—what’s going on?”
Harelip scowled. “Every door in the facility can be opened or closed remotely. In case of a riot a unit or dorm can be locked down from central command. Somebody—one of those things—must have gotten to the control board and sent down the emergency evacuation signal. That opens all the doors in this wing.”
“You can’t override the signal from here?” Caxton asked.
“If prisoners took control of the SHU, central would still be able to lock down the unit, or pop it open if they needed to. So no, I can’t override it from here.”
Caxton stared at the slowly opening door as she thought about it. “Before—when the half-dead came in here—they unlocked all the cell doors remotely.”
Harelip nodded. “That’s right. And locked me inside the post. That’s why I couldn’t save the prisoners he killed.”
“But—but you got out, somehow,” Caxton said.
Harelip nodded again. “I yanked the wire that links that door control to central, then I hit my control again and, lucky me, it worked.” She stared at Caxton as if she was just piecing it together. “I could pull the wire for the main door control, too. Cut off the link to central, and then close the door from here.”
“It’s worth trying,” Caxton said, her heart racing.
“It’ll take a minute. Those cables are all run through a piece of PVC pipe under the control board. I’ll have to break it open to get to them. By the time I’m done the door will be open.”
“I can fight off the half-deads while you’re doing that. If you give me a weapon,” Caxton said.
Harelip glared at her. “You’re kidding.”