shut up and drive

If there was one lesson that Michael learned from this experience, it was that you can’t rely on people to work with your plan. They’ll always throw a wrench into the gears and cause a problem.

Not that Sara was a problem, exactly, but Michael certainly hadn’t expected her to be working late in the infirmary the night they broke out. He resisted the urge to smack his palms to his forehead out of sheer frustration, instead putting his fingers to his lips and making a “shhhh” noise.

She stared, wide-eyed as they came up through the grate under the sink. Like devils out of hell, they rose, dusted themselves off, and hugged each other.

Sucre, Abruzzi, Lincoln and Michael. T-Bag had been with them for the first half of the trek, until they turned a corner and suddenly they were one man short. Michael threw a questioning glance at Abruzzi, who shrugged and kept going. Michael clenched his jaw and continued leading the way.

“How did you get in here?” Sara hissed.

“What are you still doing here?” Michael hissed back.

“Catching up on past paperwork. Are you going to answer me?”

The others stood off to the side, Abruzzi and Lincoln watching them while Sucre peered out through the windows into the yard.

“Sara, you have to leave. Now,” Michael said. “You never saw us.”

“Easier said than done. Are you breaking out?”

“Fish, we don’t have time for this,” Sucre said. “Guards switch shifts in fifteen minutes.”

“I know. Just give me a second, okay?”

Sucre fell silent.

“I’m saving my brother’s life,” Michael said to Sara. “Please try to understand. Now you have to get out of here. The less you know, the better.”

“So you’re leaving. Just like that.”

Sara’s voice was accusing, harsh, and Michael inwardly cringed.

“I’m leaving. I’m sorry.”

Michael turned to the others and motioned for them to follow. All they had to do was exit through the employee doors, wait for the guards to change shifts, and then bolt for the side gates. They were low and under cover of trees, easy enough to climb over. Then they’d be on the street, free as birds.

Sara reached out and grabbed onto Michael’s wrist.

“You’re not going,” she said, and Michael heard something different in her voice that made him face her. Her entire demeanor changed when she said, “Not without me.”

“Huh?” Sucre asked in disbelief.

“Sara, what?” Michael asked.

“I’ll bring my car around. You’re going over the side gates, right? I’ll park on the street and wait for you, engine running. I’m going with you.”

“It’s not safe –”

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She released his wrist and picked up her purse. “Give me five minutes.”

Lincoln shook his head and stepped forward. “We can’t let you do that.”

“Yeah, life on the run, it won’t be pretty,” Abruzzi said, shaking his head.

“Thank you gentleman, but I’m not going so I can be with you.”

Michael’s head snapped up at this, and Sara just smiled. Then she stood on tiptoe and softly kissed him on the lips.

“Five minutes.”

She left them in the infirmary, and Lincoln moved up beside Michael, clapping him on the shoulder.

“She’s special, Mike.”

“She’s insane. This can’t end well.”

“No, she’s in love,“ Abruzzi said. “It happens.”

Sucre snickered, until Michael shot him a pointed glare.

“Come on. We don’t have time to mess around,” he said.

They slinked down the empty halls to the employee doors. There was no alarm attached to this one, a design flaw that Michael had learned about while studying the prison. There was no way to wire an alarm to this door so that it connected with the main system. The building managers had tried, but fuses kept blowing whenever they activated it.

Michael pushed open the door, breathed in the crisp night air and felt his heart thud in his chest. No one said a word as they counted down to the shift change. For precisely three minutes, there would be no one patrolling near the gates. They were not only going to have to run quickly, but quietly.

Michael checked his watch. At the right moment, he gave the signal to go. They took off, hot on each other’s heels. Sucre hit the fence first, scrambled up and over it. Abruzzi followed, then Lincoln. Michael was last, checking behind them to make sure they were still okay. He climbed over the fence, hit the sidewalk and scrambled into the passenger side of Sara’s car.

She didn’t even wait until he had the door closed before she pulled away. Abruzzi, Sucre and Lincoln were all crammed in the backseat of the little 4-door Chevy Cavalier.

“Where to?” she asked.

Abruzzi gave her directions to the airfield where a plane was waiting for them.

“You can just drop us off,” Michael said.

Sara shook her head. “Forget it, Michael. I’m going with you.”

“But I’m not headed in the same direction as they are.”

“That works too.”

A collective snicker could be heard from the backseat, and Michael sighed in defeat.

“You really want to come with me?” he asked.

Sara placed her right hand on his leg. “I really do.”

The plane was fueled and ready to take off when they arrived. Abruzzi was going to take Lincoln and Sucre to a good hiding place. They would wait for Michael to contact them before coming back.

Sara leaned against the car and watched while Michael hugged each of the men in turn. When he reached Lincoln, they both started crying, and Sara felt her own eyes fill with tears.

“Be safe, little brother,” Lincoln whispered. “I love you.”

Michael nodded and said, “I love you, too. I’ll be in touch soon.”

The three men boarded the plane, and Michael rejoined Sara at the car. She tossed him the keys, which he caught and stared at.

“You’re the one with the plan,” she said.

They got in the car and headed out. After a few minutes of silence, Michael decided enough was enough. Keeping both hands on the wheel, and his eyes alert for any sign of trouble, he tried to talk Sara out of it.

“I’ll be fine on my own. I have resources,” he said. “You don’t want to do this. Leave your whole life and career behind? Who knows when I’ll be able to come back to Chicago.”

He continued talking for another four minutes, Sara knew because she silently counted the seconds, then she reached over and placed a hand over his mouth. They came to a red light and Michael stopped the car at the intersection and turned his head. They stared at each other until the light changed.

Sara was smiling as she said, “Shut up and drive.”

~end