~ Mass Escape at Alterra Prison ~

         “Wake up son, you're gonna be late... you know I'm not havin' it!” The next morning, predictably, Martin awoke to his mother's voice, having slept through his alarm.

 

         While still exhausted, Martin knew better than to make his mother ask again. His mother, Bella, was a holy terror in her effort to secure her children's futures. Bella had turned it up a notch since Jake went missing and Martin, being the oldest remaining child, was taking the brunt. Martin wondered what was the point, given the growing doubt as to how much of a future anyone had. It was enough to break someone. For Martin and most everyone who suffer common tragedy, no one had given themselves the time or the permission for regret.

 

         On most mornings Martin wouldn't shake his generalized melancholy until about one. As lunch wrapped up, a friend would somehow crack his exterior, garnering half a smile or a restrained laugh. It was in those few moments Martin could let go, when Jake no longer dominated his thoughts. That morning, however, was different. Worse still, as soon as he'd recalled the previous night his mind was awash in terrible wonder. Martin's experience triggered fascination and dread in equal measure. This was an oddity, because Martin had always been more sensible than that; not the guy in a horror movie who would 'go check out a noise,' rather one who would split before shit went down. Still, his experience was so surreal that by the time he got to school he had convinced himself it was a dream. After all, the idea of such things, while beyond ridiculous, was even as farther past terrifying.

 

         “Earth to you.” Sara made Martin jump as she easily snuck up on him while he stared at his cereal, pondering what he'd seen the night before.

 

         “I think he's in there somewhere but I doubt we can find him before we have to leave for school.” said Rayn, Sara's twin, Martin's other sister. Rayn, at age 12, what some might call a radical, was head of the LGBT club at her middle school in which there were four brave members. More surprising was the political organization she and her best friend, River, formed called Atheist Anarchists for Change at any Cost (or AAC aaC as kids had called it before Martin put a healthy dose of fear into Rayn's peers). Rayn and River had recruited one other member, of whom they were incessantly proud: Josh, a tragically normal thirteen year old, obviously crushing on the two clearly 'wrong trees' leading the group. It quickly reached a point they couldn't shut up about it.

 

         “Hey, River... Hey River... Josh told me about how Lenin's biggest mistake was letting Stalin get too entrenched...” Rayn once said; To which River replied

 

         “He's learning so fast!” River said setting up Rayn's punchline.

 

         “I mean he's wrong, but at least he's learning...” at which time Martin left the room so neither of the two caught his giggle and cornered him for a recitation of their latest manifesto. While mom and dad were worried their daughter was going counter-culture at 12, Martin had a perspective typical generation parents did not share: finding yourself is not a phase in life, it is life.

 

         “Aw let him stew, he's just deluding himself.” Sara and Rayn obviously planned a tag team effort to express disapproval for Martin's theory presented previous evening.

 

         “A bit much, Sara!” Sara had clearly gone too far too quickly for Rayn. “You don't think I want River and Jake back too? I wish I had it in me to hope, you stupid bourgey bitch.”

 

         Sara and Rayn's alliance was typically short lived. Rayn found herself inadvertently taking Martin's side. Sara and Rayn were, without an ounce of irony, like oil and water. Any agreement between the twins took little or no effort in breaking. Sara saw Rayn as an arrogant leftist intellectual, unwilling to allow others to have their own opinions without a great deal of effort to 'correct' them. On the other hand, Rayn saw Sara as a wishy washy brat whose opinions were largely formed in response to her own. Each, with a little more age and experience, might see they'd pretty well summed up the other.

 

         “Rayn Drake! You apologize to your sister right now!” Karl Drake, a typical Generation X wannabe progressive 'Dad' type, looked up from staring at his remaining son while he worked out how to address the same elephant in the room his twin daughters had just set to a frenzy. Martin was highly annoyed with everyone, but risking conversation was hardly worth speaking up.

 

         “Don't use that name!” Rayn seethed, as she prepared to re-enter a very old argument.

 

         Rayn, as many of her peers including her missing friend River had done, changed her name. Karl however, while progressive enough to allow for a change of a first name, was too old fashioned and proud to sit by while Rayn scorned generations of 'Drakes'.

 

         “I'm willing to let you call yourself Rayn but the family name is Drake” Karl struggled valiantly to restrain himself in hopes of not exciting his daughter farther, but that ship had sailed. Sara and Martin began plotting escape from what could become a full blown fight.

 

         “My name is Rayn... Rayn, got it dad, I'm not 'calling myself', anything, I am Rayn Cloud and that is that!” Rayn began a rant; Martin and Sara began a strategic withdrawal but Sara fell just short a clean escape, breaking out in laughter just before exiting.

 

         Sara's misfortune was a boon for Karl, as Rayn's anger at her father was quickly redirected towards her twin instead. Rayn bolted out of the door at Sara as if ready to attack, though she knew Martin would surely intervene. Seconds later Martin had a sister on the end of each arm, his hands halting the twin girls' by that point, half-hearted attempts at getting at their counterpart. The siblings' shenanigans quickly halted, of course, when Bella emerged seconds later to get the trio to school.

 

         Bella's stepped-up rules dictated that no one was to go out alone, and whenever possible an adult (usually Mom or dad) accompanied them. This combination of course completely prevented Martin from going anywhere there was actual fun.

 

         On that morning, their mother was so exceedingly silent that all three of her children assumed someone was in for it, thus they took Bella's example of silence as they crept ever closer to the comparative safety of school. Taking Bella's silence as a portent of trouble the three tried to pretend nothing was happening. But the trio's capacity to maintain a silence was quickly waning. Finally Rayn, who couldn't recall doing anything that would trigger such an extreme use of the silent treatment, broke it.

 

         “So I'm thinking of pitching Sean Davies for membership in the Party!” Rayn proudly stated as if she'd just planted the Black starred red flag atop the white house.

 

         “That's good.” Bella muttered. Suddenly everyone got quiet again, not even daring to move lest their clothing rustle. For their mother to be this level of quiet, Bella had likely discovered some damnable evidence against someone. To Martin's sheer and utter horror, his mother let his sisters out at their middle school without the slightest pause. To Martin this was unmistakable evidence Bella was saving up a scolding so serious that he could not fathom what he might have done to earn it. As the car stopped in front of Martin's high school he gulped the air so hard he might have been drinking it.