OZ-Starring Cody Ch. 7
By Dan

Cody and Claude ran through the halls, still being trailed by the warden and his Dobermans. "Geez!", Cody said while huffing and puffing, "Where are the rest of the guards?"

"Do you really care?", came Claude's reply. they heard a gunshot and a ping from the richochet of the bullet bouncing off the narrow walls. "Damn! He's on us again!", Cody said. Claude momentarily turned, and fired the pistol he had. "Are you crazy? That's the death penalty if you kill the warden, idiot!", Cody said. The two fleeing inmates soon heard the now-familiar growls and snarls of angry dogs in their wake. "This way! It's the way out!", Claude said making a right turn. Cody followed suit, sliding into his turn. He then noticed Claude was gone!

"Claude! Help me out!" A door that was seemingly dead-bolted opened. "In here, love.", Claude said with a very personal come-here gesture.

"Do NOT...call me-ulp!" Cody couldn't finish his sentence as Claude dragged him into the room and motioned for him to be quiet. "But wont the dogs-"

"Shut UP!", Claude said sharply. The dogs soon came scratching at the door. Barking and howling, they heard the clomping of boots with more following. "Open this door...NOW!", Warden Ferguson said angrily. "We will not hesitate to kill you two." Cody and Claude both pushed their bodies to the door to block it. Cody looked at Claude, who was beginning to sweatdrop. "Any bright ideas, gay-boy?", Cody whispered angrily. "Hey, that's uncalled for, Co-deee. And no, I don't have a plan."

"Just f-ing perfect! I'm stuck between a queer and a hard place.", Cody said, throwing up his hands in disgust. Then it hit him. Not an idea, but Claude. "Stop with all the rudeness, 'kay? Remember...", Claude said raising a finger, "...I still have the gun." Suddenly, Cody did have an idea. "Hey! Look there!", Cody said pointing. At the far end of the small room, was of all things, a sewer grating. "See? I TOLD you this was the way out!", Claude said gleefully, a bit too gleeful for Cody's taste. They both quieted when they heard the banging of a battering ram on the door they were against. "HIT IT AGAIN!", the warden ordered. BAM! BAM! The din from the dogs barking, the warden shouting orders to his men, and the battering ram was beginning to get to Cody. If they wanted to get away, Cody realized, they'd need a diversion. Better yet, HE'D need a diversion. "*Big deal, so Claude helped you to get out of this s#!+hole, big deal. Leave the girly-man here!*" Cody shook his head. He wasn't gonna' sell out on Claude. Weird and as eccentric as he is, he DID help him.

"Listen Claude...Go on and open the grate. I've got a plan.", Cody said. BAM. "Are you sure, kid?"

"Positive." Claude began to make his way to the sewer grating to try and open it. "Unggh...arrggh! D*mn this motherf-er, I can't budge it an inch! BAM!BAM!BAM! "*Ohhh d*mn...*"

"Lemme' try." Cody said. The two switched places with Claude now guarding the door. "Cody grasped two bars, and with a yank, tore off the grating, with pieces of the cement floor! "Yeah!", Cody said. "CRASH!" The door was beginning to give way! BLAM! The guards were in! "STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" Cody, surprised, threw the entire grating at the guards, flooring some of them. Some were already firing off their guns. Claude ducked and rolled into the hole into the sewers. Cody with a yell, threw his hand upward and suddenly a blast of wind knocked down the remaining guards flat to the ground! The warden was floored as well. "What the...h*ll?", was the Warden's dumbfounded reply.

"See ya', wouldn't wanna' be ya'." Cody said diving into the hole that led into the sewer. He was free! Or was he?

He finally caught up with Claude who was in a tunnel, presumably hiding. He noticed he was very quiet and slumped to the side a bit. "What's wrong? What are you doing in here?" CLICK. Cody turned around. He began running again. There were guards in the tunnel, now following him! It was obvious to Cody that they killed Claude, and wanted to hide to surprise-attack Cody. He was once again in a run for his life now. The armed guards weren't shooting in the circular tunnel, because a shot could bounce right back towards them, so they began throwing little balls ahead of Cody. "Hold it RIGHT THERE!" POOF! Cody began coughing and hacking. "*Smoke bombs? What am I, Solid Snake?*" Nonetheless, Cody trudged on through the stinking, dank sewers. The sludge was up to his ankles, and it STUNK. "You CAN'T ESCAPE!" More balls bounced ahead of him and exploded. He was beginnig to slow down. It was starting to get hard to breathe with this sludge and gases mixing, causing a acid-like smoke to burn both Cody's and the guards' lungs. Cody was getting desperate for some sign of an exit; he knew he couldn't run forever. He suddenly saw a darker darkness ahead of him, and dim light... "*Could it be?*" Yes! It was a drop-out, a pipe that dropped out presumably into water. "STOP!!!", the guards yelled furiously. "*I can make it. Just about 100 more feet...*", Cody said reassuring himself. He was there. The guards were mere yards away. It was then they began firing. Cody slid and quickly peered over. "*Good GOD!*" The drop had to be 25 storeys down!!! Would he survive? He first had a trick for the guards. A matchstick... He ran it against the side of the wall as the guards threw another handfuls of gaseous smoke bombs... Cody turned and dropped the match in the thick sludge. How was he to know some of that sludge was crude gasoline? A fire soon erupted, triggering the smoke bombs into an eruption of fire! Cody, mortified with the fireball screaming towards him, slipped and fell out the pipe! Was there water below? Yes. He watched as the fireball roared through the pipe duct and two bodies blasted out, screaming in agony amidst the blaring escape horn. All Cody saw was the lighthouse-like searchlight among all the darkness of the night...and he closed his eyes as he sped toward the deep water...and prayed to God he'd make it out all right...

-SPLASH-