Academy of Misbehavours

Chapter 6

The Escape

Hideki watched in horror as his friend, Fa Jinn, wolfed down his breakfast. He almost wished that Major Jiang would come and confiscate his food again. Fa Jinn finished decimating his food with a smile on his face, while licking the leftover food on his face. He even had pieces of his breakfast in his hair! Hideki instinctively retrieved his blue camouflage hat from the side of the table and put it on. Most students in The Academy would take off their hats and place them besides their plates of before eating. It was a behaviour that everyone did and one that he only had noticed himself following only now.

"Is that it?" Fa Jinn asked disappointedly while picking food out of his hair only for it to end up in his mouth.

"To be honest with you, Jinn, you can take my food. I've lost my appetite." Hideki said pushing his food over to Fa Jinn.

Fa Jinn smiled happily as he began gobbling Hideki's food. Hideki instantly regretted giving his friend his portion as it forced him to watch again as he madly ate the food. When his friend was done, he was speechless.

"At least now I've caught up to last night's missed dinner." Fa Jinn said, partly satisfied.

"Alright, when breakfast period is finished we'll have to speak to Hun Jin Yeng and Saun Sot." Hideki said forcing what he had just witnessed out of his mind.

Fa Jinn reluctantly agreed. Multiple times, he wanted to just give up on the whole escaping plan but Hideki convinced him to commit. They waited until the breakfast period was done before they left the room. The students had an hour before the academic day began. Hideki and Fa Jinn would use this opportunity to locate their target and try to get back the rope they had stolen for the escape. They found the boys leaning against a wall while having a conversation. They clearly changed the subject of their conversation when they saw Fa Jinn and Hideki approaching. They were obviously talking about them now because they pointed at them as they approached. Hideki and Fa Jinn stood before them and were quiet for a moment as his mind figured what he would say.

"Hey guys." Hideki said in his most friendliest tone. "We wanted to ask you to give us the rope you took from Fa Jinn yesterday."

"Sure, we'll give it to you," Saun Sot said, "if you tell us what its for."

"We don't have to tell you thieves anything!" Hideki said, quickly losing his patience.

"You care to say that again, shrimp?" Hun Jin Yeng said stepping up to Hideki. Hun Jin Yeng was slightly taller than his friend Saun Sot but the older boys were both taller than Hideki.

He and Hideki bumped chests as neither of them refused to back down. Hideki looked at the older boy in the eyes with no fear. He was not going to allow anyone to bully him or his friend. Things may have escalated if Saun Sot did not interfere by separating them.

"Let's calm down for a minute." Saun Sot said as he pushed them apart. Hun Jin smiled cockily as if what happened was beneath him while Hideki kept his serious face on, ready to fight Saun Sot if need be. "We already know why you need the rope. We figure that you either want to hang yourselves in some kind of double Romeo and Juliet suicide, and I'm guessing your Juliet..." Sot said pointing at Fa Jinn, causing Hun Jin Yeng to laugh loudly. "... or you guys are planning to escape. If you're escaping, Hun and I want in." Saun Sot finished.

"And if we refuse?" Hideki said defiantly.

"Then you'll have to steal yourself another rope and we'll have to report your upcoming escape attempt to The General." Saun Sot said smugly.

Hideki clenched his fists in frustration. He did not want to help these two but simultaneously, he could not bear needlessly spending anymore time in The Academy. "Fine." He relented through clenched teeth.

"Good." Hun Jin Yeng said as he began walking away. He made sure to bump shoulders with Hideki when he passed him.

Fa Jinn only dared to speak once they were gone. "We're going to work with those guys? I don't know, Hideki, things seem to be coming apart." Fa Jinn said to Hideki.

Hideki made sure to replace the frustrated look on his face with a more reassuring one. "It will be okay," he said smiling. "And anyways, more people will make this escape easier."

/

The academic activities of The Academy were no different from normal high schools and primary schools. That is if you ignore the military precision each class was attended in. Students would enter their assigned classes in lines and go to their assigned desk in formations, where they would sit down and take off their hats at the teacher's command. When the class was done, they would stand, get into their lines and march on to their next class. Teachers were allowed to and often threatened to use corporal punishment if their student's performance was unsatisfactory. Recess consisted of heavy exercise done in drills of jogging, running over tires, push ups, etc under the watchful eye of either The General, Major Jiang or monitors in purple camouflage uniforms. After recess they would get a ten minute break to catch their breaths before returning to classes.

By the end of the day, Hideki was exhausted and his resolve to escape had increased. As the days passed he and Fa Jinn had awkward meetings with Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng where they solidified a plan to escape. The more they planned, the more it became apparent that they would need the rope, which Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng refused to give nor reveal its location until day of the escape.

Six days had passed since their initial meeting with the boys. Hideki was preparing his bed for sleep after having survived another day where he had to endure The Walk. To his surprise, he saw people he did not want to see. On the bottom part of the bunk beds either side of him were Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng. Hun Jin Yeng, smiled smugly at him when he saw Hideki's annoyed face.

"We're going to be watching you until we do the thing." Hun Jin Yeng said as he got comfortable in his new bed. "Good night."

Hideki sighed and looked at Saun Sot who was also getting into bed while giving Hideki a smug smile. He would now sleep in between both boys at night. He saw a pair of legs dangling from the top bunk just above Saun Sot's sleeping head and looked up to see Kadan, who was watching everything silently. He shook his head slowly and disapprovingly before lying down on his bed, looking away from Hideki.

/

The night of the escape had come. They had picked a day when they had The Walk because they suspected that students and staff alike would be exhausted from the day's activities. Hideki, Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng had pretended to sleep but in actual fact they were awake and waiting. Two hours later they commence their escape plan.

When two hour elapsed, Hideki slowly and quietly shifted out of his bed while the other boys on the beds next to his did the same. Hideki was about to remind Saun Sot that he should not forget the rope when to his surprise Hun Jin Yeng took it out from under Hideki's mattress. Hun must have seen Hideki's shocked face in the dim light because he smiled like he had just tricked the world's greatest genius. They snuck through the dorm beds, with sleeping boys, right to the exit of the sleeping area. It is there that they waited for the last member of their escape party: Fa Jinn.

Minutes pass by but Fa Jinn did not show up, causing Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng to grow impatient.

"Where the hell is he?" Hun Jin Yeng whispers through gritted teeth while the boys crouched at the exit.

"I say we leave that fat idiot." Saun Sot said.

"No." Hideki quietly protested. "I'll... I'll fetch him. Wait for us." Hideki said before he tip toes to where Fa Jinn's bed was. All around him were sleeping boys and he hoped that they would stay that way until he and Fa Jinn got out. He reached Fa Jinn and heard the boy's snores. Hideki rolled his eyes upon seeing his friend asleep even though they had agreed not to.

Hideki gently shook Fa Jinn to get him awake. His eyes slowly open and he nearly jumped upon seeing Hideki. "Hideki? What's... what's..."

"We're escaping, remember?" Hideki angrily whispers. "Get up we need to go. Now."

Fa Jinn got out of bed and they both shuffled to the door. Upon reaching the exit they found that the other boys had already left. Hideki gritted his teeth in anger upon discovering Saun's and Hun's treachery. 'I should have seen this coming.' Hideki angrily thought to himself.

"Did they leave us behind?" Fa Jinn asked nervously.

"Come, we can still catch up to them." Hideki said before leading the way.

The boys' dorm was a two storey building with the bed area located on the second floor. There was a double door at the end of a hallway that led to the stairs, which was the only way to access the lower floors and ground floor exit. However, that door was always locked during lights out. Because it was unlikely that they could find a way through the double door, they had agreed that they would exit the dorm via a window in the bathing area of the dorm which was located on the same floor as the sleeping area. Hideki was unsure how they would get through the window as it had a steal screen covering it from the inside. When Hideki asked, the two other boys said to leave it to them.

When Hideki and Fa Jinn arrived in the bathing area they found their partners in crime having a whispered argument. To Hideki's surprise, he saw that the metal screen that was at the window had been pried open. He noticed Hun Jin Yeng holding a crowbar, which must have been the tool used to peel the metal screen off.

"Thanks for waiting for us." Hideki said sarcastically as he and Fa Jinn walked to the two.

"Hey, if your friend here followed the plan we wouldn't have left you behind." Hun Jin Yeng said pointing at Fa Jinn with the crowbar.

"Sorry." Fa Jinn apologised as Hideki looked out of the window to see the green ground below.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Hideki said pulling his head back into the room. "Why haven't you tied the rope to something so that we can climb down?"

"Look around, what do we have to tie the rope to?" Saun says while he shakes one end of the rope in his hand, causing the tip to wiggle.

Hideki looked around and realised that there was nothing close enough that they could tie the rope to and still allow the rope to be long enough to climb down on. They had not even thought about the possibility of facing such a problem. The group was quiet as they tried to figure out what they should do.

"Why don't we use the crowbar." The three boys heard a small voice say. They looked at Fa Jinn with looks that demanded more information. "We could use the crowbar as a kind of wedge against the window frame and tie the rope to it."

Hideki began to understand. He took one end of the rope and aggressively grabbed the crowbar from Hun Jin Yeng who gave him a dirty look. Hideki kneeled down and began tying the rope to the middle of the crowbar. Once he was done, he placed the crowbar at the edge of the window frame. The ends of the crowbar were taller than the window frame which was perfect for Fa Jinn's suggestion. Hideki carefully climbed out, through the window frame which supported the edges of the crowbar. Through use of the rope, he was able to successfully scale down the side of the wall until his feet hit the grass. He excitedly gestured for the others to follow.

The first one out after Hideki was Saun Sot, followed by Hun Jin Yeng and then finally Fa Jinn began climbing down. Hideki could not help but look around nervously as Fa Jinn slowly made his descent. He knew that there were monitors who patrolled the yard at night and he did not want him and his party getting caught so early in the escape. He could tell that Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng were thinking the same, so he encouraged Fa Jinn to climb down faster.

"Come Fa Jinn, you can do it!" He whispered encouragingly at his friend.

"Mr. Chubby here is starting to be more of a liability than an asset." Hun Jin Yeng said angrily.

"I'm sorry; I'm just not used to all this climbing." Fa Jinn said. His feet suddenly slipped from the wall making his belly hit the wall. He panicked as he dangled halfway down along the building wall. His hands strained to grasp the rope but he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he fell. He desperately tried to make his feet gain a grip on the wall, however they kept slipping off. He reached his limit and his hands gave up, causing him to fall down to the ground.

The three boys below had to scramble out of the way to avoid getting crushed by Fa Jinn. They dived out of the way as Fa Jinn landed with a loud thud that displaced dust in a small mushroom cloud.

"He did that on purpose," Hun Jin Yeng said as he groggily got off from the ground. "He's trying to kill us."

Hideki rushed to his friend on his hands and knees. "Jinn, are you okay?" Hideki asked frantically and got a moan from Fa Jinn as a reply. Fa Jinn was now lying on his back looking up but his eyes were partly closed.

While he was checking on his friend Saun Sot began shaking the rope to dislodge it and the crowbar from the window above. He finally was able to get the crowbar free and it fell from the window and land on Hideki's head with a 'bonk'.

"What the hell?" Hideki said taking his attention off Fa Jinn to furiously rub the top of his head where the crowbar had made contact. He suddenly stopped when he saw the torch light of a monitor. The light was getting brighter and they realised someone was coming!

"We need to move!" Saun Sot said collecting the rope.

"Wait. What about..." Hideki said gesturing to Fa Jinn who was still lying on his back, moaning.

"Forget him!" Hun Jin Yeng whispered aggressively. "We need to go and he'll only slow us down!" He completed as he and Saun Sot began quietly sneaking away.

Hideki watched as they left him and Fa Jinn behind. The light got brighter, telling him that the monitor was getting closer. Hideki bit his lower lip as he decided what he should do: should he leave his friend behind and possibly escape or should he stay behind with his friend and definitely get caught? He cursed under his breath as he ran to catch up with the other boys.

/

Hideki had to roll, duck and dive to stay hidden from other monitors of the area. They were easy to spot in the dark thanks to their purple camouflage uniforms. He knew that they had very little time left before the monitor who would discover Fa Jinn raised the alarm, assuming The Academy had an alarm. He eventually saw two figures hiding behind an electric box and knew that it was Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng. He joined them behind the box, partially scaring them.

"What are we waiting for?" Hideki asked peeking over the electric box.

"We're waiting for the monitors to pass by." Saun Sot said in a matter of fact tone. "And then we sprint for the wall and climb over it to freedom."

The three watched in nervous silence as the monitors passed by while having a conversation. Once they passed they prepared to sprint through one at a time. Saun Sot was the first to sprint through the green stretch to the wall. When both Hideki and Hun Jin Yeng could not see him, Hideki prepared himself to follow until someone tapped him on the shoulder. Hideki turned back and was shocked at who he saw.

Before him was Fa Jinn and supporting him, by having Fa Jinn's arm around his shoulder, was Kadan who only had on a blue speedo with a Superman shield on the bulge at the front.

"Fan Jinn? Ka... Kadan?" Hideki said.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hun Jin Yeng said poking Kadan's bare chest with his finger. "You're not part of this."

"And I don't want to be part of this but I had to get involved when..." Kadan paused, as if he did not believe what he was about to say, "...when you left your stupid friend behind." Kadan said gesturing to Fa Jinn with his head. Fa Jinn moaned in response.

"We left that useless waste of space behind on purpose." Hun Jin Yeng informed him. Kadan gasped at the information and looked at Hideki in a way that made him feel ashamed for leaving Fa Jinn behind. "You guys are on your own. Saun and I are getting out of here." Hun Jin Yeng said before sprinting out from behind from electric box.

"Hey! You're not leaving without us." Hideki said running after him.

"Hideki!" Kadan said in a protesting tone.

"Just follow us. I'm going to make sure they don't leave without us." Hideki said, gesturing Kadan and Fa Jinn to follow with his hand. "We're all going to escape!"

"None of us are going to escape," Kadan said. "All of this is going to fail." By the time he said the last part Hideki was already out of whisper earshot. Kadan sighed. "Come on Jinn."

Jinn moaned in protest.

"I said come on." Kadan said pinching Fa Jinn in the side. Fa Jinn began running with the pain of being pinched as motivation. "That's right. You're like my bike, the more I twist, the faster you go!" Kadan said, twisting the flesh he pinched.

Hideki was close to Hun who kept swatting Hideki's hands aside every time he tried to grab him. They both dove for the ground when they heard a voice shout "Stop!" For a moment they were completely quiet while their bodies hugged the grass beneath them, hoping to not be seen. "We see you." Another voice said. From his peripheral vision, Hideki saw a torch light getting brighter. He chanced a look behind to see who had caught them. He saw Kadan and Fa Jinn on their knees with their hands up as two monitors shone their torches on them. Hideki realised that the monitors had not spotted him and Hun Jin Yeng yet. Up ahead, Hun Jin Yeng had realised the same thing and was already crawling away on his stomach. Hideki followed suit. When they were far away enough they got on their feet and ran for the wall.

Upon reaching the wall, they saw Saun Sot already climbing up the wall using the rope. Saun Sot was halfway up by the time they reached it. Hun Jin Yeng began climbing up too, using the rope dangling against the wall.

"Wait! What about Fa Jinn and Kadan?" Hideki asked looking up.

"What about them?" Hun Jin Yeng said as he desperately began climbing.

"No. We're not leaving them again." Hideki said climbing up the rope with the plan of pulling the two boys down.

"Stop it you three! We see you!" The monitors said as they shone their lights on the three boys scaling the wall.

At that moment, Hideki stopped climbing to bring the other boys down but he kept climbing to get away from the monitors, he kept climbing to escape. Hideki was making good progress until he heard a snap. The rigid rope in his hands suddenly went loose and before he knew it he was falling through the air. He landed on the ground and the two other boys landed on top of him. Hideki got up to his knees as he was blinded by multiple white torch lights. He saw on the ground two halves of the rope and realised that it had broken when the three boys were using it. And with that the escape had failed and they had been caught.