Not Quite The Way I Planned
Hmmm... . Somehow, this isn't going quite the way I'd planned it, Jack thought as he held tight enough to Salazar's upper arm to leave a mark and watched as the unexpectedly freed prisoners rampaged through the passageway, bent on destroying what or who ever got in their way. Pent up rage fueled by the adrenalin rush of sudden freedom and the realization that, if only for a brief moment, they held the upper hand, sent them roiling through parts of the prison to which they were never meant to have access. Pity the guards caught on the floors in the initial rush to freedom.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He and Salazar should have been able to walk out without any trouble. Why hadn't he remembered about the daily password change? That had slowed him down too, but Chase had been the real fly in the ointment. Why couldn't he just do as he'd been told and stay at CTU? The kid must have found some way to alert the warden, causing the lockdown to be called much sooner than he had anticipated.
Still, Jack had to admit the main fault belonged to him. Stupid plan. Hell, even Salazar didn't believe him, though he'd been right about one thing. It was a bitch. He felt like hell. He needed that fix. Everybody seemed to see it. Chase knew. Nicole knew. Salazar knew. He must have been insane to think he could hide it and function. Go cold turkey and function.
Well, he wasn't functioning very well, was he? Now he was in this thing up to his eyeballs and didn't have a clue how he was going to get them out, much less stay alive. This was bad.
How could this ever possibly have seemed like a good idea? Had it been the heroin talking to him all along? If he freed himself from his job, his family, he'd be able to indulge his addiction freely. No need to hide it, cover it up. How sweet would that be? And how long would he live doing as much as he needed as often as he wanted? Probably not very.
But how much did it matter? He was really getting tired of always being everybody's go to guy. Let somebody else try to save the world for once. He was tired. His body ached. He was past the point of going back. Even Palmer had said as much. This insane scheme would not only blow his career out of the water, but any life he still had would go right along with it. If he managed to live through this riot and get Salazar out, he'd be on the run for the rest of his life. He knew about that life but had never thought he'd end up living it himself.
There must be another way to keep Hector from releasing the virus. Think, Jack! Think. His mind whirled but nothing formed. No plan. No escape. No excuse. Damn Salazar. Damn the heroin. Damn himself for not being stronger. You've fucked yourself good this time, Jack, he thought.