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lockup, a thick haze of smoke began to roll into their cells, causing the inmates to start coughing. Within minutes the whole cellblock was in uproar. Trapped in their cages, the women were terrified they’d burn to death. They stood at the bars, bashing them hard, and screaming for help between coughing fits. The toxic black clouds were now rolling in and it was difficult to see beyond an arm’s length. After lockup, the women’s block, Block W, was not guarded. Yelling out to those over the wall was their only hope. But their efforts were futile – this afternoon, no guards would be coming to their rescue, as they had insurmountable problems of their own.
    Tony’s escape plan was working to perfection. Outside Block W, it was chaos. Fires raged across the jail, some flames blazing so fiercely that parts of buildings were disintegrating. Red-hot ash flew through the air and burning particles rained down. Hundreds of prisoners ran freely, covering their faces as they tried to dodge the firestorm. Guards, too, were running around scared, as cellblocks kept bursting into flames. The yard was charged with energy.
    Only fifteen minutes earlier, the guards had been ambling across the jail to the various cellblocks for the 5.30 pm lockup, totally unaware of the tension about to break. Piles of kerosenesoaked mattresses had been set up in every cellblock, ready to explode into infernos as a match was tossed onto each in staggered succession. These were the flashpoints. When Tony had flicked the first match into his pile of mattresses, the kerosene instantly burst into flames.
    Tony’s explosion was the signal the other prisoners were waiting for. As two guards ran towards his blazing cellblock, a designated prisoner at the other end of the jail flicked a match into the second pile of mattresses. Another two guards ran in that direction. Seemingly ad hoc fires lit up across the jail. But it was planned with military precision, strategically choreographed to confuse the guards, to stretch them to their limit, from one end of the jail to the other. It was designed to isolate them and minimise their force. Prisoners were ready to capture the guard teams as they reached each block, then drag them to an office to lock them up together. With only fourteen guards on duty and more than three hundred prisoners running loose, it didn’t take long to catch all the guards, even the ones who were running like hell from crazed prisoners relishing the turnaround in power.
    Every male prisoner knew about the great escape plan. They had all lived for weeks under threat of death if they leaked it. No one did. No one dared to disobey Tony. His reputation as a cold-blooded killer was a powerful deterrent. For months, Tony and the leaders of each of the other eight male cellblocks had been meeting to plan every detail of the escape. Every prisoner had to cooperate. All were instructed to save their daily ration of kerosene. They had been warned the death threat would still apply when the escape started. Any prisoner who failed to run would be killed. So everyone was running, even those with only days or weeks left to serve. Tony unlocked the front door with a set of stolen keys. The rest of the block leaders had iron bars to smash open locks. They didn’t have time to waste. They had to get out fast.
    Still, there were a couple of jobs to be done. A designated team of inmates ran to the registration office with kerosene-doused rags. They lit them, then threw the flaming rags like firebombs into the offices to burn any paperwork, thereby eradicating prisoners’ records and wiping their criminal histories. Many also ran around vandalising, smashing the office doors and windows, enjoying their new sense of freedom. The yelling and banging by guards locked in the nearby office just added to the thrill. Another group of prisoners was in the kitchen, watching explosive fireworks as they set alight huge drums of kerosene to add to the mayhem.
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