Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

When your cover is blown and all that stands between your freedom and those who would seize it are your wits and your running legs, you'll be surprised how much wider the margin is between "in trouble" and captured than it appeared from a distance. The average ex-bourgeois lawbreaker lives in terror of being caught in the act, driven by unresolved feelings of guilt to fixate on this possibility out of all proportion to the difficulties it would actually involve; in fact, it can be a big relief to no longer be sneaking around consumed by anxiety, but finally have everything on the table in a simple contest between yourself and your enemies. The first time you find yourself running from the police, you'll discover a new relationship to your body: you will be present in it entirely, and it will serve you well, as bodies have served human beings fleeing from predators since the dawn of time. It may even be profoundly empowering to discover that, in addition to all the capabilities your mind affords you, you have this, too: the strength of your muscles, the speed of your reflexes, and the sharpness of your instincts. Besides, your pursuers are just running for a paycheck; you are running for your life.

But what do you do once you're being pursued? Let's back up a bit. First, there's a time to play it cool, and a time to run. Nothing identifies you as an ouflaw like taking

off running. If the alarm goes off as you leave a store, for example, youll generally be better off walking calmly until you're at least out the door; if you're the only one not fleeing when the pohce charge at a crowd as it breaks up, they just might nin past you. Your ability to act as if nothing strange is happening is your best passport to safety. Don't panic?but don't freeze up, either!

Second, know whether you want to run in the first place. If there is little chance of escape, it might make sense to quit while you're behind and face the music. Even surrounded, you might still be able to deadpan your way out of the situation. Never underestimate the power of sticking to your alibi?you did already work one out, didn't you?

Speaking of bluffing your way out, if you're trying to pass as harmless passersby, nothing looks harmless like a cute male-female couple with their arms around each other and an intimate conversation in progress. I've breezed out of many a sketchy situation at the side of a stranger of the opposite sex who was willing to take my arm and gaze into my eyes as we walked past the pohce.

Don't wait for the heat to show up to beat your retreat; as soon as you have reason to believe they've been called?say, an illegal act is openly committed in sight of potentially law-abiding, 911-dialing citizens?begin counting down the time you presume it will take them to arrive and get abreast of what is going on, and make sure that you and yours are on your way by then if you're not planning on facing them down somehow.

Hopefiilly, you've already charted escape routes from the area, or at least noted them in passing. Whether you're planning a route well in advance or improvising on the fly, you're probably either going to want to get entirely out of the area swiftly and without being observed, or get to a place with heavy crowd cover and disappear into it. If you're attempting the former, watch for spaces like alleys and dog-free backyards that you can move through without being seen; if you're counting on doing the latter, make sure you can actually melt into the crowd at hand. Escaping into crowd cover is especially useful

You can avoid the headaches of having your vehicle towed, ticketed, or targeted by not parking near demonstrations or direct actions. Always distribute copies of keys, or hide one somewhere accessible?e.g., zip-tied under the automobile?in case your driver is arrested.

Evasion 235

You can throw an old piece of carpet

over barbed wire to make it easy to

climb over (figure ojj; two layers

should suffice where one doesn't.

236

when a large number of people are all seeking to disappear at once. Keep in mind that there are some places?^woods, for example?that police may not follow you, at least not if they are alone; security guards may not even leave the property they are hired to guard. Wherever you go, don't get boxed in, whether in alley or thicket.