A week had passed, and Gabriel Malkovich had yet to be ass-raped in the showers.

A week in prison had still been an education though, even if it was minimum security. The food was lacklustre, the cells were bare and grey, the dull filtered light of the yard making a miasma of low grade hopelessness that sunk into his bones. It was horrific in its mundanity, because as humdrum as the days were, he was still in fucking prison.

This didn't mean he wasn't scared shitless.

The entire process of being arrested, questioned and booked in had happened in less than two hours and he had gone from expecting his evening meal to be take out from the local Indian place, to sleeping in an orange jump suit on a narrow bed that went gloing when he lay down.

But he hadn't lifted himself from homeless street urchin to mediocre bootlegger with no strength of character. His survival instincts had kicked in. Hard.

He kept his head down. He spoke to no one unless he was forced, and strove to be as non-descript as possible. Weakness would get him killed. Anything could get him killed apparently; he'd learned that when a fight broke out over an apple at lunch one day. A fucking apple.

A week was as long as his luck lasted apparently.

They snuck up on him in the showers. Not the showers themselves, but just outside them. As Gabe was leaving the door was barricaded by a large tattooed individual.

"Didn't I see you punch some guy over an apple?" he said, then mentally kicked himself. After a week of good behaviour, he was going to get himself killed because he couldn't stop a wise crack from escaping his mouth.

The thug gave no signs he had understood, but stepped closer. Gabe dropped his arms to his sides. He was no slouch. He could hold himself in a fight, though he preferred not to. But he didn't have the luxury of choice now.

A harsh blow landed on his jaw before he could turn away, and he slipped clumsily over the tiled floor, landing hard on his ass. Wasting no time, his opponent was on top of him, hands wrapping around his throat and leaning down with his weight. Gabe scrabbled at the hands, then tried to reach for the guys face, to no purpose.

Fuck he was going to die on a prison bathroom floor. It was filthy.

He blacked out.