Where were Ziloh when Alyssa needed him the most?
Queen Kathy would know the answer.
A few hours before Alyssa infiltrated the royal's dinner, Kathy and Ziloh were alone in the throne room.
Ziloh was glaring on Kathy's neck, she was fumbling with her golden necklace.
"Kathy," Ziloh smiled stiffly. "That would be too much, don't you think?"
"From graves and bones," Kathy stared down at him. "Ziloh, I order you to do as I say."
Ziloh stood uptight as if struck by lightning. "Of course," he bowed stiffly. "your words are my doing."
"Remember, do not leave a single soul." she released the golden necklace from her grasp. "Kill everyone."
"Kathy, as clean as always."
"None of them will be missed." Kathy's mission to Ziloh was final. "And make sure not to crush their heads."
"Kathy," Ziloh snickered. "frugal as always." He turned away from the throne.
***
If you were paid to seal your mouth, you better stick to the deal. But sometimes, a man cannot let go of his ego, thus the beginning of his downfall.
The inmates would call him Chimp, mostly because he was hairy--- he had a beard, with chest hairs peeking on his collar, and his fair forearm was covered with his bushy black hair. But that was not the only reason why he was called Chimp, he runs the prison like an animal, but an animal he may be --- he was an intelligent one.
Selling prisoners for the right price, not asking any questions was his trade. The inmates could buy their freedom too, they just had to pay the price.
And spreading the rumors himself made his trade much more successful.
There were rumors circulating inside the prison that Chimp, successfully made a deal with the Queen herself.
Just like the nights that came before, Chimp was patrolling the hallway--- inspecting his goods.
He was whistling as he happily greeted the inmates. "Hey," he nodded to them.
"Chimp," Inmate 565 saluted to him. "Is it my day?"
If an inmate was never called for a screen test, chances are Chimp only knows them by their number.
"No, not today." Chimp replied as he passes by.
"I can do pluming!" Inmate 565 ran towards the metal bars. "I can do woodworks!" He gripped onto the bars, his voice getting louder as Chimp gets farther away from him.
Chimp walked back to talk to 565, the inmate smiled, getting excited. "Not today, pal." he slapped 565 on the cheek lightly. "He won't want any balls."
He continued his night patrol, leaving inmate 565 confused.
News circulating regarding Garrett becoming the new King of the Kingdom also spread like a wildfire, making the inmates too eager to be sold—a good thing for his business to have better behaved products.
In his own way, he was the king.
What are the inmates good at?
If you don't want to get your hands get dirty, the inmates would do it for you.
Satisfied with his goods, he went back to his post, the main gate, waiting for his client.
A knock on the door revealed the arrival of his client, he opened the door. "Good evening, Mr. Wide." he welcomed his guest.
"Good evening." Mr. Wide removed his bowler hat, fanning his face, he was nervous. His thinning hair was revealed in the process.
Mr. Wide was squat, barely reaching Chimp's shoulders. His upper teeth were protruded up front, making him splutter with saliva whenever he talks.
Mr. Wide was a successful businessman, he was one of the most modern in this post-apocalyptic era, he was selling electricity within the Kingdom. Wind and solar energy were his thing, sustainability as its best.
Other people would always tell him how successful his life was, but he would humbly reply no. Because not matter how successful he was, no matter how heavy his pocked had become--- he was lonely. And to him, that cannot be called a successful life.
"I've prepared a good line for you, I'm sure you would not go home alone." Chimp beamed.
Already in his late forties, Mr. Wide was about to give up on having his own family—until he heard a rumor. The Queen herself found a successful lover in here.
He cannot help himself but to take a chance.
Mr. Wide was sitting alone in an interrogation room. Ladies lined up at the glass in front of him as instructed by Chimp.
He fished out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead.
Chimp returned to the room to explain everything that Mr. Wide needed to do--- he just needed to choose in the line of women in front of him.
Out of the five, four had tattoos on their body that turned Mr. Wide off. As ironic as it was, Mr. Wide still had an ideal woman in mind. For paying an absurd price to meet his wife, he was hoping he could find his dream wife.
Luckily, the one in the middle caught his attention.
In a glance, one would wonder why this petite woman would be in jail. The woman with blonde hair was looking on the floor, intimidated by fellow women beside her. There was a cut on her cheek, and a ripe wound on her left eye. But despite her ragged appearance, she was beautiful for Mr. Wide. A sudden thought bothered Mr. Wide, the woman might be too young for him.
"Oh," Chimp noticed Mr. Wide's interest. "Sally, a good choice."
Mr. Wide reddened like a tomato, shy from being caught.
"Poor Sally," Chimp shook his head, pitching his item. "Wrongfully went to prison for the crimes of his father, bullied by her fellow jail inmates for being too weak. She might not survive if she stayed for too long."
Mr. Wide stood from his seat. "I'll take her!" he suddenly said, he had to save this woman. "Bring her to me." he mustered as much authority in his voice as he can.
"Okay, let me fetch her for you."
Mr. Wide was getting more nervous as the second go by, and a knock on the door jolted him from his chair once again. "Ccome innn."
Chimp went inside with Sally at his side. Chimp released Sally from her cuffs and left them alone.
"Hi there." Mr. Wide managed to say.
Sally winced and looked down the floor.
"It's alright," Mr. Wide gulped, walking towards her. "I'm here to save you."
That caught Sally's attention and looked at Mr. Wide for the first time, he was a few inches shorter than her.
"Save me?" Sally blinked, wincing as her eyes throbbed from pain.
"Yyess, if you.. well… I could explain it at home." Mr. Wide wiped his forehead.
"Home?" Sally asked, as if hearing the word for the first time.
"Yes, our home."
***
Chimp was getting richer by the day.
Another big client satisfied with his item, too satisfied that he gave a bonus payment.
Who would have thought that a defective good--- who Chimp was so much willing to sell at a much lower price, just to get rid of--- would give Chimp more Rigs that his finer ones.
Mr. Wide was beaming from ear to ear as he left the prison, no longer alone.
Chimp was counting his Rigs when he heard a loud bang---- as if the gates were forcefully closed.
He swiped the Rigs from the table and hid it in one of his drawers—locking it. He kept the key in his pocket as he inspected around.
How long has it been since Mr. Wide left? He gave too much Rigs that Chip was still not finished counting.
Maybe one or two of his goods managed to escape--- which was not a big deal. Nothing would ruin his night of good business.
The hallway was eerily quiet, it was still too early in the evening for his goods to fall asleep.
Maybe more than three escapees would be a problem.
Chimp sniffed the area, there was a metallic tang in the air. Then he stepped on something wet, a crimson red pool traveling out from a prison cell.
Okay, maybe a fatal prison riot might just be perfect to ruin his night.
Chimp shook his head, another dead, he already made sure not to put two hot headed together in one cell, but incidents like this still happens.
He turned around his office to get a bucket and a mop to clean up the mess.
He walked back to the bloodied cell and discovered that the two inmates inside--- were dead.
None of the inmates were suicidal---or dumb--- to kill himself for ending a life of a fellow inmate. They did not have that guilt, that was why they ended up in here.
Chimp's hair on his arms stood up, he felt that something was unusual, this was not a normal argument gone wrong—something more sinister happened.
He abandoned the bucket, threw the mop on the floor, and ran on the hallway to observe his other goods. Bloods everywhere--- everybody was dead. "No," he cannot believe what he is seeing. "Who did this!" He shouted to no one in particular.
He checked every hallway, men, women, high profile criminals or not--- all dead. In a close inspection, there was a hole on everyone's chest, as if someone deliberately grabbed their heart.
Chimp was a businessman, but also practical. He ran back towards his office to get his two bags of Rigs and ran towards the gate---- wanting to be out of there.
With a shaky hand, he tried to open the gate but failed." No." He let go his bags of Rigs as he tried to open it again. "Nnoooooo." he used all his force, but the lock was tightly shot close.
"Need any help with that?" someone said behind him. "Who is that?" Chimp pivoted around and grabbed a pocketknife from his behind. "Show yourself." Two crimson eyes gleamed in the dark as it walked closer towards him, revealing a young man.
Eyeing the lean young man, with no weapon in hand, Chimp's common sense tells him he could easily take the man down. Steadying himself on his feet, Chimp pictured the young man's eyes like a bull's eye. He threw the pocketknife to the young man, confident that it would hit him on the head.
But the young man grabbed it in the air and threw it on the floor—too far for Chimp to reach.
But Chimp still won't give up, it was still a fair battle if both would fight with fist. "Bring it on." he said as he clasped both of his hand in front on him in a boxing position.
"Don't hold it against me." The young man walked slowly towards Chimp, with his hand on his pockets.
Chimp getting ready started to jump in place. "Bring it, boy." he blinked, and in just that second, the young man was suddenly in front of him.
"Oh," as if an afterthought. "Kathy, wanted me to say…A deal is a deal, and you have broken it."
"What do you mean."
"I'm sorry but neither of us has a choice for the matter."
"Wha---" Chimp did not even get to finish his words as the young man pierced through his chest, crushing his heart.
"I was instructed not to damage your brains, so. I went for the heart instead." Ziloh wiped his bloodied hand on his pants. "Not as clean, but it did the trick."
Chimp slowly fell on the ground.
The last thing he saw was the two bags of Rigs.