Later this day, the alarm which tells the launch is ready has been turned on. The cells get automatically opened and most of the prisoners are leaving the cells and goes to the lunch in Cafeteria room. And other prisoners, are just using this opportunity to beat other prisoners, rape them, or just walking around prison.
Lenard and with Rodriguez are going to lunch. Rodriguez tells to Lenard to follow him, and that it is what is doing, he follows his cellmate. They walk to the Cafeteria slowly. Lenard is looking terrified at some prisoners who are seeing them, starts licking their own lips, laughs, and one crazy man, was even that crazy to put his pants down and show Lenard his cock. But a few seconds later, a guard shows up and electrocutes that man, while the others with him are scattering to the Cafeteria or in any place from them. That guy fells down on the concrete, and the cop starts beating the man face, telling him to stop showing his privates to cellmates and doing nasty stuffs to them outside shower rooms.
"That is Trevor Travis." says Rodriguez to his cellmate. "He got arrested for assaulting a young female adult. Thank God it wasn't a teenager or a child. He would've gone through hell here if he is a pedophile."
"The myth is true?" asks Lenard.
"Of course it is true. Also, the last guy who came here for pedophilia, let's just say he decided to try his chances at death row, and the death rows here, are pretty quick since guards and policemen are doing them without a document or any paper. They put you in a yard, takes their guns, and then... pulls the trigger to your head."
"G-Got it." says Lenard started to be much more terrified before because this place might be much worse than a what was once Gulag.
They walk past by a mexican, who is asking them if they could lend to him some money to buy drugs. But he then realized that he asks this question to Rodriguez. It was too late for him to run, and Rodriguez catches him, he looks at him angry, and he yells at him while he got his both hands at that mexican throat.
"Give up of drugs, or you will give up of life."
"Alright, alright." says the mexican who is barely breathing. "I am clean! Clean as hell! Please put me down. Please!"
"Are you sure you will be clean from now on?" asks Rodriguez, whose gripping is getting much harder.
"Alright! I AM CLEAN! PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!" he says to Rodriguez with all of his force and trying to put his hands down from that muscleman.
"Good." says Rodriguez to the man, puts him down and looks furiously at him. "Now get out, and if I discover that you continue to use drugs, you will be sent to Hell. By me."
The mexican man quickly leaves, apologizing for the things he did, and crying like a girl who got rejected in the public. Rodriguez looks a bit at that man, trying to run to his cell, but he continues to fall on his shoes, who are untied and on the wet floors.
"You changed him?" asks Lenard, being nervous.
"I think." he says Rodriguez to Lenard and both of them continues to walk. "By the way, have you ever consumed drugs?"
"Such as?"
"Have you consumed any type of drugs? Cocaine? Weed? You know? The types college students are sometimes consuming?"
"No. I don't consume drugs."
"Good. You are a clean man to me." says Rodriguez opening the huge doors of the Cafeteria, and there are a few prisoners who are looking nervous at him, and feeling uneasy when they see Leanrd on his left part. "You stay with me, and you are going to be fine."
"Got it." says Leanrd to his cellmate.
These two prisoners are going to the crowd who are staying in front of the kitchen chef, who is throwing at their plates some kind with potato, onions and saliva, who might be mistaken by human milk or cow milk. Leonid gets that dish, while the chef, sends to Rodriguez the dish without that special ingredient. These two are going to an empty table, and they found one there. These two are sitting there, Rodriguez sits on the right side, while Leonid sits on the left side.
"To survive here you must know some people." says Rodriguez to Leonid who is looking questionable at his food, and then he looks at Rodriguez who is starting to show some people on the Cafeteria, and at those people showed. "The gang there, it is called Broken Skulls. Full of pussies who cannot fight alone, but in a group, they are strong as fuck."
"Got it." responded Lenard.
"And at that table are El Diablos." he shows a table where eight prisoners who are having Mexican nationality are eating that food which was served at the Cafeteria. "Pretty tough group in a fight, but when they do fight alone, they are easy to beat. They pretty much sell drugs or bring music to the prison to light the atmosphere."
"Does guard allow it?"
"Kid. These guards are corrupted. They allow even Lady Gaga to come here and do a blowjob if they pay an amazing price."
"One of them actually tried that?"
"No... They tried to bring Cardi B to a gang bang, but the prisoners were annoyed even when they heard her voice or see her face." says Rodriguez a joke to his new cellmate, and he didn't laugh, which made Rodriguez feel a little awkward. "Anyway... There are brothers Hopkins." he points out at a table where only two males bald and have matching tattoos are eating another type of lunch. "They are always together, and it is hard to beat them in a fight. They are here for stealing about eight million dollars from a Bank in Sweden. They got caught fast because of a traitor from their team."
"Did the traitor got killed?" asks Lenard to Rodriguez after he takes a drink from his water cup which was given by an inmate.
"Yes. That is the second reason they are here... Hey, Sam!" he says to the guy which brought him the water cup. "Are you accepting fifty cents?"
"Sure, mate." responded the guy named Sam in an australian accent, which he stays at a table with two middle ages.
"And that is Sam." says Rodriguez to his cellmate. "He might seem weak, but the guy is a genius. He can hack anything with a laptop or a phone, or even creating an escape plan. He tried to escape it once, but he came back by himself, after three days. Not only that, but he probably thought that the life outside it ain't for him."
"How did it get arrested, though?"
"Nobody knows anything about him, and although, nobody really cares about his life. Most of them are only interested in his services."
Leonid and Rodriguez continue to eat their dinner, by talking some meaningful subjects, such as the book they read it or about their first girlfriends. They learned a few things about each other, and something much more important, they do not seem so different towards each other.
"You have taken karate class?"
"Yes." responded Lenard, feeling embarrassed to talk about this. "Although, I gave up on the eight day because my parents couldn't afford it anymore."
"Dude. That's sad. But also useful. What of moves you know."
"The beginners ones, although, I haven't really used them or remember them because it has been a long time."
"I see. Well, I do know a guy who can teach you some moves, because you will need these moves at this place. Prisoners are not cooperating, nor they are smart. They could use you as an item or destroy you if they see your face."
Later on, Rodriguez and Leonid leave the Cafeteria. They walk to their cells because outside they couldn't do anything right now, not on this hot day of Summer. While they were walking to their cells, they see an inmate lying on the floor. Leonid has quickly run to that man, and checked his pulse. He turns to Rodriguez, who came closer to Leonid, and told him.
"He is not breathing."
"So he is dead." responded Rodriguez, who it isn't shocked as Leonid. "Every day, an unlucky prisoner die on this prisoner. Due to inmates or guards brutality."
"And we cannot do anything to stop this brutality?"
"This is the system... We cannot do anything by ourselves, but if we could take down a few other staff members, we would be able to do something like this. Although, these guards are armed to their teeth with pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles. Hell, they even have a rocket launcher, for God's sake."
"Does someone have tried to revolt against them?"
"They did a few times, but every time turns ugly. Some of us have decided to accept our fate and remain here until our punishment will fade. What's your punishment, kid ?"
"About 15 years."
"Mine is 18 years. They had mercy on me back then."
These two people arrived at their cell, and there, both of them are siting on their bed. However, when they entered the bed, they discovered a book each of their bed, with different titles and genre. Rodriguez had a novel called "40 Days on the Sea", a story about a Naval Captain who is going to the sea with his crew, hoping to find a worthy treasure. Leonid has a different book which is called "Alexander the Great Mage" and it is a story about the legendary Alexander the Great being kidnapped by aliens. Leonid did like these fantasy story, and this book included about 100 chapters, so it will be a nice read for him.
He is still wondering who let these book into their cells, but he thinks that the guards or a janitor did this. Rodriguez confirmed his hypothesis by telling him that a staff member, he, is always bringing books here after the lunch. Leonid liked this idea, but he is thinking, why he does a guard to do that instead of keeping the prisoners not hurting themselves or fighting.
But, at the moment he was about to read the first chapter, he sees on there a note, which is written in a French language. Leonid didn't understand what was that note because he did not do French in school, he did English and German language. But, he knows who could translate this note, but that person it is on the next wing of the prison. And travelling to the other wings it is forbidden, so he will need to find a way to squeeze there without being seen by guards. But when he was checking the note on the backpack, he realized the author signed with his name, Pierre Daris. And Lenard remembered that the name of the French guy who came to the same prison with him, it is Abou Kelper. They did even chat a little in the bus before they came here.