Two more weeks passed with Johan in solitary confinement, eating, drinking and recovering from his wounds.
During this time, however, when he found himself healed enough to move without feeling any pain, Johan began to exercise.
A few push-ups, followed by some sit-ups, squats, jumping jacks, and pull-ups - when Johan realized that it was possible to reach the bars that covered the top of his solitary cell.
The days went by with Johan feeling pain as far as he didn't know it was possible to feel pain.
However, even if it wasn't as obvious as with more training time, not only were the pains not negative, like those from the beating he had taken from the guards before being thrown in there, or those from the fight against Mason and his henchmen, but the pains that permeated Johan's every muscle and nerve ending made him realize how much stronger his body was finally becoming.
That, and the fact that he was, for the first time in he couldn't remember how long, eating three times a day, regularly.
At the end of the two weeks following Lana's visit, a guard opened the solitary door and called out to Johan.
"Vaughn, time to go to your new home."
The guard's words sounded like a death sentence to Johan.
However, he was already prepared for it, having meditated on the implications of the consequences of his choice for all the days that had passed.
Of course, that, and the fact that Lana had warned him about the total absence of trial, and the time he would spend locked away in Hollowood hell.
Johan didn't even flinch when the guard said that, even though he imagined that the next few years would be one bet after another against Death itself.
He let out a heavy, tired, fatalistic sigh.
And began to walk out of solitary confinement.
***
The criminals in the common cells were still watching Johan, he could feel their glaring eyes on him, even if he looked straight ahead, at the back of the guard who showed the way to the vehicle yard, while the kind guard from a few weeks earlier followed right behind, in a standard procedure so that the prisoner wouldn't try anything out of the ordinary.
So one guard watched the other's back, and the two played their part in escorting the prisoner to the bus that would take him to his new home.
Meanwhile, Johan dared to look away, into one of the cells.
His jaw dropped internally when he realized that yes, all the inmates were watching him.
There was a fundamental difference in the way they looked at him now, compared to how they looked at Johan the first time.
If before they had looked at him like a freshly cooked meal, now they looked at Johan with something akin to... respect.
Respect.
Recognition, even...
"What you did to Mason and his goons that day..." The gentle guard said, whispering. "It was talked about by the inmates for a whole week." Johan could hear the smile in the guard's voice. "You're a God here, Mr. Vaughn... And you may not even realize it now, but when you get to Hollowood, you'll understand..."
'True...' Johan reminded himself. 'I'm still playing the role of Erick...'
The surprise, however, didn't come from the fact that he'd forgotten he was still playing a character there, but rather...
'I'm surprised Lana didn't bite her tongue off the second she walked through the solitary door to the outside... But that might mean I've helped solidify Erick's position as apex predator here a little more.
A wide grin spread across Johan's face, just as he was staring at one of the inmates in one of the cells, without even imagining that he was looking directly at the man with the unshaven beard, long black hair, as big as a lumberjack and as robust as a mountain.
However, the huge man flinched immediately after their eyes met.
He looked away from Johan less than a second later.
The next thing Johan knew, they were in the vehicle yard, and the bus that would transfer him, along with a dozen other prisoners to Hollowood Max, was already waiting for them in the far corner of the place.
One after the other, the prisoners entered, handcuffed hand and foot, sending a shiver down Johan's spine, who, despite also having his own feet and hands shackled, had never committed a crime in his life, unlike those mean-faced men in front of him.
'Brutal killers, experienced thieves, ruthless murderers... How many of these men wouldn't put me to sleep in the blink of an eye, in the worst possible ways...?'
The thought sent another shiver down Johan's spine as he took step after step towards the bus.
Until it was his turn to board.
One step after the other, Johan made his way to the farthest point on the bus from the driver, hoping to find a seat away from all those criminals, where he could sit quietly, and plan, even if only in the slightest possibility, how he would survive the hell of Hollowood.
However, his hopes were crushed like shells on a beach, when a muscular man, a little shorter than Johan, with brown eyes, short red hair in military style, a square jaw with a beard to make even a Viking envious, and a serious, determined, even aggressive expression, sat down next to him.
Johan felt his heart squeeze, staring out of the window with such focus and concentration that his expression showed no fear as the driver started the huge vehicle.
He felt the red-haired man's gaze on him, trying to ignore it as solemnly as possible, hoping that when he noticed his seatmate's indifference, he would turn around and forget about him.
But no...
"What you did back there was quite an achievement, Erick Vaughn..." The man's voice sounded, low, next to Johan. "But don't think that will be enough to keep you alive where we're going..."
Johan could hear the smile in the red-haired man's voice.
A cruel, butcher's smile.
A murderous smile...