What would you do if you were framed for a terrible crime you didn't even commit? Some might give up and accept their fate, others might continue fighting in the hopes that the truth will prevail in the end. Me? Nah, I chose the former.
Standing at my usual spot in the cell overlooking the huge expanse of forest through the thick, concrete bars. It's the only moment of solace I have in the mornings. "Another day in this hellhole." Picking up a small piece of chalk I mark another tally on my wall. Laying back down on my bed, defeated, I start counting the tally and chuckle to myself. "Four years. Wow." I rub my temples, mentally preparing myself for the slog that is a prison day. "Rise and shine assholes!" The usual asshat of a prison guard wakes us up by dragging his baton across the steel bars on the entrance gates. "How original." I roll my eyes and grumble. I get out of bed and put on my shoes, preparing for the day. The prison guard gets to my cell and smirks. "Lucky for you it's Tuesday." Staring blanky at him I sigh, "Marvin, look. I haven't really done anything to you, let's just take it easy okay?" He confidently walks into my cell, closing the gate behind him. "Looks like you've been resisting again," he said while slamming the baton against his palm and smirking. "Shit...." I mumble to myself as he strides over, getting ready to 'make me stop resisting.'
After my weekly beating I check for the usual bruise here and there in the mirror. I follow Marvin as he leads me to rolecall. "You should probably get those bruises checked, wouldn't want you looking all roughed up eh," he says while smirking. After a quick roll call we're sent in to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. Standing in line patiently and holding my plate, some other ass of an inmate barges in front of me. I backoff to try and not get anymore bruises. He looks back and chuckles. "Pushover," he mumbles. Once it's my turn to get some food I greet the lady serving food. "Morning Cassy," I smile and hold my plate out. Shes a kind woman, mid forties and a texan accent. A nice break from all the animosity in this pit. "Mornin," she gives me a large, saucy taco. "Taco Tuesday?" "Yep, enjoy sweetpea," she smiles as I walk away with the delicious looking taco.
I was just about take a big bite out of my taco before the school bully arrived. "Well, well, well, look what we got here." Putting my taco back on my plate I look up at the large, muscular, tall idiot that keeps tormenting me. "What do you want Steve?" He takes the plate away from me slowly, mock pouting. "Come on, that's no way to treat your friends, sharing is caring." Glancing at the two other delinquents behind him. "So you still need other people to cover your sorry ass?" He takes a huge bite out of my taco, oil starts dripping out of his mouth onto his hands and onto the plate, completely ignoring me. After a few moments he gives the half eaten taco back to me and wipes his hands on my shirt. "That was surprisingly good," he said as he walked away. His goons followed him like a stench follwing a damn animal. I roll my eyes and push the plate away, losing my appetite.
Remembering the orders Marvin gave me I head to the nurses office and knock on the door. A beautiful, young, blonde woman opens the door and greets me with a smile. "Come in," she said in a welcoming tone, opening the door enough for me to go inside. I go inside and breathe in the cold, fresh air of the room. A complete contrast to the muggy environment of the rest of the prison. "Who beat you up this time," she said half-jokingly while signaling to the chair in the the centre of the room. I sat down in the chair and sighed heavily. "Marvin," I admitted through gritted teeth. "You should really report him, take off your shirt." It was basically a regular thing at this point so I complied without issue. "What use would it do?" She continued inspecting the purple bruises on my body. "I don't know okay, just try something to stand up to those bullies!" Once she was done talking and inspecting the bruises we locked eyes for a few moments. In the bright light of the room one could really see just how perfect Sarah was. A beautiful figure, fit and in her mid twenties, basically a goldmine for any man. I awkwardly looked down and cleared my throat. "Am I good to go doc?" She smiled and replied, "Yeah... see you soon."
After that it's just another day in the prison. Whether that be scrubbing floors or making number plates and zip lighters. I lay on my bed, it's a steel frame but the mattress is thin so I'm basically sleeping on steel. I've gotten used to it though. Every single night I wonder to myself and ask the question: 'why me, why was I the one framed for a mass killing I didn't commit?' Maybe that answer will never come. Would I be stuck here forever, repeating the same cycle of getting beaten and going back to my cell... or will something change? Whenever I find myself pondering I just look out of my window, being mere centimeters from freedom and breathing in the fresh air. Except this night was... different. I notice small orange streaks in the sky, maybe a few dozen of them. "Wow," I say while gazing upon the meteorites. "They actually look kind of clo-" My sentence is cut off as a meteorite lands maybe eight-hundred meters away. My eyes widen as I take in the sight of the huge wave of fire burning down the forest and... coming straight for the prison. I only have a few moments to act so I grab my mattress and push against my window, blocking some of the heat.
In a daze I wake up a few minutes later, hearing the alarms of the prison going wild and the prisoners causing utter chaos. I look over at the burning mattress near me and kick it away. "Shit!" I yell as I try and process what's happening. Marvin approaches the cell door. "Get out, it's an emergency," he calls out to me over the blaring of the sirens. I reluctantly trust him and follow him down the stairs. As I reach the bottom I feel a sharp pain all throughout my head. Cupping it for a few moments, I look around and see many others being affected in the same way. I look down at my hands which were GLOWING green. I start to panick as I don't know what's happening. While many of the prisoners and prison staff were still preoccupied, I was thinking about something else. "Sarah!" My eyes widen as I approach the nurses room and don't see her there. I think about the worst possible scenario before Marvin manages to pull himself up and approach me. "Most of the staff are gone, they go before prisoners in emergencies." He chuckled. "Let's go kid."
I follow him once more to the outside of the prison, breathing in the outside air that just wasn't the same in the courtyard. My eyes fall upon a small prison transport bus and a line of prisoners near it. I fall in line and watch as the prison I called home for four years burn in the background. "Where are we going?" Marvin grunts and replies, "that's for me to know and you to find out." When he looks away I roll my eyes. After a few minutes the prisoners are loaded onto the back of the van and it hums as it starts driving off into the unknown.