Oxley raised an eyebrow. ‘And just how easy have you been getting on with her during family time?’
‘We play cards and talk. That’s it.’
The pips went, telling all it was lunchtime.
‘So, now you know,’ added Bear, not sure what else to say.
Oxley slung his arm around Bear’s shoulder as they made their way to the canteen. ‘It’s all good, bro. We’ve got this.’ He chuckled. ‘Bit of a headfuck though, eh?’
Bear smiled.That’s one word for it.He caught Scarlen staring at him as he entered the canteen, the aroma of her scent mingling with the chicken broth on offer. He couldn’t quite place her smell, it was just her, and he knew it well enough now.
She smiled briefly, then sat with her meal, and it took all of his willpower not to approach. He had nothing to say anyway, but then a fight broke out between some of the Flames and Pirates, and bowls of food flew through the air as others took the opportunity to join in and create a food fight.
Screams and yells rang out, and Bear spotted Kylar heading towards Scarlen, something clenched within her fist. He wasn’t about to take the chance she had a shank, so he ran at Scarlen, pushing her under the table, shielding her with his body.
‘What’s happening?’ she cried.
‘Small ruckus. It’ll be over in a minute.’ He peered out to see Oxley guarding him, and Raven covering Wynter by a wall. Kylar had disappeared.
The guards rushed in, their batons prodding all causing trouble, chains were quickly put in place, and the noise settled as gang members were dragged away.
Binnow roared at the rest of the inmates. ‘If this is how you want to treat your food, then no meals for any of you for the next two days.’
With lightning rods fully charged, no one dared to argue.
‘Now get to your lessons,’ she added, and everyone gave her a wide berth as they queued to leave.
Bear helped Scarlen to stand, then signalled Wynter to walk with her.
‘Tension is building,’ whispered Oxley as they headed to their own classroom.
‘Good,’ said Bear. ‘We’ll use it to our advantage soon enough.’
Later that night,Bear snuck off to continue digging, thoughts firmly on getting the fuck out of this shithole, keeping his family safe, and being back home to help the resistance.
It was a long and tedious job, but the time would pass anyway, so why not do something daily to help improve his life. He had been working on the rock for so long, it was part of his routine now, and where at first he would feel stressed, hoping no one would catch him, now he relaxed into each scrape, each light tap.
Scarlen came to mind. How he had cradled her in his arms beneath the table in the canteen. It hadn’t been for long, but it was still strange how natural it felt to protect her. He could tellhimself he was simply sticking to his end of the deal, but it would be a lie. He had wanted to protect her.
A crack had his attention back on the ground just as a tiny piece of grit fell through a hole.A hole. A fucking hole!He’d done it. He had broken through the floor. He tapped the end of the spoon into the tiny space, scraping around the sides, the weak rock crumbling downwards.
Leaning closer, he peered through the gap, the darkness obscuring his view, but not enough to hide the cove below, the sound of the bay sloshing, the smell of brine in the air.
The madman in Red had been right. There was a way out.
Bear had to be back in his cell soon, but with what little time he had left of the night, he put all of his concentration into making the hole bigger, because as soon as it was big enough for him to fit through, the second part of the escape plan could commence.
7
Breakfast was a dismal affair, as Binnow made everyone sit in the canteen in silence, staring at the table while stomachs rumbled from lack of food. At least jobs was next for the first time for Scarlen. She was supposed to have a placement two days ago, but Kane gave her group extra time in the silent system for all the talking they had done over the past month, which was pretty decent of him in some way, as he could have just sent them all to a dark cell.
Scarlen imagined sorting books in the library, pushing around the small trolley to hand them out to inmates during block time, and having more time to read herself. Dionne had already told her she wanted to work in the kitchen, like she had when she was there before, and tried to encourage her to venture that way, but Scarlen had her heart set on the library.
Miss Harnish kept the fledglings in the canteen when the pips went to send the others on their way, and Scarlen was pleased it was the nice guard placing them into work, as she was sure someone like Binnow would have her scrubbing toilets for the rest of her sentence.
Scarlen stood at the back of the line, stealing glances at the large bowl of apples Binnow had placed by the trays, daring someone to steal one so she had an excuse to inflict pain, no doubt. Her stomach growled at the sight of the forbidden food, but she counted her blessings, as things would have been a lot worse had she still been made to push that wheel while weak from hunger.
Dionne gave a small wave as she headed off to the kitchen, and Scarlen wondered if she would be able to sneak out any of the food later. Knowing Dionne, she certainly would try.
