As the first long hours in lock-up passed, I realized the worst thing about Cellblock 9 wasn’t the damp floor or the clogged toilet. Hell, it wasn’t even the threats from the guards and other inmates.
The worst part wasyourself. There was nothing to do here to keep your mind occupied, other than to sink deep inside of it and forget you’d been locked up in the first place.
But I couldn’t forget, because all I could think about was what the Warden might be doing to Ava right now. I thought of our friends— Ez, Opal, and Alistair, who’d hidden in the trees with the keys. The guards must’ve found them by now. There was nowhere to go— no way to escape. The Warden had all the keys… and all my friends.
We’d totally fucking lost.
Eventually, Captain returned and gave Chancey a lecture about how to never question him again. Chancey heaved heavy breaths as he tried to climb onto the top bunk.
“Move over,” he rasped.
I tried to squeeze myself as close as I could to the wall, but there was hardly enough room between the bunk and the ceiling to turn sideways. Chancey pressed up against me.
“Ugh,” I groaned. “We arenotfucking cuddling.”
I barely nudged him, and he nearly fell off the bunk before catching himself.
“Oh, but you know how long I’ve been wanting to get you into bed, Charlie,” Chancey joked.
“I’m a married man, and you’re not my type, anyway.” I shoved a hand in his face, and Chancey toppled off the bunk.
I’d have let him stay— honest. But he collapsed onto the floor and fell asleep under Jeffrey’s bunk. I didn’t think he had the strength to pull himself up again.
I tossed and turned all night, and nearly fell out of the bunk more than once. I must’ve drifted off at some point, because I was woken by the sound of a loud buzzer echoing through the cell block. Our lock clicked, then the door slid open. The other cells opened all at once, causing a ruckus all throughout the cell block.
“On your feet!” Captain barked.
Ancestors, I barely felt like I’d gotten two hours of sleep.
“Hurry up,” Jeffrey snapped. “They don’t wait for anyone.”
Chancey scrambled to his feet, and I jumped down from my bunk. I hurried to follow everyone, but before I could make it out of the cell, a guard shoved a mop and a bucket in my hand.
“Scrub fast!” he ordered.
I didn’t have the luxury of questioning it. I quickly began mopping the vomit from our cell. He must’ve given Chancey a plunger, because Chancey gagged as the toilet made sloshing noises. We were barely given a minute to clean our whole cell before the guards determined we were done and yanked the mop out of my hand.
“Line up,” they snapped.
Chancey and I were ushered into the hall, where I nearly tripped over a chain on the floor. Marcus caught me, but the guards quickly yanked us apart. They slapped cuffs on my wrists and ankles. The chain was attached to the other inmates, and they yanked harshly in both directions.
“Simmer down!” a guard ordered, and the inmates chained to me quickly settled.
“All right, Chain Gang!” Captain called. “Let’s move it!”
The inmates began walking in unison down the hall, all chained together in groups of at least a dozen, probably more.
“This is so wedon’t run,” Jeffrey whispered sarcastically.
I scoffed. “Run where?”
“Exactly,” he said.
It was to humiliate us more than anything. We entered a room at the end of the cell block, and the door locked shut behind us before the guards came around to undo our cuffs. The room wasn’t very large, but it managed to house all the guys with a bit more elbow room than the cells. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief once we were released.
“I thought you were into handcuffs,” Chancey teased them lightly. He was trying to lift the mood, which was fucking impossible down here.
“Not unless they’re the pink fluffy kind,” Ivy replied sourly.
