Incarceration

Chapter One

"Come on and shut up!" I hiss into the darkness behind me.

Sensing the irritation and urgency in my tone, the muffled voices immediately cease and the incessant banging finally grows quieter. Thank God. I roll my eyes and swivel back around. I always knew it would be a pain to help them, but I've come too far to turn back and frankly, they deserve this. Or rather, they never deserved Ranum.

It's growing hotter in the small space, but I keep inching forward, trying to keep my every move inaudible. I'm beginning to sweat now, droplets of perspiration slowly forming on my forehead and running down my face, catching in the corner of my mouth or falling drop by drop off the bridge of my nose. I quickly brush away the strands of hair that have fallen out of my braids and now lie plastered against my face. I know the ducts like the back of my hand, but I've never been inside for so long.

Wiping my brow free from sweat, I squint into the darkness trying to distinguish whether it's time for me to turn left or right. Everything looks the same, but I know the path I'm meant to take by heart. I close my eyes and recount the directions in my head. Left, right, left, left, straight, right, straight. Yes, this turn will be a left. I am certain.

As I inch forward, I can hear the giggling behind me begin again as the two prisoners, Henry and Lou, make dimwitted jokes to one another. I quietly smile to myself; their innocence is undeniable. 

They'd been assigned to a simple fishing game and their Master Game Players were surprisingly lenient. The game barely gave them scratches, but looking behind me I can just make out their swollen faces, engulfed in masks of bruising and dry blood. Displaying unblemished flesh and simple minds in prison isn't so popular. Their arrival in the Ranum general population came with routine beatings, both by guards and other prisoners. Just like anywhere, there is a certain hierarchy in prison and, not surprisingly, the two fell straight through to the bottom as soon as they stepped foot through the door.

I twist around and shush them one more time, signaling them to be quiet. I'm beginning to stress more now. We need to get out soon, before the other guards discover that they are missing. I keep inching forward, placing my hands in front of me, one after another to meet the cool metal of the vent.

As I continue, I feel the vent begin to steadily rock and my arms begin to shake. But pressed by the lack of time and my sensibility impeded by coursing adrenaline, I make my choice and continue on. It's a mistake. As I transfer my weight forward, the next vent gives way and I topple over, falling into a lit room followed by a cloud of white dust and debris. I hit the floor with a loud thud and immediately sit up, jolted by the impact and startled by the abrupt exposure and vulnerability. The sudden brightness blinds me, and I blink violently to adjust as fast as possible to the intense lights. I look around and realize where I am; a fenced-off portion of the prison that's under construction. Damn. That explains the unstable ductwork, I think.

I quickly stand up. Staring up at the hole in the ceiling, I can hear Henry and Lou coming closer to where I fell. As I search for a way to get back up, a voice comes from behind me, and my heart stops.

"Maxwell?"

I whip around to face a tall, dark-haired, lanky man. It's Sanjay, another guard who works in the prison. I feel guilt chase the blood to my head as I stare back at him. He's wearing a hard hat instead of his usual helmet and holding a clipboard and a pen as opposed to a gun.

"What are you doing here?" He looks at me, puzzled. "I was assigned to supervise this construction." He looks down at his clipboard, flipping through a couple of the pages. "I didn't get any memos saying you were working in this area, too."

I'm completely stunned and frozen in space, but I manage to take a deep breath, calm myself down, and think rationally. I open my mouth, but before I can speak, Henry's voice comes echoing down from the broken duct.

"Maxwell?"

I look at Sanjay and see comprehension dawn on his face. I cringe and drop my head. Damn it.

"God," he says, looking at me incredulously. "Is that Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Maxwell, you didn't!"

Then before I realize what's happening, he's coming at me fast. Clumsily, I manage to dodge his first attack and counter each one that follows. He's one of the newer guards with less education and fewer training sessions, so he's surprisingly easy to evade. An alarm begins to sound throughout the prison, and I can hear shouts in the distance. They've discovered that Henry and Lou are missing. All the guards are alert and searching.

Blood rushes to my head. I can feel everything slipping away from me, my whole life beginning to spiral. Sanjay shouts for other guards to come to his aid, but in my frenzied state, I manage to force him into a headlock. I try using my other hand to quiet him, but as soon as I look up, I see that many other guards are already standing at the end of the hallway, staring at me in confusion. My heart stops; all I can do is stare back at them. Then, at the worst possible time imaginable, I hear again, "Maxwell?"

It's Lou's voice this time and it comes directly from the vent above me.

I drop my head again. I'm outnumbered. I'm defeated. And for the first time ever, I'm genuinely scared.