The Deployment Notice

15.

It was fight night. The last one before they were broken out, if everything went to plan.

There was an uneasy buzz to the air as they were all led into the cages along the arena, just like there always was. There was never any guarantee what would happen on these nights, the fights weren't to the death but there was still no guarantee of survival, or avoiding serious injury. Though, Buck suspected that if you sustained an injury that wouldn't allow you to fight anymore then you'd be killed anyways. There'd been a guy in last weeks fights who'd had his leg snapped clean in two. They hadn't seen him again after the guards dragged him out.

Tonight was different somehow though, the crowd seemed even more excited than usual. It was so much louder, the stomping and the excited and bloodthirsty voices cheering above them. It sent a chill deep into Buck's bones, and if the uneasy looks the rest of the prisoners were exchanging was anything to go by, then he wasn't the only one.

He took in the arena to see if there were any clues as to what was in store for them, and he found that there weren't just keys to their handcuffs in the dirt this time. There were weapons as well, knives and machetes and even a couple spears. He took a steadying breath, mind racing at the possible implications of that.

Were they fighting each other with weapons? Were they fighting something else? Another gorilla? Except, there'd only been two machetes for the gorilla, and now the dirt floor was littered with different weapons. It didn't bode well, no matter what possibility ended up being reality.

He turned to look at Microphone, who was already looking right back at him, and in all the time Buck had known him, he'd never seen quite that much fear in the other man's eyes. Buck imagined it was reflected in his. This was going to be bad, a bloodbath likely, judging by the blades. The fear he saw rippling through the ranks of the other prisoners, including the ones who'd been here for months or years, implied that this wasn't a precedented event either.

Why now though? Buck wondered to himself, do they know something?

Surely they didn't though, they couldn't. If they knew what was coming tomorrow then they would be scrambling to prepare or escape. Surely they wouldn't be hosting a giant event like this.

Though perhaps this was their last big hurrah, collect the profits from tonight whilst killing them all. Then cutting and running as soon as it was over. If that were the case though, wouldn't those from the other cell blocks be here too? Though, he hadn't actually seen anyone from the other blocks, perhaps they'd already met the same fate. Perhaps his cell block was simply the last to die. Maybe Casey was already dead. What if Marco was too?

He sucked in a deep breath, he was spiralling, and he couldn't afford to do that right now.Either way, he was here, with no chance of escape unless help came. He clenched his jaw in rhythm to send out a message, to alert his superiors that something was different tonight, though if the tech guys had been successful, they'd likely already know that.

He sucked in another deep breath. Either they knew or they didn't, which meant that either help was coming, or it wasn't. If it even needed to come right now at all. Right now, he needed to stay on task, which was to stay alive, and keep as many others alive as he could. Which at the moment, meant keeping his fucking cool, even if they may be sent to their deaths in a minute anyway.

He looked back to Mic, and once again seeing the fear in the other man's eyes, Buck found his resolve. He had a job to do, and people whose lives relied on him, even if they didn't know it.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Microphone told him, more than asked.

"Yeah, probably." Buck nodded, knowing better than to sugarcoat to an investigative reporter.