King of the Cell (DNF)

Chapter 27: Maileoom

George POV.

I was hunched over one of the tables in the library scribbling away on a piece of lined paper as I wrote out a letter to Techno. Honestly I hadn’t expected him to write to me after he was transferred to another prison and since it was kind of him to do so I decided to return the favour and write back.

My foot was tapping anxiously against the floor as I wrote out line after line of words. Most of it was just answering the questions he asked, telling him that I was doing okay and that Dream was also good to hang around.

The letter he had sent me was sitting in front of me. I’d intentionally scribbled out the questions he asked about my cellmate, and ignored answering the questions in my response. Maybe it was because I’d had a therapy session with Phil where I finally managed to talk through what happened, but I now felt slightly better writing my response.

Currently I was writing my fifth version of the letter, since the other four letters either had a lot of spelling errors on rereads, or I just didn’t like what it said. Once I signed my name at the bottom of the paper I looked over what I had written, feeling happy about what I had written.

Now if I took it down to the mailroom then it could be delivered to Techno at the North Snowchester Penitentiary across the country. If the guards who worked in the mailroom felt the need to, they could read over the letter before it was sent off, and then Techno should receive it in about two weeks. Or at least that’s what Quackity said to me last night during dinner.

“How’s your letter going?” I smiled as I heard Dream’s voice and glanced over my shoulder to see him watching me. He had been sitting at one of the other tables in the library talking with the rest of the group, besides Punz who was working.
“It’s going good.” I responded. “I just finished it and need to take it to the mailroom.”

“Cool.” The blond smiled. “Well, some of the guys were planning on going out to the yard. I was just coming over to see if you wanted to come outside with us, or if you wanted me to stay in here while you wrote some more.”
“I’ll come outside with you guys… if that’s okay…” I replied.

He nodded, and so I stood up. I carefully folded the letter I’d written, and the letter that Techno had sent, and then I scrunched up the half-written letters to throw out. The rest of the group were waiting at the door, mainly for Dream, but they seemed happy that I was coming with them.

“Are you coming outside with us George?” Bad questioned, and I gave a nod in response which made him smile brightly. “Great. I don’t think I’ve seen you in the yard before, have you ever gone out there?”
“No I haven’t,” I replied, “I usually just hang out inside during my free time.”

“Well the yard is surprisingly nice, by prison standards anyway.” Bad began to explain, leading me off in that direction a few paces ahead of the rest of the group. “A year ago there was this huge petition going around the L’manburg government about making prisons more environmentally friendly, and during that they also improved the yard.”

“How did they improve it?” I questioned, and this time Quackity piped up, hurrying forward the few steps so that he was walking alongside me and Bad.
“It used to be this massive dirt yard, but they planted grass which a lot of guys use as a soccer field. And there’s bushes which grow flowers in the Spring which brighten the place up.”

I nodded at his explanation, before being called back by Dream. He motioned to the doorway which led through to the mailroom, which I had walked past without even noticing. “If you want me to, I could take in your letter if you are in the middle of a conversation with Quackity and Bad.” He offered, and I nodded with a small thank you.

He took the letter from me, and broke off from the rest of the group to deliver the letter while I returned to Quackity and Bad. “What were you two saying?” I questioned.
Quackity smiled before continuing. “Well, all of the weights and fitness stuff is in one corner of the yard, and we recently managed to get a giant sun shade for when it gets really hot.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t sound much like a prison.” I admitted. “Maybe it’s just because of the prison movies I grew up watching but isn’t the yard usually a square of dirt with no shelter surrounded by barbed-wire fences?” The pair both laughed at what I said and I couldn’t help grinning alongside them.

“At this point in time most of the guards have been here for years.” Bad stated. “Most of them end up being the ones keeping the yard nice because if we are happy in the yard then we won’t complain.”

“They have the kind of mindset that if we are happy in here with half-decent food, and a nice yard, then we won’t try to escape, But the rest of the prison is still relatively shit.” Quackity continued on. “It’s part of the reason that the prison went from having a strict day-to-day timetable to us doing whatever the fuck we want as long as we follow rules.”

Bad huffed out a ‘language’ at the curse words, but stopped with a smile when we reached the entrance of the yard. “Here we are,” he announced, taking my arm and eagerly pulling me through. I glanced over my shoulder before we stepped out into the sunlight to see the rest of the group chuckling at Bad’s eagerness, but Dream hadn’t caught back up with them yet.

There was a set of metal detectors in the doorway leading out to the yard, which was alive and bustling with prisoners all working out, playing a game with a half-deflated soccer ball, or just talking with each other in the sun. as we passed through the detectors, Quackity informed me that they were there because the yard was the most common place for being stabbed.

That information didn’t make me feel too much better and the pair noticed that with Bad quickly explaining to me that I had no reason to be stabbed so I’d be fine. To be exact he said ‘don’t worry George, you’ve got no enemies in this prison who would want to stab you, and if there were any people then Dream would make them regret it’.

He then went on to talk about how there were a lot of cameras, and there were always several armed guards on watch so that if anyone did try anything then they’d get stopped before something bad happened. I gave the slightly shorter brunette a small nod at the explanation, although I was still feeling upset on the inside.

Although it was unfair how I’d gotten here, I’d settled into this new life, but the thought that I could get stabbed by almost anyone in this prison made me worry. I looked over my shoulder to see if Dream was nearby, but he was still off delivering my letter to the mailroom. I should have gone with him.

Most of the group got through the metal detectors without anything happening, but it began blaring loudly the moment Punz stepped through. A lot of the inmates and guards in the yard turned to look in our direction as a guard standing near the door directed the platinum blond away.

I found myself staring at the platinum blond but Sapnap put a hand on my shoulder to catch my attention. “Don’t worry,” he reassured me. “Punz always likes to wear gold bracelets, and the metal detector always goes off. He’ll be out in less than a minute.” I nodded warily, turning away from the entrance and tailing the group as they walked off.
________________________________________
1376 words