PR150N

Chapter 5

"I trust you as much as I trust those guys out there. I need you on the team." Solomon continued, nodding his head towards the bedroom door. He had a look in his eyes, one I hadn't seen before.

We had been helping each other out since we came into the prison and part of that, I was sure, was because of how our first meetings had panned out. As soon as we were out of the truck, he helped me get away from one of the prisoners before we were chipped and then we stuck with each other while we were gassed to be chipped. As soon as I had woken up, I went to find him. The bright white, bleached room made me feel sick as I came to. My vision was blurry, yet as soon as my brain was working I had Solomon on my mind. I rubbed my eyes until I could partially see and set off, crawling on my hands and knees, to the closest of the four other bodies that littered the doctor's room. My arms and legs were weak, wobbling as if I was a baby trying to strengthen their barely used muscles. I was like Bambi on ice, limbs everywhere as I desperately made my way over to the men. The first guy wasn't him, so I moved on to the next body. That wasn't him either. I crawled to the next and, finally, on the other side of the room was a peaceful looking Sol. Part of me didn't even want to wake him up and make him aware of this nightmare but the other part of me was scared for him, that he wasn't going to wake up, that somehow the operation had caused some problems.

"Hey." I prodded him on the arm. "You okay?" It was at this moment I realised I had absolutely no idea what his name was. It made me feel much more awkward as I tried to make him stir, at least blink or twitch so I knew he was okay. My mind skipped back to a time when a group of us got drunk and slept on the floor of my friend's parent's apartment. It was a mess then too, bodies everywhere as you stepped over people to navigate the toilet or the kitchen. We thought we had been really clever with our plan, except for the small fact that their parents had to get up for work the next morning. I was woken up by the sound of them annihilating my friend in the hallway for their stupid idea.

"Wake up!" I grabbed hold of his shoulder and shook him, this time getting some sort of mumble in return. I sighed in relief as I sat back and crossed my legs, sitting beside him as he rubbed his eyes and rolled onto his back.

"What the fuck?" He snapped, though his voice was quiet and horsey. He ran his hands through his hair but stopped mid-motion, his eyes widening as he sat up quickly. He repeated the motion again, stopping in the same place again. "They shaved my fucking head!" His gaze whipped over to me in an instant, expectantly waiting for me to show him my shaved head too. I hadn't even considered checking my head before this moment, but under his intense gaze full of fear and anxiety, I ran my fingers through my hair and stopped as soon as I felt the rough patch under my fingertips. Flipping my long hair out of the way, I showed him my small patch of shaved hair too, to which he relaxed.

"We all have one. I'm sure everyone will." I soothed, offering him a half smile. For a moment, he just looked at me as if he was trying to work me out. Was I befriending him for protection? Did I know who he was and I wanted to use him? He had no idea. He wasn't sure whether to trust me.

"Prisoners, stand and exit to your right. You will be shown to your cells." A robotic voice came out of nowhere and made us jump. We stood up quickly, walking side by side as we got to the door where we saw another touch pad and facial recognition scanner.

"Ladies first." He stepped back and gestured for me to go in front of him, a cunning smile on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him as I stepped up to the door. Just as I raised my hand to the touch pad, I looked up to the scanner. Both scanned me simultaneously before the pad went green and the door opened.

"Next time, just admit you're scared." I said as I took a step through the doorway, turning on my heels quickly to catch one more glance of him before the door shut between us. His face was a picture, one I can still remember now. It was a mix of shock, humour and appreciation.

"Prisoner Alexandra Watson, head to cell 138." The robotic voice demanded. I took a few steps forward, to the end of the corridor, and realised the hallways branched off in many different directions. How the hell was I supposed to know where 138 was?
"Downloading information." The robot added and suddenly, a high pitched noise screeched through my ears as a beam came out of nowhere and into my head, connecting to the chip that had been implanted. It took every piece of strength and energy I had not to let my legs give way as the pain radiated through me. I could only imagine that it felt similar to being struck by lightning - though this wasn't something I had experienced before. As quickly as the pain had begun, it stopped, and weirdly I knew exactly where my cell was now. I began the walk as if it were second nature to me, as if I'd done it one hundred times before. All I could think about was how painful that was and how my new friend would be subjected to that pain in a few moments time. Would his cell be close to mine? Would he pass me on the way to his new room? I hadn't been someone who was ever good at making first impressions, yet somehow I felt like I had made a good impression with him.

Times followed where I helped him and his friends out; I stopped them getting shocked by diffusing situations, I helped get medical attention to one of them when they were sick, I kept an eye on Solomon when some of the other men felt threatened by him. Equally, he and his friends had saved my ass more times than I wanted to admit. In a prison that was supposed to be high security, where it was supposed to be impossible for people to hurt each other, there'd been many times that people had tried to hurt me. This is why I would do anything for this gang. They'd kept me alive for the months we had been here and I had nothing that I could offer them as a thank you other than my services. I think Solomon already knew this, he was a smart guy, but he liked to play the game by the book.

"Whatever you need, Solomon. I'll help you guys until I physically can't help anymore." I smiled that stupid smile I did when the door had closed between us after I'd gone through first. "Just make sure you tell me if you're scared this time." I let out a laugh and gave him a cheeky wink. His strong, gang member character broke for a second as a goofy smile played at his lips. He didn't want to let me see him as anything other than the leader, but I knew the guy that was hiding under the persona was a great guy too.

"You're an idiot." He said quietly as he shook his head, taking a moment to piece together his strong personality again. "Thank you, I appreciate your help in our plan. It's in very early stages right now, even the guys don't know what is going on yet. They've said they're going to do it but they don't quite know what they've signed themselves up for. You will be the person I bounce ideas off of. You're second in charge." My brows furrowed as I took a step back from Sol, my hands waving in front of me.

"No, no. Wait, what? Me?" No-one had ever believed in me, especially not this quickly and with something so important.

"The guys have been beside me since the beginning. They're trained to listen to me and do what I say. They're not people I can discuss ideas with. They will never disagree with what I say and that's not what I need. I need people to tell me when something sounds ridiculous, or if something needs more research. I know you will be able to do that, I've known that since we first met. You just say it how it is." The look in his eyes was raw and vulnerable. I could tell he didn't show this side to any of the friends who say at the other side of this door currently. He was trusting me more than I'd ever been trusted before. Could I handle the heat?