Tundria's Gauntlet

Chapter 1 - John

You'd think I'd learn by now that stealing never ends well for me, and yet once again I find myself at the mercy of a judge. The courtroom was rather chilly today, I was nearly shivering and growing rather impatient for the final verdict. 

"John, we've done this song and dance hundreds of times before. But you're not a kid anymore, you're nearly 23. I can't keep going easy on you, I want to see you succeed, but I am under oath to uphold the law. I've reached my decision."

I instantly sat up, excited to get this over with so I could leave. The public defender at my side had already begun to put his papers away, I guess he knew there was no defending me at this point. Can't really blame him, I'm a known delinquent in this little town. I've always been that way, always had the urge to steal or break rules. Never to hurt anyone, simply to fill the void in my chest that I was born with. It always gives me a headache when I think about it, lucky for me the judge spoke once again, his voice booming throughout the entire courtroom.

"Jonathan Burry, you have been found guilty of the theft of the crystalline amethyst, belonging to the town museum. You have been sentenced to 500 hours of community service at the state park."

I froze, by all means it's not the worst punishment I've gotten but it's certainly not what I expected. Before I had time to process, the courtroom was dismissed and everyone began moving towards the exit. The 2 lovely officers at my side started shoving me towards a side exit.

"Get a move on." One said in a deep, scruffy voice.

"I'm going, I'm going" I replied with an eye roll.

I sighed and trudged onward only to be stopped by the judge himself.

"Ah judge Mustang, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I say coyly.

"I only came to say you're welcome, John. Hopefully the community service will whip you into shape, because unfortunately I'm out of passes to give you. The next time you fuck up, you're going straight to jail. So get it together please, imagine what your mother would think if she saw you now."

My blood began to boil at that, but I bit my tongue and simply nodded. He walked away and the officers shoved me forward once more. After slowly navigating through crowds of people and winding hallways, we finally made it outside and I saw my ride to the next few weeks of the hell I call my life. It was one of those run down looking busses with the bars on all the windows. Ya know, just in case I suddenly grow the balls needed to dive out into traffic. I climbed the steps and saw the big man at the wheel, he had a guard uniform on and looked like he could snap me in half with one arm.

"Quit gawking and take a seat, worm." Said the man, pulling me out of my daze. 

I hadn't even realized I had been staring. I promptly rushed over to the nearest empty seat, the old chair creaking under my weight as I sat down, it's worn leather splitting and cracking with every movement I made. The air in the bus smelled musty and old, like an attic that had been abandoned for years, though there was a slight hint of gasoline too, so I guess it wasn't all bad. The drive there was relatively quiet, and apart from me and the driver, there were only the 2 other officers that walked me here on the bus with us. I just resigned to looking through the bars of the window at the world I won't be getting to see much of for awhile.

"Guess I deserve this." I whispered to myself.

I never usually sweat it too much when I'm punished for my crimes, but this time feels different. Could be because of why I stole that gem in the first place. Either way it's left me feeling rather melancholic right now. Before I knew it, we had arrived at the park. To the average person this place is simply a nice park to go on the weekends, to nerds this place is a paradise of history and buried relics from centuries ago, but to people like me this place is just one of those places we know we may end up if we don't shape up. Somewhere beyond the tree line there's building where they keep all the convicts who have to help around the park. It's kept out of sight so people can come here and relax, I've never personally seen the place so as we walked through the forest I found myself feeling a little curious. I was a little let down though when I saw it was just some normal looking white building with a concerning lack of windows and any signs of life within. I approached the door and gave it a light pull, but it didn't budge.