Worse Than Prison

Chapter Two

My Meal Becomes My Weakness

"You're... Just a kid..." Jared managed in stunned realization, his green eyes wide behind dark, tousled hair.

Across from him in the darkest corner was the infamous Silence. The executioner of Alastair Blair's Prison. The fear of all the inmates. A boy no older than fourteen years was curled up, hugging himself as he wore only an oversized torn, bloodied t-shirt. His hair was greasy and filthy in straight locks of what appeared pitch black. His eyes, the color impossible to determine, were narrowed and locked on him like a cat watching a mouse. His pose was on his hunches, shackles locked around his ankles and around his throat was a leather collar with a busted plate embedded on the front, reading SILENCE before it was broken.

"How old are you...?" Jared wondered aloud, taking a step toward him, but stopped almost immediately as the boy snarled at him. He frowned immediately. The boy, Silence, his eyes flashed in the darkness and his body was tense, crammed against the corner. He bared his teeth now, dirtied and sharp. He could definitely spread rabies.

But Jared knew. Oh, he knew all too well this behavior. The behavior of those monsters that swarmed the planet outside the safety of the prison. Beasts with sharp teeth, canine instincts, a painful craving for flesh and blood. Some people mockingly called it a zombie attack, but these beings weren't dead. They were very much alive. Killing them was the problem.

"Wait," Jared yelled when the lights snapped off outside, causing him to whirl to the bars, watching as the guards glanced over at him, "Wait, there's a kid in here! You're crazy!"

"Oi," The first guard called, laughing out loud, "I wouldn't underestimate ol' Silence! We keep him around for good measures. If you want a piece of advice, stay on the side with the bed. His chains only let him go so far."

"And lack of nutrition," Jared snarled loudly, ignoring the snickers and vulgur comments from the other cells, "You're insane! He's infected with the virus!" The first guard was frowning now, his face a shadowed version of the previous. The second guard scowled.

"He's just a kid-"

"Shut up, Harvey!"

"What?! It's true, Scott! The real reason-"

"I said shut up," Harvey sneered, then whirled to laugh dangerously at Jared, "Best of luck to ya, Mr. Kerns! Silence takes no mercy when he's hungry." He slammed the door shut behind him, the sound of the locks clinking together. Jared was still glaring, fists clenched around the bars with eyes narrowed darkly before the sound of shackles clinking made him whirl around.

He kept his back against the bars, watching closely as Silence shifted in his corner so he was on his knees now, facing the other way. The boy was definitely lacking serious nutrition. His ribs were evidently shown, his body thin and starved. He tilted his head back in the darkness, his eyes dull and dead.

"Maybe they are dead..." Jared murmured. Silence's lips moved, but no sound came out before he shook his head, like a dog shaking off water. He lowered himself onto his hands and knees, his side against the wall. His tongue flicked over his lips and he snapped his teeth. The sound of them clicking made a shiver run up Jared's spine.

Even so, he was having a terrible time seeing the real monster beneath that fragile figure. He was just a boy, young and abused. Hurt and lost. It was all Jared could see and his heart wrenched and twisted into a knot as did his stomach. The cell reeked and the smell was burning his nose and he could almost taste it on the back of his tongue. A mixture of body fluids, B.O, and rotting flesh. The source of said ordor wavered from the furthest corner where a disgusting ratty blanket was thrown over a lump.