"You liar, you have killed on purpose." The voices whisper aggressively, it almost rings in Tyler's ears. They sit in the canteen eating the usual slop. Josh digs the slop with his spoon and drops it back in the tray looking repulsed by it. "Not hungry?" Tyler smiles "You can actually eat this crap?" He pretends to gag watching Tyler lick the spoon clean, "You get what you're given," Tyler looks down at his tray "we deserve it." Josh holds his spoon upside down and laughs at the slop refusing to slide off "We're still human beings; we deserve some decent food, even in prison!" The slop still stuck to the spoon.
Tyler wonders how it must've been in Josh's last prison to complain about the food here, maybe they had different breakfasts, lunches, dinners and maybe even desserts. "What was the food like at the other place?" Josh is still amused by the slop on his spoon "Tyler, it's not even dropping from my spoon, imagine what this does to your stomach." He laughs "Anyway, in the last place, we had different healthy meals every day; they served real vegetables and meat, we had flavour and stuff that definitely does not stick to the spoon." He puts the spoon back in the slop. Tyler looks down at his tray again "Did you have real breakfasts and lunches?" Josh starts eating the apple instead "We only had yoghurts and fruits for breakfasts, and sandwiches at lunch, we even had desserts, which were just yoghurts but with more flavours like strawberry or banana." Tyler pushes his tray away.
"Your last place sounds so luxurious compared to this place." Tyler twists the stem off the apple "Dude, we actually had a TV room." Tyler's eyes widen "A TV room!" Josh laughs at Tyler's amazement "You had a TV room and real food to eat and yet you lot still get involved in a prison murder?" Josh laughs "Yeah, I know, how ungrateful!"
Josh meets the eyes of another inmate walking by and looks down immediately, Tyler looks over his shoulder at him and catches him glaring at Josh, not even blinking, it scared Tyler a bit. This guy was huge, as in 4 Tyler's could fit into one bicep. Tyler grips his throat and looks back at Josh as the guy walks past. "Who's that?" "Some guy I didn't get on with at the last place." He keeps his head down "What happened?" Josh sighs and sits up "Nothing important, the prison murder thing."
-
It's well into the evening and the sun is still out; this was the only thing Tyler loved about summer, he dreads the migraines that'll appear soon. Taking advantage of the sun, Tyler and Josh sit in the yard, Tyler is finishing 'All My Sons' for the fifth time and Josh is forming a daisy chain. In this element Tyler felt safe and calm, he felt content, and it was an odd feeling to him.
"Dun!" a shadow forms over Tyler's book, he looks up and squints. "Yes?" Josh is still adding onto the daisy chain "We have unfinished business." All five men stand looking down at Josh, "That's so cliché, anyway, that's stuff from the old prison and I'm trying to settle in here without any problems." This really pushed a button "Just come with us." Josh sighs then shrugs "Okay, fine." He places the daisy chain around Tyler's neck and follows behind the five inmates. Tyler watches them walk to a hidden area behind a fence, this area was usually a smoking area for the guards, but due to strict regulations they're not allowed to smoke anymore so it's really an abandoned spot now. Tyler grabs his throat. Should he help Josh? Are they going to hurt him? Maybe get a guard? No, no one likes a snitch. But Josh really needs help though.
Tyler keeps his head down as he walks back to his cell, bumping through every inmate on the way. In his cell he lifts up the mattress on his bunk to find what he once found when he first got here, a sharpened toothbrush, it belonged to the inmate before Tyler. He always found it heavily unsettling that he had a mouldy, discoloured sharpened toothbrush under his mattress. He was always too afraid to hand it in, and thought one day it could come handy. Like now.
"Do it." They say
"Only to help Josh, only if he's in danger." He tucks it under the waistband and heads out to the field.
"This could be the last time you walk these halls, Tyler." They say He grips his throat, he tastes metal in his mouth but his mouth is dry. His heart races, it's racing and racing, as bad as it was when he murdered Chris. He hides behind the fence in the yard and spots Josh, they're grabbing him by his shirt and holding him against the fence and one of them throws the first punch. "Stop!" Tyler runs out in front of them holding the shiv up to one of the men's throat, Tyler looks deep into the eyes of this man he is threatening, within a blink he sees a flicker of Chris, he flinches and drops the shiv and backs into the fence. His face displayed a concoction of vulnerability and shock, his eyes wide and glued to the toothbrush before him, he links his fingers into the fence. "Tyler what are you doing?" Josh stares at him and nods to the toothbrush "Get it, Tyler!" Tyler shakes his head, he clings to the fence.
"How sweet! You tried to save your friend." One of the guys pick up the toothbrush inspecting it in his hand, "Did you make this?" Tyler shakes his head but avoids eye contact. "So you wouldn't mind if we use it then?" he points it towards Josh, another one of the guys kicks Josh behind the knee so he collapses onto the grass, Tyler doesn't look at Josh. One of the guys holds Josh down whilst the other holds the shiv to his neck, Josh gulps but keeps his eyes on Tyler.
"Do it, Tyler." The voices bombard him as he continues to stick to the fence. His hands begin to tremble which makes the fence rattle, Josh keeps his eyes on Tyler but Tyler doesn't look back. "Do it!" They scream inside his head. "DO IT, DO IT, DO IT." Tyler flinches and grips his throat, he feels numb. "NOW!" He launches himself at the guy holding the shiv, knocking him over; he pins the guy down so he's unable to use the shiv and begins punching him, again and again and again, until Tyler can no longer feel his knuckles. "Holy shit, Tyler!" Josh gets up and runs as the others chase him across the track, leaving Tyler alone with this one unconscious man, staining the fresh grass with his blood.
For Tyler, everything goes black.
