Behind Bars - Scomiche

Chapter 1

Mitch POV

I follow my boss down the harshly lit corridor towards the room at the end. He sits me down and looks me up and down.

“Are you ready for this? It certainly isn’t the easiest job in the world, that’s for sure.” He laughs quietly to himself as I smile awkwardly.

He coughs, realising my awkwardness.

“Right, so we thought you could work, to start with, with our new inmates as they will be more scared of you. This will help you gain your confidence before we move you up. Although if you enjoy working with the newbies, then you CAN stay, don’t know why you would but we kind of work around you as well. If you’re not happy, then you won’t work as well so we make sure that you are comfortable. You will be working with Will to start with, to acclimatise you.”

An old man puts his head around the door. I smile at him but he glares back at me and beckons me over with his finger. I get out of my chair and follow him out of the room.

“So you’re the new guy then?” He looks almost angry at me, and I have no idea why.

“Yes, I am. I am actually excited about this! Well, I’m a bit nervous but I mean-“

He cuts me off sharply by turning quickly and walking away from me. Rude. I follow him like a lap dog but only because I don’t want to get lost in this maze of a prison. He turns left then right and straight on until we reach a door that says “Prison Wardens office”. Makes sense I guess. Will unlocks the door and leads me into a dark dusty room full of files. Have these people never heard of a computer? He hands me a clipboard full of names and a pen. How high tech.

“You will be doing the morning roll call for… Block 3. Head over there and you will see the sign.”

Before I can say anything, he practically throws me out of the office. I head in the direction he pointed me and I soon spot the huge sign, saying Block 3. I walk up to the doors. I don’t know how this works. Do I knock on their cells or do I make them all come out? Will is a rubbish mentor, that’s for sure. I decide to knock on their doors one by one as I can cope with that better than them all at once. You would have thought that a prison warden would have had training but noooooooo it is a “learning on the job” kind of job apparently.

I knock on the first cell I come to. I open the viewing sliding thing and see a figure curled up on a bed.

“Umm excuse me? Could you tell me your name please? It’s for the roll call so that I can tick it off.”

He looks up and I can see he’s been crying. His piercing blue eyes burrow right into my soul.

“S… Scott Hoying.”