Number 501 (Needs Editing)

Rules And Rulers Of The Block

I stumbled off on my own for a while, kicking rocks in the courtyard and shuffling down the halls. I was getting hungry, the rumbles in my stomach assured me of that. So I decided to sit down for some lunch. I got into the line by the counters and swiped my card through the machine. It was my first meal of the day so it didn't charge me any digiSEC's. Prisoners get two free meals a day, if you want more than that, it starts charging you. I got in front of the counter and a big area of slop collapsed onto my plate, part of it missed and hit the floor. Literally, it looked like slop, or other words puke for lunch. 

I snatched a chair from the corner of the room and pulled it up and settled it down by an empty table. I didn't want to disturb any others and get a shiv jacked in my neck before the day was even over. I started to scarf down the parts of the slop that actually looked eatable and wouldn't kill me in the middle of the night. Most of it was gone but a few chunks was leftover on the plate. I stood up from my seat and headed over to the trash can to dumb the few remains that were still there when a short skinny fella jumped in front of me. I could tell he was no danger to me, after all, I could snap his spine between my fingers before he could even blink. Seriously, he was that small. Bone skinny even. Looked like he hadn't eaten in days.

"Please! The guards and co- cooks here, they, they don't allow me to eat! Th- Th- They don't like me. Say I get on their ba- bad side. Please, I'll do anything. DigiSEC's even. Just let, let me eat." 

I stared down onto him and felt pity. He wasn't going to do anything, he was seriously starving to death and needed help. 

"Here."

I handed the rest of my tray to him as he thanked me over a hundred times it seemed and started digging into it, he cleansed the rest of the plate, licking it over and over with his tongue leaving nothing but slobber and spit. 

"Thank you, if there's anything y- you ever, ever need. I'll be here." 

And suddenly from behind him, a sheet of metal made it's way to the back of the guys head and pounded him to the tile floor. I stepped back to see someone had used their tray and put the poor guy down to the ground. The one wielding the tray stepped over the knocked out body and got all up in my face. His eyes red with anger and scars gashed down the sides of his face. He took a knife and ran the sharp end down my cheek, not cutting me, just enough to feel the coldness of the metal run down my face. A chill went down my spine and I shivered, twitching my arms and legs. He thought I was frightened, but really, I had met guys like this before. They take control for a short time until someone else comes and cuts their throat open, in this case. I am that guy, the guy that does the cutting. 

"What did he say to you?" He asked me, rubbing the knife back and forth.

"He asked for food. So I gave it to him."

"That's where you went wrong. You have extra food, you either eat it, or give it to me. I run this block."

I chuckled at his last remark and made a smart comment towards it.

"This block? We're in the cafeteria fat ass. God. You must get all the food don't you. You think you are so big and bad, but really." 

I paused and stared him in the eye. I raised my knee and nailed him in the stomach, he leaned over and gasped for air, swiping the knife towards my face, slicing a thin piece of skin before I got out of the way and grabbed his arm, bending it backwards until he dropped the knife onto the floor. I pushed him back and he fell onto the ground and held his arm weeping.

I bent down and grabbed the knife and ran it across his cheek this time. An eye for an eye. Except I wasn't going to let this guy break my arm as well. I guess the rules about that were sort of one sided. 

"You think it's just me running this block? I have others that'll come after you. You just wait, you will have people in your cell, at night, in the dark, sneaking around and slicing you up into small enough pieces that we can fit you into the garbage cans."

"Well, then I guess I should just give me a better chance by killing you right now rather than later." 

I pulled the knife back and swiped it across his throat, slicing the skin off and watching the blood pour out. He grabbed the wound and tried to shut it, giving him as much time as he could but he laid there, and fell back more and more until he couldn't move anymore. 

Well, now I have a knife. 

I felt a sensation on my arm and looked down to it. It was my criminal rating, it was rising. From 202 to 280. Perfect. A new rating. If things continued like this, I should be at the top in no time. However, with the fact that I would have the highest reputation, also comes with the fact that I am going to be facing a lot of enemies. And who knows, maybe one of them will end me. But until that time comes, I am climbing the ladder. I could just go around killing everyone I see but that would make me unorganized and leave me with many enemies around here. The best scenario, I wait and make my own personal enemies and end them just themselves. That's the best way to raise it.

So there I was, standing over two bodies, one knocked down, and one with his throat cut open, and me holding a rusted knife leaking blood onto the floor. I feel bad for who has to clean this up. However, I made my way to my cell that I was assigned to. It had the number straight onto the key I was given as well. That did not stop lock pickers from getting in, but from people who lacked that specific skill, the locks came quite in handy, until someone got your key.

I unlocked the door and let myself in, it wasn't as nice as Crodedge SEC but it was okay. I push the door until it clicked and turned the lock as well. I held the knife close onto my chest. Staining my white t-shirt in blood. But in fact, I meant to do that. Now tomorrow when I walk around with blood on my shirt, maybe people will know the actual me. Intimidation. That's all it is. 

The morning brought on wide awakenings and several alarms. At first I smiled, thinking I would get quite a reputation as well if they were going to make a big deal about the body. If they asked who did it, I would tell them it was me. Might be the only chance I have to survive in this prison and not just be known as "The New Blood." I need people to know that I am not just some simple newcomer. I am here to stay. There's no turning back. The alarm woke me up and I wiped my eyes upon sitting up and yawning. I pulled myself off the cot that was chained up to the wall and peeked my head out the bars of the door. Everyone was walking towards the rec center, not the cafeteria. It bummed me out at the possibility that no one was going to talk about the body. 

I unlocked the door and stepped out with the blood on my shirt. I thought more people would make a big deal about it. However, no one even glanced at me twice. Maybe they were scared to give me any looks. Maybe I was in over my head. Maybe it was different here. Maybe I was the new blood. Maybe I'm thinking too much. However I stepped into the main hall and caught a glace to the guy I gave food to last night. Wouldn't hurt to have one friend around here, would it?