Summary: Anna Porter is a week into her new job as guard in E-block at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, and she's known that the road is going to be tough from the moment she steps onto the Green Mile. But she doesn't expect her life to change so much along the way. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Green Mile or its characters. I only own my OCs.

A/N and WARNING: This is replacing Working the Green Mile because I made a few slip ups with that one and it's best to start over. So I will be removing that story on the arrival of chapter two of this story. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks for taking the time to read!

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Life on the Mile

Chapter One

The heat was intense in the E-block of Cold Mountain Penitentiary, Louisiana, and as Anna Porter dabbed her sweating forehead, she took deep breaths to try to keep the growing nausea at bay.

The five foot, six inch tall brunette had never worked in such heat in a full suited uniform before. At least by wearing a skirt she could get some kind of freedom from the unbearable heat. Fanning herself with her hat, she looked up at one of the other guards on the block, the gentle giant Brutus (Brutal) Howell, smiling as he began to chuckle softly.

"You're doing great." He told her, seeing the glazed look in her eyes, "You'll get used to the uniform, don't worry."

She looked back at him again and nodded, barely able to speak because of how sick she felt with the heat. She took a sip from the glass of water she'd gotten herself, placing it back on the desk gently as though she was scared of making a sound. Her blue eyes blinked rapidly as she breathed deeply still, placing her hat back on her head. Her hair was pinned back into a low bun, keeping her neck cool, and as she stood, she straightened her uniform and smiled sweetly at Brutus.

"I'll be out in a second. I need to compose myself." She told him, thick accent causing him to grin at her.

"Sure thing." He replied, hearing the phone on the block begin to ring.

Dean Stanton, one of the shorter guards on the block, only a mere couple of inches taller than Anna, was opening up the final cell on the block for the prisoner who was arriving that day, and went himself to answer the ringing telephone, but Brutus got there first.

Carefully, Anna emerged from the office, taking deep breaths again, and continuing to dab her face. The twenty four year old's mother was friends with Hal Moores, the warden of the prison, and when a post on E-block came up, Anna begged and pleaded Hal to let her work there. They were in need of the money, and Anna was struggling to pay for her mother's medication, so Hal grudgingly agreed to let her work on the Green Mile.

Paul Edgecomb, senior guard on the block, had calmly protested to a woman working in such a place, but after a little coaxing, he agreed to her working there, and Anna had her orientation the week before. She'd yet to see an execution, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. None of them enjoyed that part of the job, although the other guards did suspect that Percy was desperate to see one up close.

"E-block." Brutus answered the phone, his face showing little change in his rather calm expression, "Yeah. Right."

He hung up the phone, and moved towards the window to get a look at the truck that was pulling into the yard of the block. He quietly edged over afterwards, to the toilet that the guards used during their shifts, knocking on the door cautiously. Anna moved over beside Dean, waiting for Paul to emerge from the room. He'd been in there for a while now, and the guards needed him to hurry because the prisoner they were expecting had clearly arrived.

"Paul? Prisoner." Brutus said softly, all of them hearing a sharp reply from within the room.

"Christ, give me a minute!"

Brutus turned to the other two guards, seeing the concern on Anna's beautiful, petite face, while Dean just rolled his eyes and shook his head a little, his expression ever stern.

"You alright in there?" The taller guard asked, hearing two groans of pain from his colleague inside the room.

"For a man pissing razorblades, yeah..." Paul replied, groaning again in pain.

Brutus's face flushed a little red, and he felt slightly embarrassed by the situation. Despite his nickname, Brutus was a very gentle and very respectful man. His nickname came from his temper, because he had a rather short fuse, but Anna had yet to see that side of the man. As Paul emerged from the bathroom, dabbing his face, he looked up at Brutus who, along with Anna, was looking at him with concern.

"You should've took the day off," Brutus began softly, "Gone to see the doctor."

"With a new arrival? You know better." Paul replied, still wiping and dabbing his face, "Besides...It's not as bad as it was...I think it's clearing up."

With a sigh, he placed his cap on his head, looking over to the other two guards.

"Right, let's look alive, Dean...Anna..."

"Yes, sir." They both replied at the same time, moving to get in their positions.

Anna moved towards the office door, standing close to the duty desk, watching Paul struggle a little as he walked down to the bottom cell. Dean stood at the other end of the duty desk, while Brutus went to look through the door, and get a glimpse of the prisoner they were bringing in.

The back end of the truck was sinking incredibly low towards the floor, as though they had four or five prisoners in there, not just one and a couple of guards.

"Damn..." He breathed out, "They're riding on the axle."

He watched the arrogant, horrible pain in everyone's ass, Percy Wetmore, as he got out of the front of the truck and walked around the back, opening the doors to let the two guards in the back jump out first.

"What'd they do?" Brutus wondered aloud, looking in Dean and Anna's direction, "They bust the springs?"

When the prisoner got out of the truck, and it bounced back upward, Brutus's curious expression became one that was mixed with concern, horror and bewilderment. Percy's voice began to sound through the yard, and both Dean and Anna could make out what he was shouting.

"Dead man! Dead man walking! We got a dead man walking here!"

Anna closed her eyes and shook her head, letting out a sigh at the words Percy was using. Brutus looked at both Anna and Dean with concern, while Paul could hear muffled shouts, but not what was being said.

"Jesus please us, what is he yellin' about?" He called to Brutus who appeared into view, making Dean look small enough in comparison.

"Paul...You might wanna reconsider gettin' in the cell with this guy." Brutus warned, "He's enormous."

Paul let out a soft smirk, trying to hide his concern at the words as well as the pain he was feeling in his side from his infection. He knew damn well what it was, but he was reluctant to go and visit the doctor. He knew that the doc would just put him on pills that made him sick as a dog and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Can't be bigger than you." He said, causing Brutus to let out a sigh and slightly nervous laugh.

Dean and Anna smiled at the comment, but Brutus shot her a look that made her feel rather worried. She had no idea what this man had done or was capable of, and neither did the others. Brutus wanted to at least keep her a little safe by staying closer to her. Someone was less likely to attack someone if Brutus was standing with them because of his size.

"You stay with me." He told her, "Don't leave my side. I want you to walk to my right so you're further away from him, alright?"

"Alright." Anna replied, smiling softly as he gave her a gentle nod and a smile in return.

He moved towards the door again, opening it up for Percy to step inside, shouting loudly still as he led the new inmate inside. Anna's mouth fell open as she saw an absolutely enormous black man in an old white shirt and overalls that were dirty, and quite evidently didn't fit him as they should. Brutus was looking up at him amazed by his size, and he made Dean, Percy, Anna and fellow guard Harry Terwilliger look like children in comparison.

Walking towards the cell, Brutus moved Anna slightly behind him, keeping her to the right of him away from the new inmate. To Anna, the man looked like a child trapped in a giant's body. His expression was so childlike, and she could tell he was frightened and unnerved to be where he was. She wondered what he'd done to end up in E-block in the first place.

Percy's shouting continued, which angered the other guards. The boy was arrogant, rude, perverse, cocky, stupid and careless. He annoyed the crap out of everyone there, inmates included, and Paul had just about had enough of what he was yelling out.

"Percy!" He scolded, "That's enough."

Percy stopped, giving Paul a dirty look before Brutus pushed the smaller man's shoulder forward, causing him to set off again before shooting a filthy look behind him at Brutus. The taller man just glared, casting a glance at Anna who still hadn't taken those big baby blues off of their newest inmate.

"Am I gonna have any trouble with you, big boy?" Paul asked, as everyone else studied the newcomer with looks of disbelief.

The top of Brutus's head just passed the man's shoulder, and he looked small compared to him. Anna was trying to hide her fear of the man in front of her, and she looked to her supervisor for a little reassurance. Paul just shot her a comforting glance, and she relaxed slightly as she took a deep breath. After getting no response from the subject of everyone's attention, Paul decided to ask another question.

"Can you talk?"

"Yes, sir, boss..." The inmate replied, with a voice deeper than anyone had imagined coming out of his mouth, "I can talk."

Paul stepped into the cell, and Anna saw the look of fright on the newcomer's face as he looked into the cell. The grating drawl of Percy's voice sounded again, and he decided to hit the man's chest with his nightstick. He only did that because he knew that the guy couldn't do anything to him under lock and key. Percy was a coward; everybody knew that. He wouldn't have had the balls to do so if the guy wasn't under lock and key.

"Move your ass..." He said, smirking at the prisoner, "Let's go...Come on..."

When the man ducked down to get into the cell, the other guards moved towards the door in case Paul needed any assistance. Brutus remained where he was, half in front of Anna so he could keep her safe. She was less likely to be attacked if he was standing there.

"Percy..." Paul began, not even looking at the other guard, "They're moving house down at the infirmary. Why don't you go see if they could use some help."

The only reason that Paul was doing this was because Percy's attitude wasn't helping the situation. The man was young, and he showed enthusiasm. Just the wrong kind of enthusiasm. If Percy was out of the way just for that time, it would make the process a lot easier, and obviously, when he was asked to leave, Percy didn't want to go.

"No, they got all the men they need." He said, tapping the palm of his hand with his nightstick.

"Why don't you just go make sure?" Paul asked, trying to be calm and to get the message across, only for Percy to protest again, "I don't care where you go, Percy, just as long as it's not here that this very moment."

With a huff of laughter, that was clearly to cover his anger and disappointment, Percy agreed, and turned to leave only to bump into Brutus's folded arms. He made his way around the taller guard who glanced up at Paul, and went to make his way off of the mile. Everyone else turned their attention away only to hear the cracking of bones as Percy hit the hand of Eduard Delacroix, who cried out in pain and fell to the ground, cradling his more-than-likely broken fingers.

"Goddamn it, Percy, get the hell off my block!" Paul yelled, and as Del let out a sound like a wounded animal, Anna went to go to him, only for Brutus to grab her arm and stop her.

"He'll be fine," He whispered in her ear, "We'll see to him in a minute."

Percy sauntered off the block, and Brutus gently pulled Anna back to the other side of him, taking in the angry glare she was giving Percy as he left the mile. Over the past week, Brutus had tried to get to know Anna, and he could see that she was a gentle and caring woman, but also that she knew to limit her attachments. Her want to go and see to Del was hard for her to fight; he could see that. He watched her relax as Paul spoke to the Frenchman, trying to calm him.

"We're gonna get that looked at, Del. In the meantime, you just stay quiet."

"Yeah..." Del replied with a voice that was broken with pain, and it was hardly surprising after the hit his fingers had received from Percy.

Turning their attention back to the newcomer, the guards continued what they had started, without the interruptions from Percy. Paul looked up at the large man, who had clearly been startled by what had just happened to Del.

"I let Harry take those chains of you...You gonna be nice?" Paul asked, earning a nod from the new prisoner.

Harry stepped forward nervously, going to remove his chains as he handed Dean the man's file. Anna watched the new inmate's expression. He looked at Harry as though Harry personally had scolded him for something. He looked like a child being told off. In no way did he look like a man who deserved to be in E-block.

"Your name is John Coffey." Paul stated as Harry unfastened the chains around the man's broad ankles.

"Yes, sir, boss...Like the drink..." The newcomer, John replied, "Only not spelt the same."

"Oh, you can spell can you?" Paul said with a hint of sarcasm, not looking at the man before him.

"Just my name, boss..." John answered, to everyone's surprise in all seriousness, "J...O..."

"My name is Paul Edgecomb." Paul interrupted him, "If I'm not here you can ask for Mr. Terwilliger, Mr. Howell, Mr. Stanton or Ms Porter...These gentlemen and this lady right here. Questions?"

John looked at the other guards and then back at Paul, and the question that escaped his lips shocked everybody, and caused some of them to have to hide a smirk. Anna, however, felt a sadness wash over her. It was like he had the mind of a child. But he was in the body of this enormous man. It was clear he was out of place, and she didn't believe for one minute that he'd done something bad enough to end up there.

"D-do you leave the light on after bedtime?" He asked, "'Cause I get a little scared in the dark sometime...If it's a strange place..."

He bowed his head as though ashamed, and while Paul shot a look at the others, Anna looked up at John with a pitying expression. To his credit, Paul kept a straight face, while the men had to hide the smiles they wanted to let loose. Anna understood why they found it amusing. A man his size being scared of the dark was a little funny, but for him it was deadly serious.

"It stays pretty bright in here all night long." Paul told him, "We always keep a few lights burning out in the corridor...Right out there."

John looked out onto the mile, and then gave a meek nod, before holding his hand out to Paul. Dean got ready to intercept if anything happened, as did the others, all of them eyeing the pair warily. Paul looked to the others and softly shook his head, reaching out and shaking John's hand. He saw how big John's hand was in comparison to his own, and it unnerved him when he began to wonder what the man had done with those hands. As Paul left the cell, he looked at John and nodded towards the bed.

"You can sit." He said, stepping out of the door as Harry closed it, he and Dean locking it up.

Paul gave Brutus a half smile as the taller man led Anna away towards the office, and he paused as he looked at John, who wore an expression of fear. As he'd sat on the bed, the springs had given a pitiful groan. If he'd caused something as heavy as a truck to nearly have it's back end trailing on the floor, the guards didn't hold out much hope for the bed to take his weight.

"I couldn't help it, boss..." John said, breathing heavily, "I tried to take it back, but it was too late..."

Paul felt slightly disturbed by those words, and instantly began to walk away, catching up with others. He noticed the way Brutus kept Anna to his left this time, again closer to the other side of the mile, and this caused him to grin a little, before he began to speak to Dean.

"Dean, take Delacroix down to the infirmary. See if those fingers are broken."

"Yes, sir." Dean replied, going towards the filing cabinet in the office, looking for Del's information.

"'Course they're broken." Brutus mumbled, "I heard the damned bones crack."

"You hear what he was yellin' when we brought the big dummy in?" Harry asked, placing his hat on one of the hooks on the wall.

"How could I miss it, Harry? The whole prison heard." Paul answered, looking to Brutus as he shook his head.

"Goddamn Percy." The taller guard sighed, "You'll probably have to answer for sending him off the Mile."

"I'll chew that food when I have to." Paul replied, "Right now, I wanna hear about this new inmate. Aside from how big he is, okay?"

Brutus smiled cheekily like a naughty school boy, and Anna suddenly realised that she found him kind of cute. That smile was incredibly cute. You couldn't stay mad with a man with that kind of smile.

"Monstrous big..." He chuckled, "Damn."

"Oh, he seems meek enough..." Dean said as he flipped through the files, "He retarded, you figure?"

"Looks like they sent us an imbecile to execute." Paul muttered, while Anna let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.

It was much easier to just agree with the guys rather than bring her own opinion on things. With her only being there a week she didn't want to cause any issues just because she didn't like a certain word.

"Imbecile or not, he deserves to fry for what he done." Harry said darkly, sliding the file over to Paul, "Make your blood curdle."

At those words, Anna felt dread fill her whole body, and it made her feel even sicker than the heat. She knew she'd have to read that court transcript. She knew she'd have to find out what crime John Coffey had committed.

Not one part of her was looking forward to finding out.

-TBC-

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading so far!

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