So, guess it's time for me to finally get on with this story, huh? Well, can do... Blame writer's block for the long time no update. It sucks. Badly.
Max POV
Gold Creek Correctional Facility wasn't anything like I expected. I'll admit that my image of normal prisons is probably marred by the fact that I've seen so many stereotypes off the television, but this seriously surprised me. I'd always thought that correctional centres would be these huge grey-bricked buildings that had a huge wall ringing them, topped off with a metre of barbed wire. For some reason they always seemed to have a big swelling thundercloud overhead as well. Go figure.
But this was totally different. Not only was there not a single cloud in sight (well, we are in the middle of a Nevadan desert...), but the building was basically the complete opposite of what I'd thought I'd see. It was a dull yellow colour and a whole lot smaller than I thought it would be as well. I mean, it wasn't some cottage, but I doubt it would hold over two hundred people. Maybe they only took certain people that were serious enough to go here. I suppose I fit the bill. And don't I feel special. In fact, the only thing that I was right about being there was the wall. Just, there was no, you know, barbed wire on top of it.
I stood up without taking my eye off the place and I felt Iggy rise beside me, his eyes also locked on the building in front of us. 'So...' He said. 'This is our new "home", huh?'
I nodded. 'Guess so.'
The driver opened the doors of the bus for us and all three of us stepped out into the uncomfortable heat of midday.
As we walked towards gold Creek Correctional Facility, I looked around with natural curiosity, and I noted with interest that there were no guards in sight. Well that was kinda strange. Did they think that us 'prisoners' were too low profile to need security? Hah. In that case, I would be outta here before the week's end. And yeah, I am planning on breaking out. I don't want to stay here for... what was my sentence again? A year? Well yeah, no way am I staying that long.
We entered the building and I breathed a small sigh of relief as we were assaulted by dozens of air conditioners positioned around the room. That's better...
I looked around the room and saw three people in the middle and my eyebrows rose. One was a man seated at a desk with dozens of files in front of him, and he didn't look up as we walked in, too intent on reading whatever was in front of him. From what I could see of him, I noted that he had greying brown hair and tanned, wrinkled skin, withered from age and heat. He was on the, uh... large side, but most of his bulk was hidden by the desk.
At his back stood another man who was in considerably better shape. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was possibly the buffest man I've ever seen. Seriously, his arms were like, the size of watermelons! ...Maybe a little smaller. But it gets the point across just fine. He hadwary blue eyes that, unlike the other man, were trained on us as soon as we came into view and short curly brown hair.
Finally, hovering beside the desk with a clipboard held in her hands was a pretty young woman about twenty years old who had red hair that curled down her back stylishly. I winced. To be a redhead out in the desert would guarantee a crapload of freckles within two years. She looked up at us with big hazel eyes and tapped the older man on the shoulder with a manicured nail. 'Sir...' She said. 'New arrivals.'
The man looked up and I saw that his face was just an average face, albeit aged, which wasn't what I thought I would see. Aren't these prison runner types supposed to be all tough and battle aged with a tonne of scars to show off or something? But there was no scar running across his eye or anything. Just, you know... plain skin. Totally normal. 'Which ones are these?' He asked. I frowned and glanced at Iggy. This guy was presumably the head of this place. Shouldn't he be better informed?
The man flicked his hand at the redheaded woman and she glanced down at her clipboard before looking back up at us. 'Maximum Ride, burglar, and James Griffiths, arsonist, sir.' She told him. 'They've got the cells twenty five and thirty six.' I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't considered the possibility that "Iggy" could be a nickname.
'Single cell?' The man inquired. The younger man beside him still hadn't moved an inch.
'No. They both have cell mates that'll be arriving later on today.' Cell mates. It was like a sick version of roommates.
The older man nodded slowly and turned his full attention to us. He attempted a smile, but I had to keep from grimacing at the result. Keep your mouth shut, man. Nobody wants to see those teeth. Or lack of them.
'I'm Allen Stevens, the director of Gold Creek Correctional Facility.' He said to us. 'My assistant here, Brigid Dwyer,' – he pointed at the redhead – 'will show you to your respective cells and explain the rules of the Facility on the way. Is that okay?' I nodded slowly and glanced at the woman, Brigid. She didn't look too hard to beat. Maybe I could make a break for it on the way to my cell...
Stevens seemed to know what I was thinking, because he raised an eyebrow and continued, 'My chief of guards, Ari Batchelder, will also accompany you on the way. Just so that you don't get any... ideas.'
Dammit. The man behind Stevens leered at me and Iggy and I felt my heart sink as I realised that he must be Ari Batchelder. No way was I getting past him. He'd flatten me into the floor before I'd gone two steps. I'd be a pancake. Flat. Roadkill.
Brigid beckoned to us and we walked through to the main building, Ari following us like some twisted version of a guard of honour. I was mentally beating myself up, thinking yet again about what I had gotten myself into. I was stuck here for twelve months or more. I'd be here for like, every holiday in the year. Puts a little bit of a damper on the celebrations, I reckon.
As we walked down numerous halls and corridors filled with jail cells (none of them containing anything, strangely) Brigid looked at us. 'Right.' She said. 'Rules.' I rolled my eyes. She was so official. Didn't she ever have any fun? 'During your term here at Gold Creek Correctional Facility, you will be held in the cells twenty five and thirty six. You will be given a strip search when you reach your cell,' she told us. Whoa. Strip search? But didn't that mean that we'd have to...? Ew. Just ew.
I noticed that Iggy was also looking a little uncomfortable with the procedures, but either Brigid had seen our reactions before and she was ignoring it, or she was oblivious. She just continued on, seeming unaware of our discomfort. 'You both have cell mates, who you will be meeting later on today and you have mealtimes in the mess hall three times a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You are expected to co-operate with the guards stationed at certain points in the Facility, or the consequences are... unpleasant.'
I glanced around at Ari and he grinned at me, baring teeth that unnaturally sharp, as if he had filed them down to razor points deliberately. It gave him the appearance of a shark. Or a wolf.
'You wanna run, Miss Ride?' He sneered. 'Try it. I have the best guards in the state. And plus, we're surrounded by kilometres of desert. You'll die before you get out.' I swallowed and had to bite back dozens of retorts that sprang to mind. For some reason I have the feeling it might not be the best idea to piss off someone like Ari. He was unstable.
Brigid gave him a sharp look and snapped, 'Ari! Behave! You know not to frighten the prisoners!' She glared sternly at him and he scowled but didn't object to being treated like he was twelve years old. Interesting. She turned back to us. 'As I was saying before I was interrupted, every day you are allowed an hour outside for exercise. You will be searched once a day for concealed weapons. Do you understand?' She looked at us inquiringly, and after glancing at Iggy for a moment I nodded slowly. I guess the security here was higher than I thought.
Brigid began talking again and I resisted a sigh. Couldn't she just shut up? I wasn't liking her very much so far. Far too official. 'So anyway, we're a prison, but part of our aim also is to help our residents fix their ways and help them become better people who can excel at life!' Ugh, she sounded just like one of those annoying ads that try to point out everything good in a completely crappy arrangement. The ones on the television that make you want to throw a shoe at the screen to get it to be quiet. 'Every afternoon each person has a session with an appointed psychiatrist who attempts to help them out of their criminal ways.'
Iggy glanced at me in silent amusement and I knew instantly that no amount of therapy would ever cure him of his love of fire. Sorry, psychiatrists.
'Other than these things you are generally left on your own. You may talk with your cellmate, but it is not encouraged to engage in conversation with any other prisoners. We don't want a mutiny after all.' She gave a faint smile at this and my eyebrows rose. 'You're going to get a day by yourself where you won't have to do anything, including the strip search. We'll leave you on your own. You'll get called for dinner at seven o'clock.'
Brigid came to a halt and I realised that we had reached cell twenty five. My new home. Joy.
As I examined the cell more closely, I realised how hi-tech these guys really are. The lock was freaking electronic. No keys, no nothin'.
Ari stepped forward and quickly punched in a code onto the touch screen, opening up the cell, which was decidedly less fancy than the lock. He smirked at Iggy and I. 'Only me, Brigid and the director know the pass code.' He told us gloatingly. 'Not even my guards get the privilege. You're not gonna break out anytime soon.' I frowned. Did he think that everyone was going to try and breakout or just us? 'Cause, you know, I'm still going to try it. I'm nothing if not stubborn.
He held the barred door open for me, still smirking and I walked inside slowly, willing myself not to accidentally trip him up on the way past.
Once I was inside, Ari wasted no time in slamming the door shut, creating a loud bang that echoed off the walls around us and as I turned back to them I saw that they'd already left, heading away down the corridor. As they walked further away, Iggy turned back to look at me and I waved half-heartedly at him before turning away again. I'd been half-way to making a friend here. An actual friend. But chances are that now I would never speak to him again, if I even see him. Sigh.
--
About two hours later and I'd finished examining my pitiful cell, determining the fact that there was no way out. The toilet in the corner was... you know. Just an average toilet and the window up near the top of the room was twenty centimetres on each side. Far too small for a teenager to crawl through. And there was no chance to do a MacGyver and dig myself out. Solid concrete floor.
Other than these things, the only thing adorning the room was a bunk bed with a hard mattress and holey sheets. Boy, was I looking for to sleeping in that tonight...
I was wondering when my cell mate would come. I'd been lying on the top bunk for a while now waiting for her and I was becoming increasingly impatient. They'd said she'd be here today, right? Then where was she?
As if answering my thoughts, I heard a sound down the corridor and I raised my head to look through the bars down the corridor towards where I could Brigid and Ari heading towards me with someone else by their side. Was that my cell mate?
As they neared me I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed so that I could see the three of them properly. They stopped by my cell and I heard Brigid give the same pep talk to the new comer as she'd given me. Ari unlocked the doors and let them in, and then he redhead looked up at me now and smiled. She seemed to like the new person more than she liked me. She was less stiff. 'Max – is it alright it I call you Max? – this is Monique Thomson, you're cell mate. Monique, this is Maximum Ride.'
'Hi! I'm Monique, but everyone – like, everyone – calls me Nudge, 'cause, you know, Monique is just so formal. Plus, I talk a lot, so everyone calls me Nudge coz that's what you have to do to get me to shut up most of the time, or like, totally shove me to keep me quiet. It's kinda annoying actually. Oh wow, I'm so glad I have a cell mate, I would have been so lonely if I got a single cell, because then there'd be no-one to socialise with! And that would suck. Totally. Ooh, you're so pretty! I wish I had hair like yours, it's really nice! And your eyes are totally awesome! I wish I had eyes like that, but I just have plain brown, not the pretty sort of brown like yours. And you're so tall, everyone wants a body like yours... Sooo, how come you're here instead of like, at home watching TV or something?'
I blinked. This was a criminal? You sure? Really? You haven't gotten the real law breaker mixed up with some preppy cheerleader or something? I could've been fooled.
I looked Monique – Nudge – up and down while she waited expectantly for my answer, and to be honest, I have no idea why she was calling me the pretty one. She had mocha skin and huge dark brown eyes framed by long lashes looking up at me. Her hair was a curly caramel coloured halo floating around her head, and she was tall and slim, though not as tall as me. (I totally just described a Beyonce with curly hair...)
I blinked again and looked around. Sometime during Nudge's monologue, Brigid and Ari had left and left us alone, and so I looked back at the other girl. 'Um, I robbed a warehouse.' I said honestly. 'We got caught.'
Nudge's eyes widened. I could tell just from looking at her that she was a sociable creature. She loved talking – that much was impossible to miss – and she seemed to love company. 'Really? Why did you get caught? Is that the first time you robbed it? Or, like, tried to at least. I would never be able to do something like that, I would be scared out of my wits.'
I looked at her. 'Uh, yeah, I hadn't robbed the store before. I guess we just weren't well informed about the security measures. What did you get in for?'
For a moment, her energy waned and I realised that it was a tentative topic for her that she didn't like to think about. 'Um, well, I kinda hacked into some government files.' She said and my mouth opened in an 'o' of surprise. Wow. Hacker. 'My parents thought that... well, it doesn't matter what they thought, but all three of us got caught and they got sent to jail and now I'm here.' She looked down at the ground as if she was half furious and half upset.
I frowned. If people I didn't like got upset then I wouldn't feel a thing. But on the other hand, this girl Nudge, seemed like a nice person who had just made a – a mistake, I guess. She didn't deserve to be in here.
After a few moments, Nudge looked back up again and smiled once more. Sudden mood change much? 'But anyway, that's over and done with now, so tell me! What was your old school like? Were you popular? How many parties did you go to...' She went on and on and I learned after the first two minutes that the easiest thing was just to tune her out and pretend you're listening. She didn't even notice that I had no idea what she said, even when I didn't answer one of the questions.
Normally, these sorts of girls annoyed me to no end with the fashion obsession and gossip about boys, but somehow, I didn't mind Nudge's chatter too much.
Is it possible that I just made a real friend at Gold Creek Correctional Facility?
Oh my freaking god! I cannot do anything right! How is it that I promise myself that I would have all four of them meet each other and then it doesn't happen? So typical of me. Ah well. I promise that Max will meet Fang next chapter. Promise. I just had to end it here or it would end up being too long... for me anyway.
Ugh... 3000 words of crappiness. I don't think I'm over my writer's block, but I've finished the chapter, so it's going up... plus, I don't know what I would change about this anyway. Maybe it was just meant to be a bad chapter...
Review please :)
