Chapter 11

After lunch, Tony is down in the laundry room taking care of bed sheets, towels and pillow cases. The job is a long one since it's washing the items for the whole of cell block B. At least it's not for the entire prison. But Tony needs to complete the task by himself in the allotted time given to him.

As Tony is stuffing some things from the washing machine in the dryer, Dawson and his lackeys approach the laundry room. They also have access to the sector due to jobs. Obviously, they abandoned their jobs to pay a little visit to their good friend Simon Trent, aka Tony. Two of them stay outside the room as lookouts. Dawson and the other enter into the laundry room.

"It looks you could use a hand, Simon." Dawson stated upon entering into the room.

"I got it." Tony said as he shoves the bed sheet into the dryer.

"You have so much more to do." Dawson said. "Why don't you give him a hand, Parker…"

"I don't need help."

"He doesn't need help, Dawson. Maybe our services aren't welcome." Parker said as he approaches the dryer where Tony is standing.

"That was a fun b-ball game this morning, Simon. Wouldn't you agree?" Dawson commented. "If I recall correctly, I won that game; thirteen to eight."

"Your face is pretty bruised, Simon." Parker said. "Hopefully it hurts."

"What do you guys want? I have work to do."

"So do we…" Dawson stated. "But our jobs can wait because we have more important matters to attend to."

"We going to bloody you up real good." Parker commented.

Both of them advance in Tony's direction. Tony pops the dryer door open and thrusts it open as hard as he can. The dryer door slams into Parker's chest. He falls to the floor.

Tony receives a blow to the face from Dawson's fist. He stumbles backward into the dryers. Dawson pounds his fist into Tony's gut then once again into his face. Tony falls to the floor.

Parker stands up. The two of them huddle over Tony like a pack of wolves.

They begin to pound on Tony. There's only one thing Tony can do; hold his arms up in order to protect his face from being hit.

After almost three minutes of taking a beating, Lewis Matheson enters into the laundry room. Earlier in the day, he suspected Dawson and his lackeys would try to attack his cellmate. Lewis doesn't normally care what happens to any of the other prisoners or care to get involved, but for some reason, he finds himself here. He advances on him.

Lewis kicks Parker in the back. The force of the kick causes him to slam into the dryers.

Dawson turns and immediately swings his arm. Lewis ducks under the swing of Dawson's attack. He slams his fist into Dawson's stomach then uppercuts him in the jaw.

As Parker is trying to get up, Lewis grabs him and throws him into Dawson. The two of them fall to the floor. Lewis moves in order to stand between the attackers and his cellmate.

Dawson and Parker stand up. They glare at Lewis and Lewis glares back. Parker reaches to the side and grabs a broom. Dawson reaches to the side and breaks a pipe from the wall. Now, both of them have weapons. The weapons don't concern Lewis in the least bit; he just smiles.

Dawson and Parker attack.

Several minutes later, the Warden and a couple guards enter into the laundry room. Parker is lying unconscious on the floor and Lewis has Dawson in a headlock. Tony is still hurting by the dryers from the beating he took.

At the sight of the Warden, Lewis lets go of Dawson and stands up. Dawson remains on the floor gasping for breath.

"Check on Parker." The Warden said one of his guards. The guard walks to Parker in order to check if he's alright or not. The Warden looks at Lewis. "I don't care who started this and for what reason." He begins to look around the laundry room at the mess which was made. His eyes focus in the direction of Lewis and Dawson; not looking directly at either. "What I do care about are my rules being disobeyed! When will you people finally learn I'm not fucking around?!" There's a brief pause. "Mr. Matheson… Help your cellmate up. He looks pitiful just lying there."

Lewis helps Tony to stand.

"What am I to do with you people? I lay down the rules, expect you to follow them and this is how you act." The Warden said. "This occurrence is a big 'fuck you' right to my face!" He continued. "I was made aware about Dawson and his lackeys not being where they belong. I figured this was where they would be after watching that basketball spectacle from my office. Who I didn't expect to see down here is you Mr. Matheson. Your presence is a surprise."

"Warden, I'm…" Dawson begins to say while still on the floor.

"Shut up, Dawson!" The Warden shouted. "You and your lackeys will be dealt with."

"I call for the pit!" Lewis stated in order to save the lives of Dawson and his buddies. He doesn't like Dawson and the others, but their deaths would be senseless. No man deserves a death by the hands of Apocalypse. The Warden looks at him. Lewis knows the only way the Warden won't give the four of them a death sentence is to do something drastic; something never done before. "I call for the pit. Them against me… Four against one. My right arm tied behind my back. And they get weapons of your choosing."

The Warden has an intrigued expression upon his face as he approaches Lewis.

"That would be an unfair fight…" The Warden said. "Don't you think, Mr. Matheson?" There's a brief pause as the Warden leans in closer. "Too bad they have no idea what they're going up against. No idea what you're capable of with your training. Four thugs against one ex Navy SEAL with one arm tied behind his back. Not much of a chance on their part. But interesting none-the-less… It should be punishment enough for their disobedience. Congratulations Mr. Matheson. You just saved their lives."

The Warden turns around and walks a couple steps away from Lewis.

"Untie the two lookouts. In one hour, bring them all to the pit." The Warden commanded.

"The pit? I thought our pit privileges…" Dawson begins to say as he stands.

"They are." The Warden said. "Mr. Matheson is the pit champion, which means the pit privileges I took away don't apply to him. How can he defend his title if his privileges have been taken away? And how can he defend his title without practice? Not like he needs it, but I'm sure you won't disagree with four against one, Mr. Dawson. And one of Mr. Matheson's arms will be tied behind his back while you get weapons of my choosing."

"Four against one, eh…?" Dawson can hardly believe how much Lewis thinks of his fighting abilities. He can't believe Lewis' arrogance; well, what he believes to be arrogance. He looks at Lewis. "You just made a huge mistake, Champ."

"I'm sure I did." Lewis said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

An hour later, Dawson and his lackeys, Lewis and Tony are escorted to the pit. Tony is there because the Warden is allowing him to watch the match. The only other spectators are the Warden himself and a couple guards; including Gibbs.

Dawson, his lackeys and Lewis jump down into the pit. A guard climbs down the ladder in order to tie Lewis' right arm behind his back.

The guard exits from the pit. The Warden's choice of weapons for Dawson and his lackeys are tossed into the pit. They take hold of the weapons. The five of them wait on the Warden's word.

"Let game begin." The Warden said.

Dawson and his lackeys attack.

Tony and Gibbs watch the match. The spectacle is clearly one-sided in Lewis' favor as his SEAL training is making it appear to be easy. Both of them are amazed at the level of skill Lewis is exhibiting in this fight. They can't help but admire every movement of Lewis as each move is swift, aggressive and effective against the enemy, yet at the same time, graceful.

The match lasts for the duration of several minutes. Lewis Matheson comes out victorious over Dawson and his lackeys who lie on the floor of the pit in bloody, almost unconscious messes. But at least they're alive; unlike what they would've been with the alternative.