Chapter XX: Extinguish the Flame
"Medical assistance required in the kitchen, this is a code black. Medical assistance required in the kitchen."
Two hours earlier...
"How is the prisoner?" Vera asked as she stared at an incapacitated Tina Mercado who had been found by a guard who was patrolling around the complex. It was obvious that this was a deliberate attack, one Vera knew would happen, but she was simply thankful that it wasn't that bad that her body was being carted out of Wentworth in a body bag. However, Vera warned herself, there was still time for that, and even though she did not like Mercado due to her constant drug peddling, her responsibility was for all of the women.
"She's stable. It is worse than it looks, I've checked her over. She has two fractured ribs that should heal with 4-5 weeks, but she needs to rest. She also has a broken nose caused by a blow to the face which is also evident by swelling to her eye. It was a deliberate attack, and we should keep her under observation for at least three weeks. It's obvious that she is under immediate danger" Radcliffe said as she took a sip of her coffee. "She also has a split lip, but I've managed to stitch it up. They'll go within a week or so" she said as she went to go and take a seat at her desk.
"I'm considering placing her into protection, but I can't do it without her approval. Is she awake?" Bennett asked, trying to put pressure on the nurse. She needed to have this conversation with Mercado, before she ended up with a dead body on her hands. "She's lucid, yes. But she needs rest" Radcliffe warned as she exited medical abruptly. Vera paced over slowly to find Tina in a bad state. It was obvious from the guard's report and from her own visuals that Tina had been attacked by multiple people. But no one would lag and tell her.
"Mercado" Vera whispered, the woman turning her head over to the governor. She scoffed, her ego not even damaged before she turned her head the other way. "This will never end if you let yourself be imminent to this danger" Vera said with absolutely no conviction. She knew that Mercado was a lost cause and was not going to listen to her. "I can put you into protection and you can be safe for the rest of your sentence" she uttered, Mercado finally turning her head so that she could stare smugly at the governor. "Listen. I do not help screws, neither do I talk to them" she spat in a snarkier tone. Vera crossed her arms, no longer interested in having a conversation that she knew the response was going to be.
"Babe, did you hear about Tina?" Allie whispered to Bea as her head lay in her girlfriend's lap as they watched some television. Bea looked down at Allie before looking around and leaning down. "I saw it. The D Block girls were kicking the shit out of her" she said as Allie gasped and sat up straight. She positioned herself on the couch to look at Bea before Maxine came in. "Tina's in medical" the tall brunette said as she pointed behind her. "I know. I know" Bea uttered, Allie looking surprised. "Why were the D Block girls kicking off at her?" the young blonde said, still shocked by this admission. "They think that Tina's responsible for them getting extra charges" Bea said, Maxine nodding.
"Fuck" Allie said under her breath, though not feeling sympathy for her. "D'you reckon she'll even last long if that's the case?" she asked, Bea shaking her head. "It's only a matter of time. Bea and Kaz both knew this was going to happen. It's just who she'll blame for her bashing. She won't put it on those girls, she'll put it on the ex-leader of those girls" Maxine said, her street-wise manner coming out. "Sonia" they all said.
Sonia was busy chopping carrots when she was approached by a young girl flanked by four of her allies. The young girl called Lucy cleared her throat to announce her arrival. Sonia spun around, her paranoia within her expecting an attack, turned round to see the young girls in an un-aggressive grouping. "We want you to finish Tina" Lucy said, Sonia looking upon in shock. "Excuse me?" she asked, surprised. "We want you to finish Tina. We've got her in medical, she's not going anywhere. It's time to get your own back" Lucy said, agitated at not having a confirmation yet.
"No...I'm not taking a life" Sonia said defensively. Lucy shook her head and smiled sarcastically. "Where the fuck was she when you were getting beaten to shit by Bea Smith and Kaz Proctor?" Lucy spat, aggravated. "That's in the past for a reason" Sonia said coolly, "I'm not interested in the game of power anymore". "She sold you out y'know" one of the other girls said, making the lie up on the spot, "She fucking sold you out to Kaz and Bea so that they'd get top dog. And you played right into her hand" she affirmed. Sonia, surprisingly, believed this lie. "What?" Sonia asked, feeling anger inside her now rising.
Lucy just nodded, not wanting to add more heat to the fire and see Sonia spiral out of control. "I can't believe that Asian inferior bitch!" Sonia said as she stabbed the knife into the chopping board. "She's out for blood, Sonia. If it's not her, it'll be you dead. Mark my words. And apparently she's got a new business partner" she lied. Sonia threw off her gloves and went in search of Ms. Miles, for she would be needing her later if she was going to teach Mercado her final lesson.
"We'll see how it goes then yeah? We don't know if she'll actually go through with killing Mercado" Lucy whispered, loud enough for Bea to hear when she was walking past her in the hallway. Bea immediately stopped in her tracks. 'Shit' she thought as she headed straight over to H3 in an attempt to find Kaz Proctor.
Kaz had heard that Tina Mercado had ended up in medical, not to her surprise. She knew that it was simply only a matter of time before somebody took action against her for earning certain inmates extended sentences, yet somebody was not trying to find out the person who lagged on them. The older blonde could only presume that they believed it was Tina, and that that was the reason for her brutal beating that delivered her into a long-term stay in medical.
Kaz had just started reading a newspaper about a guy who had been arrested for beating his wife savagely in public when she saw Bea looking worried, pacing into her unit. "Sonia's going after Tina. She's going to kill her and we need to find out how" Bea said, panting for breath. "The meat cleaver that she has in her cell" Kaz guessed, Bea nodding. "Fuck" she said, still gasping for breath. "We need to find Ms. Miles"
Linda had had a good day so far. She'd managed to make a profit at the dogs by nearly gambling half of her salary this month. Now she was quids in. And to make things even better, Sonia Stevens had promised to put 2000 dollars in her bank, simply for letting her and Mercado have a late-night conversation in the kitchen. She was oblivious to their rivalry, thinking that they were still friends, she agreed. Yet she did not take into consideration that the reason Stevens had put her price up so high was to tempt her into letting her do it in the first place. It was not in Linda's agenda and manifesto to quiz her ulterior motive for this meeting for Mercado; it was simply a case of keeping your mouth shut and your hand out for the money. That was simply it, and so far, it had not got her in trouble, but in a great amount of profit.
She was doing her rounds around the prison, when the two infamous top dogs came up to her and confronted her. "Oi Smiles, I want to know something" Kaz said with a smile, her pride ego showing, Linda smirking at her at the peculiarity of the attitude of the two inmates. "And what might that be?" she replied defensively, wanting to know what the hell it was that they both wanted. "We want to know what time Stevens is going to meet Mercado" Bea said with a smile, not expecting a reply at all. Miles was the sort of person that would reflect everything that was asked of her until the intention was very clear to her.
"And what would I know about that? This is not girl guides, I don't know who does anything with what" Linda replied, shaking her head. "We know that you're the dirtiest screw around so due to our mutual agreement, we thought maybe...you'd tell us" Bea whispered, Linda looking left to right in the corridor, making sure that there were no inmates or fellow screws so that they could eavesdrop on the conversation.
"3AM" Linda said, shrugging her shoulders. "Now I suggest you move on before people start to pick up on something" she ordered, but with no conviction. Bea started to walk away when Kaz grabbed her shoulder. "We want to know where" Kaz said, Linda laughing at her. "You think everything comes for nothing? I want an offer" Smiles whispered, Bea looking to Kaz and exchanging a look. "Fifty" Kaz said, Linda nodding her head. "The kitchen" she replied, Bea looking at Smiles. "You'll know when to come and collect us then. Straight after you've gone to take them to the kitchen" the redhead said, Linda nodding. The two of them made themselves scarce, not wanting to draw suspicion.
Sonia reached underneath her bed to find her usual hiding spot for her meat cleaver, which she'd managed to get a hold of during the prison riot ages ago. She found it to be taped with gum, something which hinted at the fact that somebody had been around, snooping in her cell. "Tina I bet" Sonia thought out loud as she lifted the panel to find her beloved chosen weapon, right in front of her. She picked up the blade by the handle, and admired at it.
The silverness of the blade, the texture of the handle, and its overall sharpness. Sonia pondered on how it resembled her so much: a hardened exterior, looks that could kill, and admired by all. Sonia chuckled to herself as she realised how familiar she was with holding a weapon like this. During her contemplation, she failed to see Bea looking into her cell, noticing that she had the weapon out. "Fuck" Bea said under her breath as she hurriedly paced back to the safe comforts of H1.
A few hours later...
"Mercado. With me" Miles said as she folded her arms and led on the side of the door frame to medical. The Asian girl looked very disturbed at having being woken up in the middle of the night, but knew that she was weak and feeble, and therefore knew that it was better to not cross the woman. After all, she had done her a few favours. The girl woke up and limped over to the guard who conveniently walked in front of her as if leading a dog.
Tina decided to go ahead and just follow Miles, it was better to do so. She also knew that she would not put her in any danger knowingly, with the knowledge that this could cost her job. As she continued the struggle behind the guard, she noticed that she was being led to the kitchen. Why the hell was Miles taking her there? She decided to not act verbally on her concerns, and to just follow her.
Ten minutes later...
"Allie, I have to go" Bea said as she kissed her lover. "I'm coming with you" Allie said, grabbing her hand. Bea knew that there was no point in arguing with her girlfriend when Kaz would just defend her honour. "Fine. Come on then" Bea said, Allie smiling as they left the cell and waited for Miles to come and take them to the kitchen. Bea didn't know what they were getting themselves into, but she just hoped that it wouldn't get her girlfriend in danger. After a few minutes, Linda came round the corner with Kaz and unlocked the gate quietly. "Let's go" she said as the alarm sounded deafeningly around the prison infrastructure.
"Medical assistance required in the kitchen, this is a code black. Medical assistance required in the kitchen."
A few minutes earlier...
"Here you are" Miles said as she left Mercado in front of Stevens. She decided to make herself scarce for the meeting, tending not to get involved with the inmates meetings. "So, you send the dogs after the meat, eh?" Mercado laughed as she stood in front of Tina. Sonia just smiled to herself. "You sold me out you backstabbing bitch. And I don't know what the fuck is in your code, but it certainly isn't loyalty, is it?" Sonia asked provocatively, Tina confused at this statement. "I think you're going crazy, old lady. I simply do business contracts" Tina said as she leaned on the counter.
"You're lucky your still alive. The Jackal wanted me to finish you. You didn't adhere to your contract when you should have!" Tina spat, now full with anger. "How dare you! You sold me out to Kaz Proctor and Bea Smith. You are the one who didn't adhere to their contract!" Sonia said, now red in the face with anger. "Shut up old woman. You are the reason why I got beaten up. You sent the girls to finish me, but it did not work. You will now pay, and I will now finish you" Tina said with conviction, pulling the small blade out of her sock. Sonia laughed loudly, Tina surprised that she showed absolutely no intimidation. Sonia simply pulled out a meat cleaver and swung it in the air to demonstrate its full force, leaving a very bewildered Tina.
Tina launched at Sonia first, Tina twisting Sonia's hand so that she dropped the blade. Sonia managed to get the upper hand by kicking Tina on the kneecap, and then stamping on her hand so that she also dropped her shiv. Sonia managed to pin Tina down by the shoulders with her kneecaps before landing devastating left and right hooks on Tina's face. Tina managed to lift her knee up so that it connected with Sonia's crotch, making her crumple in pain. Tina quickly stumbled over to the panic button, just managing to press it in time before Sonia came up behind her and put her in a headlock, before Tina wiggled her way out and kicked Sonia in the stomach, pushing her backwards as she picked up her blade.
"Fuck!" Linda shouted as the four of them bolted their way down to the kitchen. As they made their way down, the two of them could be heard to be fighting from down the corridor. As Linda opened the door, the two of them had obviously been in a fist fight, but the vision of their weapons were both real. "What the fuck!" Miles shouted, Allie pushing her out of the door. "Leave it!" the young blonde shouted as Bea and Kaz watched on nervously.
"Oh look, we have a fucking audience? Arrange this, did you Tina?" Sonia screamed, Tina shaking her head at the audacity. "You can get some as well!" Tina lunged at Bea. Bea automatically defended herself by sidestepping and launching an uppercut on Tina's chin. This sent the girl backwards before she saw Kaz being man-handled by Sonia. Allie was trying to get involved but was screaming so loud so that it was deafening to all.
Bea managed to suffocate Sonia, however, she nearly managed to clip Bea on the knee with the cleaver. Bea released her grip before pushing Allie and Kaz behind her in a protective huddle. Sonia swung at Bea again who managed to defend herself by ducking and rugby-tackling Sonia, Kaz going over to make sure that Tina was surely incapacitated. Tina had managed to swing at Kaz and she was knocked to the ground, so as Allie came to her defence, she managed to jab Tina in the ribs multiple times, then grabbing her hair and throwing her across the kitchen.
Sonia and Bea were wresting on the floor violently, before Sonia managed to overpower Bea by choking her whilst she was held on top of her. Kaz managed to crawl on all fours before grabbing Sonia by the hair and knocking her head on the floor multiple times before looking over at Allie who, by some luck, had managed to not even been hurt yet. Allie walked over to Bea who was gripping at her neck, struggling to breathe. Tina had picked herself up before grabbing Allie's head and smashing it against the kitchen counter.
As if full by energy, Bea launched herself at Tina, smashing her left, right and centre, and simply would not stop. Not until Sonia had got herself up yet again and had grabbed her by the hair. Luckily, she had managed to forget the blade that was on the floor which she left by Kaz knocking her head to the floor. She took Bea down to the floor and then went to go and grab her knife. Just as she was about to slice Bea's neck, Allie walked in front of the blade to try and save her, but in a counter-action, Bea rugby-tackled Allie to the floor, as she heard a deafening scream rattle the room, as she saw Tina try to grab Bea, but instead, got caught up in the crossfire.
Kaz was screaming her lungs out, having never have ever, seen something so violent in her life. Luckily for them, neither Bea or Allie saw the blade connecting to her neck, but Bea could've sworn that she had memories of both Jacs and Brayden as she saw Tina's lifeless body slump in a pool of blood on the floor.