The air seemed to change as they passed through the metal bars into onto the wing, Zoe could feel the blood thumping rhythmically deep inside her own head as they climbed the stairs, by-passing the heaving mass of women. Still they were shouting, but the noise was so loud that no words could be made out.
She followed Henry who in turn followed an armed policeman, up to the second floor and to a closed cell door. A prison guard bolted shut the gate that led down to the first floor, standing against it and watching the throb of women below.
"They're in there."
The police man's voice was muffled from under his visor, he placed a hand on the hatch that lifted to show the peep hole in the door and slid it open, Henry bent to see as he did so but the police man pushed him back with such a force that he stumbled against the wall, Zoe reaching out to steady him.
"Don't put your face near it..."
Was all he said, but that was enough, the warning was enough to send a ice cold shiver across the nape of Zoe's neck.
The policeman banged on the cell door.
"Step away from the door!"
He shouted, his words seeming to echo beneath the plastic visor.
There was a shuffling noise from the other side of the door and the dull thud of something being dragged across the floor just under the door.
The officer held up a mirror to the peep hole which was no bigger than his thumb, Zoe watched the reflection scanning the room, a bed, a window, then the flicker of blonde hair, the pale flesh of a forehead before it ducked from view.
No reply, the sound from below was getting louder, the howl and shriek of wronged women, the cackles and shrill laughter of delight as someone toppled an armed guard.
Zoe could feel the soft tremor of her heartbeat in her throat, the palms of her hands felt moist with sweat and her lips were parted, her breath seeming shallower, her body tense.
The officer moved the mirror again.
"Can you confirm there are no persons in front of the door?"
He spoke louder, pressing himself against the cool green metal of the door, trying to twist himself to see any more of the room in the mirror.
He motioned for the prison guard that had led them upstairs to open the door, without a sound she moved toward them and placed the key in the lock, she paused, meeting resistance.
"She's stuffed it."
She spoke under her breath, withdrawing the key, finding it wet at the tip, she touched it, her fingers showing red.
"Is that...?"
Zoe asked, catching the glint of crimson on the key, on the guards fingers.
She felt Henry place a hand on hers, his long fingers squeezing her own, she let him, grateful for a moment.
An alarm started, a constant ear splitting ring, someone downstairs screamed above it, Zoe glanced down, bodies were moving, the women had broken free, like a bubbling mass of flesh they bit, fought and kicked their way free from the guards, blood spattered casualties in their wake, both officers and prisoners.
The guard moved back over to the gate leading downstairs, her top lip glinting with sweat in the acid yellow of the overhead strip lighting. The women were moving up, someone threw a metal sign, the gate shuddered against it.
Someone had torn a key from the uniform of another prison officer, they held up the key like a trophy above their heads, waving it as they climbed the stairs. The officer pushed her key into the lock, pushing her full body weight against it from the other side to prevent them from getting in.
The police man banged hard on the cell door.
"If you don't step away from the door I will have no choice but to break it down."
He shouted as loudly as he could, his body pushed against the side of the door, listening for a reply.
"If you do it I'll kill her!"
Came the response, an eerily cool response from inside the cell, only just heard over the sudden drumming of hands on the pool table below, and someone broke into a lewd song on the landing beneath them.
The policeman glanced over to where the guard was single handedly holding the gate closed against the barricade of sweating, screaming bodies.
He moved away from the door.
"Do your best."
He shouted.
"She needs back up."
He left the door, left Zoe and Henry standing on the landing in front of the cell as he went to help hold the women back.
Henry moved first, placing a hand on the door and leaning into it tentatively.
"Can you tell me who needs help, we've had reports of a casualty..."
For once Henry stumbled over his words, visibly panicked by the impending attack from the ground level beneath them.
The woman beyond the door laughed, and pressed her eye up against the peep hole, a piercing blue eye that flicked between them.
"I told him before, I'm not talking to a pigging man."
The eye moved to Zoe, pausing briefly before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
Henry moved away from the door, his gaze lingering on it before turning to Zoe, raising his hands as if silently asking what to do.
She moved toward the door, ushering him out of the way. Pressing herself against the cool metal of it, her lips brushing against it as she shouted through, the green chipped paint tickling her lips as she shouted.
"I need you to talk to me, I need you to tell me what's going on?"
The eye appeared again, inches from Zoe's own face, staring at her, unblinking.
"You're only going to make this worse for yourself, the longer you stay in here..."
Zoe tried to keep the nerves from her voice, her eyes unmoving from the cool stare of the woman behind the door.
"It's her whose made this worse for me!"
She spat, finally some emotion behind the voice.
"What do you mean?"
Zoe asked, straining to hear above the crash of the pool table below being over turned.
"'Cause I trusted her and she lied to me!"
The prisoner answered, her anger seeming to grow as she spoke.
"Who is 'she'?"
Zoe asked, hearing a soft gulping noise from behind the door, followed by the swift kick of a foot into flesh.
"The Guvenor. Porter. It's her fault."
A moan sounded from behind the door again as she spoke.
Zoe watched as the eye at the door began to move back so she could see most of her face, white blonde hair curled at her forehead, sticking to the sweat and blood smears across her cheek.
"Can you tell me how many other people are in there with you?"
Zoe called, straining her voice to make it louder again. She saw the woman beyond smile slowly, looking down at whoever it was against the door.
"Just her..."
She moved her eyes to the far side of the room.
"And him."
She added.
"Who is he?"
Zoe asked slowly, the prisoner took a moment to respond.
"They know who. I told her he was beating me up but she didn't listen."
She looked to Zoe again, a new, defensive expression in her eyes, she moved forwards to the door hurriedly and Zoe felt her whole body lurch away from it.
The prisoner laughed softly.
"I told them, but they didn't listen."
She said again.
"Now you'll just have to imagine what I'm going to do next..."
She smiled again, disappearing for a second before a blood soaked rag was violently shoved into the small round peep hole, filling it.
Zoe looked towards Henry who was looking over at the women on the stairs, armed police were pulling them back, handfuls of hair ripped from scalps, clothes torn, fingers and nails scratching deep into flesh, drawing blood.
Henry hailed the armed guard with a wave of his arm.
"We've got to get word downstairs. If the fire crew can get up to the window they could use the hose to knock her back so we can get in."
Henry spoke just loud enough for the guard to hear, Zoe glanced towards the door, the bloody rag poking out like a severed finger from the peep hole.
"From that range they'll burn the skin off of her?!"
She hissed, looking to Henry, her eyes flicking from him to the door.
"We haven't got time for soft options, there are two officers in danger in there..."
He watched the disapproval surface beneath her eyes.
"But she's armed isn't she? If they put ladders up she'll know, surely the others will warn her? It might just push her over the edge?"
Zoe spoke as quietly as she dared, glancing every now and then at the door, as if she could sense that the woman beyond it was listening at the door, hearing every word.
"Or maybe it will make her realise that we will get in, with her permission or without..."
Henry shouted, his gaze lingering on the green cell door, his jaw set, determined.
Hello everyone! I'm so sorry I have missed a couple of updates. My 3 year old has been refusing to go to sleep so I've been up with her and by the time she eventually goes to sleep I'm too tired to do anything. So sorry, but thank you all so much for the lovely comments. Hopefully I will manage two longer updates tomorrow xxx
