Chapter III: Prison
Tensions at the fortress prison were high that day. The Guards were nervous, and the prisoners knew that something was about to happen.
"Hey!" A prisoner, a large, and strongly built man with Krimzon Guard tattoos on his face yelled at a passing guard. "Hey you, Jackass!"
The Guard paused and glared at the prisoner angrily. "What is it, Sorus?
The prisoner, or Sorus, asked. "Something's happening. What's going on?"
"We're getting a new batch of prisoners… five of them." The young guard answered.
"You hear that guys?" Sorus called out to the rest of the prisoners. "New blood!"
All the prisoners began making a bunch of noise at once. "All you fuckers better shut-up!" The Guard ordered. "Or I'll make bitches out of every one of you!"
"What would your mommy say if she heard you use that sort of language?" Sorus sneered. Sorus had crossed the holy line with this last comment, no one mentioned the guard's mother. He pushed the butt of his rifle though the bars and struck Sorus in the face. Sorus hardly flinched, he'd been in prison for three years and he was used to getting the crap beaten out of him. The Guard stormed away without a word.
"Ha! There ain't nobody in this prison that can fuck the guards like Sorus!" A man in the next cell said.
"Shut-up!" A man down the way said. "Here come the new bitches!"
A legion of Krimzon Guards walked down the hallway flanking five people in their new prison outfits. First, a man who stared defiantly ahead, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was a hardass. The second was a slightly overweight man who looked close to tears. The next two walked down the hall in a casual way that suggested that they had spent time in prison before. But it was the last one that caused Sorus to gasp.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, "He's only a boy!"
Indeed, a boy with green/blonde hair, that looked no older than seventeen, was marched along at the end of the group. His eyes were downcast, almost as if from shame. The group disappeared from view and the prisoners immediately began their favorite game: Betting on which of the newbies would be the first to cry. Someone always broke down and cried the first night…
"The kid, without a doubt." The man across the way from Sorus said. "Prison ain't no place for kids."
"The fat guy was already close to tears." Someone else pointed out. "What do you think, Sorus?"
"I think the kid will break down first." Sorus said. "After all, he's just a kid. He'll be crying for his mommy by nightfall."
Soon after, the newbies were returned and put into cells. By chance, the kid ended up in an empty cell next to Sorus. It had been emptied earlier that week as a result of an 'accident' as the Guards put it. Sorus knew that the former owner had been beaten to death.
The seasoned prisoners began to work at lowering the morale of their 'chosen ones.' "Hey you, Kid!" Sorus called though the bars. The kid didn't answer, but he ignored him. "Hey, answer me, Dammit!" Still the Kid ignored him. "Hey, Kid, don't worry. Prison ain't so bad. Sure, you might become somebody's bitch, but you get use to it after awhile."
In a nearby cell, there was a sudden wail. Sorus sighed, it was the fat guy. "And we have a winner!" The man in the cell across from Sorus proclaimed.
The fat guy got up and put his face near the bars. "Let me out of here!" He cried. "I don't belong here! I'm innocent!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Sorus ordered. "Do you want the Guards to beat the crap out of you?"
The fat guy ignored him. "Please, let me out of here!"
Unfortunately for the fat guy, the Guard in charge came in. "Just what the fuck is going on in here?"
"Please, let me out of here!" The fat guy pleaded. "I'm innocent!"
"I don't give a rat's ass who's innocent and who's not!" The Guard spat, but the fat guy was far beyond reasoning at this point.
"You don't understand, I'm not suppose to be here!"
"Shut up!" Someone yelled.
"That's it!" The Guard spat. He grabbed his weapon and aimed at the fat guy, Sorus closed his eyes. There was a loud BANG and a cry of pain. The prisoners had gone deathly quiet. Seven more times the gun fired and seven more cries of pain, each one getting weaker and weaker. Finally, the last shot sounded, there was a horrible splattering sound and the sound of a body falling limp to the ground.
Sorus looked up at the body, the Guard's last shot had blown the man's brains out. The Guard put his weapon away, everything was silent. "Clean this shit up." The Guard ordered some other Guards that had ran in at the sound of gunshots. Sorus turned to look at the Kid; he had watched the scene unfold with horror evident on his face. "Now…" The Guard said, turning to the rest of the prisoners. "If I hear so much as one sneeze coming from here the rest of the night, I'm going to personally put all you fuckers though a round with this here gun!" The Guard threatened. The prisoners knew he wasn't kidding. Most of them carried out bullet wounds from one of his previous rages, so no one dared to make a sound. "Good." The Guard spat. "Good-night, ladies."
With that, the Guard left, leaving the other Guards to clean up the dead man's body. They dragged it down the hall, trailing blood and brain juice.
Some of the prisoners sat up all night, Sorus was one of them, and the Kid was another. Sorus waited the whole night, not once did the Kid make a sound.
The next day, the hot topic of the day was the 'newbies' crimes. And the story most sought after was the Kid's story. While the others had told their story, ranging from treason, murder, to simple theft, the Kid didn't answer any questions. He simply ignored everyone. No one, not even the Guards knew why he was there so, naturally, rumors began to pop up.
"I've heard…" The man in the cell to the left of Sorus said quietly so that the Kid couldn't hear. "That he's a murderer that killed his whole family, that's why he doesn't talk!"
Sorus looked at the Kid in question. He didn't know anything about him, but he could practically see the child-like innocent radiating from him. Sorus snorted. "Does that look like a mass murderer to you?"
The man looked at the Kid as if seeing him for the first time. "No." He said. "In fact… he looks like a pansy."
"No." Sorus said. "He didn't make a sound last night, so that shows that he's tough. He's a fighter."
Sorus got up and stood next to the bars between his and the Kid's cage. "Hey, Kid, I was an ass to you yesterday, but don't take it personal. I'm Sorus. What's your name?" Once again, the Kid didn't answer. "Okay…" Sorus sighed. "So… why don't you talk?"
For the first time since he arrived, the Kid made eye contact with someone, which happened to be Sorus. He slowly pointed to his throat, shaking his head from side to side.
Sorus was confused for a second, but then he understood. "Oh! You're a mute, huh?" The Kid nodded. "Well, I guess you are always going to be called 'Kid', Kid." Sorus said, leaning closer to the bars. "Listen here, Kid, here's some free advice: You reek of innocence. That ain't a good thing. You need to toughen up or you WILL become somebody's bitch. Here in prison, there are only two types of people: hardasses and bitches. You'll need to choose, one way or the other.
The Kid turned away, brow furrowed in thought.
That afternoon, Jak sat quietly in his cell on the advice that a prisoner named Sorus gave him. 'Hardasses or bitches. You'll need to choose, on way or the other.' Given the choice, Jak wouldn't have made that choice at all, but he had to. The cold-blooded murder of his fellow prisoner had hit him hard. That man had been weak and innocent, and now he was dead with nine bullet holes in him. Jak glared up at the bars. I will not be weak! Jak vowed to himself. I will not be vulnerable!However, Jak didn't realize that he was glaring at a passing Guard.
"Hey, what are you glaring at, ass-wipe?" The Guard demanded. Jak snapped to attention. "Answer me, Dammit!"
"Hey," Sorus called from the next cell. "He's a mute…"
"Shut the fuck up!" The Guard yelled in an angry rage. "You need to learn that you don't glare at me!" The Guard opened the door to Jak's cell and raised the butt of his rifle to bring it down on Jak's face. Jak instinctively moved to avoid the blunt object, but it didn't work out as well as he planned. While the weapon missed Jak's face, it had still come in contact with Jak. The butt of the rifle caught him right in the throat.
Red spots erupted in Jak's vision as the pain overwhelmed him, sending him on all fours. He coughed and a mouthful of blood came up, he spit it on the ground. Tears welled up, but Jak forced them down, he would not be vulnerable. Nothing could stop the blood, however. He spat out another mouthful while the Guard watched.
"My, I bet that hurt." The Guard sneered. "I hope you've learned your lesson. The next time you glare at me like that, I'll use the other end of my gun!" With that, the Guard locked Jak, still coughing up blood, in his cell and walked away.
"Kid, you alright?" Sorus asked from the next cell.
Jak continued to cough up blood, but with the blood came… an inaudible word!
"What did you say?" Sorus asked, amazed.
"ACK!" Jak responded, not a word, but a sound. Then, he started a little bit stronger. "My… name… is… Jak…"
LES: Jak can talk! Yeahness! It was the blow; it fixed whatever was wrong with Jak. See, I don't like how, in most stories, Jak 'magically' gets his talking ability.