(Chapter 9: Obedience through pain)
It was across the bridge over in Annesburg, three indians had been hiding out in the uncharted wilderness across the Lannahechee River. These three native americans had been on the run from the law, for countless many years as of now. They didn't stick in one spot to settle, they frequently moved around the land to live. They began their journey of vengeance against the law enforcement and the expanding civilization by breaking free of their prisons and going on a ruthless killing spree to rescue the inmates, as it turned out however. These indians had no care of these inmates, they all just wanted to be free.
The native americans went across the land, murdering the sheep and goats of every ranch they happened to come across. They donned a goat skull hat and wore wool clothing, they were essentially wolves in sheeps clothing in the case if that old phrase was to come to life. This would get the three into trouble, bounties were on the heads of all three of them. They fought against the law when they had to, the good thing for them was that they were well hidden.
They killed because of their hatred for a civilized land, they hated large cities, they hated towns of even the smallest size. These three would rather live like hunter gatherers and they shown their savage behavior towards it. They knew that the rapid expanding civilization was inevitable, they would not stop until every settlement was destroyed.
They lived in lands West of the Grizzlies Mountains, living in the central United States when many towns pushed them towards the East. The indians would face against a BlackJack camp in a large snowy area, they continued to go against the BlackJacks as they headed up in the mountains. The high altitude proved it hard to fight in yet the three native americans prevailed. They weren't a tribe, they were a resistance group, or that is what they seen themselves as.
"If these pigs don't leave this heavily guarded area, we'll never be able to make a move." One of them growled, the leader of this three man tribe would respond.
"Calm yourself War Eagle, don't stray from our mission. I've got an idea in mind, we head for Sisika Penitentiary."
War Eagle and the other native american gave their leader a surprised look, they weren't expecting such an answer. Going to Sisika Penitentiary was suicide for just three people.
"Are you sure about this, RainWater?" The other indian questioned, the leader nodded as he sharpened his spear.
"We strike, and then we vanish into the day amidst the chaos."
The three native americans began to make their way towards the prison island on horseback, riding through the hills of Annesburg to go undetected by the law or from any passerby, at the same time. Bill, Rebecca, along with FireMaker and the soldiers from Fort Wallace, they all was making their way towards the prison island.
(Location: Sisika Penitentiary)
"Get up, get up you sons of bitches!" William shouted through the window of a prison block, shooting his revolver into the air to wake the inmates up.
"I hate this racist motherfucker.." Dred, an african american inmate growled. Dred was viewed as the lead inmate among all of the african american prisoners.
Dred sworn vengeance and violence upon William Barlow, he hated the fact, that a confederate flag had been raised in the air as well as an American one. It told Dred that Barlow was playing both sides, and that the racist bastard was doing well with it.
A heavy set guard approached the prison block, and opened the doors for them to make their leave for more intense work labor.
"Get up all you coons and pieces of white scum!" the obese guard shouted, looking at all the inmates.
"We are trash, you're just a fat sack of shit." Jack Marston growled as he sat up from his cold bunk bed in which he shared with Dred Johnson , he was forced to bunk with him. Dred, and Jack seen themselves as partners, leaders in their own right.
The inmates made their way out of the prison block to go eat breakfast, the food served at the prison was horrid. The guards gave no shit about it either, they made the meals horrible on purpose.
"I wish we can all be free from this hellhole!" Jeremiah shouted with a hint of weakness in his voice, he had been starved from the day before and was showing signs of slowing down..
Jack was behind Jeremiah in the single file chain gain line, as they walked, Jack got an idea.
"I've got a gang I have formed in recent weeks, we will get out of here. I promise." Jack said quietly, not wanting the guards to hear him.
"How are we getting out of here?" Jeremiah groaned, his stomach at this point, begging for food, and his ankles feeling the pressure of the heavy chains locked tightly around his feet.
"I don't know, but we will. God isn't going to let this torment slide." Jack would respond.
A few grueling minutes of walking went by, the slow ones to be whipped on the bare back. Jack could not handle it, he hated hearing the inmates moaning their lives away, he hated hearing them beg for mercy, he hated hearing their screams of agony as welts would burst from too much pressure from the sting of the whip. He only wished them to be free, hopefully soon.
Jack wasn't in the prison for long either, for the couple of weeks he had been there, it was absolute hell for him, worse for the african american prisoners. White prisoners were spared, but very slightly. Almost everyone got the same amount of punishment and pain from the guards.
The hot sun beat down upon them all, making them sweat and thirsty for water. The guards didn't listen to their desperate cries, some would collapse. Those that collapsed would either be forced to get up, if they refused, death was given. The conditions were similar to those of concentration camps, which would make their dreadful appearance several years later.
Jack's chain gang would be the lucky ones to make it to the food court, they all sat down at the same table. The guards did not unchain them all, they didn't trust the inmates, and rightfully so. All of the inmates wanted to kill the guards and the owner of the prison, the guards and William Barlow knew it all too well.
Jeremiah would be given a small bowl of porridge as well as some dirty looking water. Dred would be given raw meat, one he didn't dare eat because it looked so nasty. The rebellious african american prisoner slowly raised his head at the guard that gave him the tiny plate of dead meat.
"Raw meat? What do you think I am? A fucking dog?" Dred growled, only to have the butt of a rifle smashed into his skull.
"All of you darkies are nothing but dogs, besides had this been before the times of the civil war. You all would be kissing the ground near our feet, the pathetic slaves." The guard said with a devious, smart ass grin on his face.
"You sick bastards!" Jack growled, springing up only to be jerked down on his ass due to the heavy ball and chain holding him down.
It was all coming to a boiling point, the constant trash talk from the guards, the horrible food and hospitality, the working conditions, the overall time at the penitentiary, lines would soon be crossed..
"Dred, I've got some porridge. Would you like to have it, I'd rather be with my brother in Heaven than in prison." Jeremiah asked, showing the leader of the african americans his bowl of porridge.
"No, I'm fine. You need your strength Jeremiah, you are too good of a man to die." Dred said in response, waving his hand at the bowl to sign that he didn't want it.
"Fine then, I'm not wanting to be here anymore. I don't have the strength to live, I don't find any reason to draw breath." Jeremiah groaned as he weakly took a spoonful of porridge from the bowl, his hand shaking from being tired out and weak. He put the provision into his watering mouth, something seemed off at first. It tasted salty..
Jeremiah quickly downed the supply of water to drown out the taste, or what he thought was water in a tiny wooden mug. The taste of the liquid had an even stronger taste of sodium, something wasn't right. Jeremiah knocked the tiny mug over, to see what he was drinking.. Was urine…
Jeremiah then dumped the bowl over, to get a better look at the porridge. To make matters worse, there was little maggots in the porridge…
"I fucking hate you all!" Jeremiah cried, his voice breaking and shaking, sounding like he was going insane.
A guard jumped up from a nearby table, enjoying a rather healthy food in comparison to what all the prisoners ate.
"Drink my piss you fucking darkie!" The same heavy set guard from earlier shouted, unzipping his pants to show off his cock still dripping of urine.
"Where is it, I don't see anything down there fatass!" Dred shouted, patting Jeremiah on the back softly as he took up for him. Jack decided to chime in and give Jeremiah some aid.
"Childish, all of you damn prison guards are!"
The guards simply laughed at the inmates, knowing that they couldn't do anything. They knew that the prisoners were helpless and hopeless.
Jack dug his spoon through his porridge and at the bottom of the bowl was a steaming pile of canine droppings, a dog had defecated in the bowl prior of it getting topped with porridge.
"Who shit themselves recently?" Jack asked, trying to make a joke out of the situation, no one laughed. Dred only gave the Marston boy a smirk.
A nearby caucasian prisoner spat out yellowish liquid, chunks of porridge came out too. Another guard laughed and flipped the prisoner off to taunt him.
"They pissed in my porridge, the sick fucks." The prisoner growled as he threw the bowl across the room, piss and disgusting porridge getting all over the face of the guard.
The prisoner as silenced as his head was leaking blood moments after a shotgun shell went through his skull, spilling his brains out of the back of his head. If any prisoner dared defy the authority of the guards, or attempted to harm the guards, they would be shot instantly and without mercy.
William Barlow stormed into the food court to investigate the loud bang of the shotgun fire, once he seen what happened, he instantly made the prisoners suffer.
"One man ruined it for all, get your asses outside, you will be feeling pain. All of you shall be put through hell, I will not give a damn how many anguished cries I hear, you all will either be shaking from your conditions, or you all will be dead!"
The prisoners were forced up by the guards, the weak ones being whipped and some of them even being shot by the ruthless prison guards. All of this was under the rule of William Barlow, some of the prison guards hated Barlow for what he did, the only good guards there were, was fired if they disagreed.
(Not too long later..)
Jeremiah weakly brought the hammer over his head, then slamming it down with a loud scream to draw of any bits of strength he had left. Every day was the same, the same suffering. Now imagine the conditions for years on end, it would be impossible to go through for all of them. The prisoners with the strongest of will power, they would crack. Some would lose faith, some would kill themselves from being hopeless.
The rock was given a new crack as the hammer slammed down upon it, Jeremiah started feeling dizzy as the sun continued to viciously shine down upon them all. It seemed like mother nature preferred the hateful guards other than the innocents who were suffering in the prison.
"I wish we had a place in this world." Jeremiah moaned, his arms shaking as they threatened to let go of the hammer, Jeremiah wouldn't let the hammer go or else he would be bashed by the guard nearby.
"The world doesn't favor the good hearted anymore, Jeremiah. It only favors the ones with greed, the ones with too much money, it only favors the ones who wrongfully judge others, it favors these monsters." Dred growled as he slammed the hammer into the rocks. Jeremiah would speak again a few seconds later.
"I only wish for this to be over, I've been here for only a couple of years. My body is giving away day by day, my soul is clawing at my heart, my soul wants to leave. I think these cruel guards will capture our souls and put them into tiny jars, to let us watch others suffer the same fate."
"Just keep pushing, we will be free. God help us all.." Jack groaned, now starting to feel tired and weak.
"I want night to come soon, for me to finally close my eyes, and for me to sleep.. Sleep forever." Jeremiah moaned as he struggled to raise the hammer up, showing the same signs of doom that his brother had before he was shot.
"To sleep is to give up, don't quit. Die a warrior, die fighting." Dred said as he lifted up the hammer again, the guard noticed Jeremiah struggling. The same guard that killed Joe not too long ago.
"I-I can't do t-this.." Jeremiah whispered in weak soft voice, tears starting to well up in his eyes as his arms finally gave way, dropping the hammer. The poor inmate knew what was coming as he heard the crack of a whip upon his back, the all too familiar sting, and the dreadful feeling of his large welts bursting. He felt the blood run down his back, the scarlet liquid dripping on the ground beneath his feet and slowly forming a small pool of blood.
Jeremiah collapsed as soon as he felt the cool blood run down his back at a quick pace, he wasn't dead, but begging for death to just take him as he screamed in agony, clawing at the ground. It was a domino effect, when Jeremiah fell, the other members in his chain gang fell with him.
Dred's head smashed against the rock, causing him to clench his teeth in a sudden throbbing pain. Jack yelped out loudly as he felt an intense pressure on his ankles from the heavy chains, everyone was on the ground, everyone was suffering.
The guard began to load his rifle up, to prepare to shoot Jeremiah. The black inmate could hear the gun slowly being loaded up, he knew he wouldn't last any longer.
"Do it, I don't wanna live! I wanna be with ma! I wanna be with pa, I want to be with Joe in the golden city of Heaven!" Jeremiah cried loudly, tears flowing down his face as he felt himself about to pass out.
"Have faith! God will send somebody to help us soon!" Jack pleaded, not wanting Jeremiah to give up, the african american prisoner had given up a long time ago..
"What kind of good is God, if he allows this to happen!" Jeremiah responded, seeing the guard aim down at him now.
"Jeremiah, look at me in the eyes. Don't you surrender to these monsters, this is your life. They cannot control us!" Dred shouted, trying to uplift the suffering Jeremiah, his efforts were futile as well.
"I cannot look at you, I cannot see you with these tears fogging my vision. I cannot see you through the tears in my eyes." Jeremiah groaned in agony, as the salty tears flowed from his eyes at an uncontrollable rate.
Jeremiah's vision began to get blurry, not from the tears though. His body was giving up on him, just like he had given up on life. His bravery drained, his will turned to dust, his hope all but tiny particles..
He began to see his brother, Joe, in front of him. Everything around him was beautiful, an amazing field. As well as many people, some faces he knew and some faces he didn't know. The faces among all these people was his friends and his mother and father, and his brother. Everyone was chatting, everyone had smiles on their faces, some were laughing. This place had to be a pure joy and it all seemed like a paradise, he wasn't in the prison grounds anymore. This was to be a life beyond the stars, beyond the depths of this universe.
Then Jeremiah began to see the precious memories of his life with his brother, he seen them two playing and laughing. He seen the mother holding them both when they were infants, with tears of joy in her eyes and the prideful father smiling down upon them. Jeremiah then had a memory, a memory he tried to remove so many times. His parents hugging him and his brother before they left the house, their parents would never return.
"Come home brother, everyone is waiting for you." Joe said down upon Jeremiah, Jeremiah looked up to see his brother crouching before him and smiling happily. Everything around him was hell, the prison was Hell to him.
"How is home like?" Jeremiah asked, Joe smiled and placed his hand on his brother's head.
"Mother is expecting you, your father is waiting too. I want to welcome you with open arms, just close your eyes. All of your pain will go away, no more misery."
"I am coming Joe, I'm coming home. I've missed mother and father too much.." He said as his eyes began to flutter shut ever so slowly.
"Jeremiah? Jeremiah!" Dred shouted as Jeremiah passed away beside him, his brother had welcomed him into Heaven where he would life a much better life.
A loud ear piercing bang was heard, the skull of Jeremiah burst. His head completely blown apart by a shotgun shell at point blank from William Barlow.
"Save me the sob story." The cruel bastard of an owner spoke, Jack slowly looked up at William with hate in his eyes. Jack couldn't believe what had just happened, he had gotten to know Jeremiah so well and then he fell from the world before his very eyes.
"If I was to be freed from these damn chains, I would have your head." Jack growled, feeling incredibly sorry for Jeremiah.
"And for you even thinking of that, you will hang in the wind. Guards! Set up the gallows, we have another inmate who wants to die!" William announced, showing no mercy and planning to hang Jack Marston…
Several minutes would pass by, eventually an hour would come to pass. The gallows had been set up, William eyed down his targets to sway in the wind.
The cruel owner of the penitentiary looked at Jack, then Dred, then the girl who was in love with Jeremiah at the time, her name was Tonya. Jack started to become hopeless as he edged closer towards the gallows, he seen the dreadful loop of the noose in which would go around his neck soon enough. Tonya was crying hysterically, she feared death, she wanted to have a good ending. Dred clenched his teeth in anger as he was forced closer and closer to the rope of doom.
The three were forced to make their way to where the ropes awaited them, guards stood behind the three inmates, rifles at their heads. There was no way to escape this time, if the inmates chose to escape, they would be shot at point blank, and if they didn't, they would hang.
Jack looked down at William Barlow with hatred, he knew that his quest to conquer civilization had came to a screeching halt. Tonya continued to sob uncontrollably as she fastened the noose around her neck, Dred shown no emotion as he tied the noose into a slipknot around his neck.
Jack seethed in anger, trying to look brave as he looked at the executioner wanting to drop the boards and hear the snaps of their necks.
"I hate you, I fucking hate you." Jack growled towards William, the owner of the prison island only laughed and rolled his eyes.
Although Jack looked brave, and acted brave, deep within him, his heart was pounding a mile a minute. Deep down he was scared to death, he never wanted to choke his life away, to feel the air being forcefully stopped from entering his body. The executioner went to grab the lever, something prevented him from doing so once he seen a prison guard on a watchtower, fall from the top and crash into the dirt. Then came the sound of many voices, each screaming with anger and rage in them. Then came the sound of an indian war cry, Jack's rescue party had finally arrived…