Chapter 15
May woke up to the sound of a door slamming. She jolted awake, and immediately regretted it when she tweaked her neck.
"Owwww," she complained, realizing she'd been resting with her head on the cement all night. She heard voices, and stood up, moving to the front of the cell and looking down the hall. May saw two men in uniforms with Jericho and Pounce. Jericho had his hands on his hips and looked at the floor. He was shaking his head. Pounce stood with his arms crossed and looked angry, but resigned.
As if he could sense her watching him, Jericho met May's eyes. The look on his face made May's stomach drop, her fear making her swallow hard. She looked away and saw Pounce give a quick, concise nod, before walking to her cell.
"You are being transferred to Fuller Prison now," he said, a small frown on his face.
May couldn't help the way her chin wobbled. Nor could she stop the tears that pressed against the back of her lids as she closed her eyes tightly, willing them back.
"Turn around," he told her.
May did as he asked, "Step back," he ordered, "Now link your fingers together." Her arms protested the position, and when the handcuffs were fastened around her wrists, she gasped as it pressed into already tender skin.
"Is that necessary?" she heard Jericho ask Pounce quietly.
She felt the handcuffs open a catch, enough that it wasn't hurting so much anymore. She wanted to say, "thanks," but she was so scared now. She was trembling and afraid that she wouldn't be able to speak.
Pounce opened the cell door and lightly gripped her arm, leading her to the two men in uniforms. Now that May could see them up close, she could see that they were officers. They wore weapons at their belts, but there was no badge or insignia on their uniforms that said with whom they were associated.
Jericho watched her as she walked forward, but the shame that May felt made her keep her eyes on the floor.
"Good luck, Stephanie," she heard Jericho say quietly.
She nodded, still not looking at him.
One of the officers reached forward and took her arm. He pulled her forward, none too lightly, and checked her cuffs. She felt him squeeze them tighter, "You can't leave them loose, Pounce," he chided, "even if they are female. They are dangerous."
She heard Pounce scoff, but he didn't answer.
The guard pushed her forward, and May tripped as she tried to move. She didn't fall, but walking with her hands behind her back, and trembling knees, did not inspire grace.
"You were right," she suddenly heard Jericho call out behind her, "It was Gatsby," and she almost smiled.
A nondescript van was idling in front of the security building. May blinked against the bright light of the morning as she emerged from the building. She saw curious New Species stop what they were doing to watch her be led to the van.
There was a name for what was happening to her. May tried to remember, Oh yeah, she thought, perp walk. This is my perp walk.
She hung her head. She had done nothing wrong, but she still felt the guilt of the actions she claimed credit for. It was almost as if by telling the lie enough times, she was starting to believe it; that she was the despicable person who hated New Species for no fault of their own and who tried to drug them indiscriminately.
A third officer was waiting for her at the van. He opened the door and helped the officers leading her to put her into the van. They strapped her into a complicated set of bindings that wrapped around her ankles and then linked through fastenings on the wall. There was no belt buckle, no way for May to brace herself if she needed. The officers completed all of this quietly and efficiently, causing May to wonder how often they were forced to pick up prisoners at Reservation.
She was surprised when the third officer climbed in the back with her. The two other officers closed the back doors of the van and went around the front, starting the van and putting it into motion. The only light was filtered through plexiglass that separated the drivers from the back of the van where May sat.
Her body rocked back and forth as they moved. May pressed her feet into the floor, trying to balance herself, but it was nearly impossible given how she was restrained and how short she was.
The van stopped briefly, and May heard the officers up front speaking before the van pulled away and began to gather speed. They hit a pothole in the road and May's body lurched forward and back, slamming her head into the back of the van. She hit something, some sort of exposed and extruding piece, that pierced the skin on the back of her head. A warmth began to cover her neck and trickle down her back.
"Damn," she heard the officer breathe, "I forgot about that."
She looked up to see the man smiling at her wickedly. May realized that he had known about the exposed piece of whatever where she was sitting and didn't care. He was enjoying seeing her hurt. May bit her lip but didn't complain. It would do no good to complain.
They traveled for quite some time, at least an hour, before the officer said, "Here we are. Home sweet home."
May peeked through the plexiglass, but couldn't make out anything except the sunlight reflecting off of the windshield.
"Anxious?" the officer laughed, "You'll see it soon enough."
He was right. Soon the van came to a stop and the back was opened by two female officers. They unfastened her and pulled her out, hissing as they got a look at her.
"Jesus, Francis," one of them said, "again?"
"You can always tell which ones I transport, though," the man laughed, "can't you?"
May felt sick to her stomach as she realized just what she was facing; inmates that were torturers, and guards that got a kick out of hurting them. It was a sick and twisted place and she was about to spend her life there.
The female guards jerked her forward angrily, as if it was somehow her fault that she had been hurt. May looked up at the looming grey structure. The building itself wasn't new, it was slightly gothic looking and built with heavy stone, but it was surrounded by multiple walls, and high towers that were patrolled by guards. There were officers walking around with dogs, and there were cameras everywhere.
May was led through a series of locks, one gate would open and another would close, before she actually made it inside the building. Another female guard met them at the door.
"Welcome to Fuller," the woman said, "home to the dregs of humanity. Since you are here, that is also you. We don't care what you did or didn't do, so don't bother telling us."
What followed was a series of events, each more humiliating that the first. May was forced to disrobe; she was then strip searched, and underwent a cavity search. Since May had never allowed anyone that close to her body before, the experience was indescribably painful. Not physically painful, though yes, it was uncomfortable, but emotionally painful. She felt violated; like the trust she had put out into the world, her attitude of do no harm and no harm will be done to you was gone. People would harm her, it didn't matter that she was a good person, not even that, that she was a human and had certain rights as a human.
She felt less than human. She couldn't describe the change that happened to her at the end of that time, but she knew that she would never view the world the same way again.
After she was given a uniform, she was brought to the infirmary. The nurse prodded at her head and declared that she needed stitches. May heard the buzz of clippers.
She turned her head, "Could you not shave my head?" she risked asking.
The nurse curled her lip at her, "It is much easier to stitch you up without hair getting in the way. Now turn around."
May sucked in a breath and turned around. She felt the vibration of the clippers against her head and then, "Oops," and a giggle, "I got a little too much."
May linked her fingers together tightly while the nurse jabbed a needle into the wound. Despite the pain that the nurse seemed to be inflicting on her on purpose, May felt strangely disconnected. She pretended that she was somewhere else, that what was happening to her wasn't happening to her, it was just her body that was affected. In her mind she could disappear, and she did that. She made herself small, and pictured herself curling up on a bed, resting easily and was surprised when the sound of a door shutting intruded on her thoughts. Somehow she had walked from the infirmary to her cell without even realizing it.
She looked around. The walls were cinder blocks and May could take two steps in any direction and reach one. This was her home now. Her bed had a blanket folded on the top, along with a towel. She saw a cardboard box of other items she would need, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, along with one change of clothes and slip-on shoes. May put all of the items on the floor before pushing them aside. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She crawled onto the bed and closed her eyes, and amazingly, fell right to sleep.
Thank you, everyone, for being patient as I complete Jericho. Please review and critique, I love to read your thoughts about each chapter! ~ Ripley