Brick remembered the mess hall of the prison. It had looked different back then, wall to wall packed with ramshackle huts, bandit effigies, and lowlifes around every corner. That last part was the same, but now the scumbags were prisoners; sitting sedately in safe plastic chairs and wearing the yellow and white prison attire. They dutifully ate their bland food before filing back to their cells. Brick felt bad for them. The old Lockdown Palace had been a terrible place, but there had been a kind of beauty in it. He couldn't see anything beautiful about this sterile hive.
"I been here before, you know," he told the girls as they stood in line to receive food. "When it was a bandit camp. Had to fight my way through."
"Are you shitting me?" Kindle asked.
"Nope, no shittin. Bandits as far as you could see."
Tina slammed her tray down on the stainless steel counter. The woman serving food at the station jumped, then glared. "Brown stuff please! With green shizz on the side," Tina demanded. The woman rolled her eyes but scooped a steaming dollop of goop onto the tray.
"Brown stuff for me too," Brick said. "So, there we were, just me and Mordy and all these bandits were closin in around us. Oh, and Blood was there, of course. This super big, super bad weirdo had Mordy backed against a wall, right, swingin on him with his freaky huge mutant arm. Blood was raisin hell on a pack of midgets, so it was up to me. I-"
"Can I have both?" Tina asked, holding up two foil wrapped parcels. The serving woman shook her head. Tina stared hard at the packages, and then up at Brick. "Big? Wanna get this for me? Puh-lease please please! I'll share."
Brick plucked one of them from her hand and dropped it onto his tray. "Alright, but shut your trap. I'm tryin to regale you with my adventures right now."
"Woot!" Tina cried, and danced along the line.
"Where was I?" Brick said.
"Mordecai was trapped, and you had to save him," Kindle said.
"Yeah! HELL yeah. The badass psycho was closing in, and it was all up to me. So..." Brick paused for effect. "I punched him."
"...And?"
"And what? That's it! I punched his head clean off!" Brick boomed with laughter. Tina joined in, and they both whooped like hyenas, wiping tears from their eyes.
Kindle looked embarrassed and sidled away from them. "Urk," she grumbled.
They finished getting their food and crossed the room, searching for an empty table. Prisoners already filled most of the seats. They craned their heads to get a better view of the newcomers, especially Kindle and Tina. They looked the girls over, not bothering to hide their hungry stares. Brick overheard one of the prisoners tell another to 'get a whiff of that tail'. He whipped around, ready to pummel the guy, but Tina tugged his sleeve and pointed out a vacant table. Brick followed her to sit in one of the anchored seats.
"What a mouth-breather," Kindle remarked, jabbing a thumb toward the prisoner.
Tina hummed in agreement but didn't look up from what she was doing. She'd taken the packet off Brick's tray and unwrapped it. The contents were unidentifiable, grayish and lumpy, and Tina pushed them aside with a grimace.
"Why'd you want it, then?" Brick asked.
"Duh," Tina said, and held up the foil, twisting it this way and that, so it flashed in the light. "For this."
"Oh," Brick said, like he understood.
Kindle swiped the foil out of her hand and stuck in into the hem of her shorts, glancing around. "Be cool, Teeny," she hissed.
"Be easy, girl! I'm cool. Take this one too," Tina said, and tried to shove the other foil packet into Kindle's shorts.
"Wh- Godammit, get outta there!" she said, and pushed Tina away, laughing.
Brick scanned the room and spotted three guards. To his relief, none of them were watching their group. Little girls were not the most subtle conspirators.
"Should we-" Kindle said, then lowered her voice. "Should we talk about what we're gonna do? I can't stay here. This food is nasty."
Brick hadn't touched it yet, but it did look horrific. There were two mounds of two textured slop on his tray, gritty and smooth, ranging in color from gray to grayish-brown.
"I dunno. I haven't thought about it," he admitted.
"What? You haven't thought about it?" Kindle said.
"Not yet."
Kindle groaned and laid her head on the table. "We're gonna be here forever."
"Listen, kid, I said I'd get us out, and I'm gonna. I just..." Brick trailed off.
He'd spotted someone through the throngs of prisoners. Rocko picked his way across the cafeteria toward the line, chatting with people as he passed. He leaned over to hear someone better, his dark hair falling across his eyes, and Brick admired his jumpsuit-clad butt. Rocko laughed at something the other prisoner said, barely audible over the crowd's rabble, and that low, beautiful chuckle sent Brick's stomach fluttering.
Kindle followed his gaze. "Who's that?"
"No-one," Brick said, looking away quickly.
"Oooooh," Tina said, a grin creeping across her face.
"What?"
"You like him."
"N-No!" Brick stammered.
"Cute guy and Big, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-" Tina chanted, bouncing in her seat.
A flash of red crossed Brick's vision, and he slammed his palms down on the table. Other prisoners glanced over. He ignored them. "Don't."
Tina didn't let up. "You should call him over. Make a move! Life is short."
"I ain't gonna do that, and don't you, either." But it was too late. Tina already stood on her chair, waving to be seen above the rabble.
"Hey mama! Walk this way!" she catcalled, and completed the awful spectacle by whistling. Kindle's hand flew to her mouth, stifling a laugh. Brick wished he could phase through the ground. There was no way that Rocko hadn't noticed.
But when a shadow fell over their table, it wasn't Rocko's. A mountainous man leaned over the group, his hubcap sized palms pressed against the table, regarding them with a separate leer in each piggy eye. It was the man from the showers.
Damn, Brick thought. They grow 'em big on Menoetius, but not this big. This is a blue ribbon winner.
"Didn't think I'd find you so easy," the prisoner said. His rancid breath rolled over Brick like a fog, and he cringed away. "Thought you'd make yerself scarce after this morning."
"Donno why I'd do that," Brick said, teeth gritted. "I got no problem with you."
"I ain't no homo, so I weren't about to pick a fight in the buff. But now that you got your clothes on-"
Brick didn't wait for the man to finish. The red flashed before his eyes again and he leaped out of his chair, fists bunched, and threw a hard jab into the other prisoner's nose.
The brute staggered back, caught off guard by the punch. His hands flew to his face. When he regained his balance and dropped his hands, they came away bloody.
"Mudder fugger," he said, whistling through the splintered, mangled mess of his nose.
He lunged toward Brick, his massive fist hurtling toward his face, but Brick ducked out of the way. He threw another jab into the brute's chin, making his teeth clack together audibly. He recovered quickly and slammed his fists into Brick's head, left and right in quick succession, sending him crashing into a nearby table.
A fist of darkness closed around him. Jagged shards of pain filtered through that black shroud, and Back grasped at them, desperate to stay conscious. Through reeling vision he saw other prisoners scatter. The bruiser kept coming, features twisted into a grimace.
Brick scrambled up, but the darkness throbbed over him again. He barely managed to find his feet before the brute reached him.
The prisoner landed a hard punch against Brick's jaw before he could lurch aside. Brick slid back down the side of the table, fumbling for the edge, slipping.
"Dun' worry," the brute slurred. "I'll take good care'a dem girls for you." He laughed, a phlegmy hurg-gug-gurg. "I'll...Hey!"
This exclamation was directed at Kindle, who'd leaped up and slammed her tray across the brute's back, food and all, sending up a spray of gruel. The prisoner whipped around and smacked her across the cheek. She spun away, and Tina caught her before he hit the ground.
Brick's animal lurched up, grappling for control, but he fought it. If his mind was gone, there'd be nobody looking after the girls. You can't help them, his animal crooned. They don't need you. Just slip...
But Brick was already up, rocketing forward on a second wind. He remembered something his daddy once said. It was after he'd gotten into a fight, and had done a number on the other kid's face. Gave him the ol' one-two, did ya? his daddy had asked. One two, one, two, Brick pounded the brute, driving him back.
The massive man slipped. He knelt on the ground, drooling blood onto the laminate floor, but Brick didn't stop. He brought a knee up into the brute's jaw, slammed him down on the ground, and grabbed the injured prisoner up by his collar. He was about to put a few more dents in his head, when he finally noticed the ring of guards closing in around them.
"Drop him," one of the guards yelled, brandishing his shock baton. Brick saw that some of the others had guns, held or raised, and a few looked afraid: a bad combination.
Brick obediently uncurled his fingers from the prisoner's collar and let him drop to the ground. The brute coughed, spewing gore from his ruined face, and scrabbled away. The guards remained poised.
"On the ground, prisoner."
"He started it! I was just-"
"Do it!"
Brick swallowed. He slid to his knees, palms open and raised at his sides. He saw the girls watching him, eyes wide. He didn't think the guards would shoot. Hoped not, anyway.
"It's true. He's an absolute gentleman, wouldn't hurt anyone who hadn't asked for it." The speaker was Rocko, swaggering through like owned the place.
To Brick's surprise, the Hyperion guards seemed to relax. Rocko glanced down at Brick and shot him a wink.
"You vouching for this guy, then?" growled one of the guards. Brick recognized him as Cash, the guard from the shower.
"Yep. He's with me."
Cash snorted and rolled his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "Whatever. You got a bleeding heart, Rocky. Someone's gonna take advantage of that, someday."
Rocko matched his shrug. Even with his head walloping, fighting back nausea, Brick could read the contempt on his face. He got the idea that Cash was one of a few who regularly advantage of Rocko's bleeding heart.
"Get this idiot to the infirmary," Cash barked at some other guard, who nodded. "Get out of here, all of you. Stop digging your noses and get back to work."
The guards dispersed, casting wary looks over their shoulders at Brick. He clambered to his feet. Rocko stepped forward to steady him, and the girls flocked to his side. A nasty bruise had already bloomed across Kindle's cheek.
"Sorry," Brick said, reaching out, his fingertip grazing the bruise. She flinched away.
"Get off me, you dope. It's not that bad," she said.
"Are you okay?" Rocko asked, looking at Brick. "You took quite a pounding yourself-"
"Why didn't you step in?" Brick accused.
"Uh, excuse me? I saved you! With the guards? Remember?"
Brick scowled. "She coulda been hurt worse, and you were just standin there!"
"Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm more of a lover than a fighter. And I wasn't the one who punched that guy. You couldn't waited. I was already coming to smooth things over."
Smooth things over. The way he usually did, Brick guessed. He thought about Rocko kissing the brute's stinking, putrid mouth, and nearly lost the battle against his churning gut.
"No! Fuck. I just..." he said, letting the girls lead him back to the table. He slumped in one of the seats. "Sorry. I just ain't feeling well."
"Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
"Nah," Brick said, though he wasn't sure. But he didn't want to leave the girls alone, not even with Rocko. He didn't know the prisoner well enough to be sure he could protect them.
"You're sexy," Tina said out of the blue, staring up at Rocko with wide baby blues.
"And you're a brazen little thing. Honest, though," the man said. Tina giggled, and did Brick see her blush? He thought so. "I'm Rocko, by the way." He held a hand out to the girls.
"Kindle, and this is Tina," Kindle said, gripping the the ex-bandit's hand and giving it a firm, dignified shake.
"Good to meet you, Kindle. Tina." He nodded to the pale girl. This time, Brick was sure he saw her cheeks turn a shade pinker.
"The guards listened to you. Are you allowed to do anything you want?" Kindle asked.
"Not everything. I'm still a prisoner."
She leaned forward, glanced around, then conspiratorially whispered, "You don't have to be. We're gonna break out. You can come, too, if you want."
Rocko laughed, and Kindle looked offended. "Sorry kid, it's nothing against you, but I've seen a lot of people try to escape. None of them made it."
"They weren't us, though. We've got a demolitions expert," she said, nodding toward Tina. "And I'm practically a ninja."
"Ninja please," Tina said, and Kindle elbowed her before continuing.
She pointed to Brick. "We got this big dope. He's...the muscle, I guess. And Rocko, you been here a long time, right?" He nodded, and she continued. "So you know the prison really well. And the guards trust you. You can be our inside man."
Rocko drummed his fingers against the table. He stared into the distance, his expression thoughtful. Finally, he looked at Brick. "Well. Do you want me?"
Brick gawped.
"In the group, I mean. For the breakout," Rocko added.
"Oh! Yeah. That'd be great."
"He thought you meant..." Tina said, and made an obscene gesture with a loosely curled fist and a plastic spoon. Brick whipped the spoon out of her hand and flicked her with it.
"You got a filthy mind," he said.
The girls cackled. Despite their big talk and bravery, they were only children. Brick's head still ached to remind him of how he'd failed to protect them.
His animal had slipped away sometime during the confusion, but now Brick felt the barest murmur of it beneath his skin. One slip, it promised. But its voice was unfamiliar to Brick. It didn't sound like his animal's usual chortle, anyway. He tried to remember where he'd heard that voice before, but was pulled out of his thoughts by a hand touching his.
Rocko peered at him across the table, brows knotted by concern. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Brick said. Rocko smiled, and for a moment Brick wanted to take it back. Actually, I'm feeling a little woozy. I'll probably need to lean on you for the rest of the day. He returned Rocko's smile, instead. "Take more'n a knock to the head to do me in."
"Good. I'm gonna go, but I'll see you later."
"Later? When-" Brick started, but Rocko had already stood up, striding across the mess hall toward someone else. Brick watched him for a long while before looking back at the girls.
They were both staring at him with knowing looks in their eyes, biting back giggles. Damn orphans.
"Oh, bug off," he said, sending them into fresh peals of girlish laughter.