Slowly, Zig's eyes started to open; his head was aching, as he felt like he had just been smashed by a truck hurtling at full speed. He didn't know why he felt this way, and for a moment, he was unable to remember anything.
'Did I get whacked by one of the other groups or something... but I was sure I was in my cell,' Zig thought.
His blurred vision was coming back into focus, and he could see someone lying in the bed that was placed opposite to him. It was a bed that had remained empty for a while now, so why would someone be in it, and what was with the green hair?
When Zig's vision finally cleared, he started to remember, as he could see the young boy who had practically been sleeping away. He remembered the last moments; there were fierce eyes staring at him, they had sharpened and were slightly glowing red.
Before Zig could react at all, his entire head had been slammed into the wall. Quickly he turned around, and sure enough, he could see a blood mark and a slight indent on the wall.
'All of these cells are made of reinforced thick steel, and there's a dent in it, just how hard did he hit me?'
Zig went to touch the back of his head; it was still bleeding slightly and still very sore. If anything, he realized that he might be lucky to even be alive; he was thankful for being the type of Altered he was.
'This kid, he must be really strong, F*ck, but he said he's from the Howlers gang. A gang that has an Altered this strong, that's unheard of, is that possible?'
'Well, while he's asleep, this may be the best time to get rid of him.' Zig went to move slightly, shifting on his bed, trying to get in the perfect position for his payback, but the moment he made the slightest bit of movement…
Gary's eyes snapped open, and his head turned to look at him.
'He heard that...' Zig gulped.
Slowly Gary got off his bed, now that the other was awake. Even though he was asleep, his ears were always extra sensitive. It was something he realized he could do; he could set it so his ears were alert while sleeping, allowing him to snap awake at any point if he wished to.
Perhaps it was a trait of the wolves that are outside.
"There are a few questions that I would like to ask you," Gary said as he sat at the edge of the bed, and leaned forward with both of his elbows on his thighs. He was quite close to Zig now, looking at him.
All the intentions of possibly getting payback had pretty much gone out of Zig's head right there and then.
"Hey, you know about that food thing, I was just kidding about that, we're cellmates, all is good, all is good," Zig jokingly said, still feeling a throbbing pain at the back of his head just from speaking alone.
"I want to know what's the deal with this prison, the current situation, the set up between groups, who's going to be after me in here, and if there's anyone that can help me get out," Gary asked.
"Get out!" Zig shouted as he turned his head left and right. "I think you're taking your whole prison sentence lightly. No one escapes from here; no one has the power to do it because of the warden. The only way to get out of here is to beat her down. No one has been able to do that in here, and even if you did, then the White Rose agents from above would be alerted and would come in a heartbeat. If the Warden catches word of what you're thinking, then you better be prepared for a fight."
Gary looked at his fist; he didn't think this was going to be easy. He was prepared to at least have to fight his way out of here.
"If your life depended on it, on escaping, then just tell me what you would do," Gary asked again.
Zig let out a big sigh, wondering what he had done to get such a rough roommate. Couldn't he have had it easy by giving someone he could bully around and get some extra food? He just wanted some more food; was that so much to ask?
"Your first question, there are three major groups in this prison that you need to look out for. You have Stinger's gang; his group is the largest of the three. He's quite active in disciplining the other prisoners that don't want to join any sides at all.”
"And he causes the most ruckus between people. However, the other two groups somewhat see him as neutral even if he gets into scuffles with their lower members since he's good to have in a way. I am also part of Stinger's group myself.”
"There's then the north and south gang. These two gangs during free time are stationed at the north side of the facility and south side of the facility, hence their names. These two gangs are at each other's throats, including their members. Joining them means you're willing to take on the other side.”
"I don't know why these two leaders have trouble with each other or what, but that's just been the way it has since I've been on the inside. If you want to stay safe in this place and not have people attacking you, then join one of these three groups.”
"In terms of people you need to look out for, there are two more.
"There's one called Ice; he spends most of his time in his cell. A powerful individual that both the North and South have tried to recruit, but he does his own thing. He's so strong that the others respect his decision of not joining, and people tend to leave him alone.”
"As for the other individual, his name is Black Jack. Just like Ice, he's extremely powerful to the point where the other gangs leave him alone. About the question you asked me, about if I wanted to escape this place, then I would talk to him.”
"Black Jack is the only person who has tried to escape from this place and had fought against the Warden. It was a fight that everyone saw, and everyone realized at that moment that they didn't have the strength to leave this place."
It looked like Gary had his person of contact, but he had no reference; he had no idea how strong these people were. Was the Warden someone he could beat, and what about all the other gang members; would it be safe just to join one of these groups for the time being?
While thinking about this, Stinger was sitting as he waited on the staircase; he sat on the highest stair, which was around four up, until one of the other gang members had come over.
"Stinger, we did our research, but we can't seem to find anyone that knows anything about the Howlers," the member claimed.
"I see," Stinger said with a smile. "Then it means we can play about with him before he goes running to one of the other groups."
****
*****