No matter what Stinger did, he was unable to get rid of the throbbing pain from his shoulder. Once in a while, the pain would shoot through his body, and it was putting him in a bad mood.
It wasn't just that, though; it was also the frequent stares that he would get from the other prisoners. Once in a while, they would give him smirks, even those that were part of no group, thinking that they were all that.
Stinger had eventually returned to his group's hangout spot, by the giant staircase. When he headed there, the rest of his gang was currently there as well, including the ones that had been hurt.
They were all better now, back in action, and a couple of them had already gotten in a few scuffles as because of the treatment that Stinger was getting, the other members were getting it as well.
Those part of no group felt a little more confident and had decided to fight back, but it didn't end well for the others. Stinger's group was strong, just not in comparison to Gary.
Dragging his feet along, Stinger eventually reached the top step, and here, he made eye contact with their prisoner of sorts, or their latest recruit that they were trying to break in.
"So, my friend told me you know a bit about this guy that attacked us, the green head, his name is Gary Dem apparently, right? Well, I need to know more about him. Tell me everything you know and why is he in here?" Stinger asked.
The man on the staircase was almost permanently bruised because whenever his body was close to healing up, Stinger and his group would continue to clobber him, placing him back in the same situation.
They did this on repeat until the person would join them. Stinger had his eye on this newcomer because he was quite brave and had some strength compared to the rest of them, nowhere near that of his recent attacker though.
"It was good seeing all of you get beaten up as well," the man laughed.
The response earned a fist being held right against the man's face, which led to a gulp.
"Look, I told the guy from before everything that I know. Gary Dem is meant to be this rich tycoon that supports the Howlers Gang. They came out of nowhere taking over a town called Slough, which was only a tier 3.
"Then they moved on from there and took over Notsburg, a tier-2. After which, Slough developed, and now it is one of the biggest tier 2 cities, along with the Howlers Gang being one of the most feared.”
"Anyone who has been in here more than 2 years, heck, even a year won't know much about them. As for Gary Dem, not only is he some rich tycoon but he was in the AFC as well. He had one fight, and then just disappeared from the scene.”
"I remember it well because they made a pretty big deal about it."
Stinger was honestly surprised that there was so much history to do with this one person and that so many people didn't know about him. However, what the man said made sense.
It was due to the timeline of things.
"Well, if he's such a big shot, then how come he's in here? He has money, a good gang protecting him; those types of people don't end up in here."
It was true; although strong Altered who worked alone ended up in this place or those in minor gangs, and those that took the fall for the bigger gangs. Those that were too high up were untouchable.
They couldn't be placed somewhere like this, and Stinger would have placed Gary on that list based on what he had heard from him.
"How am I meant to know? I've been in here for around a month," the man replied. "And at the time, I was more worried about my own case. I wasn't trying to follow what was happening. Maybe he upset someone at White Rose."
By the second, Stinger was getting more frustrated because this whole thing wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. He was hoping it would be a straightforward case.
'Calvin won't let me come back with just this information. It's too basic. Calvin wants me to find everything out about him. Crap, I owe him a favor, and if I don't repay it, he can easily take my life as well.'
Scratching his head, Stinger almost tore the skin from his scalp; he was that worried about the whole situation. Things hadn't been this way in a long time, not since Ice and Blackjack had joined.
'If he's in this place, then it has to be something recent. No one in the prison is going to know. So I need to get information from the outside.'
When thinking about this, there was a thought that came to mind almost instantly. He knew someone that was well-known in gathering information from the outside. A skill that not many people had, connections inside the prison, the flow of information that allowed for a person in particular to become a leader of another group.
"The South Group leader, Carter," Stinger mumbled.
"Boss, you're not going to get involved with them, are you?" One of Stinger's men commented. "I mean, we already have the North Group on our back. If we deal with the South Group as well, we could be gone in a couple of days."
Thinking about this, maybe this was Calvin's plan all along. Stinger doing one wrong thing to upset the South group, and there would be a fight on their hands. He would weaken the South group, giving a chance for the North group to act.
"I don't think I have a choice, and it's just a talk; everything will be alright," Stinger replied, sounding unconfident.
Just then, a guard entered the prison, and following in from behind was none other than Gary Dem. All eyes were on him as he was the hot subject in the prison.
*****