Prisoner

by Bryant, S. J.

  A cry died on Nova's lips; she couldn't feel anything. What was he doing? Had he somehow numbed her?

  He sat up straighter. A section of her hair snaked into his mouth. He sucked on the ends with his eyes closed. The strands tugged at Nova's skull with the movement of his mouth.

  Nova's stomach rolled and sour bile surged in her throat. Filth seemed to soak into her every pore, as if she could have a thousand showers and would still never feel clean again.

  "It's just like I expected!" Scrim said around her hair. "The flavour. It has everything! There are flowers, and lemon, and strength too. Oh I've never tasted anything so good!"

  Nova writhed and pushed, vomit threatening to choke her.

  "I can't wait for the main course. I want it to last forever."

  Scrim let her hair fall out of his mouth. It landed on Nova's arm with a wet splat. He grinned at her with wild eyes and opened his mouth wider, leaning towards her neck. This time she'd feel it, she was sure.

  She strained with every ounce of strength she had left, mustering all of her years of training and living on the streets. It couldn't end like this. After everything she'd been through, she could not be killed by some crazy man in a prison. She couldn't be eaten alive!

  Scrim's teeth grazed her skin, bringing stinging pain.

  She twisted her neck and slammed her head sideways, forehead smacking into Scrim's temple.

  Scrim faltered and cried out, slipping sideways.

  Nova freed her arm and shoved against him, struggling to roll free.

  Scrim growled and turned on her. "You bitch. I warned you."

  Without another word he punched her in the temple, drew back; punched her cheek, drew back.

  Each new strike sent bright flashes through Nova's head, followed by waves of pain. At first she struggled, but by the fourth punch dark clouds swirled at the edge of her vision, threatening to engulf her.

  "You sick bastard!" A new voice joined the madness.

  Nova recognized it but she couldn't remember who it belonged to. Her own sanity was on the verge of disappearing and the ever-present chasm of madness drew closer as shadowed voices and figures crowded in on her subconscious.

  Scrim's weight was thrown off her and he tumbled to the side under someone else with a dull moan.

  Nova gasped for air, rolled over, and hurled into the dirt. Her hand whipped to her face and she wiped the line of spittle away with her sleeve. She stayed sitting, panting, only able to watch the fight happening just a meter away.

  Wood sat on top of Scrim, punching him in the face. "How do you like it? You sick bastard. Hey, what if I feed you to the rats? That would be fun, right?"

  Scrim grinned up at Wood, revealing broken teeth and bleeding gums. He squirmed and whipped his leg up, slamming his knee into Wood's back. Wood lurched forward and Scrim shoved him off, spinning over so that he sat on top of Wood.

  "This day keeps getting better," Scrim said, slamming his fist into Wood's face.

  Wood's eyes rolled and his head fell back, but Scrim didn't stop.

  Nova took a deep rasping breath and struggled to her feet. She stumbled towards Scrim, even though a part of her urged her to run in the other direction. She came to a stop and drew back, slamming her fist into Scrim's leering face. He fell sideways, blood pouring from his lip.

  Nova stood over him, hands trembling. "You sick bastard. You stay the hell away from me. I should put you down right now…"

  Something moved near Nova's feet, but before she could look, a flash of metal plunged through the air into Scrim's throat. Wood's white knuckles gripped the hilt, and his mouth twisted as he watched hot blood spurt out of Scrim's throat and coat the dirt.

  Wood released the knife and fell back onto the ground.

  Nova's feet carried her to the edge of the courtyard where she bent over, hands on knees, and glared at the dirt. She heaved again and again until there was nothing left.

  It felt as though every ounce of gruel she'd ever eaten had spilled onto the ground until her throat burned with it. She wanted to peel her skin off, get rid of Scrim's taint. An image flashed into her mind of herself clawing off her skin, piece by piece.

  "Nova!" Wood called out.

  His voice barely made it through her haze of madness. Her fingernails dug into her upper arm, ready to start tearing. Maybe then she'd be free of the memory of Scrim.

  "Nova!" He was closer now.

  "Nova!"

  His voice broke through. Nova blinked and looked around. Blood seeped out of her arm from around the edges of her nails and she stood in front of a pool of vomit. The healing knife wound in her side burned.

  "Nova," Wood said. He laid a hand on her arm, the other hung at his side, covered in blood. He glanced down at her fingernails and the bloody trail they'd made. "Are you okay?"

  He looked into her eyes.

  Nova stared back. Her mouth worked but no sounds came out. How could she explain that she was on the very edge of madness? That if she took one step the wrong way she'd fall right off the precipice?

  "I—" she said.

  Nova shivered and couldn't stop. Violent shakes wracked her body like she stood on a crashing ship.

  "Okay," Wood said. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders. "I know. He should've been put down a while ago."

  Nova tugged the jacket tight around her shoulders and collapsed onto the nearest bench. "Damn right he should have been." She glimpsed Scrim's prone body between the tables.

  Other prisoners gathered at the edge of the courtyard. They looked between Nova and Scrim, whispering. More joined them as the noise grew louder.

  "Nova!" Carter bellowed from the other side of the yard.

  "Looks like you're being summoned," Wood said.

  Nova shivered harder.

  "You've gotta go," Wood said. "Carter doesn't like to be kept waiting."

  Nova swallowed. "Thanks. For… you know."

  Wood nodded. "What are friends for?"

  Nova got to shaky feet and shuffled across the yard, careful to skirt as far around Scrim's body as she could. Some prisoners gathered around him, checking for a pulse.

  She slumped into the bench opposite Carter, her skin cold and clammy.

  "What the hell happened?"

  "I—" Nova choked.

  She'd been close to death before, but this was different. This was a violation. She could still feel his spit trailing down her cheek.

  "Slowly," Carter said, voice hard.

  "I came out for breakfast," she said in a rush.

  Carter nodded.

  "Scrim was here. He suddenly started..." she trailed off.

  "Started what?"

  "He started sucking on Kirt's toes," Nova whispered.

  "And?" Carter didn't seem surprised.

  "I don't know why... but I got up. He saw me and this look came over his face. He jumped me. He was going to eat me!"

  Carter nodded. "And then Wood arrived?"

  Nova nodded. "I don't know exactly how it happened."

  Carter sighed and leaned closer. "Scrim's been a problem for a while. I'll let him stay in the med wing until he's better. I owe him that much for the fights he's won me, and for Amon, but after that I'll send him to the Outers."

  "He's still alive?" Nova said, stomach dropping.

  Carter nodded.

  "And he's going to be here?" A chill went down Nova's spine.

  "Just for a little while. And he'll be confined to the medical bay with guards."

  Nova nodded. The movement was mechanical, rehearsed, but inside she was already picturing running from the compound and taking refuge in the desert. Anything to get away from Scrim.

  "Okay," Carter said with a note of finality.

  Nova blinked, some sanity returning. "I should give Wood his jacket back."

  "Alright, good. Don't go and see Scrim. It'll only disturb you."

  Nova whipped her head back and forth. "I wouldn't."

  "Good."

&nbs
p; Nova got up and shuffled back across the yard to Wood.

  "Alright?" he said.

  "Yeah. I um, wanted to give your coat back."

  "Keep it for a bit. You look like you still need it."

  Nova didn't reply, her thoughts floating away from the prison.

  Wood pulled a deck from his pocket. "Let's play some cards to get our minds off things."

  Nova nodded and he dealt.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Two months until guard change.

  Nova stared down at Kirt's body, a hard knot twisting her stomach. For the past week his moans had drifted across the courtyard and his eyes had followed her, now he lay still.

  A small crowd gathered around his body, faces solemn. Now that he'd died, the jeering had stopped. Fear and the inevitability of death hung like a cloud over the prison, made tangible by Kirt's rotting corpse.

  Purple bruises covered most of his skin, interspersed with red patches of dried blood. Blisters rose like volcanoes over his flesh and his lips puffed out like over-fed leaches.

  The stench of decay filled the air, overpowered only by the acrid scent of piss.

  Someone had taken the time to close his eyes although he looked far from peace. Puss squirted out from around the metal nails in both hands, leaving trails of yellow fluid amongst the red. Mottled patterns of gangrene coloured his palms, spreading up his twisted fingers to the blackened tips, already rotting.

  "Tilly, Gren, help me carry him to the Outers. We'll burn him there," said Nail.

  The three prisoners yanked the nails out of Kirt's dead hands and hoisted him onto their shoulders. They carried him away from the courtyard, surrounded by prisoners. Nova considered turning away, but in the end followed the group. Deep in her heart she knew that without Kirt's stupidity, she might never have made it into Carter's confidence.

  They marched through the prison like a funeral procession. People in the Outers licked their lips when they saw Kirt's body and scurried after the group, ducking between tents.

  Amon appeared beside Nova, his face grim. "Stupid bastard."

  Nova nodded.

  "Things were looking up for him you know. He'd only recently been accepted from the Outers. He owed me, and Carter, a lot. Can't believe he'd go and do that."

  Nova shrugged. "Desperate people."

  "Ain't that the truth," said Amon. "Speaking of which, you seem to have done quite well for yourself."

  "Just lucky I guess."

  "I should say so!" said Amon. "Make sure you put in a good word for me. Remind Carter that if I hadn't let you in, he'd be dead."

  Amon smiled at Nova and disappeared into the growing crowd. By the time they stopped at the edge of the Outers, fifty people pressed together to get a look at the body. Nova stood at the front but no one dared come near her.

  Nail, Tilly and Gren laid Kirt's body on the ground. Nail pulled out a small bottle and squirted it over Kirt. The strong smell of fuel filled the air.

  "Here you go, Kirt," he said. "You dumb bastard."

  Nail flicked a lighter and tossed it onto Kirt's body, which erupted in flames.

  "No!" A woman rushed forward from the crowd, diving to the ground beside Kirt's burning body. "There's good meat on that. What are you doing, you bastards?"

  Nova backed away from the woman, glancing between her and the raging fire. Heat billowed out, wrapping the desert sand in new levels of warmth.

  Nail grimaced at the woman. "He deserved a respectful send-off."

  "And because you want to respect his corpse, I've got to starve?" the woman said, baring blackened teeth up at Nail.

  He shrugged and returned his eyes to Kirt's blackening body.

  The woman spat at the ground at Nail's feet and lunged forward, plunging her hands into the flames. She snatched Kirt's shoulder and ripped her arm back, wrenching a segment of blackened flesh free.

  She grinned and stuffed the hunk of meat into her mouth, closing her eyes and chewing.

  "You bitch!" Nail grabbed the woman's shirt and hurled her away from the fire into the waiting crowd.

  She cackled as she shoved the last of the meat into her mouth, ignoring her blistered hand. Others from the Outer settlement crept forward, their hungry eyes on Kirt's body.

  "The next person who tries that will become dessert," Nail said, pulling a jagged knife from his belt.

  Prisoners crouched low, eyes flicking between Kirt and the knife.

  Kirt's blackened flesh sloughed off into the flames. His clothes and hair fizzled and burned, leaking an acrid stench that clogged the air.

  Muttering swept through the crowd but no one else tried to take a bite, hanging back, glaring at Nail and the fire. "Would have made a meal for twenty," an elderly man said as he hobbled past Nova, away from the fire.

  She bit her lip and focused on the bright flames, watching until only his bones remained.

  ***

  Nova sat at her table with a bowl of gruel, surrounded by people. The tall man with tattoos that Wood had pointed out, Kravkof, stood on her left side and put his foot up on the bench next to her so that he loomed above her.

  "Nova," Kravkof said with a smile. "It's so nice to finally talk to you face to face."

  Nova lowered her spoon. "Can I help you?"

  Kravkof threw back his head and laughed. "All business. I like you. Let me introduce my friends."

  Nova jutted her chin at the blond woman tossing a knife into the air. "Fi." She then turned to the broad-shouldered man standing to her right. "Red." She nodded at the man on the opposite side of the table. "Han."

  The three nodded back at her as she said each of their names.

  "Ah, I see you've been paying attention," Kravkof said, his smile wavering. "In that case, let me introduce Jen, Victor, and Pete."

  Jen had brown hair and hung at the back, head down. Victor stood tall and gazed over the top of Nova's head, not responding as Kravkof said his name. Pete danced where he stood, his eyes jerking about the prison and his tongue flopping out to lick across his lips, leaving a glistening trail.

  Nova raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore how much Pete resembled Scrim. "Let me repeat the question. Can I help you?"

  Kravkof smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "You seem to have become quite close with our great lord and master of late."

  Nova shrugged.

  "I was hoping we could come to some kind of arrangement," said Kravkof.

  "Oh?" Nova said, raising an eyebrow.

  "Carter seems especially relaxed around you… if something tragic were to happen to him, I'm sure you'd have a place high in the new regime."

  Nova pushed her bowl away and stood, coming eye-to-eye with Kravkof. "I would suggest you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. I'm not a traitor, and I'm sure Carter would be very interested to hear your proposal."

  Kravkof's smile wavered. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

  Nova stepped away and bowed with a flourish. "It was lovely meeting you all."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Two months until guard change.

  "Here you go," said Ringer as Nova entered her room.

  Two labourbots stood at his side, broad boxes that came up almost to his waist. Rust and dents covered their outer casing and their wheels had left dirty tracks across the floor.

  "Excellent!" Nova said. "Their motors work?"

  "Yep."

  "Good. Now I just have to gut them and make them remote controlled."

  Ringer raised an eyebrow. "I won't ask. But what's that?" He pointed at the bottle in Nova's hand.

  "Bleach," she said.

  "Where the hell did you get bleach?"

  Nova grimaced. "Did you know urine has ammonia in it?"

  Ringer raised an eyebrow.

  "It's best not to think about it," Nova said.

  "I'll try to forget I heard that. But what do you need bleach for?"

  "It's all part of the plan. The less you know, the better."

  "If you say so. D
o you need me to look out for anything else?"

  "I've got most of what I need for now, thank you."

  Ringer shook his head. "You know I've seen some hard cases in here but none of them, not a single one, has tried to escape."

  "Probably good for them," said Nova. "The chances are pretty high they would have been killed."

  "What about you?"

  "I had time to plan," Nova said. "I knew I was coming here."

  "I hope you packed an extra set of lives because you're going to need them."

  He leaned against the wall of her cell and looked over the pile of junk they'd gathered. Aside from the two labourbots, there was a pile of sheeting from the outside of a prisoner transporter, and tools and wires scattered across her floor. The only clear space was her bed.

  "Don't worry," Nova said. "I'll be off this dump in no time and waving at you from space."

  Ringer grinned. "I hope you do. Can I interest you in a game of cards before you get started on whatever this is?"

  Nova studied the items spread out over her floor. "After. I've only got two months to get everything ready. I'll come and find you later."

  "Alright," Ringer said.

  ***

  Later that afternoon Nova left her room and strode out into the courtyard. The sun seemed especially bright after being locked in her room all day. She returned Amon's nod but most of the other prisoners ignored her.

  "Here as promised," Nova said, sitting opposite Ringer.

  He grinned up at her. "Alright. Prepare to be amazed."

  Nova chuckled. "We'll see."

  Ringer dealt the cards and lifted his hand. Nova did the same. Her cards were good, really good. She kept her face neutral and looked over her hand to watch Ringer. The poor man tried to keep his expression straight but he just couldn't do it. There was a certain twinkle to his eyes that appeared whenever he had a good hand. A tiny downturn of his mouth was all it took to signal a bad hand.

  His mouth turned down.

  Nova smiled to herself. This hand was in the bag. She pulled a handful of rocks from her pocket; there wasn't much else to bet with on Ankar.