C H A P T E R 4
❛ riots. ❜
MILO
HE TURNED AROUND ON THE BUNK BED, the thing creaked loudly, like a ghost calling out through the empty halls of a castle but Milo barely heard it anymore. It was just one of the many haunting sounds he'd grown used to. He folded his arm under his head while staring at the bunk bed above him. Another day in this horrible, gray and grim building. After another night plagued by nightmares of his fallen friends and the blood that was staining his hands bright red. Even after all these months he still wasn't comfortable with what he'd done. In fact, he didn't think he ever would be and a small part of him was glad he wasn't comfortable taking someone's life. But another part of him just wanted the nightmares to end. He wanted the guilt to end, the endless visions of Marcus falling to the ground because of the bullet he put in his head. It was torturing him and he wanted it gone.
Being in this prison didn't help him either. Everyone either avoided each other, or fought over the smallest of things. The constant tension in the air was exhausting, no matter how hard he tried to keep his head down. But he knew he deserved to be here. Taking another man's life, no matter how cruel said man had been, was something he deserved to be punished for. He didn't disagree with the law, but that didn't mean he had to like it either.
Luckily it wasn't all bad. He'd been able to get a job in the kitchen together with a few other inmates. They weren't in for such a heavy crime as he was but they had accepted him without question. The few hours he got to spend in the kitchen were the only thing getting him through his sentence. It gave a feeling of normality in a life that had seemed to turn so gray.
A heavy sigh left his lips as he sat up straight and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. It was almost time for breakfast and then he'd move on to the kitchen. He stood up and walked to the small sink, turned on the tap and threw some water in his face. Leaning his hands on the sink he started at himself in the mirror. He barely recognized himself. In the beginning he tried to stay clean shaven but after a while he gave up. He never had a beard before in his life. It made him look older. He couldn't help but smile upon wondering what Quinn might say if she saw him like this. He wished she could visit more but since he'd been moved to this prison, she hadn't been able to. First he'd been in the local prison, close to her home but after he was moved it was almost a fourteen hour drive to where his sister lived. He knew she was barely getting by as it was. She didn't have the money to pay for the gas it would take to get here, or for the hotel to stay. He longed for every first monday of the month when he was allowed to have his one phone call. Hearing her voice was his lifeline in this hellhole.
A loud buzzing sound echoed through the prison, breaking him out of his thoughts. All at once the doors were opened. He threw one last look in the mirror and took a deep breath. There was no way he could prepare himself for another day in this hell but he didn't have much of a choice. So he pushed all the emotion from his eyes and put on the mask he used to wear when going out on the streets. Then he turned and made his way out his cell, down the stairs and towards the kitchen, staring straight ahead as he did so. He knew showing no signs of weaknesses was the only way to get by here.
When he entered the kitchen his fellow cooks Oscar and Axel were already there, both were wearing aprons and were currently having a heated discussion about something. He tried his hardest not to grin at the sight. They looked like an old married couple.
'I'm telling you, man, it was all over the newspaper this morning,' Oscar spoke loudly.
Milo put on his own apron and gloves before heading toward the kitchen counter. 'What was?' He questioned, not able to stay out of it. He reached for the tomatoes and a knife and started cutting them while awaiting the answer.
'Oscar claims there have been reports of dead people walking, eating the living,' Axel said while reaching for a pan and putting it on the stove.
'Dead people? Walking?' Milo questioned, raising his eyebrows. 'That sounds like bullshit to me, Oscar.' A teasing smile appeared on his face before he was able to stop himself.
The black man shook his head while starting to cut the cucumbers. 'I thought so too, but there were these pictures, man, I'm telling you. It's real.'
'What do you think, Axel?' Milo said, turning to the inmate on his right who'd started peeling the potatoes.
Axel shook his head. 'I don't believe in the supernatural.'
Milo grinned and turned back to the tomatoes in front of him. 'There you go, Oscar.'
Oscar scoffed but didn't say another word as they went back to their duties. It was a ridiculous story but apparently to some people it was real enough to put it in the papers. Milo had never believed in anything supernatural. His mother did, she believed in God and prayed to him every evening. She taught him some prayers but after she died he had never felt the need to talk to God again. And after he heard his father yell curses to the sky when he'd drunk too much he knew for sure he wanted nothing to do with it.
A small sigh left his lips as he put down his knife and stared at the cut tomatoes. 'Alright, this stuff is ready-' He was interrupted by a scream followed by a gunshot. It sounded muffled and far away, but still too close for his liking. He turned to look at the other two men in the kitchen. He felt his stomach twisting with nerves. 'What the hell?' He mumbled.
A sudden silence fell, as if the whole prison was holding its breath but then the silence was cut off by the high shriek of the alarm. It was a loud, horrible noise that echoed through the kitchen like another one of the ghosts that was haunting the hallways. Milo covered his ears though it did not do much to keep the sound out.
"All prisoners, please return to your cells," a voice sounded through the intercom.
Milo turned to Oscar who stared back at him with wide eyes. He knew what the man was thinking but it couldn't be true. It was probably just a riot or something. There couldn't possibly be dead people walking around. But as the alarms kept on blaring he suddenly felt himself doubting.
The door was thrown open, making him jump up with his hands raised, ready to fight. When he saw it was one of the guards he lowered his hands. He made a quick scan of the man, noticed the panic in his eyes, the sweat on his forehead and the way he was tightly holding on to his weapon. Something was very wrong. 'Follow me,' the guard barked.
For just a single second he doubted, his mind going through all the possible scenarios that could play out next. He could almost hear Aiden's voice in his head telling him to think things through and be careful. Out of the two of them Milo had always been the first to head into danger, especially when it came to Quinn.
'Now!' The guard ordered again.
He shared a glare with Alex and Oscar but knew they had no other choice. And so he quickly removed the gloves he'd been wearing and took off his apron, before running out of the kitchen with Oscar and Axel on his heels.
The guard turned right and ran down the hallway with the three inmates behind him. They went around a corner and Milo's eyes widened when they ran through the hallway. Prisoners were attacking guards, screaming in anger. Others just sat in their cells, their head in their hands. He felt himself at loss for words as he looked around. It felt like the world had gone mad all at once.
They ran up a set of stairs and turned into the hallway to the left. They hurried through the long corridor and it felt strangely freeing to be able to run again. The guard threw the gate into Milo's cell block open. But here the chaos was just as bad as in the hallways. Prisoners still in their cells were banging against the bars, demanding to be let free. The guard looked around once, genuine guilt on his features. With wide eyes he looked at Milo. 'I-I don't have the key to these cells,' he stammered, as if he had to explain why he wouldn't open their cell doors.
'Then let's go!' Oscar shouted.
As if that shook the guard awake he suddenly nodded firmly, grabbed a tight hold of his gun and hurried into the hallway on the other side of the cell block.
Milo forced himself to keep looking forwards, knowing he would feel the same guilt as the guard did if he were to look back. He knew most of the men in here were criminals, murderers, but so was he and no one deserved to be unable to protect themselves when death came knocking. His heart was beating painfully loud in his chest, his stamina had worsened during his time in lock-up. It felt strange to not know what the danger was he was running from, still he felt the need to run as fast as he possibly could.
A window flashed past him and he came to a sudden halt. With his eyes wide and his breath burning in his lungs he stared outside. 'What the hell?' He mumbled.
Axel and Oscar joined his side and as they stared outside Milo felt everything he had ever believed in fall apart around him.
The window showed them the meadow that surrounded the front side of the prison. It was encircled by a fence and at the fence stood people, though they barely looked like people. Even from this distance it was easy to see the weird gray color of their skin and he could hear the horrible growling noises they made as their hands grabbed at the fence. They pushed themselves against it, as though they were starved and the metal hardly bothered them.
Guards were shooting them, desperately trying to keep them outside. Two of them were trying to keep the gate closed but one suddenly let out a pained scream. Blood streamed from his arm, a red fountain that wouldn't stop. One of the creatures outside the fence had bitten right into his flesh and ripped it apart. The other guard pushed his colleague aside and managed to close the gate but not without a cost. The outstretched hands of the dead people managed to grab him. They pulled him against the fence and started biting at him right through the fence.
A shiver crawled down Milo's spine and he looked away, his gaze finding the guard that had come to get them. He stared out of the window with a terrified expression on his face as he watched his colleagues die right in front of him.
'Where are you taking us?' Milo asked, not able to keep his voice from shaking.
The guard shook himself awake and he gave a firm shake of his head before looking away from the window, his gaze resting on Milo. 'We've been given orders to execute the prisoners.'
His heart skipped a beat as he slowly took a step backwards, seeing Oscar and Axel doing the same behind the guard's back.
'That's why I'm not bringing you to your cells. I'm trying to save as many of you as possible.'
Milo frowned. 'Why?'
The guard seemed to grow uncomfortable but took a deep breath and answered anyway. 'Every life is valuable, even that of criminals.'
Milo looked the man straight in the eye and he realised he was telling the truth. Unlike most guards here, who were straight up assholes, this man seemed hellbent on saving their lives. He could tell it wasn't a lie or a trick. The man looked genuinely distraught but still determined to see this through. And so Milo nodded at him. 'Then let's move,' he said, not wanting to waste another second standing here with only just one gun to protect them.
More gunshots sounded, followed by panicked shouts and pained screams. The sudden sharp scent of burning wood followed and Milo felt his panic rise. The inmates were setting parts of the prison on fire in an attempt to escape.
'Yeah,' the guard said, gathering his courage. 'Let's go.'
He led them down stairs and through hallways, but no matter where they ran, the screams never faded. They lingered in the distance, determined to haunt them with every step they took. Milo tried his hardest to block them out, not wanting to be reminded of the sudden chaos the world was in. Whenever he tried to wrap his mind around it, everything seemed to crumble in his hands. Was this happening all over the world? Was Quinn alright? Was he going to make it out of here and see her again?
He was ripped out of his thoughts when the guard came to a halt at one of the doors. Milo took one look around and realised they were at the cafeteria. The guard took a key from his pocket, opened the lock and threw the doors open. 'Go!' He shouted.
Milo didn't have to be told twice. He rushed inside, followed by Oscar and Axel.
'I'll be back, just don't do anything stupid,' the guard told them before closing the door.
Milo could hear him putting the lock back in place before his footsteps faded down the hallway. He turned to look at Oscar and Axel, out of breath and afraid. He had no words. Not one sentence to describe what he was feeling right now.
'I hate to say it, but I told you so,' Oscar said, though panic was written all over his face.
Milo shook his head, speechless. He lowered himself on one of the chairs scattered around the tables. The image of the guard being ripped to pieces was replaying itself in his mind like some sort of cruel joke. It couldn't be real, none of it. He had to be dreaming.
'He saved you too?'
Swiftly he turned around. Three more inmates were leaning against the wall of the cafeteria. He only recognized one and he wasn't hard to miss. He'd been given the nickname Big Tiny over the years. Which was kind of ironic since he was the biggest man Milo had ever seen. Though he knew the giant had one of the softest hearts of all the inmates he'd come to know over the years. The man hadn't been as successful as Milo in hiding his good side.
'Yeah,' Axel answered when neither Oscar or Milo was capable of doing so. He turned to look at his friends, his face drained of all color. 'So what now?
'We wait,' Milo replied, finding his voice again. He couldn't afford to stay in this state of shock. He had to get his head on straight and figure out a way to survive. He refused to let his fear numb him. 'The guard will return and if he doesn't some rescue team will,' he added, not only trying to convince the others but himself as well. 'We wait.'
A U T H O R 'S N O T E
I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter about my thoughts on what happened in the prison! I always wondered how people inside got infected if they were able to keep walkers out so I decided to let one of the guards who was inside get bit and figured people didn't know they had to kill the brain yet. That was the only thing that made sense to me. Oh and the fire which burned down the far side of the prison and brought even more walkers in!
Also, I'm sorry I didn't update Saturday I was sick and just didn't have the energy to write, so sorry about that.
Please leave a vote or a comment, I really enjoy getting those and they're a huge insperation for me to keep on writing. If you're too shy to comment, I just want to say thanks for reading this story anyway because I can tell by the reads that you're there!
Saturday's chapter is gonna be awesome. There will be some walker fighting, some blood and chopped off limbs, so exciting. Nothing we're not used to as walking dead fans, right? So keep an eye out for the update on Saturday, it's gonna be great.
See ya!
xXx
UYM
edited: ✔