"Quick," Donovan shouted, sprinting back down the platform to our cell. The door was still open, the automatic mechanism whining as it strained to slide shut. There was a howl behind us and I snapped around to see the remaining dog charge along the platform. I could swear that its face was twisted into an expression of fury at what we had done to its brother.
We jumped into the cell, Donovan coming in last and wrestling with the toilet seat. I helped him, gripping the stained metal and pulling with all my might. The dog was gaining. We were going to be trapped inside the cell with the creature at this rate.
But when all seemed lost the toilet seat popped free, sending Donovan and me flying backward onto the bed. The cell door slid home, bolts securing it in place, and the dog crashed into the bars. They bent alarmingly, but they held. The creature thrashed against the metal for a few seconds before the siren cut through the prison again. It stood outside the cell, fixing us all with a silver glare like it was remembering our faces. Then it howled and fled back to the staircase.
I'M NOT ASHAMED to say that I spent the next few minutes crying my eyes out. Zee did too. We sat huddled on the bottom bunk sobbing helplessly, our exhausted bodies and fear-stricken minds unable to do anything else.
As soon as the dogs had vanished back inside the vault door-the injured one barely able to drag itself over the threshold-Donovan started shouting at me, telling me how utterly stupid I had been to start a fight I couldn't win. But after a couple of insults he stopped, staring at us both like we were a couple of upset toddlers, his expression half frustration and half pity. Eventually he just shook his head and climbed onto his bunk.
I wept solidly until I felt like I'd cried out my very soul, until it seemed as if there was nothing left inside me. Then I lay back on the bed, staring into space and trying to forget that I even existed. I don't know whether it was minutes or hours later that I finally remembered my manners.
"Thanks," I breathed, little more than a whisper. "Thanks for saving our lives."
The bed creaked as Donovan shifted his weight above me, and I heard a grunt that might have been an acknowledgment. There was a gentle cough from my side and I turned to see Zee looking at me expectantly.
"Oh, yeah, thanks to you too," I said, recalling the events in the trough room, events that seemed like they belonged in another lifetime. "You saved my ass, Zee."
"You owe me one, big-time," was his reply. But his mouth was bent up in what I thought was probably a smile. "Big-time."
"At least we made it," I said. "We survived."
I was surprised to hear Donovan laughing, a chuckle that was entirely devoid of humor.
"You made it, yeah, but for how long?" he asked. "Those dogs don't forget a face, especially when you leave one of them with broken legs. And as for the Skulls…"
He didn't need to finish. I knew that as soon as I got out of my cell they would be coming after me. I mean, we'd just got one of their number killed. I was truly Skull Fodder now. Part of me started wishing that the dogs had eaten all of the gang members from the canteen, but the thought made me feel sick.
"Do you see now?" Donovan continued. "This place isn't a joke. It's not some film or book or computer game where you get infinite lives. You foul up out there, then you die. It's as simple as that. And you two fouled up today, big-time." He echoed Zee's accent. "Big-time."
"What happened to the other Skulls?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "The ones from the trough room."
"Holed up someplace, probably trembling in their little bandannas. Guards'll flush 'em out in a minute."
"What about us, will we get punished?" asked Zee. I suddenly pictured what Donovan had said about solitary confinement, tried not to think about going mad in a lightless pit at the bottom of the world.
"Maybe, maybe not," he replied. "You never know what's gonna happen in this place. Could end up in the hole, could just be left alone. Could be taken tonight. All a mystery till it happens."
The siren pierced my skull as once again the vault door opened. This time two blacksuits strode out, armed with shotguns, and made their way toward the canteen. They passed the pool of dark liquid that was all that remained of the Skull, then vanished through the wall. Less than a minute later the three remaining Skulls emerged from the trough room, hands clasped above their heads, one of the shotguns pointed at their backs as they marched toward the stairs. They disappeared from view, but I heard one of the blacksuits shout out a cell number followed by the muffled sound of a door opening.
It happened twice more, then the thunderous sound of the blacksuits' boots began to get louder as they made their way along our platform. I pressed myself back against the far wall, but there was nowhere to go and I was helpless as the two grinning faces appeared at the bars.
"Always the fresh meat," said one. "New kids, think they can cause trouble."
I tried to apologize, but my mouth was so dry I couldn't make my tongue work. One of the blacksuits ran his hands along the bars, curved inward from the weight of the dog.
"Open F11," he boomed. The cell door moved a few centimeters before the buckled bars jammed against their casings. The man grabbed hold of the door and pulled, the muscles beneath his suit straining so hard that I thought the fabric would rip. With the sound of screeching metal the solid bars relented, snapping back into place and allowing the door to slide open. The men didn't enter, they just pointed at Zee.
"You, come with us."
"Me?" he asked, his voice barely audible. Zee looked at me as if I could help. I swallowed hard then stood up, hands held out in submission.
"It's me you want," I said slowly. "I started it."
"Well, look at Mr. Noble," said the blacksuit who had bent the door. "Don't kiss ass, kid. You're in the right cell, he's not. It's a breach of lockdown rules. Now get over here, Hatcher."
Zee reluctantly stood and walked toward the cell door. The men raised their evil-looking weapons and ushered him outside.
"I'm so sorry, Zee," I said, but he was already walking off. I had a sudden flashback to Toby, lying dead on the floor of a stranger's house, his life taken because of my stupidity, my greed. I couldn't believe it was happening again.
"Close F11."
The cell door rumbled shut and I gripped the bars, trying to see what was happening. Zee was marched to the stairs, vanishing as he was led down to his fate.
"Where are they taking him?" I asked Donovan. "What are they going to do to him? It's my fault all this happened, not his."
The answer came a second later when I heard a shot sound out across the prison, echoing off the stone walls and piercing my heart. I sank down to my knees, trying to force time to reverse, trying to undo what I'd made happen.
But then the noise came again, not a shot but the crack of metal on metal.
"Open D24," came a voice, and the sound continued, the noise of a cell door opening. I rested my forehead against the cold bars, offering a prayer of thanks to anything that was listening. I heard the door close, followed a short while later by the siren as the men in black retreated.
"He's okay," I muttered. "We're okay."
But Donovan simply laughed that chilling laugh.
"No, Alex. You're dead, you just don't know it yet."
THE WARDEN'S WARNING
WHEN I WOKE UP the next morning I actually thought I was on fire. Every single fiber in my body was in agony. I had pains in every muscle, pains in muscles I didn't know existed, pains in muscles in places I didn't even know I had. My head was drumming some sort of ancient tribal dance, my throat felt like I'd swallowed a cheese grater, and my eyes were watering as if I was wearing contact lenses soaked in vinegar. I uttered what must have been a pretty pathetic groan, then tried to swing my useless legs out of bed.