Chapter 2: 5:45pm The Arrival.

Content warning: mentions of violence

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mr. Harbinger, I’ll take it from here. It was late; our chef had just made salmon and potato salad. It wasn’t the worst meal he had made, but it couldn’t seen as food. A truck of seven prisoners arrived, five dying before they could even get on the six-mile bridge that led to the island prison. Halfway on the bride is a little hut where the prisoners are stripped and get new cuffs for general use. These cuffs were smaller and attached to each hand separately, each needing its unique key. We thought this should be enough to stop anyone from escaping even Mark. We were wrong, as you could tell.

Mark hated his new prison attire but he hated his cuffs more. Looking at the new cuffs, he realized his plan did not work as well as the key in his system would, at best, only go to one of his handcuffs and deactivate all their powers. Mark growls as he looks at his cuffs as a bigger man to his side looks at him.

“Listen here, Shorty, if you help me I can tell you how to get out.” The tall man says in confidence, his legs crossed.

Mark curiously nods as he calms down. The 7’7 guy next to him towers over the 5’6 Mark. The other prisoners in that car rolled their eyes as now that Mark could not gain access to his powers, they felt better; Mark glared at the men, making them quiet as the dog barked at him.

“Well? Mr. Drowned, what do you need of me?” Mark says, laying his hands behind his head.

“Find the founder in this prison once we convince him to us. Freedom is guaranteed!” Michelangelo says in a calm, assertive tone.

Mark was curious about who this founder person was and how bringing more people into an escape mission would help. But Mark also liked his odds of freedom being higher than zero. He’ll take it. They arrived at the main entrance to the prison, which was crawling with guards.

We only needed to let the catastrophe happen to fully understand how the founder worked. He was strong though small in figure and lacking in bravery or drive. He was a nuke waiting to blow. We should have known better.

Two officers and a lady in a trench coat holding a notebook greeted the new prisoners. The officer was a gorilla of a man as they stood at 6’10 with an arms width of nineteen inches and little body fat. The person to their right is a woman standing at 5’2 and has little muscle. They have toned legs and lean figures. Their badges read Officer Jennifer Gia and Escariot Bolt—the third lady with a notebook step forward.

“I'm the prison's therapist, Opani Juvie. I hope you can think of me as a friend.” The lady in a trench coat says as Mark scoffs.

Opani just adjusts her glasses as the prisoners go into the prison. Mark looks around to see if anyone looks unique or high-status like this founder should be. He figures out the prison splits into five sections. The first is the Guard building, where the guards sleep and solitary confinement is. The first building on the left is the male animaloid building. There, he sees a man standing at 9 feet tall with broken tusks on his cheeks. The next building on the left is the human sleeping area. He sees Michelangelo go inside, followed by some other strong-looking men. Mark then looks to the other side of the main building to see the girl buildings. He thinks about why he is here for two primary goals. He needs to get Amelia out and get that puppy out.

Mark was a model prisoner as he obeyed all orders after a few seconds delay. The only thing was when he was forced to go to Opani’s room for a psychiatric ward, he seemed to have information he shouldn’t. The first thing Mark knew was the arrival of the next monorail full of prisoners from other prisons. The second and more concerning was he knew their name. Who’s name? The man who made their escape possible to the apocalypse, better known as the Founder, is the first to have powers.

Mark followed orders to keep himself under the radar. He figured the prison must have similar floor plans. The entrance was a hallway with a metal detector and X-ray machine. This hallway leads into the dining room. To the south is the dirty group bathroom and shower. To the east are the cells, each with a bunk bed, dirty toilet, and desk. To the north are the workstations in this building. Mark discovers that the laundry and Licence plate maker are in this building. Mark goes into his cell and sees he’s sharing the room with a unit of a man. This man stands at 6’7 and 280 pounds of mostly muscle.

“Well, who may you be?” Mark looks at his roommate as he takes the bottom bunk.

Mark sighs, realizing this man is not answering. He believes that they may have been more talkative if this man was this founder person. Mark shrugs and gets into bed. The following day, Mark yawns as he watches everyone leave their cell for a roll call. As the guard calls out everyone's names, Mark uses this opportunity to get a good look at all 45 people in the humane male section of the prison. Five people catch his attention for who it could be. The first candidate is his roommate, who he learns the name is Goliath. The following person is a guy covered in bug bites a few rooms away from him. This person had a strange stench and a talent for attracting bugs. That would explain how they could escape prison using his bugs. Their name is Juha. The third candidate is the person he sees in a unique jacket that puts a lot of padding on the arms. A fourth possibility Mark keeps in mind as he looks around is that Michelangelo is lying.

‘This may be a goss chase that Michel is putting me so he can escape while blaming me for everything.’ Mark thought but shook his head, trying to keep his hopes high. ‘Amelia, I will get you out of here!’ Mark thought as he responded to being called during roll call.

As the last prisoners are called and head to the cafeteria, A girl of African-American descent appears and grabs his shoulder.

“Elliot, you have been selected for therapy this morning. Head to building three, room 3.5, to meet Opani.” The lady said in a stern and focused tone.

Mark was surprised as he looked back to see the woman momentarily. They were around 5’5 in height and were of high rank. Mark saw the lady move at crazy speeds. This makes Mark think she could turn invisible for a second before seeing her sneak past the final candidate he kept in mind. This guy was the youngest person here, from what he could tell. This person stood at 5’2 and looked to be about thirteen years old. Mark obeyed that lady's orders and headed to the guard's building.

‘I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. If this founder person is dangerous and could easily get out if they desired, they should be in solitary confinement.’ Mark thinks as he leaves the building with a heavy dread on his shoulder, hoping this founder will help him.