inspected the inside for signs of tampering before shutting it again.
Lhat ???Curtis gasped, as the guard walked back up the steps. Lhat happened??
Remember I told you about that big-mouthed hack in Omaha??
Heah.?
Ne always moaned about the faulty doors. Every door inside Omaha State had an anti-tamper device. If someone starts fiddling, an alarm goes off on the console in the cellblock control room. They have to send a hack out to check both sides of the door and reset the alarm, but theyte very sensitive. All it takes is a gust of wind, or someone hitting the door to set it off. The hack said he spent half his life wandering around cancelling false alarms.?
Ind the doors here are the same??
James nodded. Exactly the same. And the thing is, the guards get so sick of the alarms, they assume every one is false.?
Curtis nodded. That hack didnt even look over the rail to see if someone was waiting on the other side.?
Lithin a minute of taking out the guard, we can be up on the rail and tooled up with stun grenades and pepper spray.?
Ind from there??
Houte seen how few staff there are on duty at night,?James said. if we rip off the hacks?security passes and put on their uniform, I reckon we can bluff our way out of the front gate before the alarm goes off.?
Cefinitely tonight??
James nodded. Is long as I get a chance to speak with my sister. Lete hit the yard.?
Theret been a knife fight between two rival gangs the previous morning. Everyone had been sent back to their cells and locked down for the rest of the day. As James and Curtis lined up to pass through the metal detector, all the other inmates seemed tense, like something bad could flare up at any second.
As they closed on their regular spot by the chin-up bars, James spotted a kid balled up on the ground sniffling. Elwood had just slapped him around in front of a dozen laughing skinheads.
Lames,?Elwood said, pointing down at the ball. Lanna finish him off??
it good,?James said, waving his hand in front of his face.
The victim was Mark, the friendly kid with the black eye whot slept next to James on the first night. Mark had no relatives on the outside to pay in commissary money. This ruled out extortion, but didnt stop Elwood beating him up for fun.
Boot him,?Elwood snarled. Houte such a pussy, James.?
James spun quickly and kicked Mark up the arse. He knew this would amuse the crowd, without hurting his victim too badly. The skinheads roared as Mark rolled over in the dirt. James pulled down the front of his shorts.
Row get out of here before I piss over you,?he snarled.
Mark scowled back at James, as he scrambled to his feet and limped off.
Lhyt you let him go??Elwood asked angrily.
James shrugged. He kept trying to find ways to minimise the daily violence without appearing soft, but he knew that the more time he spent with psychos like Elwood, the more chance there was het end up involved in an incident where someone got badly beaten, or stabbed.
To,?James said, desperate to change the subject. is there a riot going down, or not??
The prospect had been hotly debated in the cell overnight. Whenever there was serious violence, the hacks closed the yard and locked everyone in the cells. But locking inmates down for long stretches only fermented the anger.
i love riots,?Kirch said, making a rare excursion into the world of speech.
Heah,?Elwood said. Hou should have seen the last one, James. There were baton rounds whizzing across this yard from every direction. Poom, poom, poom. I was one of the last to make it back to the cell and dudes were laid up everywhere: either stabbed, or shot up.?
Kirch looked at the sky with a smile across his face. Nappy days,?he nodded. Easily worth a month of lockdown.?
James sat down in the dirt. After a week of Kirch and Elwoode bullying and bragging, he could happily have laid them out in return for five minutes?peace.
The riot was the scariest hour of my life,?Curtis whispered, leaning into James?ear. i thought I was gonna die. Elwood hid under one of the shelters. He was as scared as I was.?
James smiled. Lhat about Kirch??
æ…˜irch really is a psycho. I think he loved every minute.?
Lete gotta get out of here,?James said, shaking his head. This place is doing my brain in.?
*
If the cellblock was put back in lockdown, visitation would be cancelled. James wouldnt get