Cellmate

Instead of taking Soren back to the Monarch Industries building, Issac drove him outside of town to a large prison. The city that Soren had chosen boasted a population of thirty thousand. It had a healthy economy, was small enough to notice anyone new coming in but large enough to blend in.

It was located forty minutes away from Fort Karmen, an army base, and was twenty minutes away from a large prison. United States Penitentiary, Culton was a high-security prison that housed a few famous murderers and gang members.

"Looks like I'm in for a change of scenery. Not exactly five stars."

Agent Issac's lip twitched, "Orders from the higher-ups. Since you can't stay in one place it was decided it was best to detain you here."

"Is that a challenge?"

"I'm not agent Gill, I don't care what you do or say. I follow orders. If you escape here I'll simply look for you like I did when you skipped out at Monarch. I get paid the same either way and this way I won't be bored."

Soren laughed. I like this one. All right, let's stick around and see what happens. Maybe cause a little chaos. Once they watch the surveillance video from the store my value will go up. This should be fun.

When they got out of the car Soren tossed his pack of cigarettes to agent Issac. Agent Issac caught the pack and gave him a questioning look.

"I want those back when you come back for me."

"You don't want to take them with you?"

"And chance the guards taking them? Fuck that."

They walked inside and Issac handed over the necessary paperwork. They would not be leaving Soren there long, just enough time to scare him straight. He knew that the higher-ups had already assigned an appropriate cellmate to help with the matter. Issac had memorized Soren's file, what little they had, and with the short amount of time he had spent with the man he did not see it working out how the higher-ups wanted.

Soren's words earlier about not being helped had reminded Issac of the call to DFS. Soren had been five when he called the State on his father. 'He's trying to kill me.' That phrase had troubled Issac, especially when coming out of the voice of a child. Social Services had sent a Caseworker to their home, but in the end, nothing had happened.

Looking back on Soren's history it was six months after the phone call that he was taken out of public school. Dr. Valle had not come under suspicion for deciding to homeschool his son after the phone call. The personal tutors that he had utilized made it all appear legitimate.

Issac had been bothered by it, though. He had worked enough abuse cases in his early days after Quantico; he could see the signs. He also knew how easy it was for an abusive parent to fool the adults around their victim.

When he left the prison he sincerely hoped that nothing bad would happen to Soren. With a thirteen year age difference, he could not help but see Soren as a kid. A kid who had been left to fend for himself.

*******

Soren was not a fan of being processed. He was stripped, searched thoroughly, and given an orange jumpsuit. His comment about the color not working with his complexion only got him three sets of blank looks. His cellmate, on the other hand, was a sight for sore eyes.

The intentions of the higher-ups had been made clear the moment he arrived at the prison. Seeing his cellmate only reinforced that. If they had truly meant to just secure him they would have sent him to solitary. Instead, they put him in a room with a man who proudly sported gang tattoos.

Dude looks like he works out for fun. He was an inch or two taller than Soren and twice as broad, all of which were muscles. His brown hair was cut almost military short and his brown eyes looked at Soren like a lion looked at a zebra.

Soren covered a yawn as he walked to the bunk bed and sat down. His cellmate glared at him and started to speak, only to be interrupted by Soren.

"Look, let's clear the air right at the beginning. I'm only here for a few days and plan to relax during that time. I already know what you're supposed to do and I really don't give a damn. From this moment onward you're my bitch."

"Why, you bastard…"

One moment he was walking towards Soren and the next he was laying on his back on the cold concrete floor. Soren was standing, his right foot on the man's chest. No matter how much he tried to move he could not shake Soren off.

"Awfully lively for a lowly peon. What's your name?"

"Fuck you."

Soren picked up his foot and kicked his cellmate. Soren then proceeded to beat him up, though he refrained from causing any serious injuries and avoided the face for the most part. When he was done he let the man fall back to the floor and sat down on the bed.

"Let's try this again. What's your name?"

"E-Ethan Mathis."

Ethan struggled to speak through the pain and the fear. He had never met someone as strong as Soren. No matter what he had tried he had been left feeling like a blade of grass facing against a lawnmower. His strength was insignificant.

"Good. I'm Soren, but you can call me boss. Got it?"

"Yes."

"How long were they going to keep the cameras off?"

Ethan started to speak and ended up rolling to his side and coughing up blood.

"An hour. They said I had an hour."

"That should give me another forty-five minutes. Look, I'm not a total monster. If you do well while I'm here I'll get you out. You'll be stuck with me because there is no way they'd just let you go on your own.

"However, it would mean leaving here. A lot of bad shit is about to go down and your best bet is to stick with me."

Ethan carefully moved to a sitting position. He was trying to process everything that Soren was saying. He had always been a follower, it was why he had joined a gang. He had no problems taking orders and even less trouble taking orders from someone stronger than him.

"What kind of 'bad shit?'"

"Ever watch one of those zombie movies?"

"Eh, the ones where people start eating brains?"

Soren nodded and had to urge to pat his head while saying 'good boy.'

"This will be similar. People have already started to mutate. The shit is in the air and I'm sure it's made it this far by now. I give it another week before it's spread out of state, if not further. I'm not a hundred percent certain how quick it'll spread, but needless to say shit will get bad fast."

"Will people really start eating brains?"

"Not brains specifically, but they will stop looking human and start seeing humans as food. They'll be stronger and faster than humans. They will also be your friends and family, which will mess with some people."

"Ok. Can you really get me out? Like, out-out? I'm supposed to be here for twenty years and I've only been here for three years."

Soren started to reaffirm his words then decided to get some more information first. It would be bad if he said yes and Ethan turned out to be a really bad person.

"Why are you here?"

"Eh, broke into a couple of houses. Some minor gang stuff. That's just what they know. I may or may not have killed a few people and they may or may not have been rival gang members that my boss asked me to take care of.

"I'm not saying I did that, though."

"I can live with that. Serve me well and I will take you with me. The first thing you can do is get me a cigarette and a lighter or match. It can wait until morning, I'm assuming that you're not allowed to go out of your cell this late at night."

"R-right."