A cell at the new prison, late November (or early December?), around afternoon?
“So you’re my new cellmate, huh?” the big hulking man asked Leonardo.
Leonardo nodded, not quite trusting his voice. He was sure he couldn’t get a stable syllable out after the day he’s had. After having sat in a sweltering car with a dozen other sweaty inmates with his head in a moldy-smelling burlap sack, only to arrive at a huge, dark facility in God knows where and have a bunch of armed people point guns and scream orders at him. All this topped with withdrawals.
And now he was glared at by a giant, sweaty mountain of a man. All of that compounded stress aggravated his chronic anxiety and did a number on his hands and voice, neither of which were stable at this moment.
It was a miracle that he was as composed as he was now.
“Name’s Terry,” the huge man said, offering Leonardo his hand in a surprising act of politeness.
Leonardo wiped his sweaty palms on his orange overalls and shook the huge, meaty hand. “Leonardo.”
Terry gave Leonardo’s hand a tight squeeze and a firm shake. “Pleasure.”
Leonardo just nodded and shook the hand. Terry said nothing and shook Leonardo’s hand again. Leonardo responded to the shake with a yet another shake.
“Right,” Terry said and let go of Leonardo’s hand, a touch awkward. “Cool.”
Leonardo nodded again, not sure what to say. He had never been good at small talk, since his siblings and mother always made up for him. Or at least, they used to. Back when Leonardo wasn’t in jail.
To his relief, however, Terry stepped back and turned around, signifying that the conversation was over, to Leonardo’s relief. There was a sound of a zipper opening and Terry shrugged his overalls off of his shoulders, revealing a stained tank top and an incredibly muscular back. Terry rolled his shoulders, and stretched his arms over his head, making every muscle stand out under the skin. The thin sheen of sweat made his skin glisten in the dim light and further emphasized the contour of his muscles.
Leonardo stared.
“These fucking overalls,” he heard Terry mutter, “don’t fit my arms right.” The huge man tied the sleeves around his waist and stepped to the bunk beds and gave it a brief shake. The beds were made of sturdy iron, but Terry’s bowling-ball-sized biceps shook it like it was nothing.
Leonardo’s jaw almost hit the floor. Holy shit.
“Y’mind if I take the bottom?” Terry asked, turning back to Leonardo again.
Leonardo snapped back to reality. “What?”
“The bottom bunk. I don’t trust this thing to carry my weight all night,” Terry said, not even realizing that Leonardo had been ogling at him, “I don’t want it to give him at three in the morning and crush you by accident.”
“I… That… Um… Sure. Okay.”
Terry narrowed his eyes. “So can I take the bottom bunk or…”
Jesucristo. “Yes! Take it!”
Hall Alpha-982, December 1st, 08:15 AM, 30 days of employment left
This prison was different from the ones Leonardo had been i previously. The guards here were dressed like a riot would break out at any moment and armed to the teeth. Sometimes Leonardo saw people in lab coats and jumpsuits that looked like different kind of prison scrubs. The latter people were very rare, though.
An armed guard lead Leonardo, Terry and a group of other orange-clad people to a room with chairs and another guard, who looked bored with a cigarette on his lips.
“Take a seat,” he said, blowing smoke out of his mouth. He continued speaking after Leonardo and the group had settled down. “Welcome to your D-class orientation,” he continued, “you poor bastards.”
The guard gave them a brief rundown of their new situation. They were now working as “D-class personnel” for something that was called “SCP Foundation”, whatever that meant. The guard refused to elaborate when asked about the foundation, but he did explain that D-classes basically did all the work that was too dangerous for regular staff. Or just the work that no one else wanted to do.
“Basically all you need to do is to obey orders you will be given for the next month and you will be let go free. No strings attached,” the guard summarised.
It sounded too easy and good to be true.
But it also was Leonardo’s only chance at turning his life around, and there was no way in hell he would miss out on it.
***
D-class dining hall, same day, 11:20 AM
Leonardo stared at the new tattoo on his arm. The tattooers had some hard time finding a blank spot on his arms amidst his existing tattoos, but they managed to squeeze the new brand near his wrist and another on his chest.
D-3976, the tattoo said. That was his new name here.
Someone elbowed his arm. “C’mon, Lenny, it’s time for lunch.”
Leonardo looked up at Terry. “Huh? What? That’s not my name.”
“Your name’s too long so Lenny it is,” Terry simply said, walking towards the line.
Leonardo stared at his back in disbelief.
The two got their food and headed to the dining area. There was a table with two free seats and six men, two of whom were talking animatedly.
“Repeat that to me,” a bald man demanded, “say that again!”
A long-faced man smiled incredulously at him and lifted his eyebrows. “I just said that the food isn’t that bad.”
The bald man closed his eyes and took a long breath, like he was trying to calm himself down. “I feel… sorry. Sorry for your completely dead taste buds.”
The long-faced man just laughed. Leonardo and Terry sat down, making him notice them. “Heyy, new guys! Welcome to the cool kids’ table.” A sour-faced man next to him rolled his eyes. “Are you new here too?”
“Unfortunately yes,” Terry said.
“So are we!” the long-faced man said, way too cheerful. “Name’s Dug. Gordon Ramsay here’s Nathan, he used to be a chef.” Dug motioned towards the bald man, who took a brief pause from frowning at his food to nod a greeting to Leonardo and Terry.
“His roommate,” Dug said, motioning towards a stoned-looking, handsome man. “Uuuh…” Dug snapped his fingers, “Fucking… what’s-his-face.”
“Jared,” Nathan said.
“Jared! How could I forget my good buddy Jared!”
“Yes?” Jared asked, having previously been absently smiling at nothing.
“Sup Jared?”
Jared just smiled at Dug.
“…Right.” Dug turned to Leonardo and Terry. “That’s Jared. Jared’s a delight. Alright, next up is Cray!” He pointed at a heavily tanned, graying man with glasses. Cray was sitting with his back straight, giving the vague impression of a soldier. “Honestly, he scares me a little and I don’t know much about him, but Cray’s awesome.”
The corner of Cray’s mouth quirked just a little.
“Cray’s roommate, the kid over there,” Dug continued, pointing at a dark-skinned boy who looked way too young to be anywhere near this shithole. “Felix, smart as hell.”
Felix smiled crookedly and gave a small wave.
”Then there’s my best friend,” Dug said.
”I’m not your friend,” the sour-faced man spoke up.
Dug ignored him. ”My second-in-command, my main man, my roommate Kelly.”
”We met yesterday,” Kelly said.
”And what should we call you two fine gentlemen?”
”Terry,” Terry said, to Leonardo’s relief. ”And this is Lenny.”
Goddammit, Terry. ”Leonardo. My name’s Leonardo.”
”Terry and Lenny, huh? You two sound like a comedy duo.”
”Partners in laugh,” Terry quipped.
Dug let out a loud bark of laugh. ”Exactly!”
Leonardo tuned them out and focused on his food. Absently, he wondered what the men around the table had done to end up in this hell.
***
Site archive/Library, same day, 12:05 PM
After lunch, Leonardo, Terry, Felix, and Cray were separated from the rest and escorted by two armed guards to the site archives. One of the guards was carrying a small cage.
”Steffi! Thank god, finally,” the mousy-haired person at the reception desk said. They spoke with an accent Leonardo couldn’t quite place. Probably from somewhere Europe, judging by their pale complexion.
”I’m here too,” the other guard said flatly.
”Hi, Rick,” the receptionist replied, just as flatly.
”It’s Eric, the guard said, bristling visibly.
”Hey, Vee,” Steffi said, ”any news on the rat?”
”The alleged rat, you mean?” Vee smiled sardonically, ”Still hasn’t gone into the traps but it still somehow manages to steal the bait out of them.”
”Alleged rat?” Terry asked.
”Yes. We’re here to find and catch whatever attacked archivist Vee,” Steffi said.
”Attacked?” Felix spoke up, paling.
Leonardo realized that the archivist’s left hand was bandaged from the base of the thumb, past the wrist and under the sleeve of the cardigan.
”Vee? You wanna explain what happened here?” Steffi asked.
The archivist shrugged. ”Not much to tell. Opened a drawer, heard a hiss, felt pain, heard something skittering off, realized I was bleeding. I still don’t know what it was.”
”Hence the alleged,” Felix observed.
”So, what, we don’t even know what we’re here to catch?” Terry said, crossing his muscular arms.
”It can’t be bigger than a cat or a small dog, but a rat is the most likely candidate,” the archivist said, ”It should still be in the archives. I’ve kept the door closed to not let it escape. I’m guessing its nest is in one of the drawers in the back row. The one with the bloodstains.”
”That’s enough debriefing,” Eric spoke up, sounding irritated, ”Now move it.” He shoved Terry towards the door that had a hastily written paper sign on it.
RAT(?) IN ARCHIVE
DO NOT OPEN DOOR
The guard snorted and opened the door. ”Get in.”
The group shuffled into the archives. The temperature was lower than in the library and the air smelled slightly musty. The hall was filled with rows and rows of drawers, all made of the same dull, stainless steel.
”We should start with the drawer that it first appeared from,” Eric said, shoving Cray, ”Go open it.”
Cray grunted and stepped towards the back row.
”Wait, he’s not wearing any protection,” Felix yelped. He was too late, though, because Cray has already opened the drawer.
There was a moment of stillness as everyone expected something to jump out at Cray. Nothing did.
”No rats here,” Cray said.
”So it seems,” Eric said, ”We’re going to have to pull the drawers out to find the rat. Get to work.”
The D-classes started pulling the drawers out one by one. Leonardo noticed Felix’s hands were shaking as he was working.
”You okay?”
Felix jumped a little. ”Yeah! Awesome! I just… I don’t like rats. Really can’t stand them.”
Leonardo hummed. ”If it makes you feel any better, it will probably be more scared of you than you are of it.”
”Did you see the archivist’s arm? That rat did it, while scared.”
Leonardo paused. The kid had a point. Leonardo had seen a fair share of rats in New York before he went to jail and while he knew they weren’t dangerous if you left them alone, he also knew not to fuck with the rats.
His arms itched as anxiety surged in his stomach. He needed a fix.
Soon, however, they had pulled out all the drawers, except for one. Still no sign of any rats, alleged or not. Terry made a move towards it, but Steffi spoke up.
”Wait, wait! Hold up.”
Terry stopped and turned to look at her. ”What?”
”It has to be in this drawer,” Steffi said, ”We have to be careful now.” She opened a cage and gave it to Cray. ”Hold this, I’ll get the rat.”
”Wait, Stef,” Eric spoke up, ”why are you doing it? We have D-classes right here just for this.”
”I’m wearing gear, they are not,” Steffie said simply, stepping to the last drawer. She grasped the handle and drew a deep breath. She quickly pulled the drawer out.
There was a hissing sound like Leonardo had never heard before, like the unholy crossbreed of an angry rat and a rabid raccoon. Steffie lifted the creature by the scruff of its neck. It was way bigger than any rat Leonardo had seen (and he was from New York). It squirmed and screeched as Steffie stuffed it into the cage that was almost too small for it. Once the furry hellspawn was secured in the cage, Cray slammed the door shut and closed it.
”This is not a rat,” he said calmly as he set the cage on top of the drawers.
”Sure isn’t,” Steffie said, lifting the cage to inspect the animal. ”I have no idea what that is.” There was something sounding like wonder in her voice.
”Whatever it is, we got it. Mission complete,” said Eric, who sounded way too accomplished for someone who barely did anything.
***
Leonardo and Terry’s cell, December 5th, around midnight. 26 days of employment left
”Lenny? You awake?”
”Don’t call me that.”
”Whatever, Twiggy.”
”… I changed my mind, Lenny’s fine.”
Leonardo heard Terry snicker. ”The third option would’ve been ’human-sized paintbrush’, but that’s bit of a mouthful.”
”’Human-sized’…? What the fuck!?”
”You know, because of your hair and because you’re so skinny?”
Leonardo gaped speechlessly. ”First of all, it’s called an undercut…”
Terry guffawed. He sounded like he found this hysterical. Leonardo fell silent, realizing Terry was taking the piss.
”Mierda… Did you have something to say or are you just keeping me awake for shits and giggles?” Leonardo’s arms itched.
Terry’s snickers died down and Leonardo found he missed them almost immediately.
”Yeah… Just wanted to ask what you’re gonna do when you get outta here.”
Leonardo huffed a sarcastic laugh. ”You mean if?”
”Hey now, miracles happen.”
Leonardo snorted. He wished he could have some of Terry’s optimism.
There was a moment of silence. Leonardo heard Terry shift on his cot. ”You didn’t answer the question.”
”If I get out of here…” Leonardo considered it for a moment. ”I’m going to turn my life around. I got one final chance from death row and there’s no way in hell I’m going to waste it. I’ll get a real job and get my mother and siblings into a house they deserve.”
”Hmmm,” Terry rumbled, so quietly that Leonardo barely heard it.
”What about you?” Leonardo asked.
”Oh, um. P-pretty much the same. Got another chance so I gotta take it. I’ll clean up my act and get my shit together.”
Leonardo paused. Something about Terry’s voice sounded off, but he wasn’t sure if he should ask about it.
”The stakes are high for both of us, huh?” he said instead, smiling bitterly at the ceiling.
***
D-class dining hall, December 7th, 7:12 AM. 24 days of employment left
”Did you hear that Nathan and Jared got kitchen duty?” Felix asked Leonardo as they were standing in line for breakfast.
”Lucky bastards… They don’t have to fight mutated rats or homicidal statues in the kitchen,” Leonardo said with a crooked smile.
Felix snorted. ”Or fix electronics that could electrocute you any second.”
”Whoa, what? Is that what they make you do here?”
”Yeah. I fiddled around with electronics on my free time even before coming here. I was going to go to college for that…” Felix’s face fell a little. ”So that’s why Cray and I do those jobs here,” he quickly continued, trying to not sound too bitter.
”He’s good at it too,” Cray spoke up from in front of Felix, ”Saved me once. I owe him my life.”
Felix shuffled his feet, embarrassed. ”Come on, dude… All I did was-”
”GO WASH YOUR HANDS, SHITPAW!” someone bellowed in the kitchen.
is this scene necessary?
***
D-class exercise yard, 10th December, 6:57 PM, 21 days of employment left
“Not a lotta girls here,” Dug observed, sitting on Cray’s back while he did pushups.
“Not a lotta girls end up in death row,” Terry said, also doing pushups beside Cray, with Leonardo on his back. He was only slightly out of breath.
“We have Vivian and Jules in the kitchen,” Nathan spoke up. He was lifting weights.
“What, dude? Seriously?!” Dug almost fell off of Cray. “Are they cute?”
Nathan lifted an eyebrow. “Vivian has a meth addiction and Jules has burn marks.”
“Dude, you gotta introduce us.”
“Burn marks and meth addiction aren’t deal breakers?” Leonardo asked, incredulous.
Dug shrugged. “I’m not picky. As long as she has a pulse, I’m down.”
Nathan scoffed. “You’re not coming anywhere near the kitchen before you have had at least three showers.”
“Aw come on! Are you hogging them for yourself?”
Leonardo snorted as Nathan sputtered, trying to deny “hogging the girls for himself”. He felt Terry’s shoulders tremble underneath him. “You okay there, big guy?”
“‘m fine,” Terry choked out, “Keep sittin’.” His voice was trembling with barely-concealed laughter.
“I can’t be the only one who wants something pretty to look at ‘round here. Terry? You understand, right?”
Terry’s pushups paused for a moment. Leonardo was ready to jump off of him in case he collapsed. However, Terry regained his rhythm and kept going. “Some pretty plants would be nice,” Terry said.
“I was talking about girls, but okay. Lenny? What do you think?”
“Don’t call me that. Having girls here would mean that they’re in the same hell as us which I wouldn’t hope for anyone,” Leonardo said with a shrug.
“Psh, you’re no fun,” Dug grunted, “What about you, Cray? You look like you have a wife and/or two kids waiting.”
“No wife. No kids.”
“What? Really? You seem like a really dadly guy!”
“‘Dadly’ is not a word.”
“Are we seriously all single?” Dug asked.
“Being on the death row isn’t really a turn-on,” Nathan deadpanned.
“Going to jail in general,” Leonardo said. He should know. Even his mother, who had the patience of a saint, had had a hard time accepting that her son was going to jail. And the day when Leonardo ended up in death row… It broke leonardo's heart to even think of the expression she had made upon hearing the news.
She deserved better, and Leonardo wanted to give it to her.
”It’s what ruined my last relationship,” Nathan said quietly, drawing Leonardo from his thoughts.
Terry’s stopped his push ups, prompting Leonardo to get off of him. Cray also stopped his exercise. An uncomfortable silence fell upon them as four men stared at him.
”Do you… want to talk about it?” Terry prompted gently.
Nathan shrugged. ”Not much to say. The relationship was already falling apart and me going to jail was the final straw. She broke up with me on the first visiting day. That’s about it.” He tilted his head.
”First visiting day? That’s… that’s cold,” Leonardo said.
”It was mutual. It’s better like this, honestly. She’s a good person and I hope she finds someone better than me.”
There was a deep silence between the D-classes.
”Damn,” Dug finally said, ”That’s heavy.”
Nathan huffed a laugh. ”Yeah. Sorry for getting all depressing.”
”I never really dated anyone,” Leonardo heard himself say, ”I thought my… I guess you could call it a job… was too… time-consuming to let me have time to date.”
”What do you mean?” Terry asked.
”I was already paranoid and anxious enough about my family getting into danger. I didn’t want to worry about a par… girlfriend too. Also, like, how many girls would be down to date a drug trafficker?”
”Fair enough,” Nathan said.
”And here I thought we all were too ugly to get laid,” Dug grinned.
”Fuck off, Dug,” Nathan, Leonardo and Terry said in unison, with varying amount of insult.
***
D-class dining hall, 11th December, 7:12 AM
WIP
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