Page 1 of Rat

1

Rory leapt off thebed at the sound of a scream. For a minute, he couldn’t remember where he was, let alone work out who the howl of terror was coming from.

He launched back, colliding with another person, and fell on their neighbouring bed. He scuffled with the stranger, and their grunts and mumbles only added to the soundtrack of horror coming from the other side of the room. They both fell silent with their fists scrunched in each other’s T-shirts, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

If death had a sound, they were listening to it, and it could be felt down to the bone.

“Jesus Christ,” Rory mumbled.

The man he had hold of nodded. “I don’t think he’s going to help.”

The lights came on, and Rory pushed off of the body he was clutching. He stared at the man thrashing on the bed on theother side of the room, stuck in the midst of a nightmare. A lock clunked, and two prison officers rushed inside.

They seemed hesitant, didn’t approach, and darted panicked looks at each other.

“Benjamin!” one shouted, but it had no effect.

The other officer tried to whisper the name instead, but the softer approach made no difference. No voice could reach the screaming man. He had fallen into the depths of hell, and unbeknownst to him, he was dragging them all down with him. Rory shuddered—he couldn’t imagine what was happening inside the man’s head.

It was clear that neither of the officers wanted to approach the man on the bed, and Rory didn’t blame them. He was huge, muscular, tattooed, with tired eyes when they were open, but closed, they were framed with angry lines, an expression of pure agony, and it was terrifying.

The closest officer pointed at Rory. “You two, get against the wall.”

Rory nodded, and he and his fellow inmate pressed their backs to the wall and held their hands up. They didn’t dare move or make a sound but watched with slack jaws.

Another prison officer came into the room, rolled his eyes, and strolled up to the man tossing and turning with terror.

“Captain!”

The howling stopped. The tortured prisoner rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. His great chest heaved, and he swiped his hand down his face.

When Rory had first met him, they’d exchanged names—Captain Benjamin Tracy. Rory had called him Captain for short, and that earned him a small smile. He’d decided he would always refer to him as Captain from that moment on.

“You were having a nightmare,” the officer told him.

Captain burst out laughing, but it was strangled andwrong.“A nightmare? Nightmares aren’t real. Everything I saw, the emotions in my mind, the pain in my chest… It’s real.” He lifted his hands above him, and they trembled wildly. “I need a drink.”

“You won’t be having one of those for the next five years.”

He laughed again, and Rory watched the tears run from his eyes. He sobbed while he laughed, and the sound and sight were hard to watch, and equally hard to look away from.

Rory stared down at his feet until an officer grabbed his forearm and pulled him towards his bed.

“You’ve got one more hour of shut-eye. I suggest you make the most of it.”

Rory lay back down on the mattress but didn’t get under the sheet. He didn’t want any obstacle tripping him if he had to launch from the bed again. He felt Captain’s eyes on him, and they made his heart thump. He glanced up and linked eyes with the strained ones watching him.

“Did I wake you?”

Rory shrugged and looked away. “I was half awake anyway.”

Captain snorted, then rolled over to face the wall. Rory could see the back of his T-shirt was drenched in sweat. Captain kept his hair military short, and when they went through the booking process, Rory spotted his dog tags swinging on his neck. He’d been forced to place them in a box to be returned to him on his eventual release date.

“Hey…”

Rory turned over and looked at the inmate to his right. With his brain functioning again, he remembered the guy’s name was Ollie. The room had eight bunks, but only three were in use. Rory had picked first, followed by Ollie, who chose the bed next to Rory’s, and then lastly, Captain, who took the bed furthest away from them.

Rory craned his neck closer to Ollie’s bed, and Ollie did the same, closing the gap until they could speak without disturbing Captain.

---