Eviternity: Book 1 Jerry's World

Fifteen

                             Rick

More often than not, Morty couldn't zip his suit up right. There was always about an inch or two of unzipped space, leaving the top bit to flop open like v-necked shirt. That's why Rick always zipped it up for him.

Last night, Morty had been returned to their cell with his suit not quite zipped, meaning Morty himself had zipped it. Meaning someone had unzipped it.

Rick was a genius, but it didn't take someone with his IQ to figure out who had touched his stupid grandson.

Woken earlier than he was comfortable with, but unable to go back to sleep, Rick sat on the edge of the bed and watched the sky outside the one barred widow lighten with dawn.

There was a small creak as Morty rolled over and a small hand gripped the back of his prison garb. He looked over his shoulder, his blue eyes fixed on Morty's sleeping face. He looked remarkably peaceful.

Slowly, Rick laid a hand on Morty's head, rubbing flat the erratic curls. He could only go about a minute before he recoiled with a shudder of revulsion. Rick didn't know why human contact was almost painful to him and he didn't care enough to figure it out. There had only ever been one person he could touch without disgust, but that man had left a long time ago.

Wiping his hand on his leg, Rick looked back to the sky. A rancid feeling of hatred was churning in his stomach, making him feel sick. He could picture all too easily how simple it would be for the broad-shouldered Warden to pin down scrawny little Morty. So far, Morty seemed to be unmolested, but it was certainly only a matter of time.

He would have to break them out of here before that happened.

~~~
That day, Jerry showed up.

He was dressed sharply and his hair was brushed. A blond boy walked close by his side, looking over the gathered inmates with an odd blankness in his eyes.

All the inmates in the prison were crammed into the mess hall, with Jerry looking down at them from a catwalk usually used by guards. "Umm... Hi." Uhg. He sounded stupider than Rick remembered.

The blond leaned closer and muttered something to Jerry. The brunet flushed and shuffled before shaking off the nervousness and squaring his shoulders.

Rick nudged Morty behind him, blocking the child from his father's view.

Jerry started to speak. "Hello, men. As you know, I am Jerry Smith, the ruler of this world. I'm here to offer you a way out of here." His words stirred up the inmates and they shifted and muttered skeptically. Rick snarled.

"I don't want any member of my world to have to rot in these places. You're all fit men and you can all work for yourselves and others. So I would like to offer you your freedom, and in exchange you will pledge yourselves to me. You will be my workers, my cooks, my farmers, my army. You will obey my orders when they are given to you and you will do so without question. But you will be out of this place. You can have your own home, your own income, you will be free." Jerry spread his arms and gave a soft smile. "Who will take my offer?"

The response was immediate. Inmates shouted and struggled to be heard, begging to be set free.

Rick turned and snatched Morty off his feet, crushing the boy to his body and shoving against the tide. Eventually, he broke through the pushing crowd and dropped Morty, before falling to his hands and knees and throwing up.

"Ah geez." Morty patted Rick's back in an attempt to help, but it only made it worse. The press of the crowd kept replaying through Rick's mind, the reek of bodies, wet with sweat and spit and blood, hot flesh touching his own, hands grabbing at him, greasy hair hitting his face.