The Prison Keeper

Chapter 2

I thought they were coming last night, when the lights went out. It'll be soon, they play games like this when the time is near. I hope John manages to get back before they come and then we can get away, start a new life somewhere. Where that is, I don't know, there might not be anywhere to start a new life but I'll take the chance on finding somewhere, staying here is going to have one outcome and that's death. It's funny, I often said dying would be better than living here but with the child on the way, I've got something else to live for, he or she has given me hope.

The supplies are nearly gone, even if we stay they won't last long, what's left will be taken by them. Occasionally someone comes by, they might have something we need, they probably don't. They'll be lost, looking for somewhere safe, rumours are we all we have, they can stay if they want to but if they choose to stay they won't be leaving, they're not allowed, you make your choice and you live by it. They'll find out about the lights later.

From the top of the small hill I can see the prison. My instinct tells me John went in there, if he went in then he's almost certainly still there, escape is rare. It's my own fault, I should never have told him to go, should have just waited until they came and then left in the confusion. Maybe I was sending him to his death subconsciously, one less person to worry about, one less person to feed while we're on the road. I can look after myself, he's my husband but I've become immune to emotion, it's a weakness I don't need to have, a weakness that will get me killed.

I saw the man coming across the plains, in the darkness, stumbling, barely able to walk, his face cut, his arm hanging from his side, unable to control it, broken. I walked out towards him, cautiously, scared it was a strap. He fell in front of me, I managed to drag him back to the small hut on the hill we use as a lookout. I propped him up against the tin wall, he looked up at me in a daze, I poured some water into his mouth and he flopped to the side. I sat and waited, either for him to die or to come around and tell me what he was doing out here.

After an hour he stirred, his face grimacing in pain as he realised the extent of the damage to his arm. He looked at me, I gave him some more water.

"Where are you going?"

"I came from the west, I heard a rumour."

"What kind of rumour?"

"They said there were green fields and plenty of food out here."

"There's never been green fields and plenty of food out here, why would there be now?"

"You have to cling on to something don't you?"

"What happened to you?"

"There's a prison, an old man. He tried to kill me, locked me in a cell. Tortured me mentally, for days, left me to die, then he would bring me some food and water and I'd drink and eat and then he'd go again."

"How long were you there for? How did you get out? Who was the old man?"

"I don't know how long I was there for. He didn't lock the door one night, I don't know if he ever locked the door but one night I tried and it pushed out. He knew, he must have known. It was just a game."

"What did the old man look like?"

"An old man! He was old, bent almost double. I don't know how he was still alive! How did I let an old man torture me like that!?"

"Was there anyone else in there?"

"Not that I saw. There were other cells which were locked though, there were skeletons inside them, I don't know if it was him or if they were just left there. Shit! My watch! I left my watch! My father gave it to me before I left, I have to go back and get it!"