He sits, pondering his next move. He’s finally here, but he’s not afraid… he’s terrified.

His soft palms redden from the coarseness of the tools he's forced to work with. As he sits at his small cubicle, the dreadful realization of what he’d done finally hit him.

I’m going to die here, He thought. Soon lifting his head from the solemn regret bearing it was, to confront reality head-on. But that’s okay… because now, she’s safe.

“Aren’t you going to go help your friend?” A familiar face approached him.

I know this guy, he thought.And then, It hits him. It was the old-timer from the shower. He’s gathered who the man is, but still no comprehension of his words or intention. Alex looks up from his project to stare the man down with ease, then utters in annoyance. “You must have me confused with someone else; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yea you do!” A voice shouts from his left, “You know… that guy! What’s his name?” He snaps his fingers gesturing to the old timer.

“Nick,” he responds.

“Yeah…” He confirms in a high pitch tone. This was either a sign of great tease or genuine enthusiasm, but Alex could not decipher. “He helped you out of that 'whole', getting your asshole torn to shreds fiasco.” He said casually then laugh convincingly as if it were truly funny, “Yeah, you should probably thank him for that.”

Alex turns around completely to stare down the second stranger. His brown skin, brown curly hair and the blue-eyed combination made his mix-raced background evident.

After a quick look at both men, he swings back around in his seat. This time, making certain to upheave an aggressive expression to wear, he says “This is none of my business.” He assures them, “And quite frankly, neither is it yours.”

The old man chuckles heavily, bringing himself closer to Alex and away from his own station which is just two cubicles away.

“Listen, kid,” He began, “You may not know this yet, but sooner or later you’re going to need someone or something to be identified by if you want to survive in here. You know the old saying dog eat dog world? Yeah, well, this is Fight, rape, die-world. Or in your case rape, rape, rape World.”

“Look around you… Just where do you think you are?!”He pauses for dramatic effect, then holds his hand up in the air pointing at different angles in the room to which Alex did not break character, but rather maintained his steady yet impatient attention towards him.

“The only way to avoid being pushed around in here is to be someone people fear or… to be next to him. And from what I’ve seen so far, Nick… is someone to be feared. I’d reconsider my options if I were you.”

“Raping is a crime, one of the worst if I’m not mistaken.” Alex finally broke, to engage the man “All you have to do is report the perpetrator, and have them executed. Has no one in the pen-zoo thought of that? Or all you all just a bunch of degenerates like society thinks you are?”

The two men turned to look at each other then back again at Alex before busting out into laughter, “No seriously, have you ever considered stand up comedy? Or, are you just that stupid?”

“Duran, don’t be so mean to the kid.” The older man spoke, and Alex finally learned his name. “Kid, what did you do to get in here anyway? Robbery? Did you cheat on an exam? Steal some kid’s candy?”

Alex did not take lightly to their teasing and immediately found this as a sign of disrespect that could ultimately play a role in tarnishing any rep or status he hopes to gain in the future. He quickly retorts, “I murdered my stepfather with a bat.”

His response broke their laughter, and the men found themselves questioning his sincerity. Their implicit habit of non-verbal communication through body languages such as glances and head nods quickly stirred Alex’s temper. He swung back his chair quickly giving out, “I’ve heard enough. Why don’t you two Bonnie and Clyde go waste someone else’s time? I don’t owe that guy anything.”

The older man looks down at Alex. He assumes, in order to try and read the genuineness of his words and actions. Alex slightly turns his head to give a response that both men felt seemed more like a reaction that matched his persona. “It was a stupid fight and nobody really got hurt. I mean, no one died. That’s good for what, two days’ time out?”

The old man gave a sigh and an obvious look of pity. “What’s your name Kid?”

Alex’s failed attempt to remove his look of scorn towards the question he’d been asked almost ripped his soul apart. He wanted nothing more than to bear the consequences of his actions in silence and to be left alone for the rest of his miserable life. He wants nothing to do with these low-lives; as far as he’s concerned he’s different from them. But these two clearly had an agenda and he gathered and it’s probably best, he found out why.

“It’s Alex,” He unpleasantly responds.

The old man looked around, no doubt, checking the locations of the supervisors and guards.

He then drew his seat completely from his own cubicle to join him, “Alex, you’re in prison. You’re here because you committed a crime. Commit a crime while in prison, you get put down for good, this it would appear you already know. But just like the outside world, you’re able to get strikes here too. Only in prison, small brawls and petty offenses are strikes; and just like the real world…”

“Two strikes equal one crime!” the revelation brought about an unexpected reaction and had him jumping up from his seat.

“They’re going to kill him!”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Duran hastily responds.

“But it’s a strong possibility!” he continued.

Realizing he had gotten all too worked up, Alex fell back to his seat raising his fingers to his forehead, then asked,“Why are you telling me this? It’s not like I can do anything about it.”

“That’s not entirely true.” Duran swiftly reacts.

“You see, here in prison, there is an unspoken rule that you should never snitch. If you do, no one can claim you as a part of their crew; they automatically risk getting murdered themselves. There is but one guy that snitched in the past, and well, the guards found him dead on the bathroom tile. The reported cause of death was a cracked skull from slipping and falling, but we all how that really went down.”

“And you want me to snitch, for him? Some dude I don’t even know! I mean, you seem to like him enough, why don’t you do it?”Alex revoked.

The old man stood up from his chair and made a 360 look around the room before responding saying, “because… I’m not the one that needs his protection!”

His words left Alex speechless. He contemplates, once again, then looks around the room to finally realize the daggering stares and ruthless side-glances.

Duran walks up to him. His approach was cold and serious. He looks down at Alex then says.

“So… what’s it going to be?”