Escape from the Cell Block
General Summary
Another day, another toenail. God, can’t these people think of anything more creative to torture me with? I’ve already had five of my other nails ripped off, it’s getting boring. I can’t actually feel anything, but I scream for them anyway. Besides, this body is only temporary. Another day, another body.
I’m hauled back to my cell at the bottom of Fort Seaway, base of the militant commander of the North Web armed forces, Gypsy. She is the two reasons why I’m here. First, she heard that I could swap bodies, and had me incarcerated and tortured so she could learn how. Second, I want her body. With that kind of influence, I could bring this whole war down.
My cellmate, Magilla the gorilla, glances over at me as the guards thrust me into our mossy cramped cell. He has so much potential, so much raw strength, but he refuses to use it. Shame.
Kim, the assassin, is sulking in her cell as usual. I’ve never heard her speak, but I know what she’s capable of. I’ve seen into her mind, I’ve seen the violence she’s sown. She will be an excellent asset to have by my side should things every go south here.
Across the hall, JT is flirting with the guard again, probably trying to steal the keys off of him, but I don’t think he’s buying it. She’s been trying to escape every day since she got here about a month ago. She’s gotten close a few times, but the guards have always caught on before she could make any real progress.
This time is different, though. I can feel it in the air, I can hear the whispers from the Maelstrom. The crackling power of the Rocpocalypse can’t be sensed by everyone, but I have been attuned to it since the beginning. The Maelstrom is telling me that JT will succeed this time so I had better get prepared for some chaos.
BLAM! Right on cue, the guard fires his pistol into the air frantically as JT gets a sleeper hold on his neck through the bars of her cell. His flailing arms and weaponry fail to make a difference as JT snaps his neck with her bare hands. Shouting and heavy footsteps echo down through the dim prison corridor - more guards on the way.
JT reaches her arms through the slats, but fails to reach the key dangling from the fallen guard’s belt. But he’s fallen just one bit too far away for her to reach the key. As the guards round the corner to our block, they immediately notice the body of their comrade in front on JT's cell, and JT attempting to reach for the key out. A guard with a face pulsing crimson with rage, swings open JT’s door with a shock club held menacingly, intention to kill written clearly upon his features. I need to do something, this isn’t going according to what the Maelstrom told me.
Before the guard can bring down his deadly weapon, I let loose an ear splitting banshee shriek, a shriek that stabs into the brains of everyone in the vicinity. Prisoners and guards alike all fall to the ground writhing in agony as my scream worms its way into their heads.
Luckily, this was just the distraction JT needed. I glance over at her, and see her struggling under the cacophony, but still remains focused enough to reach for the guard’s weapon. She snatches the shock club, and gives him a good electrocution. The corridor fills with the stench of sizzling flesh. It’s time to stop screaming.
As the guards begin to shake off the delerium, JT is already on top of them beating them down with the shock club. She grabs the pistol off the first guard and proceeds to execute them all. Impressive.
Quiet. The only sounds left are JT’s heavy panting and Magilla’s cowering whimpers. Kim is still as silent as ever, it doesn’t seem like she was even phased by my shriek. JT leans down to the bodies of the guards and loots them, grabbing as many weapons as she can carry. As she unlocks our cells, she throws me a revolver after muttering a quick thanks for the distraction.
Finally, we are all unlocked. Magilla, Kim, JT, Peek. We can escape this prison.
We dash down the grimy hallway, through the maze of prison cells. Left, right, right, left, left. The labyrinthine military base must have been built to confuse any would-be escapees. Suddenly, a voice cries out from one particularly secured cell. A heavy steel door with a dusty window just large enough to see the demented face of a prisoner who must have been trapped in here for years.
“Hey, hey, hey! Wait! You’re escapin’ aren’t ya? Why don’t ya let me out, too? I got lots o’ guns!” The odd man behind the window grinns at us, several missing teeth gaping at us as well. He gazes in my direction. “I’ve seen you! You’ve been trapped in here a while haven’t ya? You’ve seen things, right?”
The group seems put off by the man, for good reasons. But I feel something strange surrounding him. I open my mind to the Maelstrom, maybe I can glean some extra details about this mysterious man.
I see the man, sitting in his dark cell. A cauldron froths in front of him, emitting a green mist.
I’m not sure what to make of this, but my curiosity has been stimulated, I need to know more. Without waiting for a group consensus, I grab the keys from JT’s hand and thrust them into the locked door. Steam hisses out from the cracks and the scrawny man grins again.
“Thank you thank you thank you! My name is Millionaire and this is my associate Bob.”
A terrifying bloated giant of a man slowly trudges out of the door, green sludge oozing out of what appears to be pipes stuck into his enormous belly.
“Bob,” the monster grunts.
“Now he doesn’t say much, but Bob can pack a real punch!” Millionaire exclaims. I don’t doubt it. “Listen, I told you I have tons of guns, but the thing is I don’t have ‘em here, we gotta go get them from wherever they’re keepin’ our stuff. We’ll help you get out if you help us, but don’t even think o’ crossin’ us or Bob will have a good talkin’ with ya.” Millionaire grins again. Bob exhales a plume of smoke.
Looks like we’ve got some new recruits.
We talked about some of this in class already, but I want to reiterate that I think you did a good job with pacing, and making sure all the important moments had their time to shine. Millionaire's characterization is really good, and the fact that he's the only one with real dialogue is a good contrast to the rest of the piece. You also do a good job using evocative language and using the five senses. "The corridor fills with the stench of sizzling flesh" and "Quiet. The only sounds left are JT’s heavy panting and Magilla’s cowering whimpers" are both stellar examples.
The biggest issue I see with this piece is the beginning introduction of the various characters. You describe them literally by their class, and give a run down of each in their own paragraph. I think the analogy in class of it feeling like the beginning of Suicide Squad or Deadpool was accurate. It makes it painfully obvious that this is a report from an apocalypse world session.