Steve's face was a bruise-riddled map of his fall. He crouched in the prison courtyard, where five hundred inmates hammered granite boulders into gravel under a blistering sun. Each strike echoed against the high stone walls as armed guards paced the perimeter, pistols clipped to their belts.
A guard stopped beside Steve and spat on the dusty ground, the glob landing inches from Steve's cracked boots. "Eight hours of labor every day," he growled, his voice rough as sandpaper. "Refuse, and you'll be put to death."
After four hours, Steve shuffled into the packed cafeteria. He was the last in line, clutching a chipped bowl of thin soup. He gulped it down in two bites, eyes darting at the guard's baton, then raced back to his cell.
Inside the cramped cell, metal bunks groaned under the weight of exhaustion. Steve dropped onto the lower mattress and closed his eyes, sweat matting his once‐clean shirt. Maxwell limped in, his uniform torn and dust‐stained. A heavy click announced the door locking behind him.
Maxell used the squat toilet, then turned on the rusted sink to scrub the grime from his hands. "This place is a stinking hole," he complained, voice hoarse. "One uniform, no extras. I miss my mansion, and my wife!"
"We're being worked to death. Why are you here?"" Steve said to Maxwell.
Maxwell turned away from the sink, water dripping from his weathered hands. "Because of fucking Lolita! I was arrested for speaking out against her! She doesn't know how to run our country! She's drowning Intermarium's economy in debt because of this damned war!" He scratched at his stubbled beard, his fingernails leaving red marks on his sunburned skin. "What about yourself?"
"I was arrested for civil disorder. The judge said I'd committed a crime for my involvement in a public protest."
Steve yawned, his jaw cracking with the effort. "I'm tired. I need to sleep." He closed his eyes, feeling his limbs turn to jelly while his sunburned skin radiated heat like a furnace. Maxwell climbed onto the top bunk using the rickety metal ladder.
The cell fell into an uneasy silence, broken only by the distant sound of guards' footsteps echoing through the corridor and the occasional cough from neighboring cells. In the oppressive darkness, both men lay awake longer than they cared to admit, their minds racing with thoughts of freedom that seemed as distant as the stars beyond the barred window.