branch angst

cowboy carl

branch's pov:

i was escorted to a cell placed on the second floor of this joint. unfortunately, i had a roommate. the guards basically just dumped me there without any explanation or.. anything, really.

i turned back to see the cell door close behind me. my fate was sealed. but it was only for a day!! i can do this.

i took in a deep breathe before facing my new cellmate.

his skin was a sky blue with hair the shade of magenta. he had a growing stubble at the bottom of his chin and thick neat eyebrows. his hair was curly; surprisingly well kept.

" 'sup." he said casually before pulling out a blade.

"woah!-" i exclaimed while backing up.

the he proceeded to pull out a rock.

wait.. a rock??

and he just began sharpening the blade.

"oh." i mumbled before plopping myself onto the mattress.

"bottom bunk's mine." he growled.

i wasn't about to mess with this dude. so i climbed the ladder up to my bed. the mattress was pretty damn firm. i could feel the springs beneath me. god this was going to be a long day.

i started up a conversation. "so.. what do you do for fun in this place?"

"i dunno." he shrugged.

trying my best not to make this awkward, i continued the conversation. "have you ever tried to escape?"

"too many guards." he scoffed.

"how long have you been here??" i tapped my fingers anxiously against my thigh.

"i dunno." he shrugged once more.

it was clear this dude wasn't in the mood to talk so i let the conversation go.

now i was looking around impatiently for something to do. but as expected, there was nothing much.

there were our beds, of course. there was a clock on the wall. there was a toilet. and there was a small desk.

the last thing i noticed was a little button off to the side.

it read 'for emergencies only'.

but thats it.

ugh.

i groaned, lying back onto the bed. which was most likely a bad idea, because the springs pressed uncomfortably against every groove in my back.

"theres a riot at 11:30 if you want to come." i heard my cell mate's voice call down from the bottom bunk.

"a riot?" i questioned; sitting myself back up on my bed.

"yeah, a riot. once a week we all try and overthrow the guards. one time a riot lasted two whole days!! but we've been kinda unsuccessful lately.." he rambled on about riots and how it usually happened.

i could definitely tell this guy had a special interest in them. kind of like i do with some things.

so i don't have to bore you with the 20 minute long conversation we had about riots, i'll just sum it up.

he told me about how the guards are always on edge because they never knew when to expect the next riot. he told me about how it would be organized at different times so the guards would never be prepared. and then he went rambling on about some troll named jamaal who is always tipping off the guards.

before he could finish, the speakers overhead spoke out.

"11:00pm lunch time for all prisoners. 11:00pm lunch time for all prisoners." it repeated like 5 times over.

i looked at my cellmate questioningly before a guard walked over to our cell and unlocked it.

"no funny business." the guard growled.

my cellmate nodded his head innocently before leading me over to the cafeteria.

"lunch is always at 11:00. how long are you staying here anyways?" he asked.

"oh- uhmm.. i think it's three years?" i lied.

i wanted to act tough and cool. so i guess that was the best way to do so.

"three years? hah, thats nothing. i've been here for 20." he scoffed.

my eyes widened. "20?? what'd you do?"

"i killed a troll." he shrugged casually.

HE WHAT?!??

"may i ask why..?" i hesitated.

"wife cheated on me with some hobo. had to teach that man a lesson, y'know?"

"yeah.. yeah i get it. what was your name again?" i stuttered.

"carlos. but the people here call me cowboy carl cuz i grew up on a farm." he explained.

before i could respond i noticed that we had arrived at the cafeteria, which was surprisingly well kept. it was outdoors and had a bunch of mini shops surrounding this open area with lunch tables.

"you bring grocery money?" asked carlos.

i shook my head nervously; eyeing all the other prisoners.

"that's alright amigo. i got you covered today." he winked before leading me over to some place called 'pizza trolls.'

this guy was actually pretty nice.

"i don't know 'bout you but i'm craving a pizza right now." he announced while rubbing his hand together.

"yeah me too." i chuckled.

pizza actually did sound pretty good right now.

carlos ordered a thin crust pepperoni pizza and carried the box over to a table filled with intimidating trolls.

i swallowed hard. "you know them?"

"don't be scared little fella. they don't bite." he giggled; sitting himself down next to them.

little fella??

i nodded my head nervously before taking the seat next to him.

for that entire lunch time i sat eating some pizza quietly while carlos and his friends blabbered endlessly about how this riot was going to be such a big success.

i didn't really pay much attention to them at all and kinda sat there sinking into my thoughts.

i honestly could've sat like that forever without complaining once, but sadly i was snapped back to the real world when the speakers started announcing the end of lunch time and the beginning of work time.

"it's action time little buddy." carlos snickered while dumping the pizza box into a nearby trash can.

geez i had almost forgotten about the riot!!

thats the end of the chapter!! i literally want to keep carlos as a character in this series forever but idrk how i'd do it. 😭😭