Jason Retters (jasonretters) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-11-01 01:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | brady, brady and jason, day seven, jason |
Waiting for the Inevitable Explosion
Characters: Brady and Jason
Setting: Morning, kitchen
Jason had to admit, he was grateful that there wasn’t another wake up like yesterday. After the chaos of yesterday, he was hoping the day would be relatively uneventful. Of course, that hope was quickly dashed the moment he checked the computer and saw the general announcement Jae had made. Someone was dead? Well, shit. He didn’t know the woman, but recognized the name. Caroline. She was the woman that had been in the stocks yesterday. He found himself wondering if that had had something to do with her death this morning.
After taking a shower and getting changed, he decided to go get some coffee. Because if this was any indication of how the rest of the day was going to turn out, he was going to need coffee. Locking his door behind him, Jason made his way to the kitchen. Once there, he poured himself a cup, and after considering for a moment, started another pot. He hadn’t finished it up yet, but today was looking like a more than one cup morning.
It was late morning by the time Brady left his room and crossed the courtyard to the kitchen, his step only faltering the slightest bit when he spotted Jason near the coffee pot. “Hey man,” he greeted him with a nod of his head. “Fresh coffee, great. Fucking way today started, have a feeling a lot of people are gonna need it,” he commented as he crossed to the pot to pour himself a fresh cup.
For all that the presence of another person startled him, Jason didn’t let himself react, at least not until he heard and recognized the voice. Brady. He relaxed slightly and turned around, smiling slightly in agreement. “Amen to that. Apparently, I missed the excitement today. But shit, I still need the coffee.” He had almost said he was pretty sure most people were going to need more than coffee, but... Brady had said about being an alcoholic. He wasn’t sure of the protocol on that and whether or not that meant he shouldn’t mention alcohol to him, but... Well, he figured better safe than sorry, and it was just as easy to not say anything as it was to talk about it. So he stuck to commenting on coffee and left it at that.
“Lucky you,” Brady said dryly. He took a drink of the coffee, pulling a face as it scalded his tongue a bit. “Goddamn helicopter woke me up,” he said as he shifted to lean against the counter so that he’d have a complete view of the room. “Got out there in time to help Reece and Cal get her down to the clinic. God only knows what the hell’s gonna happen now.”
Helicopter? Damn, how had he slept through that? It must have been fairly early or something. That, along with the fact that he had been up late, was the only thing he could think of.
“So… You have any idea what happened?” Jason asked, drumming his fingers along the side of the coffee cup he was holding. Jae’s message hadn’t had any specifics. He didn’t even know if it was some sort of result of sickness or something… more violent. If there had been a helicopter involved, he was inclined to think it was the second, but… Well, he didn’t actually know.
“Not as much as I wish I did. Just that she fell. Gotta figure it was from the roof, though that’s an assumption,” Brady answered, eyes scanning the room even though he knew they were the only ones in it at the moment. “Theory is that she was tryin’ to escape, and taking the helicopter into consideration? I don’t think those in charge were gonna let that happen.” It still put an itch between his shoulder blades, a desire to try to figure out a way escape might be possible, not that he had any real strong desire to go anywhere else right now.
Jason winced slightly. He had seen the results of people falling – or jumping – to their deaths before, and it was never pretty. “Shit,” he said, because what else was there to say about something like that? He had to wonder what she had been thinking, because even he knew that trying to escape was probably not going to end well. And the roof… Shit, it was sort of amazing she had even made it that far. But, commenting on that was probably a little too close to speaking ill of the dead, so he didn’t say it. Instead, he took a careful sip of coffee before asking, “Who all saw?” Because that couldn’t have been easy to see.
Shit was right, Brady thought in agreement, nodding slightly because there really wasn’t anything else to say. At the question, he did a mental replay of what all he did know from the morning. “Huh, far as I know? The little blonde nurse, Becka I think was her name, was the only one Cal said saw, but the cannibal was there when I got out there too, Antoine’s his name.” Perhaps it was in poor taste to throw Antoine’s crime out there to everyone he talked to, but it made him sick to his fucking stomach, and he was determined that everyone would know what the fucker had done so they could take whatever precautions necessary to protect themselves from him.
He hadn’t met Becka, but if she had been a nurse, then she had probably seen worse. It still probably hadn’t been easy for her to see, but at least she would probably be able to handle it better than some. Of course, his thoughts on that subject were very quickly derailed by the rest of what Brady was saying. Jason stopped, eyes widening slightly, sure he had misheard. “The what?” he questioned in surprised disbelief. Because he could have sworn Brady said cannibal.
That reaction was one that Brady had pretty much expected. Cannibal wasn’t really a crime you expected to encounter, even in prison. “You heard right. Cannibal. Met the fucker last night, and let’s just say we have a very different idea of how to show someone you love them.” His expression showed his disgust, and he visibly shuddered at that.
Being a firefighter – and therefore, a first responder – meant that he had seen plenty of things that made people sick to the stomach, and because of that, he generally thought of himself as being able to handle a lot of things. Still, the thought of a cannibal and what he would have done to end up here? That was enough to make even his stomach twist. Jason set his coffee down on the counter. “And suddenly, coffee doesn’t seem so appealing. Wow. Really?” It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Brady, it was just that… Really, a cannibal? And Brady said it was a love thing? That was just… Creepy didn’t cover it.
Brady thought the coffee thing was a little dramatic, but then he was guessing Jason hadn’t seen all the things that he’d seen. After awhile, you just managed to develop a stomach of steel. “Really. Asked him what he was in for, he said he was a murderer, so I asked what he’d done and why. He said he killed and consumed twelve people - that’s how he worded it, consumed them, like we weren’t talking ‘bout human beings. Said it was all behind him now, but I don’t trust that for a fucking second. Figure the more people who know, the less chance he’ll be able to do it here.”
“Shit. I don’t blame you. Twelve people? That’s not something you just… put behind you. That’s fucked up.” Jason leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms across his chest and watching Brady. “Shit. Sometimes you have to wonder if the guys in charge are trying to create problems, putting him in here.”
Nodding in agreement, Brady lifted his mug to take another drink. “Fuck, the longer I’m here, the more I’m convinced that this is some sick, fucked up psych experiment, that the mission statement’s just to give the optimistic ones something to attempt to work toward. There’s a lot of shit the admins haven’t handled real well, in my opinion,” he admitted with a shrug.
Jason laughed a little darkly at that. “Hell, I’m normally an optimist and even I don’t buy that mission statement. And the admins? Their first mistake was starting this place. Even if they had good intentions in doing this, which I doubt they did, I’d say they got themselves in way over their heads here. And we’re the ones suffering for it.”
Brady snorted out a short laugh at that. “Can’t argue that shit,” he agreed easily. Because really, how effective could a rehabilitation program be when the only interaction they had was with each other, with other convicts? It seemed more like a self-destruction program. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn into a bloodbath, right?” he joked, though he frowned and stared down into his mug, a silent acknowledgment that blood had already been spilled, even if no one else had been involved in Caroline’s death.
That was not a happy thought. Because if it came down to that… The people causing problems would likely be indiscriminate on who they turned their sights on. And while Jason was pretty sure Brady and Jae – and yeah, even himself – could look out for themselves, there were some people here that he was pretty sure would be easy targets. And shit, he really didn’t want to see them – or anyone really – end up dead because the people in charge couldn’t – or wouldn’t – control the people they threw in here.
“God, I hope not. It’d end up being like gang wars or something.” Because he was sure everyone here was doing the same thing, trying to find friends and allies they could trust and a bloodbath would inevitably devolve into those groups fighting against each other.
A kind of ‘gang’ war was pretty much the last thing Brady wanted to break out in this place because there were enough people here he had a feeling he needed to watch his back around and already a few people he was determined to ensure no harm came to that he wasn’t positive he’d survive it in this small environment. “Yeah, it probably would. Jae and I were talking about how we might all figure out how to make things more organized so we don’t have a repeat of the bullshit yesterday morning,” he admitted, recalling that Jae had said Jason seemed like good people, and so far he agreed, though his opinion wasn’t fixed quite yet.
“That’s… Not a bad idea,” Jason admitted. There were obvious problems with it, mostly in how it would get done, but… Still, trying had to be a better idea than sitting around and doing nothing. “Good luck with that, though. It’s not going to be easy.”
After a second though, he had to ask, his curiosity getting the better of him. “What were you guys thinking? Like… Setting up someone to be in charge or something? Or… what?”
Yeah, he’d pretty much told Jae the same thing, Brady thought. Putting together some kind of order in a community of convicts wouldn’t be easy, but like Jae said, they had to try. “Oh, uhh, nothing real specific, but I don’t think we’d go for having any one person in charge. Don’t really think there’s the trust here for that. So, I don’t know, keep a fucking eye and ear out for more, I guess.” He wasn’t going to say anything about the anonymous posting Jae had mentioned, at least not yet.
Jason had to agree with that too; it was part of why he’d asked. Because honestly, the idea of trying to find one person that could run any of this? It was crazy. No one would agree on it, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if something like that just made things worse. Still, the general idea? It was a good one. “Yeah, well, let me know when you get some sort of plan in mind. God knows we need to do something here, because this? Obviously isn’t working.”
Brady nodded. “Yeah, this shit ain’t working. I’ll let you know,” he assured Jason, though if Jae did the whole posting thing, he really wouldn’t have to. He wondered if she’d managed to talk to Mazie about it yet. He pushed away from the counter then, moving toward the pantry to see about something quick to eat. Ahh Pop Tarts - how long had it been since he’d had something as simple as Pop Tarts? He grabbed a pack and came back out of the pantry, tearing the wrapper open and eating them without heating them up.
“Thanks,” Jason answered. He would just as soon be aware of what was going on here. Especially when it involved Jae and Brady, because well… The two of them were ones he wanted to count as friends here, or, barring that, at least allies. When Brady went digging through the pantry, Jason finally turned his attention back to his coffee. Picking it back up, he considered it for a moment, before taking a sip. It was still pretty warm, so he’d take it. He leaned back against the counter, watching Brady, as he sipped at his coffee.
He smiled slightly as Brady came back out with Pop-Tarts. “It’s almost funny just how much prison can make you appreciate even Pop-Tarts, huh?”
Brady smirked at that, chuckling under his breath. “Got that right,” he agreed easily. “For all the bullshit here, there are some good things too. Gotta figure that’s their way of trying to keep us in line or complacent or whatever the fuck else.” It kind of pissed him off, but at the same time, he’d gone a long time without these little luxuries, and he didn’t think he was strong enough to keep from indulging just as some kind of statement.
Jason laughed, because that was pretty much exactly what he had said to Reece when they had talked the night before. “Of course it is. I mean, I’m pretty sure most people would riot otherwise. Of course… If they keep heading in this same direction, I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen no matter how much they try to buy off good behavior. We might as well take it while we can get it, right?” He was pretty sure that Brady had said something similar when they had first met.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Brady said, definitely in agreement with that. Because he really did have no doubt that things were going to deteriorate pretty fast after the events of the past couple days. “How you dealing with things anyway? Keeping busy?” he asked curiously. Hadn’t he thought just earlier with Jae that he should try to figure out more about the people he was with? It was just a little awkward for him because he wasn’t naturally inquisitive.
Shrugging, Jason took another sip of coffee. “Doing as well as can be expected, I guess. Feel kind of like a retiree or something, piddling around trying to find something to do since there’s nothing I have to do. Makes me miss my old job. But mostly it’s messing around in the gym to try and burn off some energy and working on figuring out the people here.” Well, that and he had spent quite a bit of time with Reggie, he realized, but since he didn’t know whether or not Reggie had gotten around to apologizing to Brady and Jae, he figured it was best not to mention that right now. “What about you?”
Brady snorted out a short laugh at the retiree thing. Yeah, he could see how it could feel that way, even if he hadn’t quite thought of it that way before now. For all the things they’d given them to entertain themselves, he knew that he was feeling restless for lack of a job, a schedule, structure and order. “Yeah, spent a lot of time in the gym, myself,” he answered. “And swimming, too. It’s a good workout. Gonna go stir crazy before long, though. Cabin fever and all that.”
Jason hadn’t checked out the pool yet; he should probably do that. If nothing else, it would be something to do. “I know what you mean,” he said, sighing. Just thinking about it too long made him restless. “I was never very good at dealing with boredom. I’m pretty sure being here too long is going to drive me nuts.”
Shoving the last bite of the first pop tart into his mouth, Brady nodded then scrubbed his hand over his head. “Yeah, I mean, fuck. It was hard in prison and shit, but at least we knew what the fucking rules were. Here, seems like we’re just winging it. Would be better if we had like jobs and shit.” Yeah, he was definitely feeling restless already.
“You know that’s one of my big complaints with everything going on here. It’s one thing for us to get punished for breaking the rules. But not telling us what those rules are? That’s not going to work.” Jason didn’t know if the people in charge just… didn’t realize that, or if there was something else going on behind the scenes with this. He sort of figured it was the second one. And Brady… What he said wasn’t a bad idea. “And if nothing else, having a job or something like you said? It’ll give us something to do. And you have to figure not being bored out of our skulls will keep some of us from getting into trouble.” Because he knew when he had been a kid, being bored had generally been the contributing factor to most of the times he had gotten into trouble. He really wouldn’t be surprised if that was an issue here.
Brady nodded, then took a drink of his coffee, agreeing with that. It made him hope more and more that Jae would figure out some way to organize things. He’d volunteer for the job, but he already knew there were already at least a few people here who weren’t fond of him. Better to have someone more neutral try to sort things out. “Yeah, only problem is what actual jobs are there here? I mean, there’s the farm now, yard work, and basic cleaning around this place, but beyond that?” he left the thought at that, shrugging a bit. They needed something, though; that much was clear.
Once again, Brady had a good point. Jason shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. I think you pretty much covered all of it. Maybe add in some basic repair work in the future, but…” He trailed off, much like Brady had. There really wasn’t much else to say about it because… Well, there wasn’t really anything else they could do right now. They didn’t even have any real ideas, so… What else could be said? “But yeah. Something here needs to change or… Shit, something is going to explode. Most likely figuratively, but possibly literally.”
Yeah they both seemed to be a bit at a loss of what changes they could make to keep things from exploding, but Brady wasn’t really surprised. “Probably literally,” he corrected, though he of course knew that was his opinion. There was only so much they could do when the administration was doing all the bullshit they were doing. He finished off the other pop tart and tossed the wrapper in the trash, before moving over to the coffee pot to top off his mug. “Well, you ever need a spotter or something, just let me know. Wouldn’t suck to have someone to work out with,” he offered, though it wouldn’t bother him if Jason didn’t take him up on it.
Jason snorted out a quiet laugh. Maybe it was a little bit morbid to be laughing about Brady’s comment about the explosion being literal, but… He didn’t really care. He was still smiling as he nodded at Brady in response to his offer. “Thanks. I might take you up on that sometime.” He had never really gotten into weight lifting or anything that really made a lot of use of spotters. However, given the amount of time he had spent in the gym already, he could definitely see himself getting more into that, if for no reason other than just another thing to keep himself from going stir crazy.
It didn’t bother Brady in the least that Jason laughed, and he smirked a bit in response. He raised his mug up a bit and said, “Cool, just let me know. I’m gonna go... figure out something to do. I’ll see ya around.”
Jason nodded at that; he certainly understood. It kind of felt like that was what he was doing most days, just… trying to figure out something to do. “Yeah, see ya. Hopefully, under better circumstances than the last couple of days.” He kind of liked Brady, and honestly, he wouldn’t mind seeing the man in a better setting. But given the last two days? He sort of doubted that would happen.
“Hopefully,” Brady agreed easily. He gave Jason one last nod before heading out of the kitchen, topped off coffee in his hand and no real destination in mind. He was just feeling a bit too antsy to stay put and chit chat. Maybe he’d take a swim, burn off some energy.