Bad Luck Ben: Episode VII
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
Because if Star Wars can do an Episode VII, so can I


AUTHOR'S NOTE: The previous volumes of the "Bad Luck Ben" saga, all of which
can be found on the Littlesilverstar bookshelf, are as follows:

EPISODE I: Beach Day

EPISODE II: Bad Luck Ben

EPISODE III: Bad Luck Ben...Again

EPISODE IV: Christmas in May

EPISODE V: Good Luck Ben? Not

EPISODE VI: Tazhi

* * *

My name is Benjamin, but you can call me by my nickname, Bad Luck Ben. It's a
name I've given myself after a long string of unlucky events in my life, most
of which involved getting beaten up and humiliated by girls. And now, just
when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I've been falsely accused of the
attempted rape of a teenage girl, Tazhi, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

It's now day 30 of my imprisonment. I'm in the maximum security wing of this
vile hellhole, which is supposedly reserved for "the scum of the earth," as
the guards put it. Fittingly, it is called Cell Block F. I share a cell with a
child molester, who really is the scum of the earth, but neither the guards
nor anyone else are interested in hearing my pleas of innocence. One guard
informed me on day 2 that inmates who keep pleading innocence receive vicious
beatings from the guards, and that he was telling me this instead of just
laying into me with his club because he was in a good mood that day. I quickly
shut up.

The two-man cell measures eight by ten feet. A bunk bed lies against one wall,
with a toilet and sink on the opposite side of the cell. A small shelf holds
our meager possessions. We spend 23 hours a day in this cell. Our meals are
brought to us. There are no windows or natural light of any kind. Lights out
is at 9 PM sharp.

One hour a day, we are allowed to walk outside. Guards escort us to a small,
bare courtyard surrounded by high concrete walls on all sides. There is
nothing to see or do there except walk around or sit on the concrete. There
aren't even any benches. Still, it's my favorite part of the day. Just getting
a tiny bit of fresh air always feels good.

Privileges and facilities like sports, exercise equipment, the game room,
television, educational classes, and even purchasing items from the
commissary, all of which the inmates in the general population have, are
denied to us. Not that the commissary would do me any good - I'd lost all my
money on the outside and us "scum of the earth" are banned from having jobs
inside the prison and earning money that way. We are each allowed one book at
a time from a cart brought by a trusty, but we are not allowed to visit the
library. Once a week, we may take a shower.

The guards range from coldly tough but fair to outright sadistic. Many of them
enjoy taunting and verbally abusing us, and occasionally abusing us physically
as well. I've found that keeping my head down and my mouth shut is usually
enough to avoid most beatings. One scrawny prisoner, convicted of seven rapes,
was constantly complaining about the lack of privileges in the maximum
security wing. The guards moved him to the general population. Three hours
later, they paraded his bloody, mutilated corpse up and down the halls of Cell
Block F, loudly describing to us in graphic detail how several large, heavily
muscled inmates had beaten, kicked, and stomped him to death, and anally raped
him both while he was still alive and after he was dead.

My cellmate, the child molester, is a small, greasy, ugly man. Fittingly, his
name is Dick. I hate him for what he's done. I hate that an innocent man like
me is locked up with him and treated just like him. However, I know that I
have no friends in here. The guards, even the non-sadistic ones, are trained
to never show any of us the slightest hint of warmth. Most of the other
inmates hate people like me. If I was ever placed into the general prison
population, I have no doubt that I would end up just like the unfortunate soul
whose corpse had been paraded up and down the halls. In here, I have nobody.
So I'm civil to my cellmate, even make small talk with him from time to time.
Sometimes we play cards, usually War, from a crude, makeshift deck made from a
few writing materials we were allowed. Generally, we play for each other's
desserts, the only parts of our meals that don't taste like garbage.

It's Friday. I mark the days on a piece of paper. No calendars for us. A
little after 6:30 PM. We aren't allowed any clocks or watches, but I know
because the guard just came to collect our dinner trays. I won at War this
afternoon and had two desserts. Peach pie. I feel almost goo...

Who am I kidding?! I'm stuck in this fucking shithole for something I didn't
do. For fifteen fucking years. I want to rage with hatred at that cunt Tazhi
for lying and getting me locked up, but every time I think about her, I
remember how hot she is and how big her awe-inspiring muscles are, and my
attraction to her clashes with my hatred and ignites a war in my brain that
always ends with a massive headache.

Footsteps approached. Dick gulped. "It's time," he said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The last Friday of each month. The guards run this operation where they film
a video series called Karma: Extreme Justice. Basically, they pick one inmate
from Cell Block F and force him to fight on camera to the death in a cage
against a female guard who's a martial arts expert. Then they sell the tapes
over the Internet."

My heart started beating faster. A beautiful, muscular woman brutally beating
a helpless male to death...So sexy. And yet so deadly...

Trying to regain my composure, I asked, "Has any inmate ever survived?"

"Not even close. None of them stand a chance. The girls rip them apart.
Slowly. They like to toy with their victims. Makes for better video, too."

"Isn't all this illegal? How do they get away with..."

"Of course it's illegal. You think they care? People like us are so hated by
the world that the authorities probably look the other way if they know. And
who would believe us if we told, anyway?"

"How do they pick who has to go in the death cage..."

What little color there was drained from Dick's already pale face as a memory
flashed through his mind. "A few hours before the 'main event', the guards
pick one inmate and pull him out. They take him to the death cage and grease
him up and all that. I don't know if the choice is random or not, but my old
cellmate was one of the victims, a few months ago. I'll never forget the
sadistic looks in the eyes of the guards who came to collect him. They stood
outside for three full minutes, just staring, keeping us waiting and wondering
which one it was going to be..."

I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Okay, little faggots, time to go. Time for the show." A guard slapped a club
in his hand while another unlocked the cell. We were herded down the hall and
down a flight of stairs. Emerging in an enormous basement, I saw a large,
cube-shaped steel cage in the center of the room. Inmates and guards stood
around the cage. Three men in civilian clothes with video cameras were also
positioned around it. I envied the cameramen. They were safe, protected by
their business deal, even in this hell on earth. They would get to sleep in
their own beds tonight. Maybe after they were done filming, they would go to a
bar, watch a game, eat some good food, be FREE like I deserved to be.

Two men in suits and ties were on the far side of the room. I recognized one
as the prison warden. "Who's that?" I asked Dick, pointing to the second guy.

"That's the producer of the video series."

I shook my head. Two men, dressed in a manner to represent the pinnacle of
Western civilization, and here they were promoting sadism, gore, and death,
and making a lot of money while doing it. Sure, some of these inmates were
true scum who deserved everything that came to them, but I knew that some
people who had committed lesser crimes were stuck here, through whatever bad
luck or lack of political connections. And what if other innocent inmates were
here too...

The warden spoke loudly into a microphone, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"Okay, wankers, it's showtime. First introducing the challenger, weighing in
at 165 pounds, a subhuman untermensch sack of shit who raped and murdered
three college coeds, Inmate #76431!"

Two muscular guards appeared, dragging a shirtless prisoner between them. One
opened the door while the other kneed the inmate in the stomach, then threw
him into the cage.

"And now, your middleweight champion, with 12 kills to her name," continued
the warden, smirking. "Weighing in at 152 pounds, she's going for lucky number
13 tonight. Give it up for Carmen, the lovely Latina maiden of death!"

A door opened and a woman entered the basement. She wore a standard pair of
guard's uniform pants, but only a sports bra up top that showed off her
bountiful, firm D-cup tits. She was incredibly beautiful, with long jet-black
hair, a high-cheekboned, model-like face, a very dark brown tan, and heavily
developed muscles. I got hard immediately.

She tauntingly blew the crowd a kiss. Prodded by the guards, the inmates were
forced to cheer, even though I could see in their eyes that they feared and
hated her. But I simply had the hots for her.

Carmen gave the nearest camera a wink. Then, with the grace, agility, and
skill of a champion gymnast, she suddenly threw herself into a tumbling pass
of a roundoff followed by a series of back handsprings towards the cage. My
cock grew even stiffer at the sight of her elegantly backflipping. She
finished her pass with a back tuck that took her right inside the cage. She
gave her opponent a mocking smile as a guard locked the door behind her.

I looked at the two fighters. Although they were both about 5'8" and the
prisoner had a weight advantage, Carmen's thick, muscular arms, six-pack abs,
deep brown Latina tan, and expert fighting stance clearly showed that she was
by far the superior specimen. She calmly reached into her pocket. Pulling out
a pair of black wrist-length leather gloves, she put them on, making her
already large forearms and wrists look even bigger. The inmate was quivering
with fear. His pale, flabby body clearly showed how out of shape he was, and
his arms were distinctly smaller than hers.

Although there were no rounds, no rules, and of course no referee, a guard
still rang a bell, signaling that the fight had begun. The prisoner approached
his female opponent nervously, in a fighting stance that was obviously far
less professional than hers. He attempted a few halfhearted punches and kicks
at her, all of which she blocked or dodged easily. He knew he didn't stand a
chance, and there was mortal terror in his eyes. Carmen exploited it to the
fullest, taunting him, swinging fake punches at him that stopped at the last
second.

Then, suddenly, playtime was over. Out of nowhere, her leather-gloved left
fist smashed into his nose, breaking it and sending blood splattering. The
guards began cheering. This was what they lived for, these sadistic swine who
were as evil as the men they guarded.

Carmen followed up her first devastating blow with an equally brutal punch
with her right to her victim's jaw, breaking it in turn and knocking loose two
of his teeth. Smiling as if she was a model in a photoshoot, she kicked him in
the chest, knocking him into the wall of the cage. Executing a front tuck
somersault to take herself to him, she grabbed his shoulders, rammed her knee
into his gut, then aimed a little lower and kneed him in the crotch. As he let
out a high-pitched squeal, she headbutted him, sending him to the floor.

"Get up, you fucking cocksucker," she snarled, kicking him in the side as he
was down and breaking one of his ribs. "My little sister was raped right in
her dorm room. The fucker got away with it, but you won't." She stomped on his
face, then kicked him again, the force of her boot sending him several feet
away.

The prisoner slowly got back up, looking as if he didn't have enough hands to
hold all the parts of his body that were aching. "Faggot, pig, subhuman," she
sneered at him. "Faggot, pig, subhuman."

"CUNT!" he roared. He charged directly at her. Carmen simply waited, then, at
the last second, stepped to the side and smashed her elbow into his head. He
stopped abruptly, hands flying upward, clutching his skull and stumbling
around dizzily. She kicked him in the face, knocking him down again.

Carmen dropped down into the splits, showing off her flexibility. She then
wrapped her legs around the inmate's waist and began squeezing. The muscles in
her powerful thighs became visible through her tight pants. The sound of her
helpless male victim screaming in agony was interrupted at regular intervals
by the loud popping of his ribs breaking, one by one, a new pop every few
seconds.

Just before she would have crushed him to death, she suddenly released him.
"Not yet, you haven't suffered enough," she hissed. She used a kip-up to
athletically and elegantly get back to her feet and stomped down hard on his
groin, eliciting the loudest scream from him yet. She stomped on his
vulnerable manhood again and again, crushing his cock and balls, showing no
mercy as her black leather size 10 boot did its gruesome work.

Finally, she bent down, picked him up, and raised him high over her head,
showing absolutely no sign of strain holding up his 165-pound weight. She spun
around, showing off for each camera in turn. The guards' cheers had reached a
fever pitch. Most of the prisoners were simply staring in fear. A few,
however, including myself, had massive erections watching this gorgeous,
curvaceous Latina utterly destroy a male victim.

Then, with a dazzling smile, Carmen brought him down onto her waiting knee in
a perfect backbreaker. As his lower spine shattered with a horrific crunch of
bone, his bladder and bowels both involuntarily emptied.

She threw him onto the floor and jumped on him, pinning him with her heavily
muscled bulk. She began punching him in the forehead. The roar of the crowed
quickly quieted as the men, guards and prisoners alike, simply stared in awe
of her sheer power. The sounds coming from the cage told the gory story of
what was happening, as his skull was first weakened, then cracked, then broken
wide open by the relentless blows of the beautiful woman's leather-gloved
fists. But she didn't stop with the first lethal punch that penetrated his
brain. She continued hitting him, brutalizing her already dead prey, pulping
his brains until his skull had been utterly annihilated into a spreading
puddle of red and brown goo. Only then did she finally stand up, face the
nearest camera, and raise her massive arms in victory.

I looked around. Some of the inmates were throwing up. Even a few of the
guards looked a little green. The warden, however, simply smiled and announced
into his microphone, "Your winner and still the undefeated middleweight
champion, now with a record of 13-0, the lethal Latina, Carmen!" She smirked
and flexed her bulging biceps as the guards gave her a standing ovation and
forced the prisoners to do the same.

"One more announcement," said the warden when the cheering finally died down.
"The sales from these videos have been so good that we've decided to up the
ante. From now on, instead of only doing this once a month, we'll be having
cage fights every Friday." He and the producer next to him both cackled with
diabolical glee as I felt a cold chill run down my spine. All our odds had
just gotten over four times worse.

As the victorious brunette beauty exited the cage, she looked around at the
fearful inmates. Her gaze settled in my direction and I wasn't sure if she was
looking at me or at one of the prisoners near me.

Then she winked.

* * *

I lay on the top bunk, staring up at the ceiling of my cell that was barely
visible with the dim light coming from the hall. It was many hours after
lights out, but I just couldn't fall asleep. Had Carmen winked at me, or
someone else? Did the wink mean she had chosen me for her next victim? Or,
reaching for my wildest dreams, did it mean that she somehow thought that I
didn't belong here? That was quite a distant hope. How could she know
something like that? No, my best chance was that she was winking at someone
else. When I finally managed to fall asleep, I had many nightmares of Carmen
beating me to death.

The next morning, I sat up with a start and bumped my head on the low ceiling,
letting out a curse. I hated it when that happened, but Dick, as the inmate
with seniority, was entitled to the first choice of bunks. Still holding my
head, I climbed down the ladder and stumbled over to the sink, remembering
last night, the savagery, the horror...and also the sexiness of that Latina
vixen. How could someone so unbelievably beautiful be so deadly?

After washing my face, I looked over at Dick. He was sitting on the bottom
bunk, simply staring off into space.

"Some 'entertainment' last night, huh?" I said.

He stopped staring. "Guess it had more of an impact on you, seeing how it was
your first time and all. I've seen lots of 'em. Although there usually isn't
THAT much blood and gore."

"Is it just Carmen, or are there other girls?"

"There's one other regular female guard who does it, and I overheard some of
the guards talking about bringing other women in as 'special guests,' so to
speak. The regular girl's name is Faith. I don't know which of them two
bitches is worse. Carmen's a sadist, and she lets you know it. But Faith is
scary. She never shows any emotion. At all. I think she was raped. One of the
ways them rape victims try to deal with it is clam up and shut everybody out.
Believe me, I know." He chuckled at some perverted memory and I turned away in
disgust.

"Look, we're the victims here, and ain't nothing we've done justifies what
they're doing!" Dick growled. "Them guards act so high and mighty and
self-righteous. The lot of 'em belong on the other side of the fuckin' bars!"
As much as he repulsed me, I had to admit he was right about the last
statement.

I climbed back up to the top bunk. What was I going to do? In my first few
weeks here, I had thought I could do something to show my innocence and get
out of this God-forsaken place. But calls to lawyers, reporters, and even the
Innocence Project had all been fruitless. The Innocence Project representative
had informed me that my case was hopeless, since there was no DNA involved.
Tazhi's lie was that I had knocked her out and she had woken up with me on top
of her, about to rape her, and at that point she had subdued me. After that, I
had resigned myself to prison life. I would be eligible for parole in eight
years, although unlikely to get it because of the seriousness of the charges.
Bitterly, I thought back to an activist who had shouted, "It's not the weight
of the evidence, it's the seriousness of the charges!" It was because of
subhuman filth like them that innocent men like me were in prison.

Although I had been resigned to accepting my 15 years, the death cage changed
all that. Even if Carmen hadn't been winking at me, the odds were that I would
be chosen sometime during those years and meet a gruesome death. I had to do
SOMETHING. But what could I do? I couldn't call anyone on the outside and tell
them about the blood fights. No one would believe me. And at any rate, all
calls were monitored, and as soon as the guards heard me talking about that
they would make sure that I would be the next one in the cage.

Then I suddenly remembered her. Haley...

* * *

"All right, maggots, outside time," came the voice of a guard. The cell door
was unlocked and Dick and I filed out into the hall.

"I'd like to make a phone call," I said.

"Well, you know the drill. It's the call or the fresh air, and after you're
done with the phone you'll be escorted right back to the cell."

"I'll take the phone." This was far more important than an hour's worth of
fresh air, which wasn't even all that fresh.

"Suit yourself."

* * *

The phone rang several times. I shifted my feet, glancing over at the guard
who was standing just a few feet away.

"Hi, you've reached Haley, I'm not able to answer the phone right now, but if
you'll leave your name and number, blah blah blah..."

"Fuck," I swore. With a sigh, I waited for the beep, then recorded my message.

"Hello, Haley. This is Benjamin. I hope you remember me. You saved my life
once. Now I'm begging you to do it again. I'm locked in prison for a crime I
didn't commit. I can only offer you my eternal gratitude, for the second time,
but you're my only hope." I went on to leave the name of the prison and my
inmate number, then began praying into the phone until it was yanked out of my
hand.

"Jesus ain't gonna save you," said the guard, hanging up the phone. "The only
god in here is the warden." He suddenly rammed the end of his club into my
stomach. I doubled over, gasping.

"Why?" I asked when I could speak.

"Don't you know the rules by now, punk? There'll be no tolerance for cries of
innocence in here. Even if it's in a phone conversation. Be glad I'm in a good
mood today so I didn't give you a real beating. Now get your ass back to your
cell." He shoved me along the halls, then tossed me into the cell and locked
the door behind me.

I sat up straight and sighed. I had no phone number of my own in here, so
Haley couldn't call me back. If she showed up to visit, then I had a faint ray
of hope. If not...

* * *

Six days. It's been six days, and I still haven't heard from Haley. She
couldn't hate me, could she? She had rejected me when I had asked her out, but
she still seemed willing to be friends. But if she had gotten my message, and
had decided to go ahead and look me up, and found out what I had been accused
of...what if she thought I was guilty?

"Yo. Earth to Ben. Are we going to get this game of War started or what? I've
won two in a row and I'd like to make it three."

"Right." Dick shuffled the makeshift cards, then I cut them. As he was dealing
them, footsteps approached.

Dick and I looked at each other, fear appearing on our faces. It was Friday
afternoon, the traditional time for the guards to come collect the newest
death cage victim.

Two guards appeared at the cell door. They simply stared at both of us for a
long time.

I closed my eyes. Maybe it wasn't me. It was Dick. Or maybe, just maybe, they
were coming to tell me I had a visitor, and it was Haley, and she would get me
out of here...

It couldn't really be me, could it? My fake crime wasn't even as bad as some
of the real crimes in here. And so soon? But the wink! Carmen's wink! Oh
God...

The guard's voice suddenly boomed out. "You have been chosen to fight,
prisoner number seven! Six! Four..." He paused, taunting us, knowing that
Dick's and my prisoner numbers shared the first three digits.

After what seemed like an eternity, he recited the last two numbers. Not mine.
Thank God, not mine.

"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed Dick. He jumped up. The cell door was unlocked and
whipped open in an instant and the two guards piled in. A swift kick to Dick's
head from a large boot and he was stunned and helpless. The guard who had
kicked him grabbed him in a choke hold and dragged him away. The second guard
waved his club at me threateningly, then followed his comrade and re-locked
the door.

I sat on the floor, looking in a daze at the cards that would now be good only
for solitaire, my heart still pounding. Better him than me, and he was a child
molester, so he deserved it, and...

But it would be my turn eventually. Oh, Haley. My only hope... Where are you?

* * *

I watched as Dick was shoved into the cage. "Introducing first the challenger,
weighing in at 140 pounds, a subhuman untermensch sack of shit who was
convicted of two counts of child molestation, Inmate #76409!" shouted the
warden into his microphone. I shook my head. Dick was scum, and I'd feel no
sorrow at watching him die, but the warden was even more evil. He was probably
happy that kids were molested and women were raped to feed his sadistic pet
project. And his obsession with the word "untermensch." Probably some sort of
neo-Nazi.

"And now, your lightweight champion, with a perfect record of 13-0, all by
kills, of course, weighing in at 133 pounds, give it up for the Blonde Bomber,
Faith!"

The familiar door from last week opened and Faith walked in. She wore the
standard guard pants, but unlike Carmen, Faith wore no top at all, and her
small, firm, round 36B breasts were on full display. She stood about 5'7" and
had long blonde hair, a golden brown tan, prominent six-pack abs, and icy blue
eyes. Her high-cheekboned face was completely expressionless. A shiver went
down my spine.

Faith turned around and executed a long chain of standing back handsprings to
take her to the cage. She was already wearing black leather gloves, and I
could see how surprisingly thick her wrists were. They had to be strong, since
she was doing her back handsprings one-handed, alternating arms with each
flip. Again, I became aroused. Was every woman who fought required to be an
expert gymnast in addition to an expert martial artist?

Climaxing her tumbling run with a high and straight back layout, Faith landed
neatly on her booted feet inside the cage as a guard clanged the door shut
behind her. She looked at Dick with the same expressionless gaze, her blue
eyes seeming to bore right through him. He trembled as the bell rang.

Faith didn't play around. She nailed him with a flying kick before his brain
even processed the fact that she was attacking, she was that fast. While he
was stunned from the impact of her size 8 boot, she unleashed a flurry of
punches into his face and chest. Blood dripped from her gloves when she was
done. She spin kicked him in the side of the head, the force of her slender
but muscular leg sending him face first into the metal wall of the cage.

Faith backflipped over to her victim. This new display of her gymnastic skill
brought a strong round of applause from the watching guards. I saw Carmen in
the audience, cheering on her female comrade loudly. Faith nailed Dick with a
spinning back fist, then kneed him in the groin. Grabbing him, she tossed him
over her shoulder in a judo throw.

Dick staggered to his feet, one hand on his wounded dick. He charged her, but
she kicked out in front of her. He ran right into her outstretched leg with an
"oof." Backing away, he got into a fighting stance, trying to look for an
opening. She waited, bouncing up and down in a trained kickboxer's stance, her
tits bouncing too. He tried a few attacks, all of which she dodged easily.
Then he swung a punch at her stomach. Seeing it coming, Faith didn't try to
avoid it, but simply tensed her abs. Dick screamed as his completely
ineffective fist bounced off of her steel-hard six-pack and several bones in
his hand broke. The guards cheered, some pointing and laughing at Dick's
broken hand.

Suddenly, Dick used his other hand to punch Faith right in her breast. The
pretty blonde let out a shrill shriek. The guards began shouting angrily,
while the prisoners began cheering. One particularly loud inmate suddenly
found himself face to face with Carmen. The hot Latina performed a
cheerleader-style high kick on him. Her kick was so powerful that as it
crashed into the underside of his chin, it snapped his neck back with a sharp
CRACK and he slumped dead to the floor. The other prisoners quickly shut up.
Not even giving the corpse a second glance, Carmen turned back to the fight.

Faith recovered quickly and with devastating efficiency. She stunned Dick with
a high crescent kick, then balanced on her left leg while firing an incredibly
fast barrage of machine gun kicks to his face and torso with her right,
landing fifteen kicks in less than five seconds. A final, vicious kick sent
her male opponent crashing into the steel wall face first again.

As he stood helpless, still facing the wall, Faith grabbed Dick from behind
and repeatedly kneed him in the back, putting the full power of her muscular
thighs into the brutal blows, rupturing his internal organs. Finally, she
cartwheel kicked him and knocked him down.

Faith turned Dick over and spread his legs wide open. She drew back her leg as
if she was kicking a soccer ball, then kicked her victim in the groin so hard
that his whole body actually bounced. She kicked him in the crotch again and
again, slowly pulverizing his genitals, concentrating solely on her attack as
he screamed in pure agony and the guards cheered. "Show him what it feels like
to have HIS sensitive area targeted!" shouted Carmen.

When Faith's terrifying barrage of groin kicks finally stopped, Dick's dick
and balls had been permanently damaged beyond repair. He wouldn't have to
worry about that for long, however. Faith placed the semi-conscious man
against the wall of the cage in a sitting position, then began kneeing him in
the face. She rammed her knee into him again and again until his skull began
to crack. She paused, then unleashed a final knee strike, putting all of her
considerable strength into it. Her knee split his skull open like a
watermelon, sending blood and bits of brain matter flying everywhere.

The guards, led by Carmen, erupted in cheers. I gulped as I looked at Dick's
mutilated corpse. That could have been me.

* * *

The next morning, I sat up straight in bed. I didn't bump my head, because I
was in the bottom bunk now and I had enough head room.

I ate breakfast alone for the first time in a while. The food reminded me of
the slop at Al's Diner, where I used to work. I thought back to those days.
The lousy job, the low pay, the crummy apartment, the ancient car. Oh, I'd
give anything to go back to that life.

After breakfast, I was playing solitaire when I heard footsteps. Two faces
were at the cell door. One was a guard. The other was the most welcome sight
I'd ever seen in my life.

"Haley!" I cried out. "You came!"

"Okay, listen up," said the guard. "Haley, you've got 30 minutes visiting
time, and Ben, this counts as your outside time, even though you'll be in your
cell, so no courtyard for you today."

I didn't care. Haley was here. I reached through the bars and we touched
hands. "Thank you so much. You truly are a lifesaver."

She smiled. "Don't thank me yet. I talked to one of my father's friends, who's
an attorney who specializes in this kind of thing. He said..."

"Hey, nice ass, baby," said one of the prisoners across the corridor,
interrupting her. Haley rolled her eyes, then looked at the guard, who was
still there monitoring their conversation, but simply stood there doing
nothing.

With lightning speed, Haley whirled around, blonde hair whipping behind her,
and kicked out with her booted foot, the steel toe of her knee-high black
leather boot going between two bars. Her perfectly aimed kick nailed the
inmate right in the crotch and he went down with a wail of pain, clutching his
wounded family jewels. His cellmate, who had been enjoying the sexual
harassment show, quickly shrank to the back of the cell in fear. She looked
back at the guard, rolled her eyes again, this time directly at him, then
turned back to me. "Where were we?"

"You were telling me what an amazing fighter you are..."

She laughed. "No, really. Like I was saying, the attorney said that in this
particular case, the only thing we could do is get the accuser to change her
story and confess that she lied under oath. Naturally, the chances of that
happening are about the same as the chances of that bozo across the hall
getting a date with me."

"So what can we do?"

"Well, I've seen Tazhi..."

"Really? Where?"

"She's a freshman in college now, and she's on the softball team." Of course
she would be. I remembered how far she could throw and became turned on until
I remembered I was in this shithole because of her. "I talked to her when her
school played ours. Naturally, she didn't budge on her story. I could tell she
was lying, though. Unfortunately, that won't be enough to get you out of here.
The only thing I can try is to talk to her again when we play them next week
and try to trick or manipulate her into confessing."

"Thank you so much, Haley. There aren't any words to describe how grateful I
am to you..."

"Oh, shut up," said the guard. "You cons are all alike. Always whining that
you're innocent." He began drawing his club. "Maybe I oughtta..."

"Oughtta what?" asked Haley. She turned to face him, crossing her toned,
muscular, tanned arms in front of her.

The guard looked at the prisoner in the cell across from mine, who was still
on the floor groaning from the impact of Haley's devastating kick, then at
Haley. "Never mind," he grumbled.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she said. "I know you, Ben. I know you're a
good man. Even if you have some weird fetish...er, well, anyway, the important
thing is that I know you're innocent. And I won't sit back and let an
injustice be done. I was a criminal justice major just like Jennifer, but
unlike her, I actually took it seriously."

"Thank you, Miss Haley. May God bless you."

* * *

A week passed. I can't honestly say I was happy. The guards were as mean as
ever, and I received a beating from one for not leaving the courtyard fast
enough after outside time was over. The food was still terrible, and once I
got food poisoning from a very bad fish dinner and spent half the night puking
into the toilet. And of course, every Friday was death cage night. That Friday
afternoon was one of the most frightening of my life. If Carmen and Faith
alternated weeks, that meant this would be Carmen's turn, and I still
remembered that wink. But the afternoon passed with no one coming to collect
me, although I didn't allow myself a sigh of relief until dinner arrived. Sure
enough, that night Carmen was in the cage with another inmate, whom she
brutally and sadistically beat to death. I wished I could have told Haley
about the death matches, but with the guard right there I hadn't had a chance.

But I had hope. I knew I had at least one person on the outside who believed
in me. I was still in a long, dark, and terrifying tunnel, but now I thought I
could see the faintest light at the end of it.

* * *

The bruised and battered prisoner, face down on the mat inside the steel cage,
slowly got to his hands and knees. Blood poured down his face.

His opponent, the ultra-hot, ultra-fit blonde, Faith, stood over him, looking
dominant and sexy with her skintight black leather pants, white tank top, and
big black knee-high leather boots. She watched her helpless victim
dispassionately for a few moments, calmly looking on as he struggled to raise
himself further and failed.

Then, faster than lightning, she lashed out with her right leg. Her booted
foot impacted his face with a sickening CRACK, spinning his head all the way
around and sending him to the mat motionless.

The cage door opened and the prison doctor entered. I shook my head at yet
another so-called "respectable" person getting involved in this criminal
enterprise. He bent over the inmate, then stood up and announced what we all
already knew.

"He's dead."

Of course he was. There was no way anyone could have survived that
hyper-powerful kick from Faith's lethal leg. The blonde warrior maiden crossed
her thick, well-muscled arms in front of her, her beautiful face still showing
no emotion.

"Well, I guess that's a wrap," said the warden in a heartless voice. "Good
work, Faith."

I avoided the gaze of Faith's icy blue eyes as she exited the cage. That was
one woman I didn't want to piss off, ever. Two guards dragged the corpse of
the dead prisoner out, leaving a trail of blood behind them. I closed my eyes
in fear, hoping and praying that Haley would get me out before my number came
up.

* * *

It was next Thursday when I heard them. Three sets of footsteps, approaching
my cell. I looked up and saw a guard, a man in a business suit, and...Haley.
She had a wonderful smile on her face.

"I did it!" she said. "You're going home!"

I stood up, dizzy. A wave of emotions flowed through me. "For real? You're not
kidding?"

She laughed in her bubbly college-girl manner. "No bullshit! I was spying on
Tazhi, trying to catch her slipping up at something. And she came through big
time. She tried to pull the same scam on another guy, blackmailing him for big
bucks and threatening to cry rape if he didn't pay up. I caught that bitch
red-handed and now SHE's in jail. She eventually confessed that she lied about
you too."

"Oh my God," I said. My knees were weak. I gave Haley the best hug I could
through the bars. "I can never thank you enough for this. You saved my life,
in so many ways..."

The guard cleared his throat loudly. I suddenly stopped in fear, remembering
the death fights. I knew too much. Haley looked at me. The intelligent,
perceptive girl could clearly see that something was wrong, but also that now
was not the time to ask about it.

"This is Mr. Dalton, my dad's attorney friend," she said, pointing to the man
in the suit.

I shook his hand. "Thank you, sir."

"Just doing my job. Now there's a lot of red tape and bureaucratic crap that
has to be taken care of. I've handled some of it already, but there's still a
pile that needs to be done. I'm going to meet with the warden. We should be
all done in a couple of hours, then you'll be free."

At that, the guard's eyes lit up. I trembled with anger and fear. This
sadistic scumbag of a guard was celebrating the fact that he and his comrades
would have an opportunity to kill me. I was about to open my mouth to beg not
to be left alone, but Haley must have read the expression on my face. "Mr.
Dalton, I'll stay here with Ben while you finish up with the warden."

The guard's expression turned to anger. "Hey, you can't do that!"

"Why not?" Haley challenged.

"Because...uh...um...visiting time is only 30 minutes, and he said he'd need a
couple of hours!"

Haley smiled coldly. "Attorneys are not limited by standard visiting hours.
And since I'm here to assist Mr. Dalton on his official visit, I'm covered by
that policy as well. Isn't that right, Mr. Dalton?" The lawyer nodded. The
guard glared and sputtered, but could do nothing.

After Dalton left, Haley and I looked at each other. The guard, a furious look
on his face, was still watching us. I looked at her deep blue eyes, her golden
blonde hair, and her deep, healthy tan. Haley's looks were very similar to
Faith's, but with one important difference. Haley had warmth. Humanity. A
soul. More than that, she was my guardian angel.

"Don't leave," I whispered.

"I won't." She held my hand. "I'm here for you."

The guard muttered a curse. He could get away with killing me, but there was
no way Haley's death could be explained away. His side had lost...for now.

* * *

THREE HOURS LATER

The black sedan sped along the deserted highway. Like most prisons, the one I
had been locked up in was located in an isolated area. It would be at least a
forty-minute drive to the nearest town. Mr. Dalton was driving, and Haley and
I were talking in the back seat.

"So do you want to tell me something about what was going on in there?" Haley
asked.

"Well, see, there's this..." I began. That was as far as I got. At that
moment, Dalton's head exploded in a gory burst of red and brown goo. A split
second later came the sound of a gunshot. As Dalton's now headless body
slumped down, the car spun wildly out of control. It veered off the road,
bumped and bounced hard down an embankment, and toppled over. Then everything
went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes. Was this an earthquake? No, Haley was shaking me.

"Thank God you're awake, Ben. Now come on, we have to move!" She dragged me
out of the car. "Can you walk?"

I did a quick check of my body. Bumps and bruises, and a terrible headache,
but there didn't seem to be anything worse than that. "I think so."

"Then follow me. Hurry!" The blonde led me into the cover of some thick
bushes. Not a moment too soon. A second later, a black Cadillac Escalade
screeched to a stop by the side of the road and four men jumped out. Two
carried submachine guns, while the other two had high-powered semi-automatic
rifles. They raced down to the late Dalton's sedan.

"The driver's in here, sir. Dead," reported one man. "No sign of the other
two."

"They can't have gone far. Find them and kill them, then bring their corpses
back to the vehicle and take their stuff. Remember, the story is going to be
that it was a carjacking gone bad. You there, come with me. You two, go that
way."

I trembled in terror. These were professional killers who would slaughter us
without mercy. I looked over at my female companion. She had to be afraid too,
but the look on her face was one of steely determination. She squeezed my hand
and tried to smile. I tried to smile back.

The leader and his companion headed off in the other direction. The other two
thugs slowly came closer to us. I feared that they would be able to hear my
heartbeat, it was so terrifyingly loud and fast.

Haley gave me a look that said, "Stay here, stay silent, and don't be
surprised at what I do." I nodded. I was so glad she was here with me. She
clearly had the courage and skill of a trained commando.

The two men, one in front of the other, passed our hiding place and headed
deeper into the brush. As soon as they had gone by, Haley stood up, tensed her
muscular body, and launched herself through the air in a powerful but elegant
front tuck somersault. Despite my mortal fear, I felt my pole stiffen at the
sight. She was a trained gymnast too?!

Haley landed in a sitting position right on the rear thug's shoulders as she
completed her flip. Before he could move or even say a word, she twisted her
hips, snapping his neck like a dry twig. The man in front turned around,
trying to aim his rifle as he spun, but by then Haley had reached down and
grabbed the dead guy's submachine gun. She killed the other man neatly with a
quick three-round burst to his head.

The blonde female warrior elegantly backflipped off the corpse's shoulders,
landing perfectly on her feet. She pointed to the rifle. "Grab it and run to
the car! I'll be right behind you." I didn't need a second invitation. I
snatched up the heavy weapon and raced for the Escalade.

As we approached the vehicle, I could hear shouts and heavy footsteps, coming
closer. The other two thugs were on their way. "You drive! I'll shoot," said
Haley.

I yanked open the driver's side door. Luckily, the arrogant assassins had left
the keys in the ignition. Throwing the rifle onto the second row of seats, I
started the engine. Haley whirled around and fired a long burst from her
machine gun in the direction of the footsteps, forcing the men to stay behind
cover, then jumped into the passenger seat. "Now go!"

I sped off with a squeal of tires. Haley continued to check behind us, gun at
the ready, until we had rounded a bend. I looked over at her. "How many times
have you saved my life now?"

"This probably won't be the last." We both gulped as the full seriousness of
the situation sank in.

* * *

The red phone in the warden's office rang. He picked it up, saying, "Tell me
good news."

"Uh...sorry, sir. We killed that lawyer, but the prisoner and the girl got
away. They...um...they killed two of my men. And... uh...they kind of stole
our car."

Several minutes of cursing later, the warden finally slammed down the phone
and pressed a button on his desk. "Send in Carmen and Faith."

* * *

The second black Cadillac Escalade came to a stop by the side of the road and
Faith and Carmen got out. Each woman was dressed in a skintight black leather
catsuit that showed off their curvaceous, muscular bodies in all their
feminine glory. Automatic weapons were slung over their shoulders, an AK-47
for Faith and a Thompson submachine gun for Carmen. In addition, Carmen was
holding a crossbow and Faith held an elegant-looking sword.

"Thank God you're here," said the leader of the first group of assassins. "I
don't know how the fuck they did it. It must have been that girl, because that
Ben is way too weak and scared to pull off something like this. She must be
some sort of expert kung-fu girl and warrior chick."

"Yeah," said the second man. "Come on, let's get those bastards."

"Pardon me if I heard incorrectly, but did you just presume you could give us
orders?" asked Faith icily.

He paled in fear. "I'm sorry, I was just..."

That was as far as he got. With superhuman speed, Faith swung her sword and
cut off his head. His companion stared in horror as blood erupted like a
fountain, then tried to go for his weapon. Carmen, however, was far too quick
for him. He froze as she aimed her crossbow at the center of his chest.

"We only take orders from the warden," the lethal Latina informed him. "And
his orders were to get rid of you incompetent boobs before we take out Ben and
Haley." With that, she fired. The steel bolt from her crossbow penetrated her
victim's body armor easily and he fell dead to the grass. She bent down,
yanked the bolt out, wiped the blood off of it on his shirt, and put it back
in her quiver with the others. The two female assassins looked at each other
and nodded, then got back in the Escalade.

* * *

"So how many guys did those two female guards kill in the cage?" Haley asked
after I finished telling her the story of what went on behind the prison
walls.

"Carmen's killed fourteen, and Faith's killed fifteen, so twenty-nine total.
No man's ever survived being in the ring with them."

"What about a woman, I wonder..."

"Huh? There aren't any..."

"If the warden sent those guys to kill us, and they failed, then he's going to
send the best of the best. Who do you think that's going to be?"

I gulped. We had escaped for now, but the danger was very, very far from over.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Comments, compliments, and constructive criticism encouraged.

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