Dead Cells - 01 by Adam Millard Read Free Book Online Page B

with their own bedlinen?'
    No, something was happening, and Shane knew that it was something to do with the people falling sick.

    *

    'Is he dead?' Dennis Hart spluttered, grasping at the open wound on his neck to prevent the blood from squirting out so freely. 'Make sure he's fucking dead this time.'
    The body of Jimmy Kelly lay outstretched just outside the cell. Jimmy had attacked Dennis, ripped a chunk out of his neck, and kept on coming until the guards arrived. Michaelson had been the first on the scene, and wasn't sure what was happening until he opened the cell door. It was then that Jimmy turned, growled, and leapt for the guard, his eyes filled with darkness, his throat filled with the blood of his cellmate. Luckily, for Michaelson, the baton had met the crazed man's face quite cleanly; a few teeth shot out and clattered against the cell wall. But even that had not been enough to deter Jimmy Kelly, who had clambered to his feet and started after the guard once again.
    It had taken at least fifteen more hits from the baton to put him down, which was not right at all. One should have been enough, especially to the skull, which is where the guard had concentrated his attack.
    It was then that the alarm had been sounded.
    Dennis Hart struggled to his feet and began to approach Michaelson, who was breathless and confused and leaning against the cell wall for stability.
    'Make sure he's dead,' Dennis managed, but white lights began to dance in front of his eyes, and he almost toppled over.
    The guard straightened up and took a deep breath. He glanced over to where Jimmy Kelly lay, still and destroyed. 'He's fucking dead ,' he said. 'Look at his head.'
    Indeed, there was a hole big enough to put your foot through on the back of Jimmy's head; bits of brain and grey matter dangled out through the hole like some foreign cuisine.
    Dennis shook his head. 'I can't believe he fucking bit me,' he said. 'Just came for me for no reason. I swear to god , if I find out that someone's got a contract out on me — '
    'Shut up,' Michaelson roared. Dennis took a step back; the guard, although fatigued, was still clenching the baton in his hand and still wore the expression of somebody willing to use it. The noise of the alarm was making it impossible to think, and in that moment, Michaelson needed to get his head together long enough to figure out what had just happened.
    In the cell, Dennis stumbled and fell onto the bottom bunk of his bed, cracking his face on the wooden frame as he went. He had lost a lot of blood; he knew that, and it was still spurting out of him like a geyser, spraying the bedclothes, covering the wall. The cell would take forever to clean, Dennis thought as he lay motionless on the bed, his legs hanging over the edge.
    'If I find out they got a contract...' Dennis said, but unconsciousness came before he had a chance to finish.
    Between the bars of the cell, Officer Michaelson waited for backup.

    *

    Charles Dean marched up the steps to the second floor, grunting to himself occasionally. If someone was trying to escape again, he was going to make an example of them. He couldn't understand why one of his prisoners would even attempt to break out, though. This was one of the most secure prisons in the world; the chances of succeeding were about as likely as breaking out of Alcatraz.
    He reached the second floor and turned right, past the first row of cells. A few of the inmates backed away at the sight of the governor, not wishing to put themselves in the line of fire. Rooster Hill yelled, 'Go get 'em, Boss,' which made Charles quicken his pace.
    He reached for his two-way and called for backup, which was apparently already on its way. By the time he reached the third floor there would already be a small army of guards waiting, some of them off duty, but that didn't make a blind bit of difference to Charles Dean. He wanted as many of them as he could get a hold of, and if that meant that they forfeit their smoking