E Wing, 2:00 AM [Open]

[Gardsorm]

"Too bad, Reid, looks like no magazines tonight. Now go to sleep, shouting for the guards isn't going to do either of us any good." 

"Man, give up if you want, Richard, but I'm not giving up until I get my credits worth!"

Archer scoffed as his cell mate was ready to give up for the evening, but he sure wasn't. The time was running down, and still no one was here? Archer sighed in annoyance as he cursed his luck for not harassing the last guard to try and get him the dirty magazines he had ordered with recent credit acquisitions. He was told to wait for shift change if he wanted to be an animal, and like a fool the redhead believed him. Twelve midnight came and went, and no one else had shown up to patrol the area that night... An oddity, to be sure, but Archer was more preoccupied with the fact he did not have the latest edition of Sweater Puppies to read before he went to sleep.

"You know, if I ever find out you're on an evening shift here, I'm going to make your life a royal hell, Carter." Archer swore to no one in particular, but bowed his vengeance on the guard that had walked out, impotent as it was. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time he went to sleep disappointed, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last time either. However, as the time went on, he would see lack of reading material was the least of his worries when the power cut out.

"Did it just get darker all of a sudden?" Richard opened his eyes and looked up, realizing there was no artificial light in their cell... Or outside of it, for that matter. He sat upright and climbed off of the bed to move toward the window, realiIng there was nothing powered on at all outside. "Yo... Reid, there is NOTHING on our there. It's pitch black!"

"Oh, come on! Are you folks even paying your electric bills?! Unbelievable..." Archer sat up now as he understood how deeply the area was plunged into relative darkness, with only the natural light of the evening sky illuminating their surroundings. He stood up a moment later, stretching as he moved to hit the door and prepare to shout for a guard. However, as he approached the door, he heard a rather curious noise... A click? A familiar click, at that. His eyes looked down at the lock of his door and reached to put his hand up on it. There was no way in the nine circles that this door was unlocked and he could just-

*CLICK*

"Did the door... Just open?" Richard exclaimed quietly, moving toward the door as Archer looked back toward his cellmate. This had never happened before on the island, and it was beyond suspicious. First the guards don't show up for a shift change, and now the electricity suddenly went out?  However, it seemed like their collars remained on... So there was probably something else that still kept them active. It was probably a good thing too, because if any prisoners had magic, they were all going to be on even ground... Which meant punching them in the face was perfectly valid. "Hey, Archer, should we-"

With a push, Archer's heart skipped a beat as he pushed the door open and looked outside cautiously. "... Okay, what fresh hell is this? No guards, no power? This is too good to be... Wait." It suddenly dawned on Archer, if he could go out now, then others certainly could too. "Rich, we should move quickly before the others get wise and realize they can walk out." He quietly shut his door as best as he could, using what little evening light that existed to navigate his way away from the cell and put himself on a small path of exploration. He didn't hear alarms or anything, so... If there were guards, they were probably asleep, not here, or running to get their guns already to bring the situation under control. Archer lacked proper night vision, and so he needed to think about where to go next... A thought that became more urgent as he heard more cell doors open, and some yelling. Well... Too little, too late, it was beginning and everyone was taking advantage of it the only way they knew how. Violently.

"You know, this is my chance to find that bitch Smalls and make him pay for sabotaging our delivery today..." Richard rubbed his chin and looked toward the other cells. "Fuck it, I may not get another chance before someone else kills him. I'm going for it!"

"Wait, Richard, don't- Ugh, cripes..." he facepalmed in annoyance. "Disappointed, but not surprised... Hope he can hold his own. I gotta put some distance between me and them, look for a supply closet, get some flashlights... Maybe some self-defense too." He rubbed his face. He couldn't believe he was going to do this right now... But given where he was now, he truly had nothing but his life to lose, and even that wasn't worth much anymore. He forged ahead with his path, aiming to locate the nearest supply closet first and foremost. The central building was his destination right now, as it housed exactly what he needed right now and more. While everyone was busy brutalizing themselves, he could get a headstart on trying to survive the night through intellect and preparation.

[diogora]

Tonight would be a night to remember. Ao had only recently arrived at this prison and had been working towards keeping a low profile. He didn't have any friends at this prison, but in return, this also meant he didn't stand out amongst the others. Even his cellmate knew little about him. Whenever Ao was spoken to, he only gave short replies, if any. He wasn't here to make friends...at least that was the way he'd felt for the few weeks he had been imprisoned here. Despite the sentence he had received, he had made no effort to make life better for him yet.

His cellmate was the only person that had the smallest chance to interact with him...and there was only one thing his cellmate would know about Ao, and tonight it happened again. The Night Terrors. By now it was a regular occurence. In the middle of the night, Ao shot up from his bed in a cold breath, gripping at his own neck with an unsteady breath. He was gasping for air as though something stopped him from breathing, quickly, heavily, in a panic. He would stumble out of his bed and rush to the toilet, grabbing firmly onto the seat before viscerally throwing up, his groans echoing in the toilet bowl as he emptied out whatever dinner had been sitting in his stomach.

After he'd managed to calm himself down, Ao got up to wash his hands and then his face, but something was odd today. Usually, this was the time his cellmate would make some throwaway comment about how Ao was annoying for waking him in the middle of the night, but this time *click* Ao's head snapped to the cell door when he heard the sound, seeing his cellmate open the door with a surprised look on his face. Ao wasn't aware of the power outage just yet, but his cellmate grinned, and looked back to Ao with an expression the man wasn't quite fond of.

Once business in the cell was concluded, Ao was the sole person stepping out. Looking around, he could hear the chaos that had already started...and quickly understood that whatever was taking place, there were no guards around to put a stop to it. "Alright.." he muttered out to himself in a quiet tone before closing his eyes to focus. There was one thing the Chef needed to secure for himself immediately if he wanted to survive this chaotic environment, and that was food. Luckily for him, a keen sense of smell allowed him to get a good idea of where he may find what he was looking for.

First of all, he needed to navigate away from the other inmates, so he began to make his escape immediately while keeping his nostrils open for any hint of food. This would eventually lead him in the direction of the supply closets, but Ao wasn't the only one who thought about prioritizing preparation. On his way, he ended up encountering someone, a taller man with cherry-colored hair, Archer. Ao didn't recognize him. Perhaps they had crossed each other in this prison before, but having never interacted, they were practically strangers anyway. Ao was running, but he stopped the moment he spotted the other individual that had distanced himself from the chaos.

Immediately, Ao started to glare. It was dark, so it was hard for him to tell if the other inmate was armed in any way. He kept himself at a distance, but for the same reason, perhaps Archer would have a bit of a harder time seeing the state Ao was in. It wasn't just his pale face after puking, but more importantly, maybe the darkness would hide the bit of blood splattered on the left side of his cheek, or the fresh blood on his knuckles. Violence? Or was it self-defense? Unfortunately, Ao hadn't been able to leave his cell peacefully just earlier. He didn't intend to run into anyone, but since they seemed to be going the same way, the man spoke a bit "You...where are you going?.." He still did not approach of course, and his posture suggested he was ready for an altercation if the other man became violent.

[Gardsorm]

Archer froze for a moment as he was sure he had put enough distance between himself and the other prisoners. Most would have been fighting amongst each other, especially with no oversight from the guards, or they would stay hiding in their cells... He didn't imagine many Prisoners would have had the focus and presence of mind to try and make the run to escape the Cell Blocks to defend themselves better... Yet here he was, being spoken to by a voice he didn't recognize. He looked over his shoulder, the profound darkness in the area making it difficult to recognize his conversation partner... Hopefully it wouldn't matter too much either.

"I would say it depends on who's answering, but that's not a luxury I can afford right now. Just keep your voice down, I don't need any of these other clowns dragging me into their mire of crap." Archer whispered. Given that this person was just talking and wasn't immediately attacking, maybe he could be reasoned with, to some degree. He knew better than to completely trust someone he wasn't sure of, but there was no point in making any enemies before he armed himself either. "While everyone else is beating the blood and stuffing out of one another, I intend to get somewhere I can defend myself easier, fix my problems with poor vision... Maybe enjoy myself a little before the storm of stupidity comes rolling in. Tonight's dinner was garbage, and I want something a little tastier."

Whoever this redheaded person was, he didn't sound like he intended to cause any problems. Keeping his head down seemed to be his primary concern... Well, he did come off just a little bit self-serving, but they were in a prison. Find someone who claimed they were otherwise, and Archer would claim he found a liar. "If you have business at Central, then we're headed in the same direction. You don't know me, and I don't know you... Let's keep it like that for now, eh?" He finished, keeping crouched and moving around to find the path leading to the Central Building. A feat easier said than done for him, but one worth working toward if one didn't want to join the festival of fear going on right now in East Wing. He couldn't stop wondering about who it was that addressed him, but that was a mystery best saved for when he could put a face to the voice.

'Just my luck, I've got a tail now... Could be worse though, I suppose. Could be on West Wing with all the crazy broads. These guys will just beat your face in at least, I'm not convinced the women there wouldn't try to eat my heart out. Literally.'

[diogora]

There was a moment of relief when the redheaded man didn't immediately run in to attack him. Ao noticed that he didn't try to flee after running into him, so he believed that either this man didn't see the blood on him yet, or he was confident enough that he didn't need to make an escape. Regardless of the reason, he didn't look like he would be attacking him, so Ao eased up his posture a bit too. His caution wasn't fully lowered, but he tried to let the other guy now he wasn't about to start throwing punches either. There was a bit of irony behind the fact that Archer was telling Ao about how others were beating the blood out of each other after what had happened with Ao earlier, but the blue-haired individual decided not to bring attention to that matter for the time being.

The man had a bit of flair to his voice too, but Ao didn't appear to react to it in any special way. As long as the redhead wasn't attacking him, they were on neutral terms, for all that was worth. "I'm tired of eating the slob these guards like to call a meal every day...If we can get to central, I'm preparing a feast for myself. You're free to have some if you stick around.." he said, an invitation? Or rather, Ao wouldn't bother telling this guy to fuck off once he had the opportunity to prepare a meal. He made sure not to speak loudly either, but Ao had been running this far and most other prisoners were too busy to chase after him, so he raised an eyebrow when he saw Archer crouched down and making an attempt to move undetected. 

Calmly, Ao walked past Archer, fully standing, seemingly unafraid. "Retards are too busy throwing a circus back there. Sneaking around like that will only give them time to catch up to you, so don't lag behind...Watch my back, and I'll keep any guy off ya that tries to get in the way" he said. Obviously he didn't trust this stranger, but even if it was just temporary, it was safer travelling in a pair than on his own. "Let's stop by the guard's office first. They like to make the rounds with those lights in their hands...Ain't going anywhere at night without one of those" he suggested. Ao understood their purpose and how they worked, but the word 'flashlight' actually wasn't familiar to him. Every prisoner wing surely had an office room for the guards around somewhere. He was hoping for a flashlight, but if they were lucky, they could arm themselves with a baton or two aswell.

[Gardsorm]

"Certainly makes two of us then. I don't mind eating crap, as long as it's GOOD crap... But I'm pretty sure the last batch of oatmeal they tried feeding us wasn't exactly well-maintained... That being just one of many of their gross infractions." Archer sighed, mercifully sparing Ao a vivid retelling of the encounter Archer had that day. There would be plenty of time to make nice and share disgusting stories later when Archer could get a read on the guy and find out if he was on the up and up, or if he was going to try to take a knife to his back later. Hardly the worst way to go, as long as it was just a knife poking him and not anything else.

His cautious move forward was interrupted when he saw the form of Ao walk past him. He tilted his head to the side, as if questioning his audacity, but then it made sense that it would give others time to catch up if he didn't pick up the pace. "Well excuse me, Mr. Nightvision, but I can't see a damn thing without a window nearby... Wait for me...!" Archer grimaced as he pushed himself to a stand and hurried to keep a comfortable, but distant, pace behind Ao. Some distance was preferable for the sake of their mutual partnership for now, and it afforded him a chance to deal with any potential aggressors that closed in on them.

"I've been here for a few years now, and I've never seen this happen before. I almost thought this was a plot by the guards to see how many dissidents they can shoot and make an example out of... But I haven't heard any gunshots or warning alarms, or anything." the redhead grimaced, looking outside a window nearby as he moved through the halls with Ao. "If the power isn't on by morning, I might have to go scouring around for a generator or something. This feels like some kind of sabotage if you ask me. Even if the primary generator failed, a place like this should have a backup, and if that failed too... Then I call shenanigans."

From what he could remember of the layout, the two of them were getting quite close to the entrance to the courtyard. It was a dangerous place to be due to how open it was, and if any of the Prisoners looked out from the window and saw them, there was going to be trouble for sure. Fortunately there was no need to go outside yet, but it served as a point of reminder that the connecting hallway to Central was nearby. The occasional shining of evening skylight allowed him to get a better look at his company, but nothing that would allow him to see what kind of trouble he had been through. 

"So, in your opinion: Which wing is probably losing their heads harder, East or West?"

[diogora]

Continuing at the Central Building