prologue
Wake up you degenerate slime balls! Get your asses up and head to the cafeteria, unless you wanna work without breakfast?
cells open and inmates come out in black and white striped uniforms. Bellies full of hunger they strolled off to eat, all except one.
She was a young woman no older then 20 and was about 4.5 ft tall. She had short light brown hair and green eyes. She had a slender body and a flat chest.
She sat in her cell reading her bible without a care in the world until one of the guards noticed she wasn't leaving her cell and approached her.
Hey Josephine Jones! Leave your praying for the deaf ears that never hear em and go eat. Or do you prefer being called crackshot?
You know I left that life behind.
Josephine said those words with anger as well as shame. She knows that name well, for it was his nickname in a different time.
Oh right, your a born again believer now, you don't kill people anymore. Spare me the crap!
Your a killer and your gonna die in here Jones! This prison will be your tomb one day. I hope to God I get to be the one to send you to hell one day.
*sigh* how many times do I have to tell you, Because I accepted forgiveness of my sins I'm not going to hell.
There is absolutely no way God could ever forgive a woman like you, with such a high body count.
That's for God to decide isn't it?
That was enough for the guards temper to flare up and he whacked Josephine in the face with his baton, spilling blood from Josephine's as she held in the pain and gritted her teeth.
Don't get cute with me Jones. I have little patience for smart asses. Now get moving before I decide to cut you off from breakfast.
Before leaving he dropped a towel on the floor and knocked Josephine's bible off her hand.
Now clean up this shit.
After the guard walks away Josephine finally gives in to the pain and falls to her knees. As she cleans her blood, her thoughts turn to God and how she got here.
Why God? Why did you ask me to live? Just to suffer? I would have been fine with the death penalty but you wanted me to make a deal.
How long will the guards here batter my body? I know my actions must have consequences but even I don't deserve this. How long before I get to heaven?
Picking up her bible she forces a smile and runs to join the other inmates. After getting her food she looks around for a seat.
Hey Josephine!
The person who called her out sitting down with a book in her hand is a 12 year old kid with blond hair and is surprisingly tall for her age.
Her name is Jessica Keyes and despite her age she was quite the conman. Scammed millions out of people for 5 years. She's in prison with all the adults after she killed a lawman trying to avoid capture.
Funny thing is up until that point she had a lot of sympathy from the newspapers and even some people cheering her on.
All that gone when she killed a police officer. We became friends sometime after she came here.
Guards beat you again?
Just a scratch. If they want to actually hurt me they should work out more.
I worry about you Josephine. At least fight back.
And Jesus says turn the other cheek. Even if I fought back you know I'd be sentenced to the rope if I show even the slightest bit of aggression.
Right I forgot about that. Must take an incredible amount of discipline not to punch him in the face.
You have no idea. Being a punching bag isn't very rewarding. I get no overtime pay and the dental plan sucks.
Sarcasm? Really? Is there never a day you can't get by without making a joke?
Is there ever a day you ever smile? You always look bored.
Because there's nothing to laugh at, I'm here for 20 years.
I'm here for life, at least you'll be young...ish and can start a family.
True. Though what man would want a 30 something year old ex con for a wife?
Speaking of which, you decide what you gonna do when you get out?
I don't know, I'm still praying for some answers
Me too. I keep hoping that maybe one day, If it even happens when I'm an old lady, I'll be free from prison.
I doubt that would ever happen.
Yeah but I've been having these dreams lately. I am surrounded by huge deserts and fight monsters and people dressed in weird outfits.
Maybe God is trying to show me something.
Could be.
What you reading today anyway?
Well I've been conning people for a long time and I thought maybe I could use my silver tongue for business so I'm reading books on stocks. I still have some money I earned legally.
Congrats! That's really looking forward. I can see it now: Breaking news, ex-con rocks wall street.
Heh, though I wonder if they'll let a woman start a business?
Hey you never know, those feminists are making progress I hear
But you hate feminism.
I mean if you have to work you also have to pay taxes. And what happens if I spent too much time working only to never find a husband because of it.
I believe it possible.
Good luck with that. At least you'll have money if it doesn't work out.
Yeah I guess.
All right ladies, breakfast is over! Get to work on them rocks.
Well, another day another cog in the cheap labor machine.
Enough with the sarcasm Josephine.
Never! Sarcasm and God is all I got and I can't imagine life without either. Besides, I could never be as serious as you. I'd tear my hair out.
Ever the jester. You make fools look like geniuses.
And I'm proud to do so. Now come on, those rocks aren't going to mine themselves.
All the inmates went to the courtyard where everyone was either farming crops or mining ore with pickaxes.
While using her pickaxe to break rocks in search of minerals, Josephine thinks of the hypocrisy of it all.
America fights a civil war to end slavery, except for those convicted of a crime. Can't complain though, it keeps me busy.
Still...I wish things could have been different. Maybe if I wasn't taken in by that gang. I was so young back then.
They taught me to kill, to fight, and even gave me a proper education. And all it cost was my humanity and soul.
Jokes on them though. In the end I got my humanity back and they are dead. But that doesn't bring me joy.
I don't think I've been happy in a long time. Maybe that's why I take the beatings, the insults, I just don't care anymore.
History will remember me as a criminal who murdered so many and did so many horrible deeds.
I won't be remembered as a hero, or a misguided soul. And I'm fine with that. But still God, I wish I had a second chance to live my life.
It's not all bad though. Many people come to me to hear the word of God and many reform as a result. Even if I'll never see the outside of this prison ever again, I'm glad I can help others improve their lives.
The day goes by like a breeze. Spend enough time in prison and the routine becomes quick, dull, and easy.
After this is the prayer group with me leading the sermon. This is my favorite part of the day.
Whenever I'm here with all the inmates praying, singing to God, and preaching I feel at peace. I feel like maybe things will be okay.
I feel joy and remember all the inmates I helped redeem. All the young women who came here and came out changed.
Some even send me christmas cards and tell me that they found husbands and started families of their own.
Whenever I hear these stories I feel happy and am glad to be here.
For a second Josephine let's go of the past. She let's go of everything and enjoys the prayer and songs.
But that joy was interrupted by a hard whack to the back of the head. No one had time to react as each inmate was knocked out.
Before losing consciousness Josephine saw the guard who had beat him this morning walking to a man in a suit grabbing a suitcase.
Here's your money, count it if you want.
Nah I trust you. besides the money is secondary. Just the thought that these degenerates might die is enough for me. Especially crackshot.
Is the cover story ready?
Of course. All these prisoners were murdered by a crazed inmate. We've already got a fall guy. He set to hang later so no harm done.
Excellent.
The man in the suit noticed that Josephine was still conscious and walked over to him.
Rejoice crack shot. Your life will not be in vain.
That was the last thing Josephine heard before everything went black.
