Island Prison

I s l a n d P r i s o n



Kyle Katran














Part 1
Darkness


















One
Road to Perdition









Derlin Mosk stared sadly at a picture of his beautiful wife. Her brown hair, tied back in a short ponytail, didn’t cover her soft blue eyes that stared back at him, a golden smile on her round face. The edges of the photograph were peeled and the color faded. She didn’t look how Derlin had last pictured her. A week ago, her eyes had been sunken and weary, and her face etched with age and anger. If only he had acted when it all began...
The rocking of the Lee-er Prison Ship disrupted his moment and he was quickly bought back to the realization of his life. The small vehicle, bewitched to fly, zoomed over the Trederia Dunes. The enormous sand desert spread for thousands of miles, the perfect place for a prison.
Derlin’s long black hair hung in his eyes and his face, once full of life and youth, was now tired and sad. His hands were worn and dirty and he looked much thinner. Sweat dripped into his eyes, which he rubbed away with a sweaty hand.
Two guards, sitting opposite Derlin watched him warily, as if he would jump over and strangle them.
How could I hurt them? Derlin thought, noticing the guard's frequent looks. Between his bulky armor and his helmet I couldn’t get a knife through, Derlin thought as he looked at his hands. My hands are locked to the wall, they kept him barred to the wall by a large metal ring. His future at Guterland Prison set in stone. The future of a life sentence in Guterland Prison. Derlin was accused of 13 murders, all of which he was innocent. Or so he thought.
To his right, the guard lazily rubbed his eyes, but kept one trained on Derlin, keeping his left hand on his sword.
Derlin still held his picture and gently touched the woman’s face. He smiled.
The guard to his left looked over. “Who’s she?” he said gruffly.
This isn’t his business, Derlin thought, slightly embarrassed. “My wife,” he said and slipped the picture away.
Nodding, the guard asked, ”What’s her name?”
Derlin sighed. “Nicole,” he said irritably. He didn’t like the guard bothering him and wanting to know about his wife. It was too personal and painful, especially after what happened in front of the house. Derlin pushed the thought from his mind.
The ship jostled as it started to descend. Out of a dusty window behind him, Derlin saw the ship rush over the dunes. He couldn’t see anything in the distance except for sand.
The guard looked at Derlin and shook his head. “Why would you give all that up? Thirteen-”
“I didn’t it want to you moron,” interrupted Derlin as the second guard was unhooking his handcuffs. Grabbing him roughly on the arm he lifted Derlin up, the handcuffs still tight around his wrists. “Let’s go,” He said, pushing Derlin toward the door.
The Lee-er slowly spiraled downward and sand began to blow around the ship.
“Looks dusty,” said the first guard. He closed the hatch over his mouth and the eyepieces began to glow blue as he turned on his accelerated vision. He turned to the second guard and said, “New helmets kick ass huh?”
“Yeah they’re great,” said the second distractedly. He grasped a protruding bar for support as the Le-er descended to the sandy surface.
The door began to open. There was a hiss of air and the hatch opened and a long metal ramp extended out. Sunlight spilled into the ship but was quickly shrouded by a thick cloud of sand.
Immediately sand began to blow into the ship obscuring Derlin’s vision. He shut his eyes and quickly raised a hand to cover them, trying frantically to dig out the sand in his bloodshot eyes. Like a gigantic brown cloud, the sand rushed in nearly tearing and cutting Derlin’s skin.
The second guard noticed and said over the rush of the sand, “And we’re not even outside!” his voice sounded metallic through a speaker on his right shoulder, but Derlin could tell the guard's voice was human. It held a trace of sadistic humor with no emotion, as if he thought Derlin’s eyes and bleeding cuts were nothing more than a joke.
Derlin had been holding his breath, so no sand would rush into his open mouth but, finally took a quick breath of air. Sand poured into his open mouth and choking, he put his shirt to his mouth. The smell of oil met his nose, which nearly gagged him, and he felt a push, and the guards led him down the ramp into the dunes.
The first guard looked at Derlin and quickly handed him a piece of cloth. “Use that,” he said.
The second guard watched as Derlin brought it to his mouth and as the sand swirled again, shut his eyes tighter, relying on the guards to guide him.
“Don’t help that piece of filth,” said the Second guard angrily. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
The second guard seemed ready for this, “We want him to survive the walk,” he said. “If he gets Sand Mouth while we’re out here it’ll be our butts on the line.”
Derlin had no idea what Sand Mouth was, but he pushed the cloth harder against his mouth.
“Yeah I guess...Let him suffer in Guterland. Why can’t we land closer? I hate this walk...” the first guard quickened his pace.
“It’s to make the prisoners suffer. That’s also why they don’t tell us the names of the prisoners. There’s not a way to find out, they’re all classified by numbers.” said the second. “This world has turned into a world of suffering and hatred.”
The first chuckled. “I always was told light prevails over dark, love over hatred...”
“That is true.”
“Which is the reason for the war?”
“This war is pointless.” said the second.
There was no path to the Guterland Prison, it was always blown away from the never-ending sandstorm. The Dunes seemed to spread on forever, a sprawling wasteland of sand. No living creature could live in this harsh desert, except for one or two well built cities.
Derlin’s black hair blew wildly in the wind, and his right hand was glued to the cloth over his mouth. He shifted his head slightly and sand poured into his mouth like water, swirling inside his mouth, coating his tongue and teeth. He gagged and nearly vomited, as the sand plunged down his throat.
He began to fall to the sandy floor and the second guard stopped and swung around and broke his fall.
“Todd!” the second yelled, and the first turned.
“What?”
“We got a Sand Mouther, help me!”
The first ran toward them. “Oh shit! He’s in trouble!”
Derlin coughed violently, and his whole body spasmed as he ran out of air.
“Should we give him a Sasto?” the second guard yelled as the sand blew harder.
The first withdrew a long syringe from his many pockets on his belt. Derlin fell to the ground as the last of his air left him.
A needle stabbed into his chest and he spit up a clear liquid, emptying the sand from his throat and mouth.
The first reeled back as the liquid splattered onto his uniform. He swore loudly and rolled in the sand as it started to burn his skin. He screamed and shrieked in pain as the liquid started on fire. The second guard released Derlin and ran over to the first. “Todd!” he yelled.
Derlins mouth emitted more of the liquid and he turned away from the guards.
“Kill me Hered!” The second guard, Todd’s face started to melt and he screamed louder. The second guard drew his gun and fired three rounds into his partner’s chest, blood spraying up from each hole. He holstered his gun, grabbed Derlin and drew another needle. Derlin waved his hands in protest as the needle entered his arm.
“What did you do?” yelled Derlin. It seemed an invisible wall crossed over Derlins mouth and the sand bounced off. Derlin then blacked out. The second raised Derlin to his feet, and put him over his metal shoulders and walked off toward the Guterland Prison.

Chapter Two coming soon...
Have Derlin meet the second guard on escape













Two
Running In Place








The long path to Guterland Prison seemed to stretch on forever, the prison a large dot on the horizon. Derlin walked along, the side effects of the Sasto draining him. His eyes were bloodshot from the sand and his clothes tatters. Through his mind thoughts of Nicole kept him going, fueling him and giving him energy. Derlin was so full of love for her, and he thought of when he first saw her.
He remembered sitting and waiting for his class to start when she walked in. Derlin had feelings for her and he told his friend, Jack which was a mistake. Jack said she was ugly, but Derlin couldn’t care less. It was something about her, he didn’t know what it was and he didn’t know why he liked her. His feelings were past physical attraction, past caring how she looked; it was something inside him that knew. This was the one.
Derlin remembered the last day of school, this whole year he hadn’t said a word to Nicole.
“Just do it Derlin, come on,” Jack was walking next to him on their way to the shuttle bus, Nicole slightly ahead of them, out of hearing range. “You’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t...”
Derlin kept walking and thought she glanced at him now and then, with a look as if she wanted to talk to him. He watched with crushed eyes as she turned away and began to walk home. Derlin quickly ran on the bus, moving to the back seat and put his face to the dirty window.
Jack sat down next to him. “I’m sorry, man.” he patted Derlin’s shoulder. Derlin watched with teary eyes as she walked away from him. He turned away, digging his fingernails into his hand, blood seeping from the wounds. Why hadn’t I talked to her? he thought. Jack looked behind him and said in a low voice, “Your taking this kinda hart huh?”
Derlin could not even nod.
“Hey, I’ll help you in the summer, to call her?” You wanna?”
Derlin smiled, miserable she left his life, but happy he had a friend who cared.
The sand swirled around them as they got closer to the gates, trudging a path through the coarse sand. At that moment Derlin remembered Jack, his best friend. He had been sleeping when Jack’s mother called.
“I’m sorry to tell you this Derlin, I know you’ve had a tough time since your parents passed on. J-J-” she stammered and over the phone Derlin could sense her sadness, her grief. It didn’t compare to his loss of Nicole at the end of the year 3 years ago. “Derlin...Jack is-...” She cried and silent tears ran down his face.
He lifted the phone and in a quiet said. “What happened Mrs. Denout?”
Derlin still remembered the three words she said to him that night. He often wondered, was it my fault? Did I let him down?
Jack’s mother spoke in a soft tone. “He’s gone.”
Jack had run away and never looked back. He left no trace of his whereabouts. Derlin never thanked him for helping him with Nicole. Jack took a back seat whenever she was around. Jack had been the only person to want Derlin to succeed, and after in School Derlin failed. He became an outcast. He got messed up with drugs and fell into the wrong crowd without Jack there.
Derlin went to the funeral where the letter Jack wrote before he died, was read. Derlin had made a copy and kept it with him.

My family, I know what this must put you through. I don’t want you to hurt. Please know that. There is a reason I left, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. I will be in a better place. I couldn’t live in this world anymore. It suffocated me. The world is going to hell and with every step it takes I get more and more depressed. I had a reason for doing this. You will know soon enough.
Love from your son,
Jack

A separate letter was written to Derlin, which arrived after he found out about Jack. Derlin really was his only friend.

Derlin,
Glad you got the courage to call Nicole on your own. Shoulda done it the last day of school huh? I wanted to tell you you were my best friend ever, and you were always there for me. And also remember: the only good thing in this world is love. Just love. The bond of love will keep, no matter what happens. You’ll be fine, man, I know it. Be with Nicole, she will light up your world. Take care, man.
Jack


Derlin looked up at the large gates to the prison. The guard moved to the left, slipped in a keycard and the gates opened.
“I know you didn’t do it,” said the guard leading him in. There were enormous fences on either side of them, towering up to the top of the building. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“If I had the money for a lawyer I wouldn’t.”
The guard’s expression was hidden behind the helmet. “I’ll see you again.”
Derlin walked into the main doors where the guard led him.
“Bye Derlin,” said the guard as two more grabbed him and pulled him off.
That was odd, Derlin thought. I hadn’t told him my name.










To be continued...