"Then let's go. And princess?" Tank's eyes were hard. "Whatever you do, don't show fear. Fear's like blood in the water here. It brings sharks."
The cell door buzzed and slid open with a grinding screech.
Shuyin took a deep breath, shallow, like Tank had taught her, and stepped out into the corridor.
Into her first full day at Blackwater Maximum Security Prison.
Into whatever hell was waiting for her next.
The corridor was a gauntlet of hostile eyes and predatory stares.
Dozens of inmates lined up outside their cells, waiting for the march to the cafeteria. As Shuyin emerged from her cell, supported subtly by Tank's looming presence behind her, the conversations along the corridor died away.
Heads turned in her direction. Eyes locked onto her battered face, taking in every bruise and swelling with morbid interest.
"Jesus Christ," someone muttered from a nearby cell.
"Fresh meat got tenderized real good. Already on it so soon! Damn it!"
