The Hidden: Chapter 12                                                                                                         Book Cover

 

2010, April 14

Location: Dara detention facility and state prison

Approx time: mid-day

 

The sun was at its peak outside. The heat was everywhere, in the air, on our skin, on the surface of the earth. The prison was in a desert though. Dara detention facility was the name of the place. Supposedly, the location was somewheres close to the coast of Australia, considering the intense heat and extreme drought conditions of the place. But some even say it was Africa. None of the inmates knew though, because according to everyone of them, they were knocked out and then they woke up here. People from New York, Kansas, California, Indiana, and even as far as Mexico and some parts of south America. Everyone, was from somewhere in the united states, Mexico, or south America. Rumors were always up and about of when someone going to be executed, weather changing, new inmates, and even a new stock of food. I didn't know how they got these ideas, or if they're even right about them half the time, so I ignored them. 

Inmates could spend their time inside or out of the prison, but if one was caught trying to climb the fence, or was making a run for it, Jonas was always there to make sure their attempts ended on the spot. He was in the lookout tower outside the prison, but in the fence line with the inmates. He had a what was called a Hit 102. It was a rifle that had the longest barrel I had ever seen. In fact, from what I've always seen, of it, it looked to be about 8-10 feet long. But even though it had a long barrel, that's all I could see of it. I never got to see the rest of the body. Jonas claimed it could hit you from another continent but I always doubted it. I figured he was just trying to scare me into never running. Either that or he thought I would be stupid enough to test it and find out. I've seen him work it though. One time, an inmate escaped, and even though the sirens were going off, Jonas just sat up in his tower. The guards didn't do anything for some reason and to my surprise, the guy got so far away, I couldn't see him anymore. No one could, and the only thing I could tell that was in the distance were mountains but they looked to be about 5-10 miles away. Too far for Jonas to hit. But Jonas sat in his tower eating a twix candy bar. Everyone in the prison had waited for so long, that they got tired of waiting went back to our daily lives talking about what would happen and if the escapee really got away or not. After an hour had passed, we heard a loud gunshot. The prison went silent, dead silent. A few seconds later, we heard off in the distance from Jonas's tower, 'Inmate 274 is down. Distance is 9 miles and 3 quarters. Ya'll better get his body before the animals do.' Every inmate was in shock. 9 and 3/4 miles. That wasn't a world record. That was unrealistic. Nethetheless a couple guards hopped in one of their hum-V's and half an hour later they returned with his body. Everyone was scared, and after that, no one had attempted to run away again. Who knows, maybe Jonas' hit 102. really could hit someone from another continent away. No one believed it, but everyone bought it that day...