American Horror: Grind Edition Chapter 2 2: The Supermax Wing

"This riot left two dead and ten seriously injured."

Warden Holden stared across the desk at Luke, face tight.

"Officer Luke, you really stirred up a goddamn hornet's nest this ti."

Luke sat in the chair like he was at a picnic, calmly straightening the collar of his prison jumpsuit.

He didn't even bother looking up.

"You still care about that?"

One sentence wiped the fake seriousness right off Holden's face. He broke into a wide grin.

"Hah! You're right. Who the hell cares about those pieces of shit anyway?"

He pulled a cigar from the drawer, clipped the end, but didn't light it. Just held it under his nose and took a long, satisfied sniff before asking,

"So… how's the investigation going, Officer Luke? Don't tell you've fallen in love with this place and decided to stay."

Luke kept his expression steady on the outside, but inside he was already sweating.

For two weeks he'd done nothing but train and watch. Most of these cons were straight-up morons. So of the guards weren't much smarter.

He'd t inmates who didn't even know what cri they'd committed or how many years they were serving. The guards? Half of them were running smuggling operations right under the warden's nose.

One ti they let a bunch of high-school kids tour the place and almost let a prisoner walk out with the visitors.

He still couldn't believe anyone in this circus could pull off a locked-room murder.

Still, he forced the words out.

"I've got a few leads, but there are so things I don't understand."

"Do you have any other places where you keep inmates?"

Holden's smile disappeared. His face went hard.

Luke thought he'd been caught, but then the warden leaned forward and dropped his voice.

"You're right. There is another block."

Luke's pulse kicked up.

"What kind of block? And why keep them separate?"

Holden hesitated.

"Every serial killer caught in Florida ends up here."

"The supermax wing is locked down tight. If the problem's coming from there… we've got real trouble."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Serial killers? That's what's got you this nervous?"

Holden shook his head.

"Most of them have serious ntal issues. No humanity left. So are extrely smart—high IQ, college degrees. I even suspect they're planning sothing bigger."

He changed tack.

"Officer Luke, in two days I'm moving you to the supermax wing. I need this wrapped up fast."

Luke frowned hard. His first instinct was to say hell no.

"Warden Holden, this isn't what we agreed on."

Holden tried to sweeten it.

"You went undercover without authorization. We're both on the hook now. Finding the real killer helps us both."

Luke stayed quiet for a long mont, thinking.

Then he looked up.

"I'll go. But risk needs equal reward."

Holden finally relaxed. He gritted his teeth.

"Fine. When this is over, I'll personally hand you a hundred thousand dollars. I'll also make a donation to the departnt to guarantee you two promotions inside two years."

Money and a promotion?

Luke's face finally eased. He stood up, grabbed Holden's hand with both of his, and shook it hard, all smiles.

"Warden, you're making this sound like charity. Serving the taxpayers is just part of the job."

After they finished hashing out the plan, Luke walked out of the office glowing.

A guard waiting outside imdiately slapped the cuffs back on and marched him to his cell.

When Andy saw him walk in unhard, the banker sat up fast on his bunk.

"Luke, you're back? I figured they'd throw you in the hole for at least a week."

Luke answered with complete sincerity.

"This is Arica. Prisons are civilized places. I was just defending myself. Of course I'm fine."

"But…"

Andy opened his mouth, stared at Luke's dead-serious bullshit, and swallowed whatever he was about to say.

"Don't worry, Andy. You'll be out soon. Focus on yourself."

Luke patted his shoulder. Andy was the only real friend he'd made in here.

Before prison, Andy had been a banker—one of the top jobs in Arica—until he got caught doing exactly what he was best at.

As the only educated man in the block, Luke talked with him constantly and picked up a lot of useful information.

He never asked what Andy had done.

He just knew the guy didn't belong here.

Night fell.

Andy lay on his bunk flipping through an old magazine out of boredom.

Luke was in the narrow space between the bunks, shirtless and dripping sweat, knocking out one-arm push-ups.

"One… two…"

Sweat hit the concrete.

Every clean rep made the panel in his head chi softly.

[Prisoner Fitness: 3 XP]

[ 3 XP]

…

[Prisoner Fitness LV2 (414/1000): Physique Bonus 0.2]

After a hundred reps he wiped his forehead and took a breather.

The raw power surging through his body felt better than anything else in this place.

Every level-up gave him more strength. The moves he could do got harder, and the XP ca faster.

He'd tried reading Andy's books, but the system stayed silent.

He figured new specialties only unlocked in the right place with the right knowledge.

The thought made him even more eager to get out and see what other skills were waiting.

From the original body's mories, this world had so real monsters in it. Better to get stronger while he could.

A few days later, Holden's paperwork ca through.

Luke said goodbye to Andy, then followed the guards through a maze of steel doors and checkpoints deep into the underground section of the prison.

They hadn't even reached the cells yet when a chorus of insane laughter and broken voices echoed up the corridor.

"Hehehe… I sll sothing fresh…"

"Ugh… I want my mommy…"

Crazy, shattered voices.

Luke's eyes narrowed.

He needed to push Prisoner Fitness as high as possible, as fast as possible.

This place was definitely not normal.