Chapter 3: Brothers from the Ground Up!
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Van was just starting to be accustomed with the heavy air of the underground prison cell. He had seen prisons in movies before, but he never knew that jail rooms can be as large as the one as he is in right now, holding about 50 of them with 25 beds each. There is even a toilet that has curtains covering it. He immediately became friends with someone who was also just imprisoned the other day, his new bunk bed mate.

“Yeah! It was ridiculous! Why would you cross the road when there’s no pedestrian lane!”

Yukii Mondo, who was put into life sentence for hitting a high schooler while driving under the influence, is complaining to Van about his conviction.

“Weren’t you drunk?”
Allegedly! I was not drunk! I just had a little bit of alcohol, but wow! It was in the middle of the night too! Why the hell would you go out at night?!”
“Sure, sure.”

Apparently, he was one of those roasted sweet potato truck vendors who roam around the streets and sell those to children. “A better question is why the heck would that kind of a truck travel at night in the first place?!” Van thought to himself.

“But seriously, Van Driver is such an awesome name!”
“Is it? I always hated that name. It made me feel like I was destined to be a truck driver.”

Yukii suddenly holds Van’s hands, making him feel a little bit discomforted as he is not used to being touched by anyone.

“But you are destined to be one. You were destined to save us all from this hell of a cell, aren’t you?”

Van looked at the other prisoners. Most were happy and go lucky just like Yukii, but there were some like Mr. Bus, who had this ultimate aura of desperation to do whatever it takes to escape from prison. One of them is a large, buff, and burly man in his 40s who has tattoos all over his lone body there in the far right corner of the monochrome room. Yukii told his new friend that that guy should never be messed with. Van, with his earlier ego boost, decided that it’s alright as he is the chosen one. Everyone else watched as the man made his steps towards the outcast. The outcast looked at Van with a sly gaze and started with a sarcastic tone and action.

Sieg heil! Oh, Van the Chosen One.”
“Y-yeah. I’m Van Driver. And you are?”
“Cut the crap. You actually believe that mental Bus? You actually believed these truck-loving-worshiping autists that one day, a chosen one will free us? Get the fuck out of my face if you will just tell me the same shit like them.”
“Sorry but… I can’t help but notice those palms of yours. Those are the hands of someone who used to lift garbage all day.”

The man grapples Van into the ground and screams at him with full force.
“ARE YOU INSULTING ME?!! JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FANCY NAME, DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN TALK SHIT TO ME LIKE THA-”

The man noticed Van not being affected at all. He wondered why and did a quick scan of him, only to see his palms that have multiple calluses. He realized the reason why Van wasn’t scared at all of him is because they are the same. He thought that he could’ve been someone like him if not because of his lucky name. He knew that he also grew in a dump like him, just from that palm of his. The outcast calmed down and had a tinge regret on his countenance.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that to someone I just met.”
“It’s alright. We are brothers from the ground up. I also saw those eyes before. That look of despair, a person who gave up on life.”

He remembered his sickly mother, who cannot move at all because of her unknown disease and caused her to be unable help earn a living for the family. She had those eyes that stared a thousand miles away. But it was because of his perseverance that he cured those eyes of her mother. He gave her hope. The man stood up, extended his right arm, and lifted Van from the ground.

“Palms that have hardened enough to feel nothing. I’ve always regretted killing that child to the point that I hoped that I was just given euthanasia. But, you are not bad at all kid. Not bad at all.”

It was the first time that anyone at that cell saw a genuine smile from the loner. Everyone saw Van really was the chosen one, the giver of hope. But it was different for Van, for he thought that it was the loner that gave him the hope to challenge their fate. He saw a sliver of hope in his eyes too. The outcast finally introduced himself properly.

Daietsu Sato. Just call me Sato.”
“Once again, I’m Van. Don’t give up.”

They made a powerful fist bump. Van left the corner, wholeheartedly promising to him that one day, he will be free. He returns back to the initial seat he was on when he first entered the cell, sitting beside Yukii.

“Wow! People told me he was impossible to talk to, but you did it on your first day!”
“It’s not even my first day here… I’m just temporarily detained.”
“It’s impossible to win cases here, don’t you know? Prosecutors in this country are super scary.”
“I’m not going to live here. I just cannot.”

*tremble*
“W-What?! An earthquake?!”

The ground they were on started shaking violently, the lights struggled until they cannot provide the lights they emit, and the gray concrete walls started to crack at the intensity of the magnitude.
“I’ve been here for more than 60 years, but I’ve never felt something as strong as this!”
Every single thing that is dependent on electricity shut down, leaving the prisoners without lights, air conditioning, and the surveillance of the security camera that overlooked the entire cell. It was then that a part of the wall, where the toilet is attached, opened like a regular door. Looking inside, it was like the void.
“Wait!”
Van remembered the escape plan earlier. The time talking with everyone went by so fast that he forgot that it was already night.

“I think this is it. This is our first step to freedom!”

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