Free American Criminal by Shawn William Davis Page A

nothing compared to the idea of vengeance. Historically, he guessed that countless people had the same feelings he had since human beings first organized into crude communities. He imagined that throughout the ages, there were always those who were inclined to destroy someone else’s life in an effort to protect themselves from their own crimes, or to get ahead in some way. The problem was that if the person whose life had been destroyed survived, there was only one course for the survivor to take: vengeance.
        Burnside interrupted his rumination to glance around his environment as he noticed a gradual downwards slant in the interior of the jetliner.
        We’re descending. It’s almost zero hour. Now, I’m really going to see what I’m made of. I’ve heard stories about these maximum-security prisons. In many ways they are worse than super-max facilities. In the super-max prisons, inmates are considered too dangerous to interact with each other, so they are isolated from each other 24/7. In a regular maximum security facility, I will be interacting with other prisoners several hours every day. There are going to be some mean hombres in this joint.
        Ray closed his eyes and tried to relax as the slant of the plane’s interior increased as the jet speeded its descent. At this stage of the journey, the thrill was gone as the plane touched down on the runway. All the classical conditioning in the world couldn’t wipe out the harsh reality: they were taking him to prison. Even worse, a maximum-security prison.
        There’s nothing I can do about it . Fighting will only get me thrown into solitary. I’ll play their game for now.
        Burnside scanned the prisoner compartment. The plane hadn’t come to a stop yet, but the guards were already releasing the inmates seated closest to the front. The first two prisoners were led out of the plane by four guards. A new set of guards Burnside didn’t recognize entered the plane and began working on the release of the next two prisoners. They were escorted out like the other two. The process continued monotonously until they finally reached Burnside in the back.
         Ray might have been a peace activist for all the trouble he gave them. Full compliance was his new philosophy.
        You guys may have me now… but just wait. Just wait.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
    Interview
     
     
     
        The guards escorted Burnside out of the plane and he cursed when he saw a prison bus waiting for them on the runway. He didn’t have a fond recollection of bus seats and hoped the journey would be brief.
        The seats were just as uncomfortable as the ones on the previous bus. Black thoughts skittered through Burnside’s mind like scurrying rats as he leaned forward so he didn’t crush his wrists, which were secured tightly behind him to a metal bar.
        I will make them all pay.
       The ride was only forty minutes. Burnside’s back was hurting, but not as bad as on the previous trip. His jaw dropped as the bus approached the huge prison complex. The prison was still a good distance away, but it dominated the horizon like a low gray mountain. Narrow towers jutted up intermittently from the structure like castle parapets. They stopped at the first checkpoint, which was a half-mile outside the prison walls. A thirty-foot barbed wire fence surrounded the desolate land. The gate was the same height and topped with vicious-looking razor wire.
        The driver exchanged paperwork with a pair of guards at the shack next to the gate. Burnside noticed they both carried shotguns.
        These guys aren’t fucking around.
        Burnside glanced left past the guard shack and watched the fence disappearing into a distant linear perspective. He turned right and was met with the same sight. 
        The land between the fence and the prison was desolate with the exception of a second metal wire fence. They drove another