"Dreamland" Chapter 1 "Why me?" Rex cried into the void. Nothing came back but one voice; "You are to carry out this sentence in maximum security prison until you are executed Mr Hardy, May God have mercy upon your soul." The prison bus smelt foul. Not just the shit and sweat of the country's worst criminals but their demeanour, their evil eyes, the lack of remorse for their victims seeped out into the bus like a virus. All guilty. Not a single soul on that bus deserved a second chance nor did they want one. Except Rex. Innocent through and through. He was never a bad man, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or so he convinced himself. “What you in for eh?” Growled a coarse voice in Rex’s right ear “What?” replied Rex glancing at the voice “What they do ya for? You got the special orange jumpies on like me and Tank. Must be pretty fucked up the things they gotcha for eh.” growled the scarred man with a creepy smirk on his face. The scarred man looked down at the red D on Rexs jumpsuit which got the scarred man even more excited “Death row eh? You’ve gotta tell me what ya did... pretty please. Was it kids? Maybe a sweet girl or a bombing, eithers fine with me, but you gotta tell me what they got ya for come on, I promise I won't tell nobody mhmm” “You’re sick.” “Oh, come on now there's no need. Just because I like things that everyone considers illegal or wrong, doesn’t mean I'm a bad guy eh. I never hurt nobody.” Rex did not reply but rather, continued looking ahead towards the front of the bus. Towards the road in front. Towards the stone walls of Revano. Tense. The only word to describe Revano maximum security prison in Austin, Texas. There were some good people there however, most of the guards were just doing their job and loved to go home to their families at night. There were gangs and crooks all around but they respected each other and were just serving their sentences. The prison didn’t look awful either despite the ominous sounding name; high tech doors and security systems, a small corridor leading to the visitor's centre with a kid's playroom hanging off the main reception. But there was always tension, an air of tension and unease amongst everyone in the building, not knowing when there would be a huge riot making the headlines or a corrupt guard getting ratted out leading to the prison getting defunded. Prisoner intake wasn’t too bad either 1 Lost and afraid, Rex found himself under the beautiful lights of the night-forest. Trees as high as the sky but not always rooted in the ground like they should be. His hands smooth and young and not rough like they should be. Fish! But not in the water like they should be. Rex was astounded, lost for breath. He could not believe his eyes for a second. Surely a hallucination, schizophrenia maybe. Or a dream. 2