CHAPTER 36: STRONGEST AMONG US?

Selene’s reputation in prison was starting to improve, especially since they knew that she was the woman of the Chief Warden. She rarely got teased or bullied by the other prisoners although there were still some prisoners who didn’t like her.

However, Selene didn’t really care because she didn’t pursue reputation or rank in the prison to begin with.

News of her in the courtroom even spread to other prisoners. They found out that Selene was smiling and unapologetic about what she had done.

Just like the Zondalians who first learned about her crimes, the people in the prison had even more respect for the crimes she had committed. Everyone hated parents or anyone else who tortured a child, just for the sake of satisfaction or something else.

They felt that fighting a child was like a coward fighting someone much weaker than them. And Selene was one of those who got rid of those cowards with her own two hands.

Many of them were on Selene’s side as people who followed her, but some still hated her especially since she was close to the Chief Warden.

"They’ve been talking about you lately. So your crime is that you killed 29 people huh?" asked Hannah who looked a bit scared. But she ventured to talk to her cellmate.

"That’s right, that’s the crime I committed to end up in this place," Selene replied casually as she turned to Hannah. "Are you afraid of me?"

She continued to stare at her, trying to figure out if Hannah was afraid because she knew the crimes Selene had committed. Not just ordinary crimes like drug trafficking or money scams, but she was a serial killer who killed 29 people in just two years.

At that instant, Hannah shook her head even though she looked a little pale. Selene understood that, and said she would never hurt Hannah again.

"I believe that, because you’ve never hurt me. You’ve been such a good friend, giving me a little gift that Chief Rothwell actually got for you," Hannah said as she walked with Selene to the cafeteria for lunch.

Selene smiled at Hannah’s reaction. What she did for her could easily be believed by her. Even though Selene did it sincerely just for Hannah, but she felt a bit sorry that the woman was still too innocent to trust easily.

"Next time when I’m not by your side, don’t trust anyone but yourself. In a prison like this, there’s no one you can trust even if they’re nice to you," she warned Hannah.

Hannah seemed to understand what Selene was saying. Someday, perhaps what Selene had said before would indeed happen. Where she would die because of the death sentence she got.

"But don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to survive and fight. At least it’s good for you to be able to protect yourself."

****

When lunchtime was over, as usual they were gathered in the field at the back of the prison for their Free Hour. They could do whatever they wanted, as long as they were supervised by the warden.

As usual, Selene and Hannah chose to sit on a park bench under a tree. Selene was used to avoiding the other prisoners because she didn’t communicate with them. As for Hannah, she did not dare to get close to the other prisoners unless Selene could protect her.

"As usual they often fight just to show who is the strongest. I wonder, aren’t they tired of wasting their energy just for that?" asked Selene.

"I wonder too. Don’t they feel pain hitting like that?" Hannah asked.

Her face looked rather pale seeing how the prisoners, both women and men, were fighting each other just to show who was the leader among them. She also glanced at Selene, who was sitting casually while watching them without thinking of joining the fight.

’Even though Selene looked the strongest among the others. But her not thinking about joining the fight shows that she is fit to be the leader,’ she thought at the time.

In the middle of their break, Selene saw a female prisoner that she had never seen before. Her body looked large, and also tall. The woman seemed to have muscles, which were very well trained.

"Ahahaha! You’re all cowards, you’re weak and no one can beat me!" she said confidently while laughing out loud, looking towards the direction of the other female prisoners.

From a distance, even Selene and Hannah could see Reina who was lying with a battered body after fighting the new prisoner.

"That woman really idiot," Selene commented after seeing Reina who had collapsed on the ground.

"But who is that woman? I’ve never seen her before," said Hannah who had also never met the large woman.

"She’s a new prisoner, they call her Big Mama. It’s only been three days since she’s been here, she’s already beaten almost ten prisoners. Both men and women to prove that she’s the strongest among all of us," said one of the male prisoners standing behind them.

Knowing that, Selene just stared at Big Mama who was still laughing while showing her muscles. Some people cheered, but some suddenly called Selene’s name in front of her.

"You’re not the strongest if you haven’t fought Selene!" shouted one of them.

"That’s right!" replied another.

Hearing her name mentioned, Selene immediately let out a harsh sigh as she didn’t want to get involved in a fight that was of no use to her.

"Selene?! Who’s Selene here, huh?!" asked Big Mama as she looked around.

"Selene, what are you going to do?" asked Hannah worriedly in a whisper.

Not wanting to get involved, Selene invited Hannah to just go back to their cell room. At least to avoid her fighting with her. It wasn’t that she was afraid, she just didn’t feel like doing anything other than sitting back and relaxing.

However, when she and Hannah were just about to enter the door leading to the prison hallway, one of the prisoners immediately pointed at her.

"There she is! That brown-haired woman is Selene!" they said while pointing at her from a distance.

Big Mama immediately turned to Selene who was silent after her name was called by the other prisoners as well.

"HEY SELENE! Hurry up and come here!" she called.

Selene’s hands clenched into tight fists with a rough sigh.

"Fuck."