Faced with a threat to his family, Abruzzi acted without thinking, in an instant, his right hand closed around Nolan's neck. "Are you threatening my family?"
Nolan had foreseen it, so he remained calm. Even with his neck squeezed, he smiled and replied: "No."
"Abruzzi!" From the other side of the fence, a guard noticed the situation and roared.
Abruzzi didn't let go immediately. He turned his head toward the guard and then withdrew his hand. "If you dare hurt my family, I'll tear you apart."
Nolan rubbed his neck and said calmly: "John, do you think it's interesting to say something like that? If I decided that you would end up like Quinn just now, when would you get the chance to tear me apart?
In fact, if I want, everyone here could die in a single day, except me." Yes, it was a bluff, and it had to be held until the end.
Abruzzi's face darkened, silently weighing whether those words were true or not.
After a moment, remembering the deaths of Little Jack, Bowman, and Quinn, he concluded that the possibility of it being true was very high.
"What the hell do you want then?" Abruzzi asked.
"I already said it, a new identity, as soon as possible." Nolan replied.
"I'll get it, will you take me out with you?" Abruzzi asked, tempted, to which Nolan nodded without saying anything.
"Fine." Abruzzi was silent for a few seconds. "When do you need it?"
"The sooner, the better."
"Alright! I'll call right now." After saying that, Abruzzi stood up and walked to the payphone.
Nolan didn't move, he only exhaled a long puff of smoke. At that moment, it could be said that everything was ready, only the last detail remained, the locksmith skill. With that in his hands, he could begin to prepare the escape.
As for whether the system would really grant him that skill, he was convinced it would. After all, the theft skill existed, there was no reason locksmithing would not.
And if bad luck worked against him and he didn't get it, it still wouldn't be a big problem. He could always make Abruzzi arrange someone outside to steal Sara's key and copy the one to the infirmary.
He was not Michael, he could accept something like that. Besides, he had already eliminated three people, a little theft really meant nothing. ...
"I want more men immediately protecting my family!" Abruzzi ordered seriously.
"Alright, what's going on?" said the voice on the other end.
"There's a rookie named Nolan here who knows too much about me and just threatened my family…" he explained briefly.
"How is such a thing possible?!" said the voice in surprise.
Abruzzi didn't answer the disbelief, he only said: "Investigate him thoroughly as soon as possible! I want every detail, especially about his family!"
"No problem." said the voice, and hung up.
Clack!
From afar, his eyes met Nolan's, reflecting rage and a hint of panic. ...
Recreation time ended, and as scheduled, they should now head to the cafeteria for dinner.
However, due to the midday incident, Pope made a new arrangement, the cafeteria would remain closed tonight.
Dinner was ordered from a restaurant outside the prison, and instead of eating all together, the prisoners received the food in their own cells.
So, after leaving the yard, they were first taken to the bathroom, escorted by twice the usual number of guards.
The jailers watched closely, nothing happened. An hour later, the inmates returned to their cells, ready to eat dinner.
Of course, remembering that just a few hours earlier Quinn had died after eating, most of the prisoners sat nervously in front of their plates. Even knowing it came from outside, shouts were soon heard.
"Warden, the food won't be poisoned, right?"
"Pope, you eat first!" "Warden…!"
Pope was present, as was Sara. Both had stayed late precisely to ensure nothing happened, but the warden didn't respond.
Bellick, who was at his side, roared fiercely: "Shut your mouths! You should be grateful you have food! If anyone screams again, tomorrow you'll go without a single bite!"
The roar was enough to impose respect, and little by little, the voices died down. One braver prisoner decided to take the risk, thinking he couldn't be so unlucky, and began to eat. Soon, the others imitated him.
The food from outside was greasier and tasted much better. Nolan, who had eaten little at noon to keep up appearances, devoured the dinner quickly, finished in minutes, wiped his mouth, and looked around.
The scene was amusing, especially those cowards eating while praying not to be poisoned.
Nolan smiled in amusement, then climbed to the top bunk to rest. The venomous insect was still recovering, it couldn't be used until after midnight, so he let it be.
For now, he didn't plan to use it unless his life was in danger.
He was certain of one thing: if that night or the next day someone else died poisoned, old Pope would end up taking extreme measures, beyond what he could tolerate.
So, for the moment, his venomous insect could rest. The ideal would be to use another method, and he had already thought of one during the day.
The answer is… a war between blacks and whites. ...
Although three prisoners had been poisoned in a row, casting a strange shadow over all of Area A, Nolan had observed those lunatics from both sides, black and white. He had no doubts: sooner or later they would fight, they wouldn't stop until there were several stabbings.
That was the ideal moment to fish in troubled waters, eliminate more inmates, and gain more skills. After all, all of them were fanatics of violence, if they die, let them die.
Lying on the bunk, he raised his hands and looked at them. If it had been before arriving in that place, just imagining himself killing people with his own hands would have made him think he needed a psychologist.
Now, perhaps due to the influence of Wing Chun or having done it a few times already, it no longer felt so repulsive. Although it wasn't as if he liked doing it, he simply didn't hate it.
Dinner ended quickly and no inmate died. Pope breathed a sigh of relief, waited nearly half an hour, and seeing that nothing happened, he left. Sara did the same.
When she had completely disappeared, Michael, behind his cell door, hesitated a moment and spoke to Nolan in a low voice.
"Mr. Nolan, are you interested in working in P.I?"