Twenty Seven Years

   Chapter 136 How to Save Yourself

   After changing the medicine, Verak returned to Cell 208.

   Keating had already finished his meal and was flipping through "Theory of Equality" over and over again: "Has Lecter seen you?"

   "Yeah." Verak stretched his body and lay on his side on the bed. "I met him when we were changing dressings in the infirmary after dinner. He asked us what we talked about during the briefing. I just fooled him."

   "Didn't ask how he and Adel were doing?" Keating asked.

"I asked, and he said that he has already dealt with Adel. After all, his father is the Minister of Justice, and Adel has no background, so he definitely doesn't want to provoke him." Verak said, "Of course, if we don't say anything before the twelfth With the golden clues, the situation is quite different.”

   Keating puts "Equality" aside: "That's good, did you make any progress this morning?"

   "Yes, yes." Verac was worrying about this matter, and sat up directly, "Do you know a prisoner named Dawn? It was the bald guy who sat at the same table with us when we were eating in the cafeteria at noon yesterday."

Keating had an impression of yesterday's bald head, but he didn't know where he came from: "I don't know. My former roommates came in to ask for clues about gold, so they didn't communicate with other aspects, and they didn't know much about the outside situation. Just half-knowledge."

Verak told Keating about Dawn's deeds: "I talked to him during the wind, and he was desperate and had no interest in escaping. Unless we make a practical plan, it is impossible to impress his."

"It's very contradictory." Keating pointed out the key point. "The plan must first understand their situation and reach some cooperation before it can be formulated. This person is indeed a very suitable candidate for cooperation. Convincing him is almost equivalent to convincing other people. We There has to be a different way."

"It's just a headache for me, what else can I do?" Verak couldn't think of it, "I think that next time we meet, I'll have an in-depth talk with him, explain the situation to him, and see if he is willing Try it with us first."

   "That's the only way to go first." Keating didn't have a clue.

  Verak sighed and lay down again: "Teacher, I'll take a rest first."

   "Tired, right?"

   "The main body is injured, and it is a bit unbearable to stand all the time." Verak closed his heavy eyes, "But it is still far behind them. They have worked for so long, and they are used to it and numb."

"Hmm... It's completely different from the torture you were given before. The pain of the torture stimulated you, but they didn't face the threat of death. Like a frog being boiled in warm water, their will was sapped little by little..." Keating said in the middle Pausing, he found that Verak's chest rose and fell gently, and he was asleep.

  Two o'clock in the afternoon.

   The whistle sounded, and Verak woke up from his sleep.

   "Get up quickly! Get ready for work!" The prison guard whistled in the corridor, urging the prisoners.

   "Why did I sleep until two o'clock..." Verak looked at Keating who was reading a book, "I forgot to tell you to wake me up after I slept for half an hour and continue to discuss plans."

   "Let's rest a little longer, we're not short of an hour or two." Keating said.

  Villac rubbed his face to wake himself up as soon as possible, then got up and walked to the door of the cell: "Then we will talk in the evening, goodbye, teacher."

"goodbye."

  The prison guards opened the door of Cell 208, escorted Veraker away, and walked all the way to the work area.

   Accompanied by Verac and Rose, they arrived at the work station together and started working.

The workload in the afternoon is much greater than that in the morning, mainly because there is no time to let the wind out in the afternoon. Except that they can go out in batches at seven o'clock and get a total of ten minutes to eat, they have to stand and operate the machine for the other seven hours .

Veraker was already injured, and he had never stood for such a long time before, so he had to concentrate on the machine to avoid any mistakes, so when he worked at nine o'clock, his mental and physical conditions became very poor, and he spent the whole afternoon Due to negligence, he made mistakes several times, but thanks to Ross who was next to him with quick eyes and quick hands, he helped solve the problem, and was able to keep today's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.

  In the evening, Keating took a shower and returned to the cell with the help of the prison guards. He happened to bump into Verak who was being helped back by Rose. Verak's calf was so stiff that it was difficult just standing.

   "How are you?" After returning to the cell, Keating asked about Verak's physical condition.

   "...a different kind of torture." Verak sat on the bed and massaged his legs.

   "Either—"

   "It's okay, I can hold on." Knowing that Keating was going to persuade him to give up again, Veraker interrupted Keating immediately, enduring the pain and smiling at him, "Where is this going?"

   Keating hesitated and said, "Let's reduce the workload."

"Lecter said exactly the same thing to you at noon today, and I rejected it." Verak rubbed his calf, "I refused what he said because I was afraid you would see it, but in fact, you also know that the reason why I couldn't integrate into it before Among the prisoners, it is because of the privileges that they feel that I am not the same person as them. If the workload is reduced now, isn’t it taking advantage of the privileges? When the time comes and the work is contradicted, it is too bad.”

"Then just keep going, and you won't have to go to work after you convince Dawn to cooperate with us." Keating gradually understood Verak's character, knowing that Verak is a very stubborn person in certain things, so he simply refused Persuade him again.

"I don't work in the same area as him, so we have to wait until tomorrow when the wind is released." Verak regretted that he could not get in touch with more prisoners at work. He wanted to work in the leather shoe area, but the work there He couldn't bear the burden even more, and he would collapse in less than a day. "The workload in the afternoon is much greater than that in the morning, and I can kind of understand their feelings."

"Tell me."

"They don't have the energy to think so much. They just want to fall asleep when they come back. How to finish the workload and keep three meals in their minds, there is no room to think about other things...Only those who have been hungry know that in this prison, Which one is cheaper, a meal or some ideas... The mind and the body are closely connected, if the body is constantly exhausted, the brain cannot keep awake independently..." Verak said his feelings in various ways.

   Keating summed up Veraker's words: "Life forces everyone to focus on the present. We talk about equality and rights at this time, which will only make them feel that standing and talking will not hurt their backs, and they will not be moved."

   "That's what it means..." After massaging his legs, Verak stretched his waist and hips.

"Then we can only start by fighting for their immediate interests." Keating pondered, "But even if Lecter asks us to allow the prisoners to rest for a day, he probably won't agree, and this It’s not a cure for the symptoms.”

   "It's difficult to get Lecter to agree without only solving short-term problems." Verak groaned, and the pain in his waist made him frown.

   Keating saw that Veraker was not in good condition, and said, "You should rest first, and save your energy for contacting Dawn tomorrow, and I will think about what to do."

Verak wanted to discuss with Keating, but he was so sleepy that he could hardly lift his eyelids, and his mind was blank, and it was difficult to concentrate on thinking of useful things: "Then I will rest first, and see if I can make some progress tomorrow." .”

   "Well, good night." Keating said.

  Verak lay down.

  Although it was still noisy outside, it didn't affect him at all. He fell asleep within half a minute after lying down.

  —

  October 8th

   Early in the morning, when the whistle sounded, Verak got up and found that the soreness in his legs and waist was stronger than last night. He tried not to show it in front of Keating, and went out to wash and was taken to breakfast.

   "How is it? I was so tired yesterday." During the meal, Ross asked concerned.

   "It's okay... It takes some time to get used to it." I usually don't move very much, and I stood abruptly for a day. No one can bear it, and Verac can't help it. "It's almost a week and you'll be fine."

   "It would be much more comfortable to take a hot shower, but unfortunately we only have cold water here, and you haven't recovered from your injury, so you can't take a bath." Rose said nonsense.

   After getting up to work, he exhausted a lot of physical energy. It didn't take long for Verak to eat up his breakfast. After Ross and the others ate, he was taken to work by the prison guards. On the way to the work area, Verak met Dawn who came to eat in batches, and he said hello to Dawn.

  Dawn didn't say anything, just nodded slightly and passed by him.

   "By the way, I haven't asked you yet. What did you talk to Dawn about yesterday?" Rose saw Verac greeting Dawn, and then remembered that Verac went to see Dawn during the briefing yesterday.

   "I admire him a lot, so we chatted casually." Now it is inconvenient for Veraker to elaborate on the specific content with Rose, and after a simple prevarication, he arrived at the work area and started working.

  Although his body has not yet adapted, Veraker has become more and more comfortable with the work in his hands. Seeing that there are not many mistakes in his operation of the machine, Rose didn't stare at him very much. The two chatted one after another until nine o'clock.

  At nine o'clock, Veraker was called out by the prison guards for a briefing.

  The daily briefings are divided into two batches. The candidates for these two batches are random and there is no rule at all. Verac was very unlucky and was not assigned with Rose and Dawn.

Not long after Verak arrived at the square, Keating was pushed by the prison guard. He went up to have a brief chat with Keating, put on an appearance for Lecter in the dark, or his eyeliner, and then went to meet many people. prisoner.

  Verak had been looking forward to contacting Dawn again all morning, but now because he was not assigned with Dawn, he became a little absent-minded, and finally returned to Keating.

   "Teacher, what do you think?" Verak asked about the question that was shelved yesterday.

"I haven't figured out the specific method yet, but I have some ideas." Keating said, "If we want to fight for their rights, it's best not to fight for things they obviously need, such as food, vacations, etc. . We have to tap into their deepest needs."

"...It makes sense. If we work hard, we may not be able to make them eat a good meal and take a day off, but no matter what, it is impossible for them to be like this forever. A short-term pleasure cannot save them." Verak fell into thought .

Keating reminded Veraker that he had entered a misunderstanding: "Don't think about the problem with the idea of ​​​​saving them. If you do this, it will be meaningless for you to integrate into them and experience them. Turn yourself into them and think about how to save yourself , is the real solution.”

   "Alas..." Verak put his hands on the handles of the wheelchair, without pushing, just using the wheelchair to support his tired body, "How can I save myself..."

   "It will take time. You have only been working for less than two days, so it is not so easy to come up with an answer." Keating knew that Veraker was tired and impatient, so he comforted him.

   "But we don't have much time..." Verak shook his head slightly.

  The whistle sounded, Verak let go of the handle of the wheelchair, and walked towards the exit of the square: "Let's go, teacher."

  —

  October 9th

  Unfortunately, Veraker and Rose got together during the airing, but Dawn staggered with him.

   You can't walk around at work, and the batches of meals are completely random. The most hopeful time to see Dawn every day is when you are out, but he seems to have been deliberately teased, and he never sees Dawn.

  The time was decreasing day by day, and Verac felt that it was impossible to procrastinate. He planned to go out tomorrow and never see Dawn again, so he asked Lecter to transfer himself to the leather shoe production area. He must reach a cooperation with Dawn as soon as possible, only in this way can the escape plan continue.

   After the briefing was over, Verak went back to work, and went to the infirmary after lunch. Lecter is finally here today. He accidentally didn't meet Lecter when he went to the infirmary to change his dressing yesterday. Lecter didn't go to him for a routine questioning until before going to bed at night. He thought something happened .

Lecter's questioning is very annoying. He actually has a headache. How to report the progress to Lecter every day. He can't say anything valuable, and he has to make Lecter feel that he is getting closer to the clues. But he can see Lecter every day. Te also reassured him, which showed that there was no action on Adel's side.

   "Why didn't I see you yesterday?" As soon as he entered the door, Verak asked about Lecter's situation yesterday.

   "Take care of some private matters."

   "I thought something happened." Verak took off his clothes with ease and lay down on the hospital bed.

"It'll be fine, we met in the infirmary these few days." Lecter sat next to Veraker, watching the doctor remove the bandage and change the dressing for Veraker, "Tell me, I haven't seen you for a day, what's the progress. "

   "Well... not bad, he is very worried about my body." Veraker felt sleepy as soon as he lay down, so he replied casually.

   "Is it gone?" Lecter was not satisfied, he didn't come here specially to hear such a simple and vague sentence from Veraker.

   "Don't worry, seeing Mr. Keating's appearance, I am more confident, and there will be results in these few days." Verak dealt with Lecter roughly.

   Lecter was a little displeased with Veraker's attitude, staring at the doctor as he finished administering the medicine: "The twelfth is getting closer and closer, I hope you can do what you say, otherwise you will know the consequences."

   "Don't worry." After taking the medicine, Verak sat on the bed in a daze for a while before waking up from exhaustion.

   "Let's go." Lecter left helplessly.

Verak put on his prison uniform and walked towards cell 208 in a daze under the **** of the prison guards. When he passed other prisoners who had just finished eating and walked back, he suddenly heard several prisoners humming pleasantly. song.

   There are still more than 30 monthly tickets to reach the standard for additional updates (890 votes). I hope everyone will vote one more at the end of the month. In addition, if it can break through 1,000, it seems that there will be a lottery next month, and it will be even better if it can reach 1,000. Tomorrow's update will be the turning point of the prison volume, and the second half of the prison volume will be opened after writing (not referring to the length, the second half of the plot).

  (end of this chapter)