The Prison Project Chapter 36 - Meltdown Margot's POV The guard's hand gripped my arm like a vice , yanking me and Cara inside with a grunt of frustration as the door slammed shut behind us . " What block are you two in ? " he barked hurriedly , already scanning the hallway like a bomb might go off any second . " Block F ! " I answered fast , voice high and tight , not caring that Cara wasn't in that block but not prepared to leave her after what we had just seen . I gave her a look to be quiet , as she nodded knowingly , face wet from tears . My heart was hammering against my ribs like it was trying to crack its way out of my chest , my adrenaline through the roof . " Move . Stay close . " The guard pushed on . He didn't wait for confirmation . Just turned and took off down the corridor at a pace that forced us to jog to keep up with him . Sirens exploded to life a second later , shrill and echoing down every hallway like some horror movie alarm as we both jumped - clutching on to one another instantly in fright . Red lights strobed from above us as the guards spilled into view , their shouts bouncing off of the concrete walls , " Return to your blocks ! Everyone back to your assigned areas - NOW ! " " I really don't like this Margot ! " Cara gasped from beside me , one arm covering her head like debris might start falling . I didn't answer . I couldn't . Everywhere we turned , people were moving frantically . Guards yelling . Inmates being herded or restrained or ignored entirely as chaos reigned - girls whimpering . But all I could think about was Coban . The blood . The crack of bone when that rock hit the other guys head . The flash of metal as the blade swung . The way his body twisted , protecting us even when he was the one under attack ... I didn't even get to see if he was okay ... But why did I seem to care for him so much ? A man who I met last night for the first time ? A man who I knew barely anything about other than how dangerous he was... 1/4 1:20 pm P Chapter 36 - Meltdown " Move it ! " the guard ahead of us shouted , snapping me back to the moment . He shoved open the Block F doors , barely holding them for us to squeeze through before barking over his shoulder , " Get in your room and stay there ! " He didn't wait to see if we obeyed either . " Come on , " I whispered , gripping Cara's wrist now , dragging her across the familiar common room until we reached it - the last room on the end . Our room . Coban's room . I fumbled to push open the door , my hands trembling so bad I almost missed it with Cara practically tripping in over the threshold as I slammed it shut behind us - hearing it lock automatically . I leaned back against it , gasping for air like I'd just finished running a marathon , sweat slicking the back of my neck . Cara didn't speak right away . She just stared around blankly at the room - our untouched bed that Coban had surprisingly made that morning , the shared desk , the light shining in from the outside window . Then suddenly she moved , pacing hard and fast like a caged animal , her hands yanking back through her hair as she shook her head in a panic . " What the fuck are we doing ?! " she snapped . Her voice cracked like something inside her had just shattered . " Why did we sign up for this shit?! " I didn't answer . Not right away . My back slowly slid down the door until I hit the carpet with a soft thud , legs folding beneath me . My limbs were still buzzing with adrenaline , my stomach turning in sick spirals . " Don't ask me , " I managed after a beat . " You convinced me to come here ! We need the money , remember ? " I state , reminding her of her own master plan as she groaned . Her head whipped toward me , eyes wide and watery . " I know ... I know ! But maybe we've bitten off way more than we can chew here , Margot ! " she cried , pacing again like her legs couldn't sit still . " This isn't , like , some high school testosterone brawl ! These aren't angry teenage boys fighting over a prom date ! These are grown - ass men ! Killers ! Some of them are in here for murder ! " Her voice cracked again , and I watched as her hands went up to wipe at her cheeks , furious and frantic . " You don't have to tell me , " I shot back , dragging my knees up to my chest and curling around them . " I've been terrified from the minute we walked into this goddamn place . Why didn't they tell us on the website that we'd actually be living in rooms with them ?! " I suddenly question , running my palms down my sweaty face . 2/4 3:20 pm Chapter 36 - Meltdown Cara groaned , a deep , hopeless sound . " I know , right ? We thought we'd just be having meetings with them or something ! Fuck ! What do we even do now ? Do we just sit in here and pretend like everything's fine when there's blood on the gravel and we just witnessed people swinging fucking knives around out there ? " She throws out her hands , looking for an answer that I couldn't quite give . I didn't answer because I didn't know . I wasn't even sure what we were allowed to do . What could we do ? " Will we even still get the cash if they both wind up murdered one day in to this ?! How ironic for us eh ? Them two dying before the end of the project ... and it would all just be a big fat waste of time ? " she scoffed at the thought , spinning to face me again with panic flaring in her face . " Or worse - if they die , then what if they just ship us off to a new prisoner ? Like , ' Hey , sorry your guy got shanked , here's another lunatic to start from scratch with ! " " She let out a desperate laugh that sounded more like a sob . " I. was settled with Leo ! I was actually starting to feel okay about him . I don't want to do this again with someone else , Margot ! I can't ! " I nodded , slowly , weakly - because yeah , I got her point . All of it. I didn't want to start over either . I didn't want to sit across from another dangerous stranger and pretend it was normal . Pretend I was okay with being part of someone's rehabilitation like some expert in emotional taming . What if the next prisoner expected sex from me ? Because Coban hadn't , and for that , I was more thankful now than what I had even realised at the time ... " I'm scared too , " I whispered , resting my chin on my knees . " I don't even know if Coban's okay . He wasn't all bad either . What if ... what if he did end up- ? " I couldn't say it . Couldn't say the word " dead . " Cara went quiet for a long second . The silence was almost worse than the screaming outside . " Do you think they'll tell us ? " she finally whispered . " If something happens to them ? Or do they just cover it up and hand us someone new with a fake smile and a clipboard? " I stared at the door , listening to the distant sounds of sirens and boots and muffled yelling . Would they tell us ? I had no idea . Would Coban and Leo just become a distant memory to us ? As though it hadn't even happened at all ? It didn't seem right. It wouldn't be fair . 3/4 3:20 pm P DD Chapter 36 Meltdown - " We just have to wait here for now , wait and see what happens next . If they say something bad happened , then we just quit . " I shrug , nodding at the idea as Cara squints . " We can't go back home ... " She suddenly whispers . Fuck . She's right ... Because home to us was far worse than here . Chapter Comments 7