PRISON MEAT: Part Three “On the Road”
By Tyler W. Jannson (tjannson@yahoo.com)

This story is entirely fiction—it has a copyright and cannot be used without written consent.

The wailing sound of a police siren shocked Joe out of a deep sleep, his head slammed against the cab roof. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, his brain zigzagging between reactions. Joe’s eyes searched the dark compartment franticly looking for a clue as to what was happening; he focused on the light creeping in around the drawn curtain. Slowly he peeked out, the bright morning sun and sea of cars surrounding the truck surprised him.

“Damn, we’re in a mall parking lot…where in the hell did Travis and Tom go?”
Joe saw a note taped to the steering wheel:

“Hey guy! You were sleeping like a bear in hibernation so I didn’t want to rouse you, decided to leave a note just in case you woke before we got back. Bringing breakfast and some new duds, see you in a little bit. Travis”

The sound of the siren was fading away in the distance; he sighed with relief, wondering if he would forever feel panicky hearing a siren. His stomach ached and rumbled. “Bringing breakfast!” he mumbled Travis’ words, “best damn news I’m gonna hear today!” He tried to massage away the knots forming in his abdomen. “Just hang in there, help is on the way!”

Both door locks popped up startling Joe; he peeked out the curtain, saw Tom’s smiling face in the driver’s side window. He pulled the curtain back just as Travis opened his door and handed him a McDonalds’s sack.

“Oh God this smells so good!” Joe fished his hand in bag and retrieved a bacon, cheese and egg sandwich. Ravenously he took a big bite; his bright eyes caught the smiling faces of Tom and Travis.

Tom said. “Told ya the boy would like breakfast rather than burger and fries…Joe, it’s almost noon and the bitchy little gal behind the counter said, “Stop serving breakfast at 11:00…”

Travis slapped his thigh and laughed. “You should have seen it! Tom just about scared the girl to death…told her to hustle up two egg sandwiches pronto!”

Tom just grinned and decided not to tell them the particulars of how the late breakfast order was filled. If it hadn’t been for the young man working the grill his order would never have been filled. He had black spiked hair, multi-silver rings on his ears, nose and eyebrows, the Goth look. Tom suspected the skinny short order cook was gay so he winked at him, and that was all it took. The Goth boy filled the order in record time and came around to the counter to personally deliver it. Tom thanked him and slipped him a couple of bucks when they shook hands.

While Joe devoured his breakfast and finished his super-size cup of milk, he watched Tom remove tags from a pile of clothing: stone washed Levi’s, red plaid shirt, Hanes low-rise white briefs, tube-socks and a white tank top. Dr. Martin black athletic shoes and a white Louisiana State University baseball cap lay on top of a red backpack.

Travis was flipping through his AAA Triptik. “Best damn road maps in the world.” He handed it to