The large sign read “Entering the Gelid Zone — Authorized Personnel Only.”
Harry looked at the guy sitting next to him on the bus. He seemed to be napping. Harry nudged him and said, “Welcome to your new home, Buttercup. We’re almost there.”
“Stop calling me that, asshole,” the guy said. “My name is Jack.”
“Then you need to change your behavior and stop acting like such a pussy if you don’t want me calling you Buttercup” Harry said.
“Listen,” Jack said, “like it or not we’re going to be stuck here together for a long, long time. So how about if show some respect to one another and try to make the best of a bad situation?”
The guy sitting behind them on the bus started laughing. “You two jokers think this place is one of them all-inclusive resorts or something?” he said. “Well, you’d better get over that real quick because there ain’t no respite from the the shit you’re gonna be dealing with at this hell hole. I knew a guy who was here and he said that you can’t even begin to imagine….”
Just then the bus came to a stop and a uniformed office who was sitting in the front of the bus stood stood up and addressed the dozen men in the bus. “Welcome to the Gelid Zone, gentlemen,” he said, “where you’ll be spending the rest of your miserable lives. Welcome to the frozen tundra in the middle of nowhere and from which there is no escape. Welcome to the most remote penal colony on the globe.”
Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (gelid), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (zone), The Daily Spur (buttercup), Word of the Day Challenge (behavior), Your Daily Word Prompt (respite), and Jibber Jabber (imagine).