[ WP ] `` Which one 's the Straw Man ? ''


 From a previous response of mine: 
 
 `` Which one is the Straw Man?'' asked Adams. 
 
 
 Morris continued to finish off his beer, and pointed to a hunched over body instead of actually responding. It clawed harshly against the ground of his cell with bound hands. The body was one of 23 prisoners taken alive in the past 4 months. During his stay-of-duty, Morris had established, what he considered to be, a suitable name for each. 
 
 
 The POW cells were located in a natural forming cave 35 kilometers outside of any area hit by active combat. Some of the younger officers made bitching about the distance a topic-of-conversation, but they were only ever the ones on the transportation detail. Prison detail officers like Sergeant Morris understood better and spoke out only to correct or chastise the younger recruits, depending on their moods. 
 
 
 Morris placed his empty beer on his work desk, and began to thumb through his favorite book. It was a three act drama written in the 21st Century. He had finished it six times, and each time struggled to grasp why any of the characters acted in the manner they did. The puzzle of desire and emotion, however, was the reason he would read it again and again. Maybe it would make sense after enough times. He could n't be sure. Turning the page, he looked up to find Adams still staring at the Straw Man. He watched the eyes of the young recruit, as his eyes watched the prisoner. 
 
 
 `` You should n't stare for so long,'' advised Morris. Adams finally pulled his glance away from the cage. An expression of bewilderment still covered his face. 
 
 
 `` He... it killed a man with a piece of straw? I mean, it's fucking straw.'' 
 
 
 Morris sighed and got up from his desk, and accompanied Adams in from of the cage. The behemoth continued to claw at the ground, but now stared viciously at Morris and Adams. 
 
 
 `` At the time of the incident, it was common practice for some of the boys to walk around chewing or gnawing on straw. Jacobs started it, when he ran out of gum. He said he needed something to keep his mouth busy in order to keep his mind busy. We all gave him shit for that, but he's the sort of boy that gets fueled by that type of response. It got so talked about that a visiting officer tried to forbid us from doing it, as it was becoming a distraction. The next week, him and every other guard went on patrol with a pocket of straw. 
 
 
 `` We're not exactly sure how, but Straw Man over here managed to snag a few unbroken pieces and bound them together. For days, he would slink in the corner and smash his bindings against the wall, which was common among the inmates. It turned out he was only doing it to cover for his attempts at picking the lock on his bindings. He succeeded.'' 
 
 
 `` For three days, he waited with his body turned to the back wall of the cell. No movement, nothing that resembled sleep. When the food started to pile up, the guards assumed he died. It's happened before. Kepler, the guard for his section did n't feel like going to the store room and grabbing a tranq before opening Straw Man's cage here. It's procedure you sedate any prisoner before touching their bindings or cage, living or dead. 
 
 
 `` Sure enough, it was a ploy. The moment Kepler stepped in, Straw took his bindings in one hand and cracked them against Kepler's skull. He beat him to death with them, and killed two other guards in the process of trying to escape.'' 
 
 
 The Straw Man stopped clawing at the ground, and let out a meek roar. Adam grimaced at the sight; the Straw Man had revealed rows of broken teeth and rotting gums. 
 
 
 `` You ca n't crush the willpower of these things. At best, you can punish them. It's the very reason we have such strict procedures for handling prisons and why we keep them so close to death.'' 
 Morris smacked the recruit across the chest and gave him a weak smile. `` You'll have plenty of time to watch these guys during your first guard detail. Come on, let me show you the rest of the facilities.'' 
 
 
 Adams gave a swift nod and slowly followed the Sergeant. Getting to the exit, Morris held open the door expecting to see the recruit passing through. Instead, Adams had stopped about 15 feet back. He stood transfixed at the last cage on the right. 
 
 
 `` What's your name for him?'' he asked.
