The bus crashes.

As you had been warned the drive to the federal penitentary is a long journey. Night falls and a huge storm begins, outside the bus the pitch darkness is only broken when lightning flashes. Rain is coming down in torrents and the din of it hammering on the bus roof keeps everyone awake. You are seated halfway down the bus with Toni just in front of you and Tamara across the aisle. The three of you have begun to talk. Julia, behind you maintains a sullen silence. At the rear of the bus Rihanna can be heard praying, her head bobbing up and down as her sweet and melodic voice recites passages from the koran.

"She's gonna lose it big time." Toni comments, jerking her chin towards the rear of the bus. "Five will get you ten she is found hanging in her cell within a month."

The mafia killer has you puzzled. You have done your best to keep from freaking out about the change **** upon you, the other three prisoners are taking the change with various displays of distress. Toni on the other hand seems to have taken being feminised in her stride and has laughed and joked about it from moment one.

"Not you though Toni." You say. "How come all this ain't bothering you at all."

Toni looks at you thoughtfully a moment and glances forward to where officer Lopez sits cradling a shotgun and watching over you. She is talking to Grant about the storm and the delay it is causing. Satisfied that she is not listening to your conversation Toni leans closer and speaks.

"Say you had a contract on some wiseguy. He knows he is a marked man so he goes to ground with plenty of muscle around to protect him." Toni says. "Three things a holed up guy will send out for, booze, pizza and a hooker. Now say the hooker that shows up ain't a hooker at all but a hitman who has taken an X-Change pill. A small calibre pistol or a switchblade ain't hard to conceal, even if you're wearing next to nothing."

"You've used the pills before?" That comes as a shock to you.

"Did you kill the man before he fucked you or afterward?" Tamara asks softly, her eyes still puffy from tears.

"Me? I was just speaking hypothetically kid." Toni laughs. "But, hypothetically of course then I'd do it halfway through. The sap would have his attention elsewhere then, know what I mean?"

No wonder Toni seems so relaxed in her new body, she has worn it before. Probably a few times if the rumours of how many hits she has done are true. That means she is the only one of you who actually knows just how hot she looks. You can see the others of course, but without a mirror you are still in the dark as to how you look now.

"So you know what you look like?" You ask, putting your thoughts into words.

"Hey that's right, none of you guys have seen yourselves yet." Toni laughs. "Don't know how to break this Steph, but they musta given you a duff pill or something. Everyone else is gorgeous but you look like a horse's ass."

Tamara giggles, the first time you've heard the kid do anything but sniffle and cry. You scowl at Toni, for some strange reason upset by the idea that you might not be as beautiful as the other convicts on the bus.

"I'm just jerking you Steph." Toni admits. "Relax, you look like a regular homecoming queen I swear."

You are about to tell Toni to go fuck herself when a crash from the front of the bus ends your conversation. The noise of the storm suddenly increases in volume greatly and you feel driving rain sweep through the bus. Looking forward it takes a moment to register what you see. The windscreen of the bus is gone and the big bloody body of a deer is halfway through the what remains. Grant seems **** or dead and Lopez is trying to grab the steering wheel and get to the brakes. The bus swerves from side to side violently, throwing you around. There is a second loud crash as the bus veers to the right and ploughs through the roadside barrier and leaves the road.

The front of the bus dips suddenly and then it is a rollercoaster ride as you career down a steep slope through heavy woodland. Branches batter the bus, breaking most of the side windows and a section of the roof is ripped clean off. After bouncing crazily down the steep slope for a couple of hundred yards at least there is a solid impact that throws you forward against Toni's seat as the bus runs into a tree. You sit dazed for a moment and then see officer Lopez lying on the floor in the aisle with a huge gash in her forehead. She looks to be out cold and you can see the keychain on her hip.