Locked Away [10k Z Nation]

25

"She's got a fever, and the sweats... but I can't tell exactly what the problem is." Doc concluded, "Is there anything else she's been doing, anything she said?" We'd grabbed him from the clutches of Murphy soon after Ellie had shown up on our doorstep with her cryptic message.

"She's delusional..." I spoke, remembering her words. "Is it trauma?"

"Maybe... but I don't think that's the case. " He turned to Ellie, "Have you eaten anything funny lately?"

She stared blankly ahead and I felt a sense of dread, of remembrance.

"Hello? Ellie?" Doc waved his hand in front of her face. Her dead eyes did nothing in response. The only sign she that she was still alive was her heart beat and steady breathing.

"I don't understand." I said to no one in particular, "She was normal a few days ago."

"I dont think she's contagious, whatever she has." Doc said, and Ellie finally looked up to meet his eyes.

"My stomach hurts." she stated

It hit me where I had seen those specific blank eyes before- the old man from the Square.

"10k, can we talk outside?" I blurted out. 10k's eyes, previously focused on Ellie, shot to me in confusion, but he didn't question and followed me outside the room. I shut the door behind us.

"Somethings happening in this camp. Something bad." I whispered

"What do you mean- something bad?"

"I've seen people acting strange here, an old man tried to attack me- he had the same blank eyes." I urged

"Is it the food?" he questioned

"What?"

"The little girl said her stomach hurt. Is it something to do with that?"

"Maybe- wait." I derailed my train of thought. I wasn't used to people believing me so quickly. And this was a pretty harebrained idea anyway, even I had to admit that it sounded crazy.

"Why do you believe me so easily?"

"I was attacked too."

"10k!"

"It was nothing serious, he was barely older than Ellie, besides, you didn't tell me you were attacked!" He shot back at me

"It wasn't even an attack," I said, exasperated. "Somethings going on here."

"It's gotta be around five in the morning. Let's look around." Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs.

We hastily crept through the Square and around a corner. The sky was still dark, and there was nobody around. The air was moist and I could tell it would be raining soon.

"Where's the kitchen?" I asked

"Over here." He lad me across the Square and past some shops. The windows held items I could only guess were stolen.

Soon we were approaching a squaty building with lines of picnic tables lined in front. Through the windows I could see more on the inside.

"How do we get in?"

"There shouldn't be alarms here, we could go in through the back."

We scaled around the building and along the back wall there was one singular door. It held a simple knob, and a key hole. I tried the knob, and the door remained tightly shut, protecting the secrets that were inside.

"Let me see," he gently pushed past me and bent down so that the key hole was at eye level. He pulled something long and small from his boot, it looked no bigger than a paperclip.