The Pariah

"What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?" ---Lord Byron

"You okay, mate?" Asked the boy with the big eyes. He stood up and went into the mini kitchen. Nick watched as he grabbed a cup and filled it up with water before turning around. "You look like you might be sick."

    "Of course he's going to be sick," the dark eyed boy snapped from next to Blake. His eyes were moving all around in nervousness. "He's Carter's favorite. Who wouldn't be sick?"

    The boy with the big eyes slid the cup over to him. "Don't mind Kai, he's paranoid." He said, giving Nick a rueful smile. "I'm Sam and I'm sure you've met Blake."

    "I'm not paranoid," Kai sputtered, his eyes narrowed at Sam. "I'm just a realist, something you should become Samuel. Get your head out of your ass and see the truth that we're in a holocaust. A holocaust I tell you!" Kai ranted with a wave of his hands.

    Nick didn't know what the holocaust was, but he was sure he didn't want to find out. Kai seemed to be terrified for his life. Nick knew Carter must have done something very bad to the kid in front of him. He guessed Kai came from a normal life and got dealt a bad hand of cards so he ended up here. That's why Kai was as shaken as he was. Nick swallowed thickly, was Mia going to end up like Kai? Fearing for her life? He didn't want that for her. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"Shut the hell up, Kai." Blake snorted with a roll of his eyes from his place at the table. "You're always ranting about the holocaust, don't scare the newbie, because if you scare him you  know Carter will beat your ass. Carter's job is scaring him, got it dumbass?"

Kai's hands wrung nervously but he stared down at the table like a beat dog. Nick felt for the kid, he reminded him of Mia. Mia would rant about things that didn't make any sense and would be told to shut up by people around her. Nick was always amazed when she started mouthing off, because she was so smart. He guessed Blake was not one of those people who found knowledge amazing.

Nick pinned Blake as the tough one of the group. He was the most like Nick: a survivor. He had a feeling Blake would fight for Blake and no one else unless it benefited him. Nick couldn't exactly blame him, he would do the same thing except he was fighting for Mia. He didn't particularly like Blake because he thought he was an asshole. He thought Blake was just cruel for the hell of it, and Nick hated those types of people. He didn't care how much Blake was like him, Nick refused to be an asshole just to be one.

Nick nodded his head to Sam as he took the cup in his hands. "Thank you," Nick said as he took the cup and sipped it. "How do you know about me?"

    Sam snorted with a small smirk as he took a seat across from Nick and folded his hands on the table. "Carter's got a loud mouth, he's talked about you and your sister. I thought the Barbatos family only took boys, but your sister is a special case. He's quite proud of you two." Sam explained with a small movement of his hands. "We all have brothers your sister's age, it's not an accident you're here. You're not some rare find, this was planned and has been planned for a long time. Why? I have no idea, because the government wants to screw us six ways until Sunday. All I know is they drug us." Sam shrugged his shoulders easily.

    Nick took this information in curiously, he knew Mia was a genius but why would Barbatos want someone smarter than him? Nick knew the answer should seem obvious but it wasn't. Mia was a fourteen-year-old kid that had a ridiculously high I.Q. but she wasn't exactly a military mastermind. From what he understood, Barbatos needed test dummies so that's where he and the other three guys came in but what about their siblings? What was their purpose? Mia was smart, sure, but was she with a bunch other smart kids? Was she all alone in her own room and terrified that Nick had abandoned her or died? He needed to find her. He needed to lay his eyes on her and make sure she was alright. He needed to make sure she didn't totally shut down.