The Drug Run

Chapter 12 - Answers

Ally and Elias watched with awe as Noah finished his fifth sandwich. They hadn't been surprised when he had asked for the first one, but five? Well that was bordering on ridiculous, which led to the question of what where he had been for the past three weeks, and more importantly, what had happened to him.
Sufficiently filled with bread, Noah turned to them, noticing for the first time that they were both staring at him intently. It made him uncomfortable after so long without proper human contact. Pararius and Medens had been okay, but the daily meetings could hardly be classified as social interaction.
"Do you want another sandwich?" Ally asked nervously, partly because she was unsure how Noah felt towards her, and partly because they were running low on food.
"I'm full," he said. This was the second time he had talked to Ally since he had been back, and it was the second time she had noticed that he was taking at her rather than to her. She began nervously playing with her hands, and looked down.
There was an awkward silence, filled with unspoken questions that no one was prepared to ask or answer. Elias eventually spoke up.
"Noah," he said softly, "what happened to you?" He walked over to Noah, and sat down on the desk. He turned and noticed Ally's reluctance to follow him. He stretched his arm out, inviting her over.
"I'm tired," Noah stated bluntly, walking off. Ally sighed quietly, and Elias gave her a sympathetic look. The truth wasn't going to be easily coaxed out of him, especially while he didn't trust Ally.
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Noah watched as the door opened slowly, creaking loudly as it moved. He saw Dr Medens standing on the other side, and he crawled back against the wall. Dr Medens sighed in remorse, and walked into the cell. He clumsily pulled a key out of his pocket, and unlocked the shackle.
"Come on," he said, holding out a hand to Noah, helping him to his feet. Noah didn't reply, but followed him down the hallway.
"See those security cameras?" Medens pointed to a small black hemisphere on the roof. Noah looked up, and nodded.
"They don't work," Medens told him, and chuckled. Noah gave him an awkward smile, failing to see the humour in the joke.

They were in a different room this time, but it resembled the first one almost exactly. This time however, Agent Pararius was sitting down already. Noah sat down at the table, in the same place he had the day before. As before, the door was locked, and Medens sat down at the desk. Pararius cleared his voice loudly and spoke.
"Name." Noah raised an eyebrow.
"Fair enough," Pararius told him, "I wouldn't tell me my name either." Noah looked at him in confusion.
"What I meant was, you're smart, you know that?"
"That's not going to help," Noah told him, "I still won't tell you anything." Pararius sighed.
"You aren't talking are you?" he asked.
"Not a chance."
"Okay," Pararius said, raising his arms in surrender, "that's all for today." Noah got up to leave
"Only," Pararius continued, "haven't you ever wondered why she never gets arrested?" Noah's face drained of colour, and he sat back down.
"I think you and I need to talk," Pararius told him, smirking.
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Ally woke up, yawning. She didn't know what time it was, but it was definitely too early to be awake, she decided. She looked around the room sleepily. Her eyes widened in horror as she realised Noah's bed was empty. She quickly got out of bed and began shaking Elias awake. He muttered in his sleep, unaware of Ally's presence. He rolled over as Ally tried again. She sighed in frustration and slapped him.
Elias sat up suddenly, giving her a shocked glare.
"Do you mind?" he asked grumpily, "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"He's gone," she said, immediately getting his attention.
"Are you sure?" he asked her, "maybe he's getting a sandwich? You saw how hungry he was before." Ally slapped him again.
"Hey! What was that for?" he asked, his voice becoming quite high.
"This isn't funny Elias," she told him, "What if he's gone?" Elias got out of bed.
"We should go look for him," he told her, walking out of the room.
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Elias didn't have to look very far. He stared at the small figure standing out in the open, facing the empty landscape around the warehouse.
Ally walked up to Elias, and watched Noah with him.
"I'll go back to bed," she told him, and lightly squeezed his hand, "good luck." He waited until Ally was inside before approaching Noah.
"They took me to some jail," Noah said, feeling Elias' presence next to him, "I was locked in this cell, and they had me shackled to the wall. I think I was unconscious for the first few days. I just remember a van, and then I woke up there."
Elias remained silent, which Noah took as a sign to continue.
"Every day they took me to this room and asked me to talk. And every day I refused, and when I didn't talk, they got creative." He pulled up his left pant leg to reveal an array of burns and welts, and one very long, very deep red scar that ran from his thigh right down to his ankle.
"Oh my god," Elias whispered, reaching down to touch the scar, "who did this to you?"
"I don't know," Noah told him, "but it wasn't Medens or Pararius." Elias looked up at him.
"Who?"
"There are more people like us out there. So many that they needed to build a centre to detain them all. Medens and Pararius are on our side."
"Noah, who are they?"
"They work for the government. They detain us and try to get information, and then they use that information to divert the government's operatives. They're the reason we all get off so easily. They helped me escape."