PHASE


    DEFINITION


    A distinct period or stage in a series of events or a process of change or development.


    "The final phases of the war."


    -


    DATE - JULY 8TH 2015


    -


    At the front of the facility, Fritz and Warden stood still, Fritz, with her clipboard adjusted on Adrien''s page. They had been out there for a half-hour at that point. Adrien''s photo had the ginger constrained with various chains, and he was as expected, entirely ablaze.


    "Ya sure, you wanna deal with that one first?" Tabby''s chipper voice intruded, and Fritz looked down and moved her clipboard out of the way to look at the TV, "He''s pretty intense, y''know?"


    Fritz took a while to respond, still very taken aback by Tabby''s appearance despite her being here for four days. Fritz blinked and lowered herself to be more ''eye''-level with Tabby, "Yeah, intense is something I''m used to," She smiled, "It''s best to start with what you recognize, right?"


    Tabby made a thoughtful sound, she then tilted her head, "Who else are you gonna talk to?"


    Fritz was about to speak, but she quickly shut her mouth before she flicked Adrien''s paper over onto Joslyn''s page. She looked terrified in her photo, and possibly in tears, but her picture made it hard to tell. I noticed that Fritz purposely used her hand to cover the info section as she showed Tabby, "This little lady."


    "Oh!" Tabby teetered back and forth on her heels, "Josy!" She seemed extremely overjoyed for no reason at first, "She''s my favorite; she reminds me of Alvis!"


    Again, absolutely no relation between us in any sense. Fritz furrowed her brows slightly, "Alvis?"


    "Yeah!" Tabby tucked her arms behind her back, "He''s the creature with the eyes and tail," Fritz returned her clipboard to her arm, "He looks terrifying, but he''s just a big ol'' ladybug!"


    "Tabitha!" A gruff voice rumbled from across the courtyard, which made them both look over. Out of the open garage, each of the Virus was being escorted outside. The Warden was the one who shouted, and he gestured for Tabby to leave as he was in motion.


    The computer obliged after a grumble. Tabitha waved to Fritz as she waddled off. Fritz stepped over to the Warden halfway, a pursed smile present as the Warden refused eye contact, "Do not make me regret this."


    "It''ll be fine," Fritz sighed and looked past the Warden to the right-wing Virus who were visibly confused. Fritz dodged around the Warden, which startled him, "Why are they still in tracksuits?" She hissed through her teeth, arm extended to the bunch.


    "For Identification-"


    "You''ll get them mixed up when they''re not all in the exact same clothes?" Fritz huffed, visibly unimpressed, which made the Warden''s brows furrow as he was about to retort, "No excuses; it has to be at least ninety degrees!"


    "They''re Virus, they should adapt to weather regardless." Warden stammered slightly, taken aback by being yelled at by this small woman.


    Fritz shook her head. After a few audible huffs, she went over to the Virus herself. The Warden hesitated before for once; he followed behind.


    -


    "You think they''re letting us go?" Dex asked, eyes on Skylar as if he expected her to know somehow.


    Skylar was focused on her handcuffs, which grated a rash into her wrists, "Publicly executed is my bet." Naya had a brief chuckle at that, which only made Skylar give her raised-brow glare.


    "Hey- hi, everyone!" Fritz waved, a nervous smile on her face, "How are we all doing today?"


    "I mean, I''m still held in the American-Auschwitz, and my whole family is still very much dead," Skylar sighed, her eyes sharpened, "So you tell me."


    An awkward silence proceeded for a few minutes before Naya perked up, "I''m doing good!" She smiled, and Skylar elbowed her side. Naya made a confused noise before she retorted, "She''s asked!" There whine in her tone. Skylar made a disgusted noise before she withdrew her attention.


    Fritz had the clipboard awkwardly placed to her chest, likely feeling stupid for the question. She looked to the Warden for help. He cleared his throat and spoke, "You have the day outside, enjoy it." That''s all he said before he walked away.


    The professor blinked back and forth between the Virus and the Warden. She let off a nervous chuckle before she followed him, "Is that it?"


    "There''s still two unaccounted for, compose yourself," Was his only order for a moment before he did grumble to himself. As he was saying that, Adrien, in his metal case, was brought out. "Undo the restraints." The Warden ordered.


    After the restraints were removed, everyone was ordered to step back. With a Hooked pole, the tomb door was pulled open. The Warden checked his wristwatch before he spoke, "Step out."


    "Yeah, yeah, I know!" Adrien stumbled slightly as he awkwardly shoved the door open. It was heavier than he expected, "Don''t tell me what to do." He grumbled somewhat and hugged at his own arms, blinking at the brightness.


    Fritz forced a smile and stepped over to the ginger, "Adrien Gorski," She offered out a hand to Adrien, who shuffled away, "My name is Amy Fritz, and if it''s ok, I''d like to-" Skylar brought herself in, and took ahold of Adrien''s arm. Her face bore a stronger scowl than usual.


    "Later," She growled slightly as she pulled her brother away, "You wouldn''t want to split up the only family we have left, would you, Professor?" Her eyes narrowed but blinked to almost normal when Adrien pulled his arm away, a profoundly annoyed look.


    "Both of you can kindly piss off," He stepped around them and took his own spot a few feet away from the Virus group. Skylar looked back to Fritz and scowled again, not taking her eyes off the professor as she stepped down the stairs.


    Fritz let off a sharp sigh, and Warden walked over, "It will be better to go with MMHV-1," He gruffly stated, his posture subtly steered to the Virus, "The rogue one favors them, so I''d-"


    "Where is the sunscreen?" Fritz interrupted, "And the sports equipment I requested?"


    Warden''s brows raised before they drew in, "It wasn''t deemed necessary-"


    "Sun safety is vital!" Fritz spat loud enough to get everyone''s attention, "Virus or not, skin cancer is never an after-thought!"


    The Warden rolled his eyes, "They''re Virus, they cannot get cancer-"


    "No, you shush!" Fritz raised a finger as if she had to scold a child, "You have three children here with highly sensitive skin, do you have any idea what happens to gingers when you put them in the sun?!" The Virus were all either sniggering or at least had a smirk on their face, "My goodness, you have an albino girl too, and there is no shade out here!"


    The Warden was dumb-struck. No one had told him to ''shush'' like a child, no one except perhaps Tabby, which meant little to nothing. He didn''t say a word, which prompted Fritz to utilize Naya, "Naya-hun, do you get sunburn?"


    Naya raised an eyebrow at being called out, but she smiled, "Mhm, all the time!"


    Fritz looked to the Warden with her arms crossed, and her brows furrowed, and he didn''t say a word. The psychiatrist scoffed, "Fine then, I''ll go get it myself!" She shoved her clipboard into the Warden''s hands. With that, she stormed off into the Mound through the garage.


    A silence went through the soldiers and the Virus before the latter started to snicker again. The Warden didn''t dare to look over and see the small group of children that laughed at him,


    "You seriously get bossed around by a short girl?" Dex bantered with a hint of shock in his tone.


    Skylar quickly snapped, "Shut up, Dex."


    "Ok." He coiled back, still with a smile.


    -


    The Moth Mound had two garages; the one where trucks were stored, and the garage where tanks, extra weapons, and contraband were hidden. To enter, you needed a scannable pass. Fritz did not have a card or Mound ID. There was no seen reason for her to need contraband or weapons.


    However, at the start of the slim hallway, Fritz could see the door was creaked open. She edged over and pressed her hand to the door. In a relatively lackluster turn of events, nothing was by the door. She was just greeted by the dim garage that always seemed more vast on the inside, with high roofs, slim walkways, and large tanks to emphasize what the room could hold.


    Fritz stood in silence and listened for any signs of life. After a few seconds, there were a few distant echoed steps and crashes. She closed the door without clicking it into place. Fritz called out, "Hello?"


    She didn''t need to raise her voice much, as the room carried it reasonably well. There was a pause before the sound of a scramble. Atop one of the vans, Toby had crawled up and stood. He was filthier than usual; black stains, dirt, and hair seemed a shade darker than before. He looked over at Fritz without a word.


    Eventually, Fritz spoke, "I thought you were in here," She attempted to have a spark of joy to her voice, she waited a few seconds for Toby to reply, but he didn''t, "Is there um... remains in here?"


    Toby took a few seconds before he replied, "Not as of now." He then turned around and jumped to the ground. Fritz took a mental note of his shift in tone. She also took note of the possible threat. After a breath, she carefully trotted over loose metal and discarded items.


    "I''m just here to pick up some sunblock, I won''t bother you," She promised, seeing Toby again as he leaned into the van''s broken open window. He had rested the camo jacket over the small glass shards to bluff any injury.


    There was a slight grumble from Toby that went along the lines of, a little late for that. Fritz overheard it, but it was far too grumbled for her, "Hm?"


    Toby''s head perked up with an innocent smile, "Hm?" He repeated back in a chipper tone. Fritz didn''t push it. Instead, she examined the mess over the blonde''s face, dried blood, dust a crack over one of the lenses of his sunglasses, and, overall, he was just a mess. He even had a few cuts over his face.


    Fritz had her brows furrowed. She wanted to ask what he was up to but knew she was treading on ice, "Do you know where the Uhm... Sunblock and sports equipment is?"


    As Fritz asked that, Toby had crawled all the way into the van and audibly rustled things around. He pulled out a very distinctive rifle with blow-torched blades. He forced it out of the window. Followed by more modified weapons.


    Toby then jumped out of the van via the window. Knelt down and picked up an arms worth of guns. He used a rifle to point to the overflow of stacked cardboard boxes against the wall, "The one with the bat."


    Fritz nodded and hummed and took note of the weapons, mostly, "Were you hiding those in here?" There had been various searches across the Mound for where these stolen weapons were and the files he had taken, "I won''t tell." Again, she forced a smile.


    A smile was returned, though it reeked of contempt, "Gee, thanks," He proceeded to kick the guns across the ground.


    Fritz noted the sarcasm, and I could hear her smile fall as she sighed. She followed over, though she was more focused on the boxes for the most part, "Everyones outside, y'' know?" She started, occasionally she would glance over to be sure that the guns Toby kicked at were not aimed at her, "Everyone''s wondering about you."


    Toby once again paid no attention to Fritz''s attempt to entice him into the conversation, "Warden thinks you''ll show up if they''re all outside." She seemed to catch her losses and decided to focus on getting the box with the silver bat which was lodged beneath other few cardboard crates,


    Toby didn''t reply. Instead, he just knelt down by what appeared to be a vent grate. Out of habit, the Virus tried to grab something from the jacket pocket, only to realize that Toby had left his jacket on the van. Fritz sighed when he was out of earshot. She looked up for a moment as she seemed to think, "Uhm, and everyone includes Adrien, doesn''t it?" She lightly chuckled, but it was so clearly forced.


    Regularly, saying that would have been a death sentence. But Toby knew about the logs, so this should not have thrown him off. At least not any more than he already was. Still, though, Toby made no reply. The sound of glass pieces clicked onto the ground followed, and Toby remained quiet as he walked back over to the grate. With the jacket, the blonde seemed even filthier.


    "Skylar misses you," Desperately, Fritz poked the one-sided conversation further, "I think she likes you." Fritz tried to nudge, to no avail. She pulled the box out finally and started to go through its contents.


    Toby had been distant for the past few days, not missing but certainly quieter. You''d spot him when he''d slip from one vent to another, but he had been more or less out of sight. Breakfasts were served in the cells to avoid any other escape attempts, which was likely a factor in his absence.


    The box consisted of baseballs, sunblock, a whistle, some notepads, a small first aid kit, and a very dusty water bottle. Fritz hummed and picked out the water bottle with two fingers and carefully placed it onto the floor.


    She then looked over at Toby; perched on the back of his sleeve was an obese moth. Fritz briskly strode over, and she reached out and plucked the moth. At that same speed, Toby flinched and spun around with a gun pointed to the psychiatrist.


    Fritz froze, her arms recoiled up beside her. The moth between her fingers wriggled desperately. She stammered for a second, "Sorry, there was a moth on you," Her voice was slow and hesitant like she knew she had just seen something she wasn''t supposed to, "I didn''t mean to scare you."


    They were both frozen, with Toby knelt on the ground for a few seconds. Finally, Fritz spoke, "You can trust me, Toby." She tried to smile for a few seconds until she realized Toby was still not at all interested.


    Toby quickly stood up and dislodged the bat. Fritz''s brows furrowed, "Toby, I want to help you," She had stepped back once she saw Toby was going to bust the vent open, "What can I do to help you trust me?"


    He let off a sigh-laugh before he slammed the nose of the bat into the vent once, which made a loud rattle sound. Fritz opened her mouth as Toby swung the bat again. As soon as the clanging sound faded slightly, Fritz spoke, "Toby, can you talk to me please?"


    He didn''t, he didn''t even turn to look at the psychiatrist. The doctor flinched every time the bat clanked against the metal. Toby finally had a tactic. He knelt slightly and gripped the bat at the base and halfway through. In a battering-ram fashion, he clashed the bat into it, and it dented back significantly.


    Once it dented, Toby finally made a noise, a pleasantly surprised hum.


    "Can you at least look at me?!" Fritz accidentally shouted, and for once. Toby, as expected, didn''t bother to give her any attention.


    Fritz decided to make-do with it and ramble anyway, "You''re frustrated, and you have every right to be, Toby" Her voice was dire. "But I want to help you, all of you," Her voice pursed slightly, "Or at the bare minimum make this place as livable as possible," She took a slow step forward, sure to stay in Toby''s field of vision this time, "You''re smart, Toby, I can see that."


    Toby was knelt on the ground by the vent, his hands gripped onto the slate. He pulled it, and the screech of metal-on-metal was enough to cause even me to recoil in and out of the vision.


    The awkwardly shaped grate was pulled out with a clank. Toby then picked it up and launched it elsewhere into the garage. There was an audible smash of a van window. Toby had a content smile as he started to pile the smaller weapons into the vent with a gleeful hum.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    At this point, Fritz had almost had enough, "Toby, I''m not giving up."


    Toby chuckled and picked the bat up by its broad end, the handle pointed at the psychologist, "Tell the old dog I want my stuff back."


    Carefully, Fritz took the bat from the blonde. Toby turned back to his weapons on the ground. He kicked the guns and knives into the vent. He took a look at the water bottle before he grinned and pushed the bottle into his self-made jacket pocket.


    Fritz nodded for her peace of mind. She scanned the boxes, and she hissed through her teeth as she hesitated heavily. Toby had one foot in the vent when he turned around, heavily annoyed.


    "I''ll be seeing Joslyn first," She started explained in a soft voice, "Is there any-"


    Toby didn''t wait for Fritz to finish before he gestured to a box on the left of him. He then slipped into the vent.


    Fritz clicked her tongue and nodded, "Thanks..." She mumbled before she moved over to the boxes. She mediated through them and eventually found a box of nail polish vials. With what she promised in-hand plus a bit more, she left.


    -


    I switched back to my own vision after that, just in case Tabby was talking at me. She wasn''t, but she did have her attention over my shoulder as I logged down events. I gargle and trail a few of my eyes onto her. She turned around and pretended she wasn''t looking.


    Regardless, now that I''m back in my own vision, I look around from the circle of sand that Tabby had drawn around me. The Virus had clumped themselves together at a distance while they glared at the Warden.


    The Warden noted their stares and scowled back. After a minute, Warden looked over to Tabby, "Get the logs up from July fourth," He ordered, Tabby''s neck whirred as she looked over. Warden looked over to the group, attention on Naya, "You, MMHV-03, come here."


    Naya had been kicking a stray weed, uninterested with the tension. Her eyes darted about as she tried to figure out who the Warden had referred to. She tilted her head and pointed to herself, "You talkin'' to me?"


    "Yes, you," He snapped his finger, "Come here." His tone was akin to someone commanding a dog. Naya seemed to notice the similarity as she gave an amused look to the other Virus, who seemed less impressed.


    Still, she shrugged and took a half step forward before Skylar grabbed the shorter''s shoulder, "You don''t have to, you know that."


    "Yeah, we''ll beat his ass-squared if he tries to pull somethin''," Dex reminded, in a much more careful tone than what Skylar offered.


    After less than a second of thought, Naya made a face and made a few attempts to speak, as if trying to find the words. Thankfully, Adrien decided to fill in the silence for her, "What, you''re gonna cook up a cloud for her, and Clippy here is gonna phase through him until he begs for mercy?" Adrien''s thumb-pointed to Dexter, "And Joslyn will what, make him feel bad?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Pretty sure the short-shit is gonna be ok without your help."


    "Oh piss off, Adrien," Skylar hissed, "You pick those nicknames up from Toby, or did you just forget Dex''s name." The taller of the gingers grew flustered and irritated, proven by some small flamed on his shoulders and how he crossed his arms and looked away.


    "Don''t breeze it, Sky!" Naya called as she walked over backward to the Warden, "If he punches me, I punch back harder, remember?!" She waved her off and spun around, happily jogged to the Warden who had since squinted his eyes a little more at Naya at her comment. "Hey, what''s crackin'', chief?" Naya jumped into a spot, kicking up sand in the process.


    "I think you know why I called you over," Warden started, and Naya gave an innocent blink as her arms crossed behind her back. Warden gave a gesture to the soldiers in earshot who had no idea of Reece''s disappearance. They got the memo and left, "There was a breach in a mini-observation deck on July fourth."


    Again, Naya blinked innocently, "Cool."


    "It was by the side-wing hospital you were based in," He hinted, and Naya did not once flinch. An awkward silence went through as the Warden expected her to fess up, but her innocent expression was as stagnant as his scowl, "Is there anything you''d like to confess."


    Naya thought for a moment, her eyes rolled through her memories with a hum. Eventually, she popped her lips, rocked on her heels, "Nope!"


    She was a good liar, and her being a Virus with a lack of guilt, sadness, or regret made it all the more difficult. The Warden''s eye twitched, and he raised a hand signal to the soldiers to tell them to leave. Once they were out of earshot, the Warden hissed, "Don''t test my patience, Virus," He snarled, and lowered himself to slightly more eye-level to her, "I have transcripts written from that night."


    That''s when Naya''s smile dropped as it clicked for her. She looked to Tabby''s screen that was on my scanned pages. She didn''t read bother to read them to know what was going on. She looked to me for a moment as I was writing, and I couldn''t help but coil up shamefully.


    She didn''t say a word, but her frame stiffened slightly. Which was not threatening with her size, but for her cheery-self, it felt off. Warden''s scowl broke into a smirk, "Is there anything you''d like to confide before this gets worse?"


    She didn''t reply for a good second, her glare fixed until something for her clicked. she smiled again, back to normal, "Nope!" She looked over to me, "Pretty neat how your dog is writin'' fan-fiction though, so props to you, dude!" I quickly realized what clicked for her. If Warden knew where Reece was, he would not have needed to ask Naya to confess.


    She gave brief glances in my direction to show she knew. Warden just scowled, "Fiction?" His brow raised, "Alvis is designed, to be honest to the bone, it does not write fiction." He spat out the last word.


    The shorter just snorted, "Yeah, and my mom wanted me to get into neuro-sciences!" She beamed, with a giggle, "Then I became a dumb-jock, kinda weird how it all turns out, huh?" Warden looked like he bought it, which was terrible for me, but then he re-programmed himself. You could practically see his inner thoughts ''Virus are manipulative, Virus have no conscious, this Virus is lying.''


    -


    For now, I decided to flick to Skylar. Her, Dexter, Joslyn, and Adrien were surveying the situation with hushed whispers. Skylar''s hand hovered over her face, "Should we be worried?" She looked around the group, "I don''t really peg her for a good liar..."


    "I dunno, she kinda became bhessie''s with all ''em soldiers," Dex started, shrugging, "Then lunged herself out of a window, then nearly escaped."


    "Yeah, Sky, don''t stereotype, just because she''s a jock doesn''t mean she''s a dumb one," Adrien smugly retorted, eager to see Sky give a glare in his direction, "Also wait... bhessie, fuck does that mean?"


    "It''s Dex-lingo, you''ll catch up," Sky answered, eyes still on Naya as she laughed at something she said again, "Oh my god, please don''t become bhessies with that prick."


    "Don''t say bhessie ever again," Adrien''s face scrunched up, and Skylar gave him a strange look like he was stupid, "You didn''t even know you said it, holy shit." Adrien snorted. When it finally processed for Dex, he grew a big-dumb grin.


    Skylar just scoffed, "I would not say bhessy," She noticed Dex''s prideful smile, and she scowled, "Do not look at me like that, you goon!"


    In a hushed tone, Joslyn poked in, "Sorry, Sky, you said bhessie."


    Skylar rolled her eyes and groaned. "Whatever, it''s just because I''ve been in the same room with this jackass for too long," She gestured to Dex who''s smile faltered for a second, which she barely noted, "And using ''ie'' just naturally makes it catchier- and who the fuck cares, can we get back to the actual issue?!" She gestured over to Naya and the Warden, "Naya picked up the lingo worse than me anyway..." She mumbled under her breath.


    "Fly plan, Bhessie," Dex finger gunned. Skylar gave him a stern glare that said it all, but Dex shrugged with an innocent look, "And besides, if Naybles becomes bhessies with all em soldiers ''n the Warden, maybe ''e''ll let us out of somethin''."


    "Don''t be stupid, they''re all against us," Skylar hissed between her teeth, and everyone seemed to silently agree, "And don''t call me bhessie, you dolt."


    Joslyn blinked as she recognized something, "But you..." She looked to Sky with hesitancy, "You let the blonde guy give you a nickname," She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, "Why can''t Dex give you a nickname."


    Instantly, Skylar''s expression grew stunned and flustered as she knew she had been caught out. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. However, she did stammer before she spoke, "Oh, shush, that''s different."


    "Yeah, because Toby is a cute, conceited, bastard," Adrien eagerly explained, "Just her ty-" Skylar promptly forced her elbow into her brother''s gut. Adrien keeled over, hands on his stomach, "Fuck you, bitch, you know I''m right!"


    "He nicknames everyone, it''s different!" She crossed her arms, "And he is more creative than bhessie." She visibly grimaced at the word, and Dexter became visibly dejected. Which this time went completely unnoticed, just deciding to watch Naya''s conversation unfold.


    Even with the distance, it was evident that Naya had wedged this interrogation into her favor. Or dare I say our favor. Because Warden had not bought her lie, and Naya was not even close to cracking.


    -


    "Let us go section by section," Warden purposely slowed his speech, a snarl tense on his face, "You were based next to the miniature observatory."


    "Mhm, big ol'' safe door, yup!" Naya agreed, hands behind her back.


    The Warden proceeded, "And Toby, Virus seven arrives."


    "He sure does!"


    "You help it break into the safe-door."


    "Yuperoonie!"


    "You go in, and he takes a file."


    "Mhm!"


    "And then you see Virus eight-."


    "Nope!"


    Warden grumbles heavily, his fist tightened as his snarl clenched. Naya didn''t even flinch, her arms politely tucked behind her back. Tabby''s posture was stiffened as she stood between the two, occasionally leaning back as she expected a hand to be thrown.


    Behind Naya, a voice perked up, "Hey, everyone, I''m back!" Fritz called, her voice slightly exasperated. The two boxes were mounted on top of each other in her arms.


    Naya twisted her body around to look at the psychiatrist, "need some help with those boxes, doc?"


    "No, no, it''s alright," Fritz then seemed to realize there was no graceful way to place the two boxes, "Actually yes, can you grab the top box for me please?" The doctor asked as she motioned the box out slightly before she felt it slip, and she immediately leaned it back against her chest.


    Naya only took a single step before the Warden gripped the young girl''s shoulder, "I am not done talking to you!" Naya''s face winced slightly. He then forced Naya to turn around to face him. Fritz gasped and immediately started to spout of reasons why you should never grab a child.


    However, Naya just stared up at the Warden with a flat expression, eyes wide. By the time I processed Naya''s leg lifting slowly behind her, it was too late. There was a solid thud as Naya kicked her sneaker into the Warden''s shin.


    Before anyone could process the gravity of that sentence, Naya started to shuffle back. The Warden had merely stumbled, but it was the audacity of it that would set him off. His snarl crackled across his face, "You little-"


    Naya made a squeak-like sound that devolved into a laugh. She spun around and ran, as the other Virus watched in mild awe. Save for Dex, who laughed along, "Book it, Naybles!" He chanted through cupped hands.


    She did just that but turned around just in time to see the Warden''s attempt to lurch forward only to then feel the effects of the kick. He hissed, a long toothy grunt progressed from it. Naya just laughed from surprise before she spun around the corner.


    Tabby was tense, "Hey, Woah, do you need the medic?!" Her screen showed her getting ready to call paramedics. The Warden just snarled and glared at Fritz, Tabby, me, and of course, the Virus, who were still huddled together.


    He seemed critically unsure for a moment, analyzing his options before he looked to the psych, "Watch them." Was his simple order before he limped up the stairway.


    Once the Warden was gone, Tabby quick on his tail, I felt safe to drop the pencil. My wrist was tense and sore from scratching the logs into paper all day. A trait of a high-level Virus meant I have almost an almost pristine memory, but the Warden was insistent that I took no breaks.


    I dropped my pencil and gazed up at Fritz with my own eyes. She looked over to the group before she called out, "I have some sunscreen for you guys!" She attempted to grin it off, but the group was still stiff in place, with Skylar''s glare at the forefront.


    She had already tried so hard for them to like her, and I feel somewhat like we relate to an extent, though I had accepted my fate. Still, though, I stood up and unsurely grabbed the top box. My grotesque claws made her gasp and flinch. Once she saw what I was up to, she sighed in relief and offered out the box.


    I took the top one-off, and the shake in her arms ceased slightly. She smiled. I could still see she was highly disturbed, but I appreciated it when she said, "Thank you, Alvis." The call by name caught me off guard, and I stilled for a second as a few of my eyes dodged to the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist noticed this as well, which encouraged me to awkwardly place the box down, pick up my pencil and paper before I scurried away.


    -


    Just out of instinct, I followed the Warden''s vision as he slowly walked through the halls. He paced himself as to not let any soldiers think he was injured. Behind him, Tabby tried to keep up, "Listen, I know you''re kinda like, super bugged out right now, and I don''t wanna add to that," She called ahead, "But grabbing a super-human with strength powers, was really like freaking stupid!" Her nerves swelled as she spoke.


    A fist was slammed into a wall, and Tabby jittered back, "They are not super-human," His voice cracked as he looked beneath his arm to the petrified PC, "They are not human." He spat at Tabby.


    It took the small computer a moment to recuperate herself, her frame tilted a few times as if she wanted to say something. But she was smarter than to try and make a point to him in this state. He continued to snap, "You are to keep your mouth shut, and watch the Viruses activity, nothing else," He raised a shaky finger to the computer, "Understood?"


    "You got it..." Tabby''s voice was hushed back, her extremities intertwined together anxiously.


    The heaving Warden nodded, "Good," Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one off-strand soldier, "Get the back to your post!" He roared dryly, which was enough to echo across the walls. The soldier clearly obliged and scuttled away.


    That was all I could stomach to endure. The Warden''s humiliated rages were as rare as they were scary. It was the dry anger that was directionless, which made it unpredictable.


    -


    Outside, Fritz tried her best to encourage the Virus swarm to come over and get things from the boxes. They all remained utterly still, with Skylar at the fore-front with a scowl that only intensified by the second.


    Eventually, Fritz just settled for launching the bottle over halfway in hopes that would make one of them more comfortable to retrieve it. For a moment, it seemed like that had worked for Joslyn, who took a half-step forward before Skylar stuck her hand out in her path.


    She was stubborn, evidently. It made. Adrien scoff, which caught his sister''s attention, "You wanna say something, asswipe?"


    "Nuthin," Adrien rolled his eyes, "Little Ms dictator."


    Skylar''s teeth bared for a second, "If we take that, she''ll think we''re submitting to her and this shit hole."


    "Yeah, but you''re gonna look real fuckin stupid when that sun sinks in." He crossed his arms and started to walk away


    "Where the hell are you going?!" Skylar called out.


    Adrien spun around on his heel, "Out of the sun, have fun with your sunscreen strike or whatever." He waved his hand slightly to dismiss her.


    Skylar just groaned, crossing her arms. Fritz noticed this and gasped, frantic, "Adrien, Adrien!" She called out, which of course, caught his attention, "Could you help wheel Clover over into the shade?!"


    The ginger quirked an eyebrow and looked over to the pale girl who was stuck in the sun. He darted his eyes slightly before he complied, and. shrugged slightly, "Uh, sure..."He tried to force his hands into non-existent pockets. He quickly realized his mistake and crossed his arms tentatively.


    Once over to the metal slate, he attempted to grab it by the chains, but. he quickly recoiled and shook it, "Fuck!" He hissed.


    "I"Is it that hot?" Fritz''s prodded with concern.


    The redhead sputtered, "No, it just didn''t expect it, it''s fine!" He re-grabbed the chains, this time much easier. Fritz didn''t take his word for it and looked over to Clover''s face. It was sickly. She was red, her eyelids flickered, and there was a slip of purple-tinted saliva slipping from her mouth.


    Fritz gasped, "Adrien, I need you to hurry," She took off the coat she had resting over her shoulders and used it to stifle any heat as she grabbed the chain. Before Adrien could ask, Fritz interjected, "She''s going into heatstroke."


    For the first time since being at the Moth Mound, Adrien didn''t seem at least a little angry. He was panicked as he took a moment to take that in, his eyes scanned over to Clover''s shackles. It must have been excruciating to have her flesh forced into those caverns.


    When that sunk in, he grabbed the chains and tried to pull her out. But the wheels remained stiff, and you could only hold it for so long before the burns got to you. If you had standard hands, that was.


    Though it was out of my character, I forced myself to try and push the other side to get it to budge. With no luck, of course, Adrien seemed to have a heat-resistance as long as he was expecting it. But Fritz didn''t, and she quickly realized that. She scanned around, her breath in haste as she panicked.


    The soldiers from earlier were off in the distance, only watching, she waved her hands frantically to them, "Hey, we need a key!" She called out, "Or- can we use a gun to shoot off the chains?!" They didn''t respond or acknowledge the situation, "Just... Help?" Her voice faded as she realized they weren''t going to be of any assistance.


    She made a soft whimper as she tried to think of something. "Oh- shit, that''s heatstroke!" Naya''s voice rattled behind her. She was audibly out of breath. Fritz spun around to see. Naya with her hands on her upper-thighs.


    Fritz scurried over. "Naya, we need the chains off, can you-" Naya raised a hand, understanding. She stretched and groaned in tired agony before she came over to me and started to shove the metal slate that seemed to just grind into the ground.


    -


    From Skylar''s side, both Dexter and Joslyn were already antsy. They knew something was wrong, or they all did, and Skylar was the only uncompassionate one. Dexter was even shimmying in his spot as he felt his guilt grow. Skylar noticed this and hissed, "Don''t, we''re not on her side!"


    For Joslyn, this fell on deaf ears as her eyes darted between the sunscreen on the ground and Clover. Joslyn inhaled sharply before she sped over, with Skylar to taken aback to stop her. She grabbed the sunscreen from the ground.


    She uncapped the sunscreen rather forcibly and made a gesture to Naya and me to move over. Which we did, with a hesitancy, of course. Joslyn knelt down and seemed to mentally prepare herself before she forced the orange tracksuit leg up. We were let with a grotesque chafe-mark that had to have been materializing for days.


    Collectively, we all made a noise of horror, and Joslyn mumbled a few words in her native tongue that sounded almost prayer-like. She finally did something to make us all cringe in remorse. She slipped the sunscreen into the crevis of the metal.


    Clover''s eyes widened, and she screamed between her teeth, her eyes welled heavily as she forced them shut. Adrien stepped back and hugged himself out of horror, "W-what the fuck are you doing?!"


    Joslyn pressed her hand to the girl''s heel, she opened her mouth and hesitated to speak, "Put something between her teeth!"


    Fritz blinked as she remembered her belt. She undid and looped it. The psychiatrist then stuck it between the pale girl''s teeth and murmured a soft order to ''bite down'' if Clover needed. Fritz gave a signaling nod to Joslyn, she nodded back and proceeded to push Clover''s heel out of the restraint.


    Successfully, her foot popped out with painful cries from Clover. Just as I felt relieved that worked, Adrien brought up, "You have to do that three more times?" He sounded concerned. That made Joslyn wince as she eyed the barely half-filled sunscreen bottle.


    Dexter finally got so antsy, he couldn''t take it, he started to walk over, and Skylar tried to grab him, but he shook her off. "Listen, Bhessie," He spluttered, and he looked so conflicted as he realized he had nothing on the ready to say, "It''s- I''m sorry." He forced out of himself before he ran over to the scene.


    Skylar was left annoyed and flabbergasted as she was left alone in the field. Dexter had come over, and for once had a quick idea of what to do, "Jossy, you do the other boot, I got the hands, oight?" He assured, and rubbed his hands together as he knelt down by the girl''s wrists.


    Wordlessly, Joslyn agreed with a nod, hand already on the other confined heel. Clover whimpered slightly as she expected the worst to come. Dexter just smiled, "Don''t sweat it, sister, the hands are gonna be way less nasty," He assured, as he cuffed Clover''s sleeve, "Hijo de puta eso es asqueroso..." He mumbled, visibly disgusted.


    Adrien kneed the other in the back to keep him on focus and to keep him from scaring Clover further. He stammered and agreed. Dexter used his disease to merge his hand into the cuff, his skin to pillow the chafing metal. He muttered some other Mexican word with discontent before he gently slid the raw wrists over his own fingers.


    It still seemed like it hurt, but much less so. Fritz had her hand over her mouth, completely horrified by the situation. Every now and again, she''d look to the soldiers who had started to cackle over a smoke. Useless.


    After the final wail of the sunscreen being used on her heel, Clover was free. Throughout that whole ordeal, we all seemed to have forgotten that Clover was restrained for a reason. She started to float upwards. Thankfully Naya looped her arms around the girl''s waist.


    We all had a moment of relief as Clover was free. Naya, in her swift brilliance, carried the girl over to the shade and placed one of the boxes onto Clover''s lap. Once sat upright, Clover went unconscious. It had to have been too much for her at the time.


    After that, everyone just had to stand around and catch their breath. Fritz combed her hand through her hair as she looked around, "Everyone, ok?" She asked, and no one replied, but less out of contempt, and out of unsureness, "You did- amazingly, thank you."


    That line, however, seemed to throw off everyone, and they all started to sift apart. Adrien hid in the shade in a further off spot. Dexter looked around before heading back over to where Skylar was. Who did stay around, however, was Joslyn and Naya, who remained by Clover. Naya had already found the mini-first aid kit and was sifting through.


    Joslyn had creatively used the other box to prop-up the pale girl''s mangled feet to keep sand out. Fritz sighed and rubbed her eyes. She sat down on the metal slate, taking in those last few seconds.