I Knew It

Keith entered a room, big, white, and and held various cages far out of sight from everything else in the compound. Angel had been tied to the wall on a short leash, her mouth tied up in a muzzle. Other animals were inside as well, but she had been the only dog.

"They don't got no cameras here cause they don't want to have no evidence of what they do." Keith explained, letting out all the animals and reaching down to pet Angel. She whined a bit until he produced his small portion of steak for her to eat, she gobbling it down right away.

"They don't feed 'em none too well neither." She licked his hand and face a bit before going to greet Ellis, her tail wagging dully behind her as she nuzzled into the palm of his hand and whined a bit.

"She don't sound too happy…"

"Would you be happy cooped up in a place like this?"

Nick gestured with his thumb to the animals, although free, couldn't find the strength to move more than their heads. Ellis felt a pang of guilt run through him as he took a seat on a nearby stool and continued to massage his fingers in Angel's fur.

"Now you guys gotta go an' git outta here. I can request t'move yeh outta here, but you can't stay in any compound."

"What? Why not! Hey, Ellis, is this still the same lame-brain guy that you always talk about!"

"Yep. I'm the same. Jus' got a little more intel than you guys. So long as you're here as carriers, you'll be tested on jus' like these guys. That tube that you found, El? That was a gassin' tube."

"I knew it…"

"Yup. Why do you think they want me to 'show you the ropes?' They want to have enough time tuh fix the tube an' get you back in time for bed."

Keith opened up a cage labeled 'sewer specimens' and had more than thirty rats spilling out of the cage and onto the ground.

"This room's seal-locked, no one can get outta here without knowin' the code."

He pointed to the keypad and opened another cage with a rabbit in it, smiling slightly. Ellis felt a pang of jealousy. He had known Keith his entire life and it was if his life had turned on a switch. As if he suddenly had grown without him.

"We're not leavin' without you."

Ellis spoke, suddenly growing stubborn. Keith turned to look at his considered-brother and saw his eyebrows pulled over his eyes in a frown. He would have laughed but he too, was desperate.

"Ey, listen, so long as you get outta here, I'm cool with that."

"Don't try and be a hero. I hate people like you."

Nick crossed his arms, now stepping in. Keith let out a laugh and shrugged a bit.

"I get fed here. Two a' you look like you ain't never seen so much food before."

The two other survivors looked at each other and exchanged wry grins. They weren't too sure that they wanted to agree with this man, even though they could trust him.

"An' anyhow, I gotta get the two of you out safely."

"I'm already working on it. If I throw in more money, I could get you out too, Keith…" Nick offered, Ellis's heart melting instantly. Who knew the conman could have a heart? Keith shrugged and gave him a smile.

"Listen, Jack ain't the type tuh follow through his deals. He'll rob you blind n' then roast ya alive like the rest of 'em."

He looked over at Ellis and frowned deeply.

"An' he don't like bein' a doctor none too much neither…best if you pretend, El…"

"Aw shit, Keith, c'mon…stop all this…it ain't you…"

Ellis hugged Angel close to his leg and saw Keith sigh heavily.

"Don't go to New Orleans. Ma's there, she's safe, but you can't go. They'll lock you up same they do here. Yer both carriers, not immunes. It's different. They call this humane, but shit, ya ain't got no other option but to listen to 'em."

The three of them fell silent and listened to the different scurries of creatures about in the small room. It was small bits of information that they all had to ingest. Knowing that they weren't going to be really saved unless they turned out to be in Keith's position, which they weren't really approving of, bogged their minds. How were they supposed to stay safe if the people who were supposed to save them were treating them like guinea pigs? "So…these animals…"

"They're all experiments, kid. The numbers go into the billions…CEDA did this." Nick began to explain to Ellis, Keith tugged at his gas mask that hung right under his chin and gave a nod to Ellis. This was just reaffirming what had been earlier said.

"The experiments are placed in a certain bracket of numbers and were released into heavily populated areas…"

"Yep…CEDA planned this all out, you know. I ain't supposed to know this, but like, everyone here does."

Keith explained as he sat on the floor across from the other two and picked up a rabbit, stroking its fur. Nick shook his head as he closed his eyes, his jaw locking up in a half-laugh as he turned his head slightly to the side.

"I knew it…I knew it straight from the beginning…this was all a population control. When the world's numbers go into the billions, there's a need to bring it back down. CEDA's not going to save us."

There was more silence and Ellis rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to think about this. He wanted to just…stop. Shoot something. Make things seem like it was back to zombie-normal instead of CEDA normal. Hell, when had the norms changed? The norm was to stay a mechanic, play bass, drink beer, go to ma's for Sunday dinner and now the norm was to run from safe room to safe room shooting zombies, scavenging for food, and getting hurt every now and again. But the norm they were trying to achieve was to be with CEDA and stay safe. Now that they had it…they weren't so sure they wanted it anymore.

"Ay, Keith…"

The red-head looked over at Ellis and saw that he was in a no-nonsense sort of mood. He wasn't used to that.

"Yeah?"

A frown.

This wasn't good.

"What happened to Paul and Andy?"

Keith's heart sank at the mention. Paul and Andy were his brothers. His real brothers. They had sort of grown up together, but Ellis and Keith were the ones who were really close. Paul played the older brother role and went off to college, so he didn't really stay in the picture for too long, and Andy had gone off to live with a distant relative.

"Paul…Paul, Andy and Dave…"

Keith looked down at the rabbit and sighed, shaking his head.

"Man, they all changed."

Ellis's gut dropped as he focused his attention on Angel and sighed, shaking his head with a pained expression.

"Sons of bitches…"

There was a silence in the air that couldn't have been sliced even with a white hot knife. The information being exchanged was enough to burden any normal person. Nick knew a lot about what was happening, Keith seemed to know all, and Ellis was left in the dark. The most vulnerable position to be in.

"We gotta escape all together."

Ellis was adamant now. He wouldn't back down from this. He wouldn't let his friend become victimized any longer. Especially on account that it was Ellis that he was looking for.

"Any other news, Nick?"

Ellis finally asked, earning a shrug.

"No. Just that the experiments went in the billions, special names for them, and now they're trying to get them back. Sounds pretty much like an experiment gone wrong. That and he doesn't like you."

"Me? What'd I ever do to him?"

"Well, Overalls, he's a man that doesn't like to be questioned. You saw him with Keith? Well, you questioned him earlier. I suggest you keep your goddamn mouth shut from now on."

"I did!"

"You opened it one times too many. He's been harassing me to keep you out of the deal."

His eyes widened at the words that Nick said and he grit his teeth.

"Yeah, well I ain't want no part of it then! I'mma get out on my own an' get the others on my own!"

"Ya can't get out without help. Shit, I can't get out. I need authorization."

Keith gave him a small grin and then forced a bigger smile—fake.

"Th' other compound ain't a good place for your friends t'be neither."

He began slowly, letting the rabbit hop away from his lap. The two survivors looked over at Keith with brief suspicion that he knew more than he was letting on. "

It's known t'have more burnings than this one…an' they burn people easier than burning gas."

Fear began gnawing at their hearts. They had to get the others out of there before they were discovered. Nick, however, was sweating a bit more than the others. His bank account, unbeknownst to anyone, was in the red. Worse than having no money, he was in debt. And that was bribing the doctor with more money than he could even fathom having.

"We have to get out of here."

Nick spoke, an ice growing in his gut before continuing, "because he also wants to experiment on us…because we're carrier-immunes…"

"I knew it."

Ellis snapped his finger and scrunched up his face.

"He said 'we' Ellis, but that doc established his hate for you. He means you."

Nick reminded, seeing Ellis's face draw back in shock. The kid never was one to hold a poker face.

"Naw, no way. I'm done here. Throw me a horde of witches and tanks in one go an' I'll face 'em instead out in zombie-land."

"You're turning into an immune because of being with Angel for so long. They want your DNA."

"Then I'll spit an' piss in a cup n' then go!"

"It ain't that easy. El, they torture you…they did t'me an' lookit me now…"

Keith laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"I ain't been right same as before. They do stuff t'ya El…"

He forced a smile towards his considered brother and saw worry etch on his face. Ellis knew that Keith really wasn't what he used to be. He was a changed man.

"None real good. 'Specially if you get on the same list as I was."

Ellis groaned and held his forehead, feeling his muscles tensing up. He didn't know how to react. He went to speak but was interrupted.

"Do you think you could stand up t'somethin' I couldn't? After all these years you've known me?"

Ellis fell silent. He hated himself for allowing Keith to be hurt without his knowing. "I'm gonna kill the bastard…"

Nick felt a smile creep up on his face as he looked up at Keith.

"Hey Keith, you're not as stupid as I thought. Bit of a fighter."

"Gotta get smart t'get outta here. Or have money."

The two fell silent once more and Nick gave a nod.

"I'll talk to Jack. And one more thing Jack told me…"

They turned to Nick with curiosity.

"They won't make the cure until the world population falls at least by half. Meaning we'll be fighting for a while. And you know those zombies? Not dead. Seriously, it's a virus that induces a zombie-like state, cannibalism and insanity. If they don't eat or drink like a normal person within three, maybe four days…well…then you can really call them the undead."

Their blood chilled. The hundreds upon thousands of zombies they've been killing, they hadn't all been dead?

"So…there was a chance t'save 'em?"

"Why d'you think the military laid out guns n'ammo and bombs? They want carriers and immunes to duke it out 'till one or the other dies. That's how they're gonna control th' people." Keith explained, loathing every word that escaped his mouth. "An' that's what survivors across th' globe've been doin'."

Keith chuckled a bit, melancholy, and flexed a scarred hand. "Out of all th' dumb things we've ever done, El…this has gotta be the dumbest. We ain't never goin' back to th' way things were."

"I know, Keith…but I'd rather kill things an' try an' keep surviving out there than be stuck in here. Keith, come with us. That way you don' gotta keep livin' here an' you can tell ma when we see her that y'found me."

The red-head gave a wry smile and nodded. Ellis knew that he was looking at a broken man in front of him.

"I'll try, but I ain't holdin' no promises."

"Keith…"

"He's coming, Overalls. Don't worry about it."

Nick spoke up, a grin breaking out on Ellis's face.

"Thanks, Nick."

The other man was a wreck, Nick knew. He'd stay somewhere safe if he knew he'd stay alive. And to do that, he would stay in the devil's snare as his pawn. He couldn't let Ellis's friend, someone he knew that he was close to (and he had an IOU with Ellis, after all), not in some hellish compound.

"Further back's the roastin' room. The animals here smell death an' stay real quiet-like as to not cause no trouble. The collie here's the biggest one we got, so it don't smell too bad unless y'get real close."

"Her name's Angel."

Ellis immediately defended, not wanting to refer to her as an experiment. Keith chuckled a bit and smoothed out his hair backwards, revealing the stains of a tattoo that was in the process of removal on his forehead.

"Anyways, I gotta get you back. Up an' at 'em. I'll put the critters away later."

Ellis sighed and stood up, holding onto his wound and beginning to walk off.

"Damn witches…"

"Seriously, you've lived through worse, El."

"Yeah, yeah. Won't die from this, just hard t'move right."

"Hawhaw, Nick, did he ever tell you 'bout the time we hitched a ride in an old truck? Hoo, El fell out an' got near run over!"

"Keith, I don't listen to Overall's stories, what makes you think I'll listen to yours?" Keith threw him a grin and turned to Ellis.

"He always this friendly?"

"On occasion."

They continued out, Angel always staying next to Ellis and waited next to him when he needed a rest against a wall. The two other waited until he could continue on before turning in for the day, leaving Nick and Ellis in their respective room in silence. After all, they had to look like they didn't know each other too well.

AN:Sorry for the delay! Summer school has been wringing my brain dry! Hope you enjoy this! There may be flaws (I honestly won't lie), because I tried making it sound plausible but I'm not the type to go over ALL possible plot-holes (as a writer and editor of my own stuff, things will slip and I won't think of everything), but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter!