Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I meant to get this up last night but it turned into one of those late night writing sessions and I got really tired! A lot of stuff happens in this chapter, including Keith getting his job at Natalie's house! So enjoy and please review!

Warning: This chapter contains mild violence, but it's not as bad as the first time, I swear!

Chapter 11

Change of Scenery

Against his better judgment, Keith kept Natalie's ribbon in his pocket for the rest of the day which he spent at work. And the day after and the day after that. In fact, he never took it out of his pocket except at night when it was lying on his pillow as he stared at it. He couldn't understand why he was so entranced by such a simple and completely useless thing. The fact that it had been given to him when so much had already been taken away? That it had been given willingly? That the giver was an outsider and someone who had dared to befriend him? He didn't know, all he knew was that whenever he needed comfort or reassurance, he needed to only touch the silk-like smoothness of it and he would instantly feel better.

Surprisingly he was able to spread Natalie's news over several days much to his delight as well as the other inmates. He didn't mention the exact radio stations or the names of Toby Scholl or Chris Graff but nobody seemed to care as they hung onto his every word.

Yet the names themselves intrigued him, especially the name Toby Scholl. Something inside of him told him that he knew that name and not just from Natalie telling it to him. Something told him that he had known not only the name, but the person attached to it as well.

He continued to meet Natalie by the fence nearly every other day for the next two weeks. She told him any news that she could which he was grateful for but he especially liked when she told him about her life before her family had moved to Lodlin. It was very bittersweet for him to hear about the outside world, knowing what he had then and what it had done to him.

One day, during one such talk, Natalie asked, "Keith, you don't have to answer this next question if you don't want to but do your parents live with you in the compound?"

Keith hesitated. He couldn't blame her for being curious about them since he was aware that he hadn't mentioned them at all during their talks. And she had already given him so much already that he knew she deserved the truth, so he replied softly. "No, they don't."

"Do they live somewhere on the outside then?"

"No, they're…they're dead."

He saw her mouth open in shock. "Oh, god, Keith, I'm so—"

"Don't you apologize, partner," he snapped, cutting her off. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you're the only one whose done somethin' right throughout this whole thing. I don't need your sympathy anyway, they're dead and apologizing won't bring them back!" He finished with finality as he looked down at his lap.

Neither of them spoke for several long seconds after that before Natalie said quietly. "Will you tell me about them…someday?"

"Someday," Keith promised, surprising himself. "Someday I'll tell you everything."

It rained the next time they were supposed to meet, so after he returned soaking wet to his apartment after work, he lay on his bed and thought about all of the news that Natalie given him and further pondered how he knew the name Toby Scholl. He had just begun to drift off to sleep when a light bulb went on in his head and he sat straight up in bed as he realized how he knew Toby Scholl.

Keith flew across the compound towards the fence the next day. He couldn't wait to Natalie how he knew Toby even though he knew it would lead to more questions from her concerning his past and his parents.

But his excitement evaporated when he saw that she was not alone at the fence and he quickly skidded to a halt and began to back away at the sight of a teenage boy who was sitting next to her. Seeing his wariness, Natalie stood up and said gently, "Keith, it's all right. This is my brother, Zach, he wanted to meet you."

"Why?" he demanded instantly as he glanced at Zach who was staring at him like he was some type of exhibit which Keith didn't like at all.

"He's been wondering about where I go all the time and about you and the others who live in the compound," Natalie explained. "So, I told him everything that you've told me about the Plague and what our dad's job really is."

"You shouldn't have done that, partner," said Keith angrily. "You're in enough trouble as it is coming here and talking to me."

"Hey, the last thing I'm gonna do is tell my dad about you," Zach cut in. "Natalie told me everything and I wanna help just as much as she does."

"Okay," Keith snapped, "you can start by not staring at me like some kind of animal!"

"Oh…right, sorry," said Zach and he blinked and looked away.

"Yeah, Zach," Natalie chastised. "You know it's rude to stare."

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm not used to seeing people living behind fences," Zach shot back. To Keith, he said, "You can come closer, I'm not gonna bite you or anything."

"I'm fine right here, thanks," Keith replied stiffly and he sat down right where he was standing, a good two feet away from where he usually sat and scowled at Zach. But his face softened when Natalie spoke up. "Keith, I'm sure it's hard for you to trust new people after all you've been through but please understand that you can trust Zach. He's just as upset about all of this as I am. It took me nearly two hours to convince him about what was really going on. But we really want to help, Keith and like Zach said, the last thing we're going to do is tell our dad about what we're doing." When she finished, she looked at him with such sincerity that he knew that she was telling the truth and as hard as it was for him to trust people, she was one of the few whom he could wholeheartedly.

Once this was established, they discussed ways of contacting the secret radio station or at least getting the word out about the compounds. Although Keith felt that none of their ideas would really work, he was just glad to be able to talk about them because with getting the word out came the chance of freedom.

And so he was sorry to see both of them go, including Zach as his cool demeanor towards him had melted as their conversation had gone on. As Zach began to walk back through the trees, Natalie stayed behind as if she wanted to say something to him in private.

"Go on, partner," he told her. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know you will."

Keith couldn't help but smile as he made his way back to the compound after his talk with Natalie and her brother, Zach. He could see now that even though he lived in the compound, it all didn't seem so bad anymore now that they had promised to help him and maybe, eventually with their help, he and the others would be free.

The idea, the meager hope of freedom caused his smile to widen so much that he was sure that no one would be able wipe it off.

Until that is, someone did.

Out of nowhere, something collided with him from the side and pushed him to the ground so that he landed painfully on his shoulder. Stunned and confused, Keith rolled over onto his back and sat up a little just as the butt of a gun was rammed into his chest.

"Where the hell have you been?!" shouted a young yet angry voice from above. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?!"

"No…no, sir," Keith gasped as he clutched his chest. "I—I don't go till this afternoon."

"Good," snapped the solider whom Keith saw was around his age. "Now, get up! The Commander wants to see you."

Keith was going to ask why but figured that it wasn't worth any more damage to his anatomy so he got to his feet as quickly as he could and followed the soldier through the compound to Headquarters.

"The inmate, Keith Zetterstrom, Commander," the soldier announced ten minutes later when they were standing in the cramped office.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, please wait outside while I have a word with him," he replied without looking up from the manila folder that he was reading. It was only when the Lieutenant had shut the door behind him that he glanced up at Keith, closed the folder and got to his feet.

"I'm going to ask you once and only once to remain silent while I explain my reasons for calling you here," he began. "Understand?"

Keith nodded silently.

"Good." He paused and then continued. "According to your file, you have been here for one year and one month and during that time you have done all that has been asked of you and have not caused any trouble with guards except for formulating escape plans and talking back to a soldier. While those are not serious offenses, some of my men have informed me that during meal breaks at your place of employment, many of the other inmates seem to…flock around you and do not talk amongst themselves but listen to what you have to say." He paused then as if expecting Keith to tell him exactly what he was saying to the other inmates and when he did not, he continued conversationally, "These behaviors along with your actions of walking to the farthest edge of the compound for long periods of time, as observed by several men, are of a great concern for someone like me whose job is to keep people like you in their place. Since it is obvious that you are losing sight of what your place is and that you cannot just do what you like in the compound, I have decided that you will come work for me at my home so that I may keep a closer eye on you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Keith, "but, sir, if I can explain, I wasn't planning on going through with any of those escape plans and—"

"Shut up!" snapped the Commander loudly. "I don't want to hear any of your excuses, you worthless rat! Now, report back here when you are finished working." Then, he looked down at his desk again and taking this as his cue, Keith left the office.

"You're what?!" Markus cried when Keith informed of his new job at the Commander's house, later at work. "Keith, he's gonna treat worse than we get treated here!"

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't," said Keith, "and besides it's not he's gonna be breathin' down my neck the whole time 'cause he's gonna be here all the time."

"Yeah, but still…" said Markus uneasily.

"I'll be fine, Mark, and maybe this way I'll get more news."

His friend brightened at this. "That would be great! You'll have to tell me what it's like there when you get back."

"Definitely," Keith assured him.

Although neither of them knew it then, it would be nearly a month before Keith set foot in Lodlin again.

Natalie's father was waiting for him when he returned to HQ at dusk. After a short drive (during which Keith tried to contain his excitement at the fact that he was riding in a car after so long) they arrived at large stone building that he knew was his new place of employment.

As they walked up to the house, Natalie's father said, "My family is at dinner now. You will wait outside until I come and get you, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

When they entered, they were met by a woman dressed in a maid's uniform who handed Keith a shirt that was exactly like the one he was wearing except there was no orange armband. He took it as Natalie's father headed further into the house and to a set of closed doors and entered the room behind them.

When they were alone, the woman said, "My name is Maria and the shirt is the family doesn't see your armband and start asking questions."

"I'm Keith," he replied, "and thanks."

He waited until she had left before he took off his shirt and put the new one on and then he leaned against the wall and waited for whatever was going to happen next.

The Commander returned for him nearly half an hour later and as he led him into the room, hissed at him. "Do not speak unless I tell you to."

Keith gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement and then they were inside the dining room.

It was a large room that was mostly taken up by the dining table where Natalie, Zach, their mother and a little girl of about ten were sitting and now staring at him. Natalie and Zach had looks of both shock and surprise on their faces while their little sister was staring curiously at him as was her mother.

"Caroline," said the Commander, "this is the boy that I told you about several weeks ago, the troublemaker, remember?"

"Oh, yes, I remember," she answered. "He certainly doesn't look as dangerous as you made him out to be."

"Mom!" cried Natalie instantly. "Why the hell would you think that?!"

"Well, since your father is in charge of…people like him, I assumed that he was…well, not right somehow."

"Yes, well, he has lost of his place under my employment and so I have decided to bring him to work around the house for a time so that you all can help me keep a better eye on him," said the Commander. "I wanted to introduce you to him so that you are not alarmed by the sight of strange boy around the house."

A short silence followed this little explanation and Natalie's father had just grabbed Keith by the back of his shirt to pull him out of the room when the Lieutenant who fetched Keith earlier that day appeared through a door opposite them, saying something about wanting to tell the Commander something but stopped when he caught sight of Keith and promptly demanded. "What is he doing here?!"

"He has come to work for me, Lieutenant Marques," he replied calmly. "After all of the reports I have had about him, I figured it was time to show his place as I have just finished explaining to my family."

"You want a ra—er, someone like him working in your house?!" cried the Lieutenant.

"Yes, Lieutenant and while I am at work, I expect you to report back to me on his work ethic."

Here, the Lieutenant's face twisted itself into a delighted smile, one that instantly made Keith very nervous. "Of course, Commander, I shall be happy to do that." As he spoke he looked at Keith coldly. "And don't expect me to leave anything out, rat so you'd better be on your best behavior." He glared at Keith so intently that he instinctively reached his hand into his pocket to feel the calming smoothness of Natalie's ribbon.

And he realized that it was a bad decision right after he had done it.

The Lieutenant could plainly see his hand go into his pocket and so grabbed hold of his elbow and demanded, "What's in your pocket, rat?"

Keith knew it was no good lying so he took his hand out and showed him the ribbon.

As soon as he had done so, the Commander snatched it out of his hand and snarled. "Where did get this, boy?! This is my daughter's!"

"I—I found it, sir," said Keith, "I just f-found it in the—"

He never finished as he was cut off by a sharp slap across the face from the Commander's hand. It was so sudden and hard that Keith feel against the wall, his eyes watering with tears of pain. Yet he didn't have time to recover as the Lieutenant grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him out of the room.

When they were out in the foyer again, he threw him to the floor and Keith braced himself for another beating only to have the Commander demand angrily. "Did you steal this ribbon, boy?!"

Keith shook his head vigorously. "No, I swear I didn't! Please, I just found in the woods!" His pleas fell on deaf ears as the Lieutenant slapped him again. "Answer the question, you little bastard!"

Keith was nearly tears at this point. He knew it was a weak thing to do but he couldn't help it. They were taking away the one thing that had given him some hope and comfort over the past few weeks. They were punishing for a crime he didn't commit and flashbacks of his previous beating filled his head and he prayed that this would not be a repeat of that horrible incident.

And then, in a way his prayers were answered.

"Raff, stop it!" Natalie's angry shout filled the room. "He didn't steal it from me; stop hurting him!"

The stiff leather in the Lieutenant's uniform crackled as he stood up while Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"Natalie, what do you mean? If he didn't steal it, how did he get it?" he asked.

"Exactly how he said he did," she replied firmly. "He found it in the woods. I was hiking one day and I lost it somehow and he must have found it. Really, it's a stupid hair ribbon. You don't need to smack the shit out of him." She glared at Raff for several seconds before turning to her father. "Seriously, Dad, chill out. It's a damn ribbon, no need to have a frickin' conniption."

"Natalie, you don't understand---" he began but she had already turned away from him to crouch down in front of Keith and gently help him to his feet.

When they were both standing, Natalie grabbed the ribbon out of her father's hand and handed it to Keith, saying. "Here, you need this more than I do." She gave him a small smile before she looked daggers at the other two and then walked calmly away.

Author's Note: How's that for an intense ending? Hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will contain Natalie telling Zach about Keith and the compound. Please review!