He strode purposefully around the fairway trying to make his deliberate movements seem casual. His hair was short cropped blonde spikes with long bangs and his neck still stung from the time earlier that day when he'd once again had his barcode removed. He wore the clothes of a civilian, a red tee-shirt and black jeans a surfer-esque black and silver beaded necklace around his neck. It was a gift from a girl somewhere who he didn't remember in a place he'd rather forget. He didn't care to remember. She'd been too clingy and too cute and too innocent and at the tender age of sixteen had been convinced she was in love with him. She was an annoying little fly buzzing around him. Emotions were useless wastes of time and he had run from this enemy called love like a child running away from a nightmare. He didn't need anymore nightmares and that was exactly what exposing his heart had turned into. A nightmare. She had died in a car accident that he nor Manticore had anything to do with. He wished he could have blamed them for his loss. The necklace was a constant reminder that he had failed to protect her. It was a useless souvenir to remind him that he was not in control of every situation no matter how hard he tried to be.
He was supposed to meet up with his co-workers here on their day off. They were late. It drove him nuts that no one cared about punctuality. He had just about been ordered to be here along with the threat of being fired if he didn't show. He knew it was an empty threat and that it was just his bosses way of getting him to go out with the group, but it still had made him angry enough to show up. Now they were running late. Really late, not even tardy anymore. Close to forty-five minuets late and he was getting frustrated. The smell of simulated fear and forced adrenaline in the air. The sound of unchecked screams of mock horror and unwarranted laughter. The false sentimentality of it all was revolting. He felt sick just thinking about the chaos of it all. He would leave if they didn't show up soon.
The whole place gave him the creeps. He'd chained his motorcycle up to the fence by the front gate and promptly had jumped the fence to avoid paying the charge to get it. Money was a luxury a boy on the run couldn't afford to waste. Especially if the need arose for him to have to relocate again. As it was he traveled enough just to keep an eye on the others. If jumping a fence to get in instead of going over it to escape didn't have him on edge enough this place had a tent full of nomalies that people actually paid to enter. Laughing and screaming and clinging to each others arms as they came out. He simply didn't understand it. He circled bcak to the food pavilion again where he was supposed to meet his tardy co-workers when someone jumped on his back. Zack spun full circle and was about to flip his assailant when he heard a squeal of delight.
"Scott you're such a nut! Put me down."
Scott was the alias he was going by at the moment. The voice of the person on his back belonged to Kelly a girl his age who worked as a secretary in the office of K-pro's warehouse. Kelly was also the owners daughter and a large pain in Zack's neck.
"Hey Kelly where are your folks?" Zack put her down.
"Oh they'll be here soon. There picking everyone else up."
"They're late." Zack said bluntly.
"Yeah. Well it's okay Scotty there's no clock to punch here."
Zack shuddered he couldn't stand that she called him that cutesy little nick name. By the grace of The Blue Lady Scotty! He wasn't a little dog, but he put up with it because he had to.
"Wanna go see one of the shows while we wait for my parents to show up?"
No, but what else was there to do? It had to be better then passing up and down the midway. "Why not?" Zack shrugged.
Kelly dragged Zack over to the tent where the shows were held and they looked over the schedule. There was a dog show up next. A show where costume clad little dogs did cutesy little tricks. Just what Zack wanted to do with his spare time. It would no doubt be a waste of time, but if Kelly was enjoying herself that's all that counted. The security of his job.
"Kelly, Scott." And as suddenly as that Zack was saved from the tauter of having to sit next to a giggling, clapping, gushing Kelly by himself.
His boss Many and his wife Lisa came up to them along with fifteen of their co-workers. Many owned K-pro industries and his wife and daughter worked with him.
"What do you want to do first?" Lisa asked clapping her hands like an excited child.
No one really answered her except Kelly and Zack wished she didn't.
"Scott and I were just talking about going to see the dog show mom." Kelly gushed taking Zack's arm.
Zack wriggled free from Kelly's grip dodging the kissy face sissy sounds some of his co- workers were making. It was basically a bunch of awww's. Suddenly not even her own daughter's answer interested Lisa. A stuffed animal in one of the game booths caught her eye and she was gone. Off in her own little world. It was a big stuffed frog on a felt Lilly-pad. Lisa had an obsession with frogs. Her office in the warehouse was covered in pictures, magnets and knickknacks with frogs on them. Her calendar even had pictures of different types of frogs for each month.
"Oh, Manny." She grabbed her husbands arm. "Win me one of those?" She pointed to the frog.
Thirty dollars later with Manny and a few of Zack's co-workers giving it a try Lisa was no closer to going home with the prize but she was frustrated and close to tears. It was a simple game really, or at least Zack thought so. It was the kind where you had to knock over a pyramid of three wooden 'milk bottles' and get them clearly off of the platform in one shot. Zack turned to Manny after watching the others fail.
"Have the nice man set up the game one more time."
Manny plunked out another three dollars and the guy set up the game again. He handed Zack a large softball and Zack wound u taking his aim. Zack let the ball loose and there was a resounding thwack! Zack had executed the stunt perfectly, all three cartons explosively flying off of the platform.
"I believe the lovely lady wanted a frog." Zack spoke up and pointed out the prize and the attendant handed it to a giddy Lisa.
"I love you Scott!" Lisa hugged the stuffed animal, then a surprised Zack who she almost knocked off of his feet before she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
Zack didn't think anything of it and quickly weaseled his way out of her grip embarrassed by the whole incident. It had been easy to win. No sweat. He didn't understand Lisa's happiness at all. She loved him all over a little piece of fluff? It all seemed very silly to him.
"Good arm Scott." Many clasped him on the back while his unsuccessful co-workers clapped appreciatively. The Manny leaned in and whispered. "Thanks for saving me."
Zack found that very funny and had to laugh. Saving him? Manny hadn't been in any life threatening situation. Though maybe it was to this group of people living in such hard times. Maybe Zack had saved him from humiliation, but he doubted that. He'd definitely saved him from an angry disappointed wife and spending any more money. But if anything it was that and only that which Zack had saved him from. He turned around and came face to face with a pouting Kelly. That couldn't have been good, all of his instincts told him that.
"Daddy I want a stuffed animal too!"
Kelly reminded Zack of s spoiled whiney pre-pulse child who didn't realize that the pulse had devastated daddy's income. (Most likely she would have reminded him of Wonder-boy Cale if Zack had known him yet.) Manny bit his bottom lip and looked down at his only daughter, didn't she realize that it was costing him a considerable amount of money to treat his entire staff to a day at the carnival? By the look on her pouting little face she didn't know or didn't care. She was his little princess and after all nothing was too good to insure her happiness no matter what the cost. Besides it wouldn't cost him much if he let Scott win his daughter the prize. Manny handed Zack a ten dollar bill and turned to his daughter.
"Kelly take Scott with you to find something you like and then meet us by the food tents." He turned to Zack. "I know what Kelly wants, but how about you Scott?"
Free food? Zack couldn't turn that down, but he didn't want to greedy or needy. "Just a slice of pizza."
Manny shook his head. "A strong growing boy like you only want a slice of pizza? With all the hard work you've been doing to keep my girls happy." He shook his head and winked. "I'll take care of you."
"You really don't have too… " Zack started to protest but Kelly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away, so he had to allow himself to be dragged.
Some of Zack's co-workers tagged along to see what Zack could do and the rest followed Lisa and Manny to dinner. Kelly dragged them around the entire mid-way twice before she decided what she wanted. She wanted a bear bride and groom set of stuffed animals. Zack put his foot down.
"No, Kelly you just can't win that game."
"But Scotty-" She whined.
"Pick something else." Zack winched.
There was just no way to win that game. You threw a rubber ball on to a board with little colored squares with holes in the center and ball bounced around until it landed, hopefully, in the square that you bet on. There was no skill to it, only chaos and chance. The sign said it was cantered on luck, but Zack luck didn't exist. Kelly stamped her foot and was just about to set in on pouting and throwing a fit when she went all gogglely-eyed.
"Oh, Scotty that's the one I really want." She clung to his arm pointing the piece of fluff out to him. It was a stuffed pink poodle with sparkles in it's fur.
Zack nodded now this was something he could do and do well. He paused hearing the yapping from the dog show and cringed glad he had missed out on that torture, and then stepped up to the booth. It was a rifle game set up like a shooting range where you had to shoot a little red star out of the center of a white card held up on a chord. The guy set up the booth and with a zip the card flew along the chord to the back of the booth as the attendant handed him the loaded riffle. Zack leaned down on the padded counter top and took aim his vision zeroing in on the star then shot out the star without any problem. Behind him Kelly jumped and squealed at the noise clinging to the arm of one of the twenty two year old buff stock boys. Zack handed the stuffed poodle to Kelly who hugged and kissed him.
"Thank you Scotty." She rested her head on his shoulder.
Zack stiffened but didn't offer any resistance as they walked away. Zack heard the attendant whose name tag had read Zack whistle and mumble, 'Damn I'd love to see that kid and my boy and my boy Zane in a shoot out contest. He might even be better then Zane.'
Zane? Zane had dropped out of contact with Zack's voice mail contact system a year and six months earlier. He knew Manticore didn't have him Zane was just always very good at following orders to a tee. Zane had gone into extreme hiding, Zack was sure of it, something had driven him to simply want to disappear for a while. This man's Zack's son who happened to be named Zane wouldn't be his brother Zane. Zane would not have been so dependent on others as to need a family. Krit, Syl, Jondy, Max, Kat and Ben had all been placed with adoptive family's because they were so young. Zane wouldn't have wanted or needed a family.
"Huh?" Someone shook him out of his daze.
"How'd you do that Scott?" The stock boy, Carl who Kelly had been hanging out spoke up. "Get so good at all those games I mean?"
Zack was glad for a reason to de-tangle himself from Kelly. "Practice. I travel around alot and my parents used to have one of those fun centers before the pulse. Now that I'm on my own carnivals have always been a good waste of time."
Carl chortled. "You must have alot of free time."
Zack nodded. "Something like that."
When they got to the food pavilion Kelly ran to her parents gushing and showing them the stuffed dog. Zack gave the eight dollars change back to a surprised Manny who handed Zack his food. A tray with a slice of pizza, a large soda, a hamburger, a hot dog and french-fries.
"You did it again Scott." Manny laughed. "You must be really lucky."
"There's no such thing as luck." Zack answered deadpan around a mouthful of food.
"Luck had nothing to do with it." Carl spoke up. "This boy's got skills."
Zack nodded and shrugged it off all at once. He was too busy eating to really recognize the praise.
"Slow down Scott. Jeez, you make it look like you haven't eaten in days." Lisa joked.
"Leave him alone Lisa he's a growing boy." Manny stuck up for him winking again. "I used to be like that too. Growing boys are bottomless pits."
Zack deliberately slowed down the speed at with which he attacked his food. In reality it hadn't been day but closer to a week that he'd put off eating. It saved alot of money and he was planning on visiting Krit and maybe Syl soon. They only lived a state apart from each other right now. Zack almost had enough money for the trip as well as two weeks vacation from work coming up when he planned to take the trip.
Zack finished his food at a somewhat normal pace and then he had the urge to check the contact system. In the field you trusted your instincts along with you strength and skill. Zack knew it was just all the thinking he'd been doing about his siblings, but he still made the excuse that he had to use the bathroom and went off to find a payphone. He had to make sure that everyone had checked in for the week anyway. He was surprised to hear that he had ten new messages. Nine sibling he expected all checked in with 'All clear on the western front.' It was corny but it worked. If a person 'had the wrong number' they needed to talk to Zack. 'I'm taking a vacation' meant something had come up and they had relocated on their own and the emergency code was 'Blackout'. The tenth message took him by surprise.
It was Zane. He said that he had taken a vacation a while ago and that he was sorry he'd been away for so long. All was clear on the western front yet he though he had the wrong number. He'd left no number for Zack to call back though, it usually went like this: "I think I have the wrong number I'm looking for___-___-___ followed by the number that Zack could reach them at. It was strange for Zane to use the code that explicitly said he needed to talk to Zack but then to not leave a number for Zack to talk to him at. Zack took this as a good sign and decided it meant Zane would check back in. It was just strange. Zack couldn't even hear anything in the background of the message that would give him any clue as to where Zane was. Maybe Zane just didn't want to be found right now.
"Scotty!" Zack winched and jumped a bit slamming down the phone. "I found him you guys!"
The group of co-workers gathered around Zack and seemed excited. Lisa handed them all the same amount of ride tokens and then let everyone go their separate ways making them promise that they'd all meet up for the final show of the night in the main tent. Carl and a few of the younger guys stuck around Zack and Kelly was right there with them. She looked a little hurt as she turned to Zack which he couldn't understand.
"Scott who were you talking to?" There was a tone of accusation behind Kelly's question.
"My little brother." Zack said simply, it wasn't a complete lie.
"You have a little brother?" Kelly squealed.
"Yeah." Zack ran his left hand lightly through his hair.
"How come we've never seen him?" Kelly batted her eyes at him.
Zack sighed. "The government separated my siblings and I when our parents died right after the pulse. I try and look out for them and send them money when I can." That wasn't far fro the truth either.
"You're the oldest like me." Carl was nodding, he thought he understood.
"So what are we going to go on first?" Kelly clapped her hands tired of this conversation already.
She reminded Zack of her mother an hours or so ago, exactly like her. Zack suppressed a shudder and fakes his excitement as best he could when he was on the rides with the others. Thoughts of Zane's well being were all he could really concentrate on. The simulated thrills did nothing to excite him or put his mind at ease. Why would one want to be strapped into a machine that reeked of the sweat, fear and emotions of strangers? It especially did nothing for him, not with Kelly squealing and latching on to his arm during almost every ride. He favorite was a roller coaster that looped sideways and upside-down and a half circle shapes thing which simply went upside-down over and over again. Zack was very glad when their tokens ran out and the show was about to start. He was really beginning to tire of all this co-worker forced togetherness. Then he was mortified when Kelly insisted having one of the seats next to him. It wasn't like Zack didn't expect it; he just simply was getting fed up with her.
Zack was lost in his own world of thought throughout most of the show. He didn't really see or hear anything that was going on in the three rings. Clown's, animals, contortionists, sword swalowers, what good did watching any of this really do for anyone? Who would pay good money year after year to sit in these dirty uncomfortable chairs? Submitting themselves to a place where everything was sticky and smelly and full of fake emotions? He never really understood the emphasis people placed on emotions...
"Oh, Scotty look!" Kelly grabbed Zack's arm dragging him back to the moment.
Acrobats. A six-person trapeze act named "The Flying Infantry." Of all the ridiculous names and if that wasn't bad enough they were dressed in camouflage leotards, quasi-combatboots slipped over their stocking feet and these dark black silk capes. Zack couldn't help but laugh. It was funny looking as these children sloppily saluted one another, all except on who seemed to really take his "role" as a soldier seriously. Zack also couldn't help but think of how good they were at what they did for normal kids. They exhorted a respect for what they did and for each other and it showed in their disciplined synchronized movements.
Zack was actually enjoying watching this act. One of the boys stood out from the others, the same one from before, and Zack couldn't seem to take his eyes off of him. There was something hauntingly familiar about the eldest longhaired boy. He moved with the grace of an X-5 but there was no barcode on the back of his neck and as far as Zack knew he was the only one of the escapees to try and get his removed. The two oldest boys swung through the air somersaulting side by side in sync at the same time a clown down in one of the rings knocked something over which shattered. Boys in camouflage somersaulting through broken glass, that was all the assault on Zack's senses took before he was gone.
*****
Zack lead the line of soldiers around the corner and into the room of their final destination inside the Manticore walls. This was the last room they would ever see here if everything went as planned. Jace had hung back fear finally getting the best of her, Avi too. They had been good soldiers perhaps too good for their own good. Zack had given the all clear, keep your eyes open, and follow me commands through hand signals. Now twenty pair of trusting yet frightened eyes turned to him for their next move. Some of the squadron had backed out before they left the barracks as Zane had predicted, some were no longer in a condition where they could participate like Jack, Ash and Eva and Locke was in the infirmary, but what he was left with was a good set of soldiers.
"This is it. Form here on in there is no backing out. It's all or nothing. If anyone wants to back out do so now." Zack pointed back to the door they had just come through. "I won't think any less of you." He took a deep breath. "You all remember where and when to rendezvous with me once we're past the fence?" It was a statement more then a question, twenty heads nodded. "I'm proud of all of you."
He knew each soldier had a photographic memory to a degree. He also knew that they all needed a little reassurance at this time. He knew they were greatly pressed for time and he called out a quick thanks to the ones who had agreed to be distractions had anything gone wrong. Zack then reverted back to hand signals. He broke his family up into pairs of two saluting each one as her did so. It was his form of good-bye and good luck even though he really didn't believe that luck existed. Then he gave the pairs an order to stand in and nodded softly pride filling his features as they all fell into line. It was himself and Zane, followed by Max and Jondy and then everyone else. The glass shattered and soldiers tumbled the air in sets of two. Brothers and sister. This family of acrobats was just too much.
****
"Scott are you okay?" It was Kelly's annoying teenaged voice and her hand on his knee that brought him back to reality. How could that teenaged girl have known that he was in distress? Confused, sweating, lost, his heart almost pounding out of his chest. Could she tell? No.
"Scott you're shaking."
She'd blindly left out the fact that he was pale as a ghost and drenched in a fine sheen of sweat. Zack bolted out of his seat knocking over Kelly's popcorn. She gasped and started to ask him again but he cut her off. "I'm not feeling so well."
This time Zack really did go into the bathroom. He locked himself into a stall and sat down on the toilet with the lid closed. He'd had flashbacks before but never in front of other people. He was confused and disgusted by his great display of weakness. It was a boiling hot, well at least warm summer day, no one was in grey hospital gowns, they were miles away from the nearest forest, there were on soldiers and that boy was not one of his siblings. Nothing in that tent had matched the escape enough to trigger any memory. Zack was angry with himself. There was no way that Zack would allow himself to become physically sick over it. Kelly would have been a much better reason; she really did sicken him with the way she fawned over him.
Zack found himself on the floor in the midst of a seizure before he had even blinked. The flashback, the sweats, that tingly feeling at the back of his skull, all should have warned him. He'd ignored the signs. He must have been in the bathroom for a while popping typtophan pills and waiting for the shakes to subside because Kelly sent Carl to go and look for Zack.
"Scott, hey Scott, you okay man?" When he wasn't answered Carl kicked in the only door that happened to be locked. There was Zack/Scott curled up between the wall and the toilet shaking with a bottle of pills clutched in his hand.
"I'm not sick." Zack managed. He was still twitching but the shakes had died down considerably. "Listen Carl you can't tell them about this. I don't want to get fired."
"It's okay. I understand man, with all your siblings to look out for and all. What's wrong with you?" Carl asked truly concerned as he took a seat next to Zack on the closed toilet.
"Epilepsy." Zack's shakes were almost stilled. "Do me a favor and tell them I got sick and went home? All the food with that damn favorite upside-down ride of Kelly's, it just didn't sit well with me. Tell then I'll be fine and in work on Monday."
"Sure thing." Carl's hand fell on his shoulder. "You want me to stay with you?"
"No I'll be fine Carl; this episode's almost over. Thanks."
"No problem Scott, your secret's safe with me. Feel better okay?" Carl pulled his bulky frame to his feet.
"I will. I'm just glad that it hasn't happened at work yet."
"Yeah good thing." Carl nodded. "Get home safe all right?"
Zack nodded and then Carl left him. He decided that he had to go and talk to that boy. There was just something about him that made Zack curious. If seeing him was a trigger then he just had to talk with him, had to know. There was just something, even if he was wrong and the boy wasn't an X-5 he'd recover by complementing him on his acrobatic skills. It was just something Zack had to investigate. The shakes had finally stopped. Even people who had never gotten them at Manticore got them everyone in a while now since the Manticore meds had stopped. Zack pulled himself up off of the floor and popped a few more pills before he left the stall.
He found his way back to the main ring area and snuck into the back stage area. Clowns were changing costumes and props were being moved all in preparation for the shows big finale. Zack grabbed the first person he saw and asked where "The Flying Infantry" was. He was directed to another room. The moment he opened the door the boy Zack was looking for froze. He turned to Zack and stared open mouthed at him. Then he jumped up from where he was seated in between two identical girls and dragged Zack into an empty room shutting the door behind them.
"Zack?" The boy gasped.
Zack dropped into a defensive crouch, he still didn't know who this person was or what kind of threat he posed.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"
Zack couldn't answer him because he didn't know whom he was supposed to have found, but ideas were running through his head. He couldn't be Ben his hair was too light. Then the conversation at the rifle range came back to him. Zack squinted at the boy.
"Zane?" Zack sounded unsure of himself.
"Yes big brother it's me." Zane smiled.
"Prove it." Zack was on edge.
"X5-339472411217, sir. How did you find me?"
"Luck?" Zack shrugged relaxing a bit.
"I thought you believed that didn't exist." Zane said sarcastically.
Zack nodded his affirmation leaning up against the wall. "You're right Zane, but nothing else explains it. What happened to your barcode."
Zane blanched and blushed all at the same time. "Make-up, yours?"
"Laser tattoo removal."
Zane winced and nodded. "Ah."
"Acrobatics?" Zack shook his head and yawned then he popped two more typtophan pills to be on the safe side.
Zane nodded. "And animal training and I run the rifle booth. Are you okay?"
Zack nodded curtly.
"Zack." Zane knew him too well to let him get away with that.
Zack nodded. "I seized earlier and it really snuck up on me that's all."
"Oh."
Zack sighed. "Why did you break contact Zane?"
"I didn't think you'd approve." Zane answered honestly scratching at where his barcode should have been.
"I do and I don't." Zack stifled a yawn. "It's good to see you're alright."
Zane nodded. "It's good to see you again big brother."
It was as if a memory struck Zack and he stiffened. "You trust these people?"
"Sir, yes sir." Zane snapped to attention.
"Drop the formalities Zane. How can you trust them? They have an entire tent dedicated to Nomalies."
"They don't know about Manticore. They don't as questions about my past or my barcode; there's a carnie code. They're good people Zack and we move around every two weeks."
"That's the reason I really don't entirely disapprove of you being here. But I can't approve of you being in the spotlight like that. And then there's that." Zack shivered lightly. "That tent."
"Oh, Jondy and I checked that out. They're not Manticore just strange normals, not one barcode in the whole bunch."
"Jondy is here?" Zack bolted forward off of his post against the wall.
Zane groaned knowing his mistake. "No. We went through the town she lived in and she recognized me, her foster family let her stay with me for a week until the troupe picked up and left. She grew up Zack."
"You all have Zane." Zack's voice was flat.
That sounded weak even for Zack and Zane's curiosity was peaked again. "How long was your episode?"
Zack scratched at the back of his neck and then cracked his neck as he did so. Then he yawned and looked down at his watch. That was something he kept on the others and enforced that they kept track of. They knew they were in trouble if the episodes got too long. He honestly didn't know. "From the end of your act until just before I found you."
Zane looked at the clock. "Fifteen minuets? That pretty long Zack."
"I haven't had on in almost two months." Zack shrugged softly.
"So are you going to stay with me?" Zane stopped for a second and grinned. "Actually I insist that you stay for the night."
"Yes sir." Zack grimmaced and smirked.
"Admit it you could use the rest." Zane smirked.
Zack shook his head and leaned back against the wall. "I'm fine."
Zane was about to bite off a retort, he knew Zack better then Max and Jondy did, sometimes Zane thought he knew Zack better then Zack did. Kelly stuck her pigtailed head through the door before Zane could answer.
"Zane it's finale time." She grinned her toothless grin and spoke in an excited voice.
"Let Sam go in with you guy's." Zane answered her. "I'm busy."
"Zane who's he?" She asked innocently pointing to Zack.
"My brother-" Zane said leaving Zack the same opening that he had offered Jondy.
"Scott." Zack answered.
Zane raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He swatted the little girl away. "Kelly I'll be in the trailer after the show." He promised her and she sped out to the ring again.
The moment she left the room Zane spun on Zack. "Scott?"
"It'll make it easier if I decide to stay. I still know people in this town." Zack said. "If we're going can we go before the tent clears out." The little girl's appearnce seemed to have him on edge, but really it was her name.
Zane grinned at Zack's uncomfortableness. "Escape and evade?"
Zack sighed he was pale and his left hand twitched still. "Avoiding my co-workers. I told them I was sick.
"You are." Zane said sternly.
"Can we go now?" Zack even in his weakened state was still on edge, his eyes darted around the room and he seemed frustrated.
Zane nodded and with a hand on Zack's shoulder he began to leave heading towards his trailer. Zack tried to shrug Zane's hand off but secretly was glad for his help.
Zane and Zack had caught up quickly over a glass of milk in the trailer. Then Zane insisted that Zack take a rest.
"I don't sleep."
Zane shot Zack a dirty look. "You're not Max or Jondy."
"Much." Zack finished and yawned.
"Zack please." Zane finished his sentence in a thought; 'Let someone take care of you for a change.'
"Yes sir." Zack saluted Zane mockingly. "Do me a favor and get out of that thing, it's creepy."
Zane nodded down at his leotard. "No problem Zack." He pointed through a door. "Go take the top bunk."
Zane had gone into the bathroom to change and by the time he came out Zack lay rigid with his hands at his side his head facing towards the door on the top bunk, and he was out cold. Zane grinned softly glad that Zack felt secure enough with him to let his guard down. Or maybe Zane was fooling himself and the seizure had taken more out of Zack then even Zack had realized.