Late into the nightfollowing the disappearance of Andy and Tucker, the remaining group members talked. "There was nothing wrong with either of them, we lived with them both for weeks, they never showed any signs of being infected," Ana said.
"We're all agreed on that Ana, what we need to find out is where they've been taken and how we can get out of here," Michael told her.
"I knew there was something suspicious about this place, besides each other and those assholes who've been poking and prodding us, does anyone remember seeing any other civilians when you've been out of this room?" asked Peter.
"Nah Brother, just military. And usually it's the ones we came here with or the jokers that greeted us, never any new faces," added Kenneth.
"Face it we're nothing but prisoners Peter. I can't believe I was eager to come here. I thought everything would be fine once we found more people, but this is just wrong!" Fran groused.
"I can try talking to KN about it," CJ added, unusually quiet.
"KN? Who's KN? One of the guards?" Kenneth demanded.
"Briggs."
"That red-headed bitch?" Steve laughed. The rest of the group looked a little shocked at the thought of CJ befriending Briggs.
"Yea, that's her," CJ said. "She's in the weight room a lot when I go in there, we've talked a little, I don't know, maybe she knows something."
"And she's just gonna tell you 'cause she's in to balding rednecks is that it? Hey, maybe she'll even take you away from all this shit. Get real, she's the one responsible for dragging our asses here in the first place so why the fuck would she help us escape."
Monica glared at him. "Do you have to be an asshole all the time Steve? At least he's trying to find a way to help us out here, not prancing around like a fucking prima donna because he's too scared to do anything else."
"I think it's the best idea any of us have come up with," Ana said, hoping to diffuse the situation with Steve. He was an asshole, but right now they couldn't afford to be fighting among each other, not when they weren't sure what was going on outside of the cafeteria. As was usual, Michael supported her.
"She's right. CJ, how soon would you feel an urge to lift some weights?"
He smiled, "I think I'm suffering from a bad case of insomnia now, maybe lifting a few weights would help me sleep."
Ana looked at him, "What makes you think she'll be in the gym now?" She looked at the clock on the wall, "It's two in the morning."
"She mentioned that she works out when she can't sleep, and she's a lifelong insomniac."
Steve couldn't resist butting in again. "Well, looks like you and the good Sarge are quite the little buddies then, what with her telling you about something like that. If you actually believe her that is, I mean, what with her and her pals record of telling us the truth..." He trailed off.
CJ looked at him for a moment then stood up and started walking towards the door, "If I'm not back in a few hours you assholes better come looking for me." With that he pounded lightly on the door, waiting for one of the guards to open it. As it swung open a crack he said, "I can't sleep, I want to go to the gym." Just like that he disappeared.
"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Ana asked Michael, sitting down beside him on one of the cots. He put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to him slightly.
"Yea, he'll be fine." They sat together for a few minutes more, drawing what comfort they could from each other. They watched as some of the others began to climb on their cots, finally unable to fight off sleep any longer. "You should get some sleep too Ana."
"I'm afraid to close my eyes right now, I keep thinking I'll wake up and somebody else will be missing." Michael hugged her again, silently sharing her fears. Then he looked to where Roger was sitting, randomly shuffling a deck of cards over and over.
"Hey Roger, you and Peter up for some cards?" He smiled at Ana, "What do you think? We can wait for CJ to come back together." She returned his smile and together they walked over and joined Roger at a table, Peter followed.
Kenneth was the only other one still awake. He sat on his cot staring towards the door,
wondering about what his brother had gotten him into. He hadn't seen Henry since they'd arrived.