Chapter 11
Newt helped Face up as she moaned in pain. Patrick stood and walked away with one last threatening glance at Face.
"You all right?" Newt asked even though he knew it was a stupid question.
"No." she mumbled as she clutched her head.
"Good." Newt said and she frowned at him. "I'd be worried if you were. Then you're a robot or something."
She smiled. "Or a Vampire." She added to the joke.
"What a jerk." Thomas commented as he watched Patrick walk away.
"He's always a jerk." Face said as she sat in a chair. Anna rushed over with a glass of water and handed a pill with it to Face.
"Pain killer." She said and leaned against the table, waiting for Face to take it. She dropped it in her mouth and took a few sips of water.
"What's his problem anyway?" Thomas asked as he sat across from Newt and Face.
"He has a thing for me." Face whispered.
"Yeah." Anna agreed. "But this was bad even for him. I've never seen him that violent. Maybe he's having a rough time with the new boys in town."
"That was just weird." Face mused as she tried to think about it.
"If you feel worse, call me, okay?" Anna said as she pushed off the table.
"Hey. Thanks." Face looked at the small girl with her short hair. "For everything."
"We know we can't live without you." Anna took a deep breath and quickly hugged Face before running off.
"Why do you let him run this place if he's like that?" Thomas asked.
"We don't let him run this place. It's just how things are. But he's not usually like this. He's never so much as grabbed he too hard. I've shoved him and slapped him but he has never been violent. It was so quick." She started mumbling.
"It's almost as if he got stung." Thomas stated. Face snapped her head up and cringed at the pain but stared at him.
"Except he doesn't look infected." Newt reassured him.
"Oh no." Face dropper her head on the table and groaned at the pain she had inflicted.
"He wasn't stung. He was bitten." She said with her head still on the table. "It's a slower on-set."
"How long does it take?" Newt asked.
"Couple days." Face looked up but her face was twisted in fear.
"That's not so bad."
"That's not the worst part." Face looked across the cafeteria at the man in question. "He's stuck in here with us for the night."
"You said it takes days." Thomas stated.
"Yeah. But it only takes a couple hours to become contagious."
"We don't know if he's even been bitten. Maybe he's just a really big jerk who suddenly decided to become an even bigger one." Newt hoped.
"How do you know when someone's been bitten?" Thomas asked.
"You mean besides the gaping bite mark?" Newt added and scanned Patrick from a distance, trying to see a wound. "Which we can't see."
"I don't know." Face wined.
"Have you ever seen anyone change?" Thomas asked her.
"No." And she sighed. She looked at Newt, wishing he could read her mind. "Not here." She added hoping he'd understand. He looked at her and frowned.
She gave up and changed her story. "I read about it in a book."
She leaned closer and told them what she remembered from before the maze. She just told them that it was something she read in a book.
"Loud noises annoys them while they change. They are forgetful. They scratch at their bite mark once they become contagious. So once he starts randomly scratching himself, we're in trouble. He will become increasingly aggressive and he will get confused with where he is. And they become compulsive liars."
"Well, it's a good thing we have the wizard then." Newt said.
"You can't really see forgetful or lying from a distance." Face sighed.
"Will he get memories back from before the maze?" Thomas asked.
"I don't know. The book was written before the maze. We have to figure out what to do with him."
"Before he hurts someone."
The cafeteria started filling up with kids for dinner. Face kept her eyes on Patrick while they got in line to get food.
"We have to make a loud noise." She whispered as the three of them stood in line.
"The alarm?" Newt suggested. "That didn't bother him."
"What alarm? Oh. Lockdown. We don't hear it anymore. We got used to that."
"I'll be right back." Thomas handed his tray to Newt and walked to the music box. Anna was busy putting some music in to play and Thomas asked questions as he fiddled with the buttons. Face watched him and then turned to look at Patrick, just in time as the music suddenly blared to life. Everyone in the room jerked and Thomas and Anna tried to get the music back to normal volume. Patrick convulsed and jumped back as if in defense.
"His expression isn't changing." Face said as she quickly looked at Patrick's friends and back at him.
"Did you see anything?" Thomas asked when he stepped back into line.
"Wide eyes, furrowed brow, tight jaw. He's in combat mode." Face said. "And he's not relaxing like everyone else. He might just be on edge, too."
The got food and went back to their table. They kept glancing at Patrick's table and tried to think of a plan.
"Oh no. This has to happen right now." Face stood from her seat. "He scratched his shoulder."