I'm not going to lie, I had fun with this chapter. Philby's just such a great character that I absolutely love! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as last chapter.

Here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Brainwashed Zombies

February 2, 2358
Province 2, County 1, United Kingdom
Royal London Hospital

To say Philby was having a bad day, would be the understatement of a century. No, scratch that—a millennia.

First, his girlfriend Abigail broke up with him. That not only hurt his feelings, but it was had affected his work for the day. His first surgery went seriously wrong, almost causing the patient to die on his table. Philby composed himself long enough to save the patient's life and finish the surgery.

Next, his boss told him he was moving provinces. And not just to any province, but the 7th. Not only is the 7th the worst district in just about everything, it's got the worst healthcare system. And not only is he moving to the worst place for someone of his profession, he's going to the worst hospital in the worst county in the world: in a small town outside of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Then, if being demoted and embarrassed in front of the entire Royal London Hospital staff isn't enough, the local rebel base was attacked by Maleficent's forces this afternoon.

Philby had to leave work early so that he could help his fellow comrades in the resistance. He had used some lame excuse about packing for his move to the 7th province, but he knew his boss wasn't buying it.

Knowing Philby's luck, he would be reported. Being reported was the last thing he wanted to have happen—the nail in the coffin, per se. Not only did a soldier come inspect your house, you were also brought in for interrogation. Most that were reported go to provincial jail. Those who were fortunate enough to not be sent to jail were always…different…when they came back. Philby couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, he just got that feeling.

Philby rushed into the make-shift hospital for the rebels, somewhere in an abandoned underground train station. Philby remembered learning about places like these back in history class. They used to be used for underground transportation for the masses, but when Maleficent took over, they were used for rebel forces and were shut down.

Little did she know, they were still using them.

"Dr. Philby! We need you over here!" A nurse yelled at him. The wailing of the injured was creating a scene unlike any Philby had seen before.

For some weird reason, Philby thought he had seen a scene similar to this in a movie once. Gone with the Wind came to mind, but the only movies that came to mind were government propaganda films shown in school. Philby shook the idea from his head, he needed to focus. He would worry about where that title had come from later.

Philby hurried over to the nurse and his eyes went wide when he saw the patient.

"He's losing a lot of blood. We need to amputate or he's going to die," the nurse informed him. Philby took off his winter jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

"I'll need some kind of knife and a lot of bandages," he told the nurse. "And some form of anesthetic. He's not going to want to be conscious for this."

The nurse nodded and scurried away to find the supplies. Philby pulled on a pair of blue latex gloves and took a deep breath. Time to get serious, he reminded himself. You can do this.

Philby had spent the next eleven hours operating on the injured rebel soldiers. Once he had done all that he could do, he collapsed on a couch in the rebel commander's office.

He closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come take him away, but he was awoken by the rebel commander.

"Doctor, what are you doing here?"

"I…uh…was just taking a nap…it's been a long day…and…"

"You saved all of the men you operated on today."

Philby sat up, stunned at the commander's comment.

"Uh…yes sir."

"I just wanted to thank you for your service. Your work for the resistance is much appreciated."

Philby managed a smile. "Thank you sir." It's not every day the local rebel commander gives you a compliment.

"Now, if I were you I'd head back to your apartment. If I recall, you've got some packing to do."

Philby's expression turned sour. "How did you hear?"

"It's all around camp. Rumor has it you might have been reported as well. Especially after today's actions."

Philby took a deep breath and hung his head. "I figured that would happen. I…I just couldn't let you go without a doctor. It wouldn't be fair to you or the cause."

"And I thank you for your sacrifice, doctor." The rebel commander sat down in his chair behind the desk. "But you've got quite a problem on your hands. Sometimes you've got to take care of yourself first."

"I'll just leave for the 7th in the morning, before they can come get me." Philby reassured the commander.

"I don't think you'll have that luxury."

"What do you mean?"

"They've already issued a warrant for you."

"What?" Philby was too stunned to say anything.

The commander picked up a paper on his desk and offered it to Philby. "See for yourself."

"No," Philby waved off the paper. "I believe you, sir."

"You're going to have to go in, I'm afraid." The commander folded up Philby's arrest warrant and tucked it into one of the desk's many drawers.

Philby gulped. He didn't think he could pass the polygraph test without giving away some information about the resistance. He would most likely be sent to the provincial jail, only to be followed by all of the rebels here in the 2nd province.

"Don't you worry, doctor, we've got a man on the inside. He'll go easy on you. You'll be let go."

"You have a guy on the inside? I'll be let…go?"

"Yes and yes." The commander relaxed in his chair, as if this conversation bored him. "You'll go through the standard polygraph questioning and they'll search your house, but that's it. No overnight stay."

The commander shivered when mentioning the overnight stay. Philby's curiosity won out.

"Sir, do you know what the overnight stay consists of?"

The commander closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, unfortunately I do."

Philby waited for the commander to elaborate. The commander continued in a soft voice, but still had his eyes closed.

"Maleficent wants more than just physical control of the world. She…she wants to use science to her advantage. Those who stay overnight, whether found guilty or not, become…experiments."

Philby knew the commander was choosing his words carefully.

"Experiments? What does that mean?"

The commander opened his eyes and studied Philby, as if deciding whether or not he could handle the news.

"Have you ever wondered why there has never been a single attempt at escaping prison since the first three months of Maleficent's reign?"

Philby nodded. It was a strange occurrence, especially with more people in jails since she had taken over. Philby wasn't quite sure how long Maleficent had been in power, as far as he was concerned it was forever, but the commander seemed to remember a time before her. Philby had never had that luxury.

"Have you ever noticed how those who are found innocent during reporting come back…different?"

Philby nodded again. He was totally sucked into the conversation at this point.

"And somehow, as if by magic, those same people become model citizens?"

Philby nodded. He knew all of this, but he wasn't sure where the commander was going with it.

"Those experiments are the reasons for the change in behavior and attitude. They're…they're some form of mind control experiments."

"M-m-mind control?" Philby's voice cracked. He never knew such a thing was possible. He knew someone could be brainwashed by propaganda, but complete mind control? Just the mention of such an immoral, unethical thing made him scared out of his mind. But for some reason, he wasn't surprised at all. In the back of his mind, he knew Maleficent wasn't above mind control.

"Yes. I haven't quite figured out how she does it these days, but that's what most of the government labs have been working on—cheap, efficient ways of mind control."

"And how would you know this?"

The commander glanced down at his desk and straightened a pencil. "I used to be a scientist in one of the labs before I joined the resistance. I know how they used to do mind control, but they're always updating their methods."

"And did it ever work?"

"Yes, unfortunately it did."

Philby's mind was buzzing. "How does...did it work?"

"Back when I was a scientist, at least twenty years ago, it required the person drinking a liquid filled with little bugs—not like the insect, more like mini computers. These bugs would latch themselves to certain parts of the brain and was completely harmless to the person. Once attached, the person could be controlled from a computer, if Maleficent decided this person needed to be controlled. It's like turning an on switch on a light bulb. Once the computer took over, the person wouldn't be able to think or act for themselves. But we never turned it on. Mostly we used it for something else, if we used it at all. The bugs…they would slowly feed pro-government ideas to the person. Eventually the person would believe those thoughts and ideas were their own. Any anti-government thoughts were erased from memory, basically creating the model citizen. That's her form of brainwashing...making it all think its your idea."

The commander stopped suddenly as if saying anymore would drive him—or Philby—insane. Philby wasn't surprised at one bit of it. It was almost as if he already knew that Maleficent brainwashed people—another weird thought Philby pushed aside.

"And you said that's what they did when you were a scientist? So that means…they've got more advanced ways of doing it now?"

The commander nodded. "I've heard they use something similar to laser eye surgery for her brainwashing now. It's quicker and more efficient."

Philby gulped. He could be going through all this soon. He hoped that he ended up with the rebel soldier in disguise. The last thing he wanted was to be one of Maleficent's brainwashed zombies.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," the commander said. He looked over at Philby and mouthed don't say a word.

Philby didn't plan on ever talking about what he had just learned.

The door opened and a young man with brown hair and green eyes walked in. He was dressed in khaki pants and a black sweater, with a black winter coat over it. He had a pistol tucked into his belt. Something about that didn't seem right with Philby. The man nodded at the commander and moved to Philby.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a black envelope, offering it to Philby with a big smile on his face.

"This is for you, doctor. Nice work today, by the way. Saving all those people's lives and stuff."

Philby took the envelope without breaking eye contact with the young man. He had to be around the same age as me. Philby could have sworn he had seen him somewhere before.

Maybe he was one of my patients?

Philby broke eye contact with him and started to open the envelope.

"No!" The young man called out. He took a shaky breath and composed himself. "That's for you to read in private."

"Uh…okay…" Philby tucked the envelope into his pocket.

The young man took a deep breath, as if he had just defused a bomb. He looked over Philby before turning to the commander.

"Commander, the officers requested you outside."

"Thank you for reminding me." The commander stood up and walked toward the young man. "What's your name, soldier?"

The young man straightened up. "Uh...Daniel Wesley sir."

"Wesley, thank you. Now return to your post. The last thing we need today is for another government force attacking us."

Daniel Wesley saluted to the commander and left the room, glancing once more in Philby's direction before fully exiting the commander's office.

"I've got to go talk to my officers." The commander place a hand on Philby's shoulder. "Be careful doctor. We need you to come back, preferably with the same mind."

Philby knew the commander was joking, but Philby couldn't bring himself to laugh. The black envelope was growing heavy in his pocket. He needed to survive the night, if he could do that, maybe the 7th province wouldn't be so bad.

What do y'all think so far? I'd love to hear any suggestions for places you'd like the other keepers to be living or places you'd like to see in the story in general-preferably places around the world that are far away from Vancouver & London. If I can work y'all's suggestions into the story, I will most definitely do it!

I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. It's Charlene! :)