Kaoru trembled shallowly as he was drug down the hall by his underarms. He had no strength to fight, to struggle. They had pumped his veins full of sedative, which, apparently, his body didn't reject. He felt heavy; it felt a bit like he was floating. But the pain of being held by his arms told otherwise.

He lazily glanced at the gray walls. Vaguely, he wondered what would happen to him. Well, he had a pretty good answer to that question: they would mess with his blood. But the mystery of how and the length of time nagged at his mind.

"Alright, here we go," the doctor's assistant mumbled as he buzzed into a locked hall, and dragged him into the first cell directly on the right. The man heaved Kaoru carelessly onto the small, dirty cot. Kaoru's limbs dropped precariously onto the sheets. And before Kaoru could even register, the man was gone, and he was left alone in the tight cell. The clang of the closing doors echoed emptily.

Kaoru spent the first minutes—or hours, he couldn't tell—staring at the white ceiling. The way the cracks wound across the top of his cell fascinated his drugged mind. It wasn't until later that he noticed the other noises in the hall. Sometimes it was a whimpering, a shuffling, or a low whisper. Kaoru sat feebly up on his cot, rubbing warmth into his arms. It was cold and a cloud of dizzying black veiled his vision as he steadied himself upright. He huffed out a breath before leaning to stand. And when he finally pushed himself upwards, his knee almost gave out from the pressure to the wound on his leg. Kaoru hissed, squeezing his eyes shut, and leaned heavily on the concrete wall.

"You okay in there?" a soft voice floated from outside his door. Kaoru froze for a second, listening, but the soft voice didn't come a second time.

Limping horribly, Kaoru forced his way over to the cell door and peered through the thick bars. "Hello?" His voice was raspy.

A girl with deep green eyes popped up from the opposite cell. Her dark black hair wisped over her shoulders and her bangs settled right above her eyes. She could have been beautiful, but her eyes were heavy and ringed with fatigue. Her skin was paled and she had a row of bandages down her left arm. The scrubs she wore were sickly lavender.

"Are you okay?" she murmured tilting her head at him.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah… Where are we?"

"A testing facility," she said. "So, you're completely fine? No after affects?"

Kaoru cast a strange look at her before he remembered. He raised a hand to his ear and felt the drying blood. He spoke without looking up, staring at the crusted blood on his fingers, "No, I didn't. The doctor said my body completely dispelled the Red Plague through my ears." He glanced up, catching her look of awe.

"That's insane," she whispered. "My blood just ignores the disease until it just disappears. But I think we are the only ones that can get rid of it completely." Her eyes darted to the other cells down the hall. "A lot of these cells are empty because the doctor tested on the normal, the ones who are not immune. And other cells that are occupied," she glanced back over to Kaoru, "well, they react to it. Their body starts to take symptoms of the Red Plague. It takes them longer for their bodies to stop it… They're constantly in pain." Her eyes were filled with sadness as she wrapped her arms around her small arms.

"It's cold, isn't it?" Kaoru asked, not knowing what to say. The cold was stinging his healing wounds.

She nodded. "So… did you want to exchange names or subject numbers?" she asked suddenly, placing a hand on the bar.

"Huh?"

"Well, I'm Subject 1. And you seem to be Subject 83. So nice to meet you 83," she said pointing at the name plate on the cell door.

Kaoru didn't say a word; he only stared in horror. How many have died, have been sacrificed before him? Would he survive this place?

Subject 1 sighed, "Oh, honey, you feeling alright? How old are you?"

"Fifteen," Kaoru responded automatically, raising his eyes from her name plate.

"Oh, honey," she replied with genuine sorrow. "That's the youngest I've ever seen in here."

"How old are you?" he asked, now curious.

"Twenty-two... Subject 83, don't you worry. I'll protect you wherever I can," she said softly.

Kaoru turned his head away, somehow doubting her kind words. It felt as if the world was crashing down around him. His only comfort was that his family was safe… But as for Haruhi... Kaoru felt sick and suddenly a rough round of coughs filled his lungs. He doubled over, almost collapsing on his injured leg, as the painful coughs continued.

When the coughing faltered, Kaoru whimpered at the remaining tickle in his throat. Tears were already streaming from his eyes. "I thought my cold was gone," he moaned as he slid down the bars so that he was sitting on the cold floor.

"Oh, no, that's not a cold," Subject 1 said. Kaoru glanced over his shoulder at her. She was crouched at the bottom of her cell so that she could see him better. "Every time our bodies are, or have fought a major infection, we end up with a bad cough. It doesn't last long though."

"But my cold lasted a week before the Lock-down."

Her green eyes widened. "Then the Red Plague must have really wanted your body. Were there lots of infected around you?"

Kaoru shook his head, feeling the rising panic. "No, everyone was completely fine."

"Well, they were at least in danger of being infected," she said seriously. "Did you bleed from your ears then?"

"No, not once. This is the first time."

She let out a slow breath, "Then it couldn't have been bad."

A sudden clinking at locked door at their left caused the two to freeze. "Quick, get back further into your cell. They don't like us talking," Subject 1 hissed before retreating into her darkened cell. Kaoru pushed himself against the closest wall, across from the cot, careful not to brush his wound. He leaned his head back against the wall just as the nurse from earlier appeared through the door. She stopped directly in front of Kaoru's cell.

"Oh good, you're awake." Kaoru looked up at her and immediately paled. The wretched woman was holding a case of syringes, empty syringes. Kaoru scooted away involuntarily at the sight of her. "Don't be scared," the nurse crooned as she unlocked the door. "It won't be so bad. I also brought you dinner," she said, waving the tray of food he hadn't noticed earlier. Kaoru's stomach scrunched; he hadn't noticed how hungry he really was.

The woman entered the cell and closed the door behind her. She set the tray down beside Kaoru and he immediately dug in, tearing into the turkey sandwich. Within his hunger, Kaoru barely felt it as the nurse took vial after vial of blood. And, when the nurse finally finished off the sixth vial of blood, she pulled away, leaving Kaoru feeling heavy and weak. "Sweet Dreams, 83," she said softly, running her fingers through his soft orange hair. Kaoru nodded off into a fitful sleep.

OMG I had so much fun writing this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it! Because I loooooove it.