Author's Note:

Yep, we're back again with another chapter. But first, let's answer some reviews.

Anime Girl 144: Don't worry-I don't plan on discontinuing this story anytime soon. I just got caught up working on other projects. With my new system for updating my fanfics, I hope to be getting more updates for this story going at a much quicker pace. As for Prickly, yeah, I've always like the interactions he had with the kids when he wasn't portrayed as the antagonistic authority figure, and that's something I wanted to show off well here.

Now, let's get back to the action.

When T.J. woke up the next morning, he found that he was still in the chair next to Spinelli's bed. He rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "Oh, man," he thought, "Did I spend the whole night here?"

He stood up, stretching his arms as he checked on Spinelli. She appeared to be fast asleep, still recovering from the injuries Slicer had given her. Quietly, so as to not disturb her, he began creeping for the door.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

T.J. turned around, seeing Spinelli pushing herself to sit upright. "Uh…all night," he admitted. "Sorry I woke you."

"Nah, I've been up for the past hour or so," she admitted.

T.J. slowly walked back to his chair and sat back down. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got my skin sliced open by a crazy ex school administrator. How do you think I'm feeling?"

T.J. bowed his head. "I'm so sorry, Spinelli. I should've—"

"Stop it, Teej," Spinelli interrupted. "There was no way that you could've known that we'd get kidnapped in your own base. Or that Mr. White and Dr. Slicer were still alive and even more whacked up than they were before."

She reached a hand out towards him. "All I want to do now is get out of this damn bed and go shoot all of those Marauders in the face." She moved to get out of the bed, but fell back into it, holding her side and wincing in pain.

"All you need to do right now is stay here and get rest," T.J. told her.

"What about that jerk Cromwell?" Spinelli asked. "What are you going to do with him?"

"He might have some information about Mr. White that can help us beat him whenever he decides to launch his attack," T.J. explained. "We're going to interrogate him today to see what he knows."

"Do you really think an attack is coming?" Spinelli asked.

T.J. met her gaze. "Mr. White made it clear that that he was going to take this place by force if I didn't fall in line with his Messiah routine. After our big escape, he's going to be even more determined to come after us. He'll be coming. The only question is when."

"When he does show up, I'll be there to kick his butt."

T.J. smiled slightly at her determination. It felt like they were back at Third Street again, and she was preparing for a beatdown against someone who had wronged her. He had missed that fiery determination these past eight years, and was glad to see that a beating from Slicer hadn't done a thing to change that.

"How soon until you're back on your feet?" T.J. asked her.

"Are you kidding? I can get up right now." Spinelli moved to get out of the bed again, but collapsed back into it, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Get some rest, Spinelli," T.J. ordered, getting up from the chair. "If you need anything, anything at all, just let me know and I'll make it happen."

"Teej?"

T.J. looked down at her. "Yeah, Spinelli?"

She lifted her hand up to brush her hair back slightly. "Just…thanks. For getting me out of there. You and Vince could've escaped without me, but you came back for me."

"I made the mistake of leaving you behind before," T.J. reminded her. "There was no way I was ever going to make that same mistake ever again."

A small smile came to her lips. "Thanks, Teej."

He returned the smile warmly. "Get back on your feet soon, Spinelli." With that, he turned and left the room.

He was relieved that Spinelli was okay. More than that, he was happy that he had finally made up for leaving her behind eight years ago. The time apart from one of his closest friends, thinking that she was dead, had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to experience. And almost losing her again to Slicer had been even worse. But would go to whatever lengths he had to in order to keep his friends alive.

Especially if it was Spinelli.

Vince slipped into the observation room and took a seat next to Gus. "Any progress?" he asked.

"See for yourself," Gus grunted, nodding at the window that looked into the interrogation room. Vince peered in and watched as Francis and Ashley interrogated a clearly resistant Cromwell.

"He's still not talking?" Vince questioned.

"No," Gus confirmed. "I told you, we need to use better methods to get him to tell us what we want to know."

"T.J. would never approve of torture," Vince reminded him. "We're not like Mr. White and his Marauders."

Gus crossed his arms. "It might be the only way to get some answers out of him."

"Or it could kill him," Vince argued. "Or make him shut down completely. We're not doing it. We'll find a way to make him talk that doesn't involve beating it out of him."

Gus snorted. "Whatever you say, Vince."

"What's with you, man?" Vince asked. "You seem grumpier than usual. Are you upset that Cromwell turned out to be a bad guy and is probably the one that killed your dad?"

"All we know is Cromwell's the enemy," Gus responded. "That doesn't prove that Spinelli didn't do it."

"Whatever man." Personally, Vince didn't believe that Spinelli had killed Gus' dad. Even if she had, he knew that it probably had been due to him being turned into a zombie. There was no way that she would've done it otherwise. She was tough and aggressive, but not that aggressive.

What Vince really wanted to know was what Cromwell knew about Mr. White and his forces. Specifically, he hoped that he knew about the mysterious cloaked figure that had kidnapped T.J. and Spinelli in the first place. This was the second time that he had been seen lurking around their operations. It was obvious that whoever he was, he worked for Mr. White, possibly as some sort of special agent for him. But if he could somehow get into Fort Tender and get out without being seen, he was going to be the biggest threat to the safety of the fort.

Francis and Ashley eventually turned around and left the interrogation room, joining Vince and Gus in the observation room. "This one's a tough nut to crack," Francis announced. "He aint talking."

"Just leave me alone with him for five minutes," Gus insisted. "I'll get him to talk."

Ashley seemed like she agreed with him, but Vince put his foot down. "No," he said. "We're not torturing him."

"Then what do you suggest that we do?" Gus demanded to know. "We need answers, and he's the only one that has them."

Vince considered his options. He could continue the style of interrogation that he had been conducting for the past several hours and hope that Cromwell would crack. Or he could let Gus in there to beat the answer out of him. Neither option seemed like it was a good one.

"Think," he thought, "What do we know about Cromwell that could let us get through to him? We know he's a former soldier. He works for Mr. White, who's passing himself off as some sort of religious Messiah. He can—"

And suddenly, the obvious answer of what to do came to him. "I've got it," Vince announced. "I know how we can get him to talk."

Vince sat down in the chair across from Cromwell. "How are you doing today, Mr. Cromwell?" he asked.

"What the hell do you want, kid?" Cromwell snapped in response.

"Just came in to talk," Vince answered calmly. "I hear you're a believer of a Messiah immune to this terrible disease."

"The Messiah is immune," Cromwell insisted. "He will lead us out of these dark days and into a new age for humanity."

"Has he proven that he's immune?" Vince asked.

"He has bite marks on him," Cronwell replied. "And the zombies leave him alone. That seems like it's enough proof."

"Is it?" Vince challenged. "Is that enough for you to swear your loyalty to a guy who has brought nothing but death and destruction on those that don't follow his singular vision?"

"The Messiah only punishes those that stray from the path."

"But that's not a good way for society to reform," Vince argued. "If everyone is forced to follow one person's view under the penalty of death, people are just going to follow out of fear rather than believe in the message. Isn't the goal to believe in the message on your own accord and not because you're scared?"

"Speak what you will, non-believer," Cromwell spat. "The Messiah is all knowing. He will come to purge you infidels once and for all."

"And when will that happen?" Vince asked him.

"Soon," Cromwell answered. "Very soon. A matter of days. He will come and offer you peace for following the true path. Those who turn away will be slaughtered."

"I don't know," Vince said, leaning back, "We've got a lot of people here to defend us."

"But the Messiah has more," Cromwell said. "Spread out over a dozen different safe houses around the region. He will call them, and they will gather. And then he will punish all the non-believers."

Vince smiled slightly. Cromwell was giving him exactly what he wanted him to. "Thank you, Mr. Cromwell," he said, standing up. "You've given me exactly what I needed."

"What do you mean—" Cromwell's eyes widened as he realized what he had said. "You—you used my devotion to the Messiah to trick me!"

"Fraid so," Vince confirmed with a grin, heading for the door.

"It won't matter!" Cromwell shouted. "You won't be able to stand up to him! The Messiah will burn you all to the ground and seize this base! He will rebuild society and destroy the zombies once and for all! You won't be able to stop him!"

"If your Messiah tries to attack this base to destroy everyone that doesn't follow him," Vince warned, "we will defend ourselves. And we'll win."

With that, he left the room, closing the door and locking it behind him. "Not bad, Vince," Francis complimented him. "You got him to sing like a canary."

"We didn't get everything from him," Vince admitted. "He still didn't talk about the guy in black, but at least we know a little more about the force that Mr. White can bring against us."

"Yeah—a lot of guys," Gus noted.

"And if Cromwell is right," Vince concluded. "Then Mr. White and his army will be coming for us. Soon."

The stage is slowly being set for the first major battle of the story. And soon, there will be some major revelations that will change the course of the story forever. But until then, this is Guest 1138, reminding you to never smile at a crocodile. Ciao!