That was perhaps the longest night since their arrival at Branch Tower. It was almost unfathomable that this was their final destination, the light at the end of the tunnel, the monument to their salvation. Instead, it was another nightmare with a different wrapper on it. The screams, the shrieks, the alarms all night, while Branch's guards stood in the hallways with their full riot gear and automatic weapons, urging everyone to stay inside of their rooms. There were no answers to be given, only the privileged few could know what was really happening at that compound.

Dr. Faraday and Elsie were simply prisoners now, prisoners inside of a fully furnished cell under the pretense of keeping Branch's idyllic society afloat. There was no life outside of whatever Branch demanded unless you were one of his filthy-rich. She learned that the hard way when Branch had assigned her to clinic duty while they were leaving his personal box after that... display, whatever he wanted to crusade it around as. It was not only inhumane; it was inhuman to force people—survivors of the apocalypse—to tear each other to shreds for entertainment value.

"Auntie Ruth?" Elsie balled her fists up and rubbed at her eyes. She had fallen asleep just before sunrise, after the cries and the alarms had stopped. From one nightmare into the next for this poor girl.

"I'm here, sweetie," she pulled her in closer.

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything is great, the alarms have stopped and everything is normal again."

"I'm hungry, can we eat?"

"I suppose that we should," she said. "I'm going to have an interesting day ahead of me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know that Auntie Ruth is a doctor, right?"

Elsie nodded.

"I need to go and help people for a while, so you'll be on your own, but you can watch TV and you can color and..."

"No!" The girl grasped onto her tightly. "You can't leave!"

"Oh sweetheart, I have to help people, but I promise that I'll be back."

"You promise?"

"Of course I do." She ran her fingers through Elsie's curls.

"... Mom promised me that we'd be here together, but..." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh Elsie, I'm so sorry. It'll just be a little while and..."

There was a pounding at the door that caught her off-guard. Then another.

"Hello?" she called out, Elsie having pulled a pillow over her head, scared to death considering the commotion the last night.

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"Don't get it," the girl said.

"It'll be alright, I promise."

The lock undid itself and the door swung open, two of Branch's goons from the prior night storming into the room. "Doesn't anyone answer their fuckin' door anymore?"

"Oh, uh, Stuart, is it?"

"Aye," he said, a gun draped over his shoulder.

"She just had such a difficult time sleeping last night is all, I was just explaining to her that I had to help some people today."

"Oh," he looked confused. "Yeah, you uh, gotta help the nice people. She'll be back, don't ya worry. C'mon, doc, ya got work ta do."

"We were going to get some breakfast first, if that's okay."

"Nope, gotta get this show movin' already."

"Come now, we don't have time for some toast and juice, at least?"

"No," he said, keeping the quiet, shorter man with the scars at bay after he had pushed towards her aggressively. "Fuck off, Vic, I got this. I don't think that you understand, doc. Mr. Branch runs a tight ship, we need you to report there now."

"I understand," she said, pulling Elsie in tight and kissing her on the forehead. "I'll be back soon, won't I, Stuart?"

"Um, yeah, just watch the tele or sum'thin. Vic," he said to the shorter man, "bring the girl some toast and juice, alright?"

He didn't reply, just a curt nod, and he left the room. Dr. Faraday gave Elsie another kiss on the forehead and wiped away a tear before she picked herself up and followed Stuart out of the room.

"Thank you," she said, as he led her down the hallway.

"Huh?"

"For getting her something to eat, she was so scared last night, you know. What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The screams, the alarms, the gunfire, the guards, the whole thing."

"Oh, right, just uh, had an issue to deal with down in the labs is all."

"I see," she said. "Is that near where the clinic is?"

"Ha," he chortled, "clinic? Who told ya that, Branch? He wishes it was a clinic. It's a fuckin' mess."

"So what will I be doing, exactly?"

"Few'a my boys got hurt last night, some pretty bad, doc. And we need someone to look after the boys from the arena and all..."

"I see. He had said something about research, I just wasn't sure..."

"Peterson lost his head the other night. Maybe if ya impress the big man, there's a spot in research, although I wouldn't want none'uh that."

"Is Mr. Branch's research that difficult?"

"You could say," he ushered her into the elevator, pressing the button for the basement level. The ride down was quiet. Stuart liked to keep to himself it seemed, much like everyone else. Branch was the only one boasting and feeling free, while everyone else was simply living inside of his world.

"About the arena..."

"What?"

"Is that... normal?"

He laughed again, "Whaddaya mean 'normal?' Like, does it happen often? Ya, my brother is the champion."

"The man with the exploding punch?"

"Aye, that's my big brother."

"You must be... proud?"

"Oh ya, we're doin' alright here. Branch seems ta like us, everythin' is great."

"That's good, I suppose. Your brother put on quite a spectacle."

"Yeah, well, I do my job well, too, but I just don't have to put on a big fuckin' show about it. I'm Branch's right hand. He can't exist without me. My brother? Pffft."

"I'm sure that you are valued."

"Ya damned straight. Branch'll talk shit about Will, too, ya know? Calls him a louse, lazy, stupid, but I keep my mouth shut. He gets two broads in his room. I ain't got shit, but does Stuart complain when his monster breaks loose and kills ten of my men? Oh no, I clean up that mess and..."

She looked on in horror.

"Oh, sorry, I uh, you should forget that last bit about the monster and whatnot."

"Understood."

He led her through the same parking structure as before, although it was more quiet. Fresh blood stained the walls at the basement level, the stench of blood, ammonia, and unease filled the air. So much so that it was a welcome reprieve to step out into the parking structure, that was, until she saw the cots laying out with the mangled bodies adorning them. A few were clearly dead, but others had crude IV lines running into them and were strapped down, struggling and calling out for anyone.

"My god..."

"Kinda a mess down here," he apologized, "but uh, we need some help."

"Yes, yes, you do."