“Ready?” said the bald man.

Jacob observed Hugo’s weakened and tied-up body, worried for their fates. He was still sitting up against the wall.

“Who are you to your group?” the man asked.

“What?” Jacob responded.

“Who…are you…to your group?” the man repeated.

Jacob stuttered, his eyes looking back and forth at Hugo and the man. “I- I don't-”

The man slammed his hand against the wall, creating an echo that traveled down the hall. “Answer the question!”

Jacob flinched. The man, upon seeing the flinch, turned to the man that was holding up Hugo and whispered.

The man holding up Hugo revealed a syringe with a brown liquid inside and held it to the skin of Hugo’s arm.

“Stop!” said Jacob. The man pulled the needle back.

“We’re new. We had only got to the gang a few days ago,” said Jacob. He hung his head as he spoke.

The bald man kneeled down to him and spoke softly. “What is he to you?”

“My best friend,” Jacob answered.

The man thought for a second, and stood back up. Jacob looked up at him but saw Hugo lifting his head to Jacob. He shook his head ‘no’ at him.

—

Carmen was talking to the woman at the camp in Tipton.

“Hugo is alive,” said Carmen.

The woman leaned in, now with her full attention. At these words, Martin coughed and started moving in his bed.

“Hugo?” Martin said in a weak voice.

Cherryl tried to calm Martin down, but he was persistent. “Martin, just rest.”

“No,” Martin said. He moved his hand in a way to reject Cherryl’s help. “I got Hugo to help, but after they started shooting up the Tulare base, I thought he died there. Why is he not with you?”

“He was taken by the other gang, along with Jacob,” Carmen answered.

Martin thought for a second. “Elle, are the other officers on base?”

The woman who Carmen spoke to, now Elle, stepped forward. “They are in a meeting right now, sir.”

“Tell them some of our own have been taken hostage. The faster we act the better chances we got to get them back,” said Martin. He coughed at the end of his sentence, and Cherryl made Martin lie back down.

“You got it,” said Elle. She turned to Carmen, “Come with me.” Elle briskly walked out of the tent.

Carmen glanced over to Dylan, who nodded his head that she could go, so she went.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

—

The bald man left the room with Hugo and his carrier, leaving Jacob locked inside.

They began walking down the hall, with the bald man leading them. He was still shirtless.

“Listen kid or…what is your name?” he asked.

Hugo gave him a cold stare as he was carried from the ropes that bound him

“Whatever,” the man said. “You will refer to me as Master and nothing else. Got it?”

Hugo didn't reply.

Master stopped walking. “You know what? Come with me.”

They turned the opposite direction and began walking again. Coming up to an elevator, Master pressed the up button and the sign lit up.

“Generators,” the man said, unprompted.

When the elevator door opened, they stepped inside. He pressed the third floor button and the elevator began to move.

“You know I was the one who came up with this. Using the generators to power the elevator. Stairs are for the weak,” said Master.

When the doors opened, they stepped out into a hallway. The building they were in seemed like a hotel. One of the doors nearby was open, and natural light came from inside.

Hugo’s memory flashed from the first day of the apocalypse, finding his apartment trashed and the front door opened.

As they entered the apartment, they walked to the balcony that overlooked a city center. Hugo was sat in one of the chairs that was missing its cushion. The area had walls that surrounded the base. This was where Hugo was taken that night. People were working jobs, running around trying to make quotas. They all seemed malnourished and tired.

“You see all this?” said Master. “I built this. Without me, these people would all be dead.”

Hugo didn't answer.

“You wanna know how I did it?” he said. “I took control…watch.” He turned to the base down below and shouted. “The first person to build me a chair, gets a reward!” he said. All of the workers sped up their jobs and hurried to build a chair. The swinging of hammers was constant. Within about five minutes, the first chair was placed in view of Master with the person standing beside it. After about ten minutes, thirty more chairs were placed down beside it, all in varying qualities.

Master looked down at all of them, glancing at the chairs. “Eh, whatever.” He turned to the man with the syringe, took the syringe, and threw it into the crowd. They dog-piled and fought for it. Eventually, the syringe disappeared but there was still a brawl. “HEY!” Master yelled. “Get back to work or none of you get your hit!” Then the fights stopped and they continued working.

Hugo’s eyes had widened at the sight.

“Heroin,” Master smiled. “All of them are hooked. Do you finally get how this works now? So, let me ask again, what is your name?”

—

Elle and Carmen were briskly walking across the camp to meet the other officers.

“So, Hugo and Jacob were taken hostage? Where were you guys?” Elle asked.

“Uh, we escaped during the fight and hid at some house. They started searching the area so we had to leave. Hugo got me and the kids to safety before he was taken with Jacob.

“Kids? Wait, was Hugo’s sister with you?” Elle asked. They had reached the officer’s tent and stopped at the door.

A woman popped out before Carmen could answer.

“Can I help you?” She was about Carmen’s height and seemingly a bit old, but she looked healthy. Her name tag said Lucin.

“We have information for you,” Elle said.

“Come in,” said Lucin. She turned and walked into the tent where five other officers were waiting. “What is it you have to tell us?”

The officers were standing around a round table with a map of the central valley. On it were post-it notes that had writings on them. The five other officers were different in many ways, but Carmen didn't care to observe them.

Elle turned to Carmen, expecting her to start talking.

“Oh, uh. Two people have been taken hostage by the enemy gang,” Carmen said.

The six officers were quiet and glanced at each other. All were unhappy.

The shortest officer, who was slightly fat and had a great beard, spoke first. “Thank you for telling us,” he said. He had a European accent but Carmen couldn't identify anything more specific. “We’d like to discuss this in private,” he added.

“No problem,” said Carmen. She nodded and quickly left the tent, Elle followed.

“Was it just me, or did it seem like something was weird in there?” Elle asked.

Carmen shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable.