Infected

The Others

Mark stumbles to the dirt, with Sean right beside him. The first thing they notice is the cold air. Sean glances upward as Mark spits sand from his mouth. It's beginning to snow. Dark and Natemare stand in the doorway Mark and Sean had just "exited" from.

"You can stay out here, until you learn to cooperate," Dark says.

With that, the door closes. Natemare leans against it, and puts his head in his hands.

"That should keep them busy, at least for a while," Dark comments.

"Yeah, but what if they wander off?" Natemare asks, wincing.

"That's where you come in," Dark says, "It's also where the shock collars come in handy."

"Right," Natemare sighs.

Dark begins to walk away, then turns back. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah. I should be fine," Natemare says.

"The process takes a while," Dark says after a pause. "Eventually, you'll be ready. We'll make sure that Nate will be too."

   
  
Mark reaches up and feels the little black box on his neck. He groans when he realizes what it is. Sean wears one as well. Both shiver from the cold.

"It's like we're dogs, being put outside for misbehaving," Sean mutters as he wraps his arms around himself and gets up. He glances at Mark, who hasn't moved. "Okay, Mark, I know you're from L.A., but you could at least try to deal with the cold."

"It's not that," Mark admits. "It's that you're right. We're being treated like animals." He looks up at his friend of many years. "They've never let us out of their sight before. And now they're letting us wander around. What is going on?"

Sean sighs and shakes his head. "I don't know. But we can't let them win. We have to wander around. Find out where we are. Find the others. Come on."

 
 
Void hurries down the large staircase, the train of her dress trailing behind her. She is out of breath and caarrying a clipboard. She's aware that her updo is in disarray, and that her already smeared makeup is coming off. However, she is unable to do anything about it; something else is on her mind.

"Void!" The girl stops and cringes at the deep voice. She considers acting as though she hadn't heard him, but knows there will be consequences if she does. Void turns and sees Dark walking over to her.

"Yes, Dark?" She says nervously.

"Relax," he smiles. "I just want to know how everything's going. Is there anything out of order?"

Void opens her mouth to answer, but stops when she sees Anti descending the stairs. The nervous feeling in her stomach only grows. She's noticed that his glitching has almost completely stopped, which makes her wonder what's next.

"What's going on?" Anti asks.

"I was just asking Void if everything is in order," Dark replies with a slight glare in her direction.

Anti turns toward Void. "So, is everything running smoothly?"

Void hesitates, then answers quickly. "Everything's fine. Matt's detained, Nate's gone, and the two doctors are just finishing up. I'll see you guys in a bit.

Void turns to leave and begins to walk away, but is stopped when both Anti and Dark call out to her.

"Wait, what?"

"Excuse me?"

She stops and turns again, obviously uncomfortable. "Okay, now, don't take this out on me. But Nate isn't in his cell. I don't know where he is." Anti begins to glitch, making Void nervous. Dark is fuming, so she tries to use damage control. "Danny and PewDIEpie were supposed to be in charge of him after I left, but...I guess it didn't work."

Dark storms away, most likely in search of the two new viruses. Void looks at Anti, all the while holding her breath. He flitches again, then tries to gain control of himself.

"And with that, I'll be off," Anti says. "I have some business to attend to."

Anti leaves. Void stands there for a moment, pondering what had just happened. After a minute, she carries on with her work.
 
   

Nate runs through the halls, all while trying to keep himself hidden. He is about to turn a corner when he hears footsteps just a few feet away. Thinking fast, and conveniently finding an unlocked door, Nate throws himself into a closet.

He holds his breath as ths footsteps approach, then stop. Nate is convinced that the door is about to fly open, and that he will be exposed. But nothing happens. The footsteps begin to approach he closet, then pass it. Nate quietly lets out his breath.

Poking his head out of the closet, Nate sees that Dark is standing at he end of the hall. He walks swiftly, then turns to his left. Nate takes that as his opportunity to make his own escape. He quickly runs the other way down the hall, and away from his enemy.