Brave Fear (boyxboy)

Chapter 3

For some reason, that did not make Zane feel better, and Joseph stopped abruptly behind him. "I can't do this," the other boy whispered, soft enough so Lucas would not overhear them.

"Come on, Joseph," Zane whispered back. "Make it through today, we can figure something out tomorrow." He laid his hand on the other boy's shoulder, and Joseph slowly nodded. He straightened up and walked side by side with Zane, breathing quite heavily. Both of them had forgotten the spat on the train. It was a miniscule problem compared to what they were facing now. They were being forced to work in a facility where humans were treated like lab rats. Once again, Zane shivered.

Lucas was blubbering some nonsense about the results of tests in the lab, but Zane tuned him out and focused on the screams and pain. The screams and pain he would avenge. He now truly believed Joseph. The philosophy was wrong. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but Zane knew casting away the mantra of humanity would be for the best. If Earth was for the humans as a species, why did they fight over it? If all not human shall perish, why was everybody so afraid of the outside world? Zane needed to find a way out of this place, and fast. He realized just how much of a level of independence and rebellion he had and began to doubt Lucas's motives. But his mind screamed for him to follow the laws and orders and quell his personal rebellion. It was an intrusive thought but he could not replace it with any others. It was one of the fundamental laws of New Vancouver, and he felt horrible violating it.

From ahead, Lucas smiled, staring straight ahead. It was completely unnerving. He led them into a room at the end of the hall and showed them a temperature control thermostat on the wall, which was highly uninteresting. Zane wasn't very surprised when Lucas rushed out, swung the door closed, and locked it with Zane and Joseph still inside.

Joseph ran to the door, banging his fists against the unyielding material. Lucas simply smiled from the other side. His grin was disconcerting, like a predator knowing he had caught his prey. "No!" Joseph screamed, beginning to kick the door as well. "You can't keep us in here!"

"Actually, I have paperwork from the Governors that says I can," he said, his voice muffled by the thick pane of glass. Joseph suggested Lucas go do something anatomically impossible to himself, and slid down the door until his legs were splayed in front of him, his back against the door. Lucas smiled again. "We've never had a pair of subjects get the serum together. Perhaps it may help you cope better and become what we need you to be. Fingers crossed." He crossed his fingers for emphasis and vanished from view. Zane saw nothing but the metal wall.

He looked around the tiny room. There was a steel table with two chairs in one corner, a deck of cards scattered across the table. Two prison beds were on the far wall, one above the other. A separate room led off to the side, presumably the bathroom. Great, Zane thought. Then he noticed the cameras in the corners of the room. Even better.

He sat down cross-legged next to Joseph. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he said softly.

"It's all right," Joseph told him. "We wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"We could have run away," Zane said. "After all, New Vancouver doesn't have a police force."

Joseph looked at him curiously. "We'd have no way to get food or water, or medical supplies. It's all regulated by the Governors."

Zane relented. He heaved a deep sigh. "I believe you now,"

Joseph shuffled his legs and pushed his tie to the side. "I know," he said.

Zane stood up, looking around the tiny room once again. If this was going to be his place for a little while, he might as well make himself comfortable. He let his suit fall down his shoulders. Underneath, he was wearing a simple white tee. However, he did keep his pants on. He wasn't that comfortable yet. He laid the suit down on the steel chair and sat down. The suit covered up the cold metal and gave him a sort of cushion.

"You know they're gonna inject us with that serum, right?" Joseph asked.

Zane smiled. "Yes, I do," he said. "And I figure, the more powerful the prejudice and rebellion, the more powerful the ability we get will be." He didn't know if he believed what he was saying, but he tried to look confident for Joseph's sake. The boy had gone through far too much already and deserved some positivity. In reality, Zane thought the concept of this serum was absurd and that anybody stupid enough to think it worked was chasing a hopeless dream. But Zane couldn't help but think of the ramifications of being cursed with such a thing.

Would he then be able to force himself to escape? Could he bring himself to abandon his entire life and embrace a different lifestyle?

He also never told Joseph that no matter how many emotions and feelings were marring his brain, prejudice and rebellion were not among them. He had never let his brain entertain either, so he felt neither. He tried, but it was in vain.

"The ability?" Joseph asked, confused.

"Lucas said the serum gives you supernatural powers," Zane said, shuffling the deck of cards, feeling the rough cardboard on his smooth palms and fingertips. "And when I get mine, I'm gonna use it to break out of here." What he didn't say was that he supremely doubted his ability to force himself to escape. Hardwired into his brain was the desire to obey, to follow concrete rules and allow his life to be predictable. But he didn't say this, because he knew Joseph would not appreciate it.

"How do you know it'll be strong enough?" Joseph inquired. He tapped his fingers against the floor and seemed to be only half-listening to the conversation at hand. His brow was creased in concentration. His hand was in his pocket, turning something over and over.

"I don't," Zane said. "But you taught me, in a short span of time, to watch out for the unexpected, and I figure breaking out of New Vancouver is very unexpected." Again there was that twinge in his gut, the feeling that he was speaking a lie.

Joseph cracked a smile. "I don't think I taught you anything," he said. "I figured I just made you mad."

Zane laughed at that. "You did make me mad," he told Joseph, and despite what was happening around him, he felt happy. "But you were right."

Joseph nodded, his gaze fixed on the ground. He stood up abruptly and followed Zane's lead, using his suit to place on the chair as a cushion. He sat down in the other chair and nodded to the cards in Zane's hands. "Go fish?"