There was a man leaning against a wall as he talked with with two other youths in their twenties. His expression was slightly pained, but Ash instantly realised that he was hiding the extend of the agony he was in. How he knew? Because he had been in that man's shoes several times over. Sometimes the pain would be so much that he would just want to die. 'At least he is brave.' Ash thought as he felt a sense of comradery towards the man. He had slightly greying brown hair similar to Andrew and the same dark eyes. Other than the much older age, expressed through the white hairs and wrinkles, he looked like an exact copy of Andrew except for the height. Andrew must be taking after his mother in that regard. Ash scanned where he was injured and found a bloody bite mark with the flesh torn out on his thigh. It seemed like other than that there were no other major problems. Ash also noticed that there was a similar chain to the one he had on his calf around this man's leg. They must have kept him in hopes that there was a way out after Lena brought him back. Even though he is not certain in his ability, at least he knew that if he hadn't woken up within tomorrow, then this man would have certainly turned. and then these kids would have been forced to kill him personally.

"This is my father, Loch Miller." Andrew introduced with a slightly rough voice. It was obvious that he was suppressing his sadness inside him. Ash pressed his lips tightly together and stepped forward to get a better glimpse at the other people there. They were two men in their late twenties. They had a scholarly look, which made Ash wonder how they survived this long. Father Loch must have worked extra hard to keep them all safe. Ash noticed that while he was observing them they were also examining him with vigilance. While he was playing the, 'I will look at you and you will look at me' game, Lena had already explained everything Ash had told her so far to the man sitting on the ground. When they heard that Ash had a way to cure Loch everyone looked at him in an incredulous manner. She also explained the conditions that Ash mentioned. Unlike Andrew, Loch immediately understood the benefit of this deal and slightly fought through the pain to smile.

"Even if you cannot save me, I hope that you will lead this bunch of kids to that camp of yours. Don't worry, They are all good kids and they won't do anything to trouble you. Especially when there is Lena to keep them in check." He grinned at the girl and she just laughed in return. Ash was surprised that the man had a better opinion about Lena than his own son. But he could slightly understand as well, after all, Lena had both wit and charm.

"If that is what they want then I have no objections." Ash nodded at him.

"When will you treat him?" Andrew asked impatiently. He had been fidgeting all this time and Ash was actually surprised that he had stayed quite this long.

"Like I said. I need all my belongings back first and then I need all of you to clear out of the room." Ash said

"No way." Andrew objected at once. "I will give you back your belongings but I am staying right here. I will observe what you are going to do to my father." He glared at Ash as if he was looking at an enemy.

"Delaying treatment will only increase the difficulty of curing him." Ash was surprised at how calm he sounded at that moment. He really sounded like a heartless villain. 'I should keep this up and practice like this more.'

"You!" Andrew growled. His hands reached out to grab at Ash's collar but before he could Lena's voice sounded out.

"Andrew!!" As soon as she said his name in that sharp, displeased tone, Andrew froze for a moment before withdrawing his hands. But his sharp gaze did not recede. "Ash, do you maybe have a method to see if Father Lou is in danger of turning at the moment please." As she asked him this Ash had a feeling that his secret was already exposed to her. To what extend she knows, he didn't know. All he felt was a sudden sense of crisis. Ash turned a pair of alert eyes towards her and observed her intentions. She was as always smiling at him. Her eyes were wise and calm and Ash felt like they were telling him not to be scared. After a moment, he took in a deep breath and returned back to his previous calmness.

"I can check, but I won't cure him in front of everyone." Ash answered as he crouched down in front of the infected man. He then took hold of his wrist and placed his hand over the pulse like any experienced doctor would do to check the patient's illness. slowly he send his power into the man's body and probed around to see the situation. Loch wrinkled his brow as he felt a strange feeling in his hand. As soon as he used the power, Ash instantly felt the previous stabbing pain in his stomach intensify. If before it was like stabbing needles, now it felt like someone was scraping off layer after layer of his skin. Cold sweat immediately covered his forehead and Ash released the man's hand in a hurry to break off the link his power had on the other.

Andrew noticed that something wasn't right and he immediately walked forward to inquire, "What happened. How is he."

Even though he was suffering from agonising pain, Ash still had been able to analyse the condition of father Loch without much difficulty. "He will be alright until tomorrow noon if nothing unexpected happens."

"That's good then." Lena said as she bowed down to see if everything was okay with father Loch. After making sure nothing was wrong, she straightened back up only to hear another argument between the boys.

"You said it is just a pill. Then what is the fuss about not having us in the room. Him eating the pill cannot be seen. I call Bullshit. You are pulling our leg. Who knows what evil schemes you have planned." Andrew was spewing one insult after another at the young boy who seemed to be around their age.

'Boys.' Lena thought in annoyance. Knowing Andrew's stubborn character when it comes to his father, she knew that there wasn't much she could do to persuade him otherwise. "Ash, Could I maybe have a chat with you alone?" Lena saw his eyes tremble slightly as he looked over at her, 'Is he scared of me?' She thought slightly amused. 'Haven't I been always amiable around him?'

"Yeah. sure whatever." Ash responded with a steady voice. He tried to sound as unbothered by this woman as he could. But the fear that she knew his secret somehow kept bothering him and seeped into his small gestures. 'What is she going to do to me once she knows. Will she cut me open and try to see inside me like the forensic student she is? or will she sell me out to the scientist in exchange for entry and other benefits once they reach the camp?'

Seeing Ash avoiding her eyes like crazy but at the same time trying to sound unbothered by all this, made Lena smile brightly. 'So cute.' She thought in her heart as she suppressed the desire to run forward and squeeze his cheeks. "Let's go this way." She pointed to a side room and then took the lead to walk towards it. Once both of them were inside the room, she gently closed the door and sat down on one of the chairs that they scavenged and brought back there before.

"Can I ask to see the pill that you are going to give father Loch?" Lena asked once Ash also sat across from her, stiff as a board.

"No."

"Why not?" Lena persisted. "Is it a secret? Don't you think that since the world is in chaos right now it is important that such important information is shared so that as many people as possible can be saved from disaster?" Lena was laying out the traps to bully Ash slightly. "Although I specialised in forensic, we also had to learn about medicines, so as half a doctor, I would be able to tell how effective the pill is."

'That is exactly the problem. I can't just hand out a vitamin tablet to you and expect you to believe that it is the miracle cure like the rest of the people Rhys has deceived.' Ash thought as his heart beat started to increase as panic slowly settled in. 'What should I do.'

"Could it be that Andrew is right and you are lying to us so that you can do something to father Loch?" Lena took on a serious tone as she sat up in the chair and asked with hardened eyes. Lena understand that no matter what Ash was saying, he was hoping for their group's help to get back to the camp. So, he wouldn't get angry and completely give up on treating Father Loch even if she provokes him a little.

"Of course not!" Ash exclaimed in surprise. Although he didn't want to risk his safely he was not going to play around with the lives entrusted to him either.

"Alright, then let me ask you something else. What were you doing outside in these suburbs alone? Where is your teammates. We know that a lone person cannot survive this long alone. So tell me, did you betray your group and get kicked out for it?" Lena was merciless in the probing.

'I betrayed them?' Ash felt like screaming and tearing out his hair. 'They betrayed me.' Ash cussed in his heart and wished that man a horrible death. In his anger, Ash didn't realise that the words he had thought he had screamed in his head were actually said out aloud.

"Your group betrayed you?" Lena asked curiously, she had kind of already guessed that, that must have been what had happened. Reasons; one, otherwise a puny boy like Ash would never survive alone out there without a group around him, two, he looks like the first person someone would throw out as a sacrifice or bait when they go on a mission. Three, when he mentioned his conditions he put great emphasis on not betraying and not sacrificing anyone. "Why would they do that?" Seeing that Ash was silent, still watching her with that distrustful look in his eyes, she added, "No need to say it if you don't want to. But you know, sometimes it helps to talk about your problems with someone to get that weight out of your chest. Also it would put my mind at ease knowing that you are not the betraying kind. If you can convince me, I will place my trust in you with Loch's matter and support you during the journey back"

Ash knew what she said was true. Moreover, all these negative emotions were burning him inside out. Ever since he woke up he had been looking for an outlet for these emotions. He felt like he wanted to kill someone for the first time in his life. It is always the worst when the trust you placed in someone is broken. Before he knew it, tears were already streaming down his cheeks and falling onto his lap. Lena suddenly felt distressed and hugged the guy. Such a lovely boy, why would they abandon him, and if her guess, miraculous as it may be, was right then, there was even fewer reason to throw him away. Instead they should have put him in a pedestal and taken care of his every need. Maybe the camp he is from didn't have any good experienced doctors to notice his situation like she did. Or the boy has hidden himself well until now. Under the influence of her soft voice and soothing hands, Ash felt comfortable enough to tell her the details of his last raid mission. Once he finished he finally calmed down and pulled himself out of her hands with embarrassment. A very obvious red tinted his white cheeks.

She had just needed two more sentences to trap this boy, but after that heart to heart talk, Lena gave up on her indirect approach and asked directly, "Ash, I have a feeling that your self healing ability is extra ordinary. Can you tell me if you are using the same method to heal Father Loch?"

After a long silence where Ash had an internal battle to determine if Lena was trustworthy or not he finally opened his mouth and asked, "Yes, how did you figure out?"

For some reason, his answer seemed to relieve her. She smiled brightly and answered, "Like I mentioned before, I have a very keen sense when it comes to wounds. You said the injury should have been just 8-9 days old when we first saw you. If what you said is true, then the rate of recovery from your initial state to that one must have been extraordinary. Plus. While you were passed out I observed you body's healing power carefully and was astonished at the speed you muscles were being formed and sewn back together."

"Ah!" Ash realised how easy it was for his secret to get exposed because he passes out a lot in front of people injured. He has to be more careful in the future. Now he should seriously start preparing for what Lena was going to do with this information. Although she was kind and felt trustworthy, you never know. They might turn on you at any chance they get. Seeing his worries, Lena couldn't hold back anymore and stretched out her hands to pinch his cheeks. She had been wanting to do that since they knocked him out. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone. Not even Andrew or Father Loch will hear about this from my mouth. Just take today as a doctor trying to quench her curiosity." She winked at him as she stretched his cheeks. "And I will ask Andrew to stay outside while you treat Father Loch. Instead I will accompany you in order to appease him."

Since she already knew everything, there wasn't anything else for him to say. So he just nodded his head in agreement. He will have to keep an eye out for this woman in the future. He will only trust her if his heart and brain agrees on it. Right now only his heart agreed while his brain objected it completely. 'Dear God, Smart people are scary. I hardly told her anything and she already figured out the whole story.' As he thought that, a slight smile spread on his face as he watched Lena go out to report their agreement. 'I really want to see where she ends up in.'

Afterwards Ash realised that everything was going smoothly. He had some trouble while healing the knocked out Loch, since the two colliding powers in him were healing and wrecking havoc constantly. This made the treatment process also double painful. Lena stayed with him throughout and finally realised that there are no free meals in this worlds. Likewise there are no miracle person who can cure everything without consequences. And Ash was bearing the said consequences.

As soon as Father Loch recovered, the group, including the other three who were out on a scavenging trip that day, set out to gather some food for the long road tip back, stole a car, hot wired it and were on the way to the refugee camp.

After days of fighting, gathering and resting, their relationship got better and everyone treated Ash like their own little brother. Ash wondered if he should place his trust one final time in this new group of friends he picked up. He will see were this road takes him. After a while the shape of a wall emerged in the distance. He was back.

————

Soon after Ash stepped through the gates of the camp and into the quarantine section, someone rushed through the white painted corridors, and stood before a set tightly shut doors. The woman hesitated for a moment before raising her hand to knock on the door. Dr Davis had been in a horrible mood these past several weeks. No one could blame him. His most sought after specimen, was reported as missing and then dead. Several weeks back, on the day Rhys's team returned, when the news of the lost boy was delivered to him, he had thrown the whole lab into chaos. Test tubes and experiment reports were shattered and torn due to his rage. The other scientists even spotted Dr Hansen sporting a large bruise on his cheek shaped faintly in the structure of a fist. No one asked what had happened. They could already guess that Dr Davis had taken his anger out on him. That incident made the rest of the research team stay as far away as possible from those gloomy doors.

"What!" An irritated shout echoed through the door, an indication that the genius was still in a foul mood.

"Doctor, its Shelly. I have news regarding the boy, Ash, he has returned. alive..." the assistant started.

Before she could finish her words, the door she was facing slammed open and the glowing face of Dr Davis was seen. "What you said is the truth?" He asked in an excited voice.

"Yes Sir." The assistant was heaving a sigh of relief in not having faced the doctors fist nor a mouthful of foul language. All the others had pushed her to deliver the message since they didn't want to deal with another one of the doctor's mood swings. And Shelly being an assistant to Dr Hansen, had the least probability of getting wronged by the genius.

The young doctor smiled from ear to ear and patted the assistant on the shoulder. "Good job. Thank you for telling me. Now go and find that fool of your boss, Hansen. I have a few words to say to him." As he mentioned Dr Hansen's name his expression became cold like an executioner waiting for his victim.

Shelly gulped noisily and hurriedly nodded her head before dashing off to get the task done.

She was very efficient with the tasks that she did. After just waiting a few minutes hurried footsteps echoed down the hall and a clear sound of knocking sounded on his door. "Come in." Dr Davis called out.

The door opened slightly and the familiar head of grey popped through the cracks to see his mood. As if being reassured by the slight smile, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "You called?" He asked a bit nervously. He still remembered the pain from the punch to his face given by this very man. He may look thin with malnutrition but he could certainly pack a heavy weight behind his punch. The evidence was still clear on Dr Hansen's face like a trophy. The blue colouring was slowly fading but it was still glaringly obvious on his pale skin.

"You should have already heard about Ash's return.?" He didn't look at him but asked in a calm tone as he picked up the yellow rubber ball on the table and started observing it like some kind of treasure.

"Y-yes. Dr Davis. It is good news isn't it?" Dr Hansen asked enthusiastically as he patted his lightly round stomach and laughed. If he wasn't aware then he wouldn't have send his assistant over to inform the man who held an overwhelming interest in the boy.

"It is. But do you know what a much better news would be Dr Hansen?" Dr Davis squeezed the ball and distorted its shape as he said in a chilling voice. He still had the smile on his lips so Dr Hansen didn't find anything strange. But his natural instinct still send a chill down his spine as the image of the squeezed ball was replaced by his own distorted, dripping heart.

"....?" Dr Hansen scratched his head as he thought what it might be. But nothing seemed to come to mind.

".... that, Dr Hansen would be the news that you have secured Ash for the lab without any annoying complications this time." Dr Davis hissed as his smile fell completely. "I already asked you to get it done long before. But your incompetence led to the boy leaving the lab and even being missing for this long." He shouted at the stunned doctor who was trembling in his boots. "Tell me. When will I be able to get my hands on that boy?"

"I will get to it right away Sir!" Dr Hansen shouted in a quivering voice. Instantly he realised that Dr Davis's wasn't completely out of his bad mood from the past days.

"I will give you exactly two weeks. By then the boy better be standing before me if you know what is best for you doctor." The threat in Dr Davis's voice was very obvious. Dr Hansen quickly nodded his head, not daring to say anything in defiance. "Since you understand, let's talk about the other important matter I had entrusted you."

Dr Hansen immediately gulped in fear. "Doctor..." before he could say anything he was broken off mid sentence and interrupted.

"Tell me have you found out who the rat that has been snooping around the lab's vicinity is?" Doctor Davis's voice was ice cold.

"That... Yes Sir." This topic was a bit problematic for him since he would be indirectly affected. Thus he had been trying to delay it as long as possible. But it seems time has run out. Dr Davis was looking at him as if he was asking, 'well do I need to stick a scalpel in your mouth for you to answer me?' There was nothing Hansen could do all he could try was putting all the fire on the man in front of him so as to lower the burden on him, "It was Kyle and that girl Zuri Doctor."

There wasn't any response. As he looked up Dr Davis was still playing with the ball in his hand as if he already knew this. Right as he opened his mouth to ask the next question, Dr Hansen quickly jumped in to clarify, "I told you before, that letting the boy into the lab would cause us trouble. He was Kyle's spy just like I said. He helped Kyle to gather information on us and that led to these troubles." Dr Davis was quiet but there was a small smirk on his lips. "Thankfully, he wasn't able to get far into the facility. And no important information was lost. And it seems like not a lot of people know about his antics. So, we just find a way to deal deal with Kyle discreetly. I still wonder how skilled he must be to leave the building without getting detected."

The smirk on Dr Davis's face widened so far that it started to look creepy. "Tell me Dr Hansen, where is Nate?"

As soon as the question fell, a shiver went down Dr Hansen's spine. "I-I haven't seen him for a while Sir. He must be fooling around with the girls or something."

Dr Davis snorted, "Well Well... aren't you an irresponsible uncle. It seems like you don't even care were he is or what happens to him." Dr Davis looked up at his junior who was sweating buckets with a distorted face and mocked, "Luckily I was able to track down his whereabouts in your stead. Aren't you curious."

"I-I" Dr Hansen stuttered. Of course he was aware of his nephew's whereabouts. As soon as started looking into Kyle's affairs he knew that his nephew was in his custody. For the past week he had been trying to get the boy out of the man's clutches, discreetly. He couldn't just barge into their tent and demand the boy's release. After all he had no proof to accuse Kyle of his crimes of breaking into the lab. And even if he did, the man can just threaten the boy to say that he was an accomplice or had invited him inside on his own volition. 'People with power were always difficult to deal with.'

Seeing the elderly man in front of him stuttering like a fool Dr Davis's eyes darkened with anger. "Dr Hansen!!! Am I to assume that you and your nephew are working against me and this institution. Betraying our secrets and our hard work?" He shouted at the old man. The ball that he had been kneading until then left hand at lightning speed and slammed into the wall next to Dr Hansen's head.

Dr Hansen's legs lost strength and he slid down to the ground as he trembled. "No of course not. I would never betray the institution." Although there was fear, there was a determination and belief in his voice that conveyed his position.

There was a very long silence as the younger man, glared daggers at Dr Hansen's head. Finally he crossed his empty hands over his legs and leaned back into his chair as if exhausted. "You have been in this field for a long time. So I wish to place my trust in you one last time."

"Thank you Dr Davis. Thank you I won't let you down." Dr Hansen immediately started to express his gratitude with a lowered head. Even though he felt a bit grievance right then, he knew that Dr Davis was someone who was constantly observed by the headquarters. Even with his younger age and lower experience, Hansen had no choice but to obey him.

"This chance is only given to you and not Nate. I hope you know this." Dr Davis's cold voice sounded. Dr Hansen was quite for a moment and clenched his hands tightly and nodded.

"Good. If you understand then take Nate to Lab Alpha." Dr Hansen shivered again at this. His eyes turned slightly red but he kept quite. "Retrieve the ball for me and get your ass out of here. I don't want to see your face for a while."

A trembling hand quickly picked up the ball which had almost knocked him out cold and passed it into the outstretched hand. Then he quickly turned around and hurried out as if the devil was chasing him. Before the door closed behind him he heard Dr Davis cold words whispering to him like the death's embrace. "I want results George. You better not disappoint me again. Or you will know the consequences."

As soon as Hansen got back to the rest of the curious spectators who were most probably lingering around to see if he was sporting another bruise, he paused. He needed to take out the anger he was feeling in his heart. His feelings were all turbulent and confusing. He felt fear and pain and anger. But he couldn't do anything about it.

Every time he get's scolded by that devil then his students won't obviously have an easy time either. "Someone call me Amal and Elissa. Fast." After he shouted, he sat down in his chair fuming. 'That little brat. How can he talk to me like that.' Although he gritted his teeth he knew that that brat had a much more complex and fascinating brain on his head than his which gave him both favour and admiration which in turn brought him power. He wasn't in a position to oppose the man. He sighed to let out his frustration to calm himself and heard a set of footsteps stopping next to him. Dr Hansen looked up and saw the faces of his students. They both looked worn out and sleep deprived. Since Dr Davis's mood changed, both he and his students have suffered.

He let out a sigh in destress and jumped right to the matter, "I have a task for the both of you."

"Yes teacher."

"Ash has returned to the camp, he is in quarantine right now. You need to catch his little girl and bring her here before he meets her. Do it discreetly. Stall him if need be."

The two looked a little depressed by the task, but knowing that they couldn't waste time, they hurriedly nodded and left.

Dr Hansen sighed a third time. He has been constantly doing that recently. The pain of what his nephew is about to face haunted him but he forcefully suppressed it. Now he had to deal with the second problem, for that he needs to meet with someone personally. He stood up reluctantly and made his way out of the laboratory which he hadn't left in a long time.