Gunnar had a visitor in the morning otherwise he wouldn't have bothered moving. Tomorrow would be better and the next day too, but he had to get through the first days of hell first. He remembered very little, but Olivia's voice had said something about leaving. As far as he knew, he was the only one still left alive here. Not for long if Rob had his way.

Gunnar hadn't bothered making or keeping friends close to day zero, and Rob had taken his survival strategy personally. It didn't help that the guys from the bandana gang he'd deceived managed to show up here too.

Gunnar's only salvation was finding Aida, alive and really angry with him. He couldn't help it. He had to speak with her especially after Rob threatened to tip off the guards with his identity. Aida needed to know he still cared and that he was sorry for not looking harder for her when their mother died in front of her young eyes.

His visitor was the old man from the security training, Mr. Dugin. The guard opened up his cell door and the man stepped inside. The guard mumbled something along the lines of "your own risk".

"Now that the real Travis has come forward, what am I to call you?"

Gunnar rubbed his bruised hands together and looked at the floor. "Gunnar."

"Well, Gunnar, you have our undivided attention. You've caused us to open an investigation into our security staff, building's defences, and surveillance. What is it that you want?"

He took a deep breath then winced. "I wanted to know that my sister is safe."

"Your sister, Aida?"

"Yes."

The gold ring on the man's wrinkled fingers shone as he tapped his fingers on the table. "You infiltrated a high security establishment, just to check on your sister?"

Gunnar opened his mouth to correct him, but realized he'd just been given the cover story he needed. "I thought she was dead. When I heard she was here, I wanted to see for myself."

The ring had three stars and a curvy line, Gunnar noticed as the man placed his hands up like a steeple. "What have you been doing until now?"

Gunnar shrugged, regretting the action soon after. Everything but his toes stung after the guards' and Rob's beating. "Staying alive."

"Where have you been living?"

"In an abandoned house."

The man took off his gold glasses and rubbed his eyes. "It's astonishing you were able to survive the storms. They've been almost as powerful as the ones that took our country as we knew it. How did you do it?"

"Had a good bunker."

"While we don't condone what you've done here, we do see the value in having an individual like yourself at our disposal."

Gunnar's eyes widened and he took another deep breath that sent shockwaves of pain through his ribs. They were going to dispose of him, hopefully quickly.

"Just don't do anything to Aida."

"With your cooperation, there will be no need to harm your sister."

Silence followed as Gunnar thought about the different ways they could get rid of him. Being shot would be the quickest way out. They could also snap his neck like he did with the live rabbits.

The man put his glasses back on. "I see your wheels turning."

Gunnar's foot began to twitch. Not this again. "How are you going to do it?"

"Do what?"

"The disposal. Are you going to shoot me?"

"God, no. Where did you get that idea?"

"I-" Gunnar's foot tapped away on the floor. "I misunderstood." Olivia had given him this out in case his answers made no sense to the other person.

The old man leaned forward and made eye contact with Gunnar through the thick glasses. They made his eyes big and bug-like so Gunnar played with his fingernails instead of meeting his gaze.

"Let me put it simply. We want your help. If we had known about you earlier, you and your sister would have both come here together." He flicked on a tablet until Aida's face showed up with some blurry writing. "Our colleague who was responsible for meeting with your family struggled to find a word other than 'disgruntled' to describe you and your mother."

Gunnar wasn't sure what that meant but it didn't sound good. He remembered the men in suits who came to try and take his sister away a few months before the storms, promising she'd be happier there.

"What do you want with my sister?"

The man put down the cell phone. Gunnar kept his eyes on the picture of the blonde girl with a mean scowl and cold eyes. They probably took that picture right after Mom died, otherwise Aida was usually quite nice, much friendlier than he was. She wore the sweater with flowers and a dancer that he'd gotten her last year.

The man cleared his throat, but Gunnar wouldn't look up. "She's, quite simply, a genius."

"Yeah she's real good and Math and English and stuff." Did she want to come here? Should he have let them take her away and saved her being alone with their mom during the storms? Not if they were up to no good like Olivia and Reggie thought.

"Your sister is what we'd call a prodigy, a gem in a pile of soot. She's been dulled by her environment and horrendous state of our inner-city public education."

"She's only twelve."

"Thirteen."

Gunnar had even missed her birthday. He could hardly call himself a good brother.

The man flicked through more screens on the phone, making Aida disappear. "There is also the matter of your friend."

Friend was hardly a word for him. "Rob?"

"No, we're more than acquainted with that man. We'll be meeting with the Mexican teen who has been claiming to be one Manny Gonzalez." The man held out a photo of Matt with a bloodied nose.

Matt? What was he still doing here and why did he have a busted nose? "I dunno who you're talking about."

"Manny, the real one, was found outside the compound yesterday and the security guard who he claims helped the both of you has vanished. You can understand our suspicions."

Gunnar wrinkled his brow. "You think we killed him."

"We're investigating it."

"Wouldn't you leave if the people you helped got caught?"

"That's another possibility. Until we figure it out unfortunately we won't be able to offer you the full medical facilities to help with your healing, but we will send a nurse to check your wounds aren't life-threatening. You can assist us by sharing your side of the story."

Gunnar remained silent. He now had to figure out a way to work Matt into his story. The old man sat and stared at him for a few minutes until he reached into his briefcase.

"I see you aren't ready to talk. I'll leave you a pen and paper in case you change your mind in my absence." The man stood up. The metal legs of the chair scraped against the cement as he pushed it in.

Gunnar stared at the two common enemies he'd faced throughout school. If this was the only way to get out then he'd be stuck in here forever. He could only hope that the old man would come back.

***

When his next visitor came a few days later, Gunnar was still working on his story. He wasn't a good liar and was pretty sure the guy would see right through it. How would he explain Travis agreeing to help? How much had they told them about Olivia and the others? He couldn't breathe a word about them without leading everyone to the community and Vita. If they found Vita, Rob would find out about her and the baby. Gunnar would never let that happen.

Instead of the older man, a young woman who he'd been pretending to date the past week showed up. She eyed him and paced with arms across her chest. She probably bothered to wear the bra today, not that he was really looking.

"I can't believe what you've done," she said angrily, hands flying to her hips.

"It wasn't personal."

"I feel violated that you felt you could just step up and take Travis' place. It's sick that you and your little friend were able to convince the guards to knock him out and keep him sedated this whole time. I hope you rot in this cell." She stormed off after that.

Gunnar shook his head and leaned back against the cold wall. At least dealing with her had been quick and painless.

It wasn't until later the evening that he realized she'd spelled out his story and judging by the fact that she was close to Travis, he imagined that the guy would be sticking to the same one. But why was she helping him and could he even trust her?

***

Gunnar asked the guards if they'd find the old man who had visited him a few days earlier. Now that he could move around a bit more without feeling like someone was beating his sides like a drum, he could try to make up some kind of story about Matt. He was hoping Matt might be close by and they could figure out a story together, but the people here were smarter than that.

The man came dressed in a brown corduroy coat and held a few files. Gunnar hoped they weren't filled with papers he had to read or write on.

"Have you completed a written account of your break-in?"

"No, I, uh -" he paused doubting his own plan. Olivia had made his ill- e -c - illiteracy, she called it -- why they needed such a fancy word for dumb he'd never understand -- seem not bad so maybe he could explain it to this guy too. "I can't write or read."

"I can't say I'm surprised. We've spoken with your sister and Mr. Ramirez."

Gunnar brushed a few strands of his long blonde hair out of his eyes. "Who?"

Mr. Dugin frowned, the new wrinkles increasing the age of his face a decade. "Mateo Ramirez, your accomplice in the break-in."

"Right, Matt, we met after the storms, looking for people we lost."

"We are prepared to offer you a position with a probationary period to become a member of our community. We've offered the same to Mr. Ramirez but he has refused until he gets the right to speak to you. I was hoping you could persuade him to stay."

Gunnar leaned forward in his vinyl chair. "What's in it for me?"

"You wanted to ensure your sister was safe. This is your only way to do so."

"So she's a prisoner?" Gunnar's hands tightened their grip on the metal armrests.

"No, she is a member and a condition of receiving provisions is that she remains on the premises."

Gunnar groaned. Why couldn't he just say what he meant with easier words?

"We can do the same for you: provide you a home and food in exchange for your work. Of course, first, we'll assign you a tutor to take care of your illiteracy."

Letting out a snort, Gunnar pressed his back against the chair. "If it was that easy don't you think I would'a done it already?"

The man held up a sheet of paper with lines of black typed across it. "What do you see on this paper?"

"Words." That was what everyone else saw.

"Look closely, what are they doing?"

Gunnar leaned forward. No one had ever asked that. The lines and circle letters spun and flashed from white to black running from his eyes. Some jumped around the more he focused.

"They move around."

The man smiled. "Hard to figure them out when they do that, isn't it?"

Gunnar nodded, but didn't really know what this had to do with his sister or him and Matt breaking in. "Why bother teaching me to read?"

"Written communication is unfortunately how we operate here. We wouldn't want you to be left out. Give us a week to help you settle in. You and Mateo can make your decision then. If you feel you can benefit from staying with us, you are most welcome, assuming that you explain exactly how you got into our facility and how we can prevent it from happening again."

This place got weirder and weirder the longer he stayed, but he'd get nowhere if he didn't play ball.