Sean followed Zero out across the compound, asking discreetly. "They told me you took off. I don't understand..." Zero stopped short to face Sean, moving in closer, Zero told him just as discreetly. "Sean, you are in danger here. If you get the chance to run. Do it." Sean shrugged not sure what Zero meant. He didn't trust the Horsemen, but he didn't feel like he was in any danger. They needed him. He was harboring the cure. Zero glanced around, then shoved Sean against the side of an empty hut. Glaring at him, Zero whispered sternly. "Don't let them in your head, Sean. The more they know about you, the deeper they can sink their hooks into you. This is how they manipulate you." Sean raised an eyebrow, curiously slipping out. "What do they have on you?" Zero stepped back from him, deflecting the question defensively. "This isn't about me. This is about what they are going to do to you if Mark fails to do what they want." Sean straightened up and Zero shuffled his feet anxiously. A few people passed them to go about their day. After they passed, Zero whispered more discreetly. "You are not as safe as you think. Trust me."

Sean started to say something, when Zero's eyes gestured to something off to his right. Leaning out from the wall, he looked around to see a set of Death Stalkers. The two men stood nearby but not close enough to hear them. Tensing, Sean looked around and noticed more men stationed around the compound from the other Horsemen's garrisons. All were watching him and heavily armed. If they hadn't been so armed, they would have blended in with the rest of the people wondering around the compound. Sean stiffened, asking very softly. "I've seen them around. They are protecting me from-" Zero cut him off to say blatantly. "From War? No. Think about it. If War rapes you... What's the downside? You feel ashamed. You hide or try to run. That's what they would want... An excuse to lock you away. This is something else." Sean rubbed his collarbone, nervously asking. "What do you think it is?" Zero hefted his bow, sighing out deeply. "I don't know... But shoving me with you after telling you that I ran... It feels like a test for something."

Zero grabbed his arm, pulling him onward across the compound. Heading toward a long hut, Zero knocked on the doorframe and one of Conquest's guards opened the cloth flap. Zero pulled his bandana down to reveal his mark and the guard let them in. Inside, Sean's eyes widened. Similar to Famine's lab, Conquest's hut was half chemical lab and half war room. Sitting at a desk in the war room half, Conquest sat with his feet up, watching the many monitors that were running surveillance around the compound and elsewhere. Lazily, Conquest told them without looking in their direction. "I miss my compound. It is far more comfortable then this hippy dump. A lot more secure as well." Zero kept Sean from getting too close to Conquest, while addressing Conquest respectfully. "I brought him as you requested." Conquest dropped his polished white armored boots to the ground, straightening up in his seat to answer dryly. "I know. He was surprised to see you, no doubt." Sean coaxed Chica into sitting at his side, asking bluntly. "Why did you want to see me?" Conquest crossed his lean legs, grinning brightly as he said aloud. "I thought I'd take it upon myself to give you an update." Zero shifted uneasily beside him. Sean stayed calm, watching Conquest lean forward to press a button on his laptop.

Two of the monitors changed to bring up a feed that he didn't recognize at first. Then he did when something was taken off and dropped to the ground, revealing Mark raising his hands to be patted down by a soldier. Sean moved closer, stating out excitedly. "Mark made it! He's ok!" Conquest's smile faded to a cold glare as he said. "For now." Sean's blood turned to ice. What did he mean by that? Conquest fast forwarded the feed, informing him casually. "You know... I'm a sore loser. I give simple directions and I expect them to be done to the letter. Cause that's how I win." Sean gawked at the rushing feed, uttering out under his breath. "You put a camera on his bag..." Conquest slowed the feed down, telling him seriously. "Two actually. Front and back of the backpack. Tiny little things, but so very effective when people don't check their equipment." Sean saw the bag get set in a box with Mark's name and set on a metal table by men in hazmat suits. The men gassed down the stuff in the boxes, then spoke aloud to log all the contents.

The box was then moved to another room and set on a table, where a woman in a lab coat told the men softly. "Leave them there for now. I'll make the interns go through the stuff later." For a bit the bag sat in a dark room, until the lights came on and a woman stepped into the room. Sean's heart fell into the pit of his stomach as all the air left his lungs. Amy entered the room with the lab woman. The lab woman pointed to Mark's box, then was called away by a man in a hazmat suit that said aloud. "Ma'am? Your sons are here. They want to see Mari. What shall I tell them?" The lab woman left with him to have a more private conversation. Leaving Amy alone to rummage through the bag. While she quickly searched it, she muttered to herself. "This is insane... Mark, don't make me regret this..." Removing the six EpiPens from the bag, Amy looked around for something. After a few seconds, her eyes fell on something under the table and she set the insulin pens down to get it. Lifting up a box of 'discarded items', she searched through the items for something that could clearly hold the insulin pens.

Picking up a gnome figure, she turned it over and grinned. Stashing the box back under, she went to work stuffing the insulin into a hole under its feet. Stuffing his plastic steal back in place to cover the hole, she pulled a cloth from Mark's bag and wrapped it up. Just after finishing the wrap, Amy turned to face the lab woman that had entered to check on her. Together they left the room and Conquest paused the video. Sean backed up feeling sick to his stomach. Mark had talked to her. He knew she was alive. What did that mean for them now? Sean clutched his heart, taking jagged breaths. Zero touched his arm, starting to lightly say. "Sean, about what I-" Zero didn't finish, because his eyes fell on Conquest's dark glare. Sean was too hurt to care about their petty scams and manipulations. Trying to keep himself together, he growled out to Conquest. "Why did you show me this?" Conquest eased out of his chair, telling Sean coolly. "Do you think Mark is getting cold feet? Do you still think he's trustworthy?"

Sean huffed, avoiding everyone's judgmental eyes as he snapped back. "I'm not the person you should be asking... He's hurt me more than anyone." Sean could feel himself breaking and shoved his way out of the hut. Zero called his name, but Sean only whistled for Chica and headed to the barn. Entering the barn, he saw a group of Death Stalkers standing around and chatting about practice. They fell silent as he entered, which only fueled him to snap out bitterly. "Get out!" They looked at each other with sarcastic looks, until Sean snatched a sword from the weapon rack and yelled out in a blind fury. "GET THE FUCK OUT!" In a rush they dropped their weapons and scrambled from the barn. Storming up to a target dressed in armor, Sean wildly slashed out at it with aggressive blows. Every swing sent the clanging of metal into the empty barn as he dented the chest plate in. Sean kept wailing on the target until his strength and adrenaline was gone. Then dropping the sword, he fell to his knees.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He just felt exhausted, both emotionally and physically. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his arm to try and give himself some kind of comfort. His skin felt cold. So, he rubbed along his arms to warm them. Upon feeling something leaking heavily down his cheeks, he reached up to touch the liquid and opened his eyes. There on his fingers was fresh blood. His hand began to shake as he turned it over. Noticing that along his pale skin, black veins were creeping down his arms to his fingers. His heart quickened as he watched blood splatter his shirt. Picking up the sword, he used the blade to look at his reflection. From his eyes, blood was running down his cheeks like tears. The whites of his eyes were lined in black veins and his blue eyes looked faded. Glancing around to see if he could call for help, he noticed Famine sitting in the stands with a calm expression. What had they done to him?!

Back in the colony, Mark sat on his cot staring into the lifeless green eyes of the gnome. Turning the thing over in his hands, he had figured out why Amy had given him the damn thing... but it was creepy. Plus, what made it worse was that it seemed to know his secrets. It stared at him with judgmental eyes, questioning his morals without saying a word. He was so conflicted. Not just about the virus anymore, but with Amy too. He hadn't gotten the chance to really talk to her after she gave him the gnome. He'd been rushed out to let Mari chat with her brothers. All except Kenny anyway. Draped across his cot, Kenny chuckled out teasingly. "You've been staring at him for twenty minutes now... He's not possessed, is he? Doesn't talk you?" Mark set the gnome on the bed, flatly remarking. "No. He just... helps me think." Kenny shrugged, lightly asking. "And what does Mr. Gnome help you think about?" Mark shot Kenny a serious look, answering numbly. "It's complicated." Kenny started to say something, but Mark shot out quickly in a dark tone. "No, I don't want to talk about it. Just... stop."

Kenny sat up, crossing his legs under him as he asked more seriously. "Look, I know this sucks... but give it a chance. When you explain to my mother what you know about them. We can send a rescue party out to get your friends." Mark rocked the gnome with a finger, distractedly mumbling out. "Kenny... I appreciate you trying to cheer me up..." Kenny reached out to touch his shoulder, squeezing it gently. Mark wanted so badly to tell someone what was happening. It was eating him up, but he was afraid. Taking the gnome in his arms, he laid down with it huddled against his chest. He couldn't let anything happen to the gnome. The fourteen days of quarantine passed by at a crawl. The only thing that kept them all sane was the cards Mari was given. Sitting on the floor, they all played a round of poker. Mark thought he was getting pretty good, until they let the damn Gnome play. For a guy that never took cards and always made a last stand... he was winning. Mari found it hilarious, but both Kenny and Mark were plotting his death. Mark wasn't so sure that the damn thing wasn't possessed.

As the game finished up with the gnome winning with aces against Kenny's full house. Kenny tossed his cards down and grumbled out with disappointment. "This is ridiculous! I'm losing to a gnome!" Mari laughed, rubbing Kenny's shoulder as she chuckled out. "For being only half the man that you are... He seems to have bested your luck." Kenny tackled Mari, tickling her as Mark chuckled. Their laughter died down though, when the door to the square room hissed open. Protectively, Mark grabbed the gnome as a woman from the lab told them sweetly. "You are free to entire the colony. Right this way and I'll show you to your stuff." Mark climbed to his feet slowly, letting Kenny and Mari go out first. Together they were taken to a back room where boxes of their stuff sat on a table against the wall. Heading to the backpack, Mark carefully stuffed the gnome inside and removed the gun before zipping it back up. Mark looked the gun over, then strapped it to his leg. It wasn't much, but he wanted to be safe.

Once they were ready, they were escorted out of the building and released into the colony. Kenny gave them a short tour of everything, then took them to the church. There were people getting food from inside and going to the bench tables, or setting up picnic blankets on the church lawn. Gesturing to the church, Kenny told them. "We usually eat our meals here. When winter comes, we plan to move our cafeteria to one of the restaurant buildings. But since we don't have air conditioning... We are making do with the breezy church. Most of the generators are reserved for the labs. But everyone here has a job to help out. The board is on the porch of the church. You can sign up for one. But you can always change jobs later." Mark slowed to see that people were actually happy here. It even surprised him to see people working together. Inside the church, the smell of food was overwhelming. Mark's stomach growled just smelling the bacon, waffles, pancakes, sausages, hash browns, and biscuits. Racing Mari to the table, they snatched up plates and dug in. For once the stupid broadcast had been right. They did seem to have everything.

Collecting their food, they made their way out to sit at a picnic table. Neither him nor Mari talked. They just ate like they hadn't eaten a decent meal in months! In the middle of eating his meal, Lexi approached the table with Kenny at her side. Giving Mark a nod of greeting, she told him sweetly. "When you finish eating. Come to my office. We'll have that talk." To Be Continued...