The next morning before he was even fully awake, Josh was once again made into a messenger boy as he shook him awake. This time instead of waiting for him to come along, he just grabbed his arm and pulled him up from his bed. "What are you doing so early in the morning. Don't you know not to disturb a lion when its sleeping." Ash asked annoyed as he rubbed his eyes to wake up while pushing the other away.

"Who is the lion?" Josh asked looking around the tiny tent which was so cramped that it had only space for one and a half person to lie down. "I don't see." He answered with a smirk as he saw Ash glare at him. Although Ash was scared of Rhys and Kyle, the rest were easy to get along with. He would often argue with Josh and Anne and be at ease around James and Biyu Chen. But Every time Josh came to call for him on behalf of someone else, he knew that something big was going to happen.

"So why are you here disturbing my beauty sleep?" Ash asked scornfully. He quickly stepped out of the tent so as to not to disturb Emma who was still sleeping. She had been secretly crying throughout the night after she thought Ash had fallen asleep. It must have been really hard for her to accept what happened to her dad so suddenly. Ash had been thinking that Emma was being awfully calm for someone who lost their family. But only now did he realise that she was just holding in all her pain so as to not worry others. She seemed more like an adult than him. The times forces the children to either grow up fast or get left behind.

Josh scoffed at Ash's statement and responded while following him a few feets away from the tent, "Kyle is looking for you."

"He is up this early?" Ash asked surprised. He was planing to head over there anyway. He knew that Zuri had been talking with Kyle a lot recently. So, he needed to know how things were going. But it was barely dawn. The sun was just rising and most people would try to get an extra minute of shut eye since no one could predict when their next peaceful slumber would be.

"He tasked me this yesterday before bed.... Well he only said to bring you around lunch time." Josh answered after pretending to think about it.

His answer send Ash into fury. "Around lunch time? It's hours away from LUNCH TIME" Ash would have almost screamed if it wasn't for the peacefully sleeping people in the vicinity.

"Well Kyle might only need you at lunch time but I happen to owe someone a favour and I seem to recall that you owe me one as well. So its time to pay up." Josh said joyfully swinging his arms as he walked. Ash rolled his eyes as he realised that there was no way out of this.

'So what he wants is to fulfil the favour he owes someone else using me.' He sighed heavily and asked, "what is it that I have to do? Cut the firewood? Help in the kitchen? Sort the garbage? Go to the farm? Or something else?" Those were usually the tasks that Josh hated doing. He always says its either not manly enough or dignified enough for him to do.

"Just go to the Eastern grounds, someone will be there to give you your task." Josh said as he stuffed his hands into the pocket of his jeans. He looked up at the only slowly lightening sky and shook his head as if he found the whole thing ridiculous. "You better not chicken out and do whatever they ask properly. I lost my precious sleep having to wake you up." He sounded a bit annoyed as he said this. 'Why send me to call him when you are perfectly capable. Everyone is now treating me like an errand boy.' Josh thought with a frown.

"All right. alright."Ash said quickly as he saw Josh start to mumble in irritation. 'It must be something uncomfortable for him to do that's why he is behaving so.' Ash thought as he reassured him. "I will go right away. Could you do me a favour and take Emma to Mrs Nolan when she wakes up?"

"Yeah sure." Josh agreed although it was with pursed lips. He must have been hoping to get the sleep he lost after informing Ash to get his ass over there. Now that was out of the question. Getting his affirmation, Ash quickly went to wash up to push the sleep away from him before making his way toward the Eastern grounds. These were large flat area which was mainly used by the residents to practice their survival skills.

As he got close to the training area, he spotted a lone figure leaning against the fence facing off into the distance. Ash's steps faltered as he recognised the person at once. The hight and the perfect build, along with the aura of confidence that made others' eyes unconsciously follow whatever he did, unmistakably belonged to only one person he knew. Only that person could exude an air of intimidation while looking so relaxed. The rising sun cast a faint orange halo around him enhancing his silhouette in the dark. The rays gave some warmed to his usual dark and cold figure. So breathtaking. Ash's breath hitched as his eyes got glued to the sight. He didn't realise that he had stopped several feet away and was frozen in place. He silently watched the figure for a while as if immersed in a complicated yet mesmerising painting. As the rising sun's rays blinded him back into reality, Ash quickly contemplated whether to run away or walk forward. Suddenly dark eyes turned to lock onto him. Ash gulped uncomfortably and cursed Josh under his breath. 'Of all the people you have to owe a favour to it had to be Rhys.'

There was a long moment of silence as neither spoke. Both of them watched the other as if trying to figure out what was going on in their heads. Finally Rhys stood up from his lazy leaning position and started walking towards the other. He saw Ash gulp and subconsciously take a step back. Rhys frowned as he saw this but still took the last two steps to come to a halt in front of the boy. "You are here." Rhys stated as he looked down at Ash. 'I thought you would not come.' He thought to himself as he watched Ash open his mouth to come up with a respond. He realised that Josh must not have told the boy that it was him who had called him over.

Ash seemed to be completely lost as he just kept opening and closing his mouth not knowing what to say. Finally as if finding his tongue back Ash asked, "Josh told me that I needed to do something for you? What is it?" Not knowing what else to say, Ash went right to the point. The sooner this 'meeting' ended, the better.

Rhys coughed awkwardly. There was no task to entrust Ash. Josh had owed him a favour as such he had instructed the other to bring Ash over to have a talk in order to try to convince him that yesterday's decision was rash and risky. He had a feeling that Ash would be avoiding him from today on even more than usual. So he refrained from going there and waking him up himself... or it was more that he was a bit prideful to do it. He had treated Ash horribly before and didn't trust him. He still didn't trust him at all. Three more of his comrades were in danger of being killed by this guy. Although he wanted to believe that he was just imagining it, deep in his heart he knew that those were events that were to happen soon. Even after being saved by Ash he couldn't take the risk. But as gratitude Rhys would start treating him a bit nicer. As such, he would nicely convince the boy that yesterday's decision was rash and unacceptable. He would offer his protection. At the same time keep a close eye on the other so that he doesn't kill anyone. Seeing Ash's fidgety nature and all his body language saying that he wanted to bolt at the next second, Rhys knew that he needed to think of something that can make the boy voluntarily come to him. "Starting today you are to meet me every morning for combat training." Rhys suddenly came up with a solution.

Ash's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Did I hear wrong?' Ash thought and looked up at Rhys in confusion to make sure he wasn't imaging things. There was no ripple of emotion on the latter's face. 'He really DID just say it' shocked Ash asked, "why should I?" Until now Rhys hadn't really shown any interest in training him. All the tricks he knew were from the others and from self observation. So the sudden offer only brought suspicion to his mind.

"One, you obviously don't have any fighting skills. And if you want to survive in the future you will need it." Hearing Rhys say that Ash wanted to argue that Luke had actually taught him some fighting skills. But even he knew that it was far from enough. Of course he could hold his own against someone else for a bit but if the fight dragged on then he was a goner.

"Two, although you have improved with your shooting skills, when the target moves, you are missing more shots than the ones that land." This was true as well. When it was a stationary target, Ash could easily hit it 8 times out of ten. But once the target starts moving then it would be entirely up to luck wether he could land a shot or not. "We don't have that many bullets to waste."

"Three, your physical strength and endurance is so low that even if you wanted to run and escape, it would be just a matter of time before you are caught and devoured." Again a complete true fact. Ash couldn't argue back at all. His stamina was close to zero. "This is also why you always faint and end up unconscious for several days." Rhys continued with a complicated look in his eyes. Ash really wanted to say that it was a side effect of using his power and not due to his lack of stamina, but he couldn't since he knew deep down that if he was healthier then the side effect wouldn't be this severe.

"So... come and train. I will help you get fitter." Rhys concluded. His voice was very persuasive as he glanced intensely into Ash's blues.

"I-I guess you are right. I do need the training. But I think... Luke or James would be enough to teach me." He carefully looked up at Rhys through hooded eyes and saw that the latter's face turned dark. "I don't want to bother you or waste your time."

"Why? Do you think they are better than me at combat?" Rhys hissed.

Seeing him pissed, Ash realised that he must have hurt his ego. So he quickly went on to deny it, "Of course not!" It was true that Rhys was the best out of the lot. But he was feeling suspicious and uncomfortable at the thought of meeting Rhys everyday even if it was only for training. 'Why would he volunteer his time and effort for me?'

As if reading his mind Rhys said, "don't think too much into it. This is repayment for saving my life back at the hospital." Rhys lied without even blinking his eyes.

"Oh!" Finally understanding why the sudden change happened in Rhys, Ash heaved a sigh of relief. Now he didn't feel burdened accepting Rhys's offer. "Although you dont have to repay me for that, since you offered I will accept then." Ash agreed. He needed to get stronger anyway and being taught by the best meant that he would improve quickly.

"Alright." Although Rhys was not completely happy he decided not to ruin what he got. "Today I will just see were all your skills are at. You will start with 10 rounds around the field then we will switch to gun training and then hand to hand combat."

Hearing the '10 rounds' right off the bat, Ash looked at the large ground that was larger than a football field and almost cried. 'Are you sure you don't have any grudge against me?If you do have some, lets talk about it rather than torturing me like this.'

Rhys cocked his eyebrow as he saw Ash hesitate. A faint smile graced his lips, "we are testing your endurance. Just run until you cant anymore. It will give me an idea how to plan your lessons."

The next few hours were spend running and fighting. By then the camp had already come to life and several people gathered around them to watch what they were doing. Seeing the complicated battle steps that Rhys exuded, several of them became agitated with expectations. All of their eyes gleamed at the prospect of learning under such a master. There were several other officers and civilians who woke up early to work out at the training field. The once quiet ground was soon crowded and loud.

After 5 hours Ash was already panting hard and so thirsty that he thought he was going to die. Sweat tickled down his back and forehead drenching his shirt in the salty liquid. His cloths started sticking onto his body outlining his every bump and curve. His face was flushed red with all the blood rushing to his head. Ash was sure that although he couldn't really feel it now, his body was going to be in a hell lot of pain later. He looked at Rhys who was standing a few feet away with a bit of envy in his eyes. While he was kneeling over, panting out of breath, the other was standing completely fine with strong even breathing. A light sheen of sweat also covered his exposed arms and face which was the only indicator that they had been intensely working out for the past several hours. Ash had to admit that Rhys was very good looking as he flexed his biceps and came over to help him up. Ash just swatted him away as he took a deep breath and straightened his back.

As Ash looked up at Rhys to confirm that it was the end of their training session for today, he found that the other had a weird look on his face as his eyes were glued onto his drenched shirt. Ash looked down at himself to see what the other was finding so fascinating only to find nothing amis. 'Was Rhys alright?' Ash wondered as he waved a hand in front of Rhys's face to get his attention. Rhys quickly lifted his eyes with a complicated expression on his face. "Well....I have to go now. Its almost time for me to meet up with Kyle." Ash said before running off without waiting for a reply.

Rhys slapped his own face and groaned as he watched the figure running off. He sighed deeply to compose himself and then looked around at the crowd training and those spectating. He felt annoyed. Throughout the training session with Ash, he couldn't help but notice that the crowd was ogling them without any shame.

————

Ash sat in front of Kyle. The gang of four friends that he hadn't seen since he came back, were also sitting around him. It looked like while he was away, they were able to properly integrate into their group. They seemed relaxed and at home. Zuri no longer had a look of hostility directed at Kyle.

Everyone had rushed to him as soon as he entered the tent. Lina and Zuri fussed over him until he felt dizzy. They were annoyed at him for getting injured and worrying them so much. After assuring them that he was fine now, they all sat down to discuss the important matters.

"Ash after you left, Zuri and I had a long talk about the matter regarding her brother Mason" Kyle looked quite serious as he said this. "The truth is more people have gone missing while you were comatose."

Ash was surprised at the information. He was sure that at least some people would start being suspicious about the entire missing people cases and start questioning the authorities. "So no one is trying to get to the bottom of it?" Ash asked.

"The people are indeed restless. The officers have been trying to find some clues but so far they have been unsuccessful..." Chase was the one to answered. He had done some digging himself and heard their conversation.

"I think the officers are aware of the reason behind the disappearance but they are also in cohort with those lunatics." Zuri nearly shouted as she clenched her hands into tight fists. She looked like she really wanted to punch someone. It has been more than a month now since her twin has been missing and she couldn't help but be worried.

"We suspect that the scientists have something to do with it." Kyle continued to inform him. Shooting a glance at the fuming Zuri at the side. "Under Zuri's request I have been snooping around. But even though that's what we think, there is no concrete evidence." He sighed heavily before continuing, "Unless we get some insider information, it would be unfair to barge into their labs and demand answers under just speculation." The lab was strictly guarded and no one outside of their work force was allowed anywhere near it. As such everyone was in the dark on the happenings inside.

"As you already know we believe for sure that its the scientists. Mason would not do anything stupid like what the officers say." Lina added while trying to calm down Zuri. "And it is weird that they asked to capture so many zombies." The horrible image of using humans as zombie fodder came to Ash's mind and he shuddered uncontrollably. Everyone else also felt the same way.

"Did they tell you why they needed the zombies when they asked you to capture them?" Ash asked Kyle as he was one of the people who went out and successfully captured one alive.

Kyle hesitated for a moment at the question. Seeing the various pairs of eyes landing on him he finally ran a hand over his face and said in a hushed tone, "They said it was highly classified information. But since I refused to take my men out on such a big risk without valid reason, they complied." He leaned back against his chair and looked everyone in the eyes, "Apparently they are on the verge of a breakthrough with the vaccine and for that they need live zombies. I don't really know all the details but I heard one of the scientists had a rare sample of something that reacted positively against the virus."

Everyone was silent for a while as they let Ash process the information. He realised that they were sharing all this high risk information with him because they needed something from him. "How can I help?" Ash asked deciding to offer his help first rather than making them awkwardly prop him.

Kyle smiles worriedly and held Ash's gaze for a long moment before wanting to answer but Elis beat him to it as he blurted out his request, "Can you be the insider informant?" As soon as the words left his lips his head got swatted hard and he whined in pain looking pitifully at Lina.

Ash was shocked. 'How am I supposed to be an insider informant? Have they lost their mind? It was a completely impossible task.' Even if he wanted to he needed to be able to get in first. He looked at the group confused.

Kyle coughed twice before getting back to what he wanted to say before he got interrupted, "An assistant of the main scientists here have been asking for you for the past several days. He regularly gave to the clinic where you were and took several samples from you after the first batch." Kyle dropped his voice another notch, "we fear that they might have abducted you long before if it wasn't for these guys and your other friends standing guard near you."

Ash's eyes widened. 'Are they asking me to take on such a huge risk?' His heart fell at the thought. As if reading through his thoughts, Kyle added. "They have been requesting you to volunteer to submit a regular supply of samples for them. Of course we refused at first." Kyle paused for a moment before continuing, "but then the chief scientist and the Major from the army also promised that no harm would come to you. They also said that if you are trustworthy they will make you an assistant for miscellaneous tasks." He saw that Ash was looking at him with disbelief and laughed awkwardly before saying, "Of course its suspicious that they offered such a lucrative position to you especially when they are doing important research inside." The highest position holding people in the camp were the scientists, the soldiers and then the raiding civilians. They received most of the resources and food compared to the rest. So it was like and heaven send opportunity for anyone to be a part of them.

"The decision is up to you. We are not going to force you." Zuri suddenly voiced. Although she was the one who needed answers the most in order to find her brother, she didn't wish to place Ash in danger.

Kyle glanced at her and shook his head. "Could you give me some alone with Ash?" He asked, indicating for the others to leave. Although it sounded like a request everyone felt that he was ordering them out as such after shooting Ash one final glance, they all stepped out.

As soon as they left the tent became quite and lonely. ash looked at Kyle and waited for him to say whatever it was that he was planing to tell him. Soon Kyle's voice sounded in the tent, "I heard about your power from Rhys." He stated. He saw Ash's eyes widen in shock. He suddenly wanted to bolt. But then he heard Kyle continue, "I must thank you for saving Rhys. He is stupid, prideful and impulsive at times but I am sure he is feeling grateful as well."

"Oh." Ash stated not knowing what else to say.

Hearing the response Kyle decided to just continue. "What I want to say is, there is a high possibility that the loons in the lab figured this out as well or they have some kind of doubts. They must want you to see if they can find a cure." Ash shuddered as he heard this. His whole life was spend in the lab, he had an instinctual fear against such places. But then he sighed deeply. Yesterday he had already made up his mind to report to lab anyway. It wouldn't make much difference if he went by himself or went by request of the others. With this he could repay them for looking after him until now and at the same time severe their ties. He knew better than anyone else that once they confirm his ability there would be no way they would let him go freely.

"Yes." Ash answered. "I will go to the lab and see if I can find anything about the missing cases." If they don't lock me up like a lab rat then he will inform them what's going on inside.

Seeing Ash's resolve, Kyle said reassuringly, "We will keep a close eye on you. They won't dare to do anything to you while we are here." Ash just nodded. There was nothing else for him to say as such he quickly excused himself and left hurriedly.