The morning incident had been the first unsupervised NF-I death in six weeks. Usually, an inmate showing signs of disease would be reported and sent to quarantine. In a case like this, most people would assume that the victim had developed symptoms too quickly for officials to recognize – but Aris knew better. They had allowed the virus to thrive in that man, and his death had resulted in an explosion of airborne disease that would go on to infect many of the inmates that had been in the cafeteria that morning. Most of them would develop symptoms within two days. Amongst those, most would be dead within two weeks.

Inmates didn’t know about the vaccine program, but they did know about the flesh-eating disease, and they did know to fear it. Even fifteen minutes after the second alarm rang – three brief siren blares – the hallways were still devoid of men. Aris could see the boy glancing around in confusion as they headed down the white corridor, past rows of slate grey lockers. Hoping that he wouldn’t ask another stupid question, Aris quickened his pace – but Fang spoke up a couple seconds later, anyway.

“Where is everybody?”

Aris hesitated, but decided not to answer. The hallway ended just up ahead – a left turn led to the kitchen and laundry room; a right turn led deeper into the prison, where some of the other facilities, including the guards’ quarters, and a license plate factory, were located. He turned sharply to the left at the end of the hallway and walked for another four steps before he realized that he couldn’t hear Fang’s footsteps anymore. Pausing, Aris turned his head.

The kid had stopped at the intersection and was staring down the opposite hall.

“Hey,” Aris called out warily. Fang turned, eyes bright and curious. Irritated by the look, Aris lifted a hand and gestured or the boy to come. Hell, why does it feel like I’m walking someone’s stupid dog? “It’s this way.”

“What’s this way?” Fang chirped, trotting over. “Where are we going?”

Turning his back, Aris kept walking. He could feel Fang’s suffocating curiosity in the silence, but to his relief the boy didn’t speak up anymore, and by the time they reached their destination, he managed to relax a bit.

They stopped outside an ordinary looking doorway. Fang’s eyes were immediately caught by the shiny plaque beside the doorframe. Ignoring the boy as he mumbled the word on the plaque – Laundry – Aris leaned inside the room

The spacious area was organized into sections. On the far side of the room, near the large windows, were two rows of benches for folding linens. Closer to the door were large washing and drying machines. At the back of the room was a darker storage area. Usually the place was rumbling with machines and chatter, but most of the inmates were still hiding in their cells and there were only five people in the room – four rather elderly men, and Rai. The said boy was standing at the opposite end of the room, slowly folding their orange uniforms, back turned. Aris had to call out to him.

“Rai!”

By now, Fang had also squeezed his head curiously into the room. Distractedly, Aris shuffled away from the boy, turning away from his wide, dark eyes as he searched for Rai again. “Rai –”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Rai cut him off, appearing in front of them with a raised eyebrow. He was looking at Fang. “Oh, did they put the kid with us ladies?”

“Huh?” At that, Fang’s bright-eyed look darkened into an indignant frown. “What’s this place?”

“It’s work, honey.” Rai grinned, slapping the uniform he’d been folding over his shoulder. “They put the soft ones here. Lucky you.”

“Soft? I’m not –” Fang began indignantly, only to break off with a muffled yelp as Aris elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

“Yeah, they fucked up. They put the decent guys here. This kid’s a trouble-maker,” Aris growled, glancing down at the cringing boy in disdain.

“You just called me decent,” Rai pointed out in a voice full of mock astonishment.

Realizing, Aris scowled, about to deny it when he felt a distinct aura of authority behind his back and whirled around.

“… Hello.” The guard paused with his white gloved hand frozen in mid-air. Although his face was hidden, he sounded faintly surprised by Aris’s instant reaction to his arrival. Instead, the guard made the pretense of adjusting his netted headgear, then cleared his throat and held out a small yellow note. Aris managed to make out the words typed in faded black ink at the top – Discipline Notice. “Yue Shantao, I’m here to follow-up on the event this morning, since we were interrupted by a more pressing issue.”

“What event?” Uncomprehending at first, Fang stepped forward, leaning in deliberately to read the note. His eyebrow promptly twitched upwards with an incredulous frown. “Ahh? It was just a tussle. No big deal. Happens all the time in prison, doesn’t it?” the boy said loudly, leaning back and shaking his head with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Tao said you were the instigator,” the guard continued gravely, scrunching up the little piece of paper and pocketing it somewhere in his thick uniform.

“That fat liar,” Fang scorned, “He was the one who provoked me first.”

“Shantao, come with me,” the guard said gruffly, reaching out to grab the boy’s arm. But Fang jerked back, brows furrowed as he glared at the man.

“Hey, seriously, it wasn’t my fault. I even asked him nicely to move aside. But he was all like, gimme-a-bite-of-your-ass. Right, Aris?”

Aris cast the boy’s hopeful look a noncommittal glance before looking away, lips pressed firmly together in a frown.

“Oi oi, what’s with that, still trying to be cool, Flower-boy?” There was a faint tremor of anger in Fang’s scoff and he reached up to grab the man’s arm.

Twitching, Aris immediately turned and shoved the boy away. Fang stumbled back with a surprised yelp and collided into the guard, who promptly seized him.

“What the hell?!” Fang shouted, struggling fiercely as the guard tried vainly to handcuff his hands behind his back. Gazing coldly back at the boy’s furious glare, Aris couldn’t help but think briefly, that’s a good look. Fangs bared and dark eyes alit with venom – it was the look of a predator. He hadn’t seen that kind of bloodthirsty expression in a while.

Finally deeming that he couldn’t handle the boy on his own, the guard pulled out a plastic injector and stabbed it into the writhing boy’s shoulder. Fang tensed up, eyes widening in alarm as he stopped struggling to glance back.

“What the fuck was that –” But his voice died off abruptly as the drug took effect. Eyes rolling, Fang fell limp into the guard’s chest. The guard let out a relieved sigh as he straightened.

“Hey.” Aris heard himself speak up against his will. The guard paused at the sound of his grim voice. “Don’t beat him up too hard. I don’t like seeing brats cry. Makes it hard to sleep.”

“… It’s none of your business,” the man replied in a low voice, lifting the boy up and turning his back.

Aris watched them, unable to tear his gaze away for some reason. Fang’s expression kept echoing in his head – so vibrant, so full of life. It left a distinct print in his conscience, like the sensation of blood pooling in one’s mouth. Warm, but unpleasant.

“Is that alright?” Rai sighed finally, the boy’s airy voice breaking the thick silence in the wide hallway. He glanced at Aris, honey-brown eyes narrowed slightly. “He’s your cellmate.”

Shrugging, Aris slipped his hands into his pockets. Good, now I don’t have to deal with him for the rest of the day. “You heard the guard. It’s none of my business,” he replied nonchalantly, heading across the hallway to his own position in the kitchen. “He’ll be dead soon, anyway.”

“You’re as cold as ever, huh.” Behind him, Rai’s laughter floated briefly through the air, slipping into his head with a jolt of pain. Grimacing, Aris squeezed his eyes shut, shoving back the wave of irrational emotions that threatened to swamp his body because of that familiar sound. But at the end of it was just Rai’s soft, sad voice. “… Though what you’ve said is only the truth.”