He must have sighed for at least the twentieth time when Rai finally slammed his hand on the table in exasperation. 

“What’s with you, huh? Going hah… hah… every couple seconds?” Rai complained, mimicking Fang’s sighs in mock dejection and then slapping the boy on the back with a forced laugh. “Still sad that you slept through breakfast? Maybe we should get you a separate alarm clock, one that’s louder than the wake-up calls.” 

“An alarm clock?” Slightly interested, Fang lifted his head a little. They had just finished lunch, but he and Rai were still lounging at the cafeteria table. Han and Aris had left together earlier – to volunteer at the infirmary, they had said. When the other two weren’t listening, Han had explained that they did it to hear gossip from the researchers and to stay up-to-date with news concerning the vaccine program. “Where are you going to get something like that?” 

“The merchants, duh.” Rai laughed, grabbed a pea, and threw it into Fang’s emptied bowl of soup. “I guess you wouldn’t know. Once every two weeks they set up a market in Recreation Room C. The vendors mostly sell stuff that’s been approved by the prison staff like candy, books, board games and stuff – but sometimes they’ll smuggle things in on request. Not that they come cheap, but it’s worth it.”  

“I don’t have money,” Fang pointed out forlornly, but Rai just smacked him on the back again with another guffaw. 

“Don’t worry, rich-boy Zhu Han’s got us covered!” He stuck out his hand in a thumbs-up and clicked his tongue. “Besides, we get paid for the work that we do. It’s not much but they do deposit money into your so-called ‘prison account.’ They accept money that relatives send over, too. But of course they would, since they get everything back anyways when we die,” Rai scoffed, flicking another pea into Fang’s bowl.  

Suddenly reminded of the virus, Fang felt his spirits dampen again. Promptly noticing, Rai pinched a third pea between his finger and lifted it in a threatening way.  

“Hey, what’s up? If you don’t tell me what’s dulling that tiny brain of yours, I’m going to shove this up your nostril.”  

Fang glanced at the boy, flaring his nostrils instinctively. “It’s nothing,” he began, but true to his promise Rai leaned over the table and fisted the front of his bangs. They broke out in an immediate struggle, grunting pierced by the occasional shrill peal of laughter. Fang had all but dragged Rai over the table, trays haphazardly colliding between them, when he finally managed to free himself with only a few lost hairs.  

“Alright, alright!” Laughing breathlessly, Fang massaged his sore forehead with a cringe. “Han and I overheard you and Aris talking outside the infirmary hall yesterday.” Glancing at Rai, he noticed a flash of shock fall over the boy’s face. Immediately, Rai sat back, lips pressed together in an uncharacteristically grave frown. “I-I mean, I didn’t understand most of it,” Fang said hastily, feeling self-conscious. “I know this place is doing something with the flesh-eating virus, and it sounded like you don’t expect me to survive for very long. When I tried to ask Aris about it he just said the same.” 

“… Shantao.” Rai said his real name, and with a jolt of surprise Fang sat up straighter and faced the boy warily. “Remember a couple days ago, when they gave you your disciplinary note?”  

Fang nodded. 

“Well... did they give you a shot…?” Rai said, slowing down tentatively as he continued his sentence. “Or an injection of some sort…?” 

“Huh? No, they just took my blood,” Fang said, wincing at the memory. “Ah, well, they gave me punishment too. Burned the skin off my left hand.” He lifted the said hand. He’d only removed his bandages last night, and in its place there was a thick, reddened scar stretching over the back of his palm.  

“Really?” Rai sighed in relief. “That’s good. Usually they inject trouble-makers with virus, to get rid of them faster. We thought that’s what they did to you.” 

“Inject…? Why would they do that?” Fang said, frowning in confusion. 

Running his hand briefly through his curly hair, Rai let out a heavy puff of air. “Look, Big Bad Aris doesn’t want me to tell you about it.” 

Annoyed, Fang picked up one of the peas Rai had thrown in his bowl and threw it back. “Since when did you ever listen to Flower-boy?” 

At that, Rai let out a loud, choppy laugh. “True. This is why I like you, Fangie. Alright, fine, I’ll tell you the truth. But you might not like it.” 

“It’s okay,” Fang said earnestly. “I just need food to be happy.” 

Chuckling again, Rai leaned forward and rested his chin against his propped-up hands. “Alright, so Siguang-Ri prison is a breeding ground for the flesh-eating virus. They need more of it in order to make a vaccine for it, but it can only be grown in humans. So they make us, the prisoners, fodder.” As if on cue, a man sitting at the end of their table broke out into a coughing fit and they both glanced over. Rai lowered his voice to a whisper. “Sometimes they let us get sick naturally, sometimes they’ll give shots of live virus to induce sickness when they need more fodder. When we die they churn up our bodies and turn the viruses we produced into a vaccine for the people rich enough to afford it.” 

“And what if we don’t die?” Fang replied in a hushed voice. “Like you and Aris, and Han? You guys are immune, right?” 

Surprise crossed Rai’s expression briefly, but he shook it off musingly. “You heard a lot, huh. Well, I don’t know yet… Han and Aris both have pretty long life sentences, but I was only brought here for prostitution. I’m pretty sure they don’t plan on releasing us though, ever. In any case, they’ll notice that Aris and I have been here for way too long. Who knows what they’ll do then.” Rai shrugged, talking in a normal volume now as he sat back and stretched. 

“Like Saram Lara, right? I woke up in her lab before another man came to take me for discipline that day,” Fang piped up. Rai froze in mid-stretch and shot him a wide-eyed glare. “What did she want from you?” 

“You’ve met her before?” Sounding more curious than surprised now, Rai hesitated for a long while before admitting. “Yeah, she noticed that Aris and I seem to be immune to the virus. She wants to take our blood samples. Aris refused but I gave her some of mine. Not really sure what she’s going to do with it, but I’d rather give it to her than to some old nerdy researcher. At least she’s pretty.” Rai sighed, rubbing his arm. “She said she was working on a way to grow the vaccine outside of a human body, but she hasn’t gotten it to work so far. Anyway, she said she’d keep me updated. And she needs more blood so she’s still trying to get Aris to donate some of his, too.” Rai smiled wryly. “I told her to give up. If she annoys him too much, he’ll murder her. He hates researchers the most. Anyway,” Rai said hastily, before Fang could ask about Aris. “Is that why you were sighing? Are you scared of getting sick?” 

“Huh, me?” Fang laughed and shook his head. “Not really. My mom said idiots don’t get sick.” 

Rai cast him a rueful smile. “Idiot.” 

Grinning toothily, Fang grabbed their plates and got up. “Exactly.” 

Although he felt a little better – at least he knew what was going on – Fang was still distracted as he headed for the tray depositing area. So much so that he didn’t even notice Tao until he tried to leave and the man grabbed his arm.  

“Hey. Kid.”  

Tao’s familiar, rough voice made him turn his head. As always, his massive shadow was a little oppressive, but at least the man was alone. 

“Hi,” Fang said curiously, shaking his arm away from the man’s grip. “Whatdya want?” he asked distractedly, glancing back at his table. Rai hadn’t noticed – the boy had been approached by two other men and was gazing up at them, sharing a laugh. 

“A fight,” Tao huffed. 

Attention caught, Fang jerked his head back, incited by the glint in the man’s dark eyes. A fight? Awesome. Just when he needed to vent. “Okay. But I don’t want punishment.” He lifted his left hand, showing the scar. “For a big guy like you, this ought to be enough of a handicap.” 

Tao snarled, but managed to shake it off with a gulp. “Just outside of the courtyard entrance there’s a metal door on the left side. It’s supposed to be locked but the lock is broken. Take the stairs inside and meet me on the roof. Make sure you aren’t seen by the guards. Hey – are you listening?” 

“Huh?” Blinking his attention away from the tattoos curling over Tao’s skull, Fang stared back at the man. “Something about a metal door in the courtyard and stairs?” He grinned, enjoying the fury in Tao’s narrowing gaze, and hopped a step backwards. “Yeah yeah, I got it. See ya.”  

Returning to the table, Fang paused a foot away when he saw one of the men lean down to kiss Rai on the mouth. Once they were finished, the men left, and Rai glanced his way. The fake smile on his face faded, becoming a little more genuine as Fang walked up to him.  

“Come on, let’s go check out the market,” Rai said, also getting to his feet. “They’re only here until dinner time, you know? Han said he’d meet us there after.” 

“Oh… really?” Fang smiled squeamishly and rubbed his stomach. “You go first. I need the bathroom.” 

“Ah?” Rai laughed sympathetically. “Ate too much for lunch since you skipped breakfast? Alright then, see you there. Recreation Room C, got it? Just past the computer room – don’t get lost!” 

Nodding, Fang waited until Rai had left, then exited from the other cafeteria door. The courtyard was on a quieter side of the high-security wing, opposite to the recreation rooms and cells. The hallways here were completely barren – most of the inmates were at the market, he guessed. The guards, too, were probably concentrated in that area as well. There was one guard at the gate leading to the courtyard, but he was busy talking with another inmate – a chubby guy, and as Fang got closer he realized it was one of Tao’s buddies. The guy cast him a brief look as he passed. 

Outside, the air was warm and bitingly fresh – mountain wind, and Fang paused for a moment to enjoy the sunlight and scenery. Then, before the guard lost his distraction, he veered off to the left and quickly found the metal door Tao was talking about. 

It was cast in the shadow of the building and looked tightly shut, with no doorknob. But when he used his fingers to pry the edge of the door, it opened readily. 

Glancing briefly behind him to make sure nobody had noticed, Fang slipped inside. 

It was a cement stairwell, narrow and smelling of dust. He climbed up slowly, found another door at the top, and pushed it open.  

Ah… back into the sunlight. It was windier up here, on the roof, and Fang stretched his arms out with a happy sigh as the metal door shut behind him. Then a dark laugh caught his attention and he glanced over, where he spotted Tao’s big silhouette standing against the hazy clouds and mountains.  

“You really are stupid, huh,” Tao chuckled, meeting Fang’s bright-eyed stare with a dark glare before nodding at something behind the boy. “Get him.” 

A shadow flitted onto the ground in front of him and Fang ducked, swinging his feet out in a low-kick and tripping the man who had reached for him. The man fell forward with a startled yelp and hit the concrete with a sickening thud – but Fang didn’t have any time to be concerned. There was another one, he realized, straightening in time to grab the man’s hastily thrown punch and snapping the man’s arm down with his elbow. Stepping in while the man was crying out, he swiped his elbow across the man’s face, heard a satisfying crack, and then pushed him away with a huff. 

Vision blurred in adrenaline, Fang whirled around, searching for more – but there had only been two. And they were already limp on the ground. Panting, he turned to the only shadow left standing – the big one, in front of the mountains. He felt his lips stretch in a wide grin.  

“Oh, yes.” He couldn’t tell if the look on Tao’s face was a smirk or a scowl, but he liked the way the man was grinding his fists together. Shrugging his uniform back over his shoulders, Fang mimicked the gesture and rubbed his knuckles together. The pain in his left hand was starting to resemble pleasure and he licked his lips, eyes narrowing in delight. “Give me more.”