Kai’s head hurt like hell, but he forced his eyes open. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he was surprised to see that he was in a large hotel room. 

As he moved to get up, Kai fell back. His wrist was handcuffed to a sturdy metal bedframe. 

“I didn’t think you’d pass out that long.” Kai heard the soldier’s voice. He looked to his left to see him sitting in a loveseat, elbows propped up on his thighs and a sinister look on his face.

“I thought you were going to turn me in.” Kai managed to say.

“Oh, I’m going to. I just figured I’d make you suffer a bit. Act like I stayed out all night looking for you, you know?” The soldier sighed and picked up Kai’s bag that had items haphazardly thrown around on the bed and ground. “Rumor has it you’re a thief.” He pulled out the box of syringes that contained Chi. 

“Please, don’t touch those. I’m begging you. I need that.” Kai was frantic. “I don’t have any money, but I’ll do whatever for compensation. Anything.”

The soldier opened the box and, one by one, threw the syringes onto the ground, breaking each of them and sending small shards of glass all over the floor. 

“Fuck!” Kai shouted out. “Fuck you. That was all I needed, you fucking asshole.” 

“Aww,” The soldier jutted out his bottom lip in an insincere manner as he crouched next to Kai, “What are you going to do? Cry about it?”

Kai could feel his eyes glazing over, but he couldn’t give the soldier the satisfaction of seeing him upset. He looked away, only to have the soldier grab his jaw and make Kai look at him. 

“Oh, shit. You really are crying.” The soldier seemed surprised. 

“Of course I am.” Kai tried to not let his voice waver. “My brother’s going to die because of you.” He quickly glanced down at the soldier's uniform and noticed a badge with a photo of him and his name on it. Jun. 

“That’s not really my problem. I’m sure you have taken dozens of innocent lives, being from the west and all.” Jun never broke eye contact as he spoke. 

“What are you talking about? Do you seriously think everyone in the west is some sort of monster?  How delusional can you be? Are you really so far up your superior’s ass that you can’t even see what’s going on? It’s the east. It’s you guys. You’re the problem, not us.”

Kai knew his comment would get him hit, but he didn’t care. He, however, wasn’t expecting Jun to be relentless when he punched him. Kai couldn’t even defend himself. All he could do was sit there and take it. 

Kai opted for silence once Jun backed away and returned to the loveseat he was in prior. 

“Got nothing to say?” Jun questioned Kai, who refused to look at him. 

When Kai didn’t respond, he could hear Jun get up. 

“So now you’re going to behave yourself? You’re such a coward. You won’t even speak. You just took all of that and are silent.” Jun leaned against the wall next to the bed where Kai was handcuffed to.

When Kai didn’t respond again, Jun matched towards him and crouched in front of him. 

“What are you going to do? Hit me again?” Kai finally looked at Jun. “I’ve got nothing left anymore. It doesn’t even matter.” He tried to not make the defeat in his voice heard, but it was impossible. 

“What is it? What is it that you believe the east has done to the west? Really, enlighten me.” Jun said, nudging Kai as he spoke. 

“You mean besides what I already told you? “ Kai rolled his eyes. “Have you even been into the west? Have you seen what it looks like?”

“I’ve driven through it a few times to drop off some supplies.” Jun responded. 

Kai scoffed. “Supplies? What supplies? All the east ever brings over there now is trash. It’s making my people sick and contaminating the air.”

“Shut up, you don’t know shit. It was better when you were quiet.” Jun sighed deeply.

“You’re delusional.” Kai bit the inside of his cheek in frustration. “Go to the west, not in the back of one of those stupid vans where you can’t see anything, and look. Look at the conditions people are living in. We seldom get electricity, fresh water is few and far between, most of us go without eating for days, and we have no medication.” He tested Jun’s expression. “It’s been like that for a long time. When all of this happened, I was eleven. My parents fled and left me and my nine-year-old brother. Do you know how hard it is to be a child yourself and figure out how be an adult, so your brother can be provided for? I’m sure you don’t because the privilege here is insane. We’re not criminals over there, not at all, we just all happened to not have an abundance of money to get into the east in the beginning. Most families were working families, not criminals. This isn’t like how Australia used to be. We aren’t a bunch of criminals being kept away from society and we never were. You’re seriously out of your mind if you think the children living in the west are criminals, too. Did you ever think about that?”

Jun just stared at Kai. He didn’t have anything to say. It couldn’t be the truth, it was impossible. 

Finally, Jun spoke. “The east is kind and generous to everyone. They would never do that.”

“How much do you know about your fellow soldiers? How much do you know about the history of the east? Have you read about the Great Separation at all?” Kai questioned Jun. “If you really are this ignorant and haven’t physically seen the west, go look. Give yourself a grand tour. It’s living proof that we aren’t criminals over there. Your superiors must keep you in the dark, so you don’t know the truth.” Kai was exhausted. His body ached and his head was pounding. 

“Stop talking.” Jun finally got up. “I’m taking you back in the morning. And don’t try anything, I’m going to be keeping an eye on you.” 

Kai stared down at the broken glass from the syringes, heartbroken. He didn’t care if he died, he just wanted Asa to be okay. 

Some hours had passed before Kai realized he had dozed off. He looked over and saw Jun, also looking quite tired. 

“So, your name’s Jun?” Kai weakly asked, voice hoarse. 

“What about it?” Jun’s eyes opened a bit more as he stared Kai down. 

“I’m asking a question. Your name is Jun?” Kai repeated.

“Yeah.” Jun replied. “What about you?” He forced out. 

“Kai.”

“Alright, Good talk.” Jun leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He paused. “So, Kai, you in school? High school?”

Kai couldn’t help but laugh. “I said I was eleven when the Great Separation happened. I’m twenty-two. And, no, I’m not in school. We don’t have schools in the west anymore. They couldn’t be funded and it cost too much to provide power to a building that large. It’s been that way for years.”

“Oh, come on, you’re telling me there aren’t schools in the west? Jun eyed Kai incredulously. 

“Uh, yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Kai said in a plain tone. “What about you? You seem young.”

“I’m twenty-five.” Jun said. “And experienced in what I do.”

“If you’re twenty-five, then you would have definitely been old enough to witness the separation.” Kai looked over at Jun. “Or did you block it out?”

“I didn’t block anything out. I was just sheltered as a kid, but it’s not like we were taught lies in school, or the truth was hidden from us.” Jun glared at Kai. 

“I feel like that’s exactly what happened.” Kai couldn’t believe how ignorant Jun was. 

“What is this whole thing about your brother?” Jun asked Kai. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“My brother has been sick for as long as I can remember. It got worse over time and was exacerbated by the poor conditions the east put us in. His airways are blocked and all of the trash and pollution just made it even harder for him to breathe. My parents never really cared, so I did everything. I didn’t know anything about medicine and I had no idea that there was something that could possibly make my brother better.” Kai hesitated before he continued on. “He’s doing really badly right now. He’s getting weaker every day and I think that he’s not going to make it if I can’t do something about it. So, whatever, call me a criminal. Yeah, I stole that medication because I needed it. Then you threw it down and destroyed everything.”

“I don’t know if I believe you or not.” Jun sighed. “I don’t believe the east is like that at all. I know my people and they’re good people. All that’s going to happen is you’re getting sent back to the west.”

“You really think that’s it? I’m going to be killed, Jun.” Kai’s eyes were glued to the ground. “No one’s ever made it back. And, you know what? I’d rather you kill me then send me back to my brother empty handed. They would never let me live, but I stand by what I said.”

“If you’re as bad as I think you are and they know you are, then maybe you do need to die. It would probably benefit your brother, anyway.” Jun said. “He’s doing fine without you now. You’ve probably been holding him back by coddling him.”

Kai’s eyes shot to Jun and his jaw dropped. “I-” He stopped talking. He didn’t even know what to say. Jun’s words were like a knife to his heart. 

Luckily, Jun didn’t press. 

Kai couldn’t let the east kill him. He needed to help his brother. He watched Jun out of the corner of his eye until he saw him doze off. Kai quickly extended his leg as far as he could to pull over one of the syringe needles. He took it in his free hand and unlocked the handcuffs. 

Kai quietly got up and took his bag and some of the contents that spilled out before he crept out of the hotel room. Once he was out, he ran outside and as far as he could before he stopped. Kai immediately ducked into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. He opened his bag to retrieve his phone and froze. 

“No, no.” Kai felt around and took out some of the contents of his bag. His phone wasn't there. It must have fallen out.

So, there Kai was. A wanted man with a prominent scar that made him easily recognizable, no place to hide, no phone, nothing. All Kai could think to do would be get a facemask to cover some of his scar and use his hair to mask the rest.  It would be far from perfect, but he needed to be able to make it around without being shot on the spot.