บท 86: SECRETS AND LIES
'SO THIS IS what it's all about. It really doesn't look like much, does it?'
The words tugged Sam up from a black pool of unconsciousness. He opened first one eye and then the other, his head pounding as if he was suffering from the worst ever hangover.
He was vaguely aware he was sitting in a chair, but had no idea how he had got there. The last thing he remembered was … The lift! The memory snapped him fully awake, and he tried to jump to his feet.
But he couldn't move.
He was paralyzed. Kevin's gas had paralyzed him! Then he realized his back was aching, and there was a glassy cramped feeling in his shoulders, and something was cutting into his wrists.
Not paralyzed then. Thank God. Not paralyzed, but immobile all the same. Tied to a chair.
He blinked to clear his blurred vision, turned his head towards the source of the words he had heard echoing in his mind.
He saw a smear of orange (Halloween pumpkin orange, he thought, and felt a sudden pang of nostalgia for his childhood).
Then the smear tightened, coalesced, and he realized he was looking at Kevin in his orange prison overalls.
The skinny man was leaning against a control desk, backlit by the icy glare from a wall of TV screens.
The screens depicted different static views of the prison – corridors and cell areas, kitchens, shower blocks, the library, the exercise yard.
Sam could see that most of the places were deserted, but in a few, the infected milled about like sleepwalkers. He turned his attention back to Kevin.
The man was holding up a vial of yellowish liquid that resembled weak tea or urine.
'What's going on?' Sam mumbled, and Kevin glanced across at him.
'Oh, welcome back,' he said.
'Enjoy your little nap?'
Sam ignored him, looking around to take in his surroundings.
He was relieved to see his friends were all here, and apparently OK – aside from the fact that, like him, they had been manacled to chairs and had had their backpacks and weapons taken away.
Of the others, Purna and Xian Mei were the only ones who were conscious. Logan, Jin, and Yerema were still slumped forward, eyes closed, breathing heavily.
Xian Mei looked ill, her skin clammy, her face and body tense as if the slightest movement caused her pain.
The thick bandage around her arm was stained red where blood had seeped through from the wound beneath.
'You OK?' Sam asked her.
She licked her lips and gave a tiny unconvincing nod.
In contrast to Xian Mei, Purna looked fighting fit, her dark eyes blazing with anger.
'What do you hope to gain from this, Kevin?' she said, making his name sound like an insult.
'Oh, I've already gained it,' he said.
She scowled. 'What are you talking about?'
Smiling and slipping the vial into his pocket, he said, 'Let me tell you a little story.'
'Oh, is this the bit where the bad guy gloats about how clever he's been and the good guys get bored?' Sam said.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง