A Drowned Whelp

Chapter 4

Hill woke up shivering. His body trembling badly. The cells were heated nor were they kept cold. They simply were the temperate the building naturally warmed them too. Weren't normally this cold though. Teeth chattering, Hill curled up tighter in his corner to save body heat; uncertainty swelling in his stomach, his mind blurry. Any other time he would have blamed the drugs Mrs Kuang had used on him, but from the dull ache above his eyes and the sweat on his neck, he knew it was something more simple.

The common cold. Probably. Hopefully. Likely got it from swimming in the bay water. It wasn't the most healthy of places. No one swam on the south side of the city where the docks were. The north side was where the beaches were. The south side was polluted and where you were likely to find the odd body bobbing the waters.

He sneezed and felt his chest rattle. This wasn't good. At all. Even if Kai was inclined to keep him alive, if the cold developed in something serious, there was no way to get help. The gang were hardly going to take him to a hospital. Even one which would look the other way with his lack of papers. Chances were they'd just cut their losses and put a bullet in his head. In this state, he wouldn't be able to fight back much either. He closed his eyes and leant against the cool wall, thinking of the best way to escape. There was always a way and he had spent a good amount of time in these walls and in the streets surrounding. He knew where he was. It wasn't like he was captured in some unknown compound on an alien world. This was his home.

"Hill," a voice called, and Kai appeared by the door with two other men shadowing him. Dark eyes looked him overseeing all. Hill shivered. Kai had a way of looking at him sometimes. "You feeling ok, bro?" his eyes narrowed as he took in the sheen of sweat on Hill's skin and how he was shaking.

"I-," Hill began before falling into a sneezing fit. He looked at Kai miserably, nose blocked and sight impaired. "I think I have a cold," he croaked, his voice deep and groggy. Pain coursed through his chest and his muscles ached. He hadn't felt like this in years. It was possible that the drugs from his implant had finally worn off making him vulnerable to such things too. When people left the enforcers, they were warned of such side effects. Had to have a strong immune system to travel the empire. Without it, it made you a little more susceptible than normal. Mentally he cursed the Stalkers for kidnapping him and removing the thing.

His mind barely registered the fact Kai had referred to him with a family pronoun. He barely took in the other two men either, too busy shifting himself into a defensible position. He didn't have much on him. Just a knife he had managed to snag from the kitchen as they passed. He could feel it's coldness against his thigh in his pocket.

"If he's ill, I would recommend just keeping him drugged for now. Wouldn't want to mistake an infection for flu symptoms," A man commented knowingly with a slight touch of uncertainty in his voice. "May I look at him?"

"Hill, you gonna' be good?" Kai called softly, "Doc's going to look at you."

"What exactly am I going to do?" Hill grumbled dejectedly, before coughing again. A hacking sound that made his back ache from the force of it. He'd forgotten about the Doctor on Kai's payroll. Never used the guy last time. A different guy kept captives alive. "Haven't got anywhere to go. Nowhere which would be safe from your wandering eye, at least," he muttered darkly. He was from Kennedy town. It was Kai's turf. Sure there were a few places he could go to but none worth the risk currently.

"Never know with you, bro. You keep a lot of secrets," Kai smiled softly, mildly amused at Hill's still snarky comments, despite being cornered and trapped. "Don't pretend you haven't already picked up a blade?" he teased.