Disclaimer: Nelvana/Teletoon/ABC3 - they own detentionaire, not me! I just fool around for both free and your amusement.

Warnings: spoilers to season 3 and possibly also for Space Zombie Flu franchise, gruesome images, kidnapping/slavery themes, mentioned thoughts of suicide, violence, blood, unethical surgical practises

"This kid surrendered
And left to his own
Well done! He was a brave young boy
But was nothing else, nothing else but a toy"-

-Czeslaw Mozil/„Pożegnanie małego wojownika"(„Farewell to a little solider")

Lee had no strength to fight. The pain was never ending and, as far as Lee knew, the council had checked everything - every fiber in his body, every cell. They skinned his arm at the level of his tattoo, leaving just a patch of exposed muscle tissue, inflamed and seeping of puss and blood.

He wasn't shouting anymore, just small whimpers escaped his chapped lips every now and then when he felt more discomfort than usual. There was something feral about his behaviour as he lay on the 'operating table', as if his consciousness shut down, leaving just primitive impulses and habits. With every procedure Lee was less and less useful for the fat council member or #2. However they didn't let him go nor discarded him. So maybe there still were places in his body which the council didn't temper with yet? That must be the case, because no questions had been answered.

Not a single one.

No one would come to rescue him. Lee was sure now. At first he had hope - when pain was fresh and new. When he still didn't believe that it was happening to him. He dreamt of coming back home and passing by 'missing' posters with his photo pinned to every electric pole in town, his mother crying of joy, even Barrage rants would be a little bit less intimidating than usual, maybe he would even dismiss him earlier from detention, glad Lee was safe and sound? Then, as the time dragged by, his dreams transformed into a fear of being buried alive, his mouth full of black dirt, his eyes itching of dust, the oxygen drastically running out with every second. At times Lee would force his bloodshot eyes to open, sometimes emitting any form of sound to ensure himself that they know he's still alive. Even thought he was more like a living dead - Like the main character from Space Zombie Flu, who fought to the last page, to the last sentence, just to get infected by the last, stray zombie remaining. Ah, here it was again, his infamous train of thoughts, fueled by fever, exhaustion and pain.

For him the times of makeshift rest and operations melted together into one timeless pulp. When he heard a buzzing sound next to his ear, Lee couldn't decide if it's a mosquito or a drill. Did it really matter? If it's a misquito, then well, it's not as if there was much blood left in his veins to feed from. If it's drill, it's more worrisome, but it's not as if that tool wasn't used on him already.

Even though Lee abandoned the plan to escape he was still somehow, desperate like a drowning man desperately fighting surrounding him waves to reach a straw. If he had a gun and enough strength to lift it, he would, just as the Space Zombie Flu protagonist, put a bullet in his head. #2 even made that kind of offer - in that melodic code-language of his. But when that suggestion was presented to the ex-detentionaire, he still had strength and hope of survival – so he refused. Oh how stupid it was of him! The buzzing was more distinctive – it was a drill, no doubt about it now - moving closer and closer to his ear. It was now the only sound Lee could hear.

The noise stopped abruptly. Why his whole world turned silent? Did something damaged his hearing? Or his mind just spared him the drama? And why the silhouette bending over him looked like Tina? was he dreaming about her again or was his whole life flashing in front of his eyes?

It didn't feel like dying thought, but, just as with love, he would never know for sure how it felt unless…

comments, advices, constructive criticism etc. are always welcomed and appreciated!