Breaking Their Hold

"We're on the Black List," Jimmy whispered in a hushed voice to Zack and Matt, his blue eyes weaker than they had ever been as he huddled in the corner of the cell that they were being kept in.

It had been four days since Jimmy and Matt had been brought in, and they all knew that at this point, they were all just a short time away from being executed. Schlagger had told them that they were going to catch Mel one of these days, and that since they had refused to cooperate so far, there was no reason to keep them alive any longer.

It was disheartening to Jimmy, knowing that he was going to die before knowing that Mel was truly safe. It wasn't that he was afraid to die, because he wasn't. He actually didn't care whether or not he made it through to the end of everything. He was ready to die; ready to give his life willingly if it meant keeping Mel alive and safe. But what use was there in dying if he didn't know that Mel would be safe from Schlagger and his sick plans for her?

That was the only thing that upset Jimmy about being Black Listed. He didn't know that Mel was okay; that she and Pierre had made it to Canada and that they were okay. How could he rest in peace if he didn't know she was okay?

"Jim, relax," Matt spoke softly, looking over at his friend with an almost sympathetic look. "If she wasn't okay or if something had happened, we would have known by now. Schlagger would just love to gloat about it in our faces."

Jimmy breathed out slowly, knowing that his friend was right. It didn't make him feel any better, though, and when he looked over at the other side of the cell to see Zack huddled there, a dark look on his face and anguish in his eyes, he knew that it didn't make the only other Baker sibling feel any better, either.

Zack was the one who had lost the most throughout this entire ordeal, perhaps. He'd not only lost his freedom through Mel and the escape plan, he had lost his older sister, his nephew and niece, and his brother as well. He'd lost both of his parents, and he'd lost a few other friends too. He'd seen so many people's lives end because Melissa had gotten out of Haverly.

It wasn't that he was bitter. Jimmy knew better than that. Zack was a much better person than that; a much more mature one. He knew that Mel needed her freedom; that she was this country's chance to fix things and make everything right again.

"She's got to be safe," Zack whispered, his voice pleading as he looked up at them. "She's gotta be safe. She...She needs to be."

It was the most vulnerable that either Matt or Jimmy had ever seen their friend. It broke their hearts, knowing that Zack felt so completely devastated and broken. He had never seemed so shattered before. Jimmy moved to his feet and slowly shuffled over to where Zack was crouched, wincing when the chains that were around his ankles touched the agitated cuts that were embedded in his pale flesh. When he reached Zack, he sat down next to him and pulled him in for a tight hug, letting Zack know that there were people who still cared in the world.

"She's fine, Zack. I swear to God that wherever she is, she's okay. She's stronger than we are; smarter, too. She's somewhere safe right now. Hell, I bet she's probably already where she needs to be, sitting in a nice warm bathtub with a plate full of nice, hot food."

That almost got a smile out of Zack, though not quite. He frowned when he looked up to see one of the Policemen standing outside the cell, almost in a bragging sort of way as he glared at them through the bars of the cell.

"Hey, no fucking each other in there," the guard quipped at them. "It's not a--"

"Fuck off, will you?" Jimmy cut him off, glaring angrily in the guard's direction. "The least you can do in our last days is be human, don't you think?"

The guard scoffed, though he evidently didn't feel they'd done something serious enough to enter their cell as he walked away, muttering homosexual slurs under his breath as he left them to themselves again.

Zack sighed as he lifted his head, looking up at the ceiling before he closed his eyes.

He tried to think of happier times; times when he'd been a child and Melissa had been to. They'd been happy then. There had still been an untouched innocence about the world, even though Schlagger's regime had already taken hold of the country. His influence back then hadn't been quite as strong as it was now, and there had still been times when children were able to play outside and have fun; have a life.

It was a time when Mel had been happiest.

He smiled to himself when he remembered the way she'd looked back then, with her bright green eyes and her dark hair up in braided piggytails. Even back then, she'd been unique. Instead of wearing pastel patterns like the other neighborhood kids, she'd chosen instead to wear his and Matt's old punk rock t-shirts that had gotten too small for them. They'd been like dresses for her, if Zack recalled right, but she'd always loved wearing them.

And then, it had all ended. Zack's parents had been arrested, and so had Zina and her husband. The others--himself, Matt, and Melissa, had all followed suite and they'd been arrested as well. He didn't even remember what the charges had been anymore, it had been so long ago. All he remembered was that he'd been terrified; that he'd felt even more scared when he'd seen how vulnerable his younger sister was as handcuffs were placed too roughly around her fragile wrists.

"It won't be long now, boys," Schlagger's voice could be heard as he caught their attention from the front of the cell. "You're all on the Black List now. You know what that means, right?"

"Yeah, we do," Jimmy spouted off before he glared at Schlagger. "It means you realize we're stronger than you ever could be, so you're just getting rid of us."

He spat in Schlagger's direction, a satisfied smirk forming on his lips when he watched as his wad of spit landed on the dictator's shoes. The older man made a disgusted look, though he said nothing as he glared at them.

"I do hope that you all realize you're making this worse for dear Melissa when we do finally find her," he told them, his eyebrows arching with a gleeful look. "The young lady has quite an endurance for pain, from what Dr. Harding has told me. I'm sure I'll enjoy testing that."

"You leave your hands off my fucking sister, you sick fuck!" Zack growled, feeling anger bubbling up inside of him more strongly than he had before as he moved to his feet, lunging towards the cell bars. He grabbed on to two of them, pressing his face tightly between two of them before he glared angrily at Schlagger.

"Or what?" Schlagger asked, his voice happy.

He didn't say another word as he took two steps back before continuing down the hallway, leaving the three boys alone once again.

Zack felt tears forming in his eyes as he backed away from the cell door. His sister was out there somewhere, he thought to himself. Somewhere that he had no idea where it was. He wasn't there to protect her; to make sure that she was safe. And the time was fast approaching when he wouldn't ever get another chance to protect her at all. He would be dead soon, and he knew there was no stopping it. The only thing he was afraid of was whether or not Mel could make it to the end of this with her life intact.