• Saturday, October 2 - 16 P.A. •

Maybelle stares at the land she had just run across. From her position in the tree she’d found, she can barely see the wall of the little broken shack between her hiding place and Burnsley. It’s only one building, but she knows it will lead the others to this spot.

“How long are we going to wait here?” Calvin inquires, swinging her legs over the branch beneath her.

“Until Edison finds us,” Maybelle answers from her branch.

Calvin looks up at her, then out toward the shack. “Maybelle, are-”

“Don’t,” Maybelle objects without looking down. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. My brother made it out. He always makes it out.”

Calvin sighs, but shrugs and leans back.

Maybelle sets her jaw and watches the land.

They’ve been in this tree all night. So far, only Ekua has found them, but she left around an hour after sunrise. She went to see if she can find any of the others. Several hours have passed since then.

“Maybelle, we need food soon,” Calvin says.

“Then go get some,” Maybelle replies.

“I didn’t mean right this second.”

Maybelle hums distractedly.

Calvin sighs and shifts one leg over so they’re both on one side of the branch.

Maybelle looks down sharply. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. I’m just moving my legs.”

“Oh.” Maybelle sighs and leans her forehead against the branch next to her. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be taking my worry out on you.”

Calvin shrugs. “I appreciate it, but you’re not being that bad.”

Maybelle flashes a tired smile and looks back up.

“You’ve never been without him, have you?” Calvin wonders.

“Not for more than a few days,” Maybelle murmurs.

Calvin nods slowly.

“The longest we’ve ever been apart was five days a few years or so ago.”

Calvin waits, then asks, “What happened?”

Maybelle glances down. “You want the long or short version?”

Calvin shrugs. “We don’t have anything else to do. Tell me the whole story.”

Maybelle almost smiles again. She shifts a bit so she can face Calvin and still see the shack, then delves into her memories. “We’d just followed a group into a district. Lightmore, I think. When we got into the district, the group we were with discovered that one of their people was missing. They really wanted to go out after their person, but since there were a few more kids in the group, only a few could go out. I was with the family of a friend I’d made in another district a year or so before, so Edison offered to help the group we’d come with, since they’d helped us already.

“Well, while they were out, Edison and the girl he’d gone with got stuck in a storm. It wasn’t super awful for me since I knew and trusted the people I was with, but I was still kind of freaking out the whole time. After two days, someone tried to convince me they died. I didn’t want to hear it, but after two more days went by, I started to believe them.

“When Edison came back to the district, it was barely past noon on the fifth day and he was alone. He refused to answer anyone’s questions, except that the girl he’d been with was alive when he left her, and came straight to me the moment they stopped interrogating him. He was different. Something happened to him out there, and I don’t know what it was. He’s never told me.”

Maybelle sighs and shrugs. “Anyway, he had me pack up whatever wasn’t already packed and we left. I’ve hated leaving his side since, because something bad always happens. But you know what else always happens?”

Calvin tilts her head when Maybelle smiles at her.

“He always makes it out. We both do.”

Calvin nods slowly. “Good. Stay positive, May.”

Maybelle hums and looks back out at the shack. She sits up quickly at the sight of someone walking around the wall. From the distance, it’s hard to make out, but it looks like Ekua’s fur collar. Someone else follows her, and a kid-sized person follows them. They don’t move like the dead. When Ekua raises her arm to wave, Maybelle scrambles down the branches, quickly followed by Calvin.

“Did you find Edison?” Maybelle inquries when Ekua reaches the tree.

Oren and his kid follow her slowly, looking more tired than Maybelle feels.

“Not yet, but Oren says they were right behind him,” Ekua answers.

“They?”

“Matt’s with him, and some of the kids from the daycare.”

Maybelle nods. “He’s not alone. Good.”

Ekua puts a hand on her arm, then gestures to the tree. The kid is already halfway up, so the others follow. Maybelle stays on the ground.

“Maybelle,” Calvin calls.

“I’m going to wait by the shack,” Maybelle says, looking up.

“I’ll come with you.” Ekua hops down next to her.

“You don’t have to.”

“I never said I have to.”

Maybelle hums and looks up at the others. “Will you guys be okay?”

Calvin nods. “Yeah. We know where to find you.”

“Try to stay up there. We’ll come back before dark,” Ekua promises.

Maybelle is already walking away.

“Stay safe,” Calvin says.

Ekua smiles, then trots after Maybelle quietly.

The air is chilly. It nips at Ekua’s nose and makes her grateful for the fur she lined her armor with. A big blue sky expands above them, spotted with occasional clouds that cast shade onto the grass below.

The wood of the shack is dry and cracked. The walls and the roof have holes in them. Any windows are just open squares now and everything inside is weathered and useless. Still, it’s as good a landmark as any.

Maybelle takes the stool from inside and places it on the outside of the farthest wall, sitting on it to stare toward Burnsley. Ekua leans on the wall next to her. They’re both quiet.

“Rusty, we have to go,” Edison whispers, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“But…” Rusty trails off and shakes his head.

Edison purses his lips. He glances at the other kids and Matt.

Rusty shakes his head again and turns to Edison, not really looking at him. “She just...let us go…”

The words make Edison’s chest hurt. He gently tugs Rusty’s shoulder and the boy turns all the way, following him to the others.

Matt glances at Rusty before meeting Edison’s gaze. Edison shakes his head and Matt sighs, getting the rest of the kids to their feet. Rusty stays at Edison’s side as the group walks on through the grass.

It’s hard for Edison not to rush the kids. They’re already later than he likes, having spent a whole night in the open. If he were on his own -or even if it was just Matt with him, he’d already be with Maybelle and they’d be off in the Outlands again. But he knows Maybelle is capable of handling herself and these kids need someone.

When they get to the top of a rise, the small, broken shack on the other side makes Edison sigh. It’s as much a landmark as it can get. The closer they get to the shack, the clearer the people sitting against the wall get.

They’re both on the ground; Maybelle is fast asleep against Ekua’s shoulder. Ekua looks up with a smile when the group stops in front of them.

“Is she okay?” Zenaida asks, gesturing to Maybelle.

“Oh yeah,” Ekua chuckles and glances down at Maybelle. “She’s just exhausted. She waited up all night.”

“So did he.” Matt points at Edison.

Ekua hums and gently shakes Maybelle awake. “Hey. Guess who’s here.”

Maybelle looks up, then turns to the group and flies to her feet. “Edison!”

He purrs when she hugs him tightly, returning the embrace. “Where are the others?”

Ekua gestures behind the shack as she gets up. “In a tree down that way.”

Edison nods and looks down at the kids when Maybelle lets go. “Let’s go. It’s bad to be apart so long.”

They all agree, but Rusty sits down against the wall and crosses his arms, staring at where they’d come from.

“I’m waiting for mom,” he says.

“Rusty, we have to go,” Jackie pleads.

Rusty shakes his head. “I’m not moving.”

Jackie purses his lips and looks at Edison for help.

Edison nods Jackie toward the group. “Go with them. We’ll come soon.”

Jackie sighs, but goes with Ekua and the kids. Matt stays next to Maybelle.

“Are you sure you want to stay?” Maybelle inquires.

“We’ll only be a minute,” Edison promises.

She purses her lips, glancing at Rusty, then turns and follows the others. “If you’re not at the tree by sunset, I’m coming back.”

Edison nods and sits down next to Rusty, with enough room between them for Rusty’s anger to sit comfortably. Matt leans against the wall a few steps from Edison.

“You can go with them,” Rusty says after a minute. “I’m fine on my own.”

Edison hums. “I believe you. But not now.”

Rusty snorts. “Why not? My mom obviously thinks I’m fine.”

Edison looks at his lap. He doesn’t know how to answer.

“I know how you feel,” Matt murmurs, earning Edison’s curious attention.

“Really?” Rusty asks. His tone is a mix of sarcasm and hope.

Matt hums. “Yep. When I was about your age, the modern world was just coming to an end. My family lived on a kind of secluded farm and we did alright for a while. Then one day, my aunt died and no one knew until it was too late. My other aunt and my mom were both turned and my stepdad…”

Rusty looks up. He and Edison watch Matt’s jaw tighten and his chest swell with a deep breath. He shifted his feet and continued.

“After my mom and aunts died, my stepdad took his daughter and the dog and took off, leaving me all by myself in that house.”

Matt shifts his gaze to the ground in front of Rusty and Edison. “People do strange things, kid. And a lot of the time, we never know why they do them. Your mom...I’m sure she did what she thought was best for you and Jackie; even if that meant letting you go.”

Rusty stares at him for another moment, then turns to the ground. His eyes grow misty and he bites his bottom lip as it starts to tremble. Dirt scrapes as he pulls his legs up to his chest and he hides his tears in his knees. Matt and Edison don’t say anything else while he cries.

When they get to the tree, the sun is only starting to set and the others have settled into their places for the night. Matt watches Rusty climb up to the branch next to his brother and almost follows before he sees Edison sit down against the base of a different tree. With a glance up at the others, he walks over and plops down with a heavy breath next to Edison.

“It’s been a long couple of days, huh?” he says.

Edison nods with a quiet hum. “Longer to come.”

Matt looks at him curiously. “Aren’t you going to get some sleep?”

Edison shrugs.

Matt purses his lips and looks at his lap. “You’re worried about the kids, aren’t you?”

A loud sigh comes from Edison as he shakes his head. “The kids will be okay. I have help. I trust all of you.”

Matt gently leans into Edison’s shoulder. “Then what’s up?”

He opens his mouth like he knows what to say, but no words come out. He shrugs and shakes his head again. “I...I was ready to stay. In Burnsley.”

Matt nods slowly. “It was a nice place.”

Edison hums. He stares at his legs for a few more moments, then takes a deep breath and looks at Matt. “Was it true? The story about your family?”

Matt’s jaw strains as he looks down. “Yeah.”

Edison leans into Matt’s arm then, looking down at the ground between them.

“It wasn’t all bad, though,” Matt murmurs.

“How?”

“Well, after Chuck left with Ronia and Jodie, I had the whole farm to myself, including the shelter he built before the world crashed and all of the food he left behind.”

Edison looks up curiously.

“And a couple months later, one of my neighbors came over and we turned my house into a place for passing groups and people to stay if they needed. The shelter had enough supplies for a long time and we did alright for a couple years until…”

Matt’s eyes grow sad again and he sighs. “Until it went bad again.”

Edison hums softly. “It always does.”

“But if all that hadn’t happened, I’d never have met all of you.”

“Is it worth it if it’s just going to go bad again?”

Matt looks down, but Edison’s already sighed and closed his eyes.

“It is. I’m glad we met you,” he whispers, letting his head fall onto Matt’s shoulder.

“I’m glad we met you too,” Matt smiles.

“How did a shelter hold that much food?” Edison wonders after a few minutes.

Matt chuckles. “It was an underground fallout shelter. People used to build them all the time, even before this whole shitshow started. It was like a big underground house.”

Edison opens his eyes a bit. “Maybelle and I stayed in an underground house before we met Victor.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. It was…” Edison struggles to find a word and settles for, “strange.”

Matt hums. “Where was it?”

Edison shrugs one shoulder. “Not far from Privass.”

Matt looks down in surprise. “I think that was mine.”

Edison raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“Was there a big blue house in the same area?”

“Yes.”

Matt chuckles and nods. “Yeah, that was my old world home. Crazy.”

Edison smiles.

“You look tired,” Matt comments.

“I am.”

Matt gestures to the tree. “You should probably climb up and secure yourself before you get too tired.”

Edison glances at the others and shakes his head. “I don’t like sleeping in trees. They’re scary.”

Matt snorts, following his gaze. “Scary? Why’s that?”

“Too high.”

“You dealt with the levels in Burnsley just fine.”

“That’s different. In trees, I can see how high I am. Less control.”

“Ah. I guess that makes sense,” Matt murmurs.

Edison hums.

“Well, you can sleep here, if you want to. I’ll keep watch.”

Edison smiles. “Can I sleep on your legs?”

Matt almost blushes. “Sure.”

He does blush when Edison shifts from leaning against his shoulder to laying his head on the armor of his lap.

“Thanks,” Edison mumbles. “Wake me up in four hours.”

Matt nods, cautiously resting his arm on Edison’s shoulder. “Goodnight, Edison.”

Edison purrs. “Goodnight, Matt.”

Within minutes, he’s out. Matt traces unconscious circles on his shoulder as he looks up at the tree the others are in. Maybelle is watching him and she smiles when their eyes meet. He smiles back before she secures the rope around her waist and closes her eyes to sleep.

There’s a rope connecting everyone in the tree. Oren is the highest in the tree, next to Isidra. Maybelle is a couple branches below them and one branch above Calvin. Ekua is the lowest, a few branches below Rusty and Jackie. She’s still wide awake, playing with a toy she always has in her pocket. She glances at Matt like she felt his gaze, and smiles when she sees Edison, holding a thumbs up that makes Matt chuckle and shake his head.