Sam liked Nisha. She was grumpy and a little intimidating, but not in the way Carolyne was. He thought Carolyne was a little mean, but he still was trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. They were all running on little sleep and little food. Alex was the first person to wake up, and Sam was the first person Alex found. The two of them had been awake and running around for three days or so before they’d found Nisha. Finley helped scrounge up some snacks, and James hacked into a few vending machines at one point. It kept them alive but not healthy.

Nisha seemed more tired than any of them somehow, a deep set exhaustion Sam was sure he wouldn’t even begin to understand. James at mentioned at one point when she was still asleep that her mind was battling with something. Her being fighting with another force for control. She had been kind to Sam when she woke up though, always turning toward him when she spoke, slow and clear and easy to understand.

He liked Finley a lot too. She was also kind to him, patiently interpreting even through she wasn’t trained as an interpreter much at all. She seemed skittish though, jumpy like a rabbit. Sam had a feeling he was going to have to get past a few walls before he’d get to understand the ‘true’ Finley.

The jury was still out on Alex, Carolyne and James. Mind Readers were never much of a concern to the Deaf community. He had a hard of hearing kid in college once tell him about the different ways that a Deaf person and a hearing person would think. A hearing mind reader would have a hard time getting around the different system he thought in. So as far as James went, Sam knew his secrets were safe.

Still though, James seemed sneaky. Sam knew very little about him, other than the fact that he was good with computers. It was hard to really form an opinion about a ghost.

Alex was friendly, but Sam could tell he was saving face. He wondered what the other man truly thought about things. Maybe being a mind reader would actually be helpful in that situation, James probably knew.

Carolyne just seemed rude. Sam didn’t think she was evil, she was perfectly capable of kindness and had shown that kindness to Sam before, but she was a bit of a walking contradiction.

The van drove down a brick street, stopping in front of a series of buildings. They appeared to be Downtown, the old and worn but inviting buildings ran up and down the street. The building in front of the van was around the same size of the others surrounding it. Two stories in a typical storefront style, it was older looking and the bricks were pained a nice white. The paint was chipped in places, but it’s appearance didn’t strike Sam as shabby, just well loved. At the top of the first floor was a sign labeled: ‘SPDA Piedmont Branch’.

Air moved around at the front of the van. Kendra was talking.

“This is where you’re going to have to get out for now”. She said when she turned around. “You all seem pretty worn out, so we have food and beds for everyone. Feel free to ask any questions you want, but we’ll have the primary classification tomorrow.”

The moment Sam saw ‘bed’ he suddenly felt ages older than he was. His fatigue was starting to reach up to him but years of practice running on little resources made him tough. He wasn’t surprised he had lasted this long at all, but he also wasn’t about to say he was feeling great either.

He nudged Finley awake and she made a startled jump, looking around.

“Sorry!” He signed. “We’re here.”

Finley blinked at him, long and slow with a blank expression on her face. Finally she nodded and turned to grab her things.