• Saturday, November 27 - 16 P.A. •

Matt’s breath comes out in a fast, heavy gasp when he finally sees Edison with his own eyes. His knees wobble as he walks up to the bed and he crumbles once he’s next to it, wrapping his arms around Edison’s ribs and pushing his face into his chest.

Edison almost giggles as he hugs Matt’s head. “I missed you too.”

Maybelle smiles from the doorway and tugs Inez’s sleeve as she steps out into the hall. “Let’s give them a minute.”

Inez glances at Maybelle, then back at the boys, then shrugs and follows her, letting the door shut behind them.

Edison looks up at the closed door curiously, but his attention quickly drops back to Matt when he slowly lets go. He doesn’t have words for the question he wants to ask, so he lets Matt answer it on his own.

“I was worried about you, that’s all,” Matt says and rests his cheek on the bed next to Edison’s thigh. “When Maybelle told me who Elinore was… it didn’t help.”

“I’m sorry I ran,” Edison sighs.

Matt lifts his head from the bed to look Edison right in the eyes. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, Edison.”

Edison avoids Matt’s eyes.

“Edison, listen to me.” Matt gently takes Edison’s face in his hands. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I understand what it’s like to be that scared of something -of someone.”

“But I ran…” Edison grumbles and shakes his head out of Matt’s hands, bringing his own up to hold them.

“Which is fine. We’re in a safe place. And even if we weren’t, you’re allowed to run from things that scare you. Hell knows I have; and still do. Don’t apologize for being afraid.”

Edison purses his lips. “Safe…”

Matt slowly shifts up onto the bed, taking Edison’s small nod as permission. He sits right next to Edison and holds his hands, rubbing the backs with his thumb. “Edison, if you don’t want to stay here with them here, we can go once the storm is down.”

Edison groans and shakes his head. “No. It is safe. Ekua knows them; trusts them. Maybelle is happy. We can stay.”

“Are you sure you want to?” Matt asks.

Edison shakes his head again. “I don’t want to. Not forever. We need rest and food. Winter is bad outside.”

“So you want to just stay for winter?”

“Yes. I can hide. Maybelle is strong. We’ll be okay.” Edison turns his face to Matt with a soft smile.

Matt smiles back and squeezes his hand lightly. “Good.”

Edison leans into his arm with a sigh. “I’m so tired.”

“Being sick is exhausting,” Matt agrees and braves a kiss on the top of his head.

A knock on the door makes them look up as Maybelle opens it again. She smiles in greeting.

“Inez and I are going to the cafeteria. Do you want anything?” she asks.

“Oh, can you bring me one of those chicken sandwiches?” Matt requests.

Edison purses his lips thoughtfully, then gently squeezes Matt’s hand. “I want to go.”

Matt and Maybelle look at him, both equally surprised.

“Go? To the cafeteria?” Matt wonders.

Edison nods, slowly getting to his feet. He hums. “Actually, I want to shower first. Then the other place.”

Maybelle smiles almost brightly, but keeps it contained. “Do you want me to take you around or are you going to have Matt?”

“Matt,” Edison says, grabbing his blanket.

Maybelle nods. “Alright. We’ll be in the cafeteria, then. I love you.”

Edison hums. “I love you too.”

Maybelle waves to Matt, then follows Inez up the hall. She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a slow, satisfying exhale.

“He seems to be feeling better,” Inez notes, glancing back as Matt shuts the door behind him and Edison. The boys go the opposite direction.

“A lot better,” Maybelle agrees. “And he’s starting to open up a bit. A month ago, he wouldn't have left that room until he was in top health and only then would he have left to shower or eat alone, let alone with someone that isn’t me.”

“He must really trust Matt then.”

Maybelle nods.

“How long have you two known him?” Inez wonders and holds open the cafeteria doors for Maybelle.

“A few months. Maybe three.”

Inez whistles quietly, then walks off.

“Hey, May!” Calvin greets with a big smile as she passes the table.

“Hi Cal. I’ll be over once I get some food,” Maybelle promises, gesturing to the counter.

Calvin gives her a thumbs up as she turns back to the kids.

Maybelle smiles and reaches for a tray just as someone else does. She looks up to apologize, but a cold shock zaps her chest and she steps back. Brown eyes flicker with recognition and she furrows her brow, like she’s trying to decide whether to be happy or not.

“Maybelle?”

Maybelle nods slowly. “Hi Elinore.”

Elinore takes another moment, then hugs Maybelle tightly, laughing under her breath. “I knew it. I knew it when I saw Edison.”

Maybelle hugs her back a little hesitantly. She’s quiet as she smells the faint perfume on Elinore’s shirt, and feels the warmth of her arms around her. It’s been so long.

Elinore lets go almost quickly, holding Maybelle’s arms as she looks at her face. “How is he? How are you? What happened after-”

“Where’s Victor?” Maybelle interrupts, looking around the cafeteria for the familiar face.

“He’s not with us anymore. I kicked him out a few days after you two left. His story just had too many holes in it,” Elinore explains as she lets Maybelle go, holding her own arms like she needed the protection. “I… I never trusted what he said happened. I wanted to find you guys, but you were so far gone already, I figured you wouldn’t want to see us again anyway.”

Maybelle slowly nods, relaxing in the familiar presence. “Edison will understand. He liked you.”

Elinore scoffs gently. “It didn’t really seem like it when he saw me in the infirmary.”

Maybelle picks up a tray to get her food. “He associates you with Victor. Where you are, he expected to see him. He’s pretty messed up after Victor. He’s barely starting to trust other people again. Seeing you was… not what he needed right now.”

Elinore purses her lips as she also grabs a tray. “That makes sense. Do you think he’d be okay seeing me if he knows Victor isn’t with my group anymore? I can try to avoid him if you think that’d be best.”

Maybelle smiles. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ll tell him what you told me. He’ll believe you. It might take him a while to be comfortable around you, but if Victor isn’t here, he should be okay eventually.”

“Oh good. I’d love to see him again. How is he, anyway? He was sick when he came in, right? Is he doing any better?”

Maybelle nods, getting more comfortable the more Elinore speaks. “He’s doing better. He’s been hiding out for a while, resting and recovering. He’s had help from another doctor here, so he should be fully recovered pretty soon.”

Elinore beams. “That’s great. I feel bad for scaring him like I did. I was so shocked and worried about you.”

“Everyone reacts different. He knows his scars are shocking. He usually keeps them covered. He’s gotten comfortable with Matt, though, so he’s kind of loosening up a bit,” Maybelle says and steps away from the counter with her tray.

“Matt? That’s the guy that was with him?”

“Yeah.”

Elinore nods. “Good for him. He seems like a good guy.”

Maybelle hums. “He is. He really is.”

She glances at her table, where Calvin is entertaining the kids. She looks up to Maybelle curiously, but turns away when Jackie asks her something.

“Is that your new group over there?” Elinore wonders.

“Yeah. We’ve got a lot of kids now. We kind of adopted everyone from the last district we were in after it got overrun by screamers,” Maybelle sighs.

Elinore winces and looks toward a different table where a few others are sat. “I lost most of my group after Privass. A few went with Victor when I made him leave, and others stayed in Privass when Flick and I wanted to move on. We picked up some new folks along the way, though.”

Maybelle recognizes Flick even from the distance, but the others aren’t as familiar.

“Well,” Elinore says, looking at Maybelle, “I’ll let you get back to your group. Maybe we can meet up some time and talk. I missed you a lot.”

Maybelle smiles. “That’d be good. I’ll be in touch.”

Elinore nods and flashes a smile of her own before walking off to her table.

Maybelle watches, then makes her way to the table with Calvin and the kids. “Where are Oren and Jonah?”

“With Ekua. She took ‘em to Charlie and Nathan to discuss jobs. Ally went with ‘em. Rusty and Robby wanted to, but Ekua told them there were other jobs for them that she’d talk to them about later.”

Maybelle nods. “I should probably talk to her soon too. Have you?”

“Yeah. When she can, the local plant person is gonna come find me and I’m gonna be taught how to operate in the farm room,” Calvin explains.

“Farm room?” Maybelle chuckles. “They have a room that’s a farm? Or a room with farm stuff in it?”

“Kind of both,” Calvin beams. “During winter seasons like this, there’s an area that’s an indoor plant farm where they grow all kinds of stuff. Veggies, fruits, herbs, medicines. Everything has its own little section. And it isn’t all underground. I guess there’s a place where the shelter kind of raises up above the surface and there’s a greenhouse up there and a solarium in the making, I think. They’re still working on a lot of stuff, but what they have is amazing.”

Maybelle smiles. “I haven’t seen you this excited about anything. You really like plants, huh?”

Calvin blushes a little and shrugs. “Kinda. They’ve helped me with a lot. They’re a passion.”

Maybelle purrs and glances at the kids as Robby and Isidra barked to each other excitedly. There were words, but Maybelle couldn’t understand them. The other kids just laughed like there was a whole conversation going on that they were all a part of.

“I get that. I don’t have much of a passion for anything specific,” she admits, messing with the food on her tray. “I guess I like cleaning a lot, but I’m not really passionate about it.”

Calvin shrugs. “You’ve got time to find yours. You’re good with stories. Maybe you could be an author.”

“An author?” Maybelle tilts her head. “What’s that?”

“Someone who writes books,” Calvin describes.

“Oh. Maybe.” Maybelle nods curiously. “I do like stories. But that isn’t really a helpful passion like plants or hunting or healing.”

“I think stories are wonderful,” Calvin says.

Maybelle looks at her.

“They’re inspiring and entertaining. There’s always some meaning in them.”

“I guess that’s true,” Maybelle murmurs. She looks over her shoulder toward Elinore’s table.

Elinore is smiling at Flick as the teen expresses some kind of story excitedly. Maybelle smiles and turns back to her tray.

“Do you know them?” Calvin wonders and nods to Elinore’s table when Maybelle looks up.

“Yeah. Edison and I knew them in Privass.”

Maybelle looks up when the cafeteria doors open and watches Edison follow Matt through them. His hair his wet and he looks clean and a lot less pale. He’s smiling, but still clearly nervous, and clinging close to Matt.