Just as planned, the five members of the group had collected everything that they found necessary in the old cabin and they were ready to hit the road. Their new acquirements were more canned food, the small generator that they found outside the cabin, some duct tape, and tools. Everything that they had listed seemed useful, yet there was something that caught Duncan's eyes after some hours in the car. It was inside Isaak's bag, he had seen it back in the house but it served no use.

"Isaak, why'd you grab that?" He asked the other boy, signaling the device.

"Oh, the tape player? Vic saw you staring at it, she asked me if I could fix it" The blonde boy answered with a shrug as he pulled the object out of his bag.

Duncan tried to tell him that it was just a heavyweight and it was stupid to carry it around, but Victoria answered in the other blonde's behave. It had been her choice, she thought that having music could bring their spirits up. Duncan knew better than to argue with ex-Sargent no matter how much of a hot head he was. He bit his tongue and looked at Isaak's hands holding the cassette player, he wondered if it could be fixed with so little spare materials.

"Dad! Why do you have that old thing? There are so many cool things that play music too" Seven-year-old Duncan exclaimed after watching an ad on their TV.

"Oh, Derek. I got this when I was young, and I wouldn't be able to let it go" His dad smiled at him. His toothy grin always made his son laugh lively. "It might not work very well, but you know there's nothing your old dad can't fix"

Duncan would spend many hours with his dad, watching him reassemble, switch and take out different pieces of that old tape player. He had always been great at building things and fixing them, his son wanted to be like him but he was too clumsy. He would lose the small pieces or maybe he didn't understand where it should go. But his dad always praised him for just trying it out.

"I will never be as cool as you!" Duncan whined, crossing his arms and pouting like the little child he was.

"Just because you still don't understand how to fix this, it doesn't mean you will never learn. And I'm sure you know how to do way cooler things than I do" The man smiled fondly at his grey-eyed son, the little boy had always tried to be more mature than other kids he had come across. "Uhm, last day I saw you drawing a dinosaur, I don't know how to do that!"

"Don't be silly! You were the one that taught me!"

***

"Derek? How was that birthday party? You don't look happy" His now older looking dad asked once he came through the door.

"It was dumb, Malcolm said he would stay with me but he just left with someone else" Duncan, at his twelve, had just come back from his friend's friend's birthday. He didn't really fit there, it had been in town with a lot of kids that he didn't know and his only friend left his side.

"Oh, buddy...Would you like some snacks? We could make our own little party" The man tried to lighten the mood, but his son was too upset to accept his offer. He didn't even say anything as he walked to his room, eyes fixated on the floor.

It wasn't until an hour later that Duncan heard the old sound of their cassette player. It was soft but he would recognize that song anywhere, just like his dad singing the lyrics, probably pretending to be even worse than he was. Derek felt bad when he realized that his dad wasn't at fault for what happened. The man just wanted to cheer him up.

"TNT! I'm dynamite!" He yelled as he made his way to the living room. The old tape player was on top of their table and his dad held a beer and a diet coke in his hands.

"See, Derek, we can have fun! You, me, and this old shit!"

"Duncan, wanna help?"

"Huh?" Duncan blinked at Isaak. He had zoned out watching him disassemble the device, remembering old memories way before the apocalypse. "I don't think that's a good idea. I used to have one and I would just lose its pieces all the time"

"You could just hold these wires for me, I'll do the rest" Isaak grabbed his hand and guided it to the too cables that needed to be held. It didn't seem as difficult as he remembered from his childhood.

As they drove in the right direction, while the others rested, they worked on the old thing. Duncan being mostly a technical support, holding things out for Isaak to cut or handing him the needed tools. But Isaak was way more focused, his face showed a frown and sometimes he stuck his tongue out and bit it. It was amusing to watch.

"Isaak! Did you steal my old hairdryer?" His mom shouted at him from the living room.

"Yeah...But it is for a school project!" Isaak lied, he had 'borrowed' the hairdryer to use its pieces as replacements for the motor of his skateboard. Let's say he had a hobby, it wasn't the usual one but it kept him entertained.

"Whatever, just don't make a mess in your room!"

He was excited to try out his new motor for his board, for him it was unique and way cooler than the normal ones, or those that the rich kids would buy. He wished his friends would be as excited as he was. But no matter how impressive Isaak thought he was with his mechanical skills, his buddies didn't even try to match his enthusiasm.

It wasn't the only time, whenever he met someone and he tried to show them one of his little inventions, they would just tell him that there way cooler things that could be bought at stores. And with time the words ended up sinking in, making Isaak stop showing the things he made to anyone, and keeping them as his little secrets. He believed that they would never be recognized and that his skills had no use. Yet, it was better to be occupied with his electronics than have his mind filled his doubt and intrusive thoughts. Maybe no one cared about what he did, but it made him feel better.

"Man, it's so cool that you know how to do this" Duncan broke his focus on the wires. His head shot up instantly, raising an eyebrow at his friend. It was visible that his intentions were innocent and sincere. After all, the black-haired had spent over an hour hearing his murmurs and watching him do all that stuff without complaining.

"Eh...Thank you, I used to fix things when I was bored" Isaak felt awkward but fluttered by the compliment he had received. He put a piece of duct tape to settle some pieces together before sighing. "I think we should take a break, my fingers are cramping"

"We'll stop soon to eat dinner and rest as well" Joshua announced after a while. They wouldn't get out of the van to sleep that night, the road was frequented by some rottens. It wasn't a large amount but there was no need to take unnecessary turns to watch over. They could all sleep in the back of their vehicle without feeling crowded and it would be much safer.

"I remember traveling through this part of the country when I was young..." Victoria started narrating, Joshua rolled his eyes at her dreamy voice. But the teenagers listened carefully. "Me and my...Friend were going to this natural reserve. She was studying vet and I was on a break myself, she wanted to see the different species in a more natural environment. Back then you could even see some wild animals by the side of the road, instead of rottens"

"Vic, you make it sound like you are too old" Josh laughed at her. Maddison comment that she reminded her of some old hag that used to take care of her back at the orphanage.

Sharing stories was something common in the group, easier for some, and more complicated to others. But at the end of the day, they always knew something new. Like how Victoria was scared of owls, Maddison's interest in (naturally found) animal bones, the weird songs Josh would write when he was a teenager...For the boys, it was a bit less easy to speak about those things out loud, but they also found out about their nursing and mechanical skills, even if it was less detailed.

It took them an hour to stop at a good place. There weren't any rottens by the time they got there, it was an empty landscape only some busses here and there. The first one to get out of the vehicle was Maddison, she kept whining about the pain in her legs and how she needed to stretch them properly. The rest followed suit, weapons ready and eyes alert.

They collected some of the leaves from the busses nearby and some branches. Duncan and Josh started the fire to cook two of the canned grilled chicken. The name wasn't welcoming, nor was the looks of the food, but you couldn't be too picky. And, honestly, for a starving person, those cans were heaven.

"Okay, should be ready in a bit"

"I'm starving, and my legs are in pain. Why the fuck is everything so inconvenient" Madison huffed as she played with her dagger. The group watched her as they sat around the fire.

"I'd say it's because of the apocalypse, Mads. That or you are one your period" Isaak said pretty serious, even if the dialogue sounded pretty dumb from the exterior.

"Don't even mention that. Having it these past months has been hell"

***

Isaak held one of the walkie-talkies that they had in his left hand. He had never looked at them closely as he had only seen one the first time he met Duncan. But now he was paying more attention to it. It was Mads’ idea, she thought that maybe he could fix the devices in case they had to be separated again.

"You know, I'm not actually a mechanic or anything..." Isaak had said when Maddison told him about it. "I've never really fixed one of these"

"Man, if you can fix that old shit" she pointed to the record player that sat in a corner "You can fix those walkies" Sure, it couldn't be too difficult to repair them. But the thing was to know where to start.

First things first, check if they turned on. Or at least where did you have to push for that to happens. It took him two minutes to figure it out and then another one for the small screen to show some numbers. The one he had in his hand seemed to work fine and so did the one he picked up later. Both showed the numbers of different channels, they could switch to the one that he wanted but they kept making that annoying static sound.

Isaak stared at the devices blankly and looked over Joshua and Mads who sat at the front seats. "Eh...Did y'all not think about the problem being in the antenna?" he asked them as he moved that part of the walkie until the static sound stopped and he could hear himself through the other walkie talkie.

"Boy, I was a firefighter, not an electrician" Josh pointed at him with his finger as to accuse the blonde boy. Mads nodded in agreement as Isaak put some tape on the walkie to avoid them from moving and giving them trouble again. "Anyways shouldn't we call the other two? They've been out there for a while now, man" The red-haired girls stretched her arms out, almost punching the man by her side.

"How's that record player going?" Meanwhile, Victoria asked the black-haired boy, both sitting on the roof of the van. Duncan gave her a side glance before answering her. "Isaak says it will be fixed soon, it wasn't that damaged" He looked at her properly now, she was nodding and smiling to the front. "There was an actual reason for you to tell Isaak to grab it, right?"

Victoria couldn't help but chuckle at the boy. He already knew Vic better than most people had ever known her, she didn't like lying to him. "I saw you looking at it, you looked melancholic. And I thought it would be a good distraction for you two. Even Maddison was entertained looking at what you did"

"Do you think we need distractions? I think we are already preoccupied with other things, like, not dying" Duncan joked, but he didn't quite comprehend the need to be distracted with something like fixing an old thing. But Victoria shooked her head and played with the ring on her finger. "You are kids, no matter the situation. You deserve to forget about the apocalypse even for a bit." There was no lie, when they focused on the tape player, he hadn't thought about the outside, the zombies, surviving... "And moreover, some bonding would be good. Having another friend that you can trust blindly is the best thing that could happen nowadays"

Trust. It was something hard to achieve, but Duncan had already given it to every single one of the members of his group. Even the new integrant had won it with his honesty and by saving him from the rotten in the forest. He had known how other people turned out after the breakout, how they were two-faced and mischievous. But Isaak wasn't like that and Duncan knew it from the moment they met. Victoria was right; distractions, friends, and bonds were crucial, a treasure.