“Sean left on his own! We have no idea where he went! He said he was going to head back first!” Sabrina went off, “Sean leaving was not our fault!”

“He wouldn’t leave without telling us!” Nick said.

“He would have told at least one of us of what’s going on!” Paul put in. ‘These people were working together, Sean must have been a very strong supporter if they were reacting like this.’

“Enough! Stop pointing blame!” Dustin yelled, “What is wrong with all of you? Clicks took us in when we had no where to go! Dr. Murphy healed our wounds and cured our sickness! We need them!”

“We don’t need dead weights! Clicks has done nothing for us!”

“He worked on this place before we got here! He thought up the Errand Runs! He volunteers to go out and run for us at the crack of dawn! He checks on everyone’s well being before his own! He makes sure this place is air tight! He doesn’t eat so that we could!”

“I’ve been monitoring Clicks and he is malnourished, he’s also been growing weaker and less lively.” Dr. Murphy put in.

“What? Clicks why didn’t you tell us?” Jeb asked and took his bag which nearly pulled him over.

“Clicks is only 18, he’s been on his own for nearly two years now. All he wants is a place to call home and people to call family. Clearly none of you want a lost boy to be family who’s only ever give and give.” Dr. Murphy looked at him and nodded. “Let’s go, Son.”

He couldn’t stop the tears, it felt like everything he said broke the steel wall he had worked so hard to build. Jebediah was the first to hug him then Sabrina and Ethel, he broke. He let everything out, let everything go. The loss of his big brother, his aunt, his home, his life, the feeling of being lost, and isolated.

He calmed down, realizing that he was holding onto Jebediah. He tried to push himself away but the kid wasn’t having it, he held on tighter. It almost felt like he had his older brother back again.

“To think a little guy like you is a year older than me,” Jeb said he hadn’t realized that his hearing was coming back. “I feel stupid for trying to live on my own when I was 16, I don’t even know how you did it.”

“Don’t pay any mind to the others, we got you Clicks, hunny.” He did as they said and only focused on his breathing and their warmth. A little bit later Kiara tapped his arm and held a piece of candy to him. He took it and ate it, relaxing as the strawberry flavor washed over his tongue. The familiar taste bringing back long forgotten memories of him and his brother, ‘Strawberry for being cautious...’ 

He remembered him and his brother poking their heads out and looking both ways before exiting and tip toeing down to the kitchen. He hadn’t put much thought into the lessons when he was younger and his brother was just learning at the Academy if he had known he would have cherished those memories better. ‘Thanks for the help, Blue Jay. Here you go, run along and play until I call you for dinner! Remember don’t talk to strangers! Be safe!’

He felt safe.

He also feels sleepy.

When was the last time he slept properly? Without having to wake up to every noise in the night?

He woke up to hearing his favorite recording playing and shifted in his bed to turn it off. He couldn’t feel the voice recorder and opened his eyes, first shocked that he was sleeping on top of the bed then the old woman smiling at him. He sat up and looked around, he was in the clearing.

“Here you go, dear. You must be hungry, eat lots there’s plenty to spare.” She handed him a nice looking bowl that had what smelled like chicken soup. He took a few sips and felt warm, when was the last time he had something like this made for him? Was it before his brother left, he could barely remember it it if was.

“Clicks! Good morning you Sleepy Head!” Sabrina called over to him and sprinted to him. She had something in her hand and held it behind her back smiling. “Pick which one.”

He looked between the two hands and pointed to her left. She pulled out two chocolate bars and gave it to him.

“I’ll be back with more tomorrow, I know how much you love your sweets. Oh, I should tell Jeb that you’re awake now. Dad should also check on you, what are you doing? Eat up!”

He finished his soup as fast as he allowed himself to by savoring the taste between spoonfuls. After he was done he was given another bowl, he traded his empty one and started eating the second helping that had more noodles and chicken in it than broth.

A commotion was head from the office and a few people walked out.

“Don’t come back! If you do we’ll feed you to the Dead Walkers!” Dustin yelled as Jarred, Paul and Nick walked by with a days ration and headed for the door.

“• — —     • • • •     • —     — / • • • •     • —     • — — •     • — — •     •     — •     •     — • • / —     — — — / — • —     •     — •     —” Clicks asked.

“You should know Clicks,” Nick growled and made a quick movement to scare him. Clicks sat there staring at Nick, having not moved like everyone else around him did. “Freak.”

He watched them go feeling their glares as they left. ‘This won’t be good. I should start working out.’

He finished the rest of his soup and ate his chocolate bar quickly. He opened his second one and offered a piece to the old woman she declined. He ate it and offered it to anyone who was near him. Each didn’t want any so he ended up eating both bars himself. He sat and listened to the idle chatter around him, this was so much better than his voice recorder. Speaking of which, he took it out and pressed record and set it down so it can record in peace.

After a few days rest like that he was ready to go out again, he went to Dustin’s office and knocked entering. “Ah, Clicks you feeling better after some rest?”

A quick glance around he figured it was safe to talk, “Yeah, when’s the next run?”

“Tomorrow before the bell. Are you sure you can go out now?”

“Yeah, I need to stretch and get some air. I don’t like being idle for too long.”

“Understood, Boss. You’ll be working with Sabrina and Jebediah as your main. Secondary is Alex and Tomas. Your backup is Yuri.”

“Ok, where will we be going?”

“Were checking out Love Avenue and Jay Street, so far we’ve been hitting the jackpot with this street.” He wasn’t sure but he felt that it was his brother’s doing. Or his parents, why else would his name being the one that brings in good resources. Maybe they should check out Robin Avenue next after this one in case it wasn’t just a fluke.

“Alright,” he said and Dustin turned around to finish filing. “Thanks Dustin.”

He went down and checked the room under the office to see if there was any change. He was surprised that it had screens up between beds and a little desk where Ethel sat. “Hello, Hunny how are you today? Feeling better after resting? No one’s in here, just little old me.”

“I’m feeling better now, what did you turn this area into?”

“A Sick Bay, Mr. Moral wanted to make a place for us to work and since we cleared out this room so much it became our work area. What are you planning on doing next?”

“I’m going out on some Errands tomorrow morning with Jeb and Sabrina. We’re checking out Jay Street and Love Avenue. I need to figure out my route to take the Dead Walkers so I’m going out for a bit to scope it out.”

“At this hour? Isn’t it too late to be going out there now?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been studying the Dead Walkers for a long time. I know what can set them off and what doesn’t. I’ll be fine as long as I stay out of their line of sight.”

“Ok, but be back before Dinner. We can’t have you missing meals again, or I’ll have my husband give you a shot.” Clicks shuddered as he held both of his arms. “That’s what I thought. Off with you, quickly.”

Nodding he left and went to Dustin again and told of his plan as he looked at the map of the town. “That would be easier, be back before Dinner it’s when the Sun had set.”

“Got it, I won’t be long.” He said and set off with his direction, he passed the doors and went to the long street of Poppy and searched for Love counting the streets as he went. He found it and went down the street, it was mostly devoid of Dead Walkers and he figured that the teams searched for places that barely had any for safety since he was out of commission for a few days. He went down the street and searched both sides for Jay. He stopped and seen that there were a few of them there. He went further for his escape route and found that most of them were dead ends. He was about to turn around and figured that going down Poppy to the tree line was his best option until he saw that Arrow was a continuous street leading to the park. He went down it and looked for a good exit point to go back on.

He found Robin and figured that this was it. He did a quick run through it and found it empty and went back in the direction of the warehouse. He circled and went to Poppy and to Love and then Jay. It was a long run, but he can manage it. He went back to the warehouse and walked in just as the last group was getting there. 

They settled down for the night and he listened to the stories that were being told, it turns out that Jeb and him shared a sleeping space. Debbie as he found out the old womans’ name set them up with dinner and talked of her old life.