“What the fuck?” Dominic muttered as he squinted his eyes to better see the ranch house not too far in the distance, he counted the cars, there was only one, when he left there were four, including his own.

  The building before them was a long and short building, the yard had yellowed in most pces, grass dried by the hard sun and dry cold, some yards away from the main house was an old barn, red paint long gone now browned and chipped leaving it dull and desaturated, almost blending in with the washed-out look of the barren toiled fields.

  The building was paneled with a rusty red artificial siding that had an off white trim, all of which were unkempt and sun bleached, leaving it obviously less vibrant than it once was. Matching the untended view of the vast empty soil plots and the farm shed. The gravel road that led to the rge rounded driveway was mostly empty, there were no fences, not even a pasture by the barn, it was a rge and open plot with the only barriers being the natural tree lines far off on the ends of the vast property or the neighboring farm's own pastures, which looked small from the main home, clearly too far to be part of the newly owned home.

  In the lot was an old pick up truck that was obviously used for farm work, off white in color, maybe grey, but slightly warmer, the edges of the rger truck were eroded, used often.

  He began to slow the trailer down and line of cars behind him did the same, he made a slow turn and the box truck began to rumble on the uneven gravely driveway, some chunks of stone tinked of the metal underside of the van to even more loudly announce his arrival, the other's behind him quickly joined him with wobbly cases and popping against the exposed bottom of the chassis'.

  As they got closer the house could be better seen, the windows were boarded with nailed in pnks and stacked furniture, the porch railing was broken in some pces but also reinforced in more, the natural brown wood door unched open before Dominic even cut the engine “Dom!” shouted a woman as she ran from the home, two other figures trailed behind her.

  As Dominic stepped down from the moving truck she threw herself into his arms and pnted a quick kiss to his lips “We were so worried.” she excimed, then stumbled back, as if she just now realized there were more than one car.

  The woman stepped back and quickly looked in confusion at the train of vehicles behind his, before she could question him, standing in silent bewilderment, Dominic spoke.

  Gesturing to the ck of a fourth car he said "Did they go looking for me?" he asked, looking back at her.

  Her face twisted, shifting between anger and sadness and stuck in an awkward in-between "They left." she snapped, crossing her arms "Nathan and Daniel took what we had left and drove off, please tell me you found food? Zerina is almost out of formu." she added nervously, pulling closer to Dominic as the rest of the caravan began to exit their vehicles.

  "They just left?" Dominic parroted in shock.

  "Jeff tried to stop them and got a bck eye for his trouble." she replied quietly. "Who are these people?" she asked, watching as Cooper broke away from his mother to run to Dixie's van, to where Penelope stood.

  Dixie was holding Penelope close as she squinted her small eyes and scanned the building with a deeply judgmental sneer.

  "Are they staying?" The woman, Asja, asked before Dominic could answer her st question.

  "For a few nights, they're going north." Dominic replied, a sudden tightness was overtaking his chest, he was worried and anxious, sighing as he shifted his stance and looked over at the other survivors. "I found my son," he blurted out, she quickly looked happy for him before the glee faded into worry "And my ex wife." he added, they looked over at the cautious group that began to form, eyeing Dominic for information "She's traveling with them."

  "Are you leaving?" she asked immediately.

  "What?" Dominic flustered.

  "It's okay."

  Dominic shook his head, too overwhelmed to even think of a reply he just grumbled "We'll discuss it ter?" before he looked up at the man approaching them.

  "Thanks for trying, Jeff." Dominic said as he immediately looked at the man's bruised eye.

  "Sorry I couldn't stop them. I dug around and found everything they missed. We have maybe two days of supplies." then he also looked at the group of survivors forming by the cars "For three people." He added harshly.

  "Nick?" Nancy called as she broke away from the forming group and approached them "Ruth really needs to lie down." she said as Iona and Irvin began to help slowly walk Ruth towards the door.

  Jeff blubbered at the sight, face reddening he shook his head and focused back on Dominic "This is a safe house not an old folks home?" his voice was accusatory but quiet.

  Unfortunately for him he was just a bit too loud and the three of their heads snapped towards him “Watch your tongue, my wife is a young dy so mind your manners.”

  “Fuck you.” Iona shouted, nearly cutting off the end of her father's words. She was shaking with emotion and decided he'd be a decent target to let some of her anger out on. Though her face quickly fell back to strained despair.

  Jeff angrily looked at Dominic.

  “We don't have the room-, we don't have the anything for this many people!” Jeff excimed, now not caring about the tone of his voice as he threw his arms down.

  “They're only staying for a few nights, and they have their own supplies.”

  “Says who?” Jeff retorted.

  “That's enough Jeff,” Asja shook her head, then as Nancy got closer and Arlene and Bonnie moved to aid Fronie she felt she should start to act, saying "I'll show them around." She said as she turned and approached the group.

  She passed by Nancy and gave a nod of greeting, Nancy quickly waved back, then turned back to Dominic."Everything okay?" Nancy asked. She briefly eyed Jeff then focused back on her ex husband "You said we'd be welcomed but it sure doesn't feel like it." she said, pointedly facing away from Jeff.

  "It's fine." Dominic replied.He gave a look to Jeff, who stammered and gestured in protest but ultimately gave up and followed as Dominic led Nancy towards the group.

  Iona appeared from the doorway and quickly joined the group, even after wiping the tears from her eyes she wanted to know what her fellow survivors were saying. She arrived right as Dominic and his party did. Asja trailed behind Iona.

  Immediately Dixie stepped towards Dominic, dragging Penelope with her as she protectively held her shoulders. Cooper followed just to keep near Penelope, refusing to look his father in the eye.

  Before they managed to start an obviously needed conversation Nancy excimed, as Bonnie and Arlene took over the van to better tend to Fronie's wounds she saw El-Mae gently carting Ford from the car, his shirt was stained red from his sister's blood and the pale look on his hollow face made it clear he was still in shock.

  El-Mae didn't look away from him, forcing a comforting smile on her lips she didn't speak. She rubbed up and down his arm and hugged him to her side to keep him walking straight, he stumbled aimlessly, as if he didn't even realize she was there, or that he was moving.

  Jeff stared briefly at them. Blinking before he looked back to the remaining survivors, a quick gnce around them, sizing them up.

  Dominic cleared his throat, before him was Nancy, Wyatt, Ralph, Renáta, Dixie, Penelope, and Cooper. Then beside him was Jeff, then Iona and Ajsa. A good amount of their group.

  Arlene and Bonnie were a few cars back, Fronie was thrashing between them as Arlene attempted to hold down her leg. Arlene dodged her weak kick, snatching her boot at the ankle she pinned her down.

  Armed with gloves, towels, and some over the counter antibacterial they moved in to support her. Fronie was semi conscious, mumbling and whining, she was feverish and sweating profusely.Her mouth opened and closed, her breath was heavy, escaping in hot puffs. Everything about her was burning, her skin was hot and cmmy, drenched in sweat, and wound an agitated red.

  Fronie's voice was mumbled nonsense she wasn't even aware she spoke, or attempted to, Bonnie and Arlene did their best to verbally comfort her, phrases like 'You'll be okay' and 'You'll feel better soon', as they both desperately tried to clean the area, most of the blood had stopped from the pressure given throughout the drive. However the wound was irritated, stained flesh bloodied but it looked like she was actively atrophying, marred bckened skin looked necrotic, Arlene sucked in a deep breath trying not to look too deeply at the chewed marks and teeth imprints.

  With a drag of a rag Bonnie swept some of the sweat off her brow, Fronie's eyes rolled into the back of her head, moving side to side frantically, Arlene poured peroxide recklessly over her shoulder, her hands were shaking as she gripped the bottle tightly. She didn't care about the waste, she wanted as much medicine for her as possible.

  Bonnie took over when Arlene nearly gagged, trying to remove dead skin was a bit too much for her, so they swapped. Bonnie quickly got to work without a second thought.

  Using damp wipes and a few spare washcloths they both got to work cleaning the wound to the best of their ability, Fronie slowly began to still, heavy breaths fighting to leave her body let them know she was alive, tossing out the other gauze they wrapped her over and over with fresh clean bandages, Bonnie neatly tied her hair up trying to save it from anymore damage or debris, they had towels soaking up what they could but stains covered the seat under her.

  Fronie eased, Bonnie stole a quick glimpse of Arlene's frantic expression, biting into her lip worriedly, but tried to give all her focus to Fronie, trying to help, after finishing the patch work the two of them began to try and set her up comfortably, adjusting her sprawled legs and lifting her head so they could slide a pillow under it, Fronie breathed raggedly.

  Bonnie and Arlene looked at each other, they both looked at the stains in the upholstery, at the way Fronie's fingers twitched and curled, a single gnce shared let them know they were both thinking the same thing: “Should we move her?”.

  Back with the bulk of the group Iona was watching Dominic with a little too much intensity, he wasn't sure if she was about to shout at him or throw a punch, but he kept on, addressing the rest of them with an attempt at neutrality.

  Dominic gestured towards the two unknown to the original gang “This is Asja and Jeff, Zerina is inside. The rest of the group apparently fucked off while I was gone.”

  Dixie tried to cover Penelope's ears to save her from Dominic's swearing but she shrugged her off.

  “Obviously this is a big group,” he made a vague gesture to the line of cars “We aren't going to fight over space or bicker out supplies, alright? We'll share rooms, we'll work together, and then in a few days you all can leave.”

  “One day.” Iona interjected.

  “One day, fine, I don't care.” Dominic huffed, shaking his head.

  “Even better.” Jeff grumbled.

  “Where are you all going?” Asja asked, “Is it safe?” she gnced between the other's, looking mostly towards Renáta who flustered, gesturing at the others with an awkward smile.

  “North, figured the snow ain't good for them rotters.” Ralph said. Crossing his arms he gnced at Wyatt as if he was expecting him to speak but he didn't, standing mostly still beside him. From the dull look in his eye he'd bet Wyatt wasn't even listening to them.

  “Heard anything about the Free Isles? We heard they've been broadcasting but we can't find the signal on our stereos.” Asja gestured to the smaller of the two ranch cars.

  “No?” Nancy replied.

  “We could try with dad's radio.” Iona spoke ftly.

  “That's a good idea for ter,” Dixie said slightly louder than she needed to “How about we get settled first?” she briefly looked down at Penelope in front of her “Is there a pce for the kids to rest?” she finished looking towards Asja rather than Jeff.

  “There's the barn-” but before Jeff could even finish speaking the gre on most of the group, including Asja's, faces was enough to shut him up immediately.

  “Sure,” Asja nodded before looking back at Dominic “Did you find food?” she asked quietly, but not quiet enough, as Nancy and Renáta looked at each other, both looking upset.

  “A bit, I'll bring it in.” he replied. Then looked over at Nancy, at the sad and angry look on Cooper's face, he hoped the calm setting might be enough to help ease this tension.

  “We have plenty of food,” Nancy piped up, directing it more towards Dominic to pretend like she didn't hear Asja, a quick gesture behind her towards Wyatt was her attempt at gaining back some good will “Wyatt and Arlene are pretty good hunters, we've managed to pad our supplies pretty well on the road, maybe, um, maybe I can help set up a dinner for us all? As a thank you for letting us stay?” she ended up looking towards Jeff but his pout didn't waver much.

  Ralph scoffed, he was about to go off on a rant but Wyatt suddenly grasped his shoulder and spoke with an angry snap to his tone “Good idea. We'll go,” he then pushed Ralph to follow him “Let's hunt, Big bro.” he added mockingly. Moving to find their bows.

  Ralph whistled a loud and flourishing tune, pyful if not mocking, giving the group a comical look before turning to follow Wyatt, ready to finally shoot something.

  Cooper watched Wyatt the entire time he walked away.

  A few mumbles and short introductions followed before the entire group began to move towards the ranch house, they were ushered into the reinforced door before it was shut behind them, leaving the McKinley siblings, Fronie and Bonnie outside.

  The room was humble, most of the front of the house was given to a expansive living room, the furniture pushed to the side with table of next to nothing in terms of supplies on it, the couch had been turned into a bed, as well as the chair and footstool combo, wrapped in tied sheets with bnkets across them, the kitchen was a long line of cabinets on the back two wall, no isnd or table for seating.

  It was basic and easily maneuverable, there were a few doors down the short hall, unlike most of the farmsteads on the outskirts this building had quite the 'open concept', in the main part of the room, the bedrooms and bathrooms were walled off in a slightly dimmer portion of the home, rge windows let in plenty of light. Or they would. The group had barred them with wood and curtain rods.

  “Nice pce.” Renáta said, forcing a smile to be polite.

  There was a quiet chatter amongst the rge group as they slowly shuffled inside and spread out, it was a bit cramped with all of them lingering by the entrance but once they spread out the group didn't feel as much like sardines. Dominic was giving a short and monotone tour, it was nowhere near the ritz but having a roof over their head that wasn't on wheels gave them comfort. The back half of the house was dimmer, walls painted nearly white to try and lighten it.

  All the doors were open, there were five of them, one was a linen closet that was ransacked and emptied, probably from the two who stole everything and left, one of the rooms was a mostly cleaned bathroom with El-Mae attempting to clean up Ford but whether or not it even had running water anymore was a mystery to the new group, the st three were bedrooms.

  The master bedroom had browned wallpaper stained from smoke, inside was a few beds, the king sized that seemed original to the home had Ruth ying on it being tended to by her husband, they gave brief waves but left them alone for the most part, going to the other bedroom instead.

  It was just slightly smaller than the master, there was a bunk bed unit that sparked a light bit of excitement in Cooper, having fond memories of sleep overs with his old friends, before the frustration of the day returned to fight his now saddened heart.

  There were a few spots to sleep on the floor, bnkets and pillows id out, but it seemed like the beds were mostly used. Dominic didn't feel the need to give a tour of the barn, saying “It's a barn. It's been unused but has a bunch of farming stuff in it.” so to the st room.

  It was the final bedroom, if you could call it that. It was small, the minimum requirement to be considered a bedroom they were sure, maybe even smaller, it was being used as an office of sorts, or what it used to be used for. Now there was a wardrobe pressed against the desk rendering it useless, the wardrobe however was propped open, wedged as safely as it could be in the hastily modified piece of furniture. Inside the drawer was a swaddled child.

  Asja pushed through the group to gently adjust the bnket around the fussing child, the baby blubbered, but seemed pleased to see her mother. She had a toothless smile that appeared the second she saw her.

  Nancy stared, her mind bnking for a second. The first thing to hit her mind was the child's paternity, her eyes darted to Dominic but he wasn't looking her way, instead he was talking to Cooper who seemed rather disinterested in his attention.

  “She's my daughter, she won't cause a fuss.” Asja expined needlessly, before angling herself in front of her, unknowingly hiding the baby behind her back.

  “Cute kid.” Iona said, however her voice was pin and it put Asja off, still with a smile the group was gently ushered out, back into the main chunk of the home.

  Everyone sort of meandered around, no one truly felt comfortable, not Jeff, not Dominic, not any of the caravan members, not even the children felt at ease. Cooper was still agitated, something Penelope picked up on but every time she attempted to speak to him her mother would just drag her back, hands on her shoulder keeping her close.

  “Thanks for letting us stay here.” Renáta said, really just trying to cut the awkward tension.

  “We won't cause trouble,” Dixie added “Penelope and I.”

  “Sure.” Jeff muttered, he then walked off, determined to find something else to compin about.

  Everyone shared a quick gnce between one another before finally breaking off, Dixie and Penelope went to sit on the dingy patchwork sofa and Cooper moved to follow her but Nancy reached out “Cooper?” she called, encouraging him closer.

  Dominic gnced at Nancy as everyone began to disperse, Renáta moved towards the window and watched the gentle fields, now barren but still a beautiful sight. “We should talk,” he suggested, sounding reluctant, saddened.

  Nancy nodded, she gingerly encouraged Cooper to follow. Moving towards the front door they aimed to have a chat on the porch, there were still a few chairs out there but Dominic just needed some fresh air, it wasn't just the people that made the room feel stuffy. Right as Dominic moved to the knob the door opened without him touching it, he startled, then realized it was Bonnie and Arlene.

  Bonnie seemed just as startled at him, nearly knocking heads with him. Dominic was a tall man but Bonnie still rivaled his height, she paused and moved her muscled frame to the side giving Dominic the right of way before she even thought of it, her south Edgeridge upbringing had a base level of politeness practically baked into it, even if she didn't believe in Jaktu's teachings she was still raised with the sense of small town tradition causing her to act without a thought.Her face fell through a few different emotions before sitting on a pout, a bit perturbed, she still wanted to be angry with Dominic. Still.

  Dominic ghosted a “Thanks.” clearly in his head more than in person.

  Nancy and Cooper followed but when Arlene reached out she paused, a bit of a nervous expression was held on her tanned face as she scanned the tree line, it was thick with foliage and so dense she could hardly see a few feet past the frost tipped bustles. Nancy just had to follow her eye line and she knew her question before she even asked, Nancy smiled at her “Wy and Ralph are hunting us dinner, they'll be back before dark.” she assured and immediately relief washed over Arlene, she nodded, replied with gratitude, then went inside with Bonnie hopeful to clean themselves up.

  Cooper sighed, shrugged past them to approach the two rocking chairs. He colpsed into one and sighed again.

  Dominic and Nancy followed, Nancy sat beside Cooper, a small table between their chairs, she gingerly rubbed his shoulder encouraging him to come out from under his hat which he reluctantly did. He gnced briefly at Nancy but looked away, unable to look either of his parents in the eye, instead he crossed his arms and dragged one foot up onto the chair with him, keeping himself compact.

  Nancy took in a deep breath as she prepared her speech. “I'm sorry Cooper.” Dominic spoke first.

  Cooper looked startled, blinking as he gnced up at Dominic for a mere second before he quickly hid himself under the bill of his cap.

  “It wasn't right of me to talk badly about a friend of yours.” Dominic sighed deeply, rubbing the side of his neck as an excuse to look away from them, trying to hide the embarrassment on his face “I understand Wyatt has done a few things for you and...” as his voice began to trail Cooper felt the need to pipe up.

  “How could you?” he grumbled. Nearly scoffing.

  “Cooper.” Nancy lightly scolded.

  “What?” he huffed, waving his hand “Dad can't understand 'cus he has no friends! And it wasn't just 'a few things'” Copper gestured mockingly as he spoke “Even before you and mom split you never wanted to do anything with me, you were always too busy, all you cared about was your job.” Cooper quickly lost steam as he began his excmation, sighing, the frustration drained from him until he just felt sad, upset, and tired.

  “You don-” Dominic cut himself off, he stopped himself and took in a very deep breath and exhaled as he ran a hand through his greying brown hair “I only cared so much about my job because I was trying to give you everything you wanted-” “I wanted to hang out with my dad, I wanted to learn all that stuff from you, living in the city sucked and you never listened to me when mom kept asking to move back with grandma and grandpa, you never even came with us when we visited them.”Cooper interrupted, his voice was low, he didn't shout, he almost sounded like he was scolding Dominic.

  “Cooper-” “No, it's okay.” Dominic stopped Nancy gently, his own voice was low now, quiet and nearing somber in tone but he tried not to look too broken up in front of Cooper, he still wanted to be strong for him “I'm sorry Cooper, I didn't realize I was hurting you.” he said now looking directly at him, he took a step closer and knelt down to try and match his eye line but Cooper still evaded him “I never wanted to hurt you. I only want the best for you, I got lost in what I thought was best when I should have been asking you what you thought.” Dominic was slow as he moved a hand over to give a few comforting pats to Cooper's knee.

  “Now that the world is ending.” Cooper scoffed but there were tears in his eyes that betrayed his bitterness.

  “The world is not ending.” Nancy assured, she rubbed his shoulder and drew his attention. “It's not, you know how tough us Edgeridgers are, we'll find a way to keep going.” she added with a positive smile.

  “I love you Cooper, I love you more than anything.” Dominic said “The world ending doesn't change that, I'll always love you and I'm going to find somepce safe for you, okay? We'll find somewhere, far away, we'll rebuild and start a new town, that might be interesting huh? Building a town?” Dominic asked, trying to bring a smile to his son's face “Maybe we could even name it after you!” he added, causing Cooper to shake his head.

  The startings of a grin was quickly hidden under his curly blonde locks and blue knit cap.

  “How about Cooperton? Coopertopia?” Dominic asked.

  “That's silly.” Cooper rebutted.

  “Well then you'll have to name it, okay? That's even better.”

  Cooper leaned forward and hugged Dominic. He was briefly startled but instantly hugged him back, the tight ball in his chest was loosening and they both felt a slight relief. Dominic was just gd his son was here. Him not hating him is a huge plus though.

  “I'm gonna try and do better for you, okay?” he said quietly, right in Cooper's ear and he quickly felt tears on his cheek.

  Cooper wiped them away the second he pulled back, not wanting either of them to see but with how focused they were on their son it didn't go unnoticed, Nancy didn't bring It up, not wanting to ruin the moment no matter how much she wanted to wipe the tears away herself.

  Dominic couldn't keep the small grin off his face watching his boy in front of him. Even now that the conversation stalled he didn't even notice.

  “Cooper?” Nancy called and when he looked her way she continued “Can me and your dad talk? Wanna go hang out with Penny?” she asked.

  “Oh, um,” he said to Dominic “Okay. I love you both.” he replied and if his heart could grow it would have, Cooper hopped out of the chair and swiftly moved inside.

  Nancy briefly stopped him to pnt a kiss on his cheek, he pyful stuck out his tongue in a mock 'ew' before he shuffled inside, they heard him call out Penelope's name as he entered so they immediately knew he was in good hands.

  Then it was quiet. The te afternoon sun was lowering and a deeper chill began to wash over them, the area almost looked normal, like the world was normal, as if everything was okay and the pnet wasn't slowly being encompassed in a forest of corpses. Nancy looked at Dominic, watched as the sun made his short hair shine, slight curls on the longer strands seemed especially pronounced, she saw those same curls on Cooper. Dimming sunlight lightened the dark bags under his eyes and made him look more youthful, more energetic, his squared face, his strong stubbled jaw, and those stern steel blue eyes, for a split second she felt like a twenty something seeing him for the first time again.

  She shook her head. After she felt like her heart skipped a beat she settled back into the moment. They've started to mend the retionship with their son but she needed to work on Wyatt now, fixing that. She let out a humming sigh. First, however, she had a question.

  “Are you with Asja?” she blurted out, it certainly wasn't as tactful as she wanted it to be, she shifted awkwardly.

  Dominic blinked. He cleared his throat “Jumping straight in.” he patted his chest helping clear the tightness “We met a few weeks ago after our evacuation failed, we slept together once.” he said honestly, his voice was pin, he didn't seem to fluff his answers like he normally would.

  “So Zerina's not yours.” she said without even thinking, and suddenly Dominic ughed.

  “You thought that?” he chuckled out his words, shaking his head as he shifted his stance to better lean against the fence. “I would have told you if I was seeing someone seriously, like we agreed. I wouldn't have another child without at least letting you know Cooper had a half sibling.” Dominic was doing his best not to feel insulted, fought the frown off his face trying to remain at least neutral.

  “You never told me about any of your partners.” Nancy replied, it sounded like a jab but she didn't mean it that way and the way her expression dropped made Dominic realize that.

  “Nothing sted longer than a month or two.” Dominic replied, looking down at his scuffed shoes now caked in dirt. He still hated the country.

  “I'm sorry.” Nancy replied. She looked down at her stained pants and pretended like she was brushing off the grime.

  “If we're being honest here,” Dominic took in a deep breath, he wasn't going to jump to conclusions, wasn't going to let his imagination cloud his judgment “Have you slept with Wyatt?” he asked with his exhale.

  “No,” Nancy shook her head, voice drained “I know you won't believe it when I say Wyatt's like a brother despite knowing how close me and Arlene are, he sees me just like he sees her-” “How do you know?” Dominic interrupted “Do you know how many boys I grew up with that were into their sisters' friends?” he grumbled, upset, brows pinched together but he didn't seem angry, more worried.

  “He's not! Okay, I just know...” she shook her head, running her fingers through her blonde hair

  “Okay.” Dominic nodded, ready to drop it, he was about to speak but Nancy continued.

  “Not only is he not my type I'm pretty sure Wyatt doesn't even like girls, he hangs around because he's a good guy who's looking out for his sister's best friend,” she spoke, sort of tiredly monologuing as Dominic nodded along “He's such a busy body I don't think we could get rid of him even if we wanted to, I mean, you already punched him and he stuck around, sorry Dominic but I don't know anything else that might scare him off.” she said with a small but fond titter. Her expression was almost nostalgic, but also sad. She had a new worry now that she'd lost that friend, she reaffirmed to herself to speak with him when he returned.

  “Will you go easier on him now? Arlene too?” she asked, smiling.

  “I'll try.” Dominic nodded, he gnced over to fields, thankful to see nothing changed “Do we have anything else to clear up?” he then gestured towards the rge truck “We could take a load in.” he added with a shrug.

  “Sure.” Nancy nodded.

  Inside the home Asja was absent from the main group, in the back tending to her daughter.

  Bonnie and Arlene were in the master en suite trying to clean themselves, the room was mostly quiet aside from Renáta and Dixie's low conversation, Cooper and Penelope were set up on the couch reading while everyone else was preparing the house for more guests.

  “Sitting in a home again feels nice.” Dixie remarked with a half smile.

  “Oh yes,” Renáta replied, gncing around the homely room. “It's so interesting to see the different styles of the nations, if we were one the bridge every wall and piece of furniture would be some shade of white.” she said semi awkwardly, trying to find anything to talk about, but the mention she said something about the bridge she felt that sudden ping of pain in her chest, so she kept talking, trying to steamroll over it “It's one of the reasons I love traveling so much, seeing how pces do things differently.” Renáta finished.

  “It's nice to see kids reading,” Renáta started with a quick gesture towards the two reading, who looked somewhat confused at being singled out “I loved reading, even if for me it was mostly studying.” she added, looking at the two “What do you like reading?” she asked.

  “History.” Penelope replied.

  “Knights!” Cooper excimed. Seemingly in a much better mood now.

  “That series is a good mix of the two,” Renáta pointed at the five silhouettes on the cover. “I read it too, it's a fun mix of history and fantastical tales.” she tittered. “I like Ser Sisil, she was my favorite character as a kid.”

  “I like her too,” Penelope replied “Ser Richar is my favorite though, he's kind and protects the other knights.” she added with a small smile.

  “Ser Celestina can turn into a magic wolf! How is she not your favorite!” Cooper added with a wide smile, then he chuckled, leaning back against the cushions behind him.

  Renáta nodded at them, Dixie was enamored with the slight smile on her daughter's face.

  Jeff walked past them, out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the empty bedroom. As he approached he heard a soft voice he didn't recognize.

  “You know how tough Fronie is, she's going to be fine.” El-Mae spoke, attempting to stay strong for Ford as she gently scrubbed his bloodied hands.

  There was a small bowl of pinkish water that she kept dabbing the soft rag in. Soaking it before cleaning the dried blood from his reddened skin, she tried to be as easy as she could be but she had to scrub hard at points, El-Mae gnced up to his face, distant gaze staring at the wall behind her.

  “You're a good brother, staying strong for her.” El-Mae added, trying to pull him out of his head “When she wakes up I'm sure she'll be grateful. I'll tell her how supportive you were myself.” she added with a bit of humph, trying to sound excitable.

  “If she was wakes up.” Ford ghosted darkly.

  “She will.” El-Mae assured, gncing up to make sure he saw her smile.

  “Aren't you lucky, you have such a pretty nurse.” Ford and Elle-Mae were startled from the sudden voice, Ford didn't act but El-Mae turned her head and quickly saw Jeff in the doorway.

  “Oh, h-hello.” El-Mae stuttered her greeting but gave a polite smile and a nod to the man.

  “Did someone get hurt?” Jeff asked, gesturing to Ford's hands.

  “Ford's sister Fronie was hurt,” El-Mae replied, turning to look back at Ford trying to give him more of her attention.

  “Do you need any help?” Jeff asked.

  “Who are you?” Ford asked.

  “Jeff, I was here before you all were.” he said, his tone harsher as he gnced at Ford with a stern stare.

  “I'm sorry, Jeff, sir, we've just had a rough day. Thank you for letting us stay here.” El-Mae replied as she squeezed out more water from the rag.

  “I'm El-Mae and this is Ford, it's nice to meet you.” she said trying to be polite but she was clearly much more interested in her task than she was in conversation.

  “Have you all been traveling together long?” Jeff asked. Now leaning against the doorway to better watch them.

  Ford was looking down at his shirt, the stains that covered it, it made him want to puke. He started tugging at the fabric, almost frantically, he was about to start hyperventiting but before he managed that El-Mae patted his arm, the warmth of her hand warmed his skin as she attempted to reassure him once again “We'll get you a new one.” she added quickly. “Don't look at it okay?” El-Mae said.

  “O-Okay.” Ford nodded. Staring in bewilderment.

  “How old are you?” Jeff asked suddenly.

  “Sixteen,” El-Mae replied, then gestured between Ford and herself “We both are, so is Fronie. We all go to school together.”

  “Does it matter?” Ford snapped, getting more agitated wearing that shirt “Are you almost done?” he asked quietly, trying not to sound as short but his tone remained harsh.

  “Almost, I'm sorry.” El-Mae replied.

  El-Mae quickly began to wrap up, thankfully there weren't any injuries on Ford himself so the bountiful supply of bandages and wraps beside her would go unused. Ford's scrubbed hands were still shaking, she could see his chest expand and fall with frantic breaths he tried to hide by breathing through his nose, El-Mae tried to keep his arms raised up to his chest to help both of them avoid the stains lower on his shirt, El-Mae was trying to keep her face from paling, she herself felt like she was going to explode so she couldn't imagine how Ford was feeling, she wanted to be there for him.

  “Are your horns done growing? I've always been curious about you Draconic folk.” Jeff asked drawing El-Mae out of her thoughts.

  “H-Huh?” she stammered, taken aback, she didn't exactly know how to answer that, sure her horns was short and thick without any branches or spikes but there still was a slight almost concave shape that separated the 'joint' of her horns, so they certainly weren't the baby horns she felt he was implying.

  “Jeff.” Iona suddenly called, Jeff jumped, no one had noticed her walk up behind him. She stood arms crossed with bnk expression, which was Iona's normal posture. “You're distracting her from her work.” she said pinly.

  Jeff scoffed, agitation overtaking his face as he barked “I was just trying to help.”

  “Looks like they're carrying in supplies, they could use your help.” she said with a gesture behind her, Dominic, Nancy, and a few of the others were lugging in the items from the moving truck.

  “What's up?” Arlene asked, walking out of the master bedroom with Bonnie trailing behind her, the two managed to clean themselves up rather well, the bloodstains were gone and Bonnie even managed to re-tie her loose pigtails fixing the mess of knots it used to be.

  “Arlene, will you and Jeff help carry the supplies?” she asked.

  Jeff was ready to protest but Arlene said “Sure!” talking over him before he managed to speak, grunting Jeff simply stormed off. Arlene rolled her eyes, she was having trouble keeping the frustration off her face she just shook her head “One day, just one day.” she said comically, trying to joke through her anger.

  “I say we leave first thing in the morning.” Iona sighed out. She then gave a nod of goodbye as Arlene left to help out Nancy, Bonnie went to follow but Iona quickly stopped her.

  “Thank you Miss Stokes.” El-Mae said, head down but smiling politely.

  Bonnie cocked her head in confusion.

  “Watch El-Mae for me, will you?” she asked.

  Bonnie chuckled but nodded, noticing El-Mae startle at be acknowledged, smiling she tried to keep the mood light “What'd she do to get in trouble?” she joked, smiling warmly at El-Mae which helped calm her down.

  “Nothing, she's a great kid.” Iona said, she didn't gnce her way but her voice did soften just a bit with her compliment “Keep her safe.” Iona ended and Bonnie gave a serious nod but she seemed a bit confused still, as Iona walked away back towards her parents Bonnie leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest trying to rex a bit.

  Bonnie's happy to help but she was looking forward to sitting down.

  Renáta was up now helping shift through the supplies to assist in making some sort of welcoming feast, from the dented tin cans and opened boxes and bags she hoped Wyatt and Ralph would find something substantial for a main course.

  She briefly met Nancy's eye and smiled, Nancy was helping her unpack after Jeff and Arlene took her pce carrying.

  Dixie remained watching the two children, Penelope and Cooper took a break on reading to poke around at the living room, checking the few remaining books and knickknacks.

  The house began to settle, everyone found something to do or a way to help out, there was still a bit of an awkward air in the home, unfamiliar to the routines and the close quarters amongst so many different personalities.

  Just a day. One day shared amongst strangers. That's all they needed.

  Squidble