Susie'd said once, "watch out Jules. Joey's a half can of beer away from trying to steal your man."

Julie laughed, and Susie laughed, and Joey actually laughed too. Though it was different than theirs, because although the statement was far from the truth, there was still a kernel to it that only Joe seemed to realize. Because he loved Frank. They all loved Frank, even Susie, even after everything. They loved him, but more than that, they owed him each other.

They never would have come together without him; Joe would have kept on living his shallow life, maybe working at that hardware store until the day he died with nothing to believe in. Susie and Julie would have stayed just some girls in his grade, a cheerleader and her friend who occasionally threw some good parties, but now…Over the course of a year they'd become more than just friends. Even before they were Legion, they were a part of him.

He loved them. And love was the most important thing. It was too bad all that was breaking down.

Stop it Joey! You're being cruel. Can it Suz. If we leave somebody's just going to come by and unhook him.

Joe's face twisted under his mask. He wasn't a fan of camping either, but Frank had a point, and he disguised his indecision by pacing in front of the whimpering survivor. Scarf was tougher than a lot of them, but even he couldn't suppress the sound of pain as a meat hook cleaved through his shoulder.

He's had enough. Please Joey, let's go hunt somewhere else.

The genuine distress in Susie's plea churned his stomach, and for a second he was no longer sure if he was the one who wanted to stay or if he wanted to go, if the complaints were in his own voice or not. It'd become too much, both loving and hating himself simultaneously tearing a hole inside him.

Susie. Shut up. You're embarrassing us. I DON'T FUCKING CARE.

A gasp escaped him, the leaves around him rustling as every tree leaned in to listen to him. He staggered as the rest of Susie's onslaught hit him.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING WHEN ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS BE A GODDAMNED PSYCHOPATH . YOU HURT AND YOU HURT AND IT'S NEVER ENOUGH, IS IT FRANK? YOU MADE US LIKE THIS AND NOW YOU'RE JUST GOING TO MAKE US KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU GET YOUR FILL.

He could feel Scarf's eyes on him, but couldn't bring himself to leave, his legs stone solid. Everything Susie said was raw truth, burning like when he was nine and he'd stuck his fingers in the kitchen candle just to see what it would do—no, no that wasn't him that was someone else's memory-

YOU MADE US KILL HIM AND NOW WE HAVE TO SUFFER ALONG WITH YOU, BUT YOU NEVER FUCKING CHANGE. YOU'LL NEVER GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU BECAUSE YOU LIKETHIS, BECAUSE YOU-

"Susie," Joe sobbed, tears falling that weren't his own. "Please just…stop…"

The voices shocked themselves into silence, accusations that were held by everywhere within and without, forcing Joe to bend over as a fresh wave fell down his face. His shoulders heaved, no longer caring about who was watching, just holding his arms over his chest as he tried to hold himself in.

They were things that he'd thought himself. That Frank had thought. That Susie that Julie that Joeysusiejuliefranksusiejulie…

He keeled over and cried. And stayed there. Until…the last of him snapped.

The final barrier came down slowly, then all at once, and the thing that had been eroding them over the course of the endless night fell away. The many became one, and the tears slowed to a stop. When they finally ceased, Joe's body curled off the forest floor and straightened itself out, one staggering step at a time. (Some thing was…oh right.) It retrieved the knife, forgotten on the ground, and titled its head in each direction.

There were more hunts to be had. They should move. Didn't want to waste Daylight.