Chapter 17: New Orleans, Louisiana - December 2014

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Maria set two glasses of water on the coffee table before dropping to the couch next to Teylor. "I'm ready to go."

Although the Nathan James would be in Louisiana for no more than forty-eight hours, the stated goal to flush out any remaining Immunes while allowing Teylor time to search for his family, Teylor had easily arranging transportation for Maria and the boys back to St. Louis in exchange for a few dozen doses of the contagious cure. Truthfully he anticipated that the hardest person to convince would be Maria herself, but she proved to be surprisingly acquiescent when Teylor proposed the idea. Of course, after spending six months inside a convent sealed off from both human and viral invaders, only to learn that the cure arrived too late for most of her family, Teylor could understand Maria's desire to be far away from this place.

He certainly never planned to return to his childhood home again.

Glancing up from his phone, Teylor was surprised to see only two suitcases by the apartment door. "There's no limit on bags. I checked."

"It's mostly pictures and a few toys. The boys need new clothes anyway," Maria replied with a shrug. She leaned over his shoulder. "Is that Caroline?"

Teylor jerked. "How did you..."

"Mas told me about her," Maria replied, draining half her glass of water. "Said you were head over heels."

Teylor stared at her blankly. "That asshole. I told him that in confidence!"

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're calling a dead man an asshole."

Okay, Maria might have a point. Still. "He was a priest! Aren't they supposed to go to jail before they'll reveal a secret?"

"That's only if you told him the information during confession," Maria replied tartly. At Teylor's skeptical look, she added, "I spent six long months in a convent. You learn a thing or two."

Teylor scowled. "Damn loopholes."

"Now stop skirting the question." Maria snatched his phone, expanding the photo of Teylor and Caro. "She's pretty. Where were you?"

Teylor leaned back, considering Maria's ceiling. "Marine Ball. Last November. Caro didn't want to go, originally. I had to promise her that there wouldn't be pictures."

Maria snorted. "Clearly that worked out. How did you manage it?"

Teylor chuckled at the memory. "Jones snapped a shot at a terrible angle. Guess she figured that a bad picture was worse than no picture."

"Do you know..." Maria didn't finish the question. She didn't need to.

"No." Retrieving his phone, Teylor turned it off, sliding it into his pocket and quickly draining his glass of water.

Maria waited several minutes before speaking again. "Where does she live?"

"Connecticut." Teylor considered leaving it at that. But Maria was the only sibling he had left, she and the boys his only surviving family. However irritating he found his sister before he left for the Arctic, they needed to find a way to make their relationship work. Maria needed him. More importantly, the boys needed him. And maybe he needed them too. "The Nathan James should get there in about a month. We'll hook around the Eastern United States before heading to South America."

Teylor stood, moving towards the door and the suitcases. He would load them into the Jeep and then find Wolf and Rick, who were currently playing soccer with Manny and Christopher to keep them from being too underfoot. Or, worse, asking about the smell coming from the apartment next door.

"And you're sure that it's okay for the boys and I to stay at your place?" Maria asked for at least the fifth time.

Teylor nodded. "President Michener assigned us all housing but chances are that I won't be using it anytime soon given the Nathan James' deployment schedule. Besides, I can always bunk with Miller."

"Thanks Tey." Maria hesitated before speaking again, both of them still feeling out this new relationship, one where they weren't at each other's throats. "Staying here would be ... hard. St. Louis will be a fresh start."

Seeing the tears gathering in his sister's eyes, Teylor reached over to grasp Maria's hand. "For all of us."

He wasn't sure how long they stood there before Manny burst into the apartment. "Mama! We almost forgot my Pokémon cards!"

Quickly wiping away tears, Maria gestured towards the boy's bedroom. "Well go get them! We can't keep your Uncle waiting all day!"

"Yes, Mama."

Manny disappeared, Maria following behind him. At the doorway she stopped, turning back to Teylor. "I hope you find her. Caroline. After everything that you went through, Teylor, you deserve that."

Lugging the two suitcases down the stairs of the apartment, Teylor considered Maria's words. His parents were gone, his brothers dead. The chances of Caro being alive were so slim as to be almost impossible. But Maria was here. Christopher and Manny were alive.

That would have to be enough.