Longest Novel: Fall of The Republic

by morgan kingsley

In 2020, a middle-aged author, living too deeply in the past, decides to write the story of what really happened to him and his friends when he was younger, and as it unfolds, a giant conspiracy starts to show itself. An AU of seasons 1-4 that take place in the United States. Crossover with several other series for one overall universe.

26. The Mile Markers

Chapter 2 Episode 8: The Mile Markers

July 8, 2022

T.K. eventually pulled up to Matt's house at the drive way. Feeling the need to get this confrontation over with, and hoping that his brother was willing to still speak with him, and forgive him for the way that they had been with each other lately. He shook his head, realizing how much he had made many mistakes in the past.

T.K. went to the door, and just took a deep breath. Knowing that in all honesty, whatever happened, he probably deserved what was coming. He knew that at the end of the day, he was a terrible brother, and that they deserved so much better than what he gave him. But at the same time, he was also finding himself not even really caring anymore.

"What are you planning on doing here? I mean, I know that you were wanting to. But I guess that there was a part of me that wanted to believe that you weren't going to bother. I guess that maybe in the end, I am being the bigger asshole after all." After he was saying this, T.K. sighed, not really wanting to hear his brother speaking like this, given the fact that Matt made many mistakes as well.

"In all honesty, I just felt like there was something that I needed to do to make things right. You know, I just feel like when I see all the mistakes that I have made, then things just get much worse for everybody around me." T.K. was saying, seeming to not really fucking care what had been happening.

"I think that thirty six years might be a bit too late to start apologizing, and having people actually believe the shit that you are saying. No offense, but after all this time, trust me when I say that I am starting to lose a bit of the believe that you actually want what is best for me." After he was saying that to T.K., the younger brother seemed deep in thought.

"Matt, I know that you might not like what I am doing. Please just get the fact that I am scared, and I hate myself for the way that I had been doing. But I feel like once I try to make things right, and I want to make it work, I should be given the chance to. Not be fucking scared." T.K. said, mainly just hoping to get this situation all suited up, and not much worse than things had already been.

"But for once, I feel like what I am doing is the only way that things can be done. I feel like if things are not given to the world to see, then labyrinth will not be exposed. We both want labyrinth exposed. And I think that since we can agree on that, we just need to really set aside what we think, and just focus on the job." T.K. said, feeling like there was no way he would get Matt to even admit that he could see what T.K. was saying. To do so would require admitting that he was wrong this whole time.

"How far you anyways? You know, since you want to keep doing this, and I know that there is no way in hell that I can change what you think, I guess that I might as well go along with this." Matt said, and then T.K. was smiling, knowing that him finally admitting this was something he needed.

"I am at the part where Sheldon finally found out the stuff that had been going on with the Needlemeyer family. You know, all the stuff about the drugs." T.K. said, and he was clearly barely hiding his anger as he was saying this. Knowing that by doing this, he had been basically putting everybody else lower than him this whole time.

"Wow, I am surprised you got that much covered in just a bit over a year. Even if I try to deny the stuff you have been doing, I can't argue with the results." After Matt was saying this, he was sitting down on the porch, and took out a cigar for a moment.

"Still haven't quit yet? Well, lucky for you, I haven't either. So I guess that we are both agreeing to that." T.K. said, and then he took a cigarette out, just trying to have a good time with his smoking. "I mean, I just feel like if I ever tried to quit, I would be finding myself coming back to it after like a fucking week. No fucking point in doing it then." T.K. said, not sure what to think.

"I did manage to do it for a year or two at the start of last decade. But in all honesty, I just couldn't really get over it. I had that temptation to do one more. You know, one more. Not thinking on it. And then a month later, you're finding yourself smoking eight cigarettes a day again." Matt said, and then T.K. laughed, knowing how that was.

"I think that it would be rather hard for us to try and teach our kids to not start smoking, when we are going around doing it all the time here. So I feel like maybe they would be needing some fucking better influences to drive them along." Matt was saying, slowly coming back to his more comedy roots.

"So, go ahead, write an episode or two of your story. Tell your wife and kids they can come up. But as soon as my family gets in danger, for whatever fucking reason, you leave that god damn night…" Matt said, and held his hand out, feeling the need to finally make peace.

"Deal?" He asked, and then T.K. was thinking about it. Wanting to argue. Wanting to find something to say. But then he felt like there was no point. After all, he was being a chance, and he needed to fucking take it for what it was.

T.K. grabbed Matt's hand, and they shook hands. Finally feeling like there was a level of peace to the whole thing. And when they were done, that was when T.K. was finally feeling peace. Knowing that he had won one of the hardest battle sin life. The battle of getting his brother to approve of him again.

"Deal. I feel like those conditions are very fair to both sides of the debate." T.K. said, and then with that, he wondered if this peace would be forever, or just something that lasted until both of them got what they fucking needed.

"You know, I feel like this is what our parents would have wanted. Us to get along, and not be hating each other for what happened. You know, I feel like at the end of the day, despite you giving me a million reasons to, I can't be angry at you forever." After Matt was saying this, he was now suddenly feeling like there was nothing to say.

Before long, T.K. and Matt went inside. Tired, and ready to wrap up for the day. Knowing that at least for tonight, they were willing to not hate each other. That they were willing to work with each other for a while.

And at the end of the day, when the story was finally coming together, with each passing day of them talking again, and with each passing episode, the past was finally becoming something he was no longer scared of. Something he embraced, even if he fucking hated it. But he had no choice but to finally put it all behind him.

…

Scene 1: November 12, 1986, Start

Sheldon sits down, thinking about the next move, and thinking about the fact that this was still probably one of the easier times ahead of them

Therapist: So I noticed, when looking back at your files, that it seemed like you and your friends were really starting to lose a lot of trust and respect with each other. Is that true

Sheldon: To a degree yeah. I mean, I felt like there was only so much that I could do to change it. But I felt like maybe something like this would have happened anyways

Therapist: I mean, I think you must have known that they never wanted to look into this towns cases, and you were the one that forced them into it anyways. Surely that would have led to falling outs.

Sheldon: Well, yeah, I see that now. But I thought at the time, that I was safe. That I would get my time. I didn't think that it would get much worse because of things that I had done. I thought that people wanted to do it because they never said otherwise.

Therapist: I mean, I certainly don't think you are the bad guy in this at all, but I do sort of see where they are coming from when they might have felt like you were pushing too far into this.

Sheldon: Of course I pushed too far into this. I never denied that I did. All that I do say is that I had no fucking choice but to. I had to in order to give those around me a chance.

Then with that, not wanting to waste any more time, Sheldon got right to work with his story this time, feeling no need to waste it anymore

…

Scene 2: Another Job

As we were driving along, I was wondering what in the world he was planning on doing here. "Sheldon, what were you doing with Larry right now?" After he was asking me this, I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what the hell his point was right now.

"I was trying to see what Larry had known. I mean, seriously think about the fact that Nora Wakeman was found dead when she was the biggest lead scientist in the town. As her daughter says, really the one woman who was able to break through the mold and be her own." I said, and then the man sighed, clearly not really all that interested in hearing what I was saying.

"Sheldon, her death was several days ago. I think you need to do yourself a favor, and acknowledge the fact that you are looking too deeply into something like this. But I guess that you are going to refuse to fucking listen to me." After he was saying this, I was wondering what his issue was right now.

"Just tell me what the god damn job is right now, so I can focus on making it work." I said, and looked right at him, wondering what his god damn point was. "I mean, I am still needing to have my other job that I need to do right now." I said, clearly just trying to keep my focus on everything else going on.

"Well, the job that you were given to do is to go to the waterfalls. There is something down there." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, since I was in no way wanting go down there. The fucking waterfalls was the one part of the town that I did not want ruined.

"What are you fucking meaning? I mean, that is the most innocent place in the entire town, and you are wanting to fucking ruin it?" I asked, and then he looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was just kind of annoyed with the way that I was mentioning this.

"Just go down there, and if you find any of them, then fucking kill them. It is not that fucking hard right now." He said, and then he was placing his hand on my shoulder, super firmly, and I was starting to get worried with the way that he had done this. I looked at him, wondering what to say.

"Are you wanting to back away from your job right now? You know, you were the one that signed up for the job, and you were the one that told me that you were going to make it work. So you need to do what you are being told to do." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I knew he would be telling the truth right now.

"I never said that I wanted to quit. I am just saying that I need to do something else, since I do have other responsibilities." I said, hoping that would resonate with him a bit.

He was clearly driving me to the fucking forest, and I was wondering what I was even going to say. I had no idea what the plan was going to be, so I was wondering if the man even fucking knew what I was going to be doing to help me at all.

"Do you seriously think that I am going to be able to fight these monsters without anything at all? You need to give me something right now?" I asked, and then I looked right at him, and he was shrugging, and went to his glove compartment, and grabbed a gun.

"Sheldon, you are needing to go in there. You have that with you, fucking use it right now." After he was telling me this, I grabbed the gun, and I was unsure of what the hell I was even planning on doing at all. I sighed, really unsure of what to feel.

"Wow, okay, I fucking get it. You want me to be working right now." I said, and then I sighed, and looked right at the gun for a second. "Do you want me to have something to prove that I am actually doing right now. Like a fucking camera, or a microphone?"

"Good that you seem to be looking into that right now. Here you go." He said, and then pulling out two things from under his seat. One of which being a headphone, which he told me to place in my right ear, which I fucking did. And then he was handing me a small recorder.

"Put that in the front pocket, and fucking just use that as a way to show what is happening." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was having no real need to worry about what I was doing. I got out of the car, and then the window was still rolled down, so we can communicate a bit more.

"You better take all this stuff when I am done. You better not fucking hold back on all the information right now. I need people to know what I am doing." I said, and I was closing the door, and then I was staring at the forest for a few seconds, wondering what I wanted to do.

I then was ready to get right to work. "I can't believe that I am doing right now. This whole thing just seems fucking wrong right now." I said, and then I was starting to walk in the forest, and I was feeling that if I did doing this, then I was going to be getting myself killed, and my father would have nobody for him. On top of the fact that this would eliminate me.

Once I was walking around, I was just feeling scared out of my mind on everything that had been going on. I felt like no matter what I was going to be doing, I just needed to be much more careful. I was alone, and I was getting aware of this, and I was also aware that people would never want to support me because of who I worked with.

I wondered if they seriously expected me to kill any monsters at the water falls if I was going to only have a gun with me. In all honesty, this whole thing was just fucking borderline nonsensical. I knew that no matter what I was doing, I just needed to focus on myself more than I needed to focus on everything else.

Eventually, when I was walking by the tree house, and I was taking a second to think about it. I was closing my eyes for a few seconds, before I was feeling like I just needed to check it anyways. Even though I knew that I had gone there a billion times, so there was virtually no reason to be doing this.

I went up the tree house, feeling like as long as I could avoid going to the waterfall for a while longer. I just needed to pretend like I wasn't needing to head there for my own fucking job. Especially since I wanted to go to the gas station once again.

Once I was in the building, I was seeing around the tree house, and I was seeing that there was virtually nothing there, which I guess that in all honesty, there was nothing too shocking about something like this.

I smoked a cigarette for a few seconds, and I really had no idea what I was going to accomplish here in the first place. In all honesty, every time that I had come here, it was just feeling like I was wasting my time here, not making any real progress.

I eventually left the tree house, and then I was going down the ladder, feeling like I had been wasting my time by doing this in the first place. Once I was walking around, I was going towards the tree house, feeling like there was no reason to be wasting my time here in the first place.

The entire time that I was walking towards the water fall, I was feeling like there was virtually nothing that I could be getting out of this. I was smoking more cigarettes, and I was just wishing that maybe I was never going to work with these people. In all honesty, they were only making things much worse by talking to me here.

I looked at the gun as I had been walking up, and I saw that there was only eight rounds of ammunition in it. I was feeling like there was virtually no reason to even fucking bother with using this, since there was anybody who was even going to be saved here.

Before too long, that was when I was getting near the waterfall. I was staring up at it, and I was shaking my head, hating the fact that one of my favorite places in town was going to be completely fucking ruined here. I mean, I already fought a monster here before, but I was not really in the mood to handle this at all.

As I was walking up to the top of the falls, and then I threw the current cigarette down to the water, and I was sitting down for a bit. Knowing that I had nothing to do here besides just wait around for a bit. I was closing my eyes for a second, and I was feeling like unless if there was a monster that came up, then I could just relax here for once.

I stared at the gun for a few seconds, and I was feeling like nothing that I could be able to do would make much of a difference. I was only making things worse by just thinking too deeply into things. I knew that any chance of Emily loving me was fucking going to only to be gone.

I was scared of what Dakota and my other friends were even thinking about me behind my back. And I was wondering if they had any desire to even know what was on my mind. And I was wondering if they even cared at all. To be honest, I knew that they fucking didn't.

…

Scene 3: After The Funeral

I was at the aftermath of Nora Wakeman's funeral, and the entire time that Jenny and I were in the car with Kevin and Todd, I was seeing her looking like she was wanting to talk about something right now. "Jenny, was there something that happened, that you needed to talk to us about?" I asked, knowing that I was sounding like a worthless piece of shit as I was telling her this, and I hated the way that I worded that.

"Aside from the fact that my mother is fucking dead, then I feel like everything is fucking dandy I guess." After Jenny was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was feeling like she was just being a smart ass, despite the fact that she was more than correct to be feeling this way.

"Well, there is the fact that my mom is the biggest scientist in the town. The one woman who broke through the gender roles, and showed everybody that she was able to handle herself. To the point where some younger guys in their twenties told me she was his inspiration. And then when it is time to pay forward, and actually show me that they are telling the truth, they never show up." Jenny said, and then she shook her head.

"I guess that it doesn't surprise me. Considering the fact that at the end of the day, she was a thirty seven year old whore who tried to pretend like she was more. Given that she was just working with Harold Wilson, and the Needlemeyer family, I guess my father is correct when he was telling me she was a slut once. And the fact nobody is here shows this." Jenny said, and placed her head in her hands. Trying to hide her tears.

"Jenny, you need to stop focusing on the negative, and focus on the good that comes from this. Your mother was wanting to tell you the truth, and she could have fucking done it. I apologize for leaving before you had the chance." After Todd was telling her this, she started to give Todd some daggers, trying to hide the anger that she had for him right now.

"I wanted to know the truth, and I could have fucking known. But you guys gave me a fucking excuse as to why this is never happening." After Jenny said this to Todd, that was when Todd was clearly trying to find a way to defend himself here.

"I thought that I was protecting you by doing this. I hope that you know that I was never doing this to hurt you at all." After Todd was telling her this, he hoped that she would accept his apology. "Jenny, you seem like you have a fucking plan right now. Tell me what your fucking plan right now is."

"I want to know the confession. All of it. I am going to get the entire movie. No matter how fucking long it takes. I want Nora Wakeman to have a legacy that Wayside can be proud of." She said, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling like I could be behind this right now.

Kevin was slowly starting to nod, as if finally realizing that there was no reason to argue with him on this situation. I felt like he was aware that he just needed to do what was best for Jenny, and that this was all that really mattered right now.

"Alright, if that is what you feel like is right, then I will fucking help you out, and I will keep my personal feelings on the matter to the fucking side." After Kevin was telling me this, he was taking a second to think about what I had said.

"Thank you Kevin. That is what I had wanted to hear, in all honesty." After Jenny told Kevin this, this is when Kevin looked like he was slightly regretting what he had been saying, but that he was willing to just no longer be making things much worse.

"So if that is the case, then what are you going to do any different?" After Todd asked her this, I was looking at the people who were talking. Her father was just talking to some guys there, and he seemed to be truly broken by the event. Jenny was clearly upset at what she had been seeing.

"I never realize how much dad really cared for her. I mean, I thought that he was just doing things for himself. But now that I see how much he really loved her, then I feel like maybe I need to give him some fucking credit here." Jenny said, and then she shook her head, not thinking about her father again, and focusing on the job.

"Anyways, so after you and Todd left the house that one time, my father walked into the room, and found the fact that I was watching the film, and then when he realized that this was a giant confession, he took it from me. Saying that she should have never told me this, and that this is something he needs to do on his own." Jenny sad, and then there was nothing else to say.

"So in order to get the information again, we are going to have to steal it from my father's room, and maybe take it from there. But since he is almost always in the house, then I feel like something like this is borderline fucking impossible." Jenny said, and then I was thinking of something else to be saying. She was opening up the door, and Kevin and Todd were both looking slightly upset here.

"I am going to just tell my father that I don't want to be here anymore, and that I want to just go home." After Jenny was telling us this, I figured that Kevin and Todd were looking like they were both just scared out of our fucking minds. But I decided to not make a issue out of this.

"Do you seriously think for a fucking second that your father is going to be buying what you are saying? I think you and I both know that there is no way in hell that this is going to be how it turns out." After Todd was telling Jenny this, I was seeing that Jenny was hardly looking like she was hardly fucking caring what I said.

"I don't fucking care what he is buying. This lack of a turn out is a fucking disgrace to my mothers memory, and surely he fucking knows this. And she deserved to have people at her side, and be there for her. But now it seems like I will be living with the knowledge that nobody loved her." She said, and then after she was telling us this, I was sighing, and I felt like there was no rate in arguing anymore now.

"Alright, I just wanted to see if you were really understanding what you were getting yourself into." Todd said, and then with that, Jenny was leaving her car. Kevin went with her, and after a few seconds, Todd and I finally decided that we would be with her for the time being.

He looked at us, and I was seeing him looking like he was seeming to really not be in the fucking mood to hearing what we were saying. "Hey Jenny." He said, and he sounded the most sober that I had ever heard him in my entire life. When he saw Kevin, I started to see him slightly smile a bit. "Nice to see you Kevin. How are you handling things right now?"

"I am doing alright. Much better than either of you guys are. Sorry about everything that had been happening right now." After Kevin was telling him this, this was when he sighed, and seemed to hardly have much to say here.

"I am just glad that we found out what happened to her, and that we were able to get some closure. You have no idea how much I was wishing that I could get some answers here." After he was telling Kevin this, this is when he looked over at Todd and I. He seemed to be less excited to see us, but I was also seeing that he was willing to let it go for the time being.

"Dad, I think that I am going to need to leave. Honestly, being here is just really fucking hard for me. I know that it is not practical right now." After she was telling him this, this was when her father was slowly nodding at what she was saying. Understanding that what she was saying was true, and didn't want to pursue the issue to her.

"Oh yeah, I understand why you want to leave. Go ahead. Don't feel like you are forced to be here. You were here for the casket part, and I feel like that is the part that mattered the most." After he was telling Jenny this, I was seeing that he was kind of hoping that this would be something she bought.

"Honestly, I just see all the people who are here, and I wish that more people had shown up. She deserved so much fucking better, and she is gone. I feel like nobody even fucking cares about mom anymore." After Jenny said this, she hugged her father for a second, and this was when her father sighed, and felt like he needed to just find something to say to her, to make her feel better.

"Nora was a very important woman. Everybody fucking trusted her. You need to give them a break. They were probably just busy with their work. She would have never wanted them to be forced to take a break from their work." He said, and then he looked right at Jenny, and he seemed to hope that Jenny would hear this.

"It still just feels wrong. I need to get out of here. Kevin is going to be here with me. He will make sure that everything turns out fine." After Jenny was telling him this, that was when her father was slowly nodding. Probably feeling like there was no reason to be fighting this.

"Alright." He said, and then he looked at Kevin for a few seconds. "Just make sure that my daughter does well. She deserves so much better than what she is going through right now. If there is anybody who understands this, I feel like it would be you." After he was telling Kevin this, this is when Kevin started to nod. Feeling like there was no need to fight with him.

With that, Jenny started to head to my car. Kevin was following her. Before Todd and I were able to follow, he called to the two of us. "I hope that you know that if Nora was around still, she would have fucking hated you. She would have told you guys that you are horrible influences on our daughter. I agree with that sentiment. But I also know that she has made her choice." After he was telling us this, I had no idea what to tell her.

As he said that, this is when Todd and I looked right at him. We knew that he was telling the truth. The fucking look on his face, and he was clearly not messing around at all. I saw that Todd wanted to argue with him. But then he just decided to remain silent for a few seconds.

"I hope that I can prove you guys wrong, and that I want to do whatever I can to help her out." After he was telling her dad this, Todd and I started to walk away, and her father seemed to be unsure of what the hell he was even going to be saying now. Probably thinking there was nothing to say to make things any different at all.

Once we were in Jenny's car, I was looking at her, and I was feeling like whatever I was about to say was going to be making her feel much worse, and I was hardly fucking caring at all. "Jenny, I think you need to fucking know that you need to find out what your mother is doing. She is the best bet that we have." After I was telling her this, I was seeing that Jenny was kind of upset at the firmness of what I said.

"I know that if my father learns what I am doing, then he might actually fucking come after you guys, and fucking hung you all down. I feel like you guys just need to fucking see what you are doing is going to possibly throw everything away right now." After she was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I hardly cared.

I started the car, and then I was starting to drive towards her house. "Guys, in all honesty, I think that we just need to go right in there, and not fucking waste any time here." Todd was saying, and he was sounding like he was just trying to keep his focus anymore.

"Sheldon, you mentioned the mile markers earlier. After we are done with Jenny's mom confession, do you feel like we need to fucking find them all? I mean, we have all the locations. But we can learn what they all actually are." Todd was telling me, and then I looked at him, wondering what he was planning.

"You actually have all the clues right there? Maybe we can go on and talk to Sam about this as well. He seems to be far more willing to work with us now." Kevin said, as we were getting to the front of the house, and I wondered if I would even have anything to say to Sam to make things any better.

I took a cigarette out, and I wondered what to say. "I am sorry that my mother had to do this, and that this was something that she had felt like she needed to do." Jenny said, and still felt disgusted by everything that happened. I got out of the car, not really in the mood as I was going to search.

…

Scene 4: A New Interest

When I was done with Kevin and Jenny that day, Todd and I started to drive towards Sam's house, and I was feeling like I needed to try and convince Sam to fucking help us with the search of the mile markers. I knew that he would not want to do it, but he would probably find himself agreeing to do so if it meant helping Kevin out. Since at the end of the day, I knew that Kevin was really the main focus in his mind.

"Do you even think he would agree to help us out in all honesty?" After Todd asked me this, I was shrugging, since I was hardly fucking caring what he would be saying. "If he doesn't agree, then this means that he clearly will never want to be fighting for our best interests here."

"Sam will agree. I promise you. He will be doing whatever is necessary for his brother. I feel like whatever he needs to do with Kevin is really the only thing that he is constantly going to be fighting for." I said, and I was still meaning what I was saying, and I wondered if Todd would actually listen to what I was saying.

Eventually, when we were at Sam's house, Sam was already outside, and he was sitting down, smoking some weed or whatever. Then he looked at us, and then he was putting it away. As if scared of the fact that he was getting caught. Even though I hardly gave a shit.

"Sam, are you seriously worried about how I am going to react?" I asked, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he was kind of annoyed with the way that I had been asking him this. Then he shook his head, seeming to have no interest here.

"No, nothing like that. But Sheldon, what are you fucking planning here?" He asked, and then I sighed, feeling like he was not giving us any chances to fucking bullshit around. Which I guess that in all honesty, was not even all that terrible of a idea. And that focusing on the job was probably the best that we can do.

"I was hoping that I could get you to agree with a hunt. One of the mile markers. I need your fucking help right now." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what he was going to say. "Those are something that I feel like would be easy enough for you to get into. But we need to cover ground, and I believe you are the best man for the job."

"So you are not going to be looking into the monsters anymore? I mean, I can't fucking blame you, but I did feel like you were kind of losing touch with the job that really mattered." After Sam was telling me this, he walked down the pair of stairs, hardly seemed to show his highness.

"I know that you probably felt that way. But in all honesty, finding out what happened with these girls is honestly the most important thing that we can fucking do. And I feel like I just need to focus on the fact that people are looking right at me for their own hope." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I wondered why Sam was even judging me for something like this in the first place.

"Please Sam. I understand that you never fucking got what I was doing, and understand why I need to do whatever I can, but I just feel like I want to fucking help." I said, and then I was seeing that Sam was slowly starting to see that I was no longer bullshitting what I had been saying right now.

Sam was getting to my car, and then he was opening the back door. "Look Sheldon, you and I might have disagreed with how we were doing things, but I want to help you with my brother. The situation with Kevin is basically the main thing that I am always working on." After he was telling me this, I wondered why he was even telling me this in the first place.

"It seems like Kevin is the main thing that we can agree on. As long as we are able to help out with Kevin, then I guess that nothing else matters." I said, and then Sam looked right at Todd for a second, and I was seeing that he was clearly wanting to say something to Todd as well, and the whole thing was just starting to really fucking bother him for some reason.

"Todd, do you still have any fucking stake in this at all? Or are you just pretending like you have all the answers on the table? I need to know if you are bullshitting or anything like that." After he asked Todd this, I saw the way that Todd was looking at him, slightly upset at the way that Sam was kind of targeting him here.

"What do you have against me? I want to help, and I feel like that is the best that I can do." After Todd was telling Sam this, I saw that he was kind of starting to lose a bit of patience in what he was saying. But then with this, that was when I took out a cigarette, feeling like I just needed to find something else to say to him, to make them start to unite more.

"Guys, stop fucking fighting with each other. This is something we need to work on. Screaming at each other, and being little bitches isn't going to be helping anybody." After I was telling them both this, I was opening the door. "After all, the one thing we can agree on is finding the missing girls." I said, and then I got in the driver seat, and slammed the fucking door.

"You guys are so fucking annoying to handle sometimes." I said, and then punched my steering wheel. "Kevin would not want this to happen to you guys right now." I said, and then both Todd and Sam got in the car, feeling no fucking point in fighting at the time being, thinking that I was just kind of too out of it now.

Todd opened up the notes showing the directions of all the mile markers, and he was taking a deep breath, wondering what we were even going to even be doing now. I took out a cigarette, ready to get to work right away.

"Sheldon is right. What the fucking hell are we even going to doing right now if we are constantly arguing with each other all the time?" Todd asked, and then he was looking at Sam and I. Before Sam was able to argue with him, that was when Todd sighed for a second.

"Wow, who would have fucking thought that the first one would be around the tree house. I should have saw that coming from a god damn mile away." After he was telling me this, he placed his papers in the glove department.

I started to drive towards the tree house, and then Sam was closing his eyes for a few seconds, and I was seeing that he was clearly upset about everything that had been happening lately. "So what the hell would they be doing? Taking people that have large impacts of Wayside. And why in the fucking world does nobody acknowledge that the first person who went missing owned the tree house?" After Sam asked this, I was shrugging for a second.

"I don't fucking know. And in all honesty, I don't fucking really care. People are going to be revising the story to be however they are." After I said this to Sam, I was shrugging, and I really had no idea what in the world I would be getting out of this in the first place.

"I mean, brushing things off like this isn't going to be helping out anybody. You should be taking things much more seriously." After Sam was telling us this, I was feeling like no matter what I was going to say, my response was going to feel strange, and kind of like bullshit.

"Well, I think we need to be there in the first place, and just make sure that this is actually true in the first place. And see who in the world it even connects to." After I was telling him this, I was then thinking of what in the world I could have said to make any difference.

"I think that maybe once we get a name, maybe we can go to the library, and see what we might be able to find there now." I suggested, and then Todd was shaking his head seeming to be relatively upset at the way that I had suggested this.

"Oh my god Sheldon, we are not going to the fucking library again. I am not going to have another two girls die on our fucking choices. If we have to go, we are not fucking talking to them at all." After he was saying this to me, I was seeing Sam looking like he was kind of furious at what I was even suggesting in the first place.

"What the fucking hell is Todd talking about? Being responsible for two women dying right now?" Sam asked, and I was feeling like I just needed to finally be honest with him, and not be a liar since I knew that this wasn't what he had fucking wanted here.

"Well, earlier, two women had died. I am sure you saw that on the news. One was a former librarian, and the other was a Lazarus employee. And they were because the two of us had talked to them, trying to get information here." I said, and then I shrugged for a few seconds.

Eventually, we were getting to the forest once again. Then with that, I took a cigarette out, and then started to smoke it. "It was a giant mistake. But there is nothing to fucking do about it now. We are going to see what is at the tree house, and not be making any fucking difference now." I said, and then I was getting out of the car, and then Todd and Sam just seemed to not waste a moment at this.

"God, I mean, I want to be upset at you, but I guess that maybe this had to be done, for the sake of the job." After he was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I was not really all that interested in hearing what he had said. "But what in the world are we even going to find at the tree house. We had gone there a million times. There is nothing new."

"I know this." I said, and rubbed my eyes, not in the mood. "I fucking get it right now." I said, and then I was hoping that neither Todd or Sam would know about the gun that I had in my pocket. I was tired of not having something to do, but I hardly cared.

Once we were at the tree house, that was when I was looking around at the actual tree on the outside. As I was smoking some cigarettes, wondering what in the world I was even going to getting out of this. This is when Sam was remaining silent for a second.

I was seeing that there was a small chopped up part of the tree house. As I was looking at it, I sat down on my knee, and I rubbed the bark a bit, to see what I could find there a bit. When I was done looking for a bit, I saw that there was a number there.

The number was "1". I waved Sam and Todd over there, and they looked for a while, to see what I had found had indeed confirmed that what the listing was saying earlier. "Alright, so we need to find out who the person that owned the tree house was in the first place. You know, before she even fucking went missing in the first place."

I went right to the ladder, and I was seeing Todd and Sam looking like they had wanted to find something else to say, but hardly seemed to be wanting to argue with me anymore. As I was walking up the ladder, I was just choosing to not be making a deal out of it anymore.

At the top of the ladder, this is when Todd and Sam looked like they seemed to want to say something. Sam was putting his hands on my shoulder, looking like there was something that he felt like he just needed to say now.

"Sheldon, I honestly feel like we are not even going to find what we need right now in there. I mean, you yourself said that you have been going here a million times. There is nothing you are going to get out of this anymore." Sam was telling me, and then I was opening up the door.

"I don't fucking know right now. In all honesty, I am just going to go in there because I fucking have to." I said, and then when I was inside, I was seeing that Todd was just simply around the wall, wondering what he had been thinking here. But then he started to just not say anything at all

Once I was inside, Sam, Todd, and I were looking at how messy the tree house was. "Honestly, I am not shocked that there was yet another fucking labyrinth party that happened here. People just always go to these parties, and have them all the time. As if people going missing is a fucking blessing." After Sam said this, I heard him sounding much more pissed than I thought that he would be.

"I mean, people don't generally know what is going on here. So I feel like what they are doing makes some sense. And in all honesty, I am not going to be much of a smart ass about what is happening here. There is no reason to be making such a big deal out of this." I said, and then I started to mess around.

"Sheldon, stop wasting your time here. You know that I am right. What in the world are we even going to be seeing here? Not even the name of the missing girl is going to be found in here. I think you probably fucking know this." After Sam was telling me this, Todd was opening up the window to the tree house.

"The smell of sex is so fucking obvious that I can't even fucking think about anything at all anymore." Todd said, and then he was sitting down. "Especially with the summer season, and it being like a trillion degrees. Can you give me a fucking cigarette?" Todd asked, and then I handed him one, not really sure if it is a good idea here.

"Don't get too deep into the smoking thing. People are often talking about how terrible it is for your health and shit." I said, and then I was shrugging for a second, and then I was looking around the cabinets, feeling like I just needed to be much more focused on the conversation going on.

I was seeing that there was a older picture in the tree house. It was labelled "1937." Which was about a year before the first person went missing, if I was actually right. When I was looking at the picture, it was showing Larry in there, who at the time was twenty. Then probably a fifteen or sixteen year old girl. Before you say anything, remember that nobody cared about age gaps back then.

"Was Larry dating the first person who had gone missing? If that is the case, then perhaps that would explain why he refuses to talk about anything right now about this. Or maybe she is his younger sister." Todd said, standing up again, and finishing another puff before snuffing the cigarette.

"I guess that you were right Sam. Not knowing her fucking name yet. But I guess that maybe I am going to have to see Larry, and see what he fucking knows." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that Sam looked like he was kind of having very little interest in the subject at all.

Eventually, I closed the cabinet, and then I was starting to walk off. "I will talk to him now." I said, and I had no idea what else I was even going to be saying at all. Not feeling like I would get much more about anything by just staying here all the fucking time.

…

Scene 5: Larry's Complications

Before too long, I was at Joyful Burger, and I got out of the car, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was clearly thinking about something else. "Sheldon, are you sure that you should even be bothering coming here in the first place? I mean, in all honesty, there is no fucking point in coming to a place where Larry fucking hates you. And after you kind of treated him like shit earlier." After he was telling me this, I was taking a cigarette out, and honestly didn't care.

Once we were in the restaurant, I was then thinking for a second. "How about this, you can figure something out with him. I will try and not say anything, since you are right to a degree. I wasn't really good to Larry at all. And even though I did apologize to him eventually, I am still unsure if he actually still actually really believes in what I am doing."

I sat down, and then I was then deciding to just simply not say much else, in order to not really be pissing him off all that much. Then with this, he was walking to Larry, and I was feeling like I just needed to hear what he was saying.

"Still hanging out with Sheldon right now? Are you sure that this is the best idea right now? I mean, I feel like this guy might be kind of making things a bit worse for you." After he was telling Todd this, he was holding his hand up, and he was seeming to not really be all that much.

"Look, I wanted to ask you something about a girl that you hung out with back then. I know that you don't want to have this discussion right now. But I hardly fucking care right now." After Todd was telling him this, I was seeing Larry looking like he was kind of still pissed at me.

"What did you find out?" He asked, and I was shocked to hear him not even deny that he was aware of something. And I was feeling like this was something that Todd was finally glad to hear, knowing that Larry was starting to show that he wasn't the ultimate saint.

"Well, Sheldon and I were at the tree house. You know, the one that belongs to number one. Well, I saw that there was a picture of you with the first girl who went missing. It seemed like you guys were in a relationship." Todd was saying, and then this was when Larry was just looking slightly scared of what he was hearing.

"Yeah, I know. I don't like talking about it. She was my first girlfriend. Many people didn't like it. Several years younger than me. And she was telling me that she was wanting to have a baby. Hadn't been affected by the infertility of the mine crashing. I tried to tell her that she wasn't ready for something, as well as the fact that at the time I wasn't mature enough." After Larry was telling him this, Larry was starting to create a burger, and I was wondering if he was just making one on the house.

"But the truth is that she was really one of the people that loved going out in the forest so much. Any time she wasn't in school or doing homework, she was going in the forest and hanging out. She requested that I make her a tree house where she would be able to sleep there when she wanted. I thought it was cute, so I build the tree house." Larry said, and then I was suddenly becoming much more interested in hearing what he had done.

"Oh shit. That is your tree house? If that is the case, then why the fucking hell haven't you been giving us any fucking clues right now." After he was telling Larry this, this was when Larry shrugged a bit. Probably just seeming to not have much interest in this discussion right now.

"I don't think. Probably because I'm not fucking stupid right now. I am just doing my job right now, and I know that people liked to think that I was the one that caused her to go missing. How could that be possible? I was working that day, and there is literally no way in hell that I could fucking do that." After Larry was explaining this to us, I was feeling shocked as I was hearing this.

"I never thought that anybody could be accusing her of being behind this." After Todd was telling him this, this was when I was then thinking about what else to ask. Before I could give any advice, Todd was finally asking something else for once.

"Was it true that one of the first grinding noises had gone off about nine months after she had gone missing?" Todd asking, once again, feeling like he was finally needing to push him further into this. Before he would ask more, this is Larry was slowly nodding, not really in the mood to be hearing many more questions right now.

"Yeah, it did. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what the implications about this is. You don't need to fucking tell me this." After he was telling us this, this is when I was seeing Todd finally feeling like he was starting to see where he was coming from right now.

"Was there a child for the adoption service that came along soon after this?" Todd asked, feeling like he just needed to get the confirmation. As he asked this, this was when Larry was closing his eyes for a second, clearly not really in the mood to be having this discussion in the first place.

Todd took his nod ad confirmation. "Not wanting to sound like I am ruining the moment, but I think that maybe she was forced to have a child, and that things could have been different." After he was saying this to Larry, that was when Larry just looking right at Todd, and seemed like he was upset with the fact that Todd had admitted this. Then Todd started to head to me and I got up, unsure of what to say.

I was feeling like when I was going to be with Todd alone, I just needed to see what Todd was going to plan right now. I was feeling like he needed to give Larry a break, since he was just truly doing the best that he fucking could.

Once out of the fucking restaurant, I was looking right at Todd, and I was wondering what his plan was going to be now. "Sheldon, I feel like even if Larry isn't involved, I feel like it might start to be incredibly hard to trust him going forward." Todd was saying, and I was shrugging, since I was not really all that interested in hearing it at all.

"I don't fucking care what Larry is worried about. I am going to just think about what Larry has been doing, since I know that in all honesty, he is doing whatever he can to be the best person that Wayside can have." I said, hoping that I could be able to make him feel a bit different.

I got in the car, and then I was thinking of what I was going to be saying at this point. "Honestly, I feel like Larry deserves better for everything that we are doing with him. He is a good guy, and I feel like we need to fucking acknowledge that right now." I said, and Todd got in the car as well.

"At the end of the day, everything that had been going on, that he had done, was all twenty five years ago. I think it is time to fucking reconcile with the fact that perhaps he has been doing his best to move things forward. And that if he is a bad person, it is because of the fact that his father treated him horribly." I said, finally feeling like I just needed to say this, to make things start to calm down a bit more.

"Yeah, I guess what you are saying does make some fucking sense. As much as I fucking hate to admit it." After he was telling me this, I shrugged, and I really had nothing else that I could be able to tell him, and that I didn't really want to fucking argue with him at all.

"So Todd, what do you think the plan is going to fucking be now?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was sort of just unsure of what his plan was going to be. "I mean, I think that now that we have some answers on the first person who went missing, maybe we can learn who the child is?" I asked, and I was hoping that he would at least consider what I was saying.

"I don't know what the fucking plan is going to be. I mean, I feel like it would be nice to know the fucking truth about what happened with her. But I guess that doing that would only be making things much worse. So I am not going to say anything else, to refuse to make things worse." Todd said, and then I was wondering where he was coming from.

"I think it is because of the fact that I know that I am adopted, that I feel like people who are born because of what is happening here, they should be allowed to think otherwise. Not be scared of what I know." After Todd was saying this to me, I felt like I needed to try and say something to make him feel better.

"Honestly Todd, you need to give yourself a fucking break. You still don't know for sure if you really are adopted, or if that is shit that somebody was telling you." I said, and then he was shrugging, and he was really not looking like he was in the mood.

"Sheldon, don't fucking bullshit me. My father isn't my real father, and I know that deep down inside. That was why I hated what Larry's dad said so much. Knowing that he was right, and I can't fucking even bother trying to argue with him." After he was saying this to me, I was shrugging, and I was really not in the mood to say anything else to argue.

"Okay, you're right. I should just remain silent about this going forward." After I was saying this, I was starting to drive off, and then Todd seemed to be finding a bit more that would interest him going forward.

"Look, I think we should just focus on the mile markers. That is all we need to be doing right now. Okay. Can we just focus on the main mission?" Todd said, and then I was feeling like I just needed to find something else that I could say here. But I was choosing to not say anything else to make things worse.

"I will pick Sam back up again. He will be willing to work on this." I said, and I was feeling like telling Todd this was just simply me trying to fucking pretend like I knew what I was going to be doing here. As I was driving along, I was wondering what Todd was feeling right now. Or if he was wanting to say much more at all in the first place.

…

Scene 6: The Beach Rock

The next day, I was meeting up with Todd once again, and I was feeling like we were needing to discuss our next move, although I was having a feeling that Todd was not going to appreciate the fact that I was kind of seeming to force him into this.

"So Todd, do you think we are needing to search for the next mile marker? I mean, I think we already kind of know this one. But going there, and maybe learning who this belongs to, might be the best way to work thing work out." I was telling him, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was clearly not really in the mood to be hearing this right now.

"Do you think we are even going to be fucking finding something there in the first place? I mean, I am not trying to sound like a fucking pessimistic asshole. I will just shut up, and just see what we can get here." After Todd said this, I was starting to drive off, towards the beach a bit.

I was then wondering what in the world he was even wanting to be doing right now. "Todd, it seems like you are not really in the mood to be dealing with these anymore right now. If you don't want to work on this anymore, then I guess that it doesn't fucking matter anymore." I said, and then I was seeing Todd was clearly not in the mood to be discussing this anymore right now.

Once I parked the car at the beach, I was getting out of the car, and then I was seeing Todd looking like he was just kind of sad before everything else. But then he was shrugging, and then he was walking towards me, and I was seeing that at the end of the day, he was seeming to just not want to deal with fighting me anymore. I felt bad for the way that I had been acting earlier, and I was wondering if he was even fucking caring anymore.

When he was next to me again, the two of us were walking around, and the two of us were seeing people just wandering around, and enjoying their summer break. "Sorry that I ruined your summer break. I mean, I know you are not going to want to hear it. But I feel like I just need to apologize here." After I was telling him this, I saw Todd looking like he kind of shocked to hear that.

"It's okay. I can't blame you if I was the one who wanted to do most of it. I was the one who agreed to come with you. And I will just make up for it next summer, when I really live. As I will have known that the truth is revealed." After Todd was telling me this, I was shocked to hear him willing to admit it.

When were at the bush that the rock was on, and I picked up the rock with the painting on it again. It still had the "2" written on it. I was glad to be aware that this was still where we needed to look. I looked right at Todd, and shrugged, feeling like I just needed to take what I had, and not press it any further.

Todd pointed towards the ground, and then I looked right down on the area that Todd was pointing towards. I was picking up the paper that we found down there. I looked at it. I was seeing that it was a picture of a young woman, probably around fifteen or sixteen. She was laying down on the beach, and was in her bikini, and glasses as she was staring up at the sky.

Then with that, below the picture, which I handed to Todd, there was a note. It was a rather generic one, that shouldn't have fucking shocked me. "You are getting far too deep into this. It would be best for you to just drop it. We know what you have been doing. The only reason we didn't get in your way earlier was because it seemed all innocent and playful enough. This is your last warning." The note said, and then I handed the note to Todd once again.

"Do you know who would be able to leave this note? I mean, I know that we have never been super secret about what we have been doing. I have felt like we have been getting a bit deep into this. But I wonder what they are planning on doing if we get to deep into it." I was shrugging for a second, and I was having no idea what in the world I was even planning on telling him at all.

"I don't fucking know Sheldon. I mean, I have been feeling like this for a while. I mean, the whole Jenny's mom dying thing was really kind of the last straw that broke me a bit. But in all honesty, I have been mainly wanting to help her out too, due to the fact that she had said this was what she was needing." After Todd was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, trying to understand what he was saying.

"Yeah, I guess that I do get it. It sort of remind me of what happened with Jamie last her. Her best friend Natalie started to get to the point where she was feeling that it would be a terrible idea to get too deeply into this. As well as Sam, which was part of the reason that we had been starting to have our falling out. Knowing that they were starting to get upset at us right now." I was telling him, as I was starting to walk towards the car, and wondered if Todd was even aware of what was happening.

I was taking a cigarette for a second, and then Todd was coming towards me, and he was seeming to just kind of hold his patience back a bit, and had no desire to be saying anything else at all. "I know that you are right. I mean, when you approached me the first time, you were the one who wanted to find out what happened with Shari. And now suddenly you are here, wanting to talk to me about several other fucking things." After Todd was telling me this, I was wondering what I would be able to do, in order to truly own up to what was happening here.

"I know that I messed up. I am not fucking stupid right now. But I also know that at the end of the day, you are the best that I have right now, and I don't really fucking care right now." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that Todd wanted to argue a bit further. But then he looked like he was willing to just let the whole thing go.

Todd was getting in the car, and then I got in the car as well. "I just guess that I am scared about what my friends are doing right now. I mean, if it was just me right now, and I was the only one who had stakes, then I guess that maybe I couldn't make any fucking difference here. But when there is Jenny, Kevin, and everybody else, then I guess that things start to feel much worse."

"But think about what you feel like you need to do. Find out what you think you need to be doing right now." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I hoped that I would get him to think about what I was saying, as I was driving away from the beach, and I was hoping that Todd would at least consider what I was saying right now. He stared out the window, clearly at least trying to do what I said.

…

Scene 7: Non Stop Pestering

I picked Todd up, trying to get ready for more of this. But when I was seeing that Todd was already hanging out with Kevin, I was planning on just leaving it alone for now. I was feeling like I needed to just work with myself for the time being.

I stared for a few seconds, while at his house, before I was starting to drive off again. But before I could get too far off, this is when Kevin and Todd were starting to head towards my car. I was stopping as they were getting closer, and then I was wondering what their fucking point was.

When I rolled the window down, I was seeing Kevin looking like he was wanting to ask me several questions. I was sighing, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood to hear what his excuses were. "Sheldon, I was wanting to ask you some questions." He said, as I looked at him, wondering what his point was at this point.

"What are you wanting to know?" I asked, and then I looked at Todd, and I was wondering if he had tried to get us out of this right now. He shrugged, and I was seeing that there was virtually no way that I was going to be getting out of this at all.

"I was hoping to know more about the mile markers that you were questioning about." Kevin said, and then I was sighing, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood to be hearing this at all. I wondered where he was even thinking something like this would have been a good idea at all.

"I don't really think it will be a good idea to look into something like this at all." I said, and then I was shrugging, and then Kevin was starting to get in to passenger seat, and I was feeling there was virtually nothing left to be discussing at this.

Todd just got in as well, and I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying at all. "Kevin, honestly, I think that it would be best to just leave things alone, since in all honesty, you are making things more dangerous for you." I said, and then I was seeing that Kevin was not really seeming to be in the mood to hear this.

"Todd already told me some of the things going on here. So why are you thinking that lying is going to be fucking helping out at all?" When Kevin was telling me this, I looked at Todd, and I will admit that I was kind of annoyed at the way that she had asked me this.

"Todd why the fucking hell did you do that anyways? I mean, you know that Kevin was going to be getting in our fucking business about this in the first place." After I was telling him this, I was seeing Todd looking like he was kind of not wanting to hear what I had been saying.

"I mean, I feel like I just needed him to know at least the bare basics of what I had been doing. Seriously, I didn't think things were going to be as bad as I thought. Just give me a fucking break here." After he was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I was already feeling there was no need to talk further.

"Besides, why in the world would one of them be a fucking rock in the first place? That is something that I am kind of more curious about myself." After he was saying this, I was shrugging, not sure what in the world I would even fucking say here.

"I don't know. I don't really fucking care what it is. What I care about is the fact that we fucking know what the mile marker is, and that we can plan through things here. So I just want to let it go for the time being." I said, and then I was starting to drive off, and I was feeling that trying to convince Kevin out of this was going to be utterly pointless.

"Kevin, the truth is that we have a worry that you are not going to really fucking get it if you were to come along with me. I feel like in all honesty, I feel like you just need to focus on your own issues right now. After all, Jenny needs somebody there for her right now. As well as the fact that you are still dealing with the man in the purple jacket. You need to fucking focus on yourself for once." I said, and then I was seeing that Kevin really did not want to hear this.

"That is utterly bullshit. You don't really know if Todd is still the best bet for you right now. And yet you let him come along with everything. I think you need to look at how ridiculous something like this is." After he was telling me this, I was seeing Todd looking angry at this.

"Well, the truth is that Sam told me that he didn't want you to get involved in this situation. He feels like you need to be saved here. And for once, I agree with him. I mean, I guess there is nothing wrong with telling you about the things that we find. I feel like I might as well do that. But after that, I am not going deeper into this. I will fucking not, no matter how much you might like this." I said, and then I was seeing Kevin looking like he had not really seemed all that interested in this.

"What if I make the choice to be doing this in the first place?" After Kevin asked me this, I was sighing, and I had no idea what in the world I was even planning on telling him. I guess that he was just not going to give a single shit what I could have been doing.

"Then that is your choice. I am not going to stop you if that is the case." After I was telling Kevin this, I was at this point where I was just kind of tired of having this argument in the moment. But I was rubbing my eyes for a few seconds.

"But Kevin, can you please at least fucking think about what you are wanting to do first. That is all that I fucking ask. Just consider this." After I was telling him this, I felt like I just needed to at least try and give him something to work with.

I started to drive towards the tree house, and I was seeing that both Todd and Kevin were shocked to be hearing this. "Sheldon, why the fucking hell are you driving towards this place?" After Todd was asking me this, I was seeing him kind of annoyed, and I was wondering why he was so upset with something like this in the first place.

"Because that area right there Kevin… Is where the first person had gone missing. The triple tree. Larry was her boyfriend, and when you go around and try to look at everything from a cold hard statistic, then we are just throwing away all the pain that he had been feeling. And that is a issue that I had never fucking seen." I said, and then I was seeing Kevin looking shocked at the way that I was coming at him here.

"I mean, I feel a lot of pity. I should have tried to hear what he was saying earlier. But I didn't. I only looked at numbers, and now everybody is going to be hating me for whatever I had done. I should have looked at more important things. But I guess that nothing that I will be saying will even fucking make a difference in the end." I said, and then I was seeing that Kevin was just shocked to be hearing me blasting people the way that I had been.

"Sheldon, you were the one that was upset with Larry fucking earlier. Why are you suddenly acting so fucking differently? This just seems like a complete fucking one eighty from the way you are always acting earlier. I just feel like I need to see what you are doing." After Kevin was saying this, I was sort of seeing what he was saying. As much as I was annoyed with the way that he was treating me right now, I was understanding what he meant.

"I know. I just felt like maybe I needed to tell you that, so you don't make my fucking mistakes right now. That is what I am thinking right now. I want you to at least consider what I am saying before you come in here, and trying to argue with me here." I was telling him, and I was sighing, feeling slightly worried here.

"I guess that I do sort of see what you are saying, as much as I fucking hate to admit it." After he was telling me this, I was shocked to be hearing him finally admit something like this in the first place. And hearing him not throw me under the bus was finally making me feel better.

"And I know that as much as Jenny hates to admit it, she needs to understand that many people are in pain here, and need some fucking help here. So yeah, thanks for telling me this Sheldon. Helping me sort of open up my fucking eyes." After he was saying this, I took a cigarette out, and I was feeling glad to hear what I was doing.

"I mean, I know you love Jenny. A lot. But you just need to fucking open up a bit. There are many things that can be taken into interpretation. Please, understand that people are scared, and that is all that fucking matters." After I was telling him this, I wondered if Kevin really knew what he was wanting to tell me in the first place.

"You're right. Maybe I should just try and talk to Jenny, and there for her. In all honesty, I feel like Jenny needs to just have me be at her side as much as possible. It might not be the outcome that I fucking want, but I guess that I don't fucking know what to say anymore." After he was telling me this, he was heading out of the car, and shook his head a second.

"I just wonder why my brother hates me so fucking much. I deserve better than having people just instantly brush me off here. I mean, I am trying to help him out here. But I guess that in all honesty, I am just sort of upset everything. I love working with him. And I just want to know if he is going to be there for me." After he was telling me this, I was shaking my head, feeling that once he finished, I would tell him more.

"Kevin, your brother doesn't fucking hate you at all. You need to just see what he is feeling here. He is a good guy who is focused on your safety. I mean, I know that nothing I tell you will make much of a difference." After I was shrugging, and had no idea why I was even saying this now.

"I wish that I could fucking believe this right now. But I guess that I might as well just not bother talking at all. I just sort of feel like I need to be on my own. And when he needs to talk to me, then I guess that I will do whatever I can." After he was saying this, he was starting to walk away, and I was feeling like I needed to give him a fucking chance to explain his feeling here.

Once he was gone, I was sighing, and I was feeling like there was basically no point in arguing with us at all. Sort of feeling like this was all that I could have been able to accomplish. I looked at Todd, wondering what I could have said to make things different.

"Why is it always so hard to convince him here." After I was saying this, I shrugging, wondering what I could have said to make things any difference. "They seemed to get along relatively well. I feel like something like this might have been my fucking fault here." Todd just stared at the window, feeling like he needed to find something to say.

I started to drive off from the tree house, and then Todd was saying something that in all honesty, I was not expecting at all. "I want to fucking burn that tree house down completely. I mean, that is the sign of all fucking evil, and people are not understanding that there is something about the business going on there." After Todd was telling me this, I was shrugging for a few seconds.

"Burning that down totally isn't going to be fucking helping anybody at all. You are fucking insane if you believe something like this is going to be a good idea. I mean, everybody is going to be coming towards you, aware of what you did." I said, and then I was seeing Todd clearly looking like he hardly fucking cared at all.

"I never said that I should be doing this. I just said that it was something that I wanted to do." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was feeling like I just needed to make some form of a plan on what I was going to do going forward.

"We just need to be looking for the next mile marker. No fucking reason to be having this discussion for the time being." I said, and then I was starting to drive along, feeling like there was nothing that I could do that would make anything different.

"What about your job? I mean, you are trying to balance everything out right now, and I feel like you are just sort of making a big mistake by not working with us right now." After he was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I was wondering why he even fucking cared what I was doing in the first place.

"What the fucking hell are you doing right now? You were the one that told me that you hated it when I was doing my fucking job. So now that this is something that is starting to bother you, suddenly you are coming here and giving me fucking tips on what I need to be doing right now? Don't fucking even get started with this shit right now." I asked him, feeling like I just needed to see what he was planning on telling me here.

"I don't know what we need to be doing here. I just feel like at this point in time, we are getting closer to the answers, and that is the thing that I am starting to get scared here." After Todd told me this, he shook his head, I was feeling like he was just wasting my time now.

"I just think that you need to look at the bigger picture right now. And I didn't like it originally, but I guess that I am starting to sort of see that I might have been a bit of a asshole." Todd explained, and I was glad to finally seeing that he was looking at his mistakes, and being a good guy right now.

"I guess that you are starting to grow up a bit more than I am giving you credit for." I said, and then I was smiling as I was then thinking about what to do now. "So Todd, where is the next mile marker right now?" I asked, and then Todd was then pulling something out, wondering what to say now.

He was pulling the piece of paper out, and it was something that was shocking him a bit. I could see from the look on his face when he was just reading it. "Why is one of them at the train tracks? That is so fucking strange. I guess that maybe we just need to check that out." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, feeling like I just needed to take advantage of that idea.

"That is strange." I said in agreement, but then decided to not be making much out of it. "I am going to be picking Sam up right now." After I was saying this to him, I was then shrugging for a few seconds, and then I just had no idea what my plan was going to be now.

"Sorry for ruining your hang out earlier. You know, the time you were with Kevin earlier. But I guess that you do not really want to hear it right now. I just felt like I needed to apologize." After I was telling him this, Todd looked like he was actually kind of pissed here.

"But to be totally honest, I did give you guys a chance to leave this, and not hang out with me. You were the one that choose to hang out with me anyways." After I was telling him this, I was seeing Todd looking like he was not really in the mood to say anything.

"Can we just drop the fucking subject right now? I am not really in the mood right now. You know that this is something that I want to do with my friends, and then you come along and then ruin it." After Todd was telling me, and we were at Sam's house, and I was feeling like I couldn't say anything else to make any different.

I was feeling like I just needed to respect Todd's wishes, and that by doing this, then he might not be completely fucking upset at every single thing that I had been doing. I was hoping that by the end of the day, Todd and I were going to be making up.

I got out of the car, and then I was getting out of the car. Todd did so as well, and he slammed the door, and I was feeling like I just needed to not be super fucking upset at what he is doing. I mean, he was the one that needed to take things a bit more calmly, and that I just needed to leave him alone for the time being.

I knocked on the door, and then after this was done, this was when Sam answered the door, and he was clearly just annoyed that I was here in the first place. I was feeling like I just needed to make sure that Sam was willing to focus on the mission.

"We are going to be finding the next mile markers. Would you be willing to help?" I asked, and then after I was asking him this, Sam was slowly nodding, and then he was walking to us, and I was feeling like as long as we weren't talking about Kevin, then that was when things would going to be much better for us.

"I mean, I don't want to see you guys fucking die, so I am going to be coming along, even if I don't fucking like it." After Sam was telling me this, he was shrugging, and then he was going inside of my car, and I was feeling like I just needed to find something to say to him to make him feel much better.

When Sam got in the car, I was feeling like there was nothing that I could fucking do about this at all. I was then just getting in the car, and then I was starting to drive towards the tracks, and I was seeing Sam looking like he was kind of shocked by what we were doing.

"Why the fucking hell are we going down to the train tracks? That is a really strange place to be going towards?" After Sam was asking me this, I was looking right at him, and I was feeling like he was kind of just wanting to know what I was planning on doing.

"Todd was telling me the fact that we need to go down there since there was one of the mile markers here. So I guess that we just need to check what is there for a while." I said, and then I was smiling, and Todd was smiling for a second, feeling really proud of what we were doing at this point in time.

"Why in the world is one of the mile markers there? Who would even be going down to the train tracks in the first place? This whole thing is just fucking insane right now." After Sam was telling me this, I was hardly having any patience when he was telling me, as he was clearly not wanting to hear what I was saying.

"I don't fucking know Sam. That is what I have been telling you earlier. I just feel like we need to be going there, and see what we can fucking find there. And when we find out nothing is going to work, then we can just leave this." I said, and then I was seeing that Sam was clearly wanting to say more, but then he just decided against it for the time being.

"Okay. But if this turns out to be a false lead, then I guess that maybe I will just drop the subject for the time being." Sam was telling me, and the entire time that he was telling me this, I was feeling like the fact that virtually everybody was going to be acting like I was making a giant fucking mistake. So I guess that none of this even mattered.

I was wishing that people would be giving me some fucking confidence. But I guess that after so many false leads, I just needed to start to give myself more credit than I had been at this point in time. Before too long, we were at the train tracks, and I was wondering what in the world my goal would be here.

Once I was out of the car, I was then just seeing all the broken trains in the area, and I was then looking at Sam and Todd, and I was wondering what I was even going to be saying now. "Honestly, I wonder what in the fucking world happened to this place? Why all the trains were destroyed in the first place." After I was telling him this, I was shrugging for a few seconds.

"I don't really fucking care right now. We have a job that we need to fucking do. Let's just fucking focus on that right now." Sam was saying, and I was wishing that we could go back to the days when Sam and I would be willing to work together, and not be making things much worse.

"Okay, if you say so. I guess that I should have fucking left things alone." After I was telling him this, I was then feeling like nothing else would be making any difference at all. As I was walking around, Sam and Todd were both just following around, probably just wanting to pretend like they wanted to do this, even if they had no desire to be doing anything now.

I walked up to one of the trains, and I was opening up the door. To my not so surprise, I was seeing that there was a bed and a blanket there. Somebody trying to just sleep there, and pretend like this was their house. I was seeing a bunch of bags and groceries laid around. Like a bottle of alcohol, and dirty clothes.

As I was looking around the area, I was then feeling like being here was virtually pointless. "I think maybe we should be leaving this for the time being. No point in being here when there is no fucking clue at all that we need." Sam said, sounding like he was slightly losing his patience with what he had said.

I was starting to walk off, as Todd was just looking at the driver seats, probably just trying to see if there was literally anything that he could find there. "I mean, maybe somebody in here might have some idea what is happening." After he was saying this, I was feeling like I just needed to remain silent for a second.

I was closing my eyes for a few seconds, and I was feeling like I just needed to let them have their fucking moment, and not be really getting in their business here. Before I could think too much longer, I saw Sam looking out the entrance, probably just hoping that the guy who owns this train doesn't notice us here.

Eventually, Todd was throwing something down on the ground. I was looking down at it, and I was wondering what he had thrown down. It was a stack of journals, and on top of them all, there was a piece of paper saying "3" on the top of it. "Somebody who probably wrote down all their thoughts before going missing."

"Yeah, I guess that makes some fucking sense." I said, and then after I was saying this, this was when Sam was pulling out the top, and he was seeing the "3" and he was flipping it down and there was a picture that was on the back as well. It was a woman who looked like she was fifteen, and there was a older guy, probably his early thirties who was with her.

"God damn it. Is that her father or something? If not, then I feel like we might have a good idea on who is responsible on how she went missing here." I said, and then I was feeling like whatever Sam was thinking, I just needed to give him a chance and give me what he might have been thinking here.

"I don't know, but I guess that I wouldn't be too fucking shocked if this man is the one who is sleeping here right now, and we are just in his area." After Sam was telling me there, and I was sighing, and I really had no idea what in the world I was going to accomplish here.

"Yeah, if that is the case, then I feel like we just need to be leaving right now, and not be making any fucking difference here." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I was starting to walk off, and I was feeling like I just needed to respect Todd and Sam's wishes.

The three of us were looking around, and I wondered what in the world I was even going to accomplish here. "So are you going to leave now? You got what you fucking wanted? You checked the mile marker, and you got what you wanted." After he was telling me this, I looked at Sam, and I was wondering what his issue was here. He wasn't really giving me much hope to be going off here.

"I don't fucking know." I said, and I was looking up at the blaring sun, and I was wondering how long it was going to take for the sun to set. I was sighing, so I felt like there was no point in this at all. "I mean, I have no idea if there is any use here in the first place." I said, and then I was starting to head towards the car. Todd and Sam were just kind of thinking of what to say now.

"Sheldon, are you sure that these fucking mile markers aren't a god damn waste of time? Seriously, just think about what you could be doing if you were actually spent looking or people, and not shit that happened years ago?" After he asked me this, I was taking another cigarette out, not in the mood to hear his arguments.

"Sam, I am doing this as a way to understand what in the world I am getting myself into. But here you are, just trying to get me to admit that I am fucking failing. I don't fucking get it at all." I said, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he was just wondering why I was even saying this anyways.

"But understanding the past isn't going to be bringing the future forward. I mean, surely you probably understand this?" Sam asked, and then I was wondering what his point what he was even trying to accomplish by saying this.

"I mean, you are bringing so many people, my younger brother included, into this, and not even giving them a fucking goal on what they are able to do before? Please understand that I just want to know what I can do to help my brother more than anything else." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, trying to understand what he had been telling me.

"Todd and Dana choose this. Keep them out of this. I mean, the other ones, I can sort of see what you are saying this." I said, and then I was seeing Todd looking like he was not even able to try and argue with what I was saying. Probably due to the fact that I would force him to own up with this.

"But what about Maurecia? Or Kevin? Or Myron? At least consider them. I know your friends Dakota and Ashley didn't fucking like what you were doing. I mean, even if we all agree with your general point, the way you are doing this is fucking flawed as all shit." Sam asked me, and I was feeling like I just needed to find something else to say to make them different.

"Sam, if you have something that you feel like I am doing wrong, then how about you fucking try and find a way to do it yourself." After I was telling him this, I saw that Sam was looking fucking pissed with the way that I was trying to counter act here.

"Because I don't want to be doing something like this at all. You know that I don't. So why are you trying to antagonize me here." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, since I was feeling that nothing that I could say would make him feel any different.

"Then you have no right to judge me, because I am at least doing something important here. That is something that I feel like I can be proud of. At least I am not going to around and judging people here." I said, and then I was getting into the car.

Eventually, Todd was getting in the car, trying to just pretend like he had no stakes in the situation. "Sheldon, I care about you. But I care about everybody else. I don't want to stop being friends with you. I do just need to fucking understand what your plan is. That is fucking all." He said, and I wondered what his plan was here.

"I would rather be doing something like this than constantly smoking weed, and doing nothing at all. I mean, so many fucking people just fucking screw around, and don't do nearly enough to make things work." After I was saying this to him, I was seeing Sam considering what he had been saying now.

Eventually, when Sam was in the car, he was considering something to say something here. "But Sheldon, I think we both fucking know that at the end of the day, there are people who are going to convince you are a fucking psychopath. You know, that you are just making shit up, and not being very serious about everything right now." After he was telling me this, I was looking at him, wondering what his point was.

I started the car up for a bit, and I was starting to head away. But then I was feeling like I just needed to say something that would make Sam both upset, while also admitting that I was making some mistakes. "I just don't even know where the hell I even need to be going around anymore. Honestly, I want to find out what the hell I can do to even get some answers now." I was telling him, and I was thinking at this rate, honesty was all that I could have gotten out of this.

"I mean, as much as I want to hate you for admitting something about this, I guess that something like this isn't fucking shocking here at all. But I guess that I just need to give you a fucking break." After Sam was telling me this, I was shocked at the fact that he was constantly flipping around all the time.

"Todd, where do you think we should be going right now?" After I asked him this, I was seeing that Todd was looking like he was scared of my asking him this. Probably wondering why I was suddenly throwing him under the table right now. But I was honestly not really in the mood right now.

"I don't fucking know. I mean, I want to check out all the casinos. But you already know something like that. So I am not going to be wasting my time with something like this." Todd was responding, and I was sighing, feeling like him saying this was relatively annoying, and in all honesty, I had no idea what I was going to accomplish.

"That is not going to fucking help us all that much. I mean, if I try and go inside of the Wilson casino, people are going to fucking hate me doing this. I mean, fucking hell. Especially with my new job. Sooner or later, people are going to call me a traitor for what I am doing." I said, not sure why I was even telling him this now.

"Are you actually trying to fucking make them believe you?" Sam asked, and I was feeling like asking me this was his sign of showing that he was really losing a lot of his respect on the subject, and was having a hard time expressing this.

"I don't fucking know. I am just trying to make sure that people don't fucking hate me for what I am doing right now. I just feel like I need to do whatever I can to hold off things for a while longer." I said, and then I was feeling like I just needed to not be making things too bad for me.

"Those people are just going to turn you into a fucking monster if you are not careful enough. Even if you do not get it right now, I am just wanting to make sure that nothing fucking happens to you here." After he was telling me this, I was getting annoyed with what Sam was telling me here.

I parked the car in front of Todd's house, and I was starting to just get too annoyed with this to handle it much more. "Fine, you made your point. Just please leave me alone for the time being." I said, and then I was looking at Sam, and I was feeling like he was just needing to leave me alone. Sam shook his head as he left the car, and then started to head home.

"You know, I feel like Sam might be right in certain things. You might not want to agree with him. But I feel like he makes a good point here." After he was telling me this, I was closing my eyes, wishing that I could be able to make Todd start to feel like I was doing the best that I could.

"Todd, don't do this too. I am just losing everything that I fucking have right now, and you are only making things worse for me." I said, and then I was seeing Todd looking like he was just kind of upset with the way that I was talking to him here.

"You are needing to see that people care about what you are doing, and we are just trying to fucking help here. But I guess that you just don't give a shit. You are going to do whatever you want, and that is something that I feel like I might have to fucking accept." Todd was saying, and I wondered why I was so upset about what I had heard.

"Todd, I hope that you know at the end of the day, I care about you and the work you are doing very much. You just need to see that I am fucking looking at things sternly." I said, and then with that, I was seeing that he was clearly not in the mood to do this. When he was leaving, I was just feeling like my life was all going to be a fucking failure, no matter how much I wanted to change things here. With that, I started to drive off once again.

…

Scene 8: Dana Theories

The next day, Todd and I were meeting up with Dana, wondering what her plan was right now, and I could tell that the idea of coming to talk to Dana was probably not really something that Todd was actually wanting to do. And that he was mainly just doing this to make sure that she was feeling like she was not left out.

"So you found several of the mile markers?" Dana asked, and I was clearly seeing her looking like she was really excited about the fucking idea, and I was feeling like I just needed to let her have her fucking moment, and not be a smart ass.

"Yeah, we did find a few. Although in all honesty, I feel like we are not really finding the answers that we fucking need right now. So in all honesty, it just kind of feels like we might be wasting our time." I said, and then I was shrugging, not to sure what in the world I was even going to tell her what to do now.

"Sheldon, do you feel like the monsters in town might be connected to those mile markers?" Dana asked, and I was feeling like whatever she was asking was simply the same fucking shit that I had been going down this entire time, and in all honesty, I was feeling like she was just asking shit that had been asked a billion times.

"I mean, I feel like we have established a thousand times that there is no fucking connection that these monsters have with the missing girls. I mean, in each of the mile markers that we had found, there was a fucking picture of the girls with a older guy or something. The first one was with Larry. Who confirmed he was her girlfriend." I was telling her, and then I was seeing her looking relatively shocked at me telling her this.

"That is strange. I mean, Larry always just seemed like a real fucking shut in. I mean, I guess that something like this could be explained because of him being scared to branch out due to his girlfriend going missing. But I guess that there is no point in saying this now." Dana was saying, and then I was feeling kind of bad for her feeling like she was not having any clues on what to do now.

"I don't know what Larry is doing now. But I guess that at this point in time, I am no longer being super bitter at him. But I am just focused on the main job right now. And as much as I feel like monsters are not responsible, I still know that they are real, and that maybe I just need to at least consider this first." I said, feeling like everything that I was telling her was just a waste of time.

Dana was starting to head off, and I was wondering what her fucking point was. "Hey Dana, what the fucking hell is your plan right now?" I asked, and then I was seeing her looking at me, and I was seeing that she was clearly wanting to find something to say, but had nothing to say.

"Those monsters are connected to the truth, and I don't fucking care if you say otherwise. I think that you need to at least consider the fucking idea right now before you tell me off." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, not really in the mood to hear what she had said.

Todd was standing up, and he was rubbing the crumbs of the chips he was eating off of his lap. Dana looked at what he was doing kind of annoyed. Then she looked at him for a bit. "Dana, you are not going to be getting anything out of this right now. I mean, I appreciate the fact that you want to look into this. But I guess that you don't fucking care about the facts." After he was telling Dana this, this was when Dana was starting to show that she was clearly not wanting to say anything here.

"Well, if you guys are so fucking insistent on monsters not helping out at all, then where are the fucking answers that you have been looking for? If you can find the fucking answers so fucking fine, then everything would be done by now." She was saying, and then this was when I was seeing Dana looking like she had been super firm on what she had been meaning now.

Todd was looking like he was trying to find something to say. Clearly seemed to be kind of out of it a bit. Then with that, he was walking up to her side, finding something that he could have said to up his courage.

"Dana, I mean, I hate to admit it, but I guess that perhaps you might be right." After Todd was telling Dana this, I saw that he was suddenly getting much more humble about what he had been saying, and knew that Dana did have him cornered.

Then with that, Dana looked right at me, and I was feeling like she was wanting to challenge me a bit. So I was feeling like I just needed to give her a fucking moment. I was then starting to stand up, and I was feeling like there was nothing that I could be doing.

"I guess that I might as well give it a chance, even if I don't really fucking want to be doing this. I feel like the monsters and missing girls are two different things. You are doing great on your own end, but I feel like you need to make your own choices." After I was telling him this, I just felt like there was nothing else to say at this rate.

I was standing up, and then I was starting to walk towards my car, and I was seeing that both Dana and Todd were looking like they were wanting to find something to say, but then decided against it, feeling like something like this would have been relatively pointless.

Once I was inside, Dana got inside first, and she shook his head for a few seconds. "Sheldon, I know you do not believe what I am saying right now. The monsters are what needs to be looked in. Just give me a fucking chance, and you will see that what I am saying is true." After Dana was telling me this, she was kind of shaking her head out of just being upset with the way that I had been acting at this. And I was starting to sort of see where she was coming from at this rate.

"I mean, Dana just think about what I am saying right now. If these missing girls were connected with monsters, then I think that there bodies would be found. And why not target any men? I mean, there were those fucking police officers that died. And didn't go missing. So please understand why I am starting to lose much interest in this." I said, and then I was hoping that Dana would see what I was trying to tell her.

"I know how fucking bullshit this whole thing is. Seriously, I know that it is bullshit. I understand that there is no fucking good cases to believe what I am saying. But this is something that I feel like needs to be looked at." After I was telling her this, I was wondering if Dana was willing to at least consider what I had said.

"If you know that it is bullshit, then I feel like you need to see that there is no fucking point in looking any deeper into this. And that is something that I feel like you need to fucking admit." I said, hoping that I would get her to finally start to open up.

"Let's just focus on finding the next markers. Seriously, we just need to be looking at this right now." After Todd was saying this, I was shocked to be hearing him suddenly take a bit of a interest in this. I wondered why he was even saying this in the first place. I was sighing, feeling like I might as well just be making things a big fucking mistake here.

Before long, I was starting to get really close to being late for my shift, so with that, I started to drive off to the gas station, while leaving Todd and Dana there. I was kind of upset with the way that I was needing to throw away my responsibilities. But I really had no idea what to believe at this rate.

When I was in the gas station, I was just trying to have something to do to keep me off of what had been going on. In all honesty, I was feeling like whatever I would be doing here, I just sort of needed to not think so fucking hard about the fucking fact that every minute I was standing here, people were going to potentially go missing, and there was virtually nothing that I can fucking do about it at all.

The entire shift I was watching people looking like they were just trying to find something to grab, and I was annoyed that they were here, while also glad because they were some of my first customers in literally weeks, so in all honesty, I was at least having something that I just needed to pretend to do.

When they were finally out of the gas station, I was taking a sigh of relief, knowing that they were no longer here, and I was no longer needing to worry about anything right now. But then before too long, this was when I was hearing a bunch of loud noises.

I was then taking out a cigarette, wondering what in the world I was even going to do, and I was walking out of the house, and I was holding the store baseball bat, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be doing right now.

I was holding the baseball bat as tightly as possible, and in all honesty, I was scared out of my fucking mind what I was going to be finding. Knowing that these men in black were probably going to take me out, and there was nothing else that I could fucking do to change things here. But as soon as I was looking around, I was seeing that there was something that looked like a monster with some saliva coming down their mouth, and was looking like the veins of the monster were still showing.

As I was looking at the monster, I was scared out of my mind, and I was praying to myself that I would be able to get out of this alive. I knew that there was a rather good chance that I wouldn't make it out. The monster was starting to look at me, and then I was wishing that I still had that dynamite that Todd had brought me earlier.

As the monster was charging towards me, I slammed the baseball bat at the monster, and sent it flying back for a second, Then I brought out the gun that I was given when I started to work with those men in black, and I fired a bullet at it's eye, which I saw was giving me a split second.

The monster was charging towards me, and then I was getting in the store, and then I was starting to try and get a fucking barrier. When I was done placing the garbage can in front, I called the police. "Guys, a monster is at the gas station!" I screamed, hoping that they would listen to me.

"We're a little bit busy right now, but we will send somebody over there as soon as we can." After he was telling me this, I was slamming the phone on the charger, and then I was holding the bat as tightly as I could. I was closing my eyes for a split second, before focusing again.

Then the monster started to scratch the windows, and I was hoping that my boss wasn't going to hate what I had been doing right now. And then I was seeing the windows crack, and then I opened the door, and then kicked their fucking face, and swung the baseball bat at their face several times.

Then with that, this is when I was firing another several bullets on them, feeling like I just needed to get a better gun, as these were not nearly good enough to make any fucking use out of them. Then I started swinging the bat like crazy, just trying to put as much damage on them as I could.

When it was clear that I had given myself a good deal of time, I was starting to head back inside, and I was seeing some of the cars starting to head towards the gas station, with the blaring sirens. I was shocked at how relatively quickly they were able to come. That was something that made me feel much better.

When the cars parked, I was seeing several officers getting out, and firing ta the monster over and over again. Now that I was seeing that they knew for sure that they were here, I was wondering if they were going to try and deny the fact that these things fucking existed or not. Which if they did, then that would fucking piss me off.

I was getting back inside, feeling like I just needed to be alone, and I was sitting down on the table, and took a cigarette out, and started to smoke it. Feeling like I was aging a thousand years within a couple of fucking minutes. It was crazy how I could get that feeling over something like this.

When they were done, I was looking up, and I was seeing that there were only a few minutes left before I needed to leave. So I just started to clean up the area in the few minutes that I could before eight in the evening. When I was done, I saw that I was already ten minutes over, and then clocked off.

I was getting in the car, just trying to get away from here, as I was seeing my boss starting to head in to take over for the rest of the night. Before I was able to leave, that was when I was seeing a officer coming to me, and I was wanting to mentally scream because I was not in the mood to be dealing with this right now.

"We were wanting to talk to you before you left here, if you were willing to give us the time." He said, and then I was shaking my head, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood to be hearing what he was telling me.

"What I want to know is why you guys keep fucking insisting on not telling people about these monsters, when you have the evidence right here. People need to fucking know about this right now. Lying about this is only going to be making things worse." I said, trying to hold back my anger from him.

As I was telling him this, I was seeing that the officer genuinely seemed to be having a hard time coming up with a sincere response with this. I was wanting to give him a chance, but unless if he respected my time, and respected the issue on what was going on, then I was just simply not in the fucking mood here.

"Sheldon, you need to understand that if people learn the truth here, then public panic will be caused. We are doing this as a way to be helping people slowly sooth the issues of what is happening. Everything we are doing is for the best of Wayside." After he was telling me this, I was really not in the mood to hear what he was telling me at all.

"I don't fucking care what people know right now. I would rather know the truth, and then be able to prepare around this than deal with fucking lies right now." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that he was at least considering what I had been telling him. He sighed, and clearly was not in the mood to hear what I told him.

"Would your father want this to happen? Would your father want there to be massive panic because you wanted to be the fucking hero of the day? I think you need to think about what your father would fucking want." After he was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I considered what he had said at that moment.

"I don't fucking know what my fucking father would want. You're right. I will concede to this. But seriously, I want to help you." I said, and then I was wondering what the hell I would even tell him in the first place. I was thinking that him bringing my father into this was only making things worse.

"But to counter argue you, what would Shaun Reichenbach want? He is basically the main guy behind everything. He is the one who leads this town, and I think he needs to fucking finally take responsibility to the town that he is trying to control. Can you fucking think about that at the very least?" I asked, and then I saw that he was clearly upset with the way I was acting here.

"He has been giving us orders to not be causing the panic. And your father agrees with him. You are literally the only person who wants to be making a deal out of this. So I think you need to see what you are doing here." After he was telling me this, I was wondering why he was always doing this to me. I feel like I just needed to make my point, but he hardly cared.

"So Sheldon, what are you going to do now?" After he asked this, I was gripping my steering wheel very tightly. I was feeling like I just needed to find something to say. To make it seem like I was adapting to the under cover aspect more. Which slowly was not even all that under cover anymore.

"I don't fucking know dude. I think that I need to do my job right now. The job of the men in black is to fucking destroy these monsters under any causes. That is my job when I am at night. During the mornings, I hang out with friends and help with the missing girls, during afternoons I work here, and during evenings I monster hunt." I said, trying to sound like I was cool, and trying to sound like I was helping. I saw him looking like he was not sure what to believe anymore.

"Thank you for giving me some fucking advice. I will see what I can fucking do here." After I was telling him this, I was seeing my boss pulling up, and we were staring at the monster bodies as my boss was starting to show up, and I was gone.

I was fucking glad that the police were at least admitting to the fact that monsters were real. Not fucking pretending or anything. That alone made me feel so much better. I was feeling like in some degree, I could be able to trust them for a time being. And I needed whatever I could fucking get with him.

…

Scene 9: A Hopeless Fight

I was working with Todd, and we were getting near the forest, and I was feeling like I just needed to find something else to say to make Todd feel any fucking different for us. "Todd, sorry that you had to deal with the argument that Sam and I went into. I hope that things don't have to be getting much worse." I said, and I was seeing that Todd was clearly looking like he was not all that interested here.

"Don't worry about it. We just need to focus on working this out. You and Sam can argue all you guys want, but I am not going to be dealing with this for the time being." After Todd told me this, I was not really in the mood to be dealing with this.

"Okay. Never mind. Forget that I even fucking mentioned it. It seems like people just don't fucking care anymore." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and then I was going in the forest. I was seeing that Todd wanted to say something else. But then he just decided to remain silent, so I wasn't really in the mood to hear this at all.

Before we were able to get too deep into this, that was when I was seeing Sam coming up to us with a bike, and I was wondering what he was hoping to accomplish here. Then he got off the bike, and then he was walking up to us. I sighed, wondering what his intention was.

"Sheldon, I just wanted to apologize to you for our conversations earlier. I had hoped that maybe the two of us could be able to make some fucking things right." After Sam was telling me this, I was shaking my head, since I was not really in the mood to deal with this.

"What are you wanting to talk about? You have made it clear that you do not respect the work that I have been doing? You told me that you do not really think that I am going to help people out at all. So I guess that I should just fucking let you be having your own life that you enjoy." I said, and then I was seeing that Sam was clearly looking like he regretted what I was telling him.

"I know that I was a dick. I guess that I wanted some fucking answers. You know, something that would have made me not feel like I was wasting my fucking time. But that is not something that you can affect. It if not your fucking ability to make me feel like I am wasting my time or not." Sam was telling me, and he was squeezing his eyes, trying to hold his patience here.

"What are you planning on doing now? Are you wanting to fucking help me out, or just stand here and apologize?" I asked, and I was aware that I was asking him a really rude question. As I was asking him this, I saw that Sam looked like he wanted to find something to say in counter argument. But then he just decided to not say more.

"I have no fucking idea. I just feel like I needed to at least try and talk. But if you want me to help you with the investigation, then I will fucking do it." Sam was telling me, and he was getting in the forest, and then I was feeling like there was nothing that we could be doing here.

"So Todd, do you have the notes that the mile markers are located?" After I asked him this, Todd was starting to take something out of his pocket, and I was seeing him looking like he had not wanted to be dealing with this. He was looking at the note, and then I was seeing him looking like he was trying to consider what we were going to be fucking doing now.

"I think that it might be that one truck that we found that one time all those weeks ago." Todd said, and I had to take a second to remember what he was saying. Since I did forget about it for a second. But then I was slowly nodding, when I knew what he had been meaning.

"What do you mean, truck? Did you guys find something a while ago?" After Sam was asking us this, I looked at him. Remembering that he didn't help us out back then, and that he didn't know what he had been doing. Then with that, I was just sighing, feeling like he might need some fucking help.

"Yeah, I guess that maybe we should be heading there for a while." I said, and then I was taking a cigarette out, trying to head in that direction, trying to remember if that was the place that I needed to go. As I was heading there, I was feeling like whatever Todd and Sam felt, I just couldn't fucking care at all.

"Sheldon, did we even head in that direction? I can't fucking remember?" After Todd was asking me this, I was looking at him, and shrugged, feeling like it was not that big of a deal. Honestly, I had hardly fucking cared at all. And I just didn't really give much of a shit at all.

"I mean, we might as well just see what we might be able to find here. You don't have to be joining me if you don't want. You can do whatever you fucking want with Sam." I said, and then as I was heading away from him, I was seeing that Todd clearly wanted nothing to do with this at all. Sam was following me with Todd, and I was just glad that he had apologized to me, knowing that we were going to be able to make things up with each other.

The longer that the three of us were walking, Sam was looking like he was tying to find something to say to us. I was seeing that he was clearly just trying to wrap his mind around the entire discussion, having no idea what we were doing.

"So if you guys found these earlier, then what is the fucking point in heading here earlier?" After Sam was asking me this, I was feeling like he was just clearly trying to challenge me over everything right now. And in all honesty, I was getting fucking over dealing with him.

We were walking for nearly ten minutes, as I was wanting to think of things to tell him. "Honestly Sam, I just want to know about them all. And in all the things that I have been doing, I found the people here that went missing." I was telling him, hoping to make him feel slightly better about what we had been doing.

Before too long, we were getting in the general area that the truck and destroyed mine entrance was. "Wait, what the fucking hell is happening with this mine? Why is it destroyed? Were people trying to hide things?"

"Obviously that is happening. And we are hoping to learn more of these things. I hope that you understand that this is bigger than anything we could have imagined. Please just fucking remember that I am doing my best here." I said, and then I was seeing that Sam was slowly taking a deep breath, kind of keeping it all together.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get to work, and see what we might be able to find. I will help you as much as I can." After he said that, I smiled, knowing that the two of us were back in business, and that idea was able to make me proud of him, in a rather strange fucking way.

I was walking to the red truck again, and I was seeing that Sam was looking like he was kind of annoyed with everything that was going on. "Sam, I know that I am not the best friend for you to be looking for. I am not stupid. But I think you need to see that Todd is probably the hardest working person that I know." I said, and then I was hoping that saying that to him would make Todd give some credence.

I opened up the door, and I forgot how fucking god awful the smell of the area was. I was then putting my hand on my nose, and I was just shaking my head for a moment. Todd was going back to the rubble, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he was just trying to find something else to say.

Sam was then wondering what to tell me now. "So Sheldon, I wish that I would be able to help you. The only issue that I have right now is that in all honesty, I don't really fucking know where any of these would be. Do you have any clues on where we can go?" After he was asking me this, I was shrugging, wondering what the hell I would even get from this.

"I don't know. I mean, maybe just go to all the super generic areas in the town, like the fucking town parks or something. I am sure that you can find something there if you look hard enough." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that Sam was just clearly wanting to tell me that something like this would be a waste of time and efforts.

"Are you seriously thinking that people are going to fucking find something in such a open place? I am surprised we even found something in the tree house in the first place. I mean, seriously, you need to think about the fact that people are not going to take risks here." Sam was telling me here, and I was feeling that I just needed to fucking leave him alone.

"I know that in theory, it doesn't seem very smart. I am not stupid. But Sam, fucking listen to me here. These places are just probably a indication of each missing persons favorite place. So we are just checking out what they were doing before they went missing." I said, and then I was seeing Sam just looking like he was really not buying what I had been saying.

I was pulling out another picture. The girl this time was with a red shirt, and a normal pair of jeans. She had a pair of glasses on her face. Seemed to have blonde hair. I remember that if I read the id correctly the first time, she was sixteen or seventeen. The guy with her in this picture was somebody who looked like he was probably closer to the same age as her. Especially relative to the others. I looked at Sam and Todd, ready for them to see what I got.

"How about you fucking riddle me this…" Sam asked, and I wasn't even taking it in a antagonistic tone. I think he was just scared of something, and needed our clarification on what was going on. So with this, I was sighing, and I felt like I just needed to see what he was planning on saying.

"Why are these even fucking called mile markers, when none of these are actually distances of miles? I feel like you need to give me something like this." After he was telling me this, I looked right at him, wondering what I was even going to be telling him.

"I don't fucking know Sam. I think you need to just fucking not be looking into these minor details that are not that big of a deal." I said, and I was shrugging, and I was seeing that Sam clearly looked like he was just kind of annoyed with my lackadaisical way of handling this.

"I just feel like there has to be a rhyme or reason or various things to be the way they are, and I feel like you need to give me something to go off of here. That is all that I fucking want Sheldon. Can you please give me this?" He asked, and I looked at him, wondering what he was going to be screaming over, and if he would calm the hell down.

"I don't know. That is just what people call it. I don't know what else to say. They aren't actual distances of miles. I will give you that. But that is not really something that I am too worried about." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like I just needed to leave him alone for a while.

Sam looked like he was clearly not really in the mood to be hearing anymore right now. "I just feel like you need to be looking at the various minor details. I want to be able to help you with that. Can you fucking give me that?" After Sam was looking at me here, I was seeing him just clearly desperate beyond all hell.

"I will check into it, if that will make you feel better." I said, and then after I said that, I was seeing Sam looking like he appreciated the fact that I was willing to actually give him something, and that I wasn't fucking arguing with him for once in his fucking life. And I was hoping that things would repair soon enough.

…

Scene 9: Infiltration Plans

As Todd, Sam and I were sitting down, hanging out later, when Sam was much calmer, and no longer wanting to just pick a fight for the sake of picking a fight. "Sheldon, what do you think would be a genuinely good idea? I feel like you can help me with some plans right now." After he said that to me, I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to give him a chance.

"I think that we are needing to go to the casino still. You know, the Needlemeyer one. Although I wouldn't be against the fucking Wilson one as well. Although if I go there, then people are going to be on my case. So I feel like I just need to be fucking careful here." I said, and then I sighed, hoping they would take my ideas here.

"God, you know that nothing is going to be found here. Anybody who will spend a hot minute talking with us knows what our intentions are. That is what the issue is. So please just try and think about what could be getting everybody in danger here." Sam said, not in a argumentative tone this tome. He was just clearly just getting in the mode of wanting to fucking help.

"That is fucking fair, I will admit. I do hear what you are saying. But in all honesty, I feel like we just need to be really careful here. Who knows, I think that it is just something that I do need to consider. If you do not want get involved here, then that is fine. I do not blame you. But if that is the case, then maybe just watch over Kevin and make sure he is safe." I said, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he was glad to be seeing me giving him some credit and idea here.

"Do you seriously think that Kevin will listen to me? I mean, I want to believe that he will. But I am not a fucking idiot." After Sam was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I was feeling like he just needed to leave me alone at this rate.

"I am not sure. But I think that Kevin is slowly opening up to the idea that you do care about him. And I think that you just need to know that he does want to help you out feeling better as much as possible." I said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was trying to hear what I said for once.

"I hope that this is fucking true. But regardless, so that is your current plan right now? Going into the Needlemeyer casino." Sam said, and then he was looking at Todd, clearly wondering why Todd was looking so upset at the moment. Probably not thinking that Todd was going to be in a lot of turmoil of what he had heard earlier.

"I don't know if I am going to be getting involved. Maybe you can cover the Needlemeyer casino, and I can cover the fucking Wilson one." He said, and then I was seeing Todd looking pissed at this idea. I was feeling like he just simply needed to fucking get over this. I was slowly sighing, feeling no desire to argue with Todd for the time being, and just let him have his thing.

"If you seriously think that going there is going to be making a fucking difference, then I guess that I am not really going to be arguing with you about something like this." I was telling him this, I was seeing that Todd was just looking like he was kind of upset with the casual attitude that I had been showing here.

"Yes, I think that this would be the best bet for me. I mean, I feel like I have to fucking put myself first sometimes." After Todd was telling me this, I was sighing, and in all honesty, I was feeling like there was no point in even arguing with him anymore. It was just going to be making things worse for no god damn reason here.

I was then looking at Sam, and I was wanting to see what he was feeling here. "So Sam, do you feel like you need to go one way or another? I mean, if we are splitting up, then we need to be making a fucking choice." I said, and the Sam was thinking about what I was asking him. He seemed like he was not wanting to be forced to make a choice here.

"I think that I should be heading with you. There are a lot of things that I feel like we need to fucking talk about, and I was hoping to clear some things up for a bit." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and not going to lie, I was kind of annoyed with what I was doing.

"Okay, if you feel like that is for the best, then we can do that." I said, even though in all honesty, I was wanting him to head with Todd. To make sure that Todd was safe. But I felt like I needed to let him do what he was feeling like was right for him.

"What do you think you will even find at the Wilson casino in the first place? I mean, you can always try and talk to Harold if you felt like you needed to discuss something with that group?" Sam asked, and I was hearing that he was trying to not sound incredibly rude right now. Todd looked at him, slightly annoyed with what he was hearing.

"Do you seriously think Harold will be able to give us any information? I think that he probably already knows that his father is going to be attacking him if he reveals anyways. So I feel like you just need to look at the fact that perhaps that would be a massive waste of both our times." After Todd said this, he was slightly having a attitude in his voice, hoping that Sam heard his annoyance here.

"He seems to be working with Sheldon just fine. How about you think about that before you immediately just get annoyed with me?" After he was asking this, this was when Todd just sighed, and he was feeling like there was no point in even having a debate with Sam, knowing that Sam already decided to just drop the subject.

"Anyways, you can do whatever the hell you want. I am not going to be making a deal here. That being said, I do fucking request that you do not bring Kevin into this. His safety is really the only priority that I have right now." Sam was saying, and I was glad that he was still keeping his brother as the top priority.

"Kevin. I don't think that he will be ready for something like this anyways. No offense, but I feel like he is needing to fucking look at the bigger picture. Something that he needs to really just look at before he makes things any worse." I was saying, and I was hoping that Sam was not going to be too upset with what I had been saying.

Sam was looking right at Todd, and I was seeing that he was just kind of hoping that Todd would be seeing the sentiment that I had right now. Then he was sitting down, and then he was thinking about what he was wanting to say in the first place.

"I should just focus on fucking dating or something like that. You know, the generic shit that I can fucking handle." After he was telling us this, he was laughing. I was then thinking about Emily, and I was thinking about the mistakes that I had been making, and I wondered how I could have made things any better.

"I should try and talk to Emily for a bit. I have left her behind for way too long, and I think she probably just fucking hates my guts right now. I wish that I could be able to find something else to say. I think that if I try and talk to her now, she would just throw me away completely." I said, and then I was shrugging, wondering what I could have said at all.

"In all honesty, I think you are probably going to be making a mistake if you seriously think that Emily is even willing to give you much time anymore. I mean, like you said, you basically threw the entire relationship away. And I am glad that you seem to be aware of this." Sam said, judging me for everything right now. I was then feeling like I just needed to go to my shift, and then pick Sam up for the casino right afterwards, so we can just get this over with.

"Sam, I think that you are like in love with making fun of me non stop right now. But let's just get to work, and get through with this job right now." I said, and I was trying to get to the point. As I was saying this, I was seeing that Sam clearly wanted to say more. But then he decided to remain silent.

I then looked at Todd, and I was then sighing, feeling so fucking bad for him. "Todd, if you find something at the Wilson casino, tell me right away, and then I will help you out. But I need to do my shift first." I said, and then I was pointing towards Sam once more, getting into serious mode.

"Sam, when I am done with my shift, come to the gas station, and we will get right to work. Do whatever you can that you can prepare with in those four hours." I said, and then I was heading to my car, getting ready to do my job, and be a responsible adult.

Once I got in my car, I started to drive towards the gas station, leaving Todd and Sam alone, and I was hoping that they were going to make things right. So I just needed things to be for my own benefit. I hoped that Todd and Sam would be much better. And that they saw that if for nothing else, I was still a good guy.

…

Scene 9: Not My Responsibility

Once Sam and I were at the casino the next day, that was when we were looking around, and I was seeing that Sam was clearly looking like he had no interest in getting involved in this whole thing. I was smoking a cigarette, while Sam and I went inside.

As we were in the main room, I was seeing that Larry's father was having another one of those young women with him. And it was obvious, once again, that she wasn't a fucking second over twenty five. I was feeling like it was kind of disgusted how he was around women who were young enough to be his own sons fucking kid.

As he kissed her, he was separating, and then he looked right at Sam and I. Clearly annoyed with the way that we were here once again. Probably feeling that the two of us were just going to be ruining his day once again.

"What are you wanting to talk about this time?" He asked, and then with that, he sighed, feeling like he just needed to at least try and make the situation seem like it was slightly less hostile. "How is Todd doing? Has he started to calm down a bit lately?"

As he was saying this, I wanted to scream at him, and tell him that he needed to fucking make things right with Todd. But then I decided to keep my anger to myself, knowing that at the end of the day, he wouldn't have any fucking interest in hearing it.

"Todd has not been holding up well at all. He hates the fact that you told him that. Nothing that I can fucking do to change it." I said, and I was shrugging, hoping to make it clear to him that I wasn't going to make a issue out of this.

"It is not my fucking responsibility that something like this is happening. He hates the fact that I told him the truth, because he is too scared to see what is ahead of him." After he was telling him this, he was then taking a cigar out. The girl with him was silent, wondering what my plan was.

"Sam and I are here to talk about you helping us with the investigation, to find the missing girls. We feel like we really need your fucking help here." After I told him this, he was shaking his head, seeming to not be very interested in hearing it at all.

"Do you seriously think that I would want to help you out with this shit? I mean, for real, you must be a fucking idiot if you think for a second that I am going to agree to this. That would incriminate everybody in my family." He said, and I was starting to walk past him. Not in the mood to be having this discussion with him for the time being.

"So you do admit that Larry is involved in something like this right now? If that is the case, then I feel like you would rather be having him take the fall than somebody like you. When you clearly have your ladies with you." Sam said, and then Larry's father was taking a second to think about what he heard.

"That is not really how things go right now. I mean, think about the fact that if something happens to my son, then there is no fucking heir to the company. Because he has this crazy idea that he needs to fucking wait until his god damn fifties before he can have a child." After Larry's father said this, as I was starting to leave, I just looked at him, thinking that comment was rather strange.

"That is fucking off. Anyways, you are in this town as well. Everybody is working here with you. Surely you understand that if there is no way to find these people, then your business is going to take a god damn nosedive." After I was telling him this, Larry's father sighed, clearly not in the mood to hear this.

"You know, you say this, as if thinking that I am going to be convinced by this. The truth is that those girls are not my responsibility. And I think that you need to see that at the end of the day, there is nothing that I can fucking do about it. I am almost seventy years old." He said, and then I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to leave him alone.

As I was leaving him alone, this was when Sam started to following me. Clearly not in the mood to be hearing what I was going to be discussing him. I was feeling like nothing I could say would make anything different. "Sheldon, sorry you are not getting any fucking progress with him at all. I hoped that we could fucking make something work with him." Sam said, and I was shrugging, not in the mood to hear this.

We were at the elevator, and went inside. I was taking a cigarette out, and I was just trying to find something else to be making the situation a while lot better for everybody. "Surprised that he isn't fucking stopping us right now. I guess that there is not much that I can fucking do about this." I said, and then I was wondering if there was any point to what I had said.

"I wouldn't think too much about it. I would rather have him not fucking coming around to us, so we can focus on your fucking job, then anything else." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, and I was feeling like there was no point in even fighting this at all.

When the door opened up again, which was the top floor, this was when Sam and I were starting to look around, trying to pretend like we were supposed to be here. I guess that maybe the fact that I had the black outfit was always able to give me some fucking leverage on what I was doing.

Sam and I were walking to the different rooms, and were unable to go inside any of them. Which I guess was not that shocking at all, considering the fact that people were probably wanting to make sure that nobody would be breaking into their offices, which would finding damning evidence.

We were eventually finding a room that said "Larry Needlemeyer". As I saw this, I looked over at Sam, and I was feeling like I just needed to go there, and I was feeling like there was no fucking choice but to just try and see what in the world we could be able to go in there in the first place.

"We need to go in there. For better or for worse, if we can find something in there, then perhaps we can learn what he is hiding." After I was telling Sam this, I was seeing that Sam was clearly not wanting to go along with this idea. I was placing my hand on his shoulder, feeling like I just needed to get him to take what I was saying seriously.

"Okay, you can do whatever the fucking hell you want. That is not something that I exactly want to do, but I guess that you will just simply not fucking care." Sam said, and then he was starting to slowly place his hand on the handle.

He tried to get it open for a bit, and then when it was still locked, like all the others, that was when I was sighing in annoyance, feeling like there was no reason to be having this discussion at all. "Okay, how the fucking hell are you going to be going in there in the first place? The area is locked, and I am sure that Larry is not going to allow you to go in." He said, and shrugged, as I was thinking about what he said.

"I think that I am going to have to steal it. When he is busy or something, go to the back of the office of Joyful Burger, and then snatch it up. Run away, and then we run back here. I think that we can make this work, if we are really careful." I told Sam this, and I saw that Sam clearly did not want me to be doing this in the first place.

"Sheldon, are you seriously fucking going to steal this shit? I mean, Larry is going to fucking hate you for what you are doing. He is never going to want to even so much as fucking speak with you." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, not really in the mood to hear this.

"Yeah, and I don't really fucking care. I feel like I have to do this if I want to fucking do this. And if you feel like this is a fucking terrible idea, then I feel like I have to fucking blame Larry for not actually communicating with me. It is all his fucking fault." I said, and then I was seeing that Sam was not wanting to talk about this with me right now. Probably think that I was being a piece of shit right now.

"Do whatever you fucking want. I just felt like I needed to at least try and get you to consider what was happening. But I feel like there is no need to have a fucking fight with you over this." After he was telling me this, he started to walk away. I was pissed at the way he was trying to leave me alone.

"Sam, if you hate me for what I have been doing, then can you just be fucking honest with me? I mean, I know that you and I never agreed on much. But I thought that we were starting to patch things up a bit." I said, and then Sam looked like he was clearly annoyed with this discussion. Obviously not in the mood to hear what I said.

"No, I don't hate you. We have talked about that shit over and over again, but I don't hate you. I just wish that you were being smarter about what you doing. I think that you probably know right now that this is fucking dangerous as absolute shit." After he was telling me this, I sighed, and I was not really wanting to have this talk right now.

"I just felt like I needed to be sure. But yeah, I just don't know what to fucking believe right now. Always seeing you leave me alone, and clearly not wanting to talk at all. I feel like maybe something like this just always gets me scared." I said, and then I was feeling like the honesty was what I needed.

"Sheldon, if you feel like breaking into Larry's office is the best way to do this, then as much as I fucking hate the fact that you are even suggesting this idea, then I feel like I will have to accept it. Just make sure that this plan works flawlessly, or else things are going to be making things worse." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I knew that he was right in what he said.

"The best way for something like this to happen is for you to fucking team up with me. I don't fucking care if you do not like it. I need somebody's help, and I believe you are the man." I said, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he was sort of thinking about how much I was torturing him.

"Well, as I said, I would rather be doing this with you than fucking bringing Kevin into this. I would rather be the one that dies over him. At least with something like that, I can delay what might happen to him for a while." Sam said, and I was unaware of how much I would hate that statement in a few years from now. How much it would hurt me.

Sam and I left the casino, finally feeling like I had a plan. I needed Sam to go through with what I was planning. He might not like what I was doing, but I feel like I needed to fucking do this. I just hoped that he would at least consider what I had been doing.

When we were back in my car, I was suddenly feeling like something like this would fucking work. "Sam, this is what I have to do. I want to help Todd more than anything else out. Just fucking think about the fact that I would never do this out of poor intent." I said, and then Sam sighed, not sure what the hell to do now.

..

Scene 10: Stealing Keys

The next day, I was meeting up with Sam again, and I could clearly tell from the way that he was looking that he had no interest in this whole escapade. But I was not going to let his reactions get to me. I needed to get the job done, no matter what.

"So are you still planning on going through with this fucking break in? I mean, I might not like this at all, but I feel like there is no fucking way to go around it. Have you tried to talk to Todd, and see what he might be able to fucking help us with?" After Sam was asking me this, I was sighing, since in all honesty, I was feeling like getting Todd involved in this was going to be a massive mistake.

"Here is the thing. I do not want to get Todd involved with something that he probably should have never forced himself into. I feel like I made a bunch of fucking mistakes getting him involved in the way that I have, and I feel like if he doesn't want to work with me anymore, then I truly can't even fucking blame him." I said, and then I was shrugging, not too sure what I was even going to be telling him.

"Oh yeah, suddenly you are starting to realize that this is a massive fucking mistake, and you are trying to make up for it by just playing the fucking hero?" After he was asking me this, I was seeing him looking like he was hardly wanting to fucking hear it at all.

"Anyways, if you do feel like you want to get involved with what I am doing, then you need to get right to it. Just simply distract the guy by talking to him a lot, and I will sneak in there, grab what I need, and then I will be leaving." I said, and then I was feeling like saying this to him would get him to shut the hell up, and not be so fucking unruly here.

"Okay, I guess that I can do that. Let's also agree that if something happens, then you will take the fall, and you will be leaving me out of the fucking blame. Can you fucking promise me that much right now?" After he was asking me this, I was sighing, feeling there was no other point in fighting him now.

I was starting to head to my car, and I was seeing that Sam was clearly still against this whole idea right now. But that he was willing to let it go for the time being. Probably aware that constantly fighting something was simply just not going to be giving us much good.

The entire time that we were driving over, I was seeing that Sam clearly wanted to find several things to say to me as a way to argue with what I was doing. I was feeling like whatever he wanted to say, I just needed to let him say it, so we could just let the subject go.

"Sheldon, I know you want to bring people down, and show their corruption as much as I want to do just that. I get it. But the issue is that by doing this, without clearly evidence, are we any fucking better than the people who we are going against? I think we just need to be much more careful here." After he was telling me this, I considered what he said.

"The thing is that deep down, I know that you have a good point. But on the other hand, I feel like maybe I need to just break some rules if I want to get things done. After all, it seems that everybody else doesn't respect rules. So why the fucking hell should I?" I asked, as I was parking at the parking lot, aware of how fucked up what I was saying was.

"You know, that is why you need to care. You are going around saying these things that you would have never thought would be wise to say when we were younger, and now that you see that things are not going your way, suddenly you feel like you need to do it? I just think that there is something that you are missing." After he was saying this, I was getting out of the car, and went inside.

"Just do what I said, and you will be fine. Even if you do not like what I am doing, I am not going to be throwing you around right now. You are the only person that I feel like needs to be left out of the pain of what is going on." I told him, and then with that, I was walking in the store, and Sam slowly followed along, feeling the need to just sort of let the subject go.

Once inside the restaurant, I was walking up to Larry, and I was seeing Sam kind of looking like he was starting to kind of just let the subject go for the time being. "Hey Larry, do you know anything about my brother lately?" He asked, and I face palmed myself a bit.

I was feeling like he was needing to accept that the whole thing about Kevin wasn't going to be getting people to work with us more. But I was feeling like I just needed to leave things alone for the time being. If this was what would get Sam to go along with me, then this was going to be what I would do.

I was walking to the back room, while I was seeing that Larry was at least entertaining the idea of talking to Sam for the time being. Knowing that the two of them were talking for a bit, and I had time to get to work, I was sighing, and opened up the door.

Once I was in the room, I was seeing that Larry's office was relatively clean. With the exception of the giant duffel bag that was filled with thousands of dollars, and I was shaking my head, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to accomplish by getting in the money in the first place.

I was looking around the fucking drawers, feeling like I needed to just get what I needed soon enough. I found a key before too long, and it was labelled as "Casino Office Key 2." As I read this, I sighed in relief knowing that even if I took this, there was one more in here that I can use to fucking hide what I was doing.

As I looked at the desk, I was seeing a few pictures of Larry. One of which was a picture with that first girl who went missing girlfriend. Then there was another one with another young woman that was a few years later. And then another one that seemed like it was just a few months ago. And with somebody who I remember was a senior in high school when I was a freshmen, so clearly only like early twenties.

As grossed out as I was by this, I was I had to admit he still had game, and then I was smiling, almost seeming to be slightly proud of what he was able to do. But then with that, I was leaving the office, knowing that I had the key that I needed, and feeling like there was no need to be pushing any further with this.

Once I was out of the office, and closed the door as quietly as possible, this was when I was seeing that Sam and Larry have a deep fucking conversation, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be accomplishing with them having confidence issues here.

"Yeah, I just feel like nobody really takes the issue seriously. Like people just kind of finding me looking into this whole thing as deeply as I have to be annoying. Like I am useless." Sam said, and I was wondering where this whole useless thing was coming from right now.

"That is because people don't understand what it is like to have something that you know really matters, but nobody believes that you want to make things right. People only care about what is nice for them. I mean, I am not any better than most people in that front. But at least I have a willingness to admit it." After Larry said that, he took a cigarette out, and stared down at it.

"Yeah, I guess that you can say that. I mean, I wished that Sheldon would get it. After all, with his mother dying as young as Sheldon was, I thought that he would be the first one to understand." Sam said, and before they could go any deeper, I was with them, and I was feeling like I just needed to pretend like I didn't hear what he was saying about me.

"Sam, do you feel like you are ready to leave yet? We don't have the whole fucking day to mess around." I said, and I was feeling like a complete fucking asshole when I was saying this, but I was hardly fucking caring when I was saying this.

"Yeah, I think maybe it would be best." Sam said, remembering the fact that stole one of Larry's keys, and that we shouldn't stay here forever when he was going to finally figure out what I had been doing. As we were heading off, Sam turned towards Larry, and then started to slightly smile for a few seconds.

"Thanks for the conversation dude. I mean, I feel like I needed to have this talk with somebody. That way I could feel like I could be able to get past this whole fucking issue." After Sam was saying this to Larry, he was seeing Larry looking like he was feeling slightly proud of what he had done to help Sam out.

Once we were in the car, I showed him the key, as a way to show him that heist did work, and I was feeling glad to see Sam looking like he had slightly opened up with the idea of talking to other people, and that he wasn't so fucking scared of what was going on.

"My god, I can't believe this fucking insanity has a chance to fucking work out. I mean, if you can really learn the truth of what is happening, then even if I disagree with your methods a lot, then I feel like it is worth it for the people who have been going missing." After Sam said this, I was starting to drive off, feeling much better about my abilities.

"And it seems like you were getting along with Larry well enough. I think that at the end of the day, we just have to get what we can from all this." I said, and I was starting to head to Todd's house, and I was feeling like whatever I would need from Todd, we could all establish this stuff on the way, and make it all work out.

…

Scene 11:

The next day, I met up with Sam again, and this time, despite the situation we had earlier, he did seem much more willing to talk with me, and not get upset with this. Probably because at this rate, he was thinking that there was no point in even fighting this anymore. "So Sheldon, are you going to be going up there right now? If you are, I might as well go along with you, and see what I can do."

"Yeah I am. If you want to come along, I am certainly not going to fucking reject the chance for us to talk things out a bit more. I feel like we both need that." I said, and then he was shaking his head, as if not really wanting to hear me say that. But he was willing to let it go for the time being.

The look on Sam's face was clearly one of regret, and wishing that he hadn't made the choice that he had made. I was feeling like I needed to press the matter much further than I already had, if I was going to be getting him to fucking listen to me for once.

I was driving towards the casino, and I was feeling like I needed to say something that would probably just get Sam to be mildly annoyed at the way that I was speaking. But the whole thing was still pressing my mind, and I just felt like I needed to say it.

"I hope that Todd is doing well. I feel like he is probably going to need as much help as I can give him." I said, and then I was seeing Sam looking like he clearly had no desire to be hearing me talk about something like this at all. I was wondering why he even fucking cared enough to even muster a response.

"Sheldon, if you actually cared about how Todd was doing, then you would be seeing him by now. You would not be having random conversations with me at all. You would be telling him to come along with you, since at least when you are around him, you know what is happening." After Sam was telling me this, I was not really in the mood to hear this.

"Don't give me the guilty treatment. You know that in a way, not bothering to talk to him might be better for his own safety than if I showed up, lights blaring, screaming at the top of my lungs, telling him to come along." I said, wondering if he would at least consider what I had been saying. I got out of the car, not even giving him a chance anymore to respond.

Once I was inside, I went inside, and I was wondering why Sam was even trying to make me the bad guy in the first place. Especially since I was the one who was pushing for the best results possible. If anything, I was probably the best guy in here.

I was seeing Sam just looking like he was trying really hard to pretend like this was exactly what he was wanting to do. But he was not really in the mood to be having a talk with me about something like this at all. As we were inside the casino, I was noticing that it was much more quiet and dreary than usual.

Once I was in the elevator going up, simply trying to not think of how uncomfortable this whole situation was, I was looking at Sam. I knew that nothing that I could say would be making him feel better about what had been going on. But I was feeling the need to at least try. For the sake of my friend.

"Sam, I understand that we have disagreements. I am not going to be beating that fucking horse. It will not be doing anybody any favors. What I do want to do however is talk to you about how grateful I am for the fact that you have been working with me to accomplish something so big." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest.

"I know you are trying to flatter me. And I guess that it is working much more than I want to admit. You can be a stubborn bastard sometimes, and I want to believe that you are the one that has all the answers. I believe that you think you do. But the issue is that I need to actually see it fucking work if you want me to go with this." Sam said, and then with that, I was sighing, since I was aware that there was nothing else that I could say to make things different.

Before long, the elevator door opened, and I was no longer feeling the toxic tension between us. As the door was opening up, I was just sighing in relief, knowing that in all honesty, I was going to be fucking safe now. I walked out, and went right towards the fucking office.

I unlocked the door, and I was looking around. The entire time I was doing this, I saw that Sam wanted to say something smart to me, and act like I was the worst guy in the entire world. But then he just seemed to fucking let it go. Probably knowing that he was wasting his time by doing this.

"You better find something in there, or else my opinions will be the least of your concerns." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, feeling like I just needed to let him have his fucking moment. Once we were both inside the room, I was sitting down on the chair, and I was sighing for a second. Wondering how much Larry was going to be having a field day with screaming at my father when he found out what I was doing.

I was looking at the computer, and then I was starting to read the files. As I was reading the files, I was seeing a bunch of stuff related to the Reichenbachs. As I was reading this, I was taking a moment to think about what I was reading. Think about what this was going to fucking mean.

"Well any mere doubts that we could have ever had about this person being at least partially involved with what was going on at Lazarus Corporation is fucking dead beyond god damn belief." I said, and then I was letting Sam take a look at what was going on.

"I mean, I guess that we should have expected that to happen. Doesn't mean that I have to fucking like it. Knowing that this man knows what the head of the biggest company here is doing, and is pretending to not fucking know." After Sam was saying this, I was shocked to see him looking as neutral on the subject as he clearly had been.

"I will keep looking, and I will see what else I can find. Although I have no opinions of the success of the project." After I was telling him this, I was starting to read more of the files, hoping that maybe I was just not giving Larry enough chance. He needed to know that I was considering him to be a good enough person, just needed to communicate more.

I was seeing Sam rubbing his hair wildly. As if trying to just pretend like he wasn't scared out of his mind. When it didn't take a fucking genius to figure out that he was running at a million fucking miles per hour. And the worst thing was that I couldn't even fucking blame him at all.

"Oh shit. I guess this is how he might know about Todd's father. I mean, I want to say that I am surprised, but I am not nearly as surprised as I want to be." I said, and then I was reading all of these files, several of which were talking about Todd Robinson's dad.

"I mean, do you think you are going to show Todd those files? I mean, he has wanted to know the truth about his family for a really fucking long time." Sam was asking me, and I was seeing him to be sounding genuinely worried for once. But probably more about Todd than he was worried about me. I doubt that he was worried for a fucking second about me, after everything that had been going on.

"I mean, I guess maybe taking pictures of them wouldn't hurt. Or printing them, just in case things turn out bad." I said, and then I was starting to hit the print button. Hoping that it would not be a big fucking deal, and that I would be able to hide the fucking files in my pocket well enough. I needed to at least pretend like I didn't fucking do something so fucking ridiculous.

As Sam was hearing the print button, I was getting more over zealous. I hit "print all" hoping to get every single file that Larry had gathered up over the years, and hoping that these files were going to be what I needed to get a couple of clues on what was happening.

"Sheldon, you shouldn't have fucking done this. If Larry knows what you are doing, we are screwed. Besides, you just need to be getting information for Todd. That is all that fucking matters." Sam said, and I was seeing from the look on his face that even he was not exactly buying all that he had been saying.

"Oh my god, this is the best chance that we have right now. You might not like it. But this is something that we have right now." I said, and then I was shaking my head, hoping that one of these days, he was going to see that I had to make the sacrifice play in order to make things work out better for us.

I was then taking the pieces of paper that had printed, and then I was starting to fold them up, and place them in my pockets. "And besides, if they ask what I did, then I could explain that it is all because of a contract from those men in black. You know, some bullshit that can buy us a couple of days at least." I said, and then I shrugged, unsure of what to even fucking tell him at all.

"And then when they realize that this man is a fucking liar, then what the hell are you going to be doing." After he asked me this, I was then I was shrugging. I knew that Sam was right about this all. I was feeling like I just needed to give him a fucking chance.

"I don't fucking know. I am winging this one fucking day at a time. There, I fucking said it. Isn't that what you wanted all this time. For me to admit that I don't have a fucking lick of a idea what I am doing? Well, there, you fucking got it." After I was telling Sam this, I was seeing him looking like he was regretting what he said.

"Yeah, that is really fucking obvious, with how little you seem to be thinking about the mistakes that could come with this. But I guess that you don't want to fucking hear it." After he was telling me this, I was looking at him, and then I sighed a little as all of this was fucking happening.

"Can you fucking leave it alone?" I asked, and then I was placing papers in all four of my pants pockets, and my two jacket pockets. They were all covered up. Clearly anybody who saw me at all would know what I had been doing. But I wasn't caring.

I left the room, and the entire time that I was walking off, I was wondering if Sam was going to be giving me a fucking break or not. But I was then wondering if he knew what was bothering me so fucking much in the first place. Or if he even fucking cared at all what I was getting myself into in the first place.

I closed the door, and locked it again, hoping that this would buy me some time. Before too long, this was when I was going to the elevator again. Sam and I were heading down the elevator, and I was seeing that despite how upset he clearly was at this whole thing, that he seemed to be willing to let it go. At least for my own sake, and to not make things much worse for anybody at all.

Once we were at the bottom of the elevator, and we were in the main floor, we just walked by Larry's dad, not giving him a chance to comment on much of anything, knowing what he was planning telling us if he had known. When we were out of the building, I was wondering what Sam would say. What witty remark he would make to show that he didn't want anything to do with this.

We were driving off, and with each passing minute, I was seeing Sam looking like he was kind of calming down, and that he was slowly willing to let it all go, knowing that there was no reason to fight me on this whole thing.

I was smiling, knowing that I just pulled off a giant heist without even trying. Maybe in some cases, it was good to go against the rules, when it benefitted you, and made you the one that was coming out on top, especially compared to the company heads.

…

Scene 12: The Next Plan

The next day, I was at Todd's house, needing to find something to say to him about what I had found that would be making him feel a whole lot better than what I had been dealing with. "Hey Todd, sorry I haven't seen you lately, but I had been getting some things taken care of."

As I was saying this, I was seeing Todd looking like he was kind of just really upset about what had been going on here. "Sheldon, I understand that you were busy. I can't blame you for not really taking time to see me. In fact, I would argue for both of us it might have actually been better to not be looking so deeply into this." Todd said, and I was surprised that he would say something like this.

"Yeah, I guess that makes some sense. But after dealing with Sam being super paranoid the last couple of days, I feel like almost any form of hang out is better than that. There is only so much of that you can take before you feel like you are going insane." I told him trying to be funny, but there was no other way to describe what had been going on.

"Yeah, but I am kind of curious, what is your fucking plan anyways? You must have something to do." He said, seeming to hope that I was actually knowing a way to make something come together and not be sounding like a fucking maniac the entire time this was happening.

"Well, I was planning on gathering up all the information that I was able to get from Larry's office, and show the files to Shaun. Hoping that maybe if I have that, and knowing he has no other way to fight me, he will finally tell me what I need to know." I said, and then I was shrugging for a few seconds, not too sure what to tell him.

"Sheldon, I think that you know it will not be as easy as that. If you are seriously thinking that a bunch of papers can convince him, then you need to have a back up plan." Todd said, and then I was smiling as I said that, thinking of a way to work something out to him in a practical way.

"There is no agree or disagree when I have facts. My facts beat emotions any day of the week. And I feel like once I have a plan to make him see what I mean, then I am fucking on top of it." I said, and then I was seeing Todd looking like he was really hoping that what I said would not end up getting us fucking killed here.

"Okay. I mean, I guess that you can do whatever you want. And it's not like I did any better, in all honesty. I thought that I would have the plans figured out, but the truth is that I am just as blind to information as most people are. I tried to go into the Wilson facility, but without the clearance… That you have, then I can't fucking do shit." After Todd said that, I was really annoyed, knowing that his way of doing things turned out to not even fucking matter, and that his lectures turned out to relatively be for not.

"As long as we just seem to respect Sam's wishes of not dragging Kevin into this, then I feel like that is the main thing that matters. But I feel like I need to find a way to present my plans to Shaun, and make it so that I am really bringing the fucking gauntlet down for a bit." I said, and then I smiled for a second, hoping to make him feel like he didn't really fucking fail in the long run.

"I don't even want to bring Kevin into this. All he fucking does is fucking go around and talk about Jenny. He basically is too love struck to even give a single shit to do anything else." After he was saying this, I was smiling, since feeling like his way of looking at things was true enough.

"And in all honesty, I think there are two reasons I don't want to get involved in this. Partly because in all honesty, I don't really feel like I can handle this stuff right now. And also because of the fact that he is becoming almost too pure to drag into this. As much as I hate to admit it, I do think that Jenny is right. He really is the best of us all." Todd told me, and then I was thinking of what to tell him now.

"Have you been able to see Joy lately? I mean, after all this time, she is still the one that I am most worried about. She is going to die if we don't find the answers soon enough. And we need to remember that at the end of the day, we need to put our feelings of various things aside, and just look at the truth." After I was told her this, I was shrugging for a second, feeling like that would really be the only thing that I could do to finally bring Todd down to the present.

"I have tried to see her. I wanted to see her, but every time I try, she always comes on and tells me that she is working on something important. I wish that I could be able to see what she was working on. Tell her what I was worried about. Especially since I know that every minute we lose with her is a minute we will never get back." After Todd said this, I was trying to see what he was saying.

"Then how about we go to her house, and just see what she might fucking know. I mean, she will be willing to listen to us sooner or later. Just give me a fucking chance." I said, and I was seeing that Todd was clearly looking like he wanted to believe what I was telling him for once.

"Do you seriously believe that she will be listening to us in the first place? I mean, for fucks sake, she is really in a lot of pain. Is it really my place to tell her what she should and shouldn't be fucking thinking? That doesn't really make me any better." Todd asked me, hoping that he would be willing to listen to me at many points.

"Yeah, I will make her fucking listen, no matter how rough it might be." I said, and I was feeling like my way of doing this was kind of being a asshole right now. But I hardly fucking cared. I just needed to make my point, no matter what it fucking took in order to fucking get there.

I was starting to drive towards Joy's house, and the entire time that I was driving there, I was seeing Todd clearly looking like he was not wanting to get too involved in this whole thing. I was hoping that at the end of the day, I would be making Joy feel like she could truly trust us. That was all that I needed to do. Get her to fucking love us.

"Todd, I know that this is not comfortable, or the subject that you can to really be getting involved with. But I feel like there is no fucking choice on the god damn matter." I said, and I was just getting out of the car, not too sure what in the world I was even going to be getting myself into.

I was seeing that Todd was just clearly beyond the point of arguing with this subject. I was getting out of the car, and took another cigarette out, and I was already feeling like I might have been making a really bad impression on here, and not making things any better.

"Well, the issue is that I know that at the end of the day, you do probably have a better idea on how to make things work than I fucking do. I mean, I am not a fucking hero, as much as I want to try and pretend like I really am." Todd said, and I was seeing from the looks on his face that he was clearly not really happy about this all.

I knocked on the house door, and I was unsure of what the heck I was even going to be doing once I was there. I was having no idea how I was going to get her to see that at the end of the day, I was wanting what was best for her, and that we were truly still friends.

Before too long, Joy answered the door, and there was a look on her face that seemed like she did not really want to be having a discussion right now with me. Probably thinking that I was going to be the one behind all the issues that she had been having. "Hey guys, what are you planning on doing right now?" She asked me, and I was sighing, and not sure what I was going to get out of speaking to her here.

"We are planning on just seeing if there is anything that we can do to help you feel better? I mean, you are scared, and I think we both know the truth. And we were just hoping that we could be able to eventually settle things to make it better." I said, and I was seeing Joy looking like she was still not too sure what I was planning on accomplishing here. Probably just kind of taking the whole concept of 'winging it like crazy' to a whole new fucking level.

"I have been writing letters to everybody actually. I have no idea if I am going to survive or not. So I want to be sure for either outcome. And in all honesty, I just feel like when I tell everybody what I think about the situation, and my thoughts on what could happen, then things are better for us all." Joy said, and I was seeing her looking like she had finally accepted her fate.

"Oh really? I mean, I know that it is not right to be going around and telling people to just "get over it" or that there is nothing to fear. But I feel like you need to at least keep the option of you making it." I said, and then Joy was shaking her head. Clearly not wanting to hear it.

"Sheldon, I appreciate your efforts. I really do. I mean, I know you want what is best for me. But we both know damn well that something will happen to me sooner or later. We both know what my father is doing. We both know that either I will die before the end of this, or go missing as the next girl. And that is something that we are needing to accept one way or another. So these are there for when one of those happened." After she said that, she was going to her living room, and pulled out the ones for Todd and I.

"But I do not want you guys to read them until I am either dead, or missing by the grinder. Can you promise me that much? No fucking reading until then." After she said that to me, I was sighing, and I knew that in all honesty, something like this was going to be a really horrible agreement to make with her.

"Can you make me that promise? Give me as many days as you possibly can, and when it is eventually over, one way or another, then you can read them?" She asked, and then I was sighing, and I was aware that there was no way to change what she was saying. No way to make her feel any different, and I had sort of accepted that for once.

"Yeah, I can fulfill that promise. But just make sure that you are going to at least try and keep yourself safe. At least fucking for now. Like you said, every day that you are here shows that we must be doing something right." I said, and then I was seeing that she looked like she was kind of happier to hear this.

"Thanks Sheldon. I just feel like I need to focus on myself for now, until things are done here." After Joy was saying this, she closed the door, and then she sat down on the steps. Probably feeling like there was something else to say, but no fucking way to fucking say it. No matter how much she wanted to try.

…

Scene 13: Continuing the Search

I picked Todd up at the house the next day, feeling the need to continue looking for the mile markers, regardless of everything else. Todd got in the car, seeming fully aware of what I was doing. He looked at the door, and I was seeing that there was something still on his mind. But I decided not to bother him too much about it, because he clearly was not in a good mood.

"I think that at this point in time, there is no point in not continuing our search for the mile markers." After I was telling him this, I saw that Todd simply looked like he was hardly in the mood to be having much of a argument on this matter at all.

The entire time that I had been driving, Todd was opening up the glove compartment, probably thinking there was no point in arguing with me on what I was wanting to do. Especially since I can tell from the look on his face that he did in fact want to do something like this. But just simply had a hard time showing it.

As he was looking at the notes, he shrugged for a second, and he was reading it. "What the fucking hell are we going to do about this one? I don't even think we can possibly pull something like this off." Todd said, and then he was showing me the spot for the fifth mile marker.

"The fifth one is in the fucking parking lot of Lazarus headquarters. They must know damn well if we go there, then we might as well be just setting ourselves up for a death sentence." After Todd was telling me this, I was sighing, since I knew he was right.

"Oh shit. That is going to be making things harder for us. But I feel like we need to still do what we can. Can you perhaps make something work out for a bit." I said, and then I was starting to just slowly drive there. As I was doing this, Todd placed his hand on my shoulder, in an extremely firm fashion. I knew that there was nothing that he could even do to change this at all.

"Here is the fucking thing. We are going to get ourselves killed if we go there like this. Do you think maybe we can hold off on it? Just a little fucking longer. I don't know, until night time at least. Can you at least give me that?" After Todd was asking this, I knew that he was right.

I was rubbing my eyes, feeling like I needed to at least consider what he was saying. But not too sure how in the world I was even going to do such a thing. "Todd, just fucking do this for me. There is no reason to not do this right now." I was telling him, as I ended up parked at the main parking space. I was seeing Todd clearly upset at this, but feeling there was no point in changing it.

Once I was out of the car, I was seeing that Todd was now finally accepting the fact that there was no fucking way to change what had happened, and that the best course of action was to just finally let it go for once.

As we were going around, I was seeing Todd looking like he wanted to just simply figure this out, and not be wasting anybodys time at all. As I was smoking a cigarette, I was just keeping my focus on the main event. I hated the fact that it was clear to me that Todd did not really think that I could make things work between us.

As I was walking around, I was wondering what in the world I would even fucking accomplish by doing all of this in the first place. I was thinking that if Todd knew what exactly the deepness of my searches always meant when he started to work with me, he would have never wanted to work with me to begin with.

I was then looking to the planted area on the right. One of the very small morsels of a deliberate environment that was still kept up at this place. Probably as a way to pretend to casual viewers that they did care for the good of others, and not just themselves. It was a bullshit tactic, but it was giving them some time to be away from the spot light of what they had been doing.

I was starting to just look around the plants, and Todd was then looking around, feeling that even if he did not agree with what exactly I was doing, he would at least watch over me, and make sure that if something happened, he would give me a heads up, so I can spare myself for a few seconds.

Before long, I was starting to look at the vase of the plant, and then lift it up a bit. As I did, I was seeing the "five" on the bottom. I then felt like there was no need to go any further than this into the subject. But I was glad that I was aware of the fact that I hadn't been going insane.

Then with that, I placed it down, and noticed a white tip in the plant. I looked over at Todd, and I was slowly nodding, confirming that this was indeed the area where one of the markers had been. Todd simply just closed his eyes, firmly, like he didn't want to even think about something like this.

Then I started to tug at the white piece, and then before long, I was seeing that we had been looking at another picture. Really dirty, and clearly worn down by age. But there was still enough of a sense of idea of what I saw that I was aware of what had finally been happening.

The picture was of a married couple, with two children. The guy was clearly Shaun's father, and the woman was his wife. Both looked rather happy at what was happening. The oldest of the two children was a girl who looked like she clearly wanted nothing to do with this family photo. The second was a small boy, only a few years old. Maybe three or four. This was clearly Shaun Reichenbach.

I was shocked to be seeing this, and I was showing Todd the photo. "Did these people sale their fucking daughter as a get rich quick method? I mean, I want to be surprised, but I have a feeling that something like this might be expected." After I was telling him this, Todd was just glancing down at it all.

"I think they might have done it. But I think there is nothing you can fucking do to change it Sheldon. What is done is done. The only thing you might be able to do is show this to Shaun, and maybe he might be willing to see that his entire family is based off of fucking lies, and nothing else." After he was saying this to me, I was feeling like his reaction was not the one that I was really fucking hoping for.

"Sheldon, I am not asking you to agree to what I am planning on doing. But this might be the only way to get him to see that perhaps there is something wrong with what his family was doing. This might be our key to finally getting him to see that he needs to be doing something else. I think that such a thing is worth a fucking try at least." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, feeling there was no need to try and argue with him.

I was then feeling like there was nothing to lose with this idea, and that maybe I just needed to see what he was thinking. "I guess that I might as well just make this whole fucking thing work. I don't fucking like this at all. But maybe we can make something turn out well." I said, and then I was shrugging and I hoped that maybe I could say something that would be keeping Todd at least relatively out of the firing range in case something got much worse.

"But would you agree to not fucking bring yourself into this in a super fucking forced way? I mean, I feel like if you got yourself involved here, then I would not be able to forgive myself." I said, and then I was seeing that Todd was sort of considering what I had been telling him.

"Sheldon, I don't care if you are several years older than me or not. If something happened to you because you refused to see the idea that I might be doing something good for once, and you just feel like you need to be the fucking hero of the day, then I can't fucking forgive myself." After Todd was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was aware that there was no real way in the fucking world that I was going to be able to fight him at all. He had made his mind, and that was all that I had needed to hear.

"Are you basically telling me that you don't care if I want you to or not, but that you are coming either way?" I asked, mostly just trying to be funny about what I was saying. As I asked him this, I was seeing Todd shrugging, and smiling, as if feeling like I kind of cracked the code a bit.

"Basically. I mean, there are still other mile markers to check. At least try and look for those before you do something you are going to fucking regret. I mean, I know you already made your choices here, but that doesn't mean that I have to fucking like them." After Todd was telling me this, I was then thinking that he was right.

"I wonder why their parents would just not even acknowledge her existence. I mean, they could just come up with some bullshit story about how she died or something. But just pretending like she wasn't there was something I don't really fucking get." I said, feeling like I just needed to say what I needed to say, and then Todd shrugged, almost seeming like he was not really caring at all.

I went towards my car, and I was seeing Todd staring down at the plant, as if considering what I had been saying, and thinking about what in the world he had fucking meant this whole time. Todd then eventually ran up to me, and seemed like there was no real point in hiding what had been going on at all. "Sheldon, do you feel like you need to show these to your dad? I mean, they might be slight leads. Something he can work on. I think you need to give him a chance to see that you are really cracking down on what is going on." Todd said, and I was seeing from the desperate look on his face that he had hoped I would agree.

"I mean, I want to believe that he would listen if I showed him these. But in all honesty, I feel like something like this is a fucking joke. He would never fucking care. He would fucking do whatever he wants." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that Todd was simply looking like he hardly fucking cared to hear what my response to the matter was going to be anyways.

"I don't know. I think you are not giving your father a fucking chance. You were the one that kept telling me that we were judging him too harshly. So I think you really fucking believe this, then you need to fucking hone in on that believe that, and show me that you are right." Todd said, and then after he was telling me this, I was shrugging my head at this whole sentiment.

"I know that I said all that. But he has also been very clear that he wants me to have nothing to do with searching the map. I think that he might be right. To a degree at least. I think you need to fucking just see for yourself." After I was telling him this, I was then starting to drive off.

"Just fucking tell me where number six is. I don't really have any more patience for this right now. And I want to work with you as much as I can." I was saying, and then I saw Todd looking like he wanted to say more, but when he was looking at the picture, he just simply seemed too unsure of what to say.

"It looks like it is about a little bit west of where number one is." Todd said, and I was sighing, wondering why there was something so fucking near where the first one is. Surely they must realize there wasn't enough places to be making these go without making look too suspicious.

"So Sheldon, when do you think you are going to show these pieces of evidence?" After he asked me this, I was sighing, and I was really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be telling him at all. There was nothing I could even say to make the situation any different.

"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow. I don't fucking have a clue. But if this fails, then we both fucking failed. Then everything will have been for not." I said, and then I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to be hearing this.

I started to drive off, leaving the company head quarters, now knowing for sure, and not just thinking, that these people truly didn't fucking care about the fucking town. They were just in it for money, and that Shaun's parents helped the down fall of what was once the best town in the world.

And I wondered if Shaun would ever be any different. If he would be somebody who could break the mold once he realized his parents issues. Or if I was making a waste of my time even thinking something like this could ever happen. Thinking he could have been a good person ever.

..

Scene 14: On My Own

That night, when I was alone, I felt like I needed to get to work on something that I knew would probably not even fucking matter at all. But I was feeling like I really had no fucking choice but to. I was going to my fathers office, when he was on the clock away from the house.

I went right over to his printer, and then I placed each paper down, one at a time, and printed them all off. That way if I went to Shaun, and he took the photos from me, then I would have a copy of them that I could keep forever. Felt like doing this was the only real option that I would have to make something like this work.

I was thinking that with extra copies on my own, then if anybody ever did challenge me on this, then they would feel like there was no choice but to admit the truth. Knowing that I had cornered them into a fucking hole. I was feeling like my plan was better than if I was just running around like a fucking idiot. Because I knew how to work the town.

I looked at all of them. Feeling bad for each of these people that were gone because of something that they could have never seen. I mean, I wondered if we would have moved to Wayside knowing what we know now. Or if my fathers promotion was more important than Riley's safety.

I shook my head, not even wanting to think of such a idea. Not wanting to think that my father would be doing something like that. I felt like he was too good for something like this to work. But at the same time, given Wayside, and the way everybody acts, I knew it was possible.

What I do know is that if my mother was still alive, then she would have been far more forceful to my dad about finding Riley. She would have never taken no for a option, in the entire world. And I think in a way, she would have forced him to fucking look until he died himself.

Or maybe I was giving her too much credit. Maybe I was holding her up to a pedestal that would have never been met in my entire life. Or maybe she never would have cared. If she would have accepted that Riley was gone, and that she needed to raise me on her own.

Once I left the room, I looked at the two sets of photos. I put the original ones on the table, to give to Shaun when I had the chance. The printed ones, I placed down on my box under my bed. Hoping that I would be able to look at them in due time, but for now, I was just kind of keeping them to the side.

The next day, I was finally heading out, and I was going to be meeting up with Shaun Reichenbach. I needed to see what he had known. I needed him to take accountability for the shit that he had known. If he wasn't going to, then I feel like that was going to be a massive mistake.

I eventually parked the car at the parking lot, knowing that no matter what I was going to do, I was going to be protected because of my father. I knew that my rather would destroy Shaun if he was going to see what I was doing. The entire business would be destroyed because he messed with me.

I was feeling that since I knew that I was relatively safe for the time being, I was going to get what I needed from him, and I was going to force the information in a way that he would probably just feel like nothing could ever be done. It felt good to know that my father was unable to change what happened.

Once I got out of the car, I started to walk up the stairs, and I was feeling like I needed to just show him the pictures that I had seen. Feeling that he would deny everything related to it, but I was hardly fucking caring anymore. I needed to just force his hand on this if I wanted any chance to survive here.

As I was getting closer and closer to the top, I was feeling that there was a small chance that Shaun would actually care to hear my arguments for once. Believing that maybe I was finally a good guy, and that I knew what I was doing. I eventually was just telling myself that if I was so scared of what people were going to say behind my back, then this entire investigation was something that was beyond my fucking area of interest.

Once I was at the top floor, I stared down at the picture, and I was starting to wonder what my plan was really going to be once I was here. Or if there was even a point in making a plan, especially since in all honesty, the whole thing was probably going to fail.

I opened the door, and I was seeing that Shaun was waiting there, still relatively politely, as if wondering what I was going to do here now that I had come in here without his permission. Probably thinking that I was some idiot for putting myself at risk or something like that.

"What are you trying to accomplish by talking to me right now? Surely you have to know that I am not going to be giving you anything. I think it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you would be wasting your time here." Shaun said, and then I was shaking my head, not wanting to hear any of it. Not feeling the desire to hear any of it.

"I know that you would not willingly give me anything. But I feel like I might as well just try and see what I can do if I show you some things that I feel like you would have no interest but to look at." I said, and then I handed him all the photos that had been gathered up. Leaving the best for last, knowing what he needed to see was too important to do first.

As he was looking at the photos, I was seeing that he was suddenly much less sure of himself, and a lot more scared. Probably aware that I truly got him in a fucking bind this time. "Sheldon, where did you fucking find these?" He asked, and I smiled, knowing that I cornered him.

"I found them in all the fucking mile markers. You know what I fucking saw, and you can fucking see it right there. You know that something is happening. You know that your parents sold off your sister." I said, and then Shaun was smiling as he heard me start to freak out like this.

"I missed the days when I thought I had everything figured out. When I was so assured of myself that I felt like I was making no fucking mistakes. You are really selling yourself high up there, and feeling like you know what you are doing." Shaun said, and I was seeing him looking kind of upset at what I had said.

"That was my cousin. And yes, I am not going to deny what fucking happened. But my parents were needing money. This town was needing money. And she was a trouble maker. They really felt like they had no fucking choice on the matter but to do this. I understand you are upset. But there is nothing we can fucking do." After he was telling me this, I was glad that I had brought another thing with me.

I brought my camera. For a confession. To get him to admit that he had done this, and that there was no fucking lying in what was happening. Knowing that I was able to finally fucking have him on edge was something that I was feeling like was able to keep me happier.

"So you sold your fucking cousin so you can give the town money. All you fucking care about is the money, and you expect me to even remotely believe that you are the fucking good guy?" I asked, and I was seeing him looking like he was smiling at this.

"I didn't fucking sell her. My parents were the ones that did. And my uncle and aunt was totally supportive of it. They understood sacrifices had to be made, and they understood that she was somebody who could afford to be gone. It was all a part of the game. Something that I feel like you need to fucking understand." After Shaun said that to me, I was slowly nodding. Not agreeing with him, but not in the mood to fight.

"You got what you fucking wanted from me. You got me to admit something was happening. Shouldn't that be enough for you to fucking leave me alone? And realize that I was just doing what I felt like had to be done?" Shaun asked, and I shook my head.

"I can just never understand how somebody can hate their child so much that they would do this. It is just so fucked up." I said, feeling like as much as I hated what he said, I needed to take what he said into heart. At least he admitted the truth, and he admitted what happened. That was all that I fucking needed. I left him alone, not wanting to hear it.

…

Scene 15: My Map

Later on, I was talking with Kevin, and despite the fact that I wanted him to have nothing to do with this at this, I was feeling that since he was already having a decent idea on what he was doing. I was feeling that him simply having a idea of what is going on would be able to give him some context on what I was going to do.

"So Kevin, I guess that I feel like there is no fucking choice but to just tell you everything that I had been doing." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like I just had no choice but to do this. "Todd and I wrote a bunch of notes when we were at the party that Harold threw a while ago. These were all locations that we felt like was a good starting place to be looking at different spots." As I said this, I saw Kevin looking like he was hardly buying a fucking word of what I was saying at all.

"He, Sam and I have found the first few already." I said, and then I was taking a small piece of paper out, and then I was looking at Kevin for a second. "Do you have a pencil with you?" I asked, and then this was when Kevin was looking slightly flustered about what we had done.

He was picking up a pencil and started to hand it to me, and I was writing down all the areas that I had been finding earlier. "But Sheldon, what the hell are you seriously finding right now? I mean, Sam has been telling me that he was slightly worried about the fact that you were not finding the answers that we needed, and that you are wasting your time and resources on this." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was really not in the mood to be having this discussion at all.

"I mean, I know that he has been aware of this for a while. But I feel like he just needs to give me a fucking chance. He has been trying to help me, and I feel like he just needs to have answers. I mean, I do sort of see where he is coming from, despite how much it might be annoying to me." After I was telling him this, I saw that Kevin was still not really sure what in the world he had been feeling right now.

I was writing down the locations of all the mile markers that had been found so far. "I mean, the first one being the tree house honestly seem like it should make sense. And I wish that I should have thought about that. But now that I do know this, I wonder how much the main areas have been the mile markers." Kevin looked at me, and then I was looking at him, wondering what he meant.

"What do you mean? I mean, do you seriously think that there are like schools dedicated to people." I said, and then I was seeing that Kevin was seeming to not really sound like he was too sure what to feel here.

"I don't know. That is something that I was thinking about. I mean, it was a small possibility. That being said, maybe there is something like Mezmer's being the mile marker for Ashley." After he was telling her this, there was nothing left to be saying at this rate.

"I don't know right now. I am just suggesting something. You can take it or leave it. I thought that I would be able to try and help things out a bit." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, and I was feeling like there was virtually nothing else to be saying at all. I would be kind of wasting my time with saying anything else.

I then remembered the names that were on the different areas in the town. "So I remember that there were eight different areas that were separated in the town. These random districts." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was seeing Kevin looking like he was just unsure of what to say.

I decided I would slow down, and explain things better. "Okay, here's what I mean. You have the Wilson family, who runs a part of Wayside, with their own tower, and their own tower. Then you have the Needlemeyers running a part of town. What I mean is that there are eight big groups of people who each run about a eighth of the town." I said, and then I was shrugging, and then Kevin seemed like he was starting to kind of see what I was telling him here.

"Okay, I sort of see what you are saying. Sorry for not fucking understanding earlier." After he was telling me this, he was then watching me make my own map of the town, and I was separating the areas that the Needlemeyer family, and the Wilson family, had been running.

"It's okay. I mean, sometimes I just speak too fast, and not really describe what I am doing." I said, and then I was then remembering one of the names. I was feeling like I just needed to keep my annoyance calm down, and not be making it too obvious.

"Son of a bitch." I said, and then I was looking at Kevin, and I saw that Kevin just now looked totally confused at the way that I was acting right now. "One of the names was Robinson. Isn't that Todd's last name? If that is the case, then that means that his father is literally running one of the main districts of Wayside?" I asked, and then I was seeing Kevin looking like he wanted to just find something else to say, to make me feel better.

"Sheldon, Todd is not behind everything. Please don't fucking throw him down the fucking drain. He deserves better than this." After he was telling me this, I was throwing my hands in the air, and I was hoping that he was not suddenly throwing me down the drain, when that was not what I meant.

"That is not what I meant. What I meant is that in all honesty, I feel like there is a good chance that Todd's family is having a large part of the town. So I feel like I just need you to see that there is the option. I know that Todd would not fall down that path." I said, and then I was sighing, hoping that I could see what he had been saying.

"But yeah, that is his last name. I can try and talk to Todd about what he knows." He said, and I nodded at this. Glad that the two of us were finally coming to a understanding on what he was saying, and I hoped that the two of us could be able to work together.

…

Scene 16: November 12, 1986, End

When he was done speaking, that was when Sheldon smiled at his therapist, starting to kind of feel like when he was talking with her, there was nothing to ever fear

Therapist: So Sheldon, why did you do this? I mean, surely you must have known that showing that information to Shaun would be a gamble.

Sheldon: A gamble yes, but one that I would have made it out of. With my fathers position, there was no way that he would openly take a risk like that. So I knew I would win.

Therapist: I mean, surely you know that you can't rely on your father to save you forever. But I guess that maybe you already figured something like that out.

Sheldon: Yes I fucking did. I figured that out a while ago. In fact, he forced me to realize that with the way he was acting near the end. When I thought that he would have been there for me until I died.

Therapist: What did he do to you that made you have such a bad way of looking at things? You seemed to love him. Almost to a fault.

Sheldon: You will see later. But it wasn't what he did to me. It was what he did to everybody else. Something that I would never be able to get over, no matter how hard I fucking tried.

After this after session talk, Sheldon left the area, and felt like when he was with her, nothing would ever bring him down, and that he was going to finally be happier