AN: Hello once again guys. First off, a quick thanks those who've reviewed. Second off, please enjoy the chapter.

***19***

It took more effort than I had expected to climb into the truck. It was a couple of feet off the ground and only having the one arm, a fractured leg, and a bad back didn't make things easy. By the time I made it in Ruth already had the engine running and was buckling herself into the driver's seat.

I also took my sweat time trying to pull the belt out and buckle myself. In the struggle I ended up having to toss the crutch in the back.

"You got everything figured out over there?" Ruth yelled from my left.

"I got it" only barely, but I did.

"Ok, then" the truck rumbled while we pulled out of the parking lot.

It would have been great to stare out the window and try to figure out where exactly we were going. Without the sight seeing I settle on just blindly staring, it was a comfortable position regardless.

"Hey Mattie!" Ruth said from the driver's side. I could just make out the mechanical squeal of Matts voice coming from the other side of the phone.

"Miles just got out of the hospital, we're headed home."

She went on talking to Matt for a while. I kept to myself.

Step one, become less of a charity case. Step two, find a way to kill the dreamers.

I screwed the pooch on this one. If I would have just listened the first time I wouldn't be up to my eyes in shit, but here I was.

Hey, remember step one. Stop whining like such a little bitch, it's not getting you anywhere.

"...what do you think about it?"

I stopped with my little pep talk just in time to catch the tail end of what Ruth was saying.

"Sorry, what?"

"About what's been going on? I've been talking with detective Schaefer and he thinks he's getting closer to figuring out who messed you up in the first place. And there's been so much commotion in town, what do you think about it?"

What had Schaefer said to her and Matt? It couldn't have been anything too damning, they were still taking me in after all.

"Well, I don't really know what's going on, but if you ask me it's probably the same thing. I hope it's not, but…"

"Hmm. I'm sorry about everything. I can't imagine being stuck out in the middle of nowhere with who knows what. Do you remember anything?"

Was she fishing for something or was I just being paranoid? "No, not really. Just occasional nightmares, but nothing useful."

"You poor thing. Don't worry, there'll be such a commotion over christmas that you won't even have time to think about it."

I mumble an acknowledgment.

How was I going to do any digging on the dreamers? It wasn't like I could just go about googling things, I couldn't see the screen. Books were out for the same reason. I might be able to call Chealsy, she would probably blow a gasket when I told her what happened, but at least it was something. Maybe Schaefer would come around? Not likely, but still a possibility.

The road turned from paved to gravel.

How far out in the boonies were we going? I couldn't hear much other than the rumble of the truck, so I guess I'd have to figure it out later.

"I have some of Mattie's old cloths that you're welcome to, they might be a bit big though. I could hem the left sleeve of some shirts if you want" Ruth told me.

"No, that's ok. You don't need to alter anything for me."

"Ok, but if you change your mind just let me know. I made the guest room ready for you, so

don't worry about kicking anyone off their bed either."

"Thank you, um… is there anyone else in the house besides you and Matt?"

"Well my niece has been living with us for the past couple of months, and my daughter usually keeps to herself, she's going through a rebellious phase. You know how kids are."

Theres kids in the house too? Damn it. The last time I dealt with kids was, well, it wasn't pretty.

It had been a long quiet series of bus rides from Chealsy's hotel to Waylon's parents. Connor didn't say a single word during the thousand mile trip, Garret got out a handful of squeaks and a couple of sentences. Every stranger I passed looked at me like they half thought I kidnapped the poor boys.

What had they seen at Zeichner?

What did Murkoff do? Nothing good I would wager. Where had I dropped them off exactly? It was somewhere in this state, but I couldn't remember the name of the town to save my life.

"We're nearly there" Ruth derailed my train of thought once again.

"I'll get dinner cooking once we get inside, feel free to make yourself at home, wash up, do what you need to do. Mattie should be getting off of work soon."

"Will do." I replied simply.

She wasn't kidding when she said we were nearly there, it seemed like the truck stop while I was half way through talking. With the rumble of the engine cut off I could hear how silent everything was. The wind mumbled over what felt like flat ground, there was no rustle of trees or crunch of dry leaves under my foot at I took a step. It was still horribly cold out, and the ground had a layer of ice over it. While I took a moment to fish my crutch out from the back I strained for the sounds of passing cars only to find nothing.

Ruth made a few quick steps past me, the last couple sounded like they landed on wood instead of gravel.

"There's three steps up to the porch" she told me from the front door.

"Thanks for the heads up."

I moved as fast as I could considering I desperately wanted to avoiding falling on the ice.

Eventually I made my way to where Ruth stood, she held the door open for me.

The inside of the house must have been eighty degrees, it was like stepping into a defroster compared to the outside. The scent of pine hung in the air, they must have had a real christmas tree instead of a synthetic one. I took a couple of hesitant steps, trying not to trip over some unseen piece of furniture. The wood floor cracked ever so slightly under each movement; it didn't take long to nearly trip over a rug.

"Watch out there, also Mattie's chair is to your right" Ruth called out as she walked across the room. It wasn't long after that that a clatter came from somewhere to my right. Metal pots and pans sliding past each other told me that there must not be a complete wall between the living room and the kitchen. I took a second to feel around with the crutch before I tried to move to the sounds.

I stumbled into a barstool before getting to the actual wall.

The seat didn't budge, I hauled myself onto it and leaned against the bar. I was right about there being a half wall.

Ruth had already told me to make myself at home, she seemed busy with cooking. I could catch bits and pieces of a song she was humming while she worked. More details trickled in the more I looked for them. There must have been a fireplace in the room, a faint scent of ash hung in the air underneath that of pine. Most of the sounds, while plenty loud, didn't echoe much and seemed a little muffled; there must have been plenty of rugs, curtains, and soft furniture to absorb the sound. The stool I sat on creaked slightly every time I moved, that and the rough cloth top suggested that they had some years on them.

Great, looks like I've walked onto the set of Little House on the Prairie.

"I'll be in the back" I excused myself from the room.

"The guest room is the first door on the left if you go past the kitchen"

I told her thank you as I made my way around the kitchen. I hugged the wall and just followed it until I got to a door. Hoping I was in the right place I went in.

The smell of it was different from the main room, it seemed cleaner, a little less lived in. I ended up tripping over a bed.

This must be the right place.

I took a second to waddle around the room, there was another door in the back of it that must lead to a bathroom. I found a dresser covered in assorted knick knacks, there were a couple of bed stands next to the bed. I drug a hand across a picture frame or two hung that on the walls. The room seemed modest, but well cared for.

After my quick inspection I went into the bathroom. There was a shower, built in counter with a sink, and a toilet. I would have taken a minute to make sure I didn't look like hell warmed over, but I hadn't gotten that good at telling by touch if my hair was a mess. A quick feel of my face did tell me that I had grown the beginning of a disheveled beard.

I'd have to shave that. I looked like a hobo with facial hair. When was the last time I shaved? Some time last year probably, I didn't have to worry about it when I was running on Walrider power. My stomach grumbled at me; that was something else I'd have to remember to get used to again.

Ignoring myself I leaned the crutch against a wall and fiddled with the shower. It's damn near impossible to figure out how to work one you've never used before even when you can see it, trying one without even that was a fool's errand.

Eventually I got the water running, though getting it to the right temperature was a feat all its own.

After scalding myself a couple of times I set about scrubbing the smell of the hospital off of me. It may not have been the stench of flesh and rot from Mount Massive, but there was something similar enough to it that it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I struggled to reach my back, most of the deeper cuts were still there, I would have to get the stitches removed later. There were some spots that were rough than the others, was it scarring over in a weird pattern?

I took a couple of minutes to try to get a good feel for it, not that my arm was in much of a mood to cooperate. There was a rough half circle near the small of my back, a straight line went up from there, I had to reach over my shoulders to find that it ended in a small circle. There were some more seemingly shapeless rough patches over the back of my ribs, I could have sworn that there was another long straight line running perpendicular to the first one.

"The hell?" I wondered outloud to myself.

That couldn't just be a random healing pattern, lines that strait didn't just happen and I doubt that the dreamers had taken time to scribble some sort of markings onto there.

The Walrider could have though.

"You clever bastard" I was almost expecting a snide reply about it being obvious.

I went on with my washing. Had I seen that scribble somewhere in the halls of mount massive? Maybe, there was pseudo-religious graffiti everywhere. More than likely I wouldn't get the chance to review the footage, especially not now. I don't think anyone here had seen it, sure they had to know about it, but neither Ruth or Matt seemed like the type that would be into the details of the case.

Maybe I could bug Schaefer about it. That was assuming I saw him again.

I finished rinsing the last of the soap from my hair.

It took no small amount of maneuvering to fish out some cloths from the dresser. It took even more time and effort to get dressed. Everything there used to belong to Matt. He was a big guy. I wasn't little but the genes hit the floor and the shirt I found fit like an oversized trash bag. Grumbling to myself I tucked the shirt into my pants. There was a belt that took a year for me to get through the loops, I put it to the tightest setting but there was still an inch to spare. Somehow we wore the same shoe size, so there was my silver lining.

I hoped I didn't look like an explosion at a textile factory and stepped back to the hall.

A new smell greeted me. Something thick and meaty, had Ruth made a stew or roast? Passing the kitchen I found my way back to the bar stool.

"Good to see that you found your way back"

"It took a while, but here I am" I called back

"Mattie should nearly be home. Dinner will be ready soon, I'm making soup. It's my aunt Caroline's recipe, but I added a little something extra. Just to give it a little kick."

Talking food wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I could at least make an attempt.

"And what would that be?"

"Well you'll have to try and figure that out yourself. It's a secret."

Hey, go figure out-

Oh, right. That wasn't a thing any more.

You have no one to blame for that but yourself.

I shrugged off what was about to be another mental beating from myself.

A clatter of footsteps came from somewhere behind me and to the left. I had to fight the urge to jump out of my skin. My heart did a little panic flutter too.

Just breath. You're in a cozy country home. There's nothing hunting you down anymore. Well, there's probably nothing hunting you down.

"Oh. Is that your charity case?" what sounded like a younger version of Ruth spoke from the other side of the room.

"Melody, be nice. Miles just got out of the hospital."

"That doesn't make him less of a charity case." Melody, who I was guessing was the daughter Ruth mentioned spoke more quietly- probably to herself.

I might have lost my eyes and an arm, but my hearing was not to be underestimated.

The floorboards creaked and sagged under Melodies weight.

"Melody, can you start setting the table? You father will be home any minute now."

"Why don't you get your other charity case to do it?"

Ok kid, you're starting to get on my nerves.

"Young lady! Don't talk about your cousin like that!" Ruth had gone from her normal yelling to angry yelling.

"Fine. I'll make your table. Just don't yell, you're so loud." I could feel her eyes rolling.

Step one, heal. Step two, kill the dreamers. Step whenever I get the chance, find somewhere else to stay.

For all her protesting Melody got off the couch and actually did what she was asked. At least that meant the end of the not-shouting match. I didn't have to wait long before Matt got home. He hurried in from the outside. The door wasn't open for long, but a gust of cold wind carrying slivers of snow forced its way in with him.

"It's colder than a penguins pecker out there" Matthew rumbled out some words with the a stereotypical dad chuckle that left me waiting for the laugh track to start.

"Then come get some soup, it'll warm you up real well" Ruth said from the kitchen. Anything suggesting that she had just been upset with her daughter was gone and seemingly forgotten,

"Is it your aunt Caroline's recipe?" Matt asked with a few steps towards the bar.

"You know it" The sound of liquid being poured into a bowl filled the silence left when Ruth's voice faded.

"Hi Miles" Matt's voice vibrated the stool I was sitting on as he walked past.

"Hello Matt" I answered back.

The clattering of silverware let up, Melody wordlessly grabbed a few bowls from the kitchen and walked back to the table.

"Alexa! Dinners ready!" Ruth yelled towards where I assume the stairs were. Not long after, light footsteps half fell down them.

"Wow, you're missing an arm." A little girl that had to be the niece Ruth mentioned spoke.

"Alexa, don't be rude. Miles is our guest, and he just got in an accident." Ruth was quick to speak up.

"Oh. I'm sorry mister Miles" The little girl spoke again with the exact same tone, it was almost uncanny.

"It's fine." I did my best imitation of someone who knew how to talk to kids.

"Hey! It's nice to look at me when you talk. I'm down here!"

I hadn't been looking where I was speaking.

"Alexa…" Ruth said her name in that way that only a mother who was about to lay down the law can.

"Sorry mister Miles…" her light little footsteps skittered off to the other side of the room.

"I'll have a talk with them later, I am so sorry." Rith told to me before walking off to the dinner table.

"It's not that big of a deal."

I followed Ruth and the sound of Matts rumbling voice to the table.

Half hoping that I had chosen a spot that was actually set I slumped into a chair. My crutch wasn't so lucky though, it slipped from where I propped it and clattered to the floor. Damn it, not again.

There was a little bit of a snicker that had to of come from Melody. While I considered picking it up, Ruth muttered fiercely- and at full volume- after her. I decided against making a scene out of it and didn't bother fishing around the floor.

"Right, well, who wants to say grace?" Matt rumbled over the table.

"Miles, you're our guest, why don't you start us off?"

No.

Not just no, absolutely not. My back was already doing weird shit when religion gets mentioned and with my luck I would have some sort of chest burster walrider-spawn back there.

"Oh I couldn't. You just said, I' just a guest. The head of the house should get to say a few words."

"You're right, Mattie?" Ruth spoke again.

Matt shuffled a bit in his chair, as did everyone else. I kind of just bent my head a little, my shoulders were spasming and I doubted it was just from moving.

A couple of words that were more rumbling sounds than actual english rolled over the table. What felt like a thin line of fire traced along my spine; I bit my tongue until I heard what passed for an "amen".

"That was lovely dear. Ok kids, dig in."

There wasn't much sound other than the clattering of silverware on bowls. Occasionally little patches of conversation welled up. It was mostly just pleasantries: what everyone did for a living, that the kids were on break from school, Ruth's sister and her son were coming in on monday. Mostly just idle chit chat.

It was all just filler until Ruth started talking about tomorrow.

"Also, the ladies are coming over for bible study tomorrow. Miles, you would love to meet them."

"Will Garret be there?" Alexa chirped from my left.

"I don't know. Maybe if you call and ask misses Park real nice she'll bring the boys over and you can all play while we do our reading."

"But," the girl got a little bit quieter after that, like she was saying something she knew she wasn't supposed to, but was going to anyway "...but I don't want Connor to come over. He's creepy."

"Young lady, that's not a very nice thing to say. And if you were Connor would you want people to think you're creepy?" this was the most motherly I'd heard some one be since…

Wait a goddamn second. Connor, Garret, Park. Shit. Iowa? Fuck!

Oh hell. What have I gotten myself into now? I just had to get mowed down by the neighborhood's favorite fucking family. Don't tell me, were they going to find one of the dreamers and invite them in for pie? Did I miss a murkoff executive, was that Ruth's sister? What could possibly go wrong now?

Ok, breath Miles. You're probably freaking someone out. That's it, in and out, you're not drowning.

"Excuse me for a minute." I stood and hobbled a couple of steps before my leg screamed at me to stop.

The goddamn crutch!

"Never mind me" I did my best to awkwardly crouch down.

"Melody, don't just sit there. Help the poor man."

The teen gave a half snarl half sigh that was two parts discuss and one part laziness. She did hand me my crutch through.

With more skill and speed than I thought I had, I made my way back to the guest room. As far as the family was concerned I made a trip to the restroom, in reality I plopped down onto the bed and reevaluated my life decisions up to this point.

I didn't have long to throw my tantrum before the phone started ringing.

Who the hell still has a home phone?

From my spot in the bedroom I could feel more than hear Matts rumbling voice answer the phone. There had been another receiver ringing in there, I reached out for where the sound had been coming from. It only took a few blind grabs before I found the phone. Without saying anything I held it to my ear and listened in.

"...and I was just calling to see if Miles Upshur was there?" detective Schaefer was speaking.

What was he calling about? Was he still day drunk, or had he gotten his shit together enough to start doing his job.

"He's here. Did you have something to ask him?"

"I was just needing to confirm a few details that we had talked about earlier. Can you put him on the phone?"

"Oh, well, he's in the back right now. Should I have him call you back?"

At this point Ruth yelled from across the room asking who it was.

"It's the detective hun, he's asking after Miles"

"Oh, well see if he wants to come visit tomorrow I'll be home all day and I've been meaning to give him a pie as a thank you gift."

Ruth stop giving people food! I mean, don't invite him over… fine. Never mind; this is how it gets worse.

Matt went back to talking on the phone "instead of calling, why don't you just come by. Ruth will be home all day, so you can just come by here whenever it's convenient."

"Actually, thats a great idea. I can be there around noon tomorrow."

"Ok, we'll see you then. Have a nice night detective."

"You too mister Pierce."

I waited for them to hang up before trying to put my receiver down.

Go kill the dreamers I said, it'll be easy I said. We can just be done with it now I said. I held in an angry yell.

You have no one to blame but yourself.

I scraped myself off of the bed and went back to the dining room. This time I managed to sit down without sending my crutch flying across the floor. The soup left in my bowl had gone cold, but I finished it regardless. Ruth asked Alexa to help Matt clean up the table. I offered to help, but she insisted that I go rest on the couch instead.

It didn't take long for the tv to get turned on. It also didnt take long for Matt to lumber over and settle into a recliner.

"Everything's going to hell in a handbasket out there."

"Hm?" the evening news chattered on in the background. The story of the day was still the second home invasion.

"It's just, things like that aren't supposed to happen around here. Last week there was a special about a terrorist attack in Chicago, and now there's the same thing going on around here." A can hissed open while Matt was talking.

"What are they saying about Chicago?"

"Ah, it's all just talk right now. A couple of the crazies are saying it's a government conspiracy. Sure, there was some weird goings on where most of the people who worked for Murkoff have been getting killed left and right, but that doesn't mean the government is behind it."

"You're right, that would be weird." Don't worry there Matt, it was just my doing. Well, I had help.

"Don't get me wrong, most of them deserved it, but… some of the murders were just brutal. I don't think whoevers doing it can be reasoned with."

"Yeah…" I'd seen a hundred people bleed out at my feet, some gasping for a last breath, some crying, a few begging for mercy. They all died as pathetically as they lived.

"I just can't imagine what's going through that person's head."

"It sure is a mystery."

"But I can kind of understand. You were a journalist, do you know anything about it?"

"You could say I did some work on the Murkoff case. Interviews mostly, some camera work. Nothing that important."

"You never know. Oh, and uh… don't mention anything to misses Park tomorrow. You might recognize the name Waylon Park."

He'd been through so much and I treated him like shit.

"I've definitely heard the name. He was the whistleblower who started all of this."

"Right, so you know nobody's heard from him since. There was a little video released of him speaking, and then nothing. If I had to put money on it I would say that Murkoff caught up to him and carted him off. Too bad we'll never know for sure though."

He laid dead at my feet in a pool of his own blood, his two young sons sobbing over his cooling body. Three pieces of lead had been enough to rip away what little life he had left in him.

"It's a mystery."

I didn't want to take a trip down memory lane. Especially not one that ended in death and my past mistakes. I excused myself for the night and went back to the guest room.