Picking up Jeremy turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to them. It's been about a month since he joined their little crew and since winter is now in full swing, they need all of the help they get. They all take turns watching Charlie while the others go out to forage for food. Jeremy's proved to be knowledgeable about edible plants, Boy Scouts according to him, and usually helps Miles track down dinner while Bass and Charlie take care of camp.
It feels wrong to make a child work, but having Charlie help out around camp is actually really useful. She listens really well and catches on fast. At this point, Bass would say it's a pretty safe bet that she's a better fire starter than he is. Not surprising when you consider her genius genes.
They have two tents now, thanks to Jeremy, but they only ever use the one. It's too cold for Jeremy to sleep in a tent by himself and Charlie refuses to let either Bass or Miles stay out of her direct line of sight for too long. So instead, the boys surround her and protect her while she sleeps. Miles and Bass stay on either side of her while Jeremy sleeps horizontally by their heads. She likes having all three boys within easy reach.
Despite the cold weather and the lack of food, their little group is thriving. That is until Miles gets sick.
At first, they think it might just be the squirrel they had eaten. None of them had been too sure of it at the time. But when Miles is the only one that gets sick, they're forced to think differently.
The first thing Bass does is isolate Miles from the rest of them. It tears him up to keep his brother in a tent by himself, but they can't risk all of them getting sick. Charlie hates it more than anyone else though. She's spent most of the last three days sitting outside of Miles' tent talking to him through the thin canvas.
"Do you feel better yet?" She asks. There's a childlike impatience to it that would make Bass laugh if he weren't so worried.
"Yeah, Bug," Miles' throaty voice floats through the closed tent door. "I'm sure I'll be up and moving in no time."
He sees Jeremy frown over at the tent and shake his head. Bass waves an arm to catch his attention and mouths, "What?" Jeremy opens his mouth to say something but stops himself and jerks his head away from camp instead. Bass follows him just out of earshot of the tent but to a spot where he can still easily keep an eye on Charlie.
"What is it?" Bass asks him.
"It's just that... I don't know how soon Miles is going to be ready to move."
Dread fills his stomach and Bass shakes his head determinedly. "No, Miles will be fine."
"Bass, he still has a fever. He's dehydrated and he can't keep any food down. I mean, I'm not saying it's hopeless, but this doesn't look good."
"He'll be fine," Bass says stubbornly. Because the thought of Miles Matheson dying isn't even an option right now. How would he explain that to Charlie?
Oh no. Charlie.
He would have to take care of her by himself. They can barely manage between the two of them as it is, there's no way he can do it alone. Sure he's got Jeremy now, but it's not the same.
"Bass!" Charlie's scared voice tears him from his rabbit hole of dark thoughts and he and Jeremy turn back towards the tent, finding a black man standing no less than five feet from their littlest family member. She's still sitting next to the door of the tent, but her hand is now on the zipper as if she plans to open it and rush inside.
Bass whips his gun from his belt and points it at the newcomer. "Charlie, get over here." And luckily, she's learned when to listen because she immediately jumps up and runs to stand next to him.
The man puts his hands up in the air, his eyes wide at the sight of the gun in Bass' hands. "Whoa, easy."
"What do you want?" Bass asks harshly.
"I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I was just..."
Jeremy steps up next to Bass and pulls Charlie behind him to hide her from the man's view. "You were just, what?"
The man wilts beneath their stares and sinks to his knees. "I saw you both walk away, I just thought that I could grab some food. I didn't see the little girl until it was too late."
He wants to be angry and yell at the man to leave, but he looks so pitiful that Bass just can't bring himself to do it. "Well, we don't have any to spare, so... just get out of here." He shoos the man away, hoping that it will be enough.
But the man doesn't move. Instead, he looks right at Bass with tear filled eyes. "Please. My family... we're starving. And my son... he's sick."
Charlie's little head sticks out from behind Jeremy and Bass looks down to see her face. She's looking at the man thoughtfully, as if she can see something that no one else can.
"My Uncle Miles is sick," she tells the man quietly.
He looks at her like that's the last thing he expected her to say, but nods just the same. "My son, Jason, I don't know how much longer he'll make it without some food."
Bass feels Charlie tug on the sleeve of his coat and looks down to meet her eyes. "Are you gonna help him, Bass?" And she's doing that thing again. That thing where her lower lip trembles a little and her eyes are full of that hero worship that makes him feel like he could carry and elephant.
He sighs. When it comes to Charlie, it's practically impossible to say no. "We'll see what we can do," he tells her. Then turning to the man, he adds, "But I want to see the kid first." He wants to make sure that the kid actually exists before handing out their food.
The man's gaunt face lights up and he rises to his feet. "Of course. Thank you, thank you. Please, it's this way." He points excitedly into the woods.
Stopping, Bass turns to Jeremy. "You stay here and keep an eye on Miles and Charlie. I'll take some food and see what I can do."
Jeremy immediately frowns and leans in close to whisper. "You can't go by yourself."
"I'll be fine."
"But Uncle Miles said that we aren't supposed to go anywhere alone," Charlie protests loudly.
"Charlie, Uncle Miles is still sick, so we don't really have a choice."
Suddenly, the zipper on Miles' tent slides open and his messy haired head pokes through the small gap. His face is pale and there are dark bags under his eyes. "I'm fine," he says as he starts attempting to get up. "You... can't... go... alone." Miles staggers forward and sways, but Bass manages to catch him at the last second.
"Alright, alright. Just calm down." He grunts under Miles' weight as he all but carries him back into the tent.
The man is looking partly annoyed and partly desperate. "Why don't I just bring Jason here. Then you can see him and your friend can rest," he suggests.
Before Bass can really even nod his head yes, the guy is already disappearing into the woods. Jeremy shrugs and plops down back by the fire while Bass tries to get Miles situated again. His forehead doesn't feel quite as warm but all of the sudden movements have brought on another wave of nausea. Charlie sits at the mouth of the tent and watches worriedly as her uncle spits up more and more bile. Bass wills the stranger to bring his kid back quickly, if for no other reason than to keep Charlie from watching.
Less than five minutes later, the man is back. He's carrying a small boy wrapped in a dirty blanket and is followed by a woman who would have been pretty if it weren't for her starved appearance. She's dainty and frail looking as her husband lowers their son to the ground near the fire. Jason groans and coughs.
With the reality of a sick and dying child staring him in the face, Bass has no choice but to give them food. They feed Miles and Jason both the broth from a can of soup that Jeremy had found in a top cabinet in an abandoned house a few days ago and the rest of them eat some weird roots that he cooks in a pan over the fire. It's not exactly appetizing, but at least they have food in their bellies.
Charlie slurps down her food without a second thought, clearly having gotten used to their unfortunate food situation, and turns to the woman. "You have pretty hair," she tells her.
The woman blinks as if she thinks that Charlie might not actually be real, but then she smiles warmly. "Thank you. Not as pretty as yours though," she adds. "What's your name, sweetie?"
And that's it. Charlie's ability to make friends with anyone and everyone will be the death of them. They'll never be able to get rid of Tom, Julia, and Jason, now.
Luckily, Miles gets up the next morning feeling right as rain. They leave Jeremy with Charlie and the Nevilles to find some food and by the time they get back, Jason and Charlie are already playing My Little Ponies versus Transformers. Suffice to say, it doesn't take long for their group of four to become a group of seven.