Yay, next chapter. Thank you LadyRitsu for your review. I appreciate it :) Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 12

The sun wasn't anywhere close to rising yet, but Kaiba had become good enough at telling time over the years to judge it was probably somewhere around 3:30am. That' when he decided to wake up the others. First he woke up Bakura. Bakura wasn't looking at him when he woke up, his eyes weren't adjusted to the dark. But Kaiba could see him fine.

"Bakura. You awake?" Bakura nodded to Kaiba's whisper.

"Yeah, is it time to go?" It was Kaiba's turn to nod.

"Do you have any other weapons?"

"Just a knife." Kaiba went to wake Mokuba, lying further to the side in the small tent. He gently pushed his shoulder to wake him.

"How'd you get that shot gun anyway?"

"Used the knife." Kaiba didn't question him any further. He had gotten the basic idea of what had happened that led to Bakura acquiring the shot gun. Mokuba sat up awake and Bakura handed him the knife, which he placed in his belt as Kaiba woke Serenity. Serenity and Bakura crawled out of the tent as Kaiba and Mokuba went to the back to get the two small children they were taking along. They were careful not to wake them as they hoisted them onto their backs to carry. Kaiba walked up to Serenity and held out his gun.

"Take it."

"Kaiba, I couldn't shoo_"

"I can't react fast enough to shoot while carrying the kid. In the morning the kid will start walking on their own and you can give it back to me then." Serenity looked down at the gun and didn't reach for it. Kaiba moved it again, gesturing for her to take it. "It's to protect the kids, Serenity."

"I know, I'd want to protect them… But I don't think I could." Kaiba couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Look, you probably won't even have to use it. We might not come across anyone and if we do Bakura might be able to handle it on his own. But you need to be able to do this." Serenity slowly reached out and took the gun firmly in her hand. "Let's get going then." The group set off into the night. Kaiba and Mokuba weren't very disadvantaged by carrying the children, as they were light. They were more careful not to wake them, though. Serenity timidly stepped over and under debris, always looking a little too fragile and scared; probably from the gun she had in her coat. She didn't like the idea of using it, but even more she didn't like the idea that they might be put into a situation where she would have to. But it comforted her when she saw the sun start rising. She liked being able to see again. She never wanted to go back to being unable to see ever again.

But she really wished she could see her older brother right then. She wished beyond words that he was okay.

Suddenly she collided with the brick wall that was Kaiba and she nearly fell to the ground. He didn't seem to notice. He was standing completely still, looking off to the side. Then he quickly set down the child he was holding and went running in a seemingly random direction. "Seto! What are you doing?"

"Kaiba!" Bakura went running after the CEO, with Mokuba and Serenity staying behind with the children. Kaiba approached the bloody figure he had seen through the gaps of the broken wood and glass and even while lying face down in blood he recognized it as Joey Wheeler. He kneeled at his side and felt his neck for a pulse. Relieved, he found one. He turned the body over so it was facing up and found a large gash across his stomach and what looked like a gunshot wound in his left leg. "Joey!" Bakura arrived at Kaiba's side. "…Is… Is he…"

"He's alive. Might not stay that way though if we don't get going and get help." He lifted him up and carried him back to where Mokuba and Serenity were sitting with the now-awake children. The little boy was the first to notice the others coming back. He got up and ran toward them.

"Is that man okay? Who is he? Is he dead?" Then Serenity noticed and her hands instantly went to her mouth.

"Don't worry. He's fine. He's a friend of ours." The got back to Mokuba and Serenity.

"Joey. I never thought I'd see him again." Serenity was crying all over again; partially from the joy of seeing her brother was alive, but also in horror to see him bloody and unconscious. Nonetheless they continued moving, the children taking turns having Mokuba carry them.

About an hour later the sun was up and it was starting to get hot. The walkers started sweating and taking drinks from the few water bottles they had with them. "Kaiba?" Kaiba turned toward the thing girl on his side. "Is he going to be okay?" "Well, his bleeding slowed and his pulse has been fine. He'll have proper care in a few hours. He'll be fine." She smiled. She knew that Kaiba would tell her the truth. If he thought that Joey wouldn't make it, he'd say so. Not too long after though Kaiba noticed something. He noted that the mutt's breathing was a little choppy. He contemplated; it could mean that the mutt was either waking up or dying. Either was a very real possibility. He didn't know how much blood Wheeler had lost. And he didn't know what had happened to him since he had last seen him. It had been a day and a half and two nights now.

But what most concerned him was that he found Wheeler bloody… alone. He couldn't put it out of his mind; what happened to Duke? If he found Joey dead, it would have been understandable for Duke to have moved on. But Joey was still alive. If someone had shot Joey, Duke would have hid, but he would have emerged later to help Joey. And even if Joey had gone insane and Duke had to shoot him, he would have made sure he was dead so he wouldn't have to suffer. Kaiba couldn't help but feel like he wanted Joey to be waking up more to find out what happened than for Wheeler's life.

They continued walking and Kaiba continued thinking of what could have happened to Duke. Could Joey have done something to Duke? Could they have both been ambushed but Joey managed to limp away? He became confident he would find an answer when he realized Joey was moving a little; just a little movement in his face and hands, but it was enough to notice. "Serenity. I think your brother's waking up."

"Really!" She beamed, then fell silent. "He'll be in a lot of pain won't he?"

"Probably."

"Is there anything you can do for him?"

"Not on the move. And we can't stop." Kaiba returned his focus to Joey, now with open eyes staring at him. Mokuba noticed immediately and rushed over.

"Joey! Hey are you okay man?" Joey just closed his eyes and dug his head into Kaiba as he groaned. Serenity reached over and pet his hair as they walked, until they came to an obstacle and had to move single file. Joey stopped grumbling for the most part but Kaiba could feel him tremble with pain and grimace. He could tell he was holding in the pain that he felt with every move. Kaiba wasn't usually too considerate, but after seeing the gash across Wheeler's stomach he tried to move to cause him the least pain.

The morning continued like that until Kaiba started recognizing his surroundings. He smiled and altered their path slightly. Then, before noon, he saw it; the slab of concrete where Domino High School had been. He stopped walking and smiled. The others, too, stopped and looked at the man who had stopped. "Welcome back to Domino High School." They all took in the site, slowly recognizing the few-remaining landmarks and spaces as those belonging to their old high school. The children, of course, didn't recognize it, but the older members of the group did. Mokuba set down the child he was carrying.

"So, when's this helicopter coming?" Kaiba, being a human clock, responded that it should be there in the next hour. Bakura started walking out onto the slab, to which Kaiba responded.

"Bakura. Don't go out there. It's wide open and we might be here a little while. We don't want to attract attention to ourselves." Bakura nodded and returned, and they sat down in the shade of a sheet of metal. But Kaiba remained standing, holding Joey.

"Seto, come on and sit down. You haven't slept in days have you?"

"I'm fine Mokuba, and I'd like to try and clean Joey up a bit away from the children. He'll probably be in a lot of pain." He started walking off with no protest. Once he was out of ear shot of the others he continued talking, this time to a different audience. He whispered to Joey. "Wheeler, I know you can hear me, and you're going to tell me what happened to Devlin." Joey didn't respond verbally, but Kaiba saw him pale and felt him swallow as his breathing became shaky.

Kaiba set off that night to visit the satellite. He was well aware of the underground networks. And he didn't mind paying the hefty price for the illegal transport. True, the price was very high, due to the monopoly and the illegal nature of the business, but price was no problem for the multibillionaire. One thing that had never been a problem for him since he was 10 was money. He had other problems and obstacles, but money was never one of them.

Now more than ever he was grateful for his money. It meant he could get to the satellite. And so he boarded the boat to go to the satellite in the middle of the night. He hadn't told Mokuba that he was going that night. He hadn't told him anything specific about it. He didn't want Mokuba accompanying him or trying to stop him or worrying about him. He didn't need to worry about Mokuba now, too. And so the boat set off from Neo Domino to the satellite.