"Are you going to show Amy the flashdrive?" Tyrone asked him once they were finally alone in his room.

The blonde leader was…nice, nicer than the faculty at Nemours and even his parents. However, Simon had never trusted authority figures. His father used his intelligence to win awards and pay bills. When he turned ten, the attention of being a child genius waned. After all, his mother refused to allow him to skip any grades because she worried he would become even more introverted. How could he not after all of his classmates saw him dressed up in his too small suit winning the national spelling bee against children years older than him?

When the reporters stopped paying for interviews, his parents blamed him for their empty stomachs. They had come to rely on him to have the bills paid since his mother quit being a nurse to drive him all over the country. It wasn't long before they got an unbelievable offer, Nemours Academy would pay him to attend their school. It was more than twice what his parents once made in a year.

A full scholarship and an allowance that his family had access to, all of his necessities would be covered by the board. How could his family say no? Even though it was across the country, they flew in his entire family, first class and sent a stretch limo. When they arrived at the beautiful campus, the headmaster and head of the school board gave them all a tour. Since he was only eleven he would get one of the best single rooms available and all his meals would be made by trained chefs. When he found out he wasn't the only student with genius status, he was over the moon. Finally, he could meet people like him.

Unfortunately, the bubble burst early for him. After only a few weeks at the school he realized that his status as a genius scholarship student had him marked as a bottom feeder. The legacies were very happy to educate him in the ways his life was meant to make theirs easier. Before he knew it, he was a whipping boy for Chet Larson and his friends. When he tried to tell the staff, he was given a very harsh warning about making false allegations. Even when he had proof, he was punished harshly with manual labor like helping the custodial staff. Then punished again by Chet for having the audacity to not finish the older boy's homework.

A month later came the letter from an attorney letting him know his parents had signed away their parental rights. In only a short time his mother and father completely abandoned him, making him a ward of the school. However, Simon was smart, smarter than Chet Lars and the idiot who made the mistake of allowing him to continue his education at Nemours.

When he was ten, he hacked into the Pentagon because Tony Stark had done it when he was twelve. It was actually what got him noticed he found out when he managed to find the real files. If anyone ever came to actually investigate the school, it would have been an international scandal. And it was all hidden under a very flimsy firewall.

"Does it really matter now?" Simon said more to himself than his friend.

"They might be able to do something about it." Tyrone leaned forward to whisper, looking a little desperate. "Maybe we can find our families."

"I can find your family with the satellites." He dismissed the notion entirely, why would he ever want to see his parents after they sold him for fifty thousand dollars? That was in his file too.

"I miss my sister." Tyrone's shoulders slumped, looking over at the framed photo of his family that sat beside his bed. "I'm sure Dad is still trying to get here."

"Montreal locked down almost immediately." Simon reminded his friend with a frown, not feeling particularly optimistic. "The last report was that they were firing on civilians at their walls."

"My family wouldn't abandon me!" The other boy snapped, narrowing his eyes angrily. "Just because a lot of the kids here have shitty parents doesn't mean mine are the same! I'm not a genius like you. I was accepted because I'm black , I have perfect grades, and I'm from a foreign country. Getting into this school, even with all the shit wrong with it, was going to get me places."

"Please." Simon snorted incredulously. "It's your first year, it's always the same. If you're worth a second look, you're sold to the school. I've been here three years, I was getting out. I would have graduated top of my class and gotten into any school I wanted. The best part? Nemours would be paying for it unless they wa-"

"What's going on in here?" Miriam opened the door without knocking, she was a kind old woman who looked out for all the kids. Even the Nemours students who most of the group watched like they were going to go feral at any moment.

"Tyrone misses his family." Simon smiled innocently, hoping his friend would keep his mouth shut. He needed to know if the people who ran the school were still alive before he made any decisions about the flash drive he taped to the bottom of his bed frame. "Do you think we can go to the surveillance room and look through the satellite feeds?"

"I'll go speak with that nice man, Jim." The older woman stepped into the room to pull Tyrone into a comforting hug, his friend glared at him over her shoulder. "You're both such good boys, I do hope you find your families, dear. I'm sure they miss you very much."

"Thank you, Mrs. Rhodes." Tyrone choke out once she let him go, Simon grinned a little impishly when she finally left.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rhodes." He imitated him with a false soprano, batting his eyelashes and laughing when he got a pillow to the face.

"Why the fuck does this school have two bomb shelters?" Amy asked, mostly to herself.

Daryl had found it when they were searching the lake cabins. While Amy liked the faculty housing, both Dixons definitely preferred the simpler homes within the trees. After some searching, it became obvious they were all empty three to six bedrooms that had been abandoned in the seventies. The largest, a lodge, was even deeper in the trees that they missed on their first survey. If the school didn't have such nice amenities, she might have wanted one herself. However, it was a good ten minute drive on a golf cart and there were few cameras, only on the main path. It also didn't help that most of the cabins were in disrepair and had been used as party pads by the students for the last four decades.

"Dunno but this is fancy as shit!" Glenn exclaimed, looking at all of the bedrooms that all had their own ensuites and queen size beds draped in dry rotted silk. Too bad about the orange seventies shag carpet. It was even larger than the one beneath the school and had its own barren greenhouse. What the fuck kind of school was this?

"This must have been for the legacies." Amy assumed, picking up an old clipboard with a map of the bunker. "It's capacity is only fifty, if it had been for the school it should have room for hundreds like the other one."

"Man, this place jus' keeps gettin' weirder and weirder." Daryl grumbled, grabbing a glass jar of peanut butter off the shelf. All of the jars and cans were dusty but there was surprisingly little rust since they've been sitting there for decades. "First the locked up baby rooms, now this."

"I would not eat that." Amy grimaced in disgust when the hunter ignored her and used his finger as a spoon.

"I heard the pop."

"Oh man!" Glenn laughed, looking gleeful at the storage room which was filled with shelves of preserved food. He picked up one of the few with no rust, showing it off to share his confusion. "Who would can bread?"

"I think it was around the time people started putting everything in jello…" Amy grimaced, tempted to open the can just to see inside. What did it mean by brown bread? Was it wheat or were they like his father and make up weird names for foods? She had been very concerned when he had raved about making them dutch babies. For a day she thought her mother was pregnant with the way he was going on about pancakes.

"Whatcha mean?" Daryl asked thickly, licking the peanut butter out of his teeth like a dog. Why did she find this man so attractive?

"Is that safe?" Glenn ignored all the warning signs and got into the hunter's personal space to examine the glass jar of peanut butter. "Let me know if-"

"Back off." He snarled when the Asian man reached for his beloved peanut butter, clutching it to his chest with more care than he usually held Braden. "It's fine! Taste just like Piggly Wiggly brand. We were talkin' 'bout jella!"

"Well, Mom liked to collect old recipe books and one of them was all jello molds from the seventies." Amy explained with an amused little smirk, now she remembered why she found him so hot. There was nothing more arousing than a pissed off hillbilly. "Dad liked the desserts but there were some that had meat and veggies in them. Even in the pictures.."

The blonde shuddered and gagged, fondly remembering her mother joking about making an entire feast worth of them for her father's birthday or Thanksgiving. Why anyone would want a turkey jello salad was beyond her. Could she traumatize her children with something similar? She desperately wanted them to have some normal childhood memories and even behind walls it was difficult. Blanket forts just didn't seem to cut it.

"We bringing all this up to camp?" Glenn was back to inspecting all the cans curiously, picking up a few that caught his attention.

"Nah, I'll bring Jenner and Ana down to go through it." Amy shook her head before heading towards the exit, it was nearly lunch time. She glanced at Daryl who had picked up another jar of peanut butter shamelessly. "If you get sick, I'm not holding your hair back."

"I'd be more worried about it coming out the other end." Glenn laughed but left his collection off to the side. Smart man, Maggie would probably chew him out if he got sick from trying to eat food that had been sitting on a shelf for half a century.

"It's fine, woman!" Daryl squinted at her, taking his time to dip his finger into the jar for a big scoop and popping it into his mouth with a moan. It was almost pornographic and she did not appreciate him doing that to her.

"Darly, there are children present." Amy tried to keep the breathiness out of her voice, by the smug look on his face, she failed. She waved towards Glenn pointedly, the man had been watching them with a disgusted look on his face.

"I came here to work not to watch you guys…flirt." The Asian man's face twisted doubtfully but he cowered at the glare Daryl shot his way.

The ride back to the school was comfortable, it wasn't too cold yet. They would need more than the Carrhart jackets she had scavenged in the beginning. They were close to the mountains and going by the records, it usually snowed in the middle of December. Already, they had taken the building materials from the housing complex Daryl had found and started to make catwalks near the front entrance and the back. Merle and some of the other guys had closed the metal gate at the end of the drive and brought all of the equipment out of the security office by visitor parking. Simon had warned them that the computer was connected to the school's new network.

When they arrived, Amy was happy to see her older children along with Eliza and Louis helping the group building the catwalks. Beth and Tater were sitting with all the small children by the gazebo, Timmy was always accompanied by one of his dads unless they both had jobs, then he was in the infirmary. They were obviously worried and she didn't blame them with the cooler winds coming in.

"Mom!" Billy shouted from where he was holding a small pail and wearing his tool belt, helping out Merle.

"Boy, you gotta job ta do!" Merle shouted but he lacked any treat or venom in his tone.

He only held out his hand and her son handed over a handful of nails which the redneck put in his mouth. It did nothing to stop her own anger from sparking but she held her tongue. Merle treated Andrea with the same indifference and disdain while her sister kept her mouth shut in all things regarding her pregnancy. When asked, the older blonde only said she talked to Merle and she decided that she would be fine on her own.

While her pregnancy wasn't really announced, everyone knew after Billy shouted about it. Amy assumed everyone just thought the baby was Shane's and no one wanted to bring up the dead, psycho baby daddy drama. There were a few sympathetic and pitiful looks but other than that, everyone just made sure she always had a snack and never lifted anything more than two pounds. She knew Andrea was getting irritated but after the last time she got snapped at, Amy decided to let her come to terms on her own for a while.

"Don't." Daryl said suddenly at her side, reaching out to grasp her wrist. Amy didn't even realize that she had taken a step towards the building team.

"It's not right." She was offended on her sister's behalf and just wanted to make sure Andrea wouldn't be put under any unneeded stress. If Merle didn't want to be a part of his child's life, she couldn't force him but he was a grown ass man so the looks and remarks needed to stop. "I get that he doesn't want to help but…he needs to stop making rude comments about the mother of his child."

"It ain't his." Daryl looked down at her in confusion, and Amy met his stare incredulously. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." She shook her head, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "She's too far along for it to be Shane's. I've been complaining about it all week!"

"Thought you was just sad your sista had to do it all alone." Daryl scrunched up brows, looking between her and his brother. "It can' be Merle's."

"They slept together before the Atlanta run at the quarry. I thought you knew…I'm sure I mentioned something about super clap and awkward conversations."

"Naw, Merle can' be the daddy." Daryl looked mildly disgusted at the notion, instantly bringing back her anger.

"Well, Andrea has been wandering around like a kicked dog and your brother's mouth certainly isn't helping!" Amy snapped, confused at his declaration. Just because Merle claimed otherwise it didn't change that he was the father. She was under the impression that Dixon blood was all important, the old redneck bragged about it enough it was like there was a throne on the line or something.

"Andrea talk to Merle?" Daryl asked, completely missing the signs of her anger.

"Of course she did." She rolled her eyes, unfortunately, they landed on her sister who was staring at nothing in particular, looking very sad. "Then she told me that night that she would be doing it alone and not to talk to Merle about it. That it was between them."

"Amy." Jenner's voice was shaky when it trilled through the walkie on her hip. For a moment, she forgot about Merle and Andrea's baby drama and her damn boyfriend taking his idiot brother's side. "You need to come to the infirmary."

"Is there a problem?"

"Come alone."

They had started to use the school's walkies on campus since it was on a closed channel. It was great because there were over one hundred of them in storage so everyone could have one. However, it also meant that everyone who had a hand held heard their primary doctor sound like he was being threatened at gunpoint. Merle was the first to run towards the school, completely ignoring anything else. Already, she could see two of the golf carts barreling towards the school, obviously thinking there was a new threat.

"Daryl, get the kids into the boarding house." Amy turned to him but he stubbornly stared back at her. "We need to make sure the most vulnerable are safe and protected. There's no one I trust more than you to do that."

"Mmhmm." He finally relented after a moment, whistling over to the older children who were still loitering near the gate.

"Tony!" She yelled before he could even put his golf cart into park. "I need you to take over security. Mitch is still in the surveillance room, I want eyes everywhere!"

"No, I'm sorry but I need to speak to Amy." She had gotten to the infirmary in record time once she relayed her orders. Edwin was pale, looking a little shaky but stood firm at the doorway not letting anyone in.

"What's going on?" Amy asked, allowing the growing crowd to part for her. The doctor looked relieved before he grasped her arm in an iron grip to pull her with him.

"You need to see this."

Merle was still cursing loudly when the door closed behind them. She watched on curiously when he moved towards one of the books shelves behind the desk in his office. Edwin jerked on a wooden statue, making the entire wall swing outward. It was an honest to god hidden door with a creepy hidden staircase. He waved her forward and she upholstered her pistol before taking a couple cautious steps.

At first, she thought maybe it was another bunker since it had the same marble floors and sterile white walls as the one they found beneath the gymnasium. However, it quickly became obvious that it was something much more sinister. Room after barren room with only a bed with restraints. There were no windows, only the overbright fluorescent lights overheard. Edwin was silent when he led her to an operating theater with cushy seats behind glass.

"What the fuck is this?" Amy asked in alarm when he led her to more rooms that was something out of a horror movie.

The last room looked like it had recently been used and a file was innocently sitting next to a sterile metal table. There was a machine beside it that she had never seen before but it was connected to headphones. Whatever it was deeply disturbed the doctor. When she opened the file, she was faced with a handsome teenager with dead eyes. His name was Chet Larson and he was inflicted with electroshock therapy three times a week after conventional conversion therapy failed.

Bile rose in her throat after reading through the comprehensive notes on everything they did to him. One of the psychologists even had him impregnate another student and when he could not bond with the girl or child they were sent away. Vaguely, she wondered if this wasn't the reason the boy killed the headmaster and sent everyone to their deaths.

They eventually left and found a crematorium and a file room where they only briefly looked through the most recent cases. Luckily, they didn't find anything disturbing about Simon, Tyrone, or Percy. Those were only legal contracts for severing parental rights and power of attorney. She didn't think she would be able to stomach facing a living victim of the sick things the school had done to them. They were both silent when they left the hidden rooms of horror but the doctor kept glancing at her worriedly.

"Get me Brian and all the adults that worked for this school." Her voice was ice cold, still clutching the files in a white knuckle grip.