RIVER FLOWS NORTH — PART 2
Nick sensed it, much like he did back in the tunnels under the dam when he saved Troy from Madison's hammer. He darted after her with agility that surprised even him. All pains forgotten, pure adrenaline rush got him to her when she barely made a full five feet from the car.
He scooped his sister up and pushed back into her seat, holding her wrist in his firm grip. He didn't wrestle the scissors from her - she needed to want to give them up herself.
Alicia strained against him on pure instinct, fighting his strength with her own even if she knew they were not evenly matched. While he tried to capture her gaze with his, she attempted to look around him, over his shoulder, to find her target once more, to get at Troy in any way she could even if it was just to make him see the hatred in her eyes.
"Alicia, please," Nick begged, trying to hold her eyes with his, stupidly hoping she would let him make her understand when he wasn't understanding it fully himself. "You can't change anything with that now, you know that. I swear to you he suffered as greatly and even more. He's punished more than anyone could manage by just killing him. He lost his whole world with that ranch and his family. And he loved Jake, who was the only wall protecting him from his drunk of a dad and the mother that despised him. I saw him holding Jake, I saw him bury his brother and mourn him, I saw how it broke him. He wanted to die, he asked me to kill him, but I wouldn't."
He searched her, hopeful and pleading, then released her wrist and lowered on his knees before her.
"He's punished beyond anyone could manage. But if you need to blame somebody, blame me, because I lied for him - to you, of all people, which I'll always hate myself for - and I let him live. I don't know why. I guess somewhere along the keep-your-enemies-close mission, I just saw through the monster mask everybody else kept seeing, and there was a broken kid. Forgive me, if you ever can, because I'm at fault no less than he is, but killing him… it's not worth losing your soul over. You're not like that. You've never been, and if it's what we came to, let's just go back into that river, you and me, and end it. Because living with it is not a life."
Nick was talking, rapidly and with a pleading tone, but Alicia didn't even catch half of what he was saying, only snippets here and there while they struggled against one another, only coming to a halt when he finally released her. She was still clutching the scissors in one hand, and with the weight of his body atop hers no longer an issue, she straightened in her seat, breathing hard as a result of her desperate anger and their recent exertions.
"...killing him...it's not worth losing your soul over. You're not like that."
Nick's voice suddenly broke through the haze, and her gaze snapped to him.
"Do you know what I had to do in that cellar?" she asked, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to keep it steady. "We lived with those people for months, got to know them, cared for them, and I watched them all slowly die. Innocent people, Nick! Children! And for what? Because Troy felt he was owed retribution?"
Her anger flared again and she threw the scissors to the ground, pressing the heels of her palms to her eyes in a worthless attempt to keep from crying.
"Ten people. I killed ten people. In a stupid attempt to save everybody else. And it didn't work. It was all for nothing." Her voice broke, and though she could no longer keep the tears at bay, her hands remained firmly planted over her eyes. "They were so scared…"
Nick had a pretty good idea of what had happened in the bunker while he and Troy were trying to solve the problem youngest Otto had brought on them. It was obvious to even an untrained eye that would scope out the bloody site.
But hearing it from her killed Nick from the inside. Every word stabbed into his heart and stole his breath. He couldn't remember ever feeling such an all-consuming agony of devastation and pity and self-loathing for having helped push her into literal hell when he was supposed to protect her from any harm or evil until he was dead.
He had no words in his vocabulary to express any of the feelings that were scorching him as she hid her face in her hands. He didn't dare touch her, afraid she'd flinch away.
Nick looked down at the scissors she'd dropped, regretting that Troy saved his life back at his house, and then again and again so he had to face his sins now when he had no excuse, nor any way of ever redeeming himself in the eyes of the person who mattered most.
"You did what had to be done to help and save and protect people around you, Alicia," he uttered quietly, still staring at the scissors and suddenly feeling like a man lost in a blurry dream. He felt impossibly, fatally tired. "Because it's who you are. You stay strong for people who need you to be while you're breaking and tearing on the inside where no one cares to see. I know it because you always did the same for me and I could never pull my part. All I ever did was fail you, over and over, and I never deserved you. I never will. I should've saved you from this terror, because I saw it coming ahead of time. It was like a bad smell you can't track down but it's ominously there. I should have left with Luciana and convinced you to come, too, but I got caught in it like a damn fool and allowed it to play out like I always felt it would. I tried to do the right thing, but you know, there wasn't anything to fit the description. There was simply no right things. We came like guests to a place that looked like heaven but was a leverage in a war no one could win. It was a tie, a checkmate right from the start, before we knew it. I felt it. I wanted to leave. But didn't. I finally had you and mom and Luciana was shot because of me... What happened after was a series of horrible consequences to things neither you, nor I did. It was between Jeremiah and Walker, neither would have let it be bloodless. We got caught in the middle, and mom... I couldn't stop her. She lost Travis and almost lost us, and that was just another side that made it a triangle of doom."
Nick looked up at her, ashamed and broken and scared to see despise in her eyes that he knew he deserved.
"I know your anger is set on Troy because you feel he's the main reason it all fell on our heads, but all he truly ever has been is just a gear in a bigger machine. Otto orchestrated his views and beliefs, and then our mom came with her school counsellor thing and steered him to where she wanted him. And I didn't stop her because it was too late. She didn't believe in Jake's leadership because she couldn't control him. She put her money on Troy when he responded to her. And when Walker came, she probably decided to be it herself. She went into a war that was not ours to partake in, but we all got hurt in it.
"You didn't deserve any of it. I wish I could have shielded you from all that horror, but I made my crappy choices and couldn't be strong enough for you. So I failed you in the worst of ways."
Alicia tried to restrain the weak sobs that shuddered through her body, and managed somewhat to keep the more powerful trembles at bay. But like with the dam now far behind them, her foundation had cracked and the tears could not be stopped. And it pained her to cry in front of Nick now because she knew it would hurt him, and she knew he would want to absorb her pain and carry it so she wouldn't have to.
She'd never been much for crying. Not even in situations when shedding tears was expected. After dad had died and Nick's life spun out of control, she had learned to put up a front, to keep herself cold and hard and not let the people around her witness the devastation and loneliness that stabbed at her behind the scenes. It came out like anger, she knew. Anger at Mom, at Nick, at Travis who dared get involved in their fucked-up family, and she assumed to most she simply appeared as a pissed off, sullen teenager.
But it was necessary. Not just for her. For Mom, as well. She wouldn't have been able to handle Alicia's sadness.
"I always thought you were okay," she'd said during a recent moment of confessions. "You're so strong."
Alicia had played her part well. And sometimes she resented her mother for not seeing through the facade, for not looking deeper.
But Nick had. Alicia didn't realize it until this moment.
"You stay strong for people who need you to be while you're breaking and tearing on the inside where no one cares to see."
Her hands fell away from her face and her brother came into view, albeit blurry due to the fresh gathering of tears in her eyes. He looked so lost, and his voice implored her to listen to what he had to say. So she did, silent and occasionally wiping at her face with the sleeve of her damp jacket.
Alicia never blamed Nick for their stay at the ranch or what happened there. It was out of their hands, and they'd all tried to help the best they could. To keep the peace and avoid bloodshed. And he didn't seem to understand he wasn't responsible for her safety. She was no longer a little girl, and in most cases, she could handle herself. But she couldn't blame him for thinking like that either. After all, hadn't she just confessed to a similar thing earlier? Hadn't she said she should have killed Proctor John on the off chance it would have changed Nick's and Mom's fate?
And she understood there had been bigger things at play at the ranch, for years and years before they arrived. Alicia knew Troy wasn't the sole villain in this piece and that many had played their part – their own mother included. Alicia understood he was damaged, had probably been abused and neglected in ways that made her own mom-issues look like a walk in the park. But did it truly excuse the heinous acts he had committed? Did it excuse mass murder? Never.
Nick fell silent and she continued to watch him for a while. She assumed he expected her to argue, to call him out, unleash her anger on him. But she didn't. Her fury had seeped from her during his speech like the air from a balloon. And she was tired. So very tired. She couldn't find the words.
For a small eternity of a moment, her face was inscrutable. It seemed she couldn't quite settle on anything and emotions just ran around and through until Nick saw what he profoundly felt himself: exhaustion.
Alicia tipped forward in her seat and wrapped her arms around her brother, burying her face in the crook of his neck and allowing his shirt to absorb her tears, hiding against him until she felt thoroughly finished crying. Like so many times when they were kids and had only each other for comfort while their parents were too preoccupied each with their own.
He held her while she needed him to take her tears, and he let his own go and creep down his cheeks. He realized there was only so much pain he could hold in, and some needed to get out to let him breathe.
"Don't lie to me again," she said when she finally managed to speak. "I need the truth, Nick. I need people to stop keeping me in the dark."
The crowd wasn't receptive to Troy's presence or broken Spanish – although there were a curious few – children mostly, who'd come in walking distance of him as if he were a zoo animal. Their parents would reprimand them and tell them to stay close, to steer clear of the white man and the ghouls, and eventually drag them away to their sanctuaries.
This went on and on until an ageing lady in her seventies took pity on his feeble attempts and placated his enquiries. Troy described Madison and Strand and added a few more descriptors that had come to him the more relaxed he got trying to explain himself in the once abhorrent language. She apologized, told him she hadn't seen any unfortunate tourists, and plied him with a slew of words he knew was meant to be a comfort.
A prayer, he guessed.
He thanked her by carrying her container of water to the trolley at the top of the steep embankment, returning to help her up the rest of the way.
A week ago, he wouldn't have bothered, waiting with almost morbid fascination for her to topple into the stream and fight her way out of it or to be munched on by the loitering dead.
That, or he would have been completely indifferent.
And he still was, but something had altered slightly since choosing to accommodate of Nick's more autonomous opinions and the loss of Jake. Like one kind favor deserved another. A tribute to who his brother had been in his life and what he ultimately would have wanted if he hadn't been lost. If Troy hadn't gotten him killed.
Troy looked at the two siblings in the distance, observing the fact that they seemed to be in deep conversation and that there was clearly emotions involved. If their body language was anything to go by.
He avidly decided to avoid that and headed further along, back in direction of the dam, hopeful he'd find Madison washed up somewhere begging for life and repentant as all hell for thinking she could kill him.
Her request as Alicia pulled away cut Nick a little. He gave a subtle, knowing nod.
"It's why I walked away. I know no other way to stop it."
He took her by the shoulders gently as if to create a better link for her to understand him better, his eyes searching hers.
"I love her, Alicia. I don't want her to die. I'd give my life for both of you - it's never gonna change. But if or when we find her, I will want to stay away."
It was a relief to hear that, despite everything, Nick, like Alicia herself, still didn't want their mother to come to any harm. She had done a lot over the past few years that Alicia couldn't get behind, but she was still her mom.
Alicia nodded, acknowledging what he was saying and that she agreed.
He let his hands slip off her arms, leaving her to take the thought in and maybe start searching for her own footing in it.
"If you decide to go with me, I'll never leave you or lie to you. I'm sick of it and I want a clean slate. Otherwise, it's not worth fighting for this life anymore."
She hadn't even thought that far ahead yet, had been too preoccupied worrying about his safety and now mom's to consider what would happen once they were done here. She didn't regret her earlier decision to go off alone after the mayhem at the ranch. It was something she needed, something she still needed. But it had never been about running from Nick. She just needed a change, a life where she could make her own decisions based on the truth, and not be dragged along behind Mom or Strand or some other authority figure who decided Alicia was a lost little lamb. She needed a chance to be her own person. She didn't think Nick would stop her from that. Troy, she was less certain of. She didn't understand his motivations. Did he truly consider Nick his friend? Or was he playing him? And what happened should Nick no longer want to be as friendly? They'd all seen how Troy handled rejection. A whole family had suffered the consequences of that.
"You trust him?" she asked Nick after another bout of silence, gaze momentarily shifting in the direction where she had seen Troy last. "I know you like him, but do you trust him?"
Nick followed her gaze shifting toward where Troy was still attempting to talk to strangers. There was not much reflection to be done to answer her.
"With my life. As fucked-up as it looks, he's yet to fail me."
He looked back to his sister, seeking the right words to explain. If he could.
"He had numerous chances and reasons to kill me, and mom, but he didn't. I think he simply wants to belong. To be accepted. He lost Jake, but he didn't stop needing him."
Jake.
Another pang of pain gripped her chest. Alicia had tried so hard not to think about him these past few days, to not think of anything ranch-related whatsoever, and the fact she had yet to start mourning his death seemed like an insult to Jake's memory. There were other things to feel guilty for, as well. Like how she hadn't been able to open up to him as much as she did with Matt, how she had failed to make him feel safe in their relationship, whatever it was. So much so, he'd believed she didn't care for him at all.
"He wanted to leave, you know?" she said, solemnly meeting Nick's gaze. "Jake did. He wanted me to come with him to another ranch he knew of, just the two of us, away from mom. But I said no."
It sounded painfully familiar to Nick, like a trite siblings parallel. She could be regretting saying no to Jake, and Nick could totally relate. But in his heart of hearts, Nick was selfishly happy to have her with him now. It was hard enough to let her go when she left after the ranch bloodbath. With Jake, it could have been final.
Like it could have been for Luciana and himself.
Alicia paused, wincing slightly at the memory of her conversation with Jake the morning he died.
"He accused me of being a pawn in mom's game. That mom was manipulating Jeremiah, you Troy, and I seduced Jake. I'm not sure I managed to convince him otherwise."
And she'd always regret that. Because he deserved better.
That hurt Nick for her. Jake wasn't wrong about mom, but it was harsh on Alicia. Nick couldn't blame him for suspicions, however.
She took a deep breath, braced her hands on her knees and stood up, needing to stretch her legs.
"I don't trust Troy," she admitted, freeing a section of her hair from its ties, allowing it to fall loosely around her shoulders before she gathered it all again in a ponytail. "And I don't forgive him for what he's done. But I trust you. For now, that's enough."
Nick took in her resolution on Troy's problem, and gave an understanding nod.
"I regretted not leaving with Luciana," he said. "But if I did and you didn't... Who knows how it would've panned out. At least now you're alive and with me. I prefer that. I'm sorry about Jake. He was onto mom, but it was uncalled for to you."
He pulled her into another short hug, kissing the side of her head.
"I'm sorry."
She let him pull her in for another hug, the kiss to her temple making her smile slightly. She and Nick had never been overly touchy-feely, not since they were little kids and hugs and kisses came easily. But she'd always secretly loved these moments. It made her feel safe. Whereas Mom's hugs often came with somber commentary attached, like "I have to go", "Your brother's missing", or "Daddy's not feeling well right now", Nick's warm embraces were always simple and unproblematic, as much a comfort to him as it was to Alicia. Just shared affection.
"Not your fault," she said as they parted, leaning down to pick up the scissors again, and wiped them clean of dust and sand on the thigh of her jeans. She put them back in the medical kit and closed it.
"The Proctors took my knife. Think Troy has one in his arsenal back there?"
Nick smiled. "Feel free to find out."
He glanced back at Troy, then gave her a cunning squint.
"I think his fifteen minutes are out."
It was like a pebble in his shoe every time she mentioned proctors. Nick kept wondering how bad it was and whether he ever should ask about it. At the same time, he was afraid to have his grim assumptions confirmed.
He moved to the driver's side and hit the horn a few prolonged times, summoning Troy.
Alicia got back in her seat, on her knees this time, and leaned into the storage room in the back, rummaging through Troy's collected belongings until she found what she was looking for. Some sort of hunter's knife. It wasn't the balisong she had become quite skilled with since snatching it from its original owner, Jack, but it would have to do.
She stuffed the knife with its sheath down the side of her boot for easy access and safe storage, turning to peer out the open door her side to see if Troy intended to come back.
Troy hadn't been walking very long when the repeated blare of a horn reached his ears. There had been a few other cars out there alongside the trenches that he'd observed, rusty trucks mostly, but instinct told him this was specific for him and that he needed to get back.
He was emptyhanded, anyway. Madison wasn't here. Not where he could see her. Although this wasn't a problem for him—given Troy wasn't all that eager to provide her with the opportunity for a forth strike — he suspected her children would feel differently.
Troy jogged up the side of the incline and approached the jeep. "No luck. New plan of action?"
"We need food and alcohol for Alicia's scratch - water's not enough to ensure no infection." Nick opened the passenger's door, talking to Troy over the top of the car. "The main plan's the same: if she's alive, she won't leave until she finds Alicia. We need to find her before proctors do."
They all got back in the car and drove a bit further down the river before Alicia ventured outside to talk to the locals, asking if anyone had seen a woman with her mom's looks after the dam collapsed. Troy and Nick stayed close by, and she could feel their eyes on her back as she moved through the dissipating throng of people collecting water.
No one she came across had any information that might help, and with every goodbye uttered, her hope dimmed until there was little left but quiet despair.
As the sun snaked behind the horizon, bringing with it the light and warmth of the day, the three of them climbed back into the car once more, recognizing that it would be impossible to continue their search in the dark. Not to mention, highly dangerous.
Alicia leaned back in her seat, arms wrapped around herself. It wasn't as if it had been a cold day, but ever since her time in the water, she hadn't quite managed to get the warmth back in her bones. The long stay in damp clothes didn't help, either.
"Where do we go?" she asked once Troy's foot hit the gas and they were driving again.
As crowded as the stadium was with all sorts of weird folks and possibly proctors, Troy's first thought was to go back there as they'd have a better chance at decent medical attention or at least having someone with a medical eye check them out – check Nick out. He'd been in the water quite a while, and although he appeared to be fine now, injuries – especially of the internal variety – could sneak up on you and sucker-punch you.
"Does anything feel broken on the two of you? Anything that might be a risk to infection?"
"Her cut," Nick repeated tiredly, leaning his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes. "Just park somewhere in the desert, we can sleep in the car. We'll move out with first light and look again."
"It's fine," Alicia argued, unable to worry much about her own miniscule injuries compared to those Mom might be suffering. She continued to gaze out the window as they drove, automatically searching for that pale blond hair that would stand out like a sore thumb in this environment. "And we won't find supplies in the desert."
Though it was possible exhaustion had set in where Nick was concerned, and he no longer felt food all that necessary. She wasn't even sure she could eat if they had any.
"There are supplies under the seats. Help yourself." Troy'd stored them there to keep them out of the sun and out of sight of prying eyes. Food was as much a commodity as guns, and people had been and would be killed for it for years to come. "I don't think we should stay out here. If by some unlucky chance the proctors men did survive and they start looking for us, we won't be able to defend ourselves properly. Especially you two."
"We're not crippled, Troy," Nick said in a lazy voice. "We're just tired, nothing new. So, unless you got a hunting cabin somewhere around here you can take us, it's just the desert we can do."
Alicia didn't immediately dive for the promised supplies, feeling she wouldn't be able to get anything in her, anyway. At least not until they stopped to make camp for the night.
"What did you see driving here?" she asked the two men up front. "On the road between the trading post and the dam. Anything that could give us some shelter?"
"Aside from the actual city? Nothing but sand," Troy stated thoughtfully. "But there is still time and we could backtrack, find somewhere to hole up. An abandoned house maybe or the dam itself. If any of you are willing to go back there? That might be our best bet. The safest. Those bikers went there for a reason, they didn't get it, and I doubt they're going to stick around to sit on a nest egg with no nest. I wouldn't if I was in their position."
Almost dozing, Nick considered the options sluggishly.
"Even if the dam is gone, they could still linger around it to search for us," he reasoned. "At any other day, I'd risk it, but tonight all three of us are tired, so we gotta play it safe. So, the dam and around the river, and the trading post – those are a no go."
"Let's backtrack, then," Alicia said after another moment of contemplation. Going back to the dam wasn't an enticing idea to her, even if it would potentially keep them closer to mom.
If Madison was still there.
"We can find somewhere that won't leave us out in the open. Sleep in shifts."
Troy liked Alicia's thinking. He gave a nod of agreement and continued the way they were headed, driving toward the city, attentive to any other vehicles or motorcycles that might be running this way. Thankfully, the night seemed to push everyone with something to lose toward the trading post, leaving them only to truly worry about being overrun by the infected.
That would change inside the city borders, and Troy wasn't entirely convinced that would be the smartest thing to do. They hardly knew who these bikers were and where else they could be. And, if what Troy did know about them was anything to go by, it was that they'd been all over the city.
They had a reputation, and they had rage.
Thirty minutes later, Troy pulled off the demarcated dirt road and headed further into the desert. He killed the engine, got out, waited on the dead that had followed them, and quickly delivered a killing blow.
"We should go the rest of the way on foot. If I remember correctly there are houses just outside the city. Shacks. If those bikers are even a little observant they'll know what our vehicle looks like, what we left it and how we'll arrive. Are either of you up to it? Or would you rather sit out here picking off everything and anything that'll be coming up on us during the night?"
Nick heaved a sigh and slipped out, then opened the trunk to get a knife. "If you still want that car with all that you stuffed in it, you need to hide it better. Out here is not good."
Alicia grabbed a few of the food items Troy had stored under the seats – protein bars and a large bottle of water. She stuffed them into a bag that still had some room it, along with the medical kit and an old blanket.
Nick finally pulled a hunting knife from under a bag and closed the trunk, locking the belt with the knife around his waist.
"If we were to stay in it, it'd be fine. But if we leave it out here, you can kiss your baby goodbye. I know you love traveling on foot with no supplies or guns, so I'm just sayin'."
He gave Otto a smirk he might have seen in the twilight or not, and snatched two bottles with water from the backseat when Alicia got out, handing one of them to her. She briefly contemplated indulging in a sip. In the end, she decided against it for now, worried it would make her sick again and slow down their progress.
Troy had a valid point. If anyone was lingering close by, they would be easily recognized by their vehicle. Not to mention the sound of the engine would draw attention.
But Nick wasn't entirely wrong in his assumptions, either. There were no guarantees the car would still be here, whole and unharmed, should they leave it behind.
Alicia looked between the two, pulling the strap of the bag onto her shoulder, awaiting Troy's input.
"Hide it how, Poet?" Troy teased, pleased that Nick was able to talk and didn't look to be in too much pain despite all that he'd endured. "With leaves? A bush? I know it's dark but take a look around. There's nothing to camouflage it with. This place, this entire backwater city is an open field and aside from the mountains, a crevasse I could sneak this baby into—which I have no idea what to find from here—I'm not sure it would matter. All we can hold onto is faith and hope it's still here in the morning. I'm willing to risk it to know we'll all be safe tonight, that nothing is going to creep up on us while you two are weak."
He reached into the back, plucked his rifle from the floor of the jeep, and slung the strap onto his shoulder, yanking up the seat cushions that Alicia had been seated on to take the extra packs of bullets. He stuffed them there in case anything were to happen.
After removing the keys from the ignition, he pocketed them and waited patiently. "So, what'll it be?"
Nick was grateful for the dark, because standing upright was a problem. Walking was a problem. Breathing was, too. But at least he could relax about his face that let it show every now and then. There was a crescent moon hidden behind clouds, so nature was on his side.
"It might be better to park it in the city if we're going there. There are lots of abandoned cars, what's one more."
He shrugged and started walking slowly, letting Troy decide while he took a swig from the bottle.
Alicia subtly shifted the bag on her shoulder. Its weight, though not all that heavy, still highlighted the aches and pains in her body. "Let's just bring the supplies we're able to carry and if worst comes to worst, we'll have to find ourselves a new car in the morning."
Now that it was dark, it was easier to admit how tired she was, and standing around here arguing didn't seem to do much good. She reached into the car to get the rest of the food and water, stuffing it into her bag along with a large forest green jacket she assumed belonged to Troy or one of his men.
"You've a point, Nick," Troy admitted, "but as I said before: If those guys keep as close an eye on the city as the gossip in the arena claims then they'll see the headlights coming a mile away. And unfortunately there is no way to stealth the vehicle. I'm with Alicia on this one. If we have to, we'll get a new ride." They had suffered with less, and the fact that they still had this one was a basic miracle.
Nick didn't object – he didn't really care much. It was going to be a pain to walk a mile or so they have to the city, but pain was in him to stay awhile, so he might as well get used to it.
Troy walked around to Nick's side, scanning him as best he could in the twilight. "Need a hand?"
Nick pulled the bag off Alicia's shoulder as he passed by her and slung it onto his, eliciting her groan of objection and an annoyed look at his retreating back.
"Let's just get there already," he said. There were two silhouettes ahead. The dead. He pointed for Troy. "Give them a hand."
Troy made quick work of the few walking corpses they met on the way, and for that, Alicia was grateful. She could still summon up the strength needed to protect them if need be. In fact, after the whole ordeal back at the ranch, she was more confident in her ability to stay standing during extreme pressure than ever. But it was nice to not have to pull the knife from her boot.
It was a longer walk than it could have been had they all been light on their feet. They went into the first hut on the outskirts that they scoped out and deemed okay. There were no dead inside, but neither was anything else. It was picked clean, even most of the furniture was gone.
Nick dropped the bag in the corner and slipped down the wall to sit on the floor.
Alicia opened her water bottle and dared a sip. It hurt going down, her throat still a little sore from earlier, but at least it didn't bring the nausea back.
She reached for the bag Nick had abandoned, opened it and pulled out the blanket she had packed. She threw it to her brother. He needed it most seeing as he had ditched his jacket from the water plant. She handed him one of the protein bars as well, hoping she could encourage him to eat something, and then slid to the floor beside him, heaving an exhausted sigh.
The bag remained open a few feet away, allowing Troy to help himself to whatever he needed.]
Troy watched the two get comfortable with one another and situated himself behind the door to act as a barricade, falling asleep within mere minutes.