Vol 2 Ch 18(Lee): The search for the Calstianos Family (part 2/2)

"...Hi" I spoke, breaking the silence "I'm clearly not a part of this group...and for the record, you all had a zombie in your bathroom" They seemed surprised by it.

"No wonder it was locked, the body must have been leaning against the wall...I doubt you're alone, considering you got through the window...i assume, unless there is a gapping hole in the wall in the bathroom now." The woman seemed to be the leader of the group, they seem well fed, and just overall seemed like a happy group, at least i got from her not shooting me on sight and instead joking with me, yet, it's not like i trust them either.

"No...i am, i was just taught to get into hard to reach places it's easier to find ways to get to areas alone than with others." I technically didn't lie, i knew how to get into hard to reach places and to do it alone as well.

"I guess that's a useful skill to have, though i don't buy it, Lee" I was ready to bolt before you spoke again "Wait no! Hold on! I was just teasing, i know you guys, i was a counselor in the school, I've tried to get students and protect them with other people, as you can see we have children here, and from the yearbook, i assumed you were still alive due to never...well...seeing your corpse...i hope you're not alone...Sam, Kenneth, Nicholai, Kyle...all of them, i hope you are with them, you were never a mentally sound kid, no offense, so i would hope you didn't handle this all alone" I never really visited my grade's counsler, so i couldn't really tell if it was the truth, but considering what I'm seeing, with everyone seemingly getting along, and with how dark it is, we don't really have a choice.

"The door, can i unlock it? Just for a minute?"

"B-but the monsters outside!" One of the younger kids ran up to the counselor, they had black hair while wearing this puffy coat, it was cold out, and even i could still feel a chill in here inside.

"It's alright, this here is Lee" She introduced me to everyone "He was a student at the school i worked at, he may have not talked often but he's got some heart, i don't think he's trick us to letting the monsters in." The monsters but must've been a ploy to not make the kids fearful that their parents are dead, after all if you call it a monster you can just say it's a coincidence or the monsters can choose to look like a kids parents, it was smart, but deceit full. "Go ahead, just close it when you're done with whatever it is that needs doing" I walked over to the door, it seemed many others were trying to protest as i heard rambling behind me, but it was just quiet enough for me to ignore. I opened it and was greeted by my team standing there, seemingly ready to break in.

"Hi...again" i said the last part under my breath.

"What the...wait is that!" Sam bolted past me and headed for the counselor, i guess she knows her.

"Guess we're intruding" Nicholai walked in with Kenneth, afterwards i shut the door and locked it again, the lock seemed flimsy yet it may hold. While i turned around Sam shoved something in my face.

"They got candy here Lee!" It seems she either forgave me for earlier or was too focused on the candy. She held a chocolate bar in front of me with one hand with another bar in her other hand.

"We have candy and sweets in Eaxura too" I made sure to mention Eaxura quietly.

"Well yeah, but i was worried that we'd be here long enough to forget what it tastes like" I felt a hand on my shoulder and noticed the counselor sneaked up on me, it was worrying.

"You guys must be tired it is late after all...actually...i sound like some serial killer don't i" She seemed slightly panicked that her way of speaking may have threatened us.

"It's fine, I've heard worse" Nicholai sat with one of the kids, after speaking to us she went back to talking to the kid, i assume to make sure they're in top condition, or to ask how this group is, children tend to be brutally honest sometimes after all.

"T-that's good, i didn't want any of you to worry, we're glad to have such a safe neighborhood, I've yet to see any horrific people in this outbreak, of course, there probably are some out there, I've heard in on the radio, but otherwise, they're not in abundance at least. I peered past Sam who was still trying to get me to take the bar, I saw Kenneth talking with one of the adults, the guy Kenneth was talking to seemed to be having tech issues with the radio, it couldn't have been the same one that the counselor mentioned, as it seemed it hasn't turned on in a while. I took the chocolate bar from Sam and looked at her.

"You sure you don't want both?"

"That would be greedy, and...this is a thank you, for not letting me get carried away back there" She had her head down a bit.

"I don't need thanks, it was just what anyone should've done, after all, you clearly still realized it was wrong since you asked me instead of just doing it"

"What're you two talking about?" The counselor asked, standing beside us. She saw us surprised and talked again. "This isn't some reality show where people can talk right next to someone without them hearing"

"i...yeah i know, you know me though, i talked a lot in school" Sam scratched her head while replying to her. So that confirms they know each other.

"Hold on, I know you get how i looked, but how'd you know about me? Sam, Kenneth, Nicholai, how'd you know i was friends with them?" I asked.

"Ah, Sam and Kyle mentioned you a few times when coming in my office, though I feel Kyle hated you and Sam more mentioned you all as a whole, i guess from what it sounds like you guys are inseparable" She sat down on a chair near the door.

"No worries, me and Kyle made up ages ago and...i wouldn't really say we're inseparable, sure maybe friends for life, but i couldn't imagine being near everyone 24/7, I'm sure the same goes for even Sam, we all need a recharge from each other sometimes" Sam nodded in agreement with what i said.

"I guess so...well, like i said, you all can get to bed if you all want, i already have the adults on a routine so some stay awake at night...though, I'm worried that even the adults at night are getting drowsy as it seems there's a thief going around. I don't really get it either, we share mainly everything with each other, the only exception is the kid's games." She seemed really displeased about it.

"I think i may get why?" Nicholai seemed to be done talking to the children and now stood beside Sam. "It may sound harsh but my theory is so they can eat or drink more, if you think about it, it sortof makes sense, if the guy or woman steals food or water then you have to scavange for more, but then since they saved the food they stole, when it's time to hand out rations they'll be getting extra than what they need, it's selfish and it makes sure they have backup food just incase while the others are missing a meal" The counselor took a minute to understand it.

"I understand, but i want to hope that's not the case, we have more than enough food, i really just hope it's a rat or something." Nicholai seemed annoyed at the counselor and mumbled something only Sam and i could hear.

"i hope you're not that ignorant" Sam was taken aback by it a small amount.

"Ahhem!" I cleared my throat hoping to prevent any upcoming argument. "How some of us get to bed, I'll stay awake with the others, after all, half the adults are staying awake, so half of our group should too, and if there is a thief then that means the night crew of adults are in it together, we won't be apart of that group" I made sure only the three could hear me, i motioned over Kenneth and repeated what i had said just a second ago.

"I'll stay up with you then" Nicholai nominated herself before Sam could say anything.

"What why? You and Lee aren't buddy buddy like we are" Sam protested it.

"Cause you and Kenneth need a break, especially you, i'd reconsider if it was Kenneth asking to stay awake but even then it'd take some convincing" Sam seemed to understand, i was going to mention to Nicholai that Sam understood and realized what she was going to do back at her house, and that she knew it was wrong, but i agreed, she needed a rest, she still seemed exhausted from it all too.

"I'll take the next night, either way if we stay with this group or not we need someone up at night" Kenneth crossed his arms looking at me. "Though Lee, you sure you don't want to rest up?"

"I'll be alright, you said it yourself, you'll take the next night, so Sam will also take it."

"Alright, i won't argue" Sam seemed disappointed but went over to the younger kids and began chatting with them before they headed to bed.

"Well" After all that the counselor spoke again "At least with Sam here the younger children won't be bored, she'd probably have an easier time cheering them up than we would as well."

"Of course that'd be the case, there's a decent sized age gap, at least with Sam she's a bit closer to their age, and does her best to understand them." I looked around a bit and saw an ice machine "Can I?" The counselor nodded. I walked over and grabbed some ice, i took off my bag and took out something that might as well be called a lunch box, i took a bag of ice, put it in and put the chocolate bar in, i would just give it to Sam when she's feeling down. I put it away in the bag and put the bag itself on, i could feel the slight weight difference with the ice. When i walked over i noticed Sam had already gone to sleep it seemed someone gave her, her own little tent with a lantern beside the entrance to it, yet the way she fell asleep her head was poking out the tent, resting on her arms instead of the perfectly fine pillow inside the tent. "Weirdo" I mumbled to myself while smiling.

I headed over to where Sam and the other kids were and took a seat on a chair. This setup they had looked stunning, the lights hanging on the ceiling, the lanterns on boxes and tables these stations they had fit into this small space, it looked like this stunning light show...without the lights moving, but it still looked amazing and breathtaking.

"It took awhile from what i hear" Nicholai sat on the floor beside me, i was going to get up and give her the chair but she motioned her head for me not to. "From what i hear some factions have gotten some power stations online, but only some give it without payment beforehand, and the ones that give it for free make you agree that you'll only use it for essential items" I started to feel guilt and this sinking feeling in my heart, knowing i'd be leaving once we get our powers back, and i doubted Raymond would let me bring them. "Something wrong?" She looked up at me.

"I..." I sighed, i thought more of what i should say "What...do i do when guilt starts to overwhelm me?"

"I think that's subjective, i know that's not good advice, but I'm just repeating what Sam already told you" So Sam has mentioned that to her before...but even then, what Sam told me, i had forgotten what the reason for my guilt was, and i never told her to begin with, i had started to get annoyed, i keep mentioning visiting Raymond about our memories and getting them back, but i keep getting side-tracked cause I'm trying to please people, Sam for instance right now, looking for her parents, i don't regret looking for them, i want them to be okay too. "You can't blame yourself for everything, you can feel remorse, you can feel bad, but you should look back on what you've done and move on with what you've learned instead of living in the past forever" I thought about it for a bit, i was feeling guilty for something i couldn't control, and then something i don't even remember. "Listen Lee, i know how i can get, but i only treat you and Sam somewhat poorly because you two keep endangering yourselves, if i got 'buddy buddy' as same puts it, then you'd take me less seriously when i tell you two to knock it off when you're doing something dangerou-

"I know...i know why you do it, you wouldn't have agreed to our motto if you didn't care" A pocky stick was in front of me.

"You're saving the bar for Sam but i know your sweet tooth, we all do" I took the pocky and began knawing on it, eating it slowly. "It's gonna be a long night, it's been awhile since we've stayed up, even during the apocalypse we had made such impenetrable defenses...for zombies at least, that we could sleep without a care, and now we're staying up because of thieves"

"Goes to show humans are our main concern.' I finished eating the pocky stick and leaned back on the chair. Kenneth passed out awhile ago, otherwise he'd be somewhere, trying to fix the radio. I noticed some kids were still awake, some weren't playing games, but some kids did have some devices they were playing on, those devices included a switch, i felt old, knowing no more of these would be made, i had many memories on those, recreating everyone as those Mii things, the games i had on them too, i remember we had a running gag that in any RPG game, we'd make Sam the thief since she loved sweets enough that she would snag them in the middle of the night without her parents knowing...and i thought of that thief thing now because...this situation. The kid noticed, walked over to me and pointed the screen to me. I saw that she had created the four of us in a game, however they didn't have names.

"Need your names" The 'Keyboard' was up, it started on Sam as she was seemingly done last, don't blame the kid for doing her last, she has a lot of stuff in her hair now, flower, ponytail with a special clip to do it, stuff like that made it hard to make her in-game. I wrote Sam's name done, then went on to the others.

"Cute" Nicholai stood above me, peering over at the screen. She sounded sincere but i couldn't tell if she meant it or not

"I tried my best, i hope i did you all good" She was full of vigor that was for sure, i guess she sleeps through the day.

"Yeah, you did good kiddo" I tapped the hat she was wearing, doing so i could see a slight shine from her barley visible hair, guess she had it dyed before it all.

"Thank you" She went off to continue playing.

"It's good to know the kids still have some type of innocence left." I spoke but retracted after thinking a bit more. "Yet, they should still know how to defend themselves, just incase"

"Yeah...but...being honest, kids their age...probably wouldn't last a week alone, they need caretakers" While Nicholai talked i looked around the place, taking in how they've created this beauty.

"What kinda factions do you think are out there?" I sat up as i could feel myself slipping off the chair.

"The basic vile factions, degenerates that thrive off of suffering, then there are unique ones, the counselor said there was a college with a bunch of students, including some high school students, they're supposedly going against some military or something like that, though, i heard something happened there. But what factions do i think there are? Maybe some cannibals, the government of course, maybe some farmers hiding out somewhere...though they may also be cannibals, i dunno, if anything i'd think more than half the factions are cannibals."

"Not trusting huh?"

"Getting water is one thing, but a ton of food? That's another thing entirely, so more of skeptical than untrusting"

"Fair enough, it is a good thing to be skeptical about too. It's been years since this all started, so i doubt there's much food left over from before the outbreak"

"Well, the cans in Sam's house were still wet...or, whatever you call it, so there may still be some reserv-

"Lee, that was emergency food, stuff that doesn't expire for years"

"I see how stupid it sounds now" Nicholai handed me another pocky stick.

"Sam wasn't lying when she said they had sweets, honestly if i didn't see them handing out actual food, i would've thought all of their food and scavenging runs were for sweets."

"Sweets are good and all...eh forget it, sweets are nice" I began eating it.

"Bouta say, you never deny sweets or any candy, you saying otherwise would've been worrying, thought you were going crazy like the other two are."

"Well, at least Sam was getting better, she handed me the bar because she wanted to thank me for denying her request to kill those two"

"Kenneth seems like he used to, but i still get this bad feeling" I finished eating as Nicholai finished talking.

"We'll just keep an eye on them" After that the room was silent, it seemed the kids playing their games fell asleep, guess i was wrong about them sleeping the day away. It reminded me of another time that i recall, i used to volunteer at a day care, taking care of young children while their parents were away...it was kinda painful, seeing kids going home with their parents when i never had my own...but that's why we're looking for Sam's parents, cause i won't have someone else feel the same way i did...but even worse.

I noticed a light come over from Nicholai and noticed she still had her phone, it reminded me i had mine too, it's not like we got rid of them, though i questioned how they didn't break after everything...then again we keep encountering...somewhat kind people, after everything. I took mine out and looked through it, it was like a wave of nostalgia hit me even though it hadn't been that long, but maybe the outbreak made time go faster in our minds. I went through my contacts and saw some of my classmates...right, to fit in i had joined the class' groupchat...i hated it, then again i never really enjoyed the presence of my other classmates.

"What's got you lookin pissed for?" Nicholai got my attention from speaking. "Only school and the military during the outbreak had you make that face"

"Just...not so good memories." I closed the contacts list and went into the gallery, not much was in here, we had Sam's camera after all for that, however some stuff was still here, Most were sent to me, since i was in some pics. Elementary school graduation, middle school graduation, seeing the difference between the two...the way i looked, the group of friends i had in middle school compared to the small four friends i had in elementary. i had longer hair, dressed differently, and was mostly alone in Elementary...it felt like something came back to me when i looked at myself, but in middle school, i cut my hair, dressed...'normally' and the friend group had tripled...tripled? that didn't...nevermind, i wanted to forget everything before high school, i guess i might've forgotten some friends due to that. Another picture caught my eye, I assume Dave took the picture due to the angle. It showed Me, Sam, Nicholai, Kenneth, Kyle, and Kayla laying down on fallen cheery blossoms, we raised our phones in the middle creating this symbol from the images we had on our phones. I couldn't make out the images on our phones due to the quality of the pic, but I noticed the symbol made from our phone's shape and the images, we had created a flower. It must've been Sam's idea.

"Hey Lee, I've been asked this question, and I've asked the others this question but...if you could change anything before the outbreak, what would it be?" i had never been honest about my parental situation, i had parents, i knew them, but chose to suppress the memories of them, the only thing i remember about them now is how they look, and I've yet to see their corpse or them alive...nor did they look like Kai, meaning i still don't know why i want him dead...then again, i changed in appearance who's to say he hans't...then however, that doesn't explain where my mother would've gone.

"I...would've liked...if i could've pleased my parents." Nicholai was the only one who knew, i felt even more guilty than i had before, i spread my secrets across my friends, and the one i told Nicholai was about my parents.

"Fuck them, someone who can't accept who their son wants to be can go to hell, even our parents gave us some...eh, i don't know the word...but, I've got something to ask, when do you intend to tell the others? Hell when do you plan to tell us every secret, Sam knows something, I know about your parents, and Kenneth knows something, but, harboring this can't be healthy no? Though...maybe that's why you came to us."

"Maybe one day i could gain that courage, though, the parent thing shouldn't have been hidden in the first place, i guess i was just worried it would cause a chain reaction of questions."

"Sam isn't the type to question you...at least very often, and Kenneth can read the room, Sam can, but...Kenneth does it better, since he doesn't talk as much as she does, he accesses the room more. I think i get why you hid it though"

"I would love to hear it"

"Well, it's obvious ain't it? you wanted to forget your life before high school, i think you genuinely forgot you had parents, since they never played a huge part in your life anyways...and...considering they abandoned you...they got arrested didn't they? So it made it easier to pretend they didn't exist...my question is how you didn't get in a foster family, Cali and Baker didn't adopt you so they can't be a foster family...how did you remember your parents again?"

"I was just looking through photos...guess they ticked my mind or something...maybe i can't blame Raymond for all my missing memories" I shut off my phone, i should keep it with some battery, and maybe they have cell towers online again, it could work as a substitute for TTS

"I doubt they triggered that easily though, i mean, remembering what you told me about them was hard enough after we died"

"If Raymond is responsible for my memory loss, then maybe he's giving them back, or maybe he's found a way to restore them if he isn't the problem"

"For now we'll write it as you just coincidently remembered when looking at pictures" Right, that was all we could do anyways.

"Why're you even asking this?" I put my phone away and looked at her.

"ah, i wrote down some questions on my phone before we died...though if i still have some of these questions...i assume i got more wholesome responses than the one i just got."

"Maybe...ask some more, maybe my answers changed" I looked at her phone, there was a bottom scroll wheel meaning there wasn't just more questions "Oh! Scroll right real quick"

"Scroll...right? That's a thing on notepad?"

"I guess"

"I just thought it kept going down" She scrolled right and I saw out old answers. "Maybe this might jog a memory or two up in that tiny brain of yours" The notepad actually held a video, i couldn't see who held the camera or who was speaking at the start, but it was nice seeing us all again.

"I'm offended" I playfully said.

"Right, let's look at the one i already asked you, cause i don't want you repeating any of these on purpose for the later questions"

???: Alright! I gotta few questions. If you could change anything before the outbreak what would it be
Lee: Maybe, make friends more sooner than now, then again, i may have never met you guys if i did.
Sam: Obvious, I should've payed more attention to the news, going through the old recordings of the news i found, the outbreak was obviously coming...so obvious it was zombies too
Kenneth: Do i go back to this point in time after i do? Like the thing i change effects the future right? Or no
Nicholai(Reponding to Kenneth): I assume it changes the future
Kenneth: Then, maybe finish the projects i slacked on, they could've came in handy for...all of this
Nicholai: I wouldn't change anything, if i did i might die when the outbreak starts, i had friends, AKA you all, I already learned all i could about medicine that me at that age could handle, i'd say, this is the perfect timeline for me.

"Such an answer" I said in response to Nicholai's reply.

"I feel i acted like a mush during that time" Mush? "Next question" She paused the video before it could continue to the next question. "What would you guys have like to be in the future if the outbreak never happened"

"A Cafe owner, or maybe a musician if i chose something that included everyone in our friend group"

"Wasn't the Cafe Sam's thing?" I felt i heard this before.

"Can't i agree with it? Cafe's are cozy and warm feeling"

"Such a sappy reply, Doctor or...maybe nurse for me, i wouldn't have to study for much anyways, though" She smiled, though quickly wiped it off her face and continued "I wouldn't have minded if i continued to be your guy's pianist"

"And you say my answer was sappy" She rolled her eyes and went back to the video, that was until her phone shut down

"Goddamn how fast did the battery drain?" She tapped her phone a few times to try and turn it back on.

"Maybe since it was on this entire time it drained faster"

"Damnit" She put her phone away and laid down. "What time is it? This night is never gonna end" I turned my phone back on it was about 3 AM.

"It's 3 in the morning"

"Uuugghhh" I saw her looking out one of the windows, it was hard to see due to the barricades, but a part of it, if you looked enough you could see past it. There were a ton of stars out.

"Remember when we'd camp out at the bunker? Look up at the stars?"

"Yeah..."She sat up, either our talking or moving woke the others up, because Sam was looking over at us confused while rubbing her eyes, and Kenneth was just looking around before trying to use his hands to bring his hair back down.

"What time is it?" Sam asked with a groggy voice.

"3 AM"

"And you guys are this noisy?" Kenneth set his gear on him again. He looked like he hadn't slept at all

"Our bad" Nicholai doesn't apologize often, only when she knows she's in the wrong.

"Well...it's fine then" Sam cheerfully said, as she normally does. As Kenneth checked his gear i heard him start frantically searching for something.

"Someone stole the tazer!" I had no clue what they meant, maybe they found a tazer when searching Sam's house, i wouldn't doubt it if that was the case. "Hey!" He slammed against the wall, waking up almost everyone.

"Wha?" A lot of the kids woke up and some of the awake adults brought their attention towards us.

"I feel i got an idea who's the damn thief!" The adults started murmering to each other while the kids spoke more loudly. "It's one of the kids"

"Hey Kenneth, you're not making some baseless claim right?" I had my hand on his shoulder.

"Course I'm not" He spoke quietly at me, then speaking loudly. "Listen, i was awake the entire time, i thought someone was just walking past me but i guess they stole something from me instead, the fact the shadow walked near my bag outside the tent proves it further"

"So how is it one of the kids?" One of the adults pressed.

"Did you somehow make your shadow resemble a small child?" The woman was silent after Kenneth's remark. "Didn't think so, listen, i may seem it but I'm not mad, and i doubt anyone would blame a child for being scared in this situation, so just give it back and I'll make sure no one gets mad at ya, alright?" He looks over at the kids, he may have been looking for something that resembled the tazer. "I'm gonna find it regardless, so you might as well prove you can be honest at least" We all stood there waiting for one of the kids to admit to it, however no one came forward. "Great..." I felt someone pulling my sleeve, when i looked down at it i saw the girl who made us in her game from before. She had a look of worry on her face. While Kenneth and the others asked around i knelt down to the girl's height.

"Something wrong?" Before i could ask anything else she took out the tazer that Kenneth had.

"I...I only found it, i di-didn't take i-" I patted her head.

"No worries, even if you did take it i doubt Kenneth would get made at you, maybe a small bit of scolding, but he always means well, at least most of the time anyways" I took the tazer. "Now, get going so i could act like i just found it" She nodded and ran off. I stood up and faced Kenneth.

"What?" I held out the tazer.

"Found it, course it was near the kids' stuff, but i don't think we can blame them, after all, at least from what I'm seeing they're not being taught to fend for themselves" I looked over at all the adults "You know, something everyone in this situation should be taught to do"

"Right...and a tazer is easy to know how to use" He took it from me and pocketed it. Seemingly realizing how this could become a lesson to the kids he joked about. "Well, that's the last time i put something dangerous in my bag, next time kids just ask how to use it, if you were all still in school then it'd be worrying but we're fighting dea-" He remembered what they called them. "I mean, we're fighting monsters now instead of being in that annoying school, so it only makes sense to learn how to fight back against them" The kids seemed..inspired, i guess his 'speech' gave them something to look forward to

"Hold on! Kids shouldn't be do-" Nicholai kicked the man in the shins and gave an intimidating grin, practically telling them all not to go against what we're saying. "The hell was that for?" It didn't work however, so words would only work.

"Unless you want those kids to die i recommend you actually grow s-...err, just think about it" She probably censored herself, though i don't think the kids care at this point I'm sure one of us have already slipped up our words, or either that or the adults have sworn in front of them. "The kids aren't clueless as you've seen before, they know they have to protect themselves."

"If you're so sure why don't you just do it yourself? Bring them on scavenging runs, teach them to defend themselves, i'd like to see you tr-

"Sure" I just spoke, i knew what i agreed to, but I've done it once before what difference would it be if i did one at a time.

"Exactly, we'll watch his back too so the missions go even smoother." Sam put a fist over her heart and looked proud, she liked teaching people, i started to realize that.

"We don't have much in our bags anyways, so we'll just bring those with us every run, so we won't have to worry about you adults stealing anything." Nicholai said in a smug tone while picking up her stuff.

"Didn't he just say it was the kids?" The adult referred to Kenneth.

"We don't know if it's one of you guys forcing them too though, after all the good, well meaning camps tend to be the most horrific ones under the wraps, after all, we've yet to check the basement." It was this terrifying silence. "I'm joking there is none, it's a gas station it's only pumps and what not below us, and even then there isn't much places you can store something down there."

"Ahem!" The school counselor spoke up "Well, if you're really fine with it, i recommend training the kids who are willing to first, since they'll probably be easier to teach, I'll try my best to convince the others it's alright, and maybe if you return the kids and yourselves saftley they'll understand that it's all about staying calm and thinking ahead."

"Exactly" Kenneth snapped his fingers before pointing at the counselor with his palm going upwards.

"Well, it seems you all are going now, so" She crouches to the kids' level "Who's alright with going first, it may seem scary the first time around, but you got them with you, and those four are really dependable" A few kids stepped towards us, one of which was the girl with the game. I smiled at her and she gave a thumbs up, i guess one of the kids are alright with depending on me, the others still seem somewhat scared.

"This may take awhile." I heard Sam whisper to me "But we can do this" I agreed with her on both statements, training them to defend themselves means we also have to make sure they don't panic when fighting zombies, and seeing how scared they are, and knowing that the adults probably conditioned them to staying inside and letting them handle it, we may have some trouble dealing with this. The question is, how do we get looking for Sam's parents while teaching these kids? I know and can tell it's on Sam's mind as well.

"Of course we can do it, we've done worse" I picked up my stuff when i began feeling horrible.

"Then the sleep deprivation kicks in" Nicholai held something in front of me "you'll still feel terrible, but your senses won't suffer, drink" I took it slowly and began drinking it, yet the first sip i got i began coughing and moved the cup away.

"It tastes terrible!" I was stood up now so i wouldn't cough on the children, yet standing felt terrible too.

"Did i say it would taste good? It's healthy and just like most healthy things it's terrible" I began drinking the rest of it, if i wanted to be toply efficient i'd suck it up and deal with the terrible taste. The kids looked at me worried. I knealt down to them again.

"Don't worry, I'm just a really...picky eater" I looked over to the three to back me up.

"Yeah, Lee can eat and make tones of drinks and foods yet the second he tastes something unknown to him his tastebuds go wonky" Sam backed up what i said while shrugging her shoulders.

"O-oh" One of the kids softly assured themselves. "So, you're alright?"

"Mhmh!" I nodded while drinking the rest of it, i wanted to puke. I finished gathering my stuff, and drinking that horrid drink. I slung the bag over my shoulder. "N-Now! Let's get going kids, take whatever with you" It felt like i was leading a field trip...a dangerous one, one that's like those field trips that make you sign a NDA...or whatever the hell it is. The kids had their own bags, maybe they did go on some runs for stuff...maybe they weren't as sheltered as we initially thought.

"Alright, listen up" Kenneth got the children's attention. "If you see a monster you tell us as quietly as you can, either tug us or point it out, if you get separated from us you hide and don't go with anyone! Until you are sure it's us. If you see a weapon or something dangerous let us know and don't pick it up, a lot of time they are loaded, either that or tinted with things that could harm you. And..." He scratched his head.

"A team bond!" Sam being herself spoke loudly "Once you get a bond with your teammates you can tell them things without even saying anything, just a look could get a message out."

"Yeah, a team bond, anyone else want to add something?" Kenneth adjusted his bag to be less straining on a shoulder.

"I dunno, i can't think of anything at the moment, and everything else is common sense" I went to the door and unlocked it. I waited until all the kids walked over then opened it. "Don't be loud, yet don't stay quiet if you need help, but not too loud to attract unwanted attention, including that, do you remember everything we said?" They took a moment, yet when they realized they were going to respond loudly they stopped and nodded instead. "Good, but we're in a safe area, you can reply" They didn't talk instead they kept staring at me. "Well, let's get going" With our normal cast and now a bunch of children following us, we walked out the gas station and onto our first scavenging training run.