Kenny descended the steps of one of the houses, firmly supporting his father's arm.
Kelly followed close behind, the exhaustion of the past few hours still etched across her face.
When the storm began, the two of them had been forced to seek shelter, and Kenny had chosen the house where his father was staying with a friend.
"Mr. Henderson, thank you so much for keeping my father company during all this." He gave the man standing in the doorway a respectful nod.
On some occasions, when his father couldn't stay at the clinic, he would spend a few hours there. The two had developed their own routine around games of chess.
"It's no trouble at all." Mr. Henderson smiled as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "There's no one here who knows how to play chess or wants to learn, other than you two. And you know very well that I don't like crowds. Bing-Qian is great company."
Bing-Qian murmured a farewell before turning to Kelly.
"Come here, young lady." He gestured for her to come closer. "I'll introduce you to Tian Chen. She'll like you."
Kelly nodded softly. As Kenny led his father down the street, she noticed an awkward smile appear on his face, and she remembered what had happened a few hours earlier.
…
Kenny was drying his hair with a towel when Bing-Qian pointed toward her. She was standing by the window, watching the rain fall outside.
"Who's this pretty girl?" he asked, loud enough for her to hear, a knowing smile on his face. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Kenny had scratched the back of his neck, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole
"No, Dad. She's not. This is Kelly. She's one of the new arrivals who came on the bus."
Bing-Qian didn't seem particularly interested in the correction. His eyes traveled over Kelly from head to toe, though not in an inappropriate way, before he nodded, apparently satisfied with what he saw.
"If I were young again, I'd definitely ask her out."
Mr. Henderson let out a quiet laugh from the corner of the room while Kelly, despite everything she had been going through, managed to find the strength to offer a genuine smile.
"Thank you. That's very kind of you."
…
The sound of footsteps on the street brought her back to the present. A short while later, they spotted a small group returning from the Colony House. Tian Chen was at the front, followed by Sara and Nathan.
Their expressions were difficult to read, exhaustion evident beneath a dangerous spark of hope.
As they approached, Bing-Qian stepped forward and let go of his son's arm.
"Tian! Look, this is Kelly."
Tian Chen wiped her hands on her apron and examined the girl with a gentle expression. She was about to say something when Sara spoke first.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Kelly needed a moment to respond. She forced a small smile, trying not to let her discomfort show too much.
"Thank you."
Noticing the change in her expression, Kenny steered the conversation toward another subject.
"Mom, what about the radio? Did it work?"
She sighed and pointed toward the door.
"Let's head indoors and I'll tell you everything."
Sara, however, looked down at her feet, which were covered in mud.
"I'm going to clean up at home. Then I'll go to the diner."
The older woman simply nodded and went inside, leading Bing-Qian by the hand.
Kenny waited until the two of them were inside before gesturing for Kelly to follow him.
"You can come in too. After we talk, I'll take you to the Colony House."
She nodded, and briefly, curiosity managed to overpower the heavy toll of the day.
After everything that had happened, she wanted to know if there was a way out of that place.
…
Across town, the mood was very different. The hope that had taken hold of the Colony House seemed far away as Donna washed the last of the vegetables in a bucket of murky water.
As she approached, Fatima's gaze fell on the small amount of food divided among the baskets.
"Is that all we managed to save?"
"Yeah." Donna answered without softening her tone, squeezing a damaged lettuce leaf between her fingers. "The rest was destroyed by the storm."
"That's terrible, especially since we have more mouths to feed," Fatima said worriedly.
Donna slowly exhaled through her nose and used the back of her dirty hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
"We still have the potatoes to check, but it's almost dark. We'll harvest them first thing tomorrow morning. Help me carry this inside."
The two pushed through the door carrying the baskets with the little they had managed to save, but they had barely stepped into the foyer when a loud commotion erupted around them.
Donna stopped immediately.
The scene before her fueled her irritation. A man lay sprawled on the floor, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain, while Randall stood over him, his fists still clenched.
"What the hell happened here?" Donna's voice echoed through the room, loud enough to silence much of the conversation around them.
Randall didn't seem inclined to back down. He merely pointed at the man on the floor.
"This asshole went through my bag."
She studied him, as if trying to decide whether she had actually heard him correctly.
"Are you kidding me? This is only going to work if..."
"It's going to work if you people stay the hell away from my things!" he interrupted, aggression spilling from every word.
Donna's eyes narrowed.
"We have a way of doing things around here."
"Good for you." He sneered. "I have my own way of doing things. If you touch what's mine, I'll beat the shit out of you."
Donna remained motionless. The audacity of the newcomer was so absurd that it was almost funny.
Almost.
Around them, the older residents and newcomers watched the confrontation in silence, waiting to see how she would choose to handle the situation.
Donna looked around the room for a few seconds before taking the basket into the kitchen.
"Donna, listen." Fatima followed her, speaking cautiously. "What if we changed the rules a little? Just to make things easier with the newcomers."
"I know exactly the type of person he is." Donna's voice had lost every trace of warmth. "If we make an exception now, tomorrow he'll want to start ordering everyone around. This ends here."
She crossed the kitchen and headed toward the corner of the pantry. Her fingers closed around the wooden handle of an axe.
Fatima had a bad feeling.
"Wait. What are you going to do?"
Donna didn't answer. The familiar weight of the tool seemed to end the discussion before it had even begun.
With firm steps, she returned to the living room, where Randall had settled onto one of the couches, his dirty boots resting shamelessly on the floral upholstery.
When he noticed her approaching, he turned his head toward her. His expression remained defiant, as if their argument moments earlier had been nothing more than another inconvenience.
"What do you want now?"
"Follow me."
The command was flat and cold, leaving no room for argument.
Randall snorted and sank a little deeper into the couch.
"Get lost."
Donna raised the axe and moved so fast that Randall barely had time to realize what was happening.
The blade tore through the air and buried itself in the wall above his head, making the wood crack under the impact. Splinters flew across the couch.
He threw himself to the side on pure instinct, hitting the floor with his eyes wide open. For a few seconds, all the arrogance vanished from his face, replaced by the fear of someone who had just realized the woman standing before him wasn't bluffing.
This old woman is fucking crazy.
His heart hammered against his ribs as he slowly raised his hands.
"All right." His voice came out less steady than he would have liked. "Let's go."
Donna yanked the axe from the wall with a sharp pull and turned toward Bakta, the bus driver, who had been watching the scene from the doorway, trying to process the sudden display of violence.
"You. Could you come with us, please?"
Bakta swallowed nervously but eventually nodded.
"Well, that was intense," Tillie commented calmly after they left.
Sitting beside her, Elgin gaped, thinking that he would never piss Donna off.
…
Randall walked behind Donna, trying to recover some of the composure he'd lost.
"Where are you taking me?"
"To your new home."
When they reached the large bus parked along the street, she stopped in front of it and gestured toward the vehicle.
"This is your new home." She then turned to Bakta. "Can you open the door for him?"
The driver pulled the external emergency lever, and the door opened with a hiss.
Before Randall stepped inside, however, Bakta looked at Donna suspiciously.
"Is it safe for him to live here? Alone?"
"I'll leave a talisman."
Donna took the runed stone from her pocket and held it up for a moment.
"Come in, kid."
He remained still, staring at her with his jaw clenched.
His expression still carried a hint of defiance, but he seemed to have learned, at least for now, that some battles weren't worth fighting.
He climbed the steps and tossed his bag onto one of the seats.
Donna entered right behind him and hung the talisman from the rearview mirror, making sure the cord was securely fastened.
"This is the talisman that keeps you alive." She pointed at the stone. "The best thing you can do is leave it right there. And for your own sake, make sure it stays there. If it falls during the night and one of those things manages to get inside, it won't matter if there are a dozen talismans scattered across the floor. If it's not hanging, it's nothing more than a useless rock."
"Are you done with your little speech?" Randall crossed his arms, slowly regaining his usual arrogance. "I get it."
He wasn't worried. If Daniel could live in a motorhome, he was sure he could do just fine here too. At least he wouldn't have to keep putting up with those hippies and their rules.
Donna gave the rows of seats and the huge windows, completely devoid of curtains, one last look.
"I hope you're still this optimistic after your first night here."
…
Minutes later, Kenny finally left the house with Kelly, despite his mother's request that she stay a little longer.
"Do you think that cave..." She hesitated, choosing her words. "Do you think it could really be the way out?"
The natural optimism that usually accompanied Kenny's personality seemed to be fighting against the caution the situation demanded.
"I don't know. Maybe." He paused briefly. "I mean, the military guy had the records. He knew who Boyd was."
Before Kelly could answer, a familiar voice called from across the street.
"Kenny."
The deputy turned and found Boyd approaching. He called them inside the sheriff's station before starting the conversation.
"Did you two hear the news?"
"If you're talking about the cave, yes. My mom told me everything about the contact."
"I need you two not to tell anyone about the location of that place in the ruins."
Kelly frowned.
"But what are you planning to do? We can't just ignore it if that's really the way out."
"I'm not going to ignore it. Tomorrow morning, I'm going in there to find out what's inside that cave."
Kenny immediately shook his head. "It's too dangerous."
"That's exactly why I have to go." The firmness in his response left no room for doubt.
"Then I'm coming with you."
"No." The refusal was immediate. Boyd held Kenny's gaze before continuing. "If something goes wrong, you have to take my place and look after the people."
"You can't expect me to do that, Sheriff. This place needs you."
Seeing how stubborn he was, Boyd asked Kelly to leave them alone for a minute.
As soon as she left, he told Kenny about his Parkinson's and how the tremors were already limiting him.
"I need to do this before it gets so bad that I can't anymore."
Kenny opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again, not knowing what to say.
Once again, the sheriff would carry the weight of that town alone.
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