They had moved while Charlie had been away. The large man could see it on the sheets, on the blood staining on them, and the cloth not yet cleaned off the red marks. Mara had been sick while he was away, and Troy had cared for her.

One of the worst nightmares had transpired while he was anywhere but the place he needed to be. Yet everybody had gotten through it unscathed. Silent as a whisper, Charlie could hear both of the other two breathe in and out deeply. Their pulses were strong, their bodies holding on to life firmly. Nothing needed to be done.

As silent as the floorboards allowed, Charlie moved between the two, gathering the unwashed linen cloth. There was no reason to let disease fester inside the house. The consequences of such a thing would be disastrous. And with the newly gotten water, it was no hard payment to do so, leaving no reason to let them be as they were.

Charlie brought in the water buckets as carefully as he could. Their great weight brought the floorboards into a whine, not too reminiscent of a small child wailing. It was grainy to his ears, and he was sure it would have awoken any not in a deep slumber. Looking into the main room, both were still asleep. Both were still calm. There was nothing to be afraid of.

Washing them silently, as far away from the other as possible, Charlie tried his best to think about what had happened down by the river. It had been a close call. It could have been so much worse. They could have been recognized, hunted within the hour, forced to attempt an escape that they knew would be unfruitful.

Yet nothing of such had happened. It had all ended up with Charlie being allowed to leave, the automation none the wiser about who exactly it had found. What would have happened if it had been a human officer? Would they have seen anything else in him? There was no real way to know.

The large man’s fists tightened around the cloth, his back tensing hard. A few of the stitches in the cloth got ripped off before Charlie managed to calm himself. He tried to imitate the deep breathing of the others, but he barely got close to their levels. His mind was not allowing him to forget, just like it always did with these things.

Looking at the sofa, Charlie could see Mara still sleeping, blissfully unaware of the danger she had been in only an hour ago. Not that she didn't have a good idea of it, the woman always talking about how lucky they were to expand their lungs once more. In her own way, she saw it as what it was, putting a realistic spin on it all instead of being overly negative. She could see their chances of survival, and there had not been a moment where she had any problems with disclosing her findings.

Close to her side, Troy laid on the ground, the young man drawing in large fistfuls of air. Charlie could see the man’s chest expand and settle down in a calm synergy, never staying too long in each place. It was a calming act of reality, even if it had next to no effect on him currently.

Charlie wouldn't be able to sleep for yet another time. That had become obvious. There was no reason to go outside again, any extra movement only being a waste of energy. Yet… sitting in silence for ten hours did not fit into what the man could bear to do. He needed something, some action or thought he could have to distract himself. His breath was still hard, the deepness of it forced onto it. His lungs hurt from the movements, yet Charlie knew the alternative was to wake the others from the sound.

Staying by their sides wasn't the right answer, and there was no chance to go outside. The only real possibility was to move over to the workspace. It was where Charlie had every mechanical part, every digital device, everything that could be toyed with to make something else. There was also a variety of tools to use, most of them focused on moving around circuit boards. He had been forced to make those himself as of late, the standard ones having a built-in tracking system. Not the greatest addition when on the run. It had certainly caused a great amount of grievance when scavenging for parts. Charlie had been forced to leave many great finds behind, due to the time needed to remove the tracker being too much.

Weirdly, thoughts of technology made the man’s mood improve somewhat. It was a weird thing, that the very things that Charlie feared so much made him feel so calm. Everything in his life was the by-product of technology. Was he not to fear them at this point? If so, he had perhaps failed.

A small chuckle escaped his lips, much to the man’s surprise. It came close to making him falter, the shock of the sound being far too great to handle soundlessly.

Charlie’s head swilled instantly over to the other two. As he stood by the doorway, ready to enter the workshop, there was no chance he would ruin his departure. And… it seemed his fears had been for nought. While Troy repositioned himself, it was done in his sleep. There was nothing to worry about in that part. Mara was no different, her slumber undisturbed.

Once again, the man was ready to head into the next room. That is, until a glint of light hit his eyes, making them hone in on the object. Some of the sun’s beam had gotten through the trees, through the window, and had hit the newly exposed. As Charlie had begun to expect of Troy, the young man hadn't taken off the earpiece. That was to be expected.

It would have been surprised to hear of it coming out of his ear, in the last few weeks. There was hardly a time where it would be out of Troy’s reach, and that was only for the most serious of emergencies. Charlie had nothing against the behaviour, since it allowed the AI, Adam, to get a view of the world. The AI had stated the desire so many times.

… According to the few conversations had with the AI, nothing was seen while Troy slept. Adam, as it liked to be called, did nothing else but sit in silence, waiting for the young man to wake up. It had no choice but to sit with its own thoughts. Being in the place that Charlie was, the large man felt some form of empathy for the AI.

Taking five long and calm steps across the room, Charlie went down on a knee beside Troy. The young man had not moved a muscle during his arrival, still in a deep slumber. He looked so peaceful. Nevertheless, Charlie carefully moved his left arm towards the young man’s ear. With the tip of his finger, he ended it on the outside of the earpiece.

Within an eye’s blink, a firm hand was on Charlie’s arm. It was a firm grip, unwavering in its strength. Charlie was ready to hear a loud exclamation from the owner of the hand, but none came. Looking over, Troy looked as tired as ever, not having woken up. It was as if his arm had just moved on its own.

Charlie smiled for the briefest of moments, able to relate to the strong desire to protect something, be that a person or object. Nevertheless, he needed the earpiece and would get through the barrier. Charlie supposed he could have forced his way out of the grip, but that would have awoken the young man. So… he did something else.

“Go back to sleep, son,” Charlie whispered. The effect was immediate, Troy’s hand loosening its grip on the man’s arm. It almost fell to the ground hard, but Charlie guided it down to its previous placement.

It was not a method that was employed often. Charlie did not enjoy doing it, nor did he enjoy the implications. But, it was something that worked, and it would therefore be used.

Slowly, the earpiece was extracted from the man’s ear. Wiping the dirt from it, the large man manoeuvred himself back to the door, and into the next room. With the door shut, Charlie finally paid attention to the communication device.

There had been a need to look it over, ever since Troy had told his tale of falling from a cliff. While the man himself had not looked too injured, Charlie could not have been equally sure about the equipment that had been worn. The gloves had been damaged, which meant they needed to be repaired, and the cloaking device was in desperate need of getting a new charger attached, the original having splintered badly upon impact.

The earpiece was not equal in this aspect. Much like the storage unit Adam was stored in, there was no sign of damage on it. Hardly a scrape, honestly. There might have been some grime attached from the water, but it was all possible to be wiped away with a cloth. Nothing that needed to be worried about.

It was an incredible piece of machinery. From the scans made, it was chock full of machinations. Charlie couldn't understand half of it and therefore did not dare try to open it, as he wasn't sure if he would be able to close it again. It was Pandora's box, never to be opened if he had a say in it. Maybe one day… but that day was not anywhere close to now.

The man stared at the earpiece for a good ten seconds, before finally doing what he needed to do. He had brought the earpiece in for a reason other than looking it over. Charlie understood that. And he would act on that reason.

Charlie put on the earpiece. Immediately, a response came from it, the tone much more familiar than what he would have guessed.

‘Hello, Charlie,’ the AI sent. There was no emotion to the voice, yet Charlie’s mind filled in the needed gaps quite easily, the brain-twisting it all into having some profound meaning. It was peculiar.

“Hello, Adam,” Charlie responded, his mind still honed in on how familiar the voice was. With the warnings put against wearing the earpiece, it had been well over a month since the last time that he had heard Adam speak, yet it felt so intently familiar. Was he relating the AI to something else?

‘I see you have removed me from Troy. Might I ask why this action has been taken?’

Sitting down on the chair, Charlie briefly calculated the distance away from Troy’s sleeping body. On the man was the storage unit, the device holding Adam. If the earpiece was too far away from it, the connection would not be usable. Yet, it seemed to work well enough, even if there were a few scratches in the background.

“I felt you might be wary of having nothing to do, and saw an opportunity for what it was,” Charlie answered, wiping his hands to remove any bits and pieces that remained. A clean environment was the best type of environment when working with delicate insides. “Do you mind it?”

The gloves were pulled forth, hidden under a case of screws. Charlie had actually done his best to hide the more valuable items inside the workshop, in case of the house ever being found by any others. Even he knew the consequences a war would have, and looters only took the materialistic things in life. If they had none to show, nobody would give them a second glance.

‘Depends on how long this stay with you is going to be.’

“Until I fix these gloves or the other two wake up for food,” Charlie answered, not putting in the third option when he began getting a headache. He wasn't like Troy in that aspect. He wasn't able to bear the pressure of another mind constantly in his head. He wasn't built for that.

‘Then I see no problem staying. What are you doing right now?’ Just like Charlie guessed, the AI was curious. That was yet another subject the two could find similarities in.

The day might have been long, but it would surely feel shorter soon enough.