Abe had always been thin, but now he felt skeletal. It couldn’t have been that many days since he ran away from Josef, but the days stretched so long he couldn’t be sure.

The water he drank must have had something in it. His stool was practically liquid, and he couldn’t keep anything down. He had no idea how he was still alive at this point.

His mind was all a fog. He couldn’t concentrate, his stomach and innards were making noises he was choosing to ignore, and there were times he simply lifted his feet and kept walking, having no idea why he even bothered, always following the sun on its path.

Finding the clearing morphed into desperation. He was going to die if he didn’t get help from them. The thought of Josef still in control of the clearing didn’t seem as dangerous to him anymore. He just wanted to live.

He kept an eye on his feet before he ran into something hard. His delicate frame easily tipped over and he lay on his back, staring up at what he ran into. His eyes, which were tired and sore, widened in shock as he realized he ran into a wall. The wall. He wasn’t near the clearing at all. He followed the sun, but the wrong way. He had wandered back to Musical Land.

The tightness in his chest burst as he let out a cry. There were no tears in his eyes. His body wasn’t going to waste the water. Abe reached out to grab something to help hoist himself up. The quiet desperation in him needed to keep moving for safety. His hand brushed against the firm concrete as he lay flat on his back, the dirt hot underneath him.

Somewhere around the wall was the safe house. There was food, water, and maybe medication there. That should have been enough of an adrenaline rush to get him up, but he simply couldn’t do it.

After my nap, his mind suggested. After my nap, I’ll have the energy to get to the safehouse.

Abe’s heavy eyes closed.

***

Marie stood chatting with Sophie. By Saturday, the time limit Nik gave would be up, and Charles had a feeling President Arnold would double down trying to get the underground again. They decided to have a meeting Thursday night instead. It made things a bit safer. There were life or death decisions in the coming weeks, and they always needed to err on the side of caution.

The apartment door opened, and the boys walked in as Harriet quietly whispered to them, showing them around the new place. Marie’s face brightened as she saw Albert. Albert turned to look at her. He didn’t smile, but the stress melted from his face.

“Is that thing on?” Albert asked, pointing to the chip blocker.

Alice flipped it on. “It is now.”

“Good.” In two steps Albert had closed the distance between him and Marie and wrapped her in a hug. He buried his head in her shoulder, which couldn’t be comfortable since she was so short. A shudder ran through his body as he held her close. He didn’t say a word, but his arms quivered, the desire to crush her in a hug was there but he was too afraid to break her. His breathing was shaky, and she heard him sniffing. Marie closed her eyes as she hugged him back.

“I’m alright,” she whispered. “I’m going to be okay.”

Albert gave a nod, his head still buried in her shoulder. Marie couldn’t imagine what it would be like to leave someone she cared about in a near death state for a week and have to pretend to be okay.

Albert raised his head and dried his tears. He didn’t hide his tears. Marie was aware how close he stood to her. They had just hugged, but Albert did not back away, simply continued to stare at her. He tore his eyes away from her long enough to see Marie’s dad staring right at them with a raised eyebrow. Albert looked back at her, his cheeks coloring as his face finally relaxed into a smile.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” Albert turned his gaze back to her face. No, not her face. Her lips. Marie’s breathing caught in her chest. It would have been so easy. All she’d have to do was stand on her tiptoes and she’d be within a breath of him. The only thing stopping her was her dad stood there, just outside her peripherals. Her hand reached out and bumped against his arm. He was so incredibly close to her. If her dad wasn’t there...

“You know, that room over there doesn’t have any windows in it,” Sophie said right next to Marie, causing them both to jump back a little. Marie had been so focused on her dad that she completely forgot Sophie was right next to her. Albert gave a tiny laugh as his face reddened.

“I’m sure the m-meetings about to start,” Marie said as she looked away, tucking some of her hair behind her ears.

Sophie snorted as Charles was gathering them all for the meeting. Marie reached out and Albert took her hand. Marie gave it a squeeze as they sat down on the rug. Tom remained standing, leaning against the wall.

The meeting started with Billy, Albert, and Edgar’s usual report. They were finalizing plans of how to get Agatha to their side, and Marie hoped to meet this girl soon.

“We’ve had news from Sam in the clearing,” Charles said.

Billy perked up. “Really? How’s Abe?” Marie glanced down, feeling scared for Abe. Or, rather, what they didn’t know about Abe.

Albert noticed her shift in mood as he gave her hand a squeeze. “Is Abe okay?”

“We don’t know,” Marie’s dad said. “No one has found Abe or Josef.” Albert paled. “Understand the messages I got kind of sound like Sam, but it could also be Josef, trying to fool us.” Albert looked even more terrified. Billy’s eyes were wide. “According to the letters, Sam is helping in the clearing. They’re adjusting, making sure Josef or his members haven’t returned secretly. But things are looking good in the clearing, and they’ve already sent a small scouting party to find Abe. Hopefully. Hopefully that’s true. They are also waiting to hear what we need from them.” He didn’t continue, he let the words hang there. What exactly the underground needed from the now freed clearing, Marie wasn’t sure. But she hoped it was for peace.

If it was actually Sam on the other side at all.

“And… and Nik is gone,” Alice said with a wince. “President Arnold’s got him.”

“What should we do about him?” Tom’s quiet question came.

Alice studied Tom closely before looking away. “Not sure. We just need to be prepared. I’m not sure if we can break another person out of the basement again.”

“So we let President Arnold get away with it?” Sophie asked. “Shouldn’t we at least try?”

“Nik is…” Alice looked like she was having a hard time finding the right words. “I guarantee President Arnold will be expecting us to try and break him out. It wouldn’t be smart to get him.”

“So we let him rot in the basement? Without hope of help?” Sophie asked.

“Nik is used to being on his own,” Tom said.

Sophie glared at him. “You’ve never liked him.”

“I don’t mean that as an insult,” Tom began before giving a small frown. “Okay, maybe a bit of an insult. But I promise you, Sophie, Nik is not waiting on us to save him.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to help anyway,” Sophie said.

“You’re right, Sophie. His talents are dangerous in President Arnold’s hands. Did he tell you anything? You two seemed close,” Charles said.

Sophie’s face fell. “No, he didn’t tell me much. I was always the one talking about me.”

Marie could hear the regret dripping from Sophie, so Marie gave her a little nudge. “Hey, you needed to talk to someone. Don’t feel guilty about it.”

Sophie gave a small but genuine nod.

“I’m certain whatever protection President Arnold has around Nik, we would need an army to break him out,” Tom said.

“We do now. Don’t we?” Sophie asked, her gaze bouncing between Alice and Marie’s dad, hope filling her eyes. “The people in the clearing. We could-”

“No,” Alice said.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Sophie said.

“Whatever we use our “army” for, it’s got to be calculated and careful. Storming the S.E.A. skyscraper is an act of war, and one we need to be careful about instigating,” Alice said. “And we’re not even sure who’s leading our “army”.”

Sophie let out a sad sigh. She rubbed her forehead before folding her arms and looking away from everyone.

“I will keep my ears peeled for any news about Nik. I don’t hear much about the prisoners in the basement, but maybe I can piece together what’s going on,” Charles said. “Who knows, maybe I can sneak him in some materials to escape.”

Sophie glanced over at Charles and gave him a gentle nod. “It’s better than nothing.”

“Harriet, Alice, I need you two to scout out a new possible safe house,” Charles said. “This is our last one. I’d like to have a backup.” Harriet and Alice nodded. Charles rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at anyone. “Okay, things are not looking too good.” He turned to Billy, Albert, and Edgar. “Please be careful. The timeline Nik has given us will be up in a couple days. Be safe. Be careful. Please don’t get caught.” He was sitting in an uncomfortable position on the floor, but he didn’t move, simply stared at the wall opposite him. “We’ll keep getting updates from Sam.” Marie saw the doubt play across his face for a moment. “And… and we’ll keep hoping Nik will take a very long time to create whatever it is President Arnold needs. Keep recruiting. We’ve got to cripple President Arnold before he cripples us.” He swallowed. “We’ll get more people on our side soon.”

The lack of conviction in Charles’ voice fell heavy on the group. The fact that the optimists weren’t correcting him seemed worse. Charles closed his eyes and nodded. “See you all next week.”

There was a pause before everyone slowly got to their feet, quiet whispers breaking out among the group.

Marie saw Billy and Edgar talking before she got up and walked over to them. Albert followed close behind.

“But then I was thinking in the second draft I could change it and have them dueling with swords. Everyone likes to watch a good sword fight on stage,” Billy was saying to Edgar. Edgar was nodding before he noticed Marie. Billy turned, a smile brightening his face. “Hey Marie! You are looking absolutely fantastic.” Billy gave her a side hug, giving her a quick squeeze before letting her go. “Sorry, you’re still healing.”

“I’m fine. I hear it’s all thanks to you two,” Marie said.

“No, not at all. It was a group effort,” Billy said.

“Like one of those group projects where two or three people are the main reason everyone else gets such good grades?” Marie asked.

“No, more like a play. Some people have certain parts, some lengthier than others, but overall every individual is needed for it to work,” Billy said.

Marie shook her head. “Yeah, okay. I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life.”

“Well, maybe one day you’ll return the favor,” Billy said.

“Please never be in a situation where I have to save your life,” Marie said. Billy gave a loud laugh. Marie turned to Edgar who had remained quiet the whole time. “Thank you, Edgar.”

Edgar gave a small nod. Before Marie could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around Edgar and gave him a hug. It wasn’t at all like she expected. Somehow she expected a hug from him to be cold and clammy, but it was warm. If a little awkward and short. The hug was over when he kept patting her back with both hands, quick and short.

“Be safe, all of you,” Marie said.

“You too, Marie,” Albert said. He gave her one last hug before they followed Harriet out of the apartment.