Greg woke up to see Matt and Merri still sleeping. He gingerly rubbed at his shoulder. There were not enough materials to create a sling. It was a choice of wait it out while just watching an already irritated Matt do everything to create a decent living space or try to tough it out. If he toughed it out, would it cause the injury worsen? If he wasn't careful or pushed himself, Matt would figure it out. That was a bridge needing to wait as long as possible since Merri was almost too much as it was. He kept massaging his shoulder while attempting to remain quiet while staring at the girl's sleeping form. Her breath slow but steady let him relax a bit. There had to be a way to make Matt see that she would not be able to make it out there in the world. The least his friend could do was give a good enough reason. Sure, she was wacked in the head but there had to be something else. What could it be, though? Matt stirred then stretched. "Good morning. Merri is still sleeping. I was thinking we should probably have a discussion about what you want to do."

Matt rubbed his face roughly with both hands, "Asshole, now is not the time. Let me fucking wake up, first. Shit! It's cold." Matt looked at the sleeping girl before adding, "Come on, we need to get something to get that shit in so we can fire it up. If she runs away again, we let her fucking leave. I am tired as fuck of running after that bitch." Matt stood then walked to the doorway. He looked at Greg still sitting on the floor, "You coming or what?"

Greg lowered his gaze to the floor, "I think we should talk about this, first. The thing is, if we don't, I think she will just leave." He looked up at Matt, "She thinks you hate her guts. She doesn't want to be here because of you." He pointed at Merri, "She has been through some shit and you have been nothing but a dick." Greg lowered his hand, "I've known you for a while and I have never seen you act like such an asshole toward anyone like that. You have to tell me what's going on."

Matt's face went a bright red. He was going to shout at Greg for calling him out. Then, he stopped to take a breath, then a second one. While it was true, the fact that Greg was confronting him like that was irritating. "Fuck!" He regretted how loud that came out as it echoed through the building. Merri stirred but seemed to fall back to sleep. Matt watched her closely for a while before he started speaking again, "You're an asshole but you're right. I don't know what the fucking problem is. It has been bothering me, too. Maybe it's because she's a girl?" Matt shrugged and then paced around. "Or maybe it's because of how much shit stirred up since we met the bitch?" He glanced at Greg with a hard glance, "We don't need these fucking issues. We have enough shit to worry about as is." He kicked a loose piece of tile across the floor, "Damn it! We have even more trouble to work out now." He walked over to sit by Greg, "All we needed was a stable place to keep warm. We were doing our own thing. Everything was going fine until everything turned upside fucking down." He kept his eyes on Merri. "All I know, is that if shit doesn't slow down, we're fucked."

Greg nodded every now and then while Matt spoke, "Look, I get it. It is hard enough to survive without having the Tears after us. How long do you think she can survive on her own, though?" He started staring at Merri, too. There didn't seem to be anything else worth looking at. "I spoke with her. She is scared. She even said that her brain is sick or some shit like that." He shook his head, "If that's really the case, she has no chance in Hell of living on her own." He smirked, "Remember when I got my trousers stuck on that fucking broken window? I was trying to get away from one of those ass hats on Third because I stole some of their shit." He gave a slight chuckle, "You had to save me but I will never forget what you said to those old shits, 'Stupid fucks get their shit taken from them."

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Matt chuckled with Greg, "Yeah, that shit was funny." He looked over at Greg, "You and her are different, though. You know that, right."

Greg nodded, "Yeah, I know. The point is that she is not so different than those old guys on Third. They wouldn't survive if they didn't have each other." He looked at Merri, "She's got no one." He shrugged, "Sure shit got stirred up but don't you feel more alive? I mean we were just doing the same shit routine for the past couple of years. We steal shit, we sit around just to wait to steal more shit." Greg sighed, "It's not exactly what I would call a life. Not that I'm not happy to have you along. I just think getting the shit stirred up was good for us."

Matt grimaced, "You are one fucked up asshole." He thought for a few moments, "I see your point, even though that's how shit is. We can't just keep running around stirring up shit. That's just the way we get killed. We'll be the three fucking morons that got killed by drug addicts and forgotten just as quickly."

Greg shook his head, "We haven't died yet." He looked at the ground again, "I think Merri is pretty decent. She isn't the problem here. It's those fucked up sons of bitches out there that are just as afraid of dying as the rest of us." He looked over at Matt, "Telling her to leave would be a mistake. I will always wonder if she's alright. If anything happened, it would be on my conscious. You want it on yours?"

Matt grimaced at Greg then jabbed his friend on the injured shoulder. Greg tried to hold the growl of pain in but Merri sat upright as soon as she heard it. Greg had tears welling in his eyes as he kept trying to keep the agony from escaping in a scream. Matt raised an eyebrow, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Merri came over, kneeling in front of Greg, "I can feel your pain. Please, let me help you?" When he nodded, Merri placed both of her hands over the injured shoulder. She didn't know why, it just sort of came to her to do that. She focused as a small glow of light came from her hands. It was a warm light that settled on Greg. The light was warm, beautiful but was gone within a minute.

Greg rolled his arm around without feeling pain. He glanced at Merri, not with fear but curiosity, "Thanks". Was all that he could manage to say. He was healed.

Matt looked at Merri, then to Greg, and then back to Merri, "What the ever loving fuck was that?"

Merri shook her head, "I don't know. I just felt like I needed to help. I just." She started shaking her head quickly, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Tears began to fall from her eyes.

Greg grabbed her by both her arms, "Hey, stop. I'm fine." He looked over to a very confused Matt, then glanced back at Merri, "I don't think your brain is broken. I think something else is going on. You have to talk to us."

Merri wiped at her face then looked at both the men, "I seriously don't know why or what is happening to me. I wish I did because I would tell you. I would!"

Matt stood. He was dazed, shocked, confused, and this new development really hit him hard. He decided he needed to go for some air, "Don't follow me."