In the morning when the sun shined brightly through the window, Carmen awoke with a jolt out of bed. She breathed out of her mouth and strands of hair fell over her face. Her eyes had bags more prominent than before, and her cheeks were crusty with dried tears.

Lila wasn't in the bed, but before Carmen freaked out she heard a commotion in the living room. The clicking and clacking of what seemed like utensils and bowls.

She left the room, wiping the crust from her cheeks. Entering the living room, she found Lila and four other kids at the dining room table; all having bowls of milk and banana chips.

“H-how?” Carmen asked.

Lila looked at her, “David gave us cereal,” she said happily. The kids seemed happier than ever to have something so good.

“Where is he?” Carmen asked.

SHINK went the sound of a shovel hitting the dirt outside.

Carmen looked out the window, seeing David digging a grave, with a cloaked object beside him. He was also still wearing the same clothes.

Stepping outside, the sun almost blinded her. She squinted with her hand over her eyes as she made her way around the house.

When she found David, he was dragging the object into the grave. She noticed four more lumps beside the hole. Remembering the family photo she saw last night, she decided to double check the photo when she could.

“David?” said Carmen.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, “Raroro…” he said.

“Sorry…Is that…” she pointed to the gave.

David nodded somberly.

“Okay. Do the kids know?” Carmen asked.

David shrugged as if to say he didn't know. He stabbed the dirt with his shovel and took out his pencil and notepad from his back pocket. As he wrote in the notepad, Carmen glanced over to where the boy was caught in the trap.

The fenced area was a small garden with bushes that stood on wooden stakes, but they were growing multiple types of fruits.

“Woah. Is that real?” said Carmen. David looked to see Carmen glancing at the garden.

“Webi wabo,” he said. He began writing faster on the note pad.

When Carmen looked back at David, he held out the notepad: “I gave them cereal to distract them, but your little girl saw the boy before I covered him. Also, I grafted the bushes to grow multiple fruits. Works wonders.”

“Huh,” said Carmen. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to ask. Her eyes glanced down then back to Dave. She tilted her head slightly and looked to the side when she spoke, “We have to get going soon. Thank you for feeding the ki-” She thought for a second. What if the kids stayed here? But she couldn't risk leaving the kids so close to Tulare. She shook her head. “Thank you for feeding them. We’ll be out of your hair soon.”

David shook his head and began writing in the pad: “Get some banana chips before you leave, I have plenty,” he wrote.

“Thanks,” Carmen said.

She re-entered the home through the front and stopped at the family picture on the wall. It was David in the photo as the male adult, with presumably his wife, two sons, and his mother-in-law. He was smiling and much brighter than the David she knows now.

Back in the kitchen, the kids were finishing up their cereal, but their happiness had dimmed down.

“What’s wrong guys?” said Carmen.

“I don't wanna leave,” said one young boy. The other four girls seemed to agree.

“Sorry, but there are people waiting for us,” Carmen answered. She walked over to the countertop, where a glass jar full of dried banana chips was.

“But David has good food!” said one girl.

“I know,” Carmen answered. She dug through the cupboards looking for something to carry banana chips. “But it’s not a choice.”

The kids sighed and gently tapped their spoons on their bowls.

Carmen continued going through the cupboards and found a jar of what looked like milk. It was half empty. “Is this the milk you guys had?” she asked, pointing to the jar.

The kids nodded. “David said he makes his own almond milk,” said Lila.

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Carmen nodded. She found a small paper bag and used it to store several handfuls of banana chips. “Okay, let's go. Everyone get up.”

“Where’s Jeffery?” said the one boy.

“Jeffery?” Carmen asked.

“He’s dead,” said Lila.

The kids looked at her, not comprehending what she said.

“What?” said the boy.

“He died last night,” Lila repeated, somewhat coldly.

“Oh,” the boy said. He slumped down into his chair. He stared at the table, blankly.

Carmen tucked the bag into her pants pocket and rushed the kids out of the house. “Alrighty, come on! Let's go! Move it.”

The kids unenthusiastically walked outside with Carmen. David was walking back to the door when he saw them. He nodded and waved goodbye. Carmen and the kids waved back and she led them into the fields, headed south for Tipton.

Back on the night that Hugo and Jacob were taken.

Jacob rocked around in the trunk of the car, blindfolded. He was wounded and sore. By the time the car had stopped he was coming in and out of consciousness. The trunk opened and a man picked him up and held him by the ropes that tied his hands and legs. The stress on his limbs was almost numbing.

He was taken into a building and put in an empty room, with his hands and legs tied. He fell asleep like that on the floor.

Early the next morning, his door swung open to what seemed like several men entering the room. They sat Jacob up against a wall and held him there.

A final man entered, walking calmly as he did.

“Hey,” the man said. He snapped his fingers in front of Jacob’s face.

Jacob’s eyes were closed under his blindfold. He breathed through his mouth.

“Ugh, you smell terrible,” said the man. He stepped back. “Whatever. So listen, I need you to talk and if you don’t, bad things will happen to your friend and presumably everyone else you know.” He paused.

Jacob stayed silent. The man whispered to his side and Jacob’s blindfold was removed. He saw the bald man who had tattoos around his body. He wore shades, had a cigar in one hand and a combat knife in the other. Hugo was tied up beside him and held up by another henchman. His head was down, but his eyes weakly glanced at Jacob.

“Ready?” said the bald man.

Carmen and the kids had been walking up until noon when Tipton could be seen before them in the distance. The bag of banana chips was already empty.

Carmen led the group, with the kids forming a line behind her. Under the heat, they were drenched in sweat, and needed to use the restroom.

“I don't wanna walk anymore,'' one girl whined.

“Come on everyone,” said Carmen with an exhausted breath. “We’re almost there.”

The few wanderers in the group’s field of view seemed to be collapsing under the intense heat. One even looked to be smoking from its skull.

“Hold on, there's a rock in my shoe,” said the boy.

Carmen stopped and slowly rotated her body to face the boy. They all looked at him as he wiggled his shoe. His sock was missing, and his foot had a layer of dirt around it. Carmen’s bottom lip quivered and she moved her eyes away from the kids. She wiped a tear before they could see.

Continuing into the streets of Tipton, there were no wanderers in sight. From down the street a woman stood be barely seen observing Carmen and the kids. Then, in a blink, she was gone. Carmen slowed her walk and the kids did too.

“Keep watch, let me know if you see anything,” said Carmen. She gripped her wooden stake, ready to fight. Her hand quivered, and her muscles were tired, but she kept up the act to make the kids feel safer.

From where the woman disappeared, around the corner came a pick-up truck. Inside were two men, and they sped towards the group.

“Hide, hide!” Carmen said. She rushed the group behind a nearby car and readied her stake.

The truck slowed to a stop and out of the passenger side, Dylan, Carmen’s dad, came running.

“Dad!” Carmen smiled. She dropped her stake and the two hugged tightly.

“I thought you were dead,” Dylan said with relief. Tears came from each other’s eyes as they held each other.

The driver of the truck was a man Carmen had never seen before, but was from the Spine gang. He went to grab the kids and put them in the bed of the truck. Carmen sat in the bed as they were driven back to the base in Tipton.

“Are we safe now?” asked one girl.

“Yeah,” Carmen said with an exhale as she felt the breeze in her hair. She didn't look at the kids for the trip back.

Lila sat by herself with her knees to her chest and her arms holding them together. Her eyes were the baggiest of all the kids, and her hair was the thinnest.

At the base, it was quiet, yet it seemed like this was the biggest of all of them. It had almost triple the number of people back in Cawelo. Everyone seemed unhappy, and the day seemed slow.

Dylan helped the kids out of the bed who then were escorted by some caretakers to their new quarters. As Dylan helped Carmen from the bed, she spoke.

“Why are there so many people here?” she asked, glancing around. She stepped onto the concrete and began walking with her Dad.

“After Tulare, all members in every camp were called to gather here. We lost everyone in Tulare. Except for two,” said Dylan.

“Who else came back?” said Carmen. She glanced across the camp to recognize a woman from before but she couldn't put her finger on it.

“Yeah, her,” Dylan added. He nodded to the woman that Carmen noticed. “And Martin, but he’s in bad shape. Oh, and Hugo…?” he paused.

Carmen’s smile dimmed, she remembered Hugo’s desire to leave. “He’s alive…but they took him.”

Dylan stopped with his hand on Carmen’s shoulder. “They took him?” he asked.

He quickly led Carmen to a medical tent, where Martin was being watched by Cherryl and others.

Mordecai was being spoon fed by Genesis on another bed across the tent. He was sitting up, and there weren't as many bandages as there were before. When they noticed Carmen, they waved but upon seeing her appearance, they grew concerned.

“Martin,” said Dylan.

Cherryl stopped Dylan with her hand and shook her head. They saw Martin to be asleep. His hand was cast wrapped all around and his upper body was wrapped in bloody bandages.

“What is it?” said a woman from behind. It was the one Carmen noticed from before. They quickly made eye contact, and recognized each other for a moment but didn't comment on it.

“Hugo is alive,” said Dylan.

The woman leaned in, now with her full attention.