Scene 19 - November 8th

Exterior Townhouse, Late Morning

Quinn Kaufman

A few days after the paintball game, it was time to officially move in to the Compound. While I had been living there since Holly and Simone had brought me there from the hospital, I hadn’t actually been back home in that time. My stuff was still there - my books, my clothes, all the little knick-knacks that build up over the course of a life. I had been avoiding going back - I knew myself well enough to be certain that seeing the place empty and lifeless wouldn’t be good for me - but the time off that UNV had given me expired tomorrow. I had to venture back there to get my notes for school, at least.

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Simone apparently had a lunch date today - her and her girlfriend had been on a break for reasons she didn’t want to go into, but were now ready to give it another shot - so she wasn’t here to help. Holly was available just as she had promised, though, and she held one hand in mine to help me stay grounded as I climbed out of her car and approached the home I had lived in for 21 years.

I paused at the doorstep of the house, staring up at it. “It feels so empty already,” I said. She squeezed me hand, and I squeezed back. “Let’s... let’s get started, I guess.”