Tim knocks on the door but quickly steps back at the sound of at least a hundred dogs barking.

"What the hell." Adam giggles as he too steps back as well as Jenika and Nate.

They all start to laugh as they hear a lady's voice yelling at the dogs to be quiet. An older lady, possibly in her late 50s or early 60s opens the door, pushing one of the barking dogs back with her foot.

"Sorry about that." She laughs as she steps out on the porch closing the door behind her. "You must be Tim?"

Tim looks around at the others with a puzzled look then turns back to the lady, "D*mn, you're good."

"Tim!" Adam scolds his lover and slaps him on the arm.

"I'm Betsy, Austin's mom." Betsy giggles at Tim's confused look. "I knew you were coming. I talked to your mom, Dena, I believe."

"Yes, mam." Tim nods with a smile. "Is Austin here?"

"Yeah, he's down by the lake where he stays ninety percent of the time." Betsy says sadly. "He's been so depressed and stays to himself a lot. Always deep in thought. Maybe seeing you guys will bring him out of his depression."

"How is he otherwise? Is he alright?" Adam asks.

"Right now, he's on oxygen but it's only temporary. He had a bad lung infection from the sea water that he breathed in." Betsy answers.

"Does he know we're coming?" Jenika asks.

"No, I thought it would be a nice surprise for him." Betsy says.

"Uh..." Tim says as he looks around at the lake but not seeing anyone. "Where is he?"

"Just go down to the lake and you'll see a path. It'll lead you to his favorite spot." Betsy says as she points toward the lake.

"Thank you." Tim says as he turns to head off toward the lake.

"Tim?" Betsy calls to him. "As much as I love my son and want him here if going with you guys puts a smile back on his face, well then, I'm all for it."

Tim smiles and nods at the sweet lady.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Nate says as they get to the lake.

"Here's the path that she must have been talking about." Adam says.

"Well, let's do this." Tim says as he takes Adam by the hand and starts up the path.

They walk quietly up the path. Tim seemed nervous. Austin was always the life of the party. Happy go lucky type of guy. Tim loved him dearly and it broke his heart to hear that he was suffering from his breathing and depression.

"Listen." Jenika whispers.

They all come to a stop to listen. They clearly heard coughing just up the path a bit.

As they come to the clearing, Tim smiles as he sees Austin sitting on a log as he stares out across the lake.

Austin slowly turns his head to the sound of rustling leaves. Expecting to see his mom checking on him. His eyes widen at the sight before him.

"Hey, Freckles." Tim says with a smile.

"Oh, my God." Austin whispers as he slowly stands to his feet. "Oh, my GODDDD!!" Austin starts to run toward them.

Tim and Adam quickly look at each other. Both were thinking the same thing. Should he be running with a lung infection? They both start running to meet him.

A few feet from Tim, Austin jumps into his arms. The brunette wraps his arms around Austin to keep from dropping him.

"Oh, my God." Austin sobs into Tim's neck as he holds on tightly.

No one said a word. No one knew exactly what to say.

Tim stands Austin back on the ground. Austin grins as he rubs Tim on the cheek.

"Are you guys real? Am I hallucination?" He asks as he turns and grabs Adam into a bone-crushing hug.

"We're real." Adam chuckles as he hugs Austin tightly.

"Holy sh*t! Look at you guys." Austin says as he pulls Jenika into a hug and then Nate. "You're all so beautiful."

"You don't look too bad yourself, Sweetie." Jenika giggles.

"So how are you doing?" Nate asks.

"I'm doing alright. This is just temporary." He says as he tugs at the oxygen pouch he had hanging on his shoulder.

"That's not what we got from your mom. She's quite worried about your depression." Tim says as he wipes his eyes.

"Oh, that." Austin says as he hangs his head.

Tim tilts his head as Austin's thoughts shocked him.

"I guess we came just in time, huh?" Tim asks with a raised brow.

"What? What are you talking about?" Austin says with a nervous chuckle.

Tim reaches into the pocket of Austin's jacket and pulls out a small pistol.

"Care to explain this?" Tim asks softly.

"I couldn't take it anymore, Timmy." Austin says as he shakes his head. "I thought maybe if I killed myself that I could be with you guys again."

"We're here now." Tim says as he rubs the side of Austin's head. "And we're for real. You're not crazy."

"We're searching for the others. Tim's mom found an address for Chance. We're headed there next." Adam says.

"Have you found Olena yet?" Austin asks.

"She's in California along with Sami, Avi and Darrell." Tim says. "We'll find her."

"Can I come, please?" Austin asks as his eyes scan his friends' faces. "I don't want to stay here. I wanna be with you guys."

"D*mn good thing we switched vehicles." Tim chuckles as he winks at Adam.

"Yep, if we hadn't got a van we would have had to put Austin in the trunk with all the luggage." Adam laughs.

"So does that mean that I can come with you?" Austin asks. His face lighting up with excitement.

"I wouldn't think of leaving Georgia without you." Tim smiles.

"Do I have time to pack?" Austin asks.

"Unless you wanna wear the same clothes day after day. I think packing your clothes would be a good idea." The mayor chuckles.

"Smart*ss." Austin laughs.

"Come on. We'll help you pack." Jenika says as she grabs him by the hand.

"Guys, please don't tell my mom about me having the gun and what I was planning on doing." Austin says as they walk up the path.

"I think that she was afraid that you would try something like that." Tim says. "She sorta gave us permission to take you with us if it made you happy again."

"Oh, it does. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders." Austin says with a smile.

Jenika and Nate helped Austin pack while Tim and Adam talked to Betsy. Filling her in on their plans of finding everyone and then finding a place to live.

"Austin and I have always been close. So when he started telling me about this place called Dead Town and the people that were there, I believed him. In my heart, I knew he wasn't making it all up. I feel as though I know you all personally." Betsy smiles. "Just take care of him."

"We will, Ms. Betsy. I promise." Tim smiles, hugging her as Austin, Jenika and Nate come from his room carrying several suitcases. "Good lord. We may have to get a bigger vehicle just for Austin's clothes."

"And this ain't even all of them." Nate laughs.

"I don't like washing clothes." Austin laughs as he sets down his suitcases so he could hug his mom.

"It's so good to see that smile again." Betsy says as she hugs her son. "You call me, you hear?"

"I will." Austin says with a smile.

"Once we get settled we want you to come to visit." Tim says as he helps load the luggage into the van.

"I most definitely will." Betsy says.

"Bye, mom. I love you." Austin waves as they begin to drive away.

"Love you too, Sweetheart. Don't forget to call." Betsy says as she waves.

"Okay. Next destination, Daphne, Alabama." Adam says as he programs Chance's address into the GPS.

********

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