The next morning, Tim slips out of bed being careful not to wake his sleeping partner. He remembered seeing a coffee pot in the motel lobby and figured his two roomies would be wanting coffee first thing.

After taking a quick shower, he gets dressed and quietly leaves the room.

"Good morning." Tim smiles at the old man behind the desk. "Mind if I get some coffee?"

"Not at all, son. That's what it's there for.' The old man chuckles. "There's fresh donuts there too."

Tim fixes himself a cup of coffee. A million questions run through his mind that he wanted to ask the elderly gentleman. Picking up a donut, he walks up to the counter.

"Can I ask you a question, sir?" Tim asks.

"Sure." The man smiles as he folds up the newspaper he had been reading.

"How long have you lived around this area?" Tim asks.

"All my life. Born and raised here." The old man answers. 

"That's awesome. Uh, my friends and I stumbled across an old deserted area just about four or five miles from here. Maybe a town at one time?" Tim asks.

"Oh, you must be talking about Rhyolite." The man says.

"Yeah, I believe that was the name on the old sign we found." Tim nods.

"Believe it or not, it was a booming mining town at one time maybe five thousand people. My father actually worked in the mine there and my mom worked as a school teacher." The old man says with a nod.

"What can you tell me about the place?" Tim asks as he leans on the counter.

"Well, the town actually began in 1905 when ore was found. It quickly escalated. In 1906, a rich man bought the mine and invested a lot of money into Rhyolite. Power lines, running water, even phone lines. But as fast as the town was born, it died. The mines went dry. People left and by 1920 it was a ghost town. Not much standing anymore." The old man shakes his head.

"That's terrible. Is it just left to rot away or is the land for sale?" Tim asks.

"I believe it is for sale. My son, Michael, works at the realtor, I can find out for you. Will you and your friends be staying very long?" The old man asks.

"Well, it all depends on if the place is for sale." Tim chuckles. He tears off a sheet of paper from a notepad that was on the desk and jots down his phone number. "That's my name and number. If you find out anything can you give me a call?"

"Sure thing, son." The man takes the number and slips it into his shirt pocket. "My name is Kirk."

"Pleased to meet you." Tim says as he shakes the old man's hand. "Thank you for your time."

Tim walks back over to the coffee pot and refills his cup and fills two more, putting lids on them. Grabbing a hand full of sugar and creamer packets, he sets the cups into a carry-out tray along with a few donuts and heads toward the door.

Kirk hurries over and opens the door for him.

"I'll call my son later once he gets into his office and see what I can find out for you." The old man smiles.

"Thank you so much." Tim smiles.

Tim walks up to the door and stops. He realizes the door card was in his back pocket and his hands were full. He balances the tray on one hand as he tries to fish the card from his pocket.

The door suddenly opens and he's grabbed into a hug by Avi. Adam laughs as he grabs the tray that Tim was about to drop.

"It's so good to see you. Man, I've missed you." Avi says as he hugs Tim tightly.

"I've missed you too." Tim smiles as he wraps his arms around the smaller man once his hands were free.

They were all gathered inside Tim's room. Everyone talking at once, getting caught up on things.

"So you said that y'all might have found a place?" Austin asks, causing everyone to go quiet.

"Yeah, we sort of stumbled across it on accident. Like I said, the buildings need a lot of work so don't expect too much, okay?" Tim tells them. "I was just talking to the old man that runs this motel and I learned quite a bit about the place. Good news is, he thinks it might be for sale. BUT! It really depends on the majority vote whether we go any farther."

"Well, let's go see it!!" Avi says as he jumps to his feet.

"How far is it from here?" Olena asks.

"About five miles, I guess." Tim answers.

"It's absolutely beautiful here." Jenika says. "And this town, although it's kinda small, it still has so much to offer. Maybe we can find jobs here."

"That's what we were thinking." Adam nods.

"Let's go check it out." Chris says as he takes Nate's hand and they stand from where they had been sitting on his bed.

The first car heading out was Tim (driving), Adam, Chris, Nate and Avi. Austin (driving), Olena, Chance, Sami and Jenika followed behind them.

"So you said you learned a lot about the place?" Adam asks.

"The most important thing I learned is that the town did have electricity and running water." Tim answers. "But, the town has been abandoned since 1920 so I don't know what kind of shape anything is in."

"Holy moly!! Is that it?" Avi points as they pull up to the desert area.

"This is it." Tim says as he puts the car into park. "As I said, it needs a lot of work."

"Who cares. This is perfect!" Avi says as he jumps out of the car.

"This is exactly what we're looking for, Tim." Austin says as they all get out of their cars.

"This is what I had imagined for us." Jenika smiles.

"You said it had running water but some of this buildings look too small for even a bathroom." Chris comments.

"I kinda figured that we could use the buildings for our own privacy, sorta like bedrooms. Everything else such as the kitchen and dining area, bathrooms, showers or whatever can be in the old train station." Tim says with a shrug.

"Yeah, okay. I guess that would work." Chris nods.

"Look at this house here." Adam says as he points to a house that seemed to be made of bottles. "It's so cool."

"It's definitely different." Tim says as he reaches into his pocket for his phone as it begins to vibrate.

Tim walks away from the excited chatter so he could take the call.

(phone call)

T- Hello?
K- Hey, Tim? It's Kirk. Got the info you needed.
T- Okay? Whatcha got?
K- The place is definitely for sale. As a matter of fact, the price has been reduced a couple of times because of no potential buyers.
T- Oh, my God. That's awesome, Kirk. I have to contact a friend but we may be definitely interested in the place.
K- That's good to hear. My son will be very happy to hear this. Talk to you soon.
T- Thanks again, Kirk.

Tim smiles as he ends the call. 

"I've got good news and even gooder news." Tim says as he walks over to join the others, chuckling at his own choice of words.

"Let's hear it." Adam smiles.

"The good news is that the place IS for sale." Tim announces.

Everyone begins to cheer at the news.

"What's the gooder news?" Chance laughs.

"The gooder news is that the price has been reduced a couple of times." Tim adds.

Once again everyone begins to cheer.

"BUT!!" Tim adds as he holds up his index finger. "The question is, will Rob be willing to put up the money for the place and the repairs?"

"I can help out some." Avi replies. "I'm getting a pretty big settlement from the trucking company that ran me over."

"I've got some money saved." Sami adds.

"I do too." Chris says.

"Me too." Austin joins in. "So, what are you waiting on, Mr. Mayor? Make the call."

********

** a/n: The information that I posted about the ghost town of Rhyolite is all correct, EXCEPT for that fact that it is NOT for sale. **

Please, don't forget to VOTE & COMMENT!!