Hargrove looked the same as I had left it. I half expected it to be up in flames when we got back; civil unrest having taken over inside. But no, it was still intact with guards at their posts. John stuck his head out the window and they opened the gate for us. I was suddenly very conscious of my attire and condition. It was obvious we had been through the ringer at the hospital. I hoped that Wyatt would have to see-not that he would care in the end.

We got out of the vehicles, the new additions sticking close to me, unsure of the approaching crowd. The slow girl ran over to Leo and latched onto him. George gave me a curious glance and I gave him a thumbs up. John walked over to me.

"Could have mentioned that guy was deaf. I was talkin' to him for a good ten minutes before one of the others informed me he couldn't hear," John said.

"Not like I had time to facilitate introductions, you know," I pointed out. But I knew how John felt; the same thing had happened to me. "Speaking of that, what did you guys do with Wyatt and his crew? You can't expect me to stay here with them."

"I wouldn't do that to you. We have 'em locked up in the condo we used to hold Byron. There's a guard posted at all times till we decide what to do with 'em."

"Do I get a say in that?"

John pursed his lips. "Depends on what you wanted to do with 'em. Would you hold Ethan to that same punishment?"

I held eerily still. "He told you then?"

"He told me he made a big mistake in tellin' those guys about you bein' immune before you and Chloe even showed up. Before he knew they were bad news."

"Well he did tell them and I got punished for it. He can go to hell." My fists were shaking again. I didn't care if he felt bad. He shouldn't have betrayed my secret regardless of whether he thought Wyatt was a good guy or not. That wasn't for him to share.

John placed a hand on my shoulder. "I ain't goin' to tell you to forgive him, but you have to deal with him. You got others besides him to consider."

As if he had summoned her with his words, Chloe came running up to us. She looked at Ethan then swung her head around until she saw me, then ran straight for me. I braced myself for the impact, but my stomach was still sore from the punt I had taken. I let out an "oomph" sound and Chloe loosened her grip.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she said, looking up at me.

"You injured worse than I can see?" The ever watchful John asked.

"Just some bruising," I said, but it did hurt.

"What happened?" Chloe asked, still not fully letting go of me. I cursed Ethan again for putting me in this situation.

I gently pushed Chloe off. "You know me, just getting into some fights."

John's eyes narrowed. "You should get that looked at."

"By who? The guy who helped send me off?" I said harshly. "Maybe he should have to look me over, so he can see firsthand."

"No, Oscar is locked up as well. Crystal was unofficially shadowin' him, mostly after Sheri was shot. She can have a look," John said.

"I'm not the only one," I said, motioning for the others we had brought back. Rose was injured for sure and I didn't know if any of the others needed something looked at.

"All right everyone, follow me," John barked at us.

We walked together to the medic center, Chloe hanging on me the whole time.

"There she is," Chloe said.

I turned to see what she was talking about. Zoe stopped just before me and looked me over. Tears filled her eyes and she gently gave me a hug.

"Oh my God, I thought I'd never see you again. Those asses wouldn't let me come with them to find you!" She pulled away and shot an accusing glance at John. He looked away. "How injured are you? What happened? Who are these people?"

I held up my hand. "Woah, one at a time."

She shook her head. "Never mind. I'm just glad you're back," she said with a smile. "Did John tell you about what they did with Wyatt and the others?"

"Being held prisoner?" Just now I saw the irony in that.

"After John worked Wyatt over."

I looked at John for confirmation, but he was already ushering the rest of the group into the makeshift medic center.

"He told me he questioned him," I said.

"Well, that too. If John hadn't done that, Wyatt might never have broken down and told us what happened. Unsurprisingly, the town didn't object to using force," Zoe said.

I couldn't imagine John doing that-me yes-but not him. My eyes threatened to water as I felt a sudden rush of emotion. John cared enough about me to put aside his own set of rules in order to find me. That's what family did. I discreetly wiped at my eye.

We walked into the condo and it was a rush of activity inside. Crystal was running around and Sheri was writing furiously onto a clipboard. She looked up and shot me a grin.

"Glad to see your back."

"Thanks."

"Now go to the operation room so Crystal can examine you."

I did as I was ordered. After ten minutes of poking and blood pressure taking, Crystal finally gave me her diagnosis.

"There's no internal bleeding that I can tell, but you're going to have to keep that foot injury hella clean to avoid infection." She took off to the medicine cabinet on the wall and came back with a tube. "Antibiotic ointment. Apply this twice a day and use clean wrappings every time."

I took the tube from her outstretched hand. "Thank you. So you think my stomach is okay?"

"Yes, if you had any internal damage, it would have made itself known by now and your blood pressure is normal, and considering what you've just been through, that's a medical miracle."

I smiled at her joke, but it wasn't sincere. Such a little thing as being hit in the stomach could've killed me if it had landed in the right area. Humans were so fragile ...

I thanked Crystal again and left. I made sure to tell the others to head to my condo once they were done being looked over. We would hash out the living arrangement details after that.

Once showered and changed and my foot re-wrapped, I walked into my condo living room to be greeted by Roy and Amanda in addition to everyone else. We said our hellos all while in the back of my mind I was fighting with the right way to tell him about his wife. Maybe I could have Rose do it? I sighed internally. That would be cowardly, plus Rose had no tact. I was saved from my conundrum when the door opened to reveal the others done with their examinations.

"Please tell me I can get a shower in here," Rose said. "And some clean clothes."

We split them up into some of the empty condos and gave them spare clothes to change into. Everyone was happy to be rid of the hospital pajama's we were forced to wear. I was considering burning mine in a metal garbage can later. It would be therapeutic.

By the time everyone was rounded up and squeaky clean, it was time for supper. We showed them the clubhouse where the food was served and tried to give them the shorthand tour along the way. Most weren't listening, too hungry to care. My own stomach was growling under the bruises. We got our food and sat down with some of the town people introducing themselves periodically.

"Damn, this is much better than the gruel they served at the hospital," Leo said between huge bites. Rose grunted in agreement. "Even Mac would've approved."

Roy and Chloe's heads shot up. "Mac was there?" Roy asked.

Everyone was looking at me now. "He pretended to be immune to avoid ..." I looked at Chloe. We had never told her about what we had found at the apartments, "... leaving the apartments. But the mercenaries still handed him over to the hospital group. He was bitten and turned while we were there."

Roy looked down at his plate and Chloe looked like she was about to cry. Amanda already was. This was turning into a great supper. It made me even more apprehensive about telling Roy what I found out about Irene. My appetite had taken a nose dive, but I still forced myself to finish my plate. I needed the nourishment, even if it felt like a lump was sitting in the pit of my stomach at the moment.

John tried to steer the conversation towards the newcomers, asking them about where they were before they were taken. Most came from rag-tag groups like ours, except for Rose, who had preferred to be on her own. And Lucas refused to participate.

"Can we stay here?" the slow girl asked.

Turns out her name was Brittany. She was sitting right beside Leo and looked like she would rather give up her food than her spot.

"Of course," John said. "We could always use more hands around here."

Brittany smiled and nudged Leo with her elbow. He was too busy eating to notice. A pair of hand slid over my eyes.

"Guess who?" Colin's voice said from right behind me.

"The creepy clown from IT?" I joked. "Or a least some guy with the same hair?"

"Please, that guy wish he had hair like mine," Colin scoffed as he removed his hands from my eyes. I sat up and gave him a hug. "All right, Mom. That's enough, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends!"

I rolled my eyes. "Still a brat I see." I looked him over. He looked as tired as I remembered him. I would have to have a talk with him about what Oscar had revealed, but in private.

"Nice shiner," he said.

"Thanks."

After supper, most people just wanted to get some sleep that wasn't in a cell. Brittany practically drug Leo to the condos. I shot him a wink and he turned red in the face. Rose followed after them muttered about how she wasn't looking after no baby.

Another round of hugs from my friends ensued and I finally had to shove them away in the name of sleep. I was exhausted.

The next day I woke up disoriented, still half expecting I'd be unable to leave the bedroom. I was giddy when the doorknob unlatched and I walked into the living area with a smile on my face. It faded when I spotted Roy reading an old paperback, sipping on a cup of coffee. I had to tell him about Irene.

"Mmm, coffee," I said as I made myself a cup of instant. "Where's Amanda?"

"She went with Chloe to help with collecting eggs. Why?" Roy asked.

I sat down at the island on a stool. "I have something to tell you about Irene."

The cup fell from Roy's hand and shattered on the fake hardwood. Black coffee spread over the light flooring like it was devouring it. He ignored his mess and asked, "What is it?"

His eyes bore into mine, shrinking my confidence. I had to tell him, but I really didn't want to. Didn't people say ignorance was bliss? I took a deep drink of my coffee. It burnt my tongue a little on the way down.

"She had been at the hospital," I said slowly, carefully. Obviously she wasn't here now and that had to tell him how the rest of the story went.

"You saw her?" he got right in front of me.

"No I didn't." I placed a hand on Roy's shoulder. It was tense. "Rose told me that she had died before I arrived there."

Roy seemed to collapse on himself and had to put a hand on the counter to balance himself. "You ... you sure it was her?" His eyes were unfocused.

"Rose said her name was Irene. And you said the mercenaries took her because she was immune and that hospital is where they dropped all the immune off at."

"Maybe it was a different Irene," Roy mumbled.

I didn't say anything, I just let him soak up the news. Instead, I grabbed a handful of paper towel and cleaned up the coffee he had dropped.

"It might not have been her," Roy said suddenly and I jumped from the startle.

"You can talk to Rose. She was Irene's roommate. Maybe she can describe how Irene looked and then you can be sure." I'd have to get to Rose first to tell her to not mention that Irene had hung herself, though.

Roy bobbed his head. "Which one was Rose again?"

"How about I take you to her?" I suggested.

"Okay." Roy looked so small and defeated.

I chugged the rest of my coffee and led him to Rose and Leo's condo. There wasn't much choice because Roy stood at the door like a puppy waiting to go outside. It was sad to see him look so lost. I was fidgeting the whole walk over, while Roy walked like his legs were made of stone. Was telling him the right thing to do? It would save him from risking his life for a ghost, but maybe hope that she was alive was what kept him going. I wanted to pull out my hair from the stress.

I knocked on their front door and Rose answered quickly. She had her own full cup of coffee in hand and a big smile.

"Can't remember the last time I had coffee. It's heaven!" Rose exclaimed.

"Uh, can we come in?" Rose must have sensed my mood because she turned off the happy face and let us in. "Rose, can I talk to you for a second?" I pointed to the hallway.

She nodded. I turned to Roy and told him to hold on for a minute. He barely acknowledged me.

When we were out of earshot, Rose said, "He slow or somethin'?"

"No, that's Irene's husband."

Rose's mouth fell open. "No shit? Why'd you bring 'em here?"

"He doesn't quite believe that it's the same Irene as his wife, so can you describe her to him?" I said, then quickly added, "without mentioning how she died."

"If he asks, what should I say?"

"Make up something. Like she died in an experiment, so he knows she's dead, just not by her own hand."

"All right, but truth has a way of gettin' out," Rose said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't need that right now," I insisted.

We walked back over to Roy. "So what can I do for you, Roy?" Rose said.

I glared at her for using such a casual tone. She knew exactly why we were here.

"What did Irene look like?" Roy asked in a small voice. He wouldn't look up from the floor.

"She was a brunette with iron straight hair, I think," Rose said, "um, she was about as tall as you." Rose pointed at Roy and then had to stop to think. "Ah, she had been bitten on the left hand. She'd cry about her kids all the time. She mentioned an ... Amanda?"

At that Roy let out a sob and Rose flew back like she had been shoved. She gave me a pleading look that said, "Get him out of here." Roy continued to cry and I placed a hand on his back. This was awkward. Despite the looks Rose was giving me, I let Roy cry it out. There were no tissues so I gave him a hunk of paper towel from their kitchen to cry on.

It was odd to see a grown man sobbing uncontrollably, but I wasn't going to hold this against Roy. I felt like I had just pulled the floor out from under him. Like I had just destroyed his hope. I should have just let him keep searching for her... Roy sniffed a couple times and looked up. He opened the front door and took off in a brisk walk. I took off after him afraid that he would do something stupid. He walked back to our condo and all the way to his room.

I watched from the hallway as he threw his bags about. Finally, he found whatever he had been looking for and sat down at the bed. It was an old photo. I slowly approached him and peeked at the picture. It was of their family. Roy and Amanda and one adult female and other young one.

"That's a beautiful picture," I said quietly.

"It was from last Christmas," Roy said. "How am I supposed to tell my daughter?"

"I don't know, Roy," I said. I'd had a hard enough time struggling to tell Roy. "You can tell her when you're ready. It doesn't have to be right now."

"You're right." He continued to stare at the photo. "Maybe then we can have a little service for Irene."

"That's a lovely idea. I'll help with whatever you need," I offered.

Roy looked up at me. "Thank you. Do you mind if I have a moment alone?"

"Of course." I wanted to tell him to not do anything stupid, but I held my tongue.

I left him alone and closed the door behind me with a small prayer that he would be okay.