“I don’t understand?”
“You probably never will, Ellie. Just try to keep your chats short with him. He is hell bent on trying to reach one of his friends and his son.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know, exactly, but it is someplace in Canada. Again, he just keeps talking about one thing and it leads him to something completely different.”
“You understand that I thought you were dead...we thought you were dead...not even a radio message to tell us you were alive! You can’t do that to people. You can’t do that to people that care about you, and that you said you cared about!”
“It wasn’t like that; it wasn’t because I didn’t care. It was because I did. I couldn’t stand to see anyone else die because of some decision I made, something wrong that I did.”
“Did you ever think that those things would have happened regardless of what decisions you made, or if you were here or not? We are stronger or were stronger with you here by our side, one more person pulling triggers, watching our backs. It was just Greg and I left from our group. Everyone was gone, and we thought you were too.”
“I don’t know what to say, Ellie. I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I just didn’t know how to deal with what I was feeling, and for the first time it seemed like the only decision I could grasp was the idea of leaving.”
“Well, next time, don’t be a dick, and stick around. Girls like me are going to be a hot commodity once people start dating again, when all of the Turned are dead. Your blood bag trick was pretty awesome. It just is a slow collection process; you know on account of us having to continually get more.”
“Yeah, well I’m glad that was working.”
Clary cleared his throat. Patience wasn’t his forte and he had already used more of it than most people would be afforded. Clary walked over, holding up a finger to Earl, who looked like he was going to lose his patience pretty quickly. Clary pulled Shaun over holding him up straight in front of him and assessing the boy who was very much on his way to becoming a man. He’d lost weight, gained muscle and grown a few inches, he thought. Other than some light scarring that he’d picked up, he appeared to be in good health. “You okay, Shaun? I didn’t think we were ever going to see you again.”
Shaun was going to say something but Clary brought up his arms a second time, moving pretty quick for a one-eyed Navy Seal, and gave him a bear hug that he would not soon forget the feeling of.
“I hadn’t planned on coming back, to be honest, but I knew that this was a game changer and I didn’t know anywhere else to start from. I wanted you guys to be set up. Enough has been lost.”
“You aren’t making any sense, Shaun. Are you sure that you are alright?”
“I’ll explain everything…if we can stay?”
Clary pulled Shaun off balance towards him and held him by both shoulders. He whispered, “Shaun, no one asked you to leave, we didn’t want you to leave. We just wanted to know you were alright. Of course you can stay, son.”
Shaun’s shoulders dropped a few inches. His stress was almost melting away. Shaun noticed people missing, and he was too scared at the moment to ask where they were, for he was confident he already knew the answer. “It’s good to be back, Clary, I am really glad you guys are still here.”
“We aren’t all here, but we can go over all that later. I appreciate you not asking right away. It doesn’t ever get any easier.”
“Never will, Clary.”
Clary let go of his shoulders and took a step back. He was going to ask Shaun about his travels and how in the hell he ended up in a CDC airplane and with a group of strangers, but a very impatient Joey stepped forward and wrapped his massive arms around Shaun, squeezing him until it hurt. When he let go, Shaun gave him a hug that wasn’t going to leave him thinking he needed a chiropractor after it.
Greg was the last to step up; he smiled, walking forward, arms out. Shaun was wondering if he’d hit his head and was hallucinating or if something had happened to Greg over the time that he’d been gone. The idea that Greg could have matured in that long of a time was probable, but the likelihood of it was small. Shaun opened his arms slowly trying not to be mistrusting. Greg got within a foot and used the back of his hand to slap Shaun hard in the balls.
Shaun let out an oomph of air as he swallowed puke back down, keeping himself from losing it. However, if he was going to lose it on anyone right now, it would most definitely be Greg. Shaun took a step back practicing his breathing that Mr. Li had taught him, but it hadn’t helped or done anything to make this horrific pain feel any better or to dissipate. Shaun finally fell to a knee, Greg ruffled his hair and said, “Glad you’re home, asshole, don’t leave again. Ellie went off on a four-wheeler looking for your ignorant ass, and well, things didn’t go great for anyone from there.”
Shaun coughed once more and pushed back up to his feet, a little wary now of Greg and what he’d do. He said, “Good to see you, Greg. I don’t always pick the best choices, but I’m sure you know we all make some bad mistakes.”
Greg put his hand out, pulling Shaun up. He gave him a long hug and when he let go, each of
