Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:37:15 -0500 From: Dwedno Smith Subject: Beyond Tunnel Chapter 3 To all that have waited patiently for the next chapter Thank you and to those who have written me to tell things about the story and their idea's Thank you too. Other then the obvious lateness of the chapter I won't keep all of you waiting. I hope to get to everyone's e mail shortly now that a lot of free time is ahead once again. Enjoy the chapter everyone. Dwedno. Chapter 3. Getting to know the boys and surrounding. It was a good rest and quiet night as Bryan opened his eyes. Kate was already up and breast feeding the baby as Bryan sat up in bed and looked over at her. "Morning." They said to each other. "I'll be done soon if you want to hold your son." "That's great but first I want to head to the bathroom to wake up." He got out of bed and threw on a pair of sweats over his boxers and headed out to the bathroom. Some of the boys were awake and other then a quick wave he walked past them with little said. He walked to the bathroom and went to open the door but it was locked. He jiggled the handle and after a few seconds someone yelled they would be right out. So he stood there waiting and having to pee it was getting close to the point where he was going to either have to go or find another place soon. Finally as he was about to give up the door opened and Austin the youngest of the boys walked out. "Sorry sir but I had to go really bad." He smiled at the boy as he practically ran him over to get inside. With a deep breath and a great sigh of relief he took care of business. Shortly after that he washed up and headed back out and in by Katie. She was tending to Joel and about to give him his morning feeding. As she lifted him from his crib she sat down and carefully took out a boob and the baby began to suckle. Although he didn't see anything he watched her perform her duties as a mother and when he saw enough he finished dressing and then decided to head downstairs to the mall and find a bit to eat. "I'll be back later Kate gonna get some food in me I am starving." "Okay Bryan as soon as I am done with feeding Joel I will be free if you want me." "I'll be in the food court." "Okay." With that he left. As he was heading down the same young man happened to be heading down too. This time he said hello to him. "Hi, what's your name?" "Its Austin sir." "Well nice to meet you Austin. Sorry I was in a bit of a rush before." "That's okay. You going for food?" "Yes I am are you?" "Yes sir." "Care to join me and show me some place good to eat?" "Thanks, yes I would like that." So with that he followed nine year old Austin to the food court and Austin led him to one of the few decent places that were left to eat at. They got what they wanted and sat to have some nourishment. Little was said while they ate but Bryan watched the fair haired boy as he gobbled up his food. He found the young boy cute although he wasn't anywhere near what he like. Never the less he was still a cute blonde headed boy and he was having a good time watching him. When Austin was done he got up and threw out his garbage and then headed over to look at another stand for what was apparently dessert or something else to eat. Bryan watched him do his thing and shortly after that Austin came back with something that looked to be chocolate. "Whatcha got there?" "It's a fudge brownie. They are frozen at the stand over there and its about the only good thing there is left to eat when it comes to something sweet." "Oh I see, said Bryan. Are there a lot of them left?" "Yes I think so, I haven't really looked closely, but every time I go for one I always see plenty more in there." "Oh, he said again. Maybe I'll try one." Bryan got up and walked over to get a look at what the boy was talking about. Sure enough in the freezer there was a bunch of frozen brownies. He took one out and brought it over to the microwave and began heating it. He thought about how good a cold glass of milk would go with it but they haven't had milk in weeks. then he thought about how much he missed milk and is upset him to think he would never have that again, at least fresh milk. There was powdered left but it tasted like shit he thought to himself. After the microwave dinged he took out his now warm brownie and went back over and sat with Austin who was now covered in chocolate but apparently quite happy with himself after finishing the food. By now Austin had gotten up and was off to the washroom to clean up. A ritual he would later find out from the boy that he did quite often as he enjoyed his treat. Eventually he followed the boy back and headed upstairs to see what Kate was doing. "Kate I am back!" he yelled out as he entered the room. "Sorry but she isn't here, said one of the boys. She left about fifteen minutes ago with Joel." "Thanks...ummm..." "Matt, my name is Matt." "Sorry I don't know everyone yet." "It's cool. But yeah they left a little while ago." "Did she say where she was going?" "Nope but Travis and Mike went along. No one leaves her alone when she goes out. It's for her protection and she doesn't seem to mind it a lot." "Yeah I am sure. Well thanks Matt." He turned and headed back downstairs and decided to go look for her. He strolled around for a while but didn't see anyone or anything other then stores. Then he heard a baby cry and he knew he was close. He followed the wailing for a while and eventually it led him to Kate. She was sitting on a bench holding Joel and her two body guards were standing around her watching. "Kate..." he yelled out. Immediately Travis and Mike turned but didn't point their guns at him. He ran over to see what was going on. "Sorry I missed you I got back a little bit after you left. Matt told me you took off." "Yeah I didn't know where you were and I was bored so I took these two and went for my usual walk." "Oh, that's fine I just wanted to see if I could catch up with you." She looked at Mike and Travis. "You boys can go now I will be fine with Bryan here." "Sure Kate. Said Travis. We're gonna go take a walk on our own if that's okay." "Sure there is no reason you can't do that. Have fun boys." With that Mike and Travis took off to explore or what she thought was explore the mall. Little did she know that Mike and Travis were off to find a private place so that they could have some kind of sex together. At first... way before the comet hit they went to the same school and were social friends but since the comet hit one thing has led to another and totally by accident about two weeks ago Mike was out exploring and he went to a part of the mall where he thought he would be alone and he heard a noise. As he crept up on the noise he found Travis sitting on a couch with his pants down around his ankles and he was jerking on his cock like there was no tomorrow. As he watched him whack off he suddenly became aroused and found his hand wandering down to his own growing cock and before long he had his cock out of his pants and was fondling himself as he watched Travis pull on his own six or more inches. After a few more minutes passed and Travis let out a loud moan and the cum began to fly out of his erect stiffie. Although Mike has seen boys with hard-ons before he had never seen one cum and on top of it blow their wad with such force that it shot up high enough for him to be able to see it. Totally by accident as that happened he let out a surprised sound and it totally startled Travis. He got up with cum still dripping from his cock and turned his gun on Mike. Mike was not only scared shitless from this he turned more shades of red then anyone could imagine. From there it only got more embarrassing as neither of them knew what to say or do. Travis was a leaking mess as he stood there with his cock hanging out and his mouth wide open and gun in hand. Mike stood there with his one hand on his cock and the other holding his own weapon as he had a total look of both embarrassment and shame on his face. Eventually he got the nerve up to put his own dick away and he walked over to Travis and apologized profusely as Travis finally gave in to the fact that he was caught with cock in hand and jerking off. After the majority of the embarrassment went away he finally wiped any remaining cum away from his softening tool. As things calmed some more Mike spoke and told him how sorry he was for what he did and Travis smiled shyly and said it was okay. Mike then asked him if he was mad and Travis said that he wasn't really mad just scared and he asked Mike if he liked what he saw figuring what else could really go wrong at this point. Travis nodded yes and that set the beginning of their... `So far' private relationship and since that day they both sneak away as often as possible and either suck or jerk each other off. That is as far as it has gone for now but Travis is working on getting the nerve up to ask Mike if he can take it to the next level and have sex with him, more then just hand or mouth sex. So far that hasn't happened but never the less it will still be a very exciting moment for both boys when it happens. Travis was never into boys by the way and so far he has made the biggest of the adjustments between the two of them. Mike apparently is gay and has just hid it well from all the others. With no girls around outside of Katie, Travis finally gave in and decided that anyone was better then his hand and being alone. By alone I mean no partner not anyone at all in his life. Then he really started to like it and that is pretty much where we are at right now. The boy headed to their usual place. They wound up on the same couch that they originally we at when Mike found Travis jerking off the first time. It seems like a decent spot and on the secluded side. Or so they thought... they sat down together with little room to spare between themselves. Mike put his arm around the back of Travis's head and pulled him close to him. As they looked one another in the eyes their lips met. They were not big kissers and for the most part still a bit uncomfortable doing this together. It was more like both of them needed someone and without a lot of choice Travis chose Mike. Mike being gay would probably have picked one of them either way but the fact that they got together by accident made it a lot easier now. Anyway they were starting to get touchy feely and they had kissed a few times when there was a noise. "Mike, did you hear that?" Travis whispered to him. "I thought I heard something. Do you think someone is close by?" Mike whispered back. "I'm gonna get up and look around." Travis said. Both boys were talking very low just incase. With that Travis got up leaving Mike on the couch alone and started to check out the area. They were in a part of the mall that had a couch behind some bushes that were built into a wall that separated one part of the mall from another. Most of it just for show. Beyond the wall was a waiting area with several couches and a few chairs all on a carpet that was set down from the usual walking area by a few feet. It was lower with a few steps to climb to get up to the top and look behind that wall that was blocking it. The wall was also there so no one could fall down the ten or so feet and get hurt. The area was for resting and watching everyone else who chose to walk by. Now the boys were using it for making out and playing with one another. There wasn't a lot of hiding space near them but someone could come up and spy through the shrubs if the wanted to. The only thing was this noise wasn't normal and it almost sounded like someone was close by. As Mike got up and slowly headed towards the other side of the wall slowly climbing up one step at a time. He reached the fifth step and peaked around the side and someone was there. The wall was about twenty feet long and you could easily get in with the shrubs and greenery and either hide or blend in. also while you were in there you could look out but not totally down on the couch that the boys were using unless you climbed up and close to the wall and looked straight down on them. Whoever this was had done that and as Mike looked down the wall from the top step he could see that it was one of the kids but he couldn't tell which one was spying on them. He headed back down to Travis and told him about what he saw quietly. The thought about what to do and decided that Mike was going to sneak back up while Travis made some noise to make it sound like they were both still on the couch. They hoped this would distract whoever it was long enough to get caught. So as Travis pretended to be with Mike on the couch he snuck back up the steps and as quietly as possible crawled down along the wall. He was now a few feet from whomever it was and he couldn't tell who was in there but it was easy to see that is was definitely on of the boys that lived with them. Mike stood up behind whoever it was and recognized them now since he was so close. It was Caleb the eleven year old who was usually a good kid but had caused some grief in the past and had to be put in his place a few times by Kate or Travis. Mike reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. Caleb must have jumped five feet off the ground as he squealed like a scared little girl that was just caught doing something wrong. His voice shrilled and echoed off the surrounding walls. As he heard the screech Travis got up and ran up the steps and around to see who it was. As he got there he found Mike holding Caleb by the shirt and Caleb was caught red handed. "So this was our spy?" Travis yelled out as he approached Mike. "Yup caught him in the bushes trying to see what we were doing." "Yeah and you scared the shit out of me." Caleb said trying to squirm out his Mike's hold on him. Travis walked over and stood in front of Caleb. "So what did you expect to see?" he asked him. "You two making out again." He said with a smug look on his face. "Again? Travis asked. You have spied before?" Mike let go of his since he wasn't going anywhere now. "Yeah, Caleb responded. I was bored last time and I saw the both of you take off together so I decided to follow you two to give me something to do. What was funny was I tailed you guys for almost the whole time you were alone and didn't get caught. I saw just about everything you two did." Mike looked at Travis. That meant that saw them kiss and jerk each other off if he was telling the truth. "So... Travis said trying not to give anything away smartly. What did you see last time?" "Everything." He answered. Travis looked at Mike but either of them said anything. Then he looked back at Caleb. "Everything? Like what?" "You know... what you two did together down there. It was really hot." Again Travis looked at Mike. Mike was a little red now. "So you spied on us and you watched us do stuff?" "Yeah I saw you two kiss and touch each other. It was really sick at first but the more I watched the better it seemed to get. Then as I watched you two I saw him start to move his arm really fast and you put your head back. I wasn't close enough to see what was happening but I think I figured out what was going on now." "Oh really? What was that?" Mike yelled out at him. He was quiet. Suddenly Caleb didn't want to say anymore. "So why aren't you talking all of a sudden Caleb?" "I don't want to talk about anymore." Mike looked at Travis. "Guess he is embarrassed about what he saw Trav..." "Yeah I think you are right Mike. Our sneak doesn't want to say anything else so maybe he really didn't see anything else anyway." "No I saw it all right. I just don't want to say what it was." "I think he is lying Mike, what do you think?" "Might be Trav, he said what he saw was all hot but he can't say what it was so that tells me he really didn't see much at all." "No that ain't true! I did see what you two did I just don't wanna say it aloud." Once again Mike and Travis shot each other a look. "So Mike what do you think we should do with our little spy?" "I don't know. He is one of the last ones to come here to the mall and he is only eleven so maybe he needs to be taught a lesson about spying on older guys when they want to be alone." "I don't need any lesson. I know what I saw and I just don't want to talk about it." Caleb said. Totally missing the point. The boys were no longer trying to get information from him they were now trying to decide what to do with him. "He doesn't get it Mike... Travis said as he walked over by them and stood inches from their spy. He grabbed Caleb by the back of the shirt. "You are still new here and the last thing we need is you shooting off your mouth about what you saw, whatever it was." "I didn't say anything to anyone I swear!" "How do we know that?" Travis barked at him. "I swear I didn't say a thing, I didn't want anyone else to know what I was doing and besides it was..." he grew quiet. "It was what?" Travis yelled out at him. "It was private and if I told then I would have probably gotten in more trouble." "Well Mike at least he isn't totally dumb." "Yeah I know Trav." "I'm not dumb!" "You got caught didn't you? What do you call that?" He didn't say anything. "So Mike what do you want to do with out voyeur?" "I have been thinking Travis and..." Caleb yelled out... "I ain't no voyyyar!" Both boys laughed the way he said it. Not even close to proper. "You don't even know what that is do you Caleb?" Mike said. He didn't reply. Travis was still holding Caleb by the shirt collar as he looked at Mike once more. "I have an idea. How about we strip him totally naked for spying on us and let him roam the mall that way. Then when he goes back to our place he can tell everyone why he is naked." "That sounds awesome Trav, and then on top of getting to see him get in trouble we can see if he has a dick yet!" Caleb was starting to get very scared. He didn't know what to do and you could tell by looking at him he didn't like their ideas at all. He knew he was caught and he knew what he saw them doing last time. They didn't know he enjoyed watching them though and that is why he was watching again this time and why he didn't say anything to anyone. It turned him on to see them together. That's why he followed them again. "No I don't want either of you touching me anymore. Let go of my shirt!" Caleb yelled out trying to escape Travis's grip. "Calm down boy! We aren't going to hurt you but you aren't going to get off free either." "Yeah but neither of you are gonna strip me either!" he yelled out. "Well that is out of your control Caleb. If you weren't so nosy you wouldn't be in this situation right now would you?" Mike said. With that Travis picked him up and they started to head down to the couch below. Mike followed as he carried the struggling boy down the steps. "Hold him still Travis, I'll grab his shirt." Mike grabbed hold of his tee shirt and pulled it off as Travis let go of him and he fell back onto the couch and was now struggling to get free and shirtless. "I got the shirt off Trav now lets get his pants." Both of them grabbed him and he yelled out and fought to get free. There was a good deal of arms and legs flying about as Mike took hold of him by the shoulders and finally over powered him as he realized he wasn't strong enough to break loose and he stopped fighting for now. Mike stood about 5'8 and was around 150 pounds and easily towered over the much smaller and lighter Caleb who at eleven was only 5 foot and maybe 95 or 100 pounds at best. Meanwhile Travis who was bigger then Mike at 5"10 and easily 165 pounds grabbed Caleb by the leg and one at a time pulled off each sneaker. "Man your feet stink dude don't you shower?" Caleb didn't say anything. Not wanting to see anymore Travis left his socks alone. They were also filthy. "Damn come to think of it now that I realize it you stink all over! Caleb when did you last shower or have you ever showered since you have been here?" Again no reply from the small scared boy. Travis reached up and grabbed his button on his jeans and began to unbutton his pants and then pulled down the zipper. This caused Caleb to once again start to struggle and yell out loud for them to stop and leave him alone. Neither boy was listening as they continued to get some level of pleasure from stripping the young Caleb of his clothes and dignity. Travis looked at the red faced struggling boy and then at Mike. "Its time for show and tell." He said. He grabbed the bottom of Caleb's pants and tried to pull them off as the boy fought back and tried to kick Travis away from him. Mike tugged at Caleb pulling hard on his shoulder and making him cry out in pain. This gave Travis ample opportunity to grab his leg and then the bottom of his pants. Once he had a hold of them he pulled hard and off came the boy's pants. Travis threw them aside and looked at Caleb who was now in just his white briefs. Travis looked at them and then at Mike. "Damn Mike look at them they are gross!" The front of his underwear was stained yellow and they appeared to have been worn by the boy for days if not weeks. "I don't even know if I want to go any further Mike he is gross!" "That's up to you man. I am not gonna touch him there that's for sure!" Travis looked at Caleb who had stopped struggling once again and the redness was fading from his face as he calmed some. "What's up with you little man? Haven't you showered or changed your clothes since you have been here?" "No." he said calmly finally breaking his silence. With that the fun appeared to be over as Mike let go of the boy. he quickly got up and moved away from both boys and stood a good five feet from them. He was free but only in his dirty underwear. "Travis when he got up I got a look at the back of those and they are totally gross. Nothing but skid marks man! I think I'm gonna be sick!" Travis laughed. "Turn around little man let me see!" "No go screw I am not showing you anything!" "Look boy either you turn around or I will grab you and strip off those things and you can run around here totally naked" Scared and not sure what to do next he reluctantly turned around and showed the back of his underwear to Travis. They were black, dirty, and stained. Totally gross! Travis looked, pointed at them, and began to laugh. That seemed to be all Caleb could take and he began to cry which made both of them laugh. Totally confused and perplexed with tears running down his face Caleb took off running away from both boys. They yelled for him to stop but he didn't listen as he tore off down the hall of the mall trying to get away from the two boys that just totally humiliated him to tears. They stopped laughing as he ran off and headed back over to the couch. "Now maybe we can finish what we started before Mike, Travis said. I want to suck you off now more then ever!" "Yeah I want it too! Did you see the little bulge in his underwear Trav, that kid has little or no dick yet?" "Yeah, he laughed. If he wasn't so dirty I was gonna take them off so we could see and laugh more but I was too scared to see what was under them." "I'm glad you didn't even as much as I wanted to see too. Man that was just totally gross!" They both headed for the couch and sat together and began to make out once again now that they were finally alone. Meanwhile back at their home area Kate was holding the baby with Bryan and they were sitting on the bench outside of their rooms but down in the mall. They were making small talk and trying to decide about what they were going to do with their future some. Out of no where came a screaming and crying Caleb looking for someone to help and comfort him. He ran past them and Bryan yelled out to him as he got up off the bench. "Caleb!" At least he remembered one name he thought quickly to himself as the boy stopped and looked at him. "What on earth is going on? Why are you crying and in just your underwear? WERE you attacked by a half baked?" He swallowed hard as he tried to catch his breath. His face was dirty and tear stained and Bryan noticed the filth of his once white underwear. "My lord what has happened to you?" After running from the boys and to them non stop he struggled to get words out and finally after catching his breath he tried to speak. "Travis...Mike..." "Yes, Travis and Mike are they hurt? Are they okay Caleb?" He swallowed once again and tried to spit out a few more words. "No... no... it was... them! They... did this to me!" he said panting out the words one at a time as he tried to speak clearly and catch his breath at the same time. "Wait hold on... they took your clothes and made you cry? What happened?" "They stripped me and were gonna hurt me but I got away and ran back here!" Bryan looked at Kate. "Could that be true Kate? I didn't think either of those two were bad boys." "Well something must have happened to cause this. She said to Bryan and then she looked at Caleb. Caleb honey... what happened to make them take your clothes?" Confused and not wanting to admit what he had done wrong he said nothing and just began to cry. Bryan walked over to him and he met Bryan and hugged him as he cried into his shirt. Bryan put his arms around the half naked boy and held him trying to calm him some. "Its okay Caleb, you are okay, relax, and calm down. He said to him as he held on to him and put his hands on him." He had a hand on his back and Caleb was holding Bryan around his lower belly area. "Can you explain to me what happened?" He pulled away from Bryans now tear stained shirt and looked up at him. "Yes but I don't want to. Please don't make me talk about it." "Okay fine you don't have to right now but I think we need to get you a shower and change of clothes. He looked at Kate. Can you have Cory watch Joel and get him some clean clothes?" "Sure Bry, there is a story around the corner over that way." She pointed as she got up with Joel and headed to the step to get Cory. She went up and Bryan followed with Caleb. She went to the room to get Cory and they headed to the full bathroom in the head executives office. This was the bathroom and shower that Bryan used last night to shower before he went to bed. They walked in and Bryan shut the door. "Follow me Caleb." He did as he was told and he followed Bryan to the shower. Bryan turned to him. "I want you to wash yourself. I don't mean to be rude to you but you don't smell good at all Caleb so take a good shower and use lots of soap and I will be waiting for you out there okay?" He didn't answer he just shook his head yes. "Good, if you need me just yell. Make sure you wash down there well Caleb it looks like you haven't showered in a while and you need to get yourself very clean." Caleb turned and headed towards the shower door. it was a glass door that you couldn't really see through. He opened it and went in with his underwear still on. Once he was inside he took them off and threw them out over the top of the door through the opening. Bryan watched as the shy boy was now undressed and turning on the water. He knew something was wrong but without anymore information from Caleb he was going to have to wait for now to find out what really happened. He thought to himself that something must have gone wrong because those two seemed to be good boys from what he could tell so far. But there was going to be some heavy explaining going on as soon as he got a chance to confront both of them he thought to himself. He looked up and saw the steam start to come out from the shower and he began to smell soap. A few minutes passed and Caleb yelled out to Bryan. He answered as he walked to the shower door. "I am here Caleb what do you need?" "I'm almost done in here do you have something for me to dry off with?" "Yes I have a towel right here." "Oh okay thanks." It got quiet again and after a few more minutes the water turned off and the shower door opened just enough for him to stick his head out. "Can I have the towel please?" Bryan walked over and handed the shy boy his towel and he went back inside the shower and began to dry off. Shortly after that he came out with the towel wrapped around his waist and looking a lot cleaner now. "Feel better?" "Yes thank you. I'm sorry about before I didn't mean to cry like that." "Its okay Caleb you don't have anything to be sorry for and as soon as you are done we are going to take a walk, find those two, and find out what happened." "No that's okay honest you don't have to do that." Just the tone of his voice as he begged Bryan not to purse it was reason enough to want to know more about what really happened. "I'm sorry Caleb but when a half naked boy comes running towards me crying I need to know why. They wont hurt you again I promise but I want answers and I am going to get them from those two." Caleb tried pleading with Bryan for a bit but he wasn't having anything stop him from getting at the truth which as he saw seemed to scare Caleb more then anything right now. Finally as they waited ten minutes later Kate came up with clean underwear, a clean shirt and jeans for Caleb. She handed them to Bryan and he in turn gave them to Caleb who immediately went back in the shower and changed out of site from him. He held the socks and sneakers that Kate also brought along for him until he was done dressing. A few minutes later the towel was off and the boy looked human again as he stepped out of the shower dressed in new clothes. "I have socks and sneakers here for you too Caleb." "Thanks, it feels so good to be clean again." "Well no one was stopping you from washing you could have done this a while ago." "Yeah I guess I could have but I felt a lot safer with you here." As he said that he walked over to Bryan and gave him a strong hug and then looked up at him. "Thanks for everything and not making me do anything I didn't want to before." Bryan smiled and rubbed Caleb's clean mop of dirty blonde hair. "Glad I could help you." He said to him He handed him the socks and new pair of sneakers and Caleb went over and sat on the bench and put them on... he was now fully dressed and it was time to go downstairs and find out what really happened before whether Caleb wanted to or not. "You ready to go see those two again?" "No not really they scared the hell out of me when they took my clothes off. If I had my choice I would never have anything to do with them again." "Well Caleb I don't think that would be possible since you are living in here and so are they, I would even go as far as to say that after we are done talking to them there could be a little bit of anger from them." "Yeah but all I did was..." he didn't finish and got really quiet. "What did you do to piss them off Caleb? Am I going to go yell at them and find out they might have acted with poor judgment but they weren't totally wrong?" He shrugged his shoulders as if to say I don't know and he didn't open his mouth one bit. "Okay let's go back to where it happened and you show me the spot." They headed back to the couch area to confront Mike and Travis. Bryan wanted to get this over with and find out what really happened. They walked for a while and then Caleb pointed. "That's the spot." Bryan headed in that direction and walked around the wall to see the furniture below but no boys. "So this is where they stripped you?" "Yes look over there my pants are still on the ground." So was his shirt, right where they threw it when they took it off him. Bryan went over and picked up his grimy clothes. "Do you want these?" "No I don't need them anymore thanks to Kate getting me these." He said pointing to his new clothes on his body. "Okay." Bryan walked over and threw them into the trash receptacle against the far wall. "They aren't here so let's head back." He started to walk and Caleb followed. It didn't take long to get back and when they did Mike and Travis were there sitting and talking with the others. Kate met them at the top of the steps to run interference for Caleb. "Bryan the boys are here so he might want to go off for a bit while you talk to them." Bryan turned to Caleb. "Do you want to stay or take off for a little bit?" "Go." He said. "All right then why don't you go down and around the corner and take one of the boys with you. I'll send one out so you aren't alone. Wait here." "Okay." Caleb waited as Bryan went inside. He looked around the room and spotted Jose. "Jose can you come here please?" He walked over to Bryan. He looked almost as dirty as Caleb was. "Go out and be with Caleb for a bit for me please." "Sure." With that Jose left the room and met up with Caleb as he headed downstairs and they left the area together. Bryan walked in the room and looked at Travis. He immediately knew something was up and he walked over to Bryan. "You need me for something?" "Yeah, you and Mike, lets talk in private." The boys followed him into another room and he shut the door. "So do either of you want to tell me what happened before with Caleb." "No not really, Travis said. We had a problem and we handled it ourselves." "Well I might be new here but I don't recall sending an eleven year old back here scared, crying and half naked handling a problem the proper way." So far Mike was quiet and Travis was doing the talking. "Look Bryan I know you are new here and I am gonna do my best to respect that. Katie wants you in charge but I am seventeen and I think I am old enough to make my own decisions when it comes to disciplining an eleven year old." "Apparently not if that is how you do it. What could he have possibly done to piss you off enough to take his clothes and scare the shit out of him that way?" Mike finally spoke up with that question. "Okay I have been sitting here listening to this and now I want to comment. I was alone with Travis. We walked away from here on purpose to have some private and quiet time. That little man was spying on us while we were at that rest station and since it's quite a bit away from here that means he followed us on purpose and that isn't cool. Ya know Bryan I'm not one to cause a lot of problems but he is lucky that is all that happened to him. We heard a noise and we could have shot at him instead of teaching him a strong lesson about going where he didn't belong and hiding in bushes to see what two older guys were up to." "I see... well he didn't say anything about that to me. Look guys I don't agree with how you handled this but I do understand that you two were alone and doing whatever you wanted to and deserved privacy. In the future try not to let your hormones or strength control you so much and by that I mean think first before you scare someone so young so badly. I think both of you could have taught him a good lesson and sent him on his way and still dressed but that's just my opinion." "All I'm sayin is that if the kid didn't try to be so nosy he wouldn't have been undressed. It was my way or our way of telling him not to butt into other people business." Travis exclaimed. Then before Bryan could get a word in Mike continued it. "And like I said Bryan he isn't physically hurt, he could have been shot or we really could have given it to him for spying on us. At least we let him go with his underwear on." "Okay I can see that your privacy is important to you and that no matter what I say it won't matter so I suppose you two win this round but as long as you are telling me everything I really can't blame you fully for him being somewhat stupid and spying however I do want to say that if either of you would do something like that at our home then..." Travis cut him off. "Then nothing... that wouldn't happen where we sleep Bryan and you know it. I think we both respect our living area and something like that just wouldn't happen there so please... don't even go there. We understand you are trying to protect the kid but he was wrong and I would think after that lesson he got he won't do something like that again." "Okay guys I get the point and I think you do too so I will end it here and we will just call it understood." "That's fine with me." Travis said. "Me too." Mike added. Bryan walked away with his new found information and was about to find out why he only got half a story from Caleb. He went downstairs and Jose and Caleb were out in the courtyard playing around. "Caleb!" Bryan yelled out. He immediately turned and looked at Bryan as did Jose. Then he turned and said something to Jose as they both came walking over towards him. "You yelled for me?" "Yes I want to talk to you in private. Jose thanks for keeping him company but we need some private time okay?" "Sure." And with that he turned and headed back upstairs. "Come sit on the bench with me Caleb." They walked over to the closest bench together and sat a few feet apart on it. "Caleb why didn't you tell me you were spying? I went and had a talk with them to find out why they were so hurtful towards you and they told me that you were spying on them and I didn't know what else to say. They had me and I pretty much had to shut up and listen to them bark at me about what you did. So what do you have to say about that?" "Nothing." "But I just went to cover your ass and try to protect you and you have nothing to say?" "Nope, thanks for doing that but I have nothing to say. I guess I got caught and I was wrong spying on them... can I go now?" Bryan was dumbfounded. He shook his head in disbelief. "Sure go ahead but next time you get your ass in trouble don't come to me! Deal with it yourself!!" He yelled most of that to him as he took off and headed away not even having the courtesy to listen to him after all that. Bryan got up and headed back upstairs shaking his head almost the entire way. He couldn't believe that someone who was so scared an hour ago was now brushing it all off like it was nothing. Totally nothing!!! He walked in and saw Kate. "That's the last time I am gonna do anything for any of these little shits. All that work to try and protect Caleb and he walks away like it was nothing in the end." He went on and explained everything that happened before to Kate and she listened intently. Then when he was done she got up from her seat walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That's for being a good guy Bryan. And I know you well enough that if it were to happen again you would probably be there for him wouldn't you?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah you are probably right." "They really don't understand things the way we do honey. You have a decent heart and you tried to help him now he will learn the hard way if it happens again." "I know Kate but young or not the boy was wrong and when it came time for him to fess up he acted like nothing was wrong." "Well either you need to go to him and tell him that or just leave it be and let him learn the hard way." "Its gonna be the hard way Katie he just doesn't get anything the easy way from what I can see." After that they headed back to check on the baby. He was fine as usual. The rest of that day went well and quiet as Bryan began to settle in and get used to mall living. Things continued to blossom between them as the first week of his being there ended and being back with Kate seemed to be agreeing with him Things were quiet... well most were quiet but some the week was a little loud as some of the boys argued over small things but most passed with little more then some disagreements and minor arguing between the boys from either side of the mall. Kate and Bryan grew closer and began to fall in love but other then that and spending more time alone not much else changed there. The boys, Mike and Travis continued to get their away time as often as they could but nothing more then hugs, kisses and petting has happened with fear that anyone else could be watching them like Caleb was. It was now about ten days before Thanksgiving and even though none of them had any holiday to actually look forward to Kate and Bryan were beginning to discuss the upcoming holiday season as they were planning what they could to keep their lives going and any traditions alive. The other boys in their group were spending more and more time away as personal time allowed either in or out of the mall and with extreme caution while out of the mall just incase someone were to show up. A few hung out together surfed the mall or went shopping or browsing if you want... for things and although most had been together or even know each other outside of the mall, way back before the comet hit some remained friends and some were just followers and looked a little out of place. Most of the boys had their own stuff whether it was I-pods or cd players to pass time when they wanted privacy or just to listen to their own tunes. None of them were allowed to leave the mall alone. This was Bryan's number one rule. Outside of that Caleb complained a few times about Mike and Travis still busting on him about being dirty and he didn't say much about how they also teased him concerning what he hid inside his underwear. He was a bit shy and didn't quite know how to bring that point to Bryan so he took that ribbing. They tried to grab for him or grope him on occasion when he was alone but nothing more then that so far. It appears that both Mike and Travis have a thing about wanting to be with the other boys but have kept it quiet so far...or at least with Caleb if not any of the others. Cory continued his private lust for Kate and kept thinking of a ways to get her to notice him but so far nothing has worked since Bryan has returned to her side. Nor has she even notice that he has the hots for her. There was one brief run in between Bryan and Travis that ended quickly as Kate put her two cents in and Travis backed off. It appears that Travis is the only one not to accept the fact that Bryan is in charge now since he is the oldest and Kate all but appointed him to keep things in order during this past week and in front of all the boys as they had a group meeting to try and calm things after a few boys had complaints and a few were upset that they were being harassed by Travis or Mike but none said what kind of harassment it was. There are a lot of things going on in the mall and as time permits we will address and visit them one by one. There are even things going on that haven't been brought up yet and again those will be addressed as time goes on and if it permits. Bryan and Kate were big on keeping track of time along with the calendar and they were spending more and more time chatting about the holidays now. With the weekend past them and early on a Tuesday morning one of the boys came running in yelling. As he tore up the steps and screamed for someone it appeared something was seriously wrong. "Calm down Todd. What's wrong?" Travis said to him. "I was just out in the parking lot and I turned after I heard a noise and there is this big bus coming into the parking lot at the other end. Someone is here Travis someone is here!" Travis ran over and alerted the boys. Everyone grabbed a gun and then he jumped on the radio and notified the boys on the other end. "Yeah Cody we'll meet on the second floor! He said. Five on each side and bring the shotguns. As soon as we know which side they are coming in on we can set up. We don't know how many but there is a bus coming in according to Todd." "Okay that's good Travis I'll have the guys set to go when you radio us back." "Good, stand by..." he said. Meanwhile Cody went to get Keith, Danny, Denny, Phil, and Steve and they waited to hear back from Travis. The entire time he didn't let Bryan or Kate know what was happening as he continued to think he was in charge. Travis sent Todd back to spy on the bus and he was running back now with more details. "Travis there is a bunch of them most of them look like teenagers but I don't know man maybe 12 to 15 guys heading for the north side." Travis grabbed the radio. "Cory... north side doors... they are coming in there." "Right Travis we are on the way meet you there." With that Travis put down the radio and took off with five others from his group. They ran and caught up with Cory and his boys and then split off with five on either side of the second floor mall. Travis brought Mike, Todd, Ryan, Matt, and Jose with him each with a gun. Ten boys and Travis all standing armed waiting for whoever it was that was about to come into the mall. Five on each side... as Travis watched from the first floor he gave them the high sign as they entered the mall and then took off up a set of side steps to meet up with the boys upstairs. They all waited and after a good five minutes the group of boys were now in the main part of the mall. All Travis' boys were trained on him waiting for his word to get up and set up on their targets below. He gave the word and both sides stood up and aimed at the boys below. Travis stood and yelled down at them. "Freeze and drop your weapons!" All ten boys pointed their weapons at them below and Travis headed to the elevator to go down and see who had invaded their property. Travis got off the elevator about 150 feet or so from them and pointed his gun at them as he walked their way. To Be continued.... Next up: Chapter 68 of Tunnel... The Journey begins to the mall and as you can see the stories will come together as the groups meet. dwednomail@hotmail.com