Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 23:13:51 -0500 From: Dwedno Smith Subject: Beyond Tunnel Chapter 4 Chapter 4. Meeting the strangers. (From the BT boy's point of view...) Travis approached the group. "So who wants to speak for your group?" He said. The biggest boy stepped forward towards him. "I will." He said. "What's your name boy?" "My name is Tommy. What's yours?" "That doesn't matter right now. What does is all of you are trespassing on our property." "Your property? I thought this was a public mall and it was open to anyone." Tommy said. "Was is correct. Since that comet thing came and all but us disappeared we have taken over this mall and like I said you are trespassing." "So then we will leave." Tommy said to Travis who still hadn't offered his name up to them. "That would be nice but not right away" He said feeling the sudden power of being in control. Now that all of you are here and you all seem to be healthy maybe we can find some use for all of you." He turned and looked up at the other boys. "Mike, Cody, Keith come down here." As Travis spoke three boys from above disappeared from the railing and moments later the elevator dinged and started to go up. A few minutes later the door opened and they were now down with Travis. He walked towards them. "Mike stay here and hold a gun on them just incase they try anything. Cody, you and Keith search them and make sure they are all okay and not half baked." That caused Tommy to step forward and speak out. "Hey big guy there is no reason to search us we are all fine and none of us are half baked!" he said with insult in his voice. Travis immediately pointed the gun in Tommy's face as he stepped forward and spoke out of turn freezing Tommy in his spot. "Look Thomas around here we do what I say and they are gonna check all of you and do as I told them to. If you have a problem with that maybe you can be the first one to die." With that a little kid ran forward and stood in front of Tommy. "No Tommy don't let him kill you!" he shouted. "Who's the little munchkin?" Travis asked Tommy. "This is Shawn. Tommy said as he pulled Shawn back to him. Shawn everything is fine. Go back with the others okay?" "No wait Tom!" Travis said. Travis walked over and took hold of Shawn and spun him around towards himself. "Well he is a mighty fine looking boy." he said as he looked Shawn over and then looked at Tommy. "You take good care of this one don't you?" Tommy had a look of anger on his face as Travis commented so openly about Shawn and Travis appeared that he wanted to do something as he ogled and touched Shawn in several places. You could see the look in Shawn's face that he didn't like it one bit. Tommy reached out for Shawn but Mike who was standing next to Travis stuck his gun right in Tommy's face immediately backing him off. Travis thought to himself how this cutie would be a fine boy to take and have a good time with alone in some private part of the mall. He would probably be lots of fun! He thought. "Back off kid!" Mike said to Tommy. He took a step back and then Travis continued to look Shawn over as he spun him around and patted his ass. "Tommy..." Shawn whined. "Look... whatever your name is... can you just let Shawn come back here? You are scaring him." "Yes I know he is scared. I can see it and my name is Travis. I suppose it's only fair you know it now since I know yours." "Okay then Travis can you let Shawn come back over here please?" "Not yet. I think I might want to have a talk with this boy in private." That comment caused another one of their boys to step up and open his mouth. "Look Travis or whatever your name is... I don't understand what you need to talk to Shawn about so can't you just let him go and come back over with us?" "Tommy who is this minion speaking out of turn?" "First off he isn't a minion he is my brother and Shawn's best friend." "Oh well that makes all the difference in the world... just not to me. Tell your brother to be quiet and if I want to talk to him I will approach him. For now the only one I do want to talk to is you." Tommy turned and looked at Kyle. "KY for now just stay back for everyone's sake." He said quietly. Kyle just nodded and backed away. Choosing to be quiet and take the smart approach for now. Travis spoke up again. "Now I think I am gonna leave Mike here in charge and take Shawn for a little chat." "No Tommy please don't let him take me anywhere..." Shawn cried out. With that Shawn began to cry and his fear upset the entire group of boys even more then they already were. Tommy looked up and noticed that during all this the other boys that were above all went away to do something else and only the four down here were left. There seemed to be no one else with him and the three others. He started running ideas through his mind about this but so far nothing sounded safe enough to risk. Just as Travis was about to take Shawn away the elevator dinged once again. "Who is this now?" Travis said aloud as he turned to see who was coming to bother him. The door opened and Bryan, the big guy from earlier walked out and looked at Travis who was about fifteen feet from the others and a decent distance from him where he stood at the elevator. "Travis what are you doing and where are you taking that boy?" Travis stopped walking and looked at him. "None of your business Bryan." "Don't give me that none of your business crap! The others told me that you had some visitors why didn't you send for me right away?" "Because you aren't in charge Bryan." "Oh really? Then who is?" This whole conversation was going on in front of Tommy and the other boys but a good twenty feet away and quite loudly at that. It made Tommy think there was something wrong here and wonder who was really in charge. Tommy suddenly realized that they weren't paying full attention to them now and only the kid Mike was holding a gun on them now. Still there wasn't much that he could do... the other two boys were there but just paying attention to Bryan and Travis argue and they still had weapons in hand so once again that left him with little to do. "Look Travis you know damn well that Kate told me..." "I don't care what Kate said." Travis barked back at him. "Oh Travis I don't think that was a smart thing to say." Bryan barked back at him. "Why?" he said stupidly. He pointed up and behind him. Everyone looked up and standing where Bryan pointed was Kate. This was the first woman the boys had seen since the comet and she appeared to be quite upset right now. "Travis why are you acting like such a total ass to Bryan? Do I need to come down there?" she asked. He spun around and looked up at her and at the same time he released Shawn and he ran into Tommy's arms. While Kate began having what was turning into a somewhat heated conversation with Travis from up above. Shawn was now safe in Tommy's arms and crying. "Its okay Shawnee kid. You are safe now he didn't do anything to you." Just then something caught Bryan's eye and he started to walk over towards Tommy and the boys. He thought he noticed something but he wasn't totally sure what he saw. Tommy saw this and pushed Shawn behind him to protect him just incase something was up again. As Bryan got closer to them someone from behind Tommy spoke up. It was Ben. "Let me through." He yelled out. He came up to the front pushing through the group and up to Tommy. He looked at Tommy for a second then at Bryan who was approaching. As he stood next to Tommy Ben smiled widely and then suddenly Bryan who was coming their way smiled and started to run at us. Ben then took off towards him as Tommy yelled out to him telling him to stop fearing something was wrong and not knowing at all where Ben was going. Ben ran at Bryan and none of them from either side knew what was going on. "BRYAN!!" Ben yelled out. They embraced and hugged. They held on tightly for a good minute before they broke apart. This caught everyone's attention including Kate and Travis who stopped arguing and looked at what was happening. All the boys stood and watched without an immediate clue. Bryan looked over at Kate after he broke the hug. "Kate its Ben! MY brother Ben!" She took off running for the elevator and Bryan looked at Ben. "Benny that is Kate she is the girl that gave me my son and your nephew you remember her?" "Yes I do." Ben was beaming as he turned to us and walked Bryan back over. "Bry this is Tommy and the guys. I have been living with them and of course you know Luke." He looked at Luke. "My God Luke you are alive and boy have you grown!" Luke gave Bryan a big hug and was smiling widely. However not everyone was happy as Travis had a look of total disgust on his face with this new meeting happening in front of him. "Mike lower your gun and take the others with you and give us some privacy please!" Bryan said. Mike lowered his gun as Bryan asked and told the other two boys to come with him as all three left together. That left just Travis, Bryan, and Kate who was now approaching from the elevator. Ben looked at Kate and they embraced and hugged. She pulled away and they smiled as the family reunion continued. Ben turned to Tommy. "Tommy this is Kate, she, and my brother were very close a while back." Tommy approached them with a lot less fear now however his boys stuck close to him as confusion still reigned strong among the group. He reached out his hand to her and they shook. "Nice to meet you Kate." Tommy said. "Nice to meet you too Tommy and my do you have a large group of boys. It's great to see so many others have survived. How did you find us?" "Totally by accident Kate. We wanted to check out this mall for stuff and do some shopping so we decided to take a long ride here as a group not knowing what to expect." "Wow that's kind of risky isn't it Tom?" "Yes but four of us were carrying guns we thought we would be okay." "Apparently you didn't know you would have ten guns on you when you came in did you Thomas?" Travis replied with some attitude. Tommy looked at him but didn't reply as he looked back at Kate. "What's his problem?" "I am not sure Tom, as she turned and looked at him, but he might need an attitude adjustment soon." Travis just rolled his eyes at what she said. "Yeah, added Tommy, that might be needed... and some... after he grabbed Shawn from us. I might have to give it too!" "Well there is no need to worry now boys, she said as she looked at the others and spoke to them. No one will harm you here; you are all welcomed and are our friends now." Again Travis rolled his eyes as Kate made the announcement aloud. He was really pissed now since he lost his control over the new group of boys and even more a chance to get at Shawn. He stood there just taking it all in for now as Bryan handed them their guns back. "Thanks." Kyle said to him as he took them and gave them back to the others. "No problem...he said, sorry... your name?" Bryan asked him. "Kyle, my name is Kyle I am Tommy's brother." "Oh well nice to meet you Kyle, and you are welcomed." Bryan went back over by his brother and put his arm around him. "Good to see you Benny. I got the note and all but I never in a million years thought it would end up like this!" "Yeah I saw that and read what you wrote on it and I never thought I would see you or any family again Bry even with what you wrote down. After that comet hit I just figured everyone was gone!" They both smiled at one another. It was a great feeling for both boys. "So boys why don't all of you follow us back and you can meet all the others." Kate said. "How many of you are here?" Asked Tommy. "Including my son there are eighteen of us." She replied. "Wow that is a lot of people!" someone said. Tommy turned and looked to see who yelled that out. "Who said that?" he asked. "I did Tommy, why?" asked Luke. "No reason just that everyone has been quiet so far and I was surprised to hear any of you guys talk. He looked at all of them. Its okay guys, Tommy said we are fine, relax, and enjoy this now no one is going to hurt you they are our friends!" He said that like they needed to hear it but for the moment it didn't seem like Tommy's words meant much to the boys that were with him. They still appeared to be on guard. The whole group now started to walk and follow Kate, Bryan and the others to their home area. Travis walked with them but didn't say anything. He carried his gun at his side and if looks could kill he wanted Bryan dead but most of all he focused on Shawn! He wanted that cute boy for sure. Only problem he saw was Tommy but he was pretty sure he could take care of that eventually. He had no idea at the moment how strong any of them were but he wasn't thinking rationally right now he was really thinking with the head in his pants at the moment and all he saw was an opportunity to take this Shawn boy and have sex with him. His mind was going a million miles a second while he tried to come up with an idea how to get the very cute young boy away from the others. In the meantime they had walked a ways and arrived at their area. Kate asked Mike to go get everyone. Bryan took the radio and called the other boys from the other location and told them to come over for a special meeting. They made some small talk on the radio for a bit. After that he went over to Ben. "Why don't you introduce me to everyone Ben?" "Sure." Ben then walked his brother around and introduced him to all the boys that he lived with while they waited. This seemed to make some of them relax as Bryan shook hands with every boy in that group. Finally all the others arrived after a brief meeting everyone was filled in on what was going on and all were introduced to one another. Then Kate yelled out for everyone's attention. "Thank you. She said as she stood on top of one of the seats and was now looking down at close to thirty something boys surrounding her. Everyone I would like to welcome the boys who arrived at our mall today and to all my boys please greet these people and make them feel welcomed while they are here. I don't want any problems, as she looked at Travis, and I want their stay to be a good one without any issues." She went on to chat a little about the mall and where some of the things were before she got down. She walked over to Tommy after she got off the bench. "Do you have any idea how long you will be staying?" "Not yet Kate we planned on a day or two just to shop and then we were going to head back home. It was going to be a group decision but since we met all of you I really don't know. I am going to have to talk to the boys and see what they want to do. It's their decision as much as mine." "Oh well that is very diplomatic of you." "Thanks but that's how I usually run things unless they get out of control and then if I have to kick ass!" He laughed after he said that and a few of the boys that heard him laughed too as did Kate and Bryan who was at her side during their chat. Slowly and cautiously the boys started to meet one another, chat, and mingle. It was obvious that some were not going to get along and some would hit it off immediately. Caleb started talking to Shawn right away. Something attracted Caleb to Shawn when Travis started to mess with him and since Caleb was almost in the same way with Mike and Travis busting his balls he wanted to meet someone like that so he walked up to him and said hi and they walked away from the others at Caleb's request and started to chat. "Hi. Your name is Shawn right? Caleb asked him. "Yeah what's your name?" Shawn asked. "Caleb." "Neat name." "Thanks. So how did you guys find us?" "Tommy who is our protector decided he wanted to take a ride to this place and do some shopping because he heard it had a lot of stuff in it." "Yeah well it sure does. I have been here for weeks and I still haven't seen most of the stores. Wanna go see some?" "Yeah but let me tell Tommy so he doesn't worry about me." "You have to tell him?" "Yes I do it's a rule and besides he loves me and would be really upset if he tried to find me and didn't know where I was." "Oh... really he loves you? That sounds gay." Caleb said. That immediately made Shawn think that Caleb was straight and he backed way off with his thoughts of friendship. "Let me go ask okay?" "Sure." Caleb waited while Shawn walked over and got Tommy's attention. They talked for a bit and he turned and headed back over smiling. "We can go he just said to stay close." "Sure we can. We will just go up a few floors and look around with them below us okay?" "Yeah." Caleb took off and Shawn followed as they headed for the elevator. He pushed the button and it dinged. The doors opened a few seconds later and Travis was standing there. "Where are you two munchkins going?" he said curiously. "For a walk." Caleb replied callously. He looked at Shawn. "Hey cute boy just be careful around stinky he might give you something like a disease if you get too close." He walked away and they got in the elevator. "He scares me." Shawn said as the doors closed. "Yeah he does that to me all the time. He says I stink and all but I just don't like to shower it bothers me that someone might look or..." He realized what he was saying and even though Shawn was a stranger he suddenly got embarrassed that he was talking so openly and he got really quiet. The doors opened on the second floor and they got out. "Why did you stop telling me about that Caleb, its okay... I am not gonna laugh at you." "Really? You don't care what I say to you?" "Hell no I talk about private things a lot with most of the guys. It's how we live. We are pretty open and get along great together." "You mean all of you live together?" "Yeah in a house about seven or so hours from here." "Wow that's awesome, I wish I had a house like you do with people that cared and didn't scare me all the time." "It might be too early but if you want I can ask Tommy and he might let you come back with us if you want." "Ya think I could, I mean there is nothing here for me except Travis and Mike scaring and always threatening me. I'm afraid they might hurt me some day." "I can ask, I can't promise because it's not up to me." "Awesome!" Caleb said. That seemed to change Shawn's attitude a little towards Caleb it appeared. They walked and looked at stuff and made small talk for a bit and Shawn saw a game store ahead. "I gotta go in there man, that is why we came!" "Huh?" Caleb said. "The games... ya know Playstation, X-box and so on..." "Oh yeah...I remember... some of the guys took some and brought them to their areas and they play in their free time." "They didn't take all the games did they?" "Heck no that store is huge and had a lot of every game and besides Shawn there are only three more game stores in this place... remember its huge! Everything is here ya just have to look for it." "AWESOME!!" Shawn said. He ran towards the door and looked in. Row after row of games, music and electronics... anything you would ever want was in front of him. "This is too intense! He said. I have to tell the others." He went over to the railing and below him and over some way were most of the guys. "HEY! He yelled down. This got most of their attention and they looked up. You guys gotta see this it's amazing! The game store up here has tons of stuff!" With that most of the guys ran over to Tommy and he told them to be careful and one of them interrupted Bryan who was talking to Tommy and asked how to get up there. "Go right over there. He pointed to the elevator or you can go down there some and take the escalator up." Immediately six boys took off as Shawn and Caleb watched and laughed from above. They went back in the store. "Do me a favor Caleb don't tell them about the other stores for now just incase there is something I want and I can't get it." "Sure, he laughed but you really don't have to worry Shawn like I said I have been in here lots and there is plenty of almost every game you need. The other stores have some different titles and games but this is the biggest." "Shawn where are you?" Someone yelled from outside. He ran to the entrance and waved. "Over here!" he waved to them. They came running after him and met him at the doorway with Caleb. "Who's your friend Shawn?" asked one of the boys. "This is Caleb. Caleb this is Kyle my best friend... Shawn said then he turned to Caleb to introduce the guys... That is Joey, he pointed to them... that's Billy and Danny and Luke and Jordan." "Nice to meet all of you." "Same here." Said Kyle. "Well go look guys its massive!" Caleb said. With that they looked past him in at the store. A ton of ohhhh's and ahhhh's went up and then they headed inside and started to run around like kids in a candy store. Caleb and Shawn went inside with them and Shawn also started looking around and grabbing anything that looked good for his system. The frenzy continued as the boys started grabbing more then they could carry and Kyle was the first to get a hand held basket and filled it quickly. The others saw this and one yelled out `great idea Kyle' as they all wound up with a basket shortly after that. Their shopping ended after a good fifteen or so minutes passed and every one of them seemed content with their choices. They all left the store and headed back downstairs. As they got off the elevator they approached the group and Kyle walked up to Tommy. "Bro I need to put this stuff away can we take a walk out to the bus?" Tommy looked at Bryan. "I guess I need to walk them out to the bus." "Sure no problem, he said I can come if you want." "That would be great." Bryan escorted them to the exit doors and as they got there they looked out. Everything had a small coving of snow on it now and it was still coming down. "Wow it snowed more then I thought it was going to." Tommy said, "Yeah I didn't even know it was snowing out Tom. This is the first snow we have had since I got here a few weeks ago and from what the others tell me by now there is usually a lot more on the ground." "Well that might mean we leave a lot sooner or get stuck here." Tommy said to Bryan. "Its up to you, it doesn't look like its going to pile up too deep but we have plenty of space and from what I know the mall has tons of food and a great back up generator system so I am sure all of you will be fine if you stay." "Thanks Bryan but we weren't planning on a long stay and I will take the guys aside after if you don't mind and we will have a private chat." "That's fine with me. Bryan said. Hey I don't have a coat so I will wait here if it's okay. You guys are still wearing your coats." "Sure, thanks. I am gonna walk these guys down to the bus and then we'll walk back as fast as we can." "Why don't you just pull the bus up to this door Tommy it's a lot easier then hiking back here." "You talk like you know where I parked." "I do. We caught you on camera when you came in. One of the boys told us a big bus was coming and we ran over and watched you till you got to the front door." "Well that explains a lot." "Huh?" Bryan said. "We thought we had everything under control but when ten guns were suddenly pointed at us out of no where it was quite a shock." "Oh well sorry about that but we had to be careful till we knew who it was." "Yeah I know that now but it really threw me and the guys." "I bet it did." "Well anyway we'll be back shortly I will bring the bus here." With that Tommy walked out with the six boys and Bryan watched. Things were calm now and the remaining boys were with his brother Ben, Kate and whoever else they met back at their home area probably chatting up a storm. Bryan waited about ten minutes and finally Tommy pulled up with the bus and opened the door. Bryan went out and hopped on the bus to see what it looked like inside. "Wow this thing is really huge and great. Its got a lot of things from what I see." He said as he gave it a quick look. "Yeah we like it a lot. Said Tommy. It was easy to get everyone here this way." "I bet. How long did it take?" "Well we slept over last night at a motel but the drive was close to eight hours total." "Yeah that sounds like right for something this big. It took a few more hours for you to get here then it took me to get here." "Oh yeah... you were by us a while back that's right." "Yup it took me about six hours to get here but I was driving faster till I hit a little snow and boy do I have a story to tell you later. Remind me and I will tell you and Ben about the run in I had at a motel. I forgot about it till you mentioned hotel. I never even told the others this story." "That doesn't sound too good." "It wasn't good at all; it scared the shit out of me!" "Damn... I can't wait to hear that story now." Tommy said. "After when we settle in for the night I'll get to it. I mean all of you will be here at least one night right?" "Yeah without a doubt maybe two or more. We have to talk it over but one night for sure." "Okay let's get back inside if you want." Bryan took a quick look around the bus and then they all headed back inside the mall. They walked back to the others and Ben came over. "Where did you guys go?" he asked them. "To the bus, Kyle said. We got a ton of games and wanted to put them away so we went outside and there is more snow now so Tommy drove the bus back here and we parked it right outside." "That's great at least when we get back we can play something different." "Yeah! Said one of the other boys. It was getting boring back at the house with only fifty or so other games!" They all started to laugh at that and then they walked back to the others. They were now a group of approximately thirty with all of them together and some of Tommy's boys were starting to complain about being hungry. "I gotta feed these kids Bryan any suggestions?" "Sure, not all the food is good but most places had a load of frozen stuff that is still good. What are you looking to eat?" That brought about ten different ideas from the group. Bryan looked at Tommy. "Bad idea huh?" "Yeah you can't ask them what they want its murder." They laughed. "Well you can go over to the food court and let them go crazy but there is nothing cooked obviously so I am sure you have been through this before. I think we are gonna join you and make it special tonight rather then just what we usually do." "What is that?" Tommy asked. "Let them choose what they want and get it themselves." Kate yelled out. Tommy turned around to his group. "See you guys are so spoiled they make their own get whatever they want and I usually cook for most of you." Kate looked at Bryan when Tommy said that. "He really does take care of them hon, if he cooks and all I guess he is a good guy after all." "Yeah I know Bry I talked to Ben and he told me how good Tommy really is with all of them while you were gone. Ben told me a lot about how they live and I really like it a lot." "What are you saying Kate?" "Well while I was talking to Ben he said there is an extra house two houses away from them and he hinted that maybe we could go back there with them and live there." "Wow I never thought about doing something like that. Is that what you would want?" "Yes I think so Bryan but its only fair you talk to Tommy about it since its sorta their neighborhood and we would be totally crashing it." "Okay I will bring it up to him later tonight as things calm down and the boys get more used to us. I wasn't planning on leaving here but to tell you the truth Kate I really am not crazy about living in a mall with so many others and sleeping this way every night, this might be a really great opportunity for us." "Well talk to Tommy and see what he says." "I will as soon as I think its okay. I will!" She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "We might actually have a place to live with them as our neighbors if this works out Bryan. Think of how great that could be. No more huge mall and all the boys driving us crazy." "Yeah I know I just hope Tommy likes the idea and says okay. Not that he could stop us from going back there." "Yeah I know Bryan but it wouldn't be right to just do something like that without at least talking it over." "Yeah I agree and I wouldn't do it without him saying okay. Let's hope he likes the idea." Tommy came over and interrupted their talk. "Sorry to bother you two but I need to feed these monsters they are bitching about eating and I better feed them before they eat me." "Sure, Kate said. We don't want that now do we." She smiled at Tommy. "No I don't, I like living." They laughed. "Okay anyone who wants to eat we are going to the food court! Bryan yelled out to upstairs. Then he got on the radio and told the others who went back to their side of the mall. Okay we can head over now and whoever shows up will eat." "Great, said Tommy. Before he could turn around six boys flew down from upstairs to meet them at the bottom. Wow, he added that was fast!" "Yeah I suppose they are hungry too." "Are you gonna cook something for us?" Caleb and Todd asked. "Yes guys we are going to make a few things for all of you to have a decent meal for a change." "AWESOME!" they shouted. They headed over to the food court as a group and were almost immediately met by a group from the other side. "Who is this?" Tommy asked Bryan. "The same guys from before but there isn't enough room for everyone on our side so we decided to live half on one end and half on the other. That way we can protect the mall too." "Oh I guess that's a great idea." "Yeah it's been working so far. So what are we up for?" "I was thinking if there is a burger place that might be best and easiest to make." "Yeah sure there are a few of them and fries and lots of other things you will see shortly." "Great." Tommy replied. "Is there anything other then burgers we can have?" asked one of Tommy's boys. "Sure, answered Bryan. What's your name?" "Its Danny and I would love something besides a burger." "Well Danny there is an Italian place there and if Tommy wants to cook burgers I will make spaghetti." The boys heard him say that and a huge roar went up. "That's awesome!" one yelled out. "I haven't had spaghetti in a long time!" Yelled another. "Guess we are both gonna make something." Bryan said. "Sounds good to me I could use some pasta myself." "Yeah me too." They walked the rest of the way there and when they arrived Bryan stood on a chair and when the boys quieted down, with a little bit of help from Bryan yelling shut up he spoke. "Okay guys look you have two choices. Either spaghetti or burgers. Show of hands for burgers?" Three of the boys raised their hands. "Okay so everyone else wants pasta?" They roared out yes to him. "Okay then I will start to heat the water. He said aloud. I am telling all of you now this is going to take a while to cook so much so all of you need to be patient!" He got off the chair and went inside the pasta place and started to clean up some of the mess that was left behind from last time. Thankfully a bunch of the boys from both sides pitched in to help and it only took about thirty minutes to get water in a huge pot and start heating it. Once Bryan started that Tommy went over to the burger joint and looked for a way to fire up the grill. All in all about an hour total later... both were close to being finished and the place started to smell of burgers on one side and Sauce for the pasta on the other. There were a few small complaints but everyone knew it would be ready soon. Sparing all the details of cooking, about twenty minutes later Tommy had cooked up about a dozen cheeseburgers and a dozen regular ones because as he put it in the past you don't make enough and they still bitch. Meanwhile Bryan made about twenty pounds of pasta and was starting to fill plates as the boys got online. Kate was assigned to sauce or butter as they handed out the food. They all started to sit and eat either or both foods offered by the guys. Eventually everyone was full and quite content as a burping game started up after many of the boys drank way too much soda. It was dark outside now and Tommy asked Bryan about ice cream privately. He said good idea and stood up. "Now guys I want everyone to clean up their tables and when the place is clean and ONLY when it's clean we will all have ice cream!" A loud cheer went up from the group as they began to quickly throw out their garbage. After it was all clean three of the boys that were assigned by Bryan earlier collected the bags of garbage and brought them out a side door to a dumpster and got rid of the garbage so it wouldn't stink up the mall. One of the few things that Bryan demanded was to keep the place clean. They all headed over to one of the ice cream places right after that and with a bit of patience and lots of scooping by both Bryan and Tommy another half hour went by and now everyone that wanted ice cream had a full bowl of it to enjoy. The night ended with all of them having full bellies for probably the first time in weeks for Bryan's boys and what wound up being an almost normal night for Tommy's boys when it came to food and eating. Next up was where to sleep and how things would be handled with that. Obviously the boys that already live there had their places and before they settled in for the night a brief discussion was had and Tommy decided after talking to his group that they would go off to one of the bed stores and sleep on the mattresses that were already there. He gathered his group aside and told them what he was expecting from them tonight and where they were going to sleep. There were some questions and one of the boys asked about safety so Tommy excused himself and went over by Bryan. "Hey Bryan one of the boys asked how safe we would be in the mattress store and I couldn't answer him so I need to know if you can tell me." "No problem Tommy, you and your guys should be fine we have two boys watching out the windows on both sides of the mall and all the other doors locked all the time and we have extra monitors in the main room on our side so if it helps I can offer you a radio incase something happens but the boys know they have to stay away and there is two of them awake all night just incase. They know their job is very important and only once have both boys fallen asleep and thankfully nothing happened but as weird as it might sound they are actually trained now and can stay awake most of the night without a problem." "Great that makes me feel better even if we are armed I still like the radio as a back up." "No problem I will get you one shortly." "Thanks we are ready to turn in now and as soon as we get some blankets and pillows we will call it a night." "I bet that it will be interesting Tom." "What will?" "All of you sleeping in one store." "Yeah I am sure it will take some of us a while to fall asleep but at least we will try." "Okay well follow me and I will give you a radio if you want to go now." "Yeah, thanks." Tommy followed Bryan and got a radio and a place to get blankets and pillows for the night. Then he took off with his group and headed to that store. The boys walked away as a group and headed towards their destination as Bryan and a few of the others watched them head off. Caleb turned to Bryan after they were out of earshot. "They are pretty cool guys. I would love to go back with them Bryan." Thankfully no one else heard him or was close enough at this point to comment on what he said. "Yeah well Caleb I am sure you can ask but as far as I know they are pretty solid as a group and I don't know if they want to take you with them." "They might, I asked that Shawn kid and he said he would check for me." "Then I suppose you will get your answer as soon as he asks Tommy." "Yeah I guess so. I really don't want to stay here anymore because Travis and Mike are always threatening me." "You sorta brought that on yourself by spying on them Caleb so I don't have a lot of sympathy for you especially since I tried to help you and you blew me off!" "No I didn't." "Then why did you act like a dumb ass after I tried to help you back then?" "You didn't try to help me all you did was tell me its okay and I felt better and walked away." "To me that's you blowing me off kid. I don't know why you don't get that but either you are really thick headed or don't understand when someone is trying to help you." "Yeah whatever." Caleb scoffed. Then he walked away. That boy is gonna be a real problem. I sure hope he does go with them! He thought to himself. Bryan headed upstairs after that and found Kate. He told her what just happened and she just shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you honey but if things are getting worse here with that being the perfect example then maybe we should go back with them." "Yeah I agree, I think I am gonna go find them and talk to my brother. If he says something to Tommy then at least it might go over better." "Okay. I'll be here with the baby and when you get back we can go to bed." "Sounds good. I am a little beat. I'll be back in a bit." "Okay Bry." Meanwhile Caleb had the same idea and after he blew off Bryan he took off in search of Shawn and the other boys to see if he might be able to go back with them. He walked and started looking for bedding stores and after a good thirty minutes he finally found them in a `Mattress for your Back' store in the rear of the mall on the first level. He stood clear and watched them for a bit to see what they did and how they acted as a group. Tommy was standing and watching as the boys each or with a partner helped make up a bed. Finally he walked to the store entrance and practically scared the whole group as he announced himself and walked in. "I am here." He said as he opened the store door and walked in. Tommy and Kyle both spun towards him with guns drawn. "Don't shoot! Please don't shoot its only me Caleb." He whined. "That's not a smart thing to do kid!" Tommy yelled at him as he lowered his gun. "Sorry I was just trying to be friendly." Caleb replied. "Friendly is fine but not sneaking up on us like that! That's just plain stupid!" yelled out one of the other kids. "Its okay Jeremy, you don't have to get upset he wasn't doing it on purpose." "I know Tommy but he scared us half to death. What does he want here anyway?" With that question Tommy turned back towards him. By now Shawn was at his side and greeting his new friend at the front door. "Caleb what do you want here and why did you come all the way over here?" "I wanted to ask you if I could go back with you when you go home." The whole room was quiet and everyone heard his question and stopped what they were doing to look his way. A few laughed at his request but Tommy remained straight faced. "We really don't have a lot of room back at the house for anyone else Caleb and I couldn't tell you without talking to everyone else first." "Why not I will be good and why would you need everyone's permission? I thought you were in charge." "I am in charge to a point but you would be living with all of us and that requires a group decision so if you want to know we will talk it over and let you know in the morning. That's the best I can do." "Okay I guess then I will have to wait." "Yup. We'll let you know in the morning." He turned to go and standing in the doorway looking just as surprised as Caleb was Bryan. He too had found them now and was curious what Caleb was doing there. He opened the store door and looked at Caleb. "What are you doing here bothering these guys?" "Nothing." He said fearing a problem if word got out that he wanted to leave. "Nothing huh? So you checked the mall to find them and came in to talk to them for no reason?" All this was once again going on in front of the entire group of boys and without any problem everyone knew what was happening. "Yup nothing." Caleb said. Then he headed to the door and walked past Bryan and out into the mall. Bryan looked at Tommy. "He wanted something what was it?" "To come back with us." "I knew it! I had a feeling he was here for that. He said he didn't want to stay here to me before and I thought he might ask but I didn't think he would look for you guys." "Yup he did and what brings you here?" "I want to talk to my brother." "Oh, sure." Ben heard him and dropped the pillow he was holding and walked over from the bed he was standing at. "What's up bro?" "Can I talk to you privately?" "Sure. He turned to Tommy. Be right back." "No problem Ben take your time. "They both headed outside and walked a few feet away. "So what's up Bry?" "Do you think that we can come back with you?" "Are you serious? Ben said with glee. You want to come live by me, I mean us?" Bryan smiled at him. "Yeah we would love to get out of this mall and live some place safer and I really would like to have a real roof over my head and be closer to home. So would Katie." "That would be awesome. I don't know but I can ask Tommy." "That would be great Ben but do you think he will say yes?" "Why wouldn't he besides if he didn't you could always move back to our house." "Yeah I suppose we could live there but I would really like to be with all the gang just for safety." "I understand." "It would really be great Ben you could live with us and we could be a family all four of us." Ben's smile washed off his face. "What's wrong Ben? Don't you want to live with me and Katie?" "I... I really love that you want me with you Bryan but I am happy where I am and I am sorry if this hurts you but I really think it would be better that I stay where I am, I mean even if Tommy says okay I want you there and I really want to get to know my nephew and Kate and all but do you really mind if I stay where I am?" "No, no it's fine Ben. You could hear the gloominess in his voice as he answered his brother. You stay where you feel comfortable; after all I don't want to make you do something that isn't okay with you." "I'm sorry Bryan but I like it there and I really hope Tommy says yes and you can be close by but really I do want to be with the guys." "I understand and I hope he says yes too but I was hoping you could watch Joel sometimes if Kate and I needed some space." "I can and I will be happy to do that for you but just at our place. I suppose if you were to go out or away or wherever I could stay there for a night or two also but I hope you understand..." "Yeah I do. How about we ask him now?" "Sure. I'll go get him." With that Ben turned and headed back inside while Bryan waited and watched from a few feet away. "Tommy? Ben yelled over to him. Can you come outside for a minute?" Tommy looked over at Ben. "Sure. He walked around the mattress in front of him and headed towards Ben. They walked outside together and over to Bryan. "What's up guys? What can I do for you?" "Ummm, well I have a question for you Tom." "Sure Bryan ask me anything." "Okay here goes. He paused and took a deep breath. Do you think you would have some place for us to live out by you?" "You mean in a separate house or with us?" "No a separate place. We don't want to cause any problems just get the hell out of here to a better and safer place." Tommy paused and the silence was deafening... "I really have to think about it and honestly I should ask the others since we all talk about any major decisions. Can it wait till morning?" "Sure I suppose so. You aren't going right away are you?" "Right away? You mean first thing in the morning?" "Yeah are you leaving bright and early?" "No we are gonna leave around noon." "Oh okay well if you can discuss it and let me know privately I would appreciate it." "Sure thing. As soon as we talk about it I will let you know." "The morning is fine Tommy." "Great then we will see you after I get up and I will let you know privately." "Thanks a bunch Tom. We really want to get out of here as soon as possible." "Well honestly I would like neighbors but its up to everyone." Bryan and Ben both smiled at his comment. "Okay I am gonna head back over to Kate and the boy, see you in the morning." "Yup, nite." "Nite Tommy, nite bro." "Night Bryan, love ya." "Love you too little brother." With that Bryan turned and walked away heading back to his family for the night with hope of good news to follow. Ben and Tommy headed back inside and Bryan could hear Tommy call the boys together as a group as he walked away. I sure hope this works out. He thought to himself as he walked back. I really don't want to be here much longer and fight with Mike, Caleb or any of these kids! His thoughts turned to happier things as he started to think about what he could do in a new house. He smiled and started to quicken his pace back to Kate. To be continued.... Coming up next.... Chapter 69 of Tunnel... Tension mounts before the boys get to know one another and a surprise at the end... will there be neighbors soon?