“Water if the driving force of all nature.” -Leonardo da Vinci

The curly haired man looked up at Kurt, gratefulness in his tired eyes as he looked to Kurt as if Kurt were more than just a man.

Kurt shifted a little in place, not knowing what to say to the thank you given by the man crouched beside his babbling, feverish friend.  The obvious thing to say would be ‘You're welcome', but somehow that didn't seem to fit the situation.  So he stayed quiet, and glanced around, taking in the scene.  Most of the other men had backed off and were talking in small clusters near their quads, each of which had a different bird painted on it with a corresponding bird name - Canary, Cardinal, Weaver, Mockingbird…. the list went on.  In addition, each had roman numerals following the bird name.  For example, Weaver was followed by IV, meaning it was the 4th Weaver.  These guys clearly liked their ATV's, and when one had died, they found another to replace it.  How they were able to gas them up was a questionable, but Kurt could see the appeal.  ATV's could get places motorcycles simply couldn't.  

The contrast between Kurt, Noah, Santana and the others was notable too.  Kurt and his company were dressed in leather and fur they had tanned and tailored themselves to survive with the harsh winter weather in this area, while the group they had walked into all wore leather jackets clearly taken from old stores - some still glossy with treatment.  Good enough for spring or fall, but not good enough for a northern winter. Their whole outfits looked like a uniform too.  Everyone was wearing T-shirts and jeans.  The only deviation was in the colour of T-shirts they wore.  They all wore boots too, mid-calf in length and black with buckles.  It looked like they had all raided the same store for their clothing and while they might not be on bikes, they screamed of being a gang with their uniformity.

Trent, the wounded bird gang member, was whimpering and making nonsense words on the ground near Kurt's feet while Blaine tried to coax him into drinking some water from a small plastic cup.  The damaged leg was propped up on top of a small stack of folded clothing, more T-shirts by the look of it, and the jeans had been torn off that leg so that Kurt could see for himself just how mutilated the leg was.  It was definitely swollen, but not in a uniform way, peaks and lumps stretching and warping white skin all over.  It was more bruised than not, and clotted gashes ran across what had been his calf.  The other leg had the jeans torn open too, but didn't look nearly as bad, and it wasn't swollen, just cut up and bruised.  Even without a thermometer, it was evident that Trent was feverish.  Sweat rolled down his flushed face and his brown hair was matted in wet clumps.  He looked so fragile, so weak, and Kurt felt pity rise within him.

He did look away after a moment.  He couldn't keep looking at the broken man without being reminded of his own father laying on the ground, and he needed to keep his wits in this foreign group.

After a very awkward ten minutes of waiting, the wagon came around.  Mike hopped off the side of it and rushed ahead to survey the man laying on the ground.  Karofsky and Azimio grabbed his bags and brought them over to him where he muttered a quiet thanks as he began checking over his new patient.

“THIS is the doctor you offered?  He's no older than any of us!” one of the men snapped, walking towards them.  His pale face was rolled into a scowl and sharp green eyes glared down at Mike even though the question was directed at Noah and Kurt.

“Fine.  We'll go if you don't like it.” Kurt snarled back, knuckles white as he gripped his bow.

“Sebastian!  Back off!  He can't have any less training than any of us do!” The curly haired man interrupted.  Kurt was torn between making an effort to think of him using his name, Blaine, or just not worrying about who was who in this group since the conformity they appeared to prize would make individual names irrelevant.

Mike looked back to Kurt, “Now that I'm here, you know I can't leave.  I made an oath.”

Kurt rolled his eyes at that.  Mike and his stupid oath.  He hadn't even attended a real medical school but he took the oath the nurse and midwife had given him and hung onto it for dear life.  He had to admit though, he would trust Mike with his own life.  Mike read any and all anatomy, biology, and other texts they could get for him like they were a bible.  He had seen Mike take detailed notes from all of them, and Mike even asked Kurt to bring him live rabbits so he could practice his surgical skills on them.  

However Mike was here because he was the lowest ranking member of the three person medical team in the community.  No matter how much time and effort he had put into his craft, they weren't going to sacrifice the lives of the midwife or nurse who had both had more lifetime experience than he had.  If this had been a trap, Mike was the most expendable of the three.

With Mike taking care of the man on the ground, and Noah and Santana there to watch him, Kurt walked back to the wagon.  He needed some more coffee beans if he was going to suffer through waiting for the prognosis with the cluster of bird loving ATV riders around him.  Karofsky and Azimio were tending to the horses, which a couple of the bird gang had come up to pet as if they hadn't seen them before, the blonde boy from before among them.  

While some of the group was friendly, the ones that hung back with the man called Sebastian were leering suspiciously at Kurt and his people.  Kurt kept an eye on those ones.  Clearly they weren't too thrilled about the help they had been offered, regardless of the fact that Kurt and his people had travelled for the whole night and most of the day to get here, without sleep, and taking only a brief break.  Ungrateful jerks.

Kurt also listened into the conversations Karofsky and Azimio were having with those who had approached them.  They were casual enough, and both of the lugheads were ensuring that they didn't give too much away about the community.  They didn't want anyone they couldn't trust finding out where they were located or what resources they had.  Kurt had to give them credit for that at least.  Most of the conversation was light and based around the usual talk about where they had originally come from before The Tides, if they knew anyone specifically (even ten years later, people still sought out missing relatives), and, in this case, questions about the horses.

In turn, Karofsky and Azimio asked about the quads.  It turned out that the group was nomadic, and quads allowed them to carry more than bikes would.  Beyond that though, they also didn't get much out of the group and the one called Jeff got a nudge in the side from one of his comrades when he was about to say more - a clear indication that he should shut up.

They didn't trust Kurt's people anymore than they trusted any of them.

“Can I get you anything?” Karofsky asked shortly thereafter, leaving the horses with Azimio, along with all the equine fans among the bird gang.  He had come up near Kurt, but as always, left several feet of space between them.

“I'm right here.”  Kurt said, sweeping a hand back to indicate the wagon with all the supplies loaded onto it.  He had been leaning up against the side of the wagon as he munched on beans.  “I can get what I need myself.”

“Right.  Of course.”  Karofsky made a small shrug of his shoulders and lingered for a moment, as if he wanted to say something more, then thought better of it, grabbing himself a bottle of water and walking back to Azimio and the horses.  Honestly, the guy was a moron, Kurt thought to himself.  What could Karofsky possibly get for Kurt that Kurt couldn't get for himself?

Kurt was left alone for awhile after that, chewing on coffee beans like candy and surveying the group.  Mike was thorough, and had Noah and Santana helping him to brace the leg.  Blaine paced nearby, periodically asking if there was anything he could do to help until Kurt saw Mike say something to him and point back towards the wagon and Kurt.

A minute later, Kurt was face to face with the man, who Kurt realized stood a couple inches shorter than he was.  Kurt could see the redness in and around his eyes, contrasted to the dark bags and circles under his eyes.  He hadn't slept last night either.

“Mike said I needed to get away from him and let him do his work…” Blaine admitted, fingers digging into the pockets of his jeans as he looked down to the ground.

“And…. you're over here….. because…..?” Kurt said slowly, trying to coax up a response as to why Blaine would have been sent his way in particular.

“Because Mike said you'd find something for me to do to keep me occupied.” Blaine stammered.

Kurt groaned and rolled his eyes for the upteenth time since they had arrived here.  “Great.  I get babysitting duty.”

“I'm sorry!” Blaine started, the tone in his voice more shrill as he became defensive.  “I just….” he sighed, and his voice softened along with it “... I just can't lose him.”

“Fuck.  Whatever.” Kurt snorted, walking around to the back of the wagon from where he had been leaning against the side.  He pulled the cooler towards him and opened the lid, pulling out the food rations they had been sent with.  “Help me dish out supper for my people.”

Blaine's eyes lit up as Kurt pulled out a loaf of bread, a bin of deer jerky, and another bin of blueberries.  Like most nomads Kurt had encountered, Blaine had probably been living off canned goods for years and hadn't seen fresh food with any amount of regularity.  For this reason, Kurt was eternally grateful the community had established a farm and harvested wild berries every year.  He couldn't imagine only getting vegetables out of a can with too many preservatives.

Kurt also pulled out plates and directed Blaine to serve each of his people two strips of jerky, a palmful of blueberries, and a slice of bread.  Along with the water bottles they all had, this was their supper.  The blueberries were a personal favourite of Kurt's, and he always helped harvest them when they were in season so he could sneak the odd berry.  During the winter he lived for the blueberry jam the cooks made, and spring meant that he had to go without blueberries for a few months again, but this time of year was the best, when they had so many blueberries that they were served at all three meals of the day.

Blaine brought food to each of Kurt's people one at a time, even Mike who just set his to the side while he continued to check over his patient.  When they were all distributed, he came back to the wagon and looked at Kurt expectantly.

“What?”

“I finished the job you gave me…”

“Well I don't have anything else for you to do for me.  I'm kind of out of my element here and don't have a chore list.” Kurt huffed, popping the blueberries into his mouth one at a time to enjoy their sweet flavour for as long as he could and pointedly ignoring how Blaine was salivating before him.

“Not true!” Noah piped up as he walked over, having apparently heard Kurt.  “Mike needs us to fashion a bed on the wagon to bring him back on.  Something that won't cause his leg to move involuntarily.”

Kurt's gaze rolled towards Noah, both brows arching, “We're actually taking him back?”

“Well… I thought that was the plan?” Noah asked back, his own eyebrows peaking.

“Wait… Why are you taking him away?” Blaine broke in, looking between them both and then over at Trent worriedly.

“Well he's alive isn't he?  Surely Mike can just set his leg and we can get back without taking him.” Kurt argued, ignoring Blaine as he looked at Noah.

“That guy's leg is crushed Kurt.  Mike needs the x-ray to properly set the leg.” Noah snapped back, also ignoring Blaine.

“So what?  We're adopting more people?  It's almost winter Noah.  We can't prepare for more people.” Kurt shot back, setting his plate down so he could go toe to toe with Noah if necessary.

“That was never the plan Kurt.  You know that.”

“So our plans are now officially made by eight year olds?!” Kurt snapped.  He loved Beth, he truly did, but this was insanity.  They couldn't run their community on the whim of a kid.  Well meaning as she was, she didn't understand the risks and dangers of the world outside the community.

Noah pointed a finger at Kurt, “Don't be like that man.  Don't.”

“Like what?” Kurt took a step forward, Noah's finger now set squarely against his chest as Kurt looked up at the bigger man with eyes that screamed for a challenge, “Like I have some semblance of sanity?”

With Noah and Kurt speaking so loudly and angrily at one another, it was only a matter of time before Santana came up and got between them.  She pushed her way in and shoved each of them back so she was between them as she snarled, “Get your panties out of whatever knots they're in boys.”

Throughout it all, Blaine just watched, slack jawed and eyes wide as if he couldn't believe the drama unfolding before him.  When Santana intervened though, his jaw managed to close back up and he made his way over to Mike and Trent.  Kurt followed him, set on seeing if Mike was serious about this plan.

“Yes Kurt.” Mike said, before Kurt even opened his mouth to ask.  Kurt didn't realize he had been that loud when he had been going at it with Noah, but clearly Mike had heard them. “He has fractures in several places AT THE LEAST, torn ligaments, and ripped quadriceps.  There is no way I can just set his leg and leave.  It wouldn't do a damn thing and it would be morally reprehensible.”

“And what about….” Kurt flipped one of his hands over and swung it to the side in an overly dramatic gesture, “.... all of these other fine people here?”

“We were only ever going to take him back Kurt.  They can continue on their merry way.” Mike replied.

“Well THANK GOODNESS for that.” Sebastian shouted out from where he had been listening in with his small clan of cronies.  “Let's go boys.”

“Wait just a second here!  We can't abandon Trent to them!  What if they're cannibals… or mad scientists or something!” Jeff shot back, looking worriedly at Trent.

That elicited a small chuckle from Kurt, and few things make him chuckle, so those that knew him looked at him in surprise when he did laugh.  “Really?  Cannibals?”

“Well we don't know you!” Jeff's brunette buddy said, standing up beside him.

“Who cares?  We thought Trent was going to die.  So what if he ends up eaten or experimented on instead?” Sebastian snapped back to the other half of his group.

“We just can't abandon him though… he's been with us since the beginning….” Another man, black haired who looked like he was of asian descent noted.

“We just can't leave him…” Blaine concurred, “He's one of our brothers… and what if he wakes up to find out we abandoned him… we can't…. that would be terrible.”

“So what?” Sebastian walked up then, short brunette hair on a rectangular face that was all too smug for Kurt's liking.  “We obviously can't take him with us and we can't stay here - so let them have him.”

“We only planned on taking one along with us.” Noah interjected towards all members of the bird gang.

“Well mighty fine of you for telling US that since he's one of our people.  Who the hell are you to make plans for us?!” A dark-skinned man shot out, pointing an angry finger at Noah.

“Even if I can bring down the swelling and set the leg…” Mike spoke up, and everyone listened when he spoke, “... he will need months of healing time and therapy to walk properly again.  He's better off staying with us for the winter and then we can meet up in the spring and you can have him again.”

“Months….” Blaine mouthed and shook his head, looking at his sweat glazed friend on the ground.

“Right.  Months.  Months of us caring and feeding him when he won't be able to contribute anything back just out of the kindness of our hearts.” Kurt grumbled.  He wanted to fold his arms over his chest, his go-to position for being irritated, but he needed to keep his bow out just in case this got even more out of hand.

“What if….” Blaine snapped his head up from looking down “... what if I go with him and I'll take care of food and stuff for myself and Trent?  That way you aren't all being put out and he won't be alone?”

“That is ridiculous Blaine!” Sebastian snapped then, stalking up towards the curly haired man, “There's no need for you to leave us!”

Noah glanced at Mike, who glanced at Kurt, who glanced at Santana, who completed the circle by looking back to Noah.  On one hand, the idea had a lot of potential to save them the effort of taking care of another person who couldn't give anything back to the community.  On the other hand, it was a risk - not only if Blaine couldn't manage to feed himself and Trent, but because it meant they would be bringing back someone who could turn on them.

“Don't be an ass Sebastian!” Blaine snapped right back, perching himself up on his toes to gain some height as he went face to face with Sebastian.  “You were ready to leave Trent to die here after we've all been together for years - just like that.”

Sebastian's voice dropped as he took a glance around and then looked back to Blaine, “Look.. you know I wouldn't do the same if it were you….”

“I really don't care Seb!” Blaine yelled back and turned away from the other man.  Kurt's mouth turned up at one corner.  He had to appreciate the fire in Blaine and his unwillingness to bow to the other man.  It would have been easier for him, certainly, to just go off with his gang and leave Trent behind.  He wouldn't have to face anything unknown, or be with strangers when it was evident these men had been together for some time and some of them had forged brotherly bonds - Sebastian's words notwithstanding.

“Come on Blaine!” Sebastian called after him, but it appeared to be of no use as Blaine looked straight at Mike.

“I'll do what I said I would.  Can I come?”

Mike blinked a few times, surprised apparently that Blaine would think that kind of decision would be left to him.  The lanky asian medic looked over at the group of guards that Kurt was standing by and his eyes pleaded with them to take over.

Blaine's eyes followed Mike's, and the error in his calculation was revealed.  Mike wasn't in charge of this group.  Turning then to Kurt, Noah, and Santana, he asked again.

“Well?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“We need to -”

All three of them had responded at once, and definitely not with any uniformity.  They all both snapped their mouths shut and looked to one another with irritation.  None of them were on the same page here.  

Mike gave Blaine an apologetic look and excused himself, walking over to the threesome.  “Let's talk this over.”

They walked together back to the wagon and Kurt immediately dropped his voice to a whisper.

“We can not entertain the idea of bringing back someone who has the clarity to pay attention right now and could lead them all back to the community.”

“But you heard him!” Noah hissed quietly, “He would save us the trouble of providing for that kid on the ground!”

“Assuming of course he knows how to get his own food.” Kurt snapped back.

“What if he's only ever been with this group and doesn't know how to take care of himself?” Santana queried thoughtfully.

“Exactly.” Kurt noted with a nod.  “He could be more trouble than help.”

“Guys, as far as the guy on the ground is concerned, it would be better for his recovery and mental health if he thought he wasn't abandoned when he comes out of it….” Mike interjected.

“Who the hell cares about some stranger's mental health if we end up paying the price for it?” Kurt grunted, earning him a nod of agreement from Santana.

“I do damnit Kurt.” Mike shot back at him.  “That's my priority.  My oath -”

“Your oath.  Your damn oath.  Always with the oath.” Santana groaned.  “What about the safety of everyone else in the community?”

“What if we bind his eyes for the way back?” Noah suggested, fingers rubbing over his chin as he considered it.

“And what if he's really good at blind tracking?  It wouldn't matter anyhow.” Kurt retorted, looking between Noah and Santana at the curly haired man who was presently engaged in his own verbal spat with Sebastian across the plain they were in.

“I'd suggest a vote, but clearly we're two for two.” Mike sighed and looked over at Karofsky and Azimio who were dutifully standing to the side and just watching everything quietly.  They were good for fighting, but not good for intellectual matters.  “Even if we got those two in on this, luck would have us going three for three instead.”

“So how do we resolve this?” Noah mused, his fingers now moving to the back of his head to scratch a spot there.

They all mutually exhaled sighs.  They needed to make a decision and it was clear they wouldn't be able to do it without some kind of divine intervention right now.

Which is what they got.

“Dad? *bzzzz* Dad are you there? *bzzzzzz*” The radio crackled from within the wagon beside them.  Noah hastily reached inside and grabbed the receiver.

“Hey Bethie boo.  It's dad.”

“Did you save  *bzzz* the guys yet? *bzzzz*”

“Yah honey.  Mike's doing a real good job here.  We just have to figure out what to do about his friend so dad's going to let you go while we figure it out.”

“Wait dad! *bzzzz* What friend? *bzzzz*”

Noah kept the receiver in hand instead of docking it back on the radio. “He has a friend that wants to come with him to our home, but we don't know if it's a good idea.”

“Well his friend should come. *bzzzzzz* Everyone needs family and friends to love them. *bzzzz*”

Kurt wished it were possible to roll his eyes right to the back of his head because the amount his ocular muscles limited to right now seemed inadequate for the ridiculousness of the sentiment of the eight year old girl.

“Well fuck.” Santana said with a tossing up of her hands, “Fine.  Let's take the friend.  Screw it.”

Kurt's eyes stopped their rolling and fixed on Santana with incredulous disbelief, “Are you joking me?”  The eight year old couldn't have worked her magic just like that, not this far away, not over something so potentially threatening.  

*Ms. Lopez *bzzz* You shouldn't use curse words. *bzzzz*  Mr. Hummel *bzzzz*   Please be nice.  *bzzzz* You told me your dad was nice. *bzzzz* So you should be too.”

What Beth couldn't see when she said that was the knowing smirks of everyone around Kurt in that moment.  Knowing in the sense that bringing Kurt's father into the argument was the penultimate argument, and Beth had done so unwittingly.  With his jaw dropped in disbelief, everyone held in their chuckles, but Kurt did see their smirks.  He was beat.

“Fine!” Kurt said, tossing his hands up into the air as he accepted his defeat in the matter.  “But don't come crying to me to save you when he kills you all in your sleep!”

“You hear that Bethie boo?  We're bringing the hurt man and his friend back.  We should be there….” Noah began.  Kurt didn't hear the rest because he had stormed off with an axe from the wagon to go find a tree to cut up to help brace Trent inside of the trailer.  He made a point of walking as far off as he could without going so far that he'd regret having to carry the wood back on his own.  

It didn't take long to find a tree that would do, and as soon as Kurt shed his coat on the ground, he angrily began swinging away at the tree trunk.  Each hit was aimed at someone.

The Others… for everything.
His mom… for leaving him too early.
His dad… for the same.
Karofsky… for the beating.
Azimio, Kitty, and Noah… for the verbal abuse.
Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Finn… for finding contentment in this hell.
Himself… also… for everything.

The tree fell and Kurt worked then on chopping it into long, thin, pieces he could drag back to the wagon.  By the time he was ready to do that, it didn't matter how cool it had gotten as the evening settled upon the land - he was covered in his own sweat.  His coat was draped over one of the planks he had cut and he dragged it back then, ignoring when everyone looked at him with curious eyes as he returned sweat soaked in what was otherwise a chilly evening.  Some people in the community would say that he had wasted water by sweating so much.  He would say that nothing else was as therapeutic.  

He dropped the planks off with Karofsky and Azimio, handing the latter the axe as well and directing them to cut the planks to fit the width and length of the wagon so however Trent was packed in, he wouldn't be able to roll around.  Then Kurt went to quench his thirst with a bottle of water.

Noah and Santana were busy now following Mike's instructions on how to lift Trent and get him settled in the wagon with the least amount of damage.  Now that Mike had tended to him, and no doubt given him some kind of strong anti inflammatory, Trent's leg looked a little more deflated, though no less worse for wear.  Several members of the bird gang were covering up two of the ATV's with tarps that were being nailed into the ground.  One of the ATV's was banged up on the side. Kurt noted to himself that was probably the one that fell on top of Trent and made a mental note of the name on it - Chickadee.

The other ATV being covered up had the name Canary, and must have been Blaine's.  Both ATV's had their cargo bins pulled off of them and as Kurt looked back into the wagon, he noticed the bins sitting in it, along with two backpacks that they hadn't brought out here so must also have belonged to the pair they were adopting.

“Noah said that he could come… but had to leave the quad behind because of the noise.” Karofsky said as the bigger man came up by Kurt and handed him the reins of the black mare.

Kurt took the offering and nodded to Karofsky.  “Makes sense… would scare off the wildlife with all that noise it makes.”

Kurt shouldn't have responded to Karofsky, because he then had Karofsky hanging beside him after that, apparently thinking that because Kurt responded to him, it must be alright to be near him.  Kurt quickly put an end to that line of thinking by glaring sidelong at Karofsky until he noticed, got the hint, and backed off to help Azimio once again.  Karofsky could apologize to Kurt until he was blue in the face, it didn't make Kurt feel any more comfortable with him around.

Blaine was talking to a group of his bird gang members, giving them hugs each in turn as he said his goodbyes.  Off to the side was a very grouchy looking Sebastian, arms folded over and just glaring at the ground like he was trying to bore a hole into it with his eyes.  Blaine didn't stop to say goodbye to Sebastian, and Sebastian didn't try to stop him this time when he walked to the wagon where Trent was being carefully loaded into.  Either Blaine had said his goodbyes to Sebastian while Kurt was gone, or things were just as frosty as they looked between them.

Kurt climbed up on the black mare then, just as the bird gang was climbing onto each of their respective ATV's and calling back to Blaine one last time to wish him well and tell him they'd miss him and see him in the spring.  Then, in what had to be one of the noisiest departures Kurt had ever experienced, they left going south, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake which Kurt and his people coughed on until it dispersed.

Definitely a good idea to leave the ATV's behind.

“Taking lead.” Kurt said then and cantered his mare ahead of the wagon which was still being prepared to leave.  No one responded to him and the most reply he got was a nod from Blaine, sitting beside Trent in the wagon - as if it mattered to Kurt if it was alright with him that he take the lead.

They travelled for a few hours, until Santana rode up to Kurt and told him they'd decided to sleep for the night before continuing since none of them had had more than a couple hours sleep in over a day now.  Kurt nodded to her and rode alongside her back to where the wagon was stopped in a small clearing a few meters away from some old highway.  A fire was already started and Noah was already sawing logs beside it, curled up in a sleeping bag.

“I can take watch…” Kurt murmured as he climbed down off his horse and let Azimio take the reins so he could get the mare fed and watered before went to nap too.

“Fuck Hummel.  Like you'd let any of us do it.” Santana grunted as she pulled another sleeping bag out of the wagon and went to go join Noah by the fire.

Mike was inspecting his patient and Blaine was on the other side of Trent, across from Mike. They were talking quietly and once Mike crawled out of the wagon, Blaine laid himself down by his friend and was quickly lost to sleep as well.

In fact, within minutes of coming back, everyone was sleeping except for Kurt.  Even the horses were out - overworked and exhausted from the day.  Kurt's head kept bobbing as he fought off his own sleep and he cursed himself for chewing up all the coffee beans they brought.  He really could have used the boost right now.

Instead, he thought about all the mean names and insults he had endured in his lifetime and soon his heart rate was up and he was too angry to fall asleep.  In his mind he came up with great comebacks and retorts - ones that he'd wished he had the wit to come up with back when he was being bullied and picked on.  

His accelerated heart rate came at a price though.  Every snore, every incoherent murmuring, every turn of a body made Kurt jump in place.  He was so overtired and his mind was so overactive that he couldn't help but startle at the slightest sound.

He was grateful when Noah woke up at the peaking of the moon and took over for him.  It wasn't often that Kurt took someone else up on the offer to watch over him as he slept, but he also usually didn't go without sleep for so long.

And he only needed a couple hours before he was awake again and feeling refreshed enough to take over for Noah once more.  This time though, he felt refreshed and his brain didn't feel like it was swelling up inside of his head.

At dawn they had a small breakfast, made smaller still by the fact they had picked up not one, but two additional people, and rode off again.  The trip was quiet, save for Blaine asking Mike about how Trent was doing every single hour and Mike, very patiently, telling Blaine that Trent was stable and he'd be able to say more when they got back to the community.

“How do you have all this medical stuff?  Whenever we dig through a pharmacy all the good stuff is long gone…” Blaine asked of Mike at one point while they had stopped to take a bathroom break and were waiting for Karofsky to returned from the bushes.

“Few years back the scavengers in our group found a hospital that had all the supplies locked up still.  We all went back there with wagons, broke the locks, and took everything we could.” Mike explained as he stretched his legs out now that he had a chance to.  

“But doesn't a lot of the drugs go bad or expire after so long…?” Blaine said after taking in the information.

Mike smirked a little, “The expiry date on medicine just tells you when the drug is most potent for and after that it begins to lose it's potency… so the drugs that were made before The Tides are still effective, at least most of them are, but you just need more to get the same effect you would have before they expired.”

Blaine nodded slowly as he took it all in, and then MIke added something more that made them all grin a little.

“And for those drugs that have lost their effectiveness, well let's just say I've now seen firsthand the placebo effect at work.”

Taking the old roads did mean the ride was smoother, but it also meant they didn't return to the community until well after dusk that night.  Regardless of that, loved ones were waiting for them after Noah had called in an hour before their arrival to let them know their return time.  Blaine's jaw dropped a little as he saw just what he was entering into - a full town, with more humans in one place than he'd probably ever seen together before.  

Kurt watched his reaction with curiosity.

First Blaine just scanned everything, just trying to take it all in and then looked to Mike, asking if this place was real, affording him a chuckle and a nod in return.  Then Blaine became quiet and watched Noah as he was reunited with Quinn and Beth, giving both big hugs and kisses.  Azimio and Santana also both went to great their girlfriends before coming back to the wagon to help unload the supplies, even though Mercedes had her people on it.  Everyone helped unload Trent from the wagon and carry him into the makeshift doctor's office where Carole, the nurse, had set up a bed for him.

Blaine tried to follow Trent in, but Mike held a hand up to him at the entrance.

“Myself and the two other medics need to do our work now to help him out, and I know you mean well, but you have to stay out of our way.”

Blaine took in a sharp breath, looked to the side of Mike at Trent, and then nodded back up to Mike.  He turned in place and looked around, now seeing for the first time the curious looks being directed at him from the people of the community.

“Who's the cute little elf boy?” Brittany asked, cutting the silence and asking the question on everyone's minds.

“This is Blaine.  He's a friend of the guy in the clinic, Trent.  We're taking them in for the winter while Trent heals.” Noah explained to everyone gathered.  There were some immediate grumblings from the group about how a vote should have been conducted prior to accepting someone new, but those were quashed by arguments about how this was not a typical situation with the damaged boy who had been brought back as well.

Blaine made a little wave and gave a nervous smile to everyone as he looked around.  His hand dropped back to his side quickly when no one immediately responded to his attempt at being friendly, but a certain eight year old girl did step away from her parents and walk towards Blaine, offering him a hand as she looked up at him.  He glanced side to side, seeing if this was some kind of test or joke before accepting the offered hand and shaking it.

“I'm Beth.”

“Nice to meet you Beth.  I'm Blaine.”

She grinned at him and then turned to skip happily back to her parents, leaving him alone again.

“We'll put him in one of the apartments by the stables.” Mercedes said simply and wagged a finger at Tina, telling her to go ready the room.  Blaine gave both women a thankful nod and then went to the wagon, seemingly trying his best to cope with all the eyes on him, and collect the cargo bins that had been strapped onto his and Trent's ATV's along with their backpacks.

“What's all that?” One of the other kids from the community asked, peeking out from behind his parent's legs.

“Oh… this is my stuff and my friend Trent's stuff.” Blaine explained as he looked at the child curiously and then offered the small human a weak smile.

“Did anyone check his stuff?” A voice in the crowd asked of them.

Santana and Kurt exchanged looks, and simultaneously turned to look at Noah.  Between their sleepiness and rushing, they hadn't thought to check his gear.  For all they knew, there could be something that could have tracked them back here or some kind of poison, or even a cache of weapons.

“Hey… wait….” Blaine stammered as both Kurt and Noah came up beside him and started unlatching and unzipping his things to look inside.  

But Blaine didn't argue after that, and Kurt saw from the corner of his eyes that the man's hands dropped to his sides as he sighed in frustration, standing back and just watching them root through his things.

Clothing, none of which was really good for the weather he'd be enduring here, cans of food like Kurt had expected, bandaids, books, bullets without a gun, a bag of what looked like old phones (a waste of space in Kurt's mind), journals, maps, a few old pictures that were weathered beyond being able to see the features of the subjects clearly, and then…

“What the fuck!” Noah yelled and jumped back from where he had been digging through one of the bins.

Kurt scooted over and peered inside the bin as Noah knelt back down and pointed at the thing in question.

It took a second for Kurt to figure out exactly what he was looking at, but when he did, his stomach turned and he cupped a hand to his mouth in disgust.  There, threaded on a string, was a series of ears that were obviously cut off from Others - a rainbow of different skin tones, all thin and formed into points about two inches higher than where a human ear would stop and curve.

Blaine had a necklace of dismembered ears from the worst enemies humanity had ever faced.