The three of you made it to an abandoned building, and made your way inside,
carefully locking the door behind you,
'we're going up' Henry signed, referring to the staircase in front of you that was illuminated by a beam of light being cast from his torch,
he then gestured to Sam telling him to switch on his flashlight.
You hadn't had time to collect any of your belongings when the riots began so you stood close by Sam using the light from his torch to see.
Henry then reached inside his coat pocket retrieving his gun, unloaded. And led you and Sam slowly up the stairs afraid of alerting someone of your location,
When you finally made it up to one of the top floors you could hear the sounds of distant gunshots outside, being reminded of the horrors you had witnessed earlier that night..
Henry stopped and turned back towards you and Sam, gesturing to a door before carefully pulling it open and stepping inside, suddenly another flashlight switched on pointing at Henry, he quickly raised his gun as his body tensed,
Sam held onto your arm shakily watching from the door frame worried for his older brother.
The figure emerged from the shadows revealing themselves to be Edelstein, he was an older man with winter white hair and a matching beard, just the person Henry was looking for.
They both relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.
——————
Henry helped you and Sam up through a hatch and into a small space in the ceiling, before helping himself up Edelstein following behind,
"You're sure they don't know about this?"
Henry asked,
setting his bag down on the wooden floor, and beginning to take out his canned food, counting his rations
"I got it from a FEDRA officer''
Edelstein replied,
turning on a small camping lamp that hung from one of the beams overhead.
"Patient. Owed me a favour. He said he found it himself, never told anyone about it" the old man clarified pulling the floor hatch shut
"And what if they get to him?" You asked nervously, fidgeting with the end of your sleeve
"They already did.
He won't be talking"
"Fuck" Henry muttered
"okay water? Toilets?"
He asked quickly changing the subject
"Uh, the apartments below are tied to the QZ main, We can use those, but we have to be fast and careful"
Edelstein explained
"Food?"
"Whatever you brought.
I barely made it out as is"
"So we're fucked on food. Ammunition?"
"Empty"
"Yeah, so is mine"
"We weren't shooting our way outta this anyway"
"No...so well sneak our way out" Henry stated,
as he finished counting the cans of food
"How?" you asked,
taking a step closer to the pair
"Tunnels" Henry turned to you
"Tunnels? Why go to the trouble? You can kill yourself right here"
the doctor chuckled nervously
You made your way over to the corner of the attic where Sam was settled, drawing on his magic slate which he wore on a string around his neck,
And slowly sat down beside him watching over his shoulder as he drew, blocking out the conversation Henry and Edelstein were having,
"Why's Y/N with you?
(M/N) was-" Edelstein began,
looking over at you and Sam huddled up together
"She's dead." Henry said shortly, cutting him off
"On our way here.. We found Y/N curled up by (M/N)'s body in the middle of the street.." He explained quietly,
His eyebrows furrowing
"Poor girl.." Edelstein sighed
"Yeah.." Henry agreed
"Is he scared?" the old man asked, referring to Sam
"Yeah...well, he saw a lot so did (N/N)" Henry breathed out,
feeling guilty for the violence you and Sam had been exposed to that night "Nothin' I can do about that now."
"He's scared because your scared" Edelstein told him
Henry made his way over to you and Sam, and crouched down in front of the two of you, he then gently tapped his brother on his arm gaining his attention,
Sam looked up and handed Henry his magic slate, showing him the the picture he had drawn of himself as a superhero
"Super Sam' Henry Signed, admiring his brother's drawing
"What did he say?'
Sam asked in ASL,
a concerned expression clouding his features
'He said we're safe here.
No one's going to find us'
'Are you sure' Sam turned to you then back to his older brother
'One hundred percent....
hey. See my face? Do I look scared?'
Sam shrugged his shoulders in response
'There is one problem though.. this place? Is ugly' Henry signed with a soft smile on his face, earning a quiet chuckle from you
Henry then pulled out a big bag of crayons making his brother's face light up with excitement,
Sam opened the zip lock bag pulling out his favorite color orange, before handing the bag to you, and turning to the brick wall behind him beginning to draw on it.
You looked up at Henry sending him a weak smile, before handing him a crayon you both then joined in drawing on the wall feeling a sense of safety washing over you.
