From the top! TedXHidgens

Part 27

Henry has grabbed Theodore's hand somewhere along the way. It was compulsive. He didn't let go.
Emma was at the front door of the apartment building when Henry and Ted got there.
"Oh hey guys!" Emma looked pretty upbeat for someone who just got back from work. Unfortunate that Henry was about to ruin that.
"We need to have a conversation. Is paul home?" Henry couldn't have this conversation two more times. He needs both paul and emma there.
"Yeah he is... oh shit I forgot about that." Emma's smiled dropped. There was an urgency in her eyes. "Is it serious?"
"Yes." Henry nodded. This is going to be difficult.
Emma led them up to the apartment. Paul was sitting on the couch when they got there.
"Oh hey what's up." Paul waved slightly at Henry and Theodore. He must have noticed how grim everyone looked. "What's wrong?"
"There's something we need to tell you." Henry took a deep breath.
"Ok." Emma sat down next to Paul. They both looked very nervous. Henry was very nervous. Almost on cue Theodore squeezed Henry's hand.
They need to know.
"I was watching the news this morning and they mentioned what happened four months ago." Paul visibly tensed up, "I'm going to cut to the chase. They said that music can be heard coming from the island." Emma's eyes widened. "I think that they've gotten to PEIP." Henry didn't like how much he abbreviated the point. But it was probably a good idea not to go through the whole spiel.
"WHAT. HENRY YOU CAN'T BE FUCKING SERIOUS." that's about the reaction Henry was expecting from Emma.
"I'm afraid I am." Henry kept a level head to possibly off balance Emma freaking the fuck out. Ted was doing the same.
Paul has a thousand mile stare that Henry recognized too well. Poor paul. What he's going through is painful.
"They can't be back. They can't be!" Emma flopped herself down next to Paul. Paul wrapped his arms around her protectively. Emma calmed down a little bit.
"What do we do." Paul asked solemnly.
Henry sat closely to Ted. His presence was very comforting in this situation. He was still extremely scared but just their knees touching put Henry slightly at ease. He couldn't do this without him.
"We could try to contact PEIP." Ted leaned forward. Henry didn't want to contact PEIP in case they do have infected in their offices. But it's the only actual suggestion so far.
"I suggest we call instead of meet in person, for" he was going to mention them getting infected but the look on Emma and Paul's face stopped him, "obvious reasons."
"Oh we have there phone number somewhere." Paul looked around for the business card.
"It's in the bed side table drawer." Emma pointed Paul in the direction of their bedroom. Paul went off into the bedroom. Emma appeared to space out.
"How are you holding up." Theodore put his hand on Henry's shoulder. Henry would not be able to survive this without Ted here.
"I'm ok." Henry picked up Ted's hand on his shoulder and kissed it.
"Good." Ted smiled sadly at him. Henry smiled back.
Paul got back from there room with the card. Paul sat back down next to Emma.
"Do we call them now?" Emma asked nervously.
"I-I don't know." Ted looked at Henry for an answer.
Henry really didn't know. He should know though. It's his job to know. Ted was relying on him to know what to do.
"There's no time like the present." Henry did not know what he was doing. He did not know what to expect. He was terrified though.
"Who's phone do we use?" Emma looked to each of them nervously.
Yet again Henry is the one with the answer. Henry has left his conspiracy days behind him but that didn't stop him from being cautious.
"Well in theory PEIP can track our location from the call. So we should not use one of our cellphones. Perhaps a landline." Henry was scared. He was really fucking scared. But being scared wasn't going o help anyone. He needed to be decisive, for everyone's sake. For Theodore's sake.
"We could use the phone is the train station." Paul suggested.
That could work but if they were being very cautious they should not use a phone anywhere close to any of their apartments. Henry didn't know what they were capable of.
"Not the station at the corner. Two stops down, away from all of our apartments." Ted seemed to be lost in thought. Ted's actually pretty smart, in his own way. He has good ideas.
"Right that makes sense." Paul nodded, "let's go."
Paul grabbed Emma's hand. Paul and Emma stood up, business card in hand.
Oh god they were actually going to do this. Like right now. Ok. Ted squeezed Henry's hand once again. Henry really would not survive this without him.

They had gotten to the train stop away from everyone's apartment. They reached a payphone away from the majority of foot traffic.
"Who's going to make the call?" Ted asked nervously. Henry knee he was going to be the one to call. It was his theory. He must be the one to test it.
Without saying anything paul and Emma looked to Henry. That's no be expected really.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Ted turned to Henry. The sincere look in Theodore's eye gave Henry confidence.
"It's fine. I can do this." Henry stepped into the booth. Ok.
Henry put the coins in the machine and dialed the number. It rang and rang and rang.
No response.
"Fuck." Emma looked terrified.
"There wasn't like a voicemail thing or anything?" Ted asked urgently. Henry shook his head. There was a moment of silent panic.
"Did you dial it wrong?" Paul's voice was shaky. They should have left him at the apartment. It would be better for him not to witness this, in case anything happened.
"Perhaps. I'll try again." Henry stepped back into the booth. He put his quarters in the machine. He dialed each number very carefully making sure he got it correctly.
It rang.
The other end of the line was picked up.
"Hello Professor." A very melodic voice called through the phone. Henry could puke.
"How do you kn-"
"Hidgens it's really just common sense. You are one of the only people who knows PEIP exists. You are the smartest of all of them by far. If anyone would call in to PEIP it would be you." The voice was not familiar.
"How?"
"There are many hows Henry. We don't quite have the time to discuss them now, we're preparing for a little trip. Hopefully we can discuss it in person soon." And with that they hung up.
Henry's eyes started to tear up. He felt sick. Henry slowly sank to the floor. They're back. They're not back because evidently they were never gone. They sounded human. God they sounded human.
"Henry what's wrong." Ted went down to the dirty floor with Henry. He sounded so concerned. Henry felt a tear streak down his face. Paul and Emma stood over them, anxiety ridden.
"They're on their way, Theodore. They're going to get off the island." Henry looked Ted dead in the eye. He didn't look away. He needed comfort and Theodore was an excellent source of it. But Ted looked just as scared as Henry.
They're on their way.